Mary Hogan Family Newsletter

Dear Mary Hogan Families,

Despite the short week, we were busy at school. Students in preschool and kindergarten had field trips. Students enjoyed getting outside before the frigid temperatures this weekend and more.

Three items to note:

1. The Readathon starts this coming Thursday. There is a lot of information about it below - from events to what it even is, so please take a look to learn more.
2. Progress reports will be coming home next Friday with your child from school. Please be sure to check in their backpacks.
3. It is going to be COLD this coming week, so please keep sending your kids in with coats, hats, and gloves/mittens. With the snow coming, snowpants and boots will help them play in the snow all recess long! (The picture here is a day when the temperature at recess was 30, so it felt okay not to have hats on.)

Stay warm this weekend .

💙, Jen

Tuesday 1/27 - January Options Based Drill (see link if you missed my earlier email)

Wednesday 1/28 - morning - 4th grade has NAEP testing

• McColly's class visits the Middlebury Natural Food Coop
• 1st and 2nd Grade Swimming (HERE is the full schedule and letter)

Thursday 1/29 - 9am - Readathon Kick off event

• 1st and 2nd Grade Swimming (HERE is the full schedule and letter)

Friday 1/30 - Progress Reports go home with students

Tuesday 2/3 - 6.30 - 5th grade parents virtual info session about Keewaydin Environmental Education Camp (KEEC) - LINK

Wednesday 2/4 - Early Release Day, Walk and Roll Day

• 9am - All School Meeting - 2nd grade led
• Character Dress Up Day

Thursday 2/5 - 5.45-7 - Literacy Night

The Read-a-thon will be starting in just a few weeks. There will be some special after school activities offered, but children must register ahead. Please use this online registration form. If more than 20 students sign up for an event, we will use a random lottery system to pick names. Please email Julie Altemose if you have any questions at jaltemose@acsdvt.org

Feb. 2 - After School “Book and Craft” with Ms. Liz, Katherine, Mrs. V. (Grades K-2). Sign-ups HERE are required.

Feb. 3- After School “Book and Craft” with Ms. Payne. Grade 3. Dragons Love Tacos. Sign-ups HERE are required.

Feb. 4th - Early Release day- CHARACTER DRESS UP DAY - Reading with your buddies!!

Feb. 5th After School Book Club with Ms. Tricia. Grade 5. Sign-ups HERE are required.

• Literacy Night 5:45-7:00. Come have dinner, meet other families, and attend fun literacy workshops.

Feb. 6th - Reading Logs turned in!

• After School “Book and Craft” with Ms. Payne. Grade 3. The Mitten. Sign-ups HERE are required.

The Read-A-Thon is Mary Hogan’s largest fundraiser - January 29th, 2026 - March 4th, 2026

• The Read-A-Thon is to get kids excited about reading, read more, and improve literacy.

• Raise money to enrich our students' learning experiences; All of the money raised goes to MESA to support the Mary Hogan Community and fund events like Field Day, classroom enrichment, and class trips to places like ECHO and Shelburne Farms.

Here’s how it works:

1. READ: Any time a student reads or has someone read to them outside of school counts! Kids can count the minutes when they are at a special Read-A-Thon event or when they listen to audiobooks, too!

2. RECORD: Record daily progress in your log.

3. DONATE (OPTIONAL): The Read-A-Thon is a school-wide fundraiser! EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS.

For more information and the whole schedule, check out this overview. It will come home with your child on Tuesday.

The January reading challenge is to read 1 Golden Dome book or 4 Red Clover books. In addition to reading independently, students can listen to books as audiobooks or read with an adult. This link will take you to a site where students can listen to four former Red Clover books.

Students in Steve Colangeli's class at MUHS have been studying endangered species. As part of this learning, the students wrote books about what they learned as well as games for kids to help them learn. Our preschoolers went over to leran from the high schoolers this week, listening to the books and playing the games. It was SO fun!

Kindergarteners headed down to Rutland on Friday to explore and learn at Wonderfeet. Students learned about force and energy with a big tug of war, learned about jobs and enjoyed a lot of cooperative and imaginative play.

This trip was made possible thanks to Readathon Donations to MESA! Help these awesome events keep happening by supporting the Readathon.

5th graders in the Magic the Gathering Club had a LOT of fun this week after school playing Magic in the library afterschool. Do you know how to play Magic? If you don't these students can teach you! The game is very popular among these 5th graders - and other students here and at MUMS!

Mary Hogan is part of the Vermont Jr. Iron Chef competition thanks to their coach - Chef Steve and our Farm to School Grant. The students met for their first practice session on Friday and made their recipe - Vermont Country Risotto with Maple Cream and Cranberry Compote.

The team is learning not only how to create and prepare this recipe from scratch, but they are also working on teamwork as well as how to communicate about their process, local ingredients, and the taste. The first practice was SO fun and the results were delicious (I promise! I had a taste test of it) and looked so professional. They are working to create a dish that is savory but also has some sweet and tangy in just the right proportions. Stay tuned for more about their learning and journey these next weeks!

MESA will once again run the concessions booth at both the boys and girls 5/6th grade tournaments at the Middlebury Rec Center. This has become our second biggest fundraiser (after the RAT). All of the proceeds go back to Mary Hogan to fund field trips and educational experiences for our students. We also use the money to fund teacher appreciation events and to host other events like Field Day, the end of year Dance Party and Mini Golf.

We are looking for food donations and for volunteers to run the booth. Please see the two sign up geniuses below. New this year, we also have an Amazon wish list created for concession booth items that you can purchase online (Amazon Wish List).

Boys Tourney (1/31-2/1): Boys Sign up

Girls Tourney (2/7-2/8): Girls Sign Up

If you would rather donate cash, you can donate via Venmo: venmo.com/MESAMaryHoganSchool

MESA has partnered with UVM Athletics again this year to sell tickets to select hockey and basketball games. A portion of the ticket sales goes to MESA.

Women's Basketball 1/24 2pm vs Bryant

Women's Hockey 1/31 1pm vs Providence

Please use this link to purchase tickets: https://uvmathletics.evenue.net/promotions/MESAMHS

Help shape the future of education in our community! The ACSD Board will have open School Board seats this year in Bridport, Middlebury, and Salisbury. If you're interested, gather signatures* on your nominating petition and submit the petition and your Candidate Consent form to your Town Office by January 26, 2026.This is also a great time to reach out to encourage someone you think would be a great candidate! Board elections occur on Town Meeting Day, March 3, 2026. Terms are 3 years. You must be 18 or older and a resident of the respective town to run. You'll play a crucial role in enhancing our schools and advocating for every student. Learn more on the Running for School Board page of the Vermont School Board Association website.

* Petitions must be signed by 60 voters or one percent of the ACSD checklist—whichever is less. Petitions and the Candidate Consent Form are available with the links above, at your Town Hall, or the ACSD District Office (49 Charles Ave, Middlebury). ​​​​​​​

Even though it is a bit past the deadline to RSVP, this is a powerful documentary about how boys and men are struggling and is based in Vermont. To check out the trailer, click HERE.

We are so grateful to our family and community volunteers! If you plan to volunteer for an event or activity this year, now is a great time to apply or make sure your paperwork is up-to-date!

• Learn more about the volunteer process here.
• Check in with your front office if you've volunteered in the past to make your paperwork is up to date.
• Fill out this form if you've never volunteered before and plan to this year.

Want to know more about the Volunteer Process? Check out more information HERE.