The Hiawatha Buzz!

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It was wonderful welcoming our students back this week after Winter Break. Even though it was a short week, the building quickly filled with the energy and excitement that make Hiawatha such a special place.

We are now looking ahead to Family Conferences on March 18th and 19th. Our teachers look forward to connecting with families and sharing updates on student progress. These conversations are always a valuable opportunity to celebrate growth and talk together about how we can continue supporting each child.

I’m also looking forward to Pi Night next Saturday evening, the 14th. I hope to see many of you there.

Next week will bring something extra special to our school as well—the circus is coming to Hiawatha! Our Artist in Residence will be working with students throughout the week. I have heard wonderful things about this experience from past years, and I’m excited to see it in action. I’m sure you’ll be hearing plenty of circus stories at home.

Have a wonderful weekend, and I hope to see many of you at PIE Night!

Warmly,

Kolby Snellenberger
Principal

Saturday, March 14th - Pi Night - 5:00 to 7:00 PM - HIA gym
Thursday, March 19, 2026 (Family Conferences) - NO SCHOOL
Friday, March 20, 2026 (Eid al-Fitr) - NO SCHOOL

SAVE THE DATE!

Hiawatha Pi Night + Silent Auction on Saturday, 3/14 from 5-7pm in the Hiawatha Gym.

We'll have free pizza for everyone and you can bid on fantastic auction items donated from community businesses, including gift cards to Regal Gym, Phoenix Books, Ben & Jerry’s, Echo, Poorhouse Pie's, Martones, The Bagel Place, El Gato and more! All proceeds benefit the PTO.

Taryn Hennebicque

PTO President

Before the winter break, students celebrated Black History Month in music class by “singing along” with the First Lady of Children’s Music, Ella Jenkins. Families are invited to listen to this recording at home and enjoy the experience together! Students also listened to Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” and explored movement using a stretchy band.

Students had fun exploring the Winter Olympics in music class. They played a game called “Olympic Torch Relay,” where they sat in a circle and passed instruments (Cabasa, Egg shaker, and Tambourine) without making any sound. Many classes successfully reached Level 4 using the giant Jingle bells (25 bells on the handle)! Students also pretended to skate on ice (the carpet) using paper plates as skates.

During our grade-level sing-along, students learned about the Lunar New Year and celebrated with the song “Gong Xi, Gong Xi” and movement activities. First graders also performed an echo song, “Down By the Bay,” where four volunteers from each class led verses while the rest of the class echoed the song.

Second graders practiced rhythm patterns in a penguin-themed song, learning to feel the difference between quarter notes and eighth notes.

Kindergarten students have been working on finding their head voices, practicing echo songs, and expressing music through movement.

Finally, the whole school sang our Hiawatha version of “Hello to All the Children of the World.” Since there are 25 languages spoken in the Hiawatha community, we included 25 different ways to say “hello” in the song. It was wonderful to hear the song we’ve been practicing for many weeks. Please enjoy the video!

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Megumi Esselstrom and Matt Torrez

This is a reminder that during the winter months, please send your student to school with a hat, a pair of gloves or mittens, a coat, snow pants, and boots. Students go outside for recess unless the ‘feels like’ temperature is below zero degrees.

Also, please pack extra shoes for your student to wear inside the school building. Wearing wet snow boots is not only uncomfortable but makes for wet floors, which can lead to injury.

If you need assistance with obtaining winter coats, please contact me.

Thank you,

Reyna Maher, RN

rmaher@ewsd.org

802- 857-7740

Please click the link below to see the hot lunch menu, be sure to select the correct month you need and select lunch in the drop down in the top of the page. If needed, there is a print option. The menu can also be found on our website :-)

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