MUMS Family Newsletter
September 18, 2026
Week 4
Dear MUMS Community,
This week we began assessing our students using our screeners in Math, Literacy and SEL. It will be good to have these assessments behind us and more importantly, it's good to have this information as an additional data point to inform instruction and better support students.
Below you will find a memo from me that lets you know about some construction that will be done next week in the front of our school as an extension of our Storm Water project. This construction will have implications for drop off and pick up, particularly on Thursday and Friday, the 24th & 25th. Please take the time to read the memo so that you are clear about these implications.
Next Thursday night, we will host caregivers only for our annual Back to school night! The goal of Back to School night is for caregivers to meet their student's teachers and learn about the school experience here at MUMS. We look forward to seeing you all on Thursday night!
Lastly, tonight, in partnership with the Flynn Theatre we will host Playing Fields, featuring Pearl by Plasticiens Volants @ 6:00pm! This event is open to our ACSD community and we hope that you can join us for this incredible show!
We do not have school on Monday, so we will look forward to seeing students on Tuesday 09.22.26
Thanks for your partnership and have a great weekend!
Best,
Michaela
If you have questions, please reach out to us:
MUMS office 802-382-1600 or visit the MUMS website.
Michaela Wisell, Principal mwisell@acsdvt.org
Fieh Chan, Assistant Principal fchan@acsdvt.org
Erin Jipner, Student Response Coordinator ejipner@acsdvt.org
Dustin Hunt, Athletics and Activities Director dhunt@acsdvt.org
- Sept. 18th - Playing Fields (6:00pm)
- Sept. 21st - School Break (No School)
- Sept. 24th - MUMS Back to School night 6:00-7:30
- Sept. 30th - Picture Day 8:30-12:00
- Oct. 7th - Early Release Day
From the MYP Coordinator
Greetings MUMS Caregivers!
On the MUMS report card, you will see three “Approaches to Learning” (ATLs) scored for your student. The three ATLs are Organization, Collaboration, and Self-Management. Last week I highlighted Collaboration,, this week I’d like to address Self-Management.
What does “Self-Management” mean? It means students maintain focus, persist through challenging tasks, manage their emotions without disrupting others, are self-motivated and set goals, and can recover from setbacks.
This week I saw a wonderful example of Self-Management in action during Mr. Knight’s 7th grade science class. In a lesson at looking at human cheek cells, students had blue dye, glass slides, and expensive microscopes to work with. But they were focused on the task at hand, used the equipment appropriately, and were self-motivated to work independently while Mr. Knight circulated. Many students had a hard time at first finding the cells on the slides, navigating a variety of valuables (slide placement, magnification power, light power, 2 focus knobs!). But they persisted through challenge and didn’t give up, eventually finding human cells (with a visible nucleus) on the slide! Students then did some writing about and diagraming of cell structure. It was a fantastic lesson of hands-on science learning, see photos below!
💡Talk to your student: What helps them maintain focus during a long day at school? What strategies do they have to manage emotions when emotions feel big? When they get frustrated by challenge or setbacks, what helps them keep going?
Picture Day
Picture Day!
MUMS will have Picture Day on Wednesday September 30th. Order forms for LifeTouch will be handed out in TA the week prior. If you prefer to order your student’s school pictures online please visit mylifetouch.com and use the Picture ID EVTP4ZWQP. Your child can also bring their completed flyer with cash or check on Picture Day. Picture Retake Day is scheduled for Wednesday November 11th.
If you have any questions please contact Megan Curran at mcurran@acsdvt.org.
Student Absences, Dismissals + Bus Notes
If your student will be absent from school, needs an early dismissal, or will take a different bus, please follow these directions:
- Absence / early dismissal: Call 802-382-1297, the MUMS attendance line, before 8:30am (helpful tip: add this number to your phone now as "MUMS attendance line")
- Early dismissal + bus notes: Students must deliver a caregiver's note to the front office when arriving at school (before TA).
- If taking a bus other than their regular bus: Students must bring a caregiver's note and have it signed by a MUMS Administrative Assistant in the front office to be valid.
