EMES School Newsletter
September 8th, 2023
What's Happening at EMES
As I write this newsletter, I see many of you entering our building with your children to attend the student-led conferences today. Students and their teachers are excited to share with you all the learning that has taken place since January report cards. As a staff, we talk about the purpose of these conferences as opposed to teacher-led conferences, and it brings us such joy to see students take ownership of their learning and share evidence of this with you at this point in the spring. Teachers are always happy to meet with parents for a follow-up if there are concerns or specific questions that were not able to be answered during student-led conferences.
If you didn't see the Times Argus yesterday, EMES had a Happy Good Day on Wednesday, celebrating International Day of Happiness! Each EMES student and adult got a colorful Happy Good Day! shirt, designed by our very own third-grader, Rosie Bean. Celebrating the good at EMES is always on our minds and it was an especially fun day to celebrate alongside the rest of the world.
We are excited to kick off our two-week artist in residency next Monday morning with the Burlington Taiko Group. Stuart Paton of Burlington Taiko Group (BTG) will be teaching our students about Japanese culture and the art of Taiko. The residency will kick off with an exciting performance by several performers of BTG and culminate in a student performance at U32 on Thursday, April 4th at 6pm. Mark your calendars! For more information on Taiko Drumming, check out these sites:
Burlington Taiko Group: https://burlingtontaiko.org/
Kid World Citizen: https://kidworldcitizen.org/rhythmic-taiko-drumming-from-japan/#:~:text=Some%20experts%20say%20that%20the,instrument%20in%20the%20imperial%20court.
Videos:
Burlington Taiko group First Night performance:
https://www.youtube.com/wahtch?v=3dYwZ4gHKscVermont City Marathon: BTG have inspired runners to get to the top of the Battery St. hill for years!
By now, you have likely heard that we will NOT have school on Monday, April 8th due to the solar eclipse. Teachers are planning learning activities between now and then to help prepare and educate your child on solar eclipses. We have also purchased solar eclipse glasses, which will be given to each student before the 8th so they can safely view the eclipse from wherever they are. Let's hope for a clear, sunny day on the 8th!
I want to end this morning by sharing that the Washington Central Leadership Team has been working on crafting new budget numbers to present to the school board on Wednesday, April 3rd. For those of you who have been following these conversations, and want to stay apprised on the specifics of the newly presented budget numbers, I encourage you to attend the meeting on the 3rd. It will take place in person at Calais Elementary School, or virtually (link found on the district website). I will be away that week for a training, but will attend virtually. Thank you for staying engaged in these conversations!
Enjoy the sun today before the storm rolls in later this evening!
Alicia
Upcoming Dates to Note
Friday, March 22 - Student led conferences at EMES - no school for students
March 25 - April 5 - Taiko Drumming Residency at EMES for all EMES students!
Tuesday, March 26: EMES Book Club Grade 4 in the library
Friday, March 29: "Unspoken Word" performance by Stage 32 at U-32
Saturday, March 30: East Montpelier Rec Easter Egg Hunt
Wednesday, April 3: WCUUSD Board meeting at Calais - budget presentation
Thursday, April 4: 6PM Taiko Drumming Performance at U-32. Please join us!
Sunday, April 7: U-32 Craft Fair (date change!)
Monday, April 8: No school for students - Solar Eclipse Day
Tuesday, April 9 - Friday, April 18: VTCAP testing for all students in Grades 3 - 6
Tuesday, April 9: EMES Book Club Grades 5&6 in the library
Friday, April 12: Contemporary Dance Studio at EMES
Tuesday, April 16: Golden Dome Voting in EMES library - grades 4 - 6
Thursday, April 18: District Band Concert at U-32
April 22 - 26: April break!
Library News from Ms. Arlyn
Upcoming Book Club Dates:
EMES Book Club is a chance for students in grades 4 -6 to come together with peers to engage in activities related to a specific book. Titles for EMES book club are selected from the VT Golden Dome Book Award list.
March 26th from 3:30 to 5pm: Grade 4 Book Club for Maizy Chen's Last Chance
April 9th from 3:30 to 5 pm: Grades 5 & 6 The Last Mapmaker
April 16th from 3:30 to 5:30 pm: VT Golden Dome Voting Party for grades 4,5, & 6
Fox Tales Podcast
A new episode from Fox Tales is available now. Listen to it here:
https://shows.acast.com/6436a988c496e4001142736a/episodes/65d23924213c3000185340bc?
or check the announcements section of the EMES website at https://emes.wcuusd.org/
Fox Tales is a podcasting club made up of East Montpelier Elementary School 5th and 6th graders that meets at lunch in the library. Fox Tales seeks to share the stories of EMES with our broader community. Students collected audio last spring and this fall to create The EMES Field Day episode.
We hope you enjoy!
- Arlyn Bruccoli (EMES Librarian & Technology Integrationist) on behalf of Fox Tales
