UES Swoop Scoop

• Teacher Appreciation Week
• Spring Specials Update
• Family Fitness Night - Wednesday!
  
• Jumping Beans
• News From Nurse Megan
• School Nurse Appreciation Day
• Road Construction
• Roxbury Transition FAQ
• UES Caregivers Council - Save the Date!
• Harlem Wizards - Save the Date!
• Next MRPS School Board Meeting

To all of our amazing teachers - thank you for your dedication, unwavering support, and endless encouragement. We are so grateful for all that you do. There will be more fun surprises throughout the week. We appreciate you! Also, Pearl Street Pizza would like to offer free garlic bread to teachers from the 7th to the 11th. Thank you Pearl Street Pizza!

The Physical Education Department will be hosting our annual Family Fitness Night on May 8th from 5:30-7:00 PM. May is National Physical Fitness Month, and we're excited to celebrate with you! Fitness plays a crucial role in our physical wellness, and we're thrilled to have you join us to participate in the activities your kids are learning in PE.

K-2 Update

We are excited to share the latest updates from our Physical Education program. Grades K-2 focus on manipulative skills - dribbling, striking with a paddle, and volleying! Dribbling is a fundamental basketball skill. Our students have been honing their dribbling techniques by practicing ball handling, agility, and coordination, through fun and engaging activities.

Practicing the art of striking is essential for sports like tennis. Our students have developed striking skills by learning the proper grip, stance, and swing techniques. They have practiced striking with bats, rackets, and paddles to improve their accuracy, power, and timing.

Volleying involves hitting a ball back and forth mid-air, commonly used in volleyball. Our students have been mastering volleying skills by practicing hand-eye coordination, anticipation, and timing.

3-4 Updates

Third and fourth graders have been sharpening their set pass, bump pass, and underhand serve skills in volleyball. Volleying involves hitting a ball back and forth over a net in mid-air. Our students have been mastering volleying skills by practicing hand-eye coordination, anticipation, and timing. They have been working on successful volleys with their peers. This will culminate in volleyball games in the final week of the unit.

Spring has sprung in the UES Library. We continue our studies of books on the Vermont Book Award Lists for 2023-24. The Red Clover Book Award book nominees were highlighted during the week before break as the entire district celebrated reading. We’ll be collecting ballots, choosing our favorite Red Clover Book in the coming weeks. Our reading celebration included visiting author and illustrator Marty Kelley and the book fair, sponsored by the Caregiver’s Alliance. Each student received a free book of their choice to take home.

In kindergarten, we are making connections with spring and life cycles. We’re using fiction and non-fiction titles. First grade has started their bird study and we are expanding their exposure to works of fiction as it relates to our feathered friends. Second and Third graders are learning more about using our catalog and how to find what they are looking for in the library. Our Fourth graders are examining what skills they need to hone before heading over to the middle school.

All students continue to expand their research skills to find resources and recognize the importance of citing resources they use in their classwork. The library is also home to peer tutoring, small group study and professional development.

As the long term sub for the irreplaceable Ms. LaFleur, I have greatly enjoyed getting to know the Union Elementary musicians! They’ve welcomed me with open arms and we have worked together to learn new games, songs, and dances.

The kindergarten has been hard at work learning how to play xylophones and various percussion instruments. They would love to sing you the Hello Song!

First grade has been doing a deep dive into different instrument families- and I’ve brought in my viola and trombone (pictured). They can aurally recognize all of the instruments of the symphony!

In the second grade, we practiced reading music and performing our creations. We recently began a unit on the music of different landforms- like yodeling in the Alps!

Third grade amazed me with their recent hip-hop compositions! They worked together as classes to choose a hip-hop beat, write lyrics, and discuss their performance. Now, we are starting a unit on partner songs and rounds, so students can begin to add harmony to their musical tool belt as they continue to grow as composers.

Finally, the fourth grade wrapped up their recorder practice this spring! We learned songs such as Eye of the Tiger, We Will Rock You, and Dance Monkey. Lately, we’ve been practicing choral repertoire to help them make an informed decision for their middle school music class selections. Students have been enjoying the Vermont State Song, and never cease to amaze me with their musical talents.

The art room has been buzzing with busy artists carving, printing, painting, drawing, and crafting mixed media works. Over the past several weeks, kindergartners learned about street art and created mixed media dinosaurs based on Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Pez Dispenser.” They have also been learning about impressionism and creating watercolor resist water lily paintings inspired by Claude Monet.

First and second graders studied pop art and were inspired by Keith Haring’s dancing people, barking dogs, and radiating babies. They created colorful collages with lots of playful lines and movement. First graders also learned about Monet and studied several of his water lily paintings. They made beautiful, large water lilies out of painted paper. Second graders discovered Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Ladder to the Moon” and used paint and collage to create their own interpretations of the piece.

Third graders studied Georgia O’Keeffe’s abstract flower paintings. Then, they designed a zoomed-in composition of their own selected flower before drawing it with glue and adding color with chalk pastels. Third graders have also been creating large flowers, insects, and other creatures that will be incorporated into the All Species Day parade in Montpelier on May 5th.

Fourth graders recently finished a “Prints for Change” project. They thought deeply about what they hope to preserve for their future - from animal habitats to the Earth’s climate - or what they hope to change for the future, such as an end to social injustices, such as the housing crisis and world hunger. Fourth graders first sketched ideas on tracing paper, then transferred their composition to a rubber printing block. Then, they carefully carved the block with carving tools. When ready, they created a test proof (print) and revised their work as needed, before making many prints from their unique blocks.

The PE Department is gearing up to once again host our annual Family Fitness Night, this year for both UES and RVS families. It was a HUGE success last year and so fun to be moving and learning along with so many families. Get ready to move through 4 stations focused on the components of fitness: Cardio-Respiratory, Muscle Strength/Endurance, Stretching, and a Heart Health/Nutrition station. This year's event will be held on Wednesday, May 8th from 5:30-7:00pm at UES. We can't wait to see you there!

Jumping Beans 2024 was a great success! Jumping Beans began in 2013 as a way to bring kids together in celebration of jumping rope skills, community, and performance! Shout out to Max and Tara, pictured here!

We wanted to inform you that Measles cases are rising in the U.S., Canada, and other countries. Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that can be dangerous, especially for babies and young children. Symptoms usually start with a high fever, then a cough, runny nose, and red and watery eyes. A rash usually appears three to five days after the first symptoms. Babies, young children, and people with weak immune systems are at higher risk of getting very sick from measles. Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine are 97% effective against measles. If you are not up to date on immunizations, please check in with your primary care provider. Please check out the below links for more information:

• Measles informational letter for families
• VT Dept. of Health: What to Know About Measles

Happy School Nurse Appreciation Day to Nurse Megan! Thank you for not only keeping our community well informed, but for keeping our students, staff, and caregivers healthy. We are so lucky to have you!

It's that time of year! Stay up to date on road construction projects that may impact your commute this spring including a road resurfacing project happening in the City of Montpelier this week. Visit VT Agency of Transportation website for more information.

MRPS is working to ensure all caregiver and community questions about the Roxbury Village School transition are answered and that those answers can be seen by all our community members. Please take a moment to review this Roxbury Transition FAQ Document to learn more and please use this form to submit a question for addition to the FAQ doc.

The MRPS Board of School Directors Roxbury Transition Committee meets weekly on Tuesdays. Please visit the Roxbury Transition Committee website to learn more about their work and how to participate.

Join the UES Caregivers Council for Coffee & Conversations on Wednesday, May 29th at 8:15am!

The Harlem Wizards are coming to town. Please view this flyer for more information!

The MRPS Board of School Directors is meeting Wednesday, May 15th, 2024 at 6:30pm at MHS. Everyone is welcome to attend. Find the meeting agenda, minutes from past meetings, information about the work of the various School Board Committees, and more by visiting www.mrpsvt.org/school-board