UES Swoop Scoop
September 5, 2023
Picture Day This Thursday, November 30th
We are excited to have Lifetouch Photography take portraits of your child THIS Thursday, November 30th. Caregivers may pre order their child’s Lifetouch school portraits online using your credit or debit card. Go to mylifetouch.com and enter this Picture Day ID: EVT4MV4KP. If you wish to pay with a check, see the order forms that went home the week before break.
MRPS Lip Sync Returns!
Performance is FRIDAY JANUARY 19th
At the Montpelier High School Auditorium
ACT 1 Arrival: 5:00 pm 5:30 pm Showtime
ACT 2 Arrival: 6:30 pm 7:00 pm Showtime
*You will be assigned your act once registration closes
WHO CAN PERFORM?
Any UES or Roxbury student, friends (including students from our district schools), family members, staff or faculty can perform in the Lip Sync. UES and Roxbury Students will have priority to perform. The event will be from 5:00-8:30pm on January 19th. We can fit roughly 60 performances in the show (sounds like a lot but it fills quickly!!!). Please be sure to turn in your sign up as soon as possible. We will take registrations up to Thursday December 15th, but if the 60 slots are filled earlier, we will close registration early.
HOW SHOULD I PICK A SONG?
Each group must have three songs on their sign up sheet. You must choose three to ensure that each group performing will have a different song to perform. The committee will review the sign ups and select one of your pieces for you to perform so that there will be a variety of songs in the battle rather than the same piece performed six times!
This year we have a theme of “We’ve Got the Beat” which means, pick songs that have a great beat to jam to! Your family might have a few classics to share with you! Take time, listen to some great pieces, and pick something you can really groove to!
When selecting your pieces, please be mindful of the song lyrics. It is important to choose a song that you will feel comfortable presenting in front of an audience of young children and adults alike! Please be sure to listen to the song lyrics and decide if they are comfortable for your audience. If you are not sure, ask an adult. Songs that have swearing, complex messaging, or strong material will not be approved and your group will be asked to select another song. Sign Up Form Here!
Wise Owls & Winter Clothes!
November Safety Drill
This week, we will be doing a developmentally appropriate Options Based Response Drill with all of our K-4 students.This drill has been designed specifically for our K-4 students and will be discussion based. We would like to again thank Williston School's Safety Team for helping our UES Safety Team create a developmentally appropriate script for these drills last year, as they are required by the State of Vermont.
We will begin the drill with a friendly announcement over the intercom:
“Good Morning UES. This morning we are going to learn about a safety drill called a Lockdown. Please get your best listening ears ready for your teacher. This is a discussion-based practice. You can begin your discussions now.”
Teachers will then continue the drill in their classrooms:
“Thank you for being a part of this important practice. There may be a time when we have an unexpected emergency which requires us to stay in the classroom or leave the building quickly. For example - someone is hurt in the hallway or requires some type of help. Today we will discuss what we would do.”
“Today we are discussing what to do when we hear the word, Lockdown over the intercom.”
“Our first job is to get quiet and keep voices off (voice level zero)”
“Then, we will listen to the announcements very carefully to see if there is anything special I need to know”
“The second part of your job is to look at me and listen carefully for my directions.”
“Sometimes we will go to a special place in the classroom, shut the door and turn off the lights”
“Other times, I might tell you that we are leaving the classroom.”
Remember, your job is just to keep your voices off and follow my directions”
Now I will show you where we will go in the classroom if we stay inside.
We felt it was important for you to have the full script teachers will be using, it can be viewed here.
The goal is for these practices to ensure students have a strong understanding of the importance of having their best listening ears on and following directions in the case of an emergency.
UESCA News
The UES Caregivers Alliance (UESCA) is a collective of caregivers who support a welcoming, inclusive UES community. If you are a caregiver of a UES student, you are a UESCA member! We provide support for all caregivers, educators, staff, and family-centered school activities. You can access UESCA materials and notes on our webpage, here. Most of our coordinating activities are done through our Slack channel, which is open to all. This year, we will periodically meet in person to coordinate specific events and activities. Have a question or need? Have an idea you want to share? Email us at ues.families@gmail.com.
Volunteers Needed! Dec 5 Staff Appreciation Breakfast
UESCA is providing food, decorations and set up for the Tuesday December 5th, 2023 UES staff breakfast. We're looking for volunteers to bake or buy some food and set up decorations early Tuesday morning. Breakfast will be between 7:30-8:10 AM, set-up starts at 6:30 AM in the UES cafeteria. Click Here to sign up for various slots. For questions, email ues.families@gmail.com or call/text Chad at 802.451.8627. Let’s shine a 1000 lights of appreciation towards our fabulous UES staff! Thank you!
News From Nurse Megan
If your child becomes sick after school hours or on the weekends, please call your child’s pediatrician or primary care provider. Someone on call can walk you through the next steps. If your child has MILD symptoms, they may come to school. I do recommend that you test them for Covid with symptoms. Antigen kits come with 2 tests and are meant to give one right away and then the next antigen test, given 24 hours later.
UES Students should not come to school with cough drops, lozenges or hard candies. These are a choking hazard and make it really challenging to manage during the school day. We encourage you to send in a water bottle to help quiet a minor cough or sooth a mild sore throat.
For moderate to severe symptoms, please keep your child home until they are feeling better and are ready to learn. If a child develops a fever of 100.4 or more or is vomiting, please keep them home until these symptoms are gone for a full 24 hours without using fever reducing medication before having them return to school.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions that you have and I’ll get back to you during school hours. I look forward to working with you to support your children’s health care needs.
Fall UES Caregiver Feedback 2023-2024
Happy November UES Families!
I hope everyone enjoyed connecting with our truly fabulous educators last week during family conferences. Please take some time to complete the fall survey regarding your learner's experience at UES. Please note feedback will be requested again in March and June. We are excited to have a UES Caregivers Council established this year who will help us digest the feedback we receive, aiming to create the best learning experience possible for all UES learners. If you feel you don't have enough information to answer any of the questions, please don't hesitate to select "I don't know", that is good data for us as well.
Thanks for taking the time to help us grow!
Warmly,
Katie Barea - UES Principal
2023 Holiday Resources for MRPS Families
Toys for Tots
You can donate money or toys or request holiday support here: https://montpelier-vt.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/default.aspx?nPageID=0&nPreviewInd=0&nRedirectInd=3
You can also go meet with Toys for Tots in person in the Big Lots plaza in Berlin, next to Snap Fitness, to complete an application for support in person. They will be available Monday 11/13/23 through Friday 11/17/23, from 10 am to 12 noon. If you need further information, call Danny or Angie at (802) 495-8842.
Salvation Army
For Christmas / Winter holidays Food boxes are available. Toys sign ups are available. Call (802-476-5301) or use Facebook Messenger (The Salvation Army Barre, VT Corps) to contact them to set up an appointment to access these resources.
Just Basics, Inc. (Montpelier Food Bank)
Located in the back of the City Center at 89 Main Street, Montpelier, VT. Enter from the East State Street alleyway (just right of the parking garage entrance). The Montpelier Food Pantry provides a variety of nutritious, often local, fresh foods to individuals and families in the greater Montpelier area. The Food Pantry is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 10am-12pm.
Request Food Online (for in-person pickup): http://orders.justbasicsvt.org/ Please place your online order before 9am on your pick-up day.
The food pantry serves the communities of: Montpelier, E. Montpelier, Calais, Middlesex, Berlin, Worcester & Adamant.
If you would like to volunteer your time helping at the food pantry, please contact Dylan Fishman, Dylan@justbasicsvt.org
MRPS Pie Support
Every year, the MRPS PIE community raises money to directly support families in the Montpelier Roxbury School District. This is a meaningful way for neighbors to support neighbors and to share the love during the cold days ahead.
Our goal this year is to raise $10,000 by December 8th! If you can help, please donate here. And consider sharing this page - on social media, email, or any way you can! You might share with friends and family who live out of state, as our community has been supporting one another throughout the flood recovery, and while the need is greater, the resources may be depleting.
District Updates
Please check out these important updates from the district that include information about and calls for caregiver participation in the:
- 2024-2025 school budget: Learn more about this years budget pressures and attend the next school board meeting happening Wednesday, 11/29
- Future of MRPS Facilities: Attend the community workshop happening Tuesday, 12/5 and watch a video from the first workshop that happened on 11/14
- District Caregiver Council: Learn more about the Council and consider joining. The next meeting is happening Thursday, 12/21
Next MRPS School Board Meeting
The MRPS Board of School Directors is meeting Wednesday, November 29, 2023 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