The Hiawatha Buzz!

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Dear families,

I hope everyone had a wonderful break last week and found some time to rest and recharge. It’s hard to believe we’re already in the final stretch before our Winter Break; just a couple of weeks to go! Thank you for helping your children ease back into routines and finish the calendar year strong. I’m grateful for this community and all the joy your children bring to Hiawatha each day.

Warmly,

Kolby Snellenberger, Principal

December 24th - January 2, 2026 (Early Winter Break)- No School - Please plan accordingly

Dear Hiawatha Community,

As we head into our cold and flu season, I’d like to share our newly updated guidance on when you should keep your students home from school due to illness. Additionally, guidance was updated on when your student can return to school after an illness.

You can find this information on the Health Office Webpage:

When to Stay Home & When to Return To School

The decision to stay home is usually indicated because you have certain symptoms, but the school nurse can also decide if you should go/stay home based on their assessment and taking into consideration your ability to participate in your learning. Individual plans will be made for ongoing chronic conditions with these symptoms.

You need to stay home from school if you have:

A fever 100.4 or higher in the last 24 hours.
Throwing up (vomiting) more than twice in the last 24 hours.
Diarrhea that causes accidents, has blood in it, or is happening more than twice as often as normal.
A rash or sores on your skin, that are leaking liquid and can't be covered by a bandage, are spreading very fast, look infected (red, swollen, or have pus), or if you or the nurse don't know what caused it and a doctor needs to see if it's contagious.
Cold or flu symptoms (like coughing or runny nose) that are getting worse or aren't getting better.

*Schools work with health experts to create rules for common illnesses like strep throat, norovirus, impetigo and pertussis which may vary from the standard guidance.

When to Return to School

You can return to school when you feel better and are able to participate in learning. If you have questions about when it’s appropriate to return, always talk to your doctor or school nurse.

You can usually return to school when:

You haven't had a fever for at least 24 hours without using fever reducing medicine.
You stopped throwing up the day before, and you can eat and drink normally.
Your diarrhea has improved (no more accidents, and you're going to the bathroom much less). If it had blood in it, you have been seen by a doctor.
Your cold or flu symptoms are getting better overall for at least 24 hours.
Any uncovered skin sores or rash are scabbing over, or you have been seen by a doctor and cleared to return.
All students taking an antibiotic for a contagious condition must have been on the medication for 12-24 hours, as recommended by their healthcare provider

* Schools follow rules from local and state health departments, so rule changes may occur.

As always you can reach out to me with any questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Nurse Reyna

rmaher@ewsd.org

802-857-7740

We had such joyful and musical weeks last month!

The students loved our Aiken Drum activity. They created their own versions of Aiken Drum while keeping a steady beat and singing the song. As you may know, Aiken Drum lives on the moon and his body is made mostly of food—so each time we sang, their creations changed a little! Some classes even tried to copy each other’s funniest designs.

We then dove into a flurry of turkey-themed songs. Students were introduced to the Stretchy Band and used it to tap rhythms in our call-and-response song “Shoo Turkey”. During “Turkey Feathers”, they responded with the colors they were holding, and we even spun the band around together to the music. Before Thanksgiving break, the students learned and sang “We Are Thankful,” expressing gratitude for the people in their lives at home and at school. They sang it so beautifully!

We kicked off December by learning holiday songs such as Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel and the Kwanzaa Candle Song. We also began exploring melodies from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, learning simple movement patterns—this time using paper plates as our props! The students were excited to discover how the different tunes create different moods and characters. It’s been a wonderful start to the season, full of music, movement, and creativity.

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

Megumi Esselstrom & Matt Torrez

Dear Hiawatha families,

If you haven't registered yet with PickUp Patrol, you can find the link to PickUp Patrol on our website by clicking on the Report an Absence tab on our Hiawatha homepage. Please take a few minutes to set up your account so that we can accurately dismiss your child(ren).

*** If you need to make a change in your student's default plan in PickUp Patrol, please contact the front office at hiawathaoffice@ewsd.org. ***

PickUp Patrol is helping us communicate about a change in your student's attendance or change in their after school plan for that current day. You DO NOT need to put your student's after school plan into PickUp Patrol daily if there are no changes for that day.

Absence? Early Dismissal? Here’s the “How to”

After you select the day that you want to change to an Early Dismissal, you will see your child’s default dismissal plan for that day (Pick Up, Bus 10, etc.). Select that plan and you will be brought to another screen where you can choose from a drop down of options to change the dismissal plan including options for Absence or Early Dismissal (you might need to scroll up to see all of the options available). To choose "Absent", you must scroll up.

Does your child have an appointment midday? Looking for the late arrival option?

This option is available under Leave and Return or Late Arrival towards the bottom of the main screen. In addition to the late arrival option, the Leave and Return or Midday option is where families can enter timing for a child’s appointment that is part way through the day.

Did you know that your child’s absence can be entered ahead of time?

If you know your child will be absent or has an appointment for a future date, you can enter this into Pick Up Patrol at any time by selecting the date of the appointment or absence and updating the information as needed.

Reminder: After School Plan change cut off times

Any changes to an student's After School Plan must be done in PickUp Patrol by 1:30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The cut off time for Wednesdays is at 12:30pm. After those times, you must contact the Front Office by calling 802-878-1384 or email hiawathaoffice@ewsd.org

ALL plan changes should now be submitted through PickUp Patrol. When making changes, please do not send notes, emails, or call the office, except in an emergency.

The link to PickUp Patrol can now be found on our Home page of our website by clicking on the Report an Absence Tab

We use PickUp Patrol to track: Plan Changes, Absences, Early Dismissals, Late Arrivals, Daily Dismissal Plans (default plans).

If you have any questions, please first check the PickUp Patrol Parent Guide & if you need additional assistance, contact our Front Office at 802-878-1384 or hiawathaoffice@ewsd.org

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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