EMES School Newsletter

What a gorgeous week of weather we've had! I can't think of a more beautiful evening for trick-or-treaters last night, and the fresh air at recess today was incredible. I am doing another series of read alouds in classrooms to kick off the month of November, and the story I read today talked about the first snow fall this time of year. It's hard to imagine snow on days like this!

We had an overall very successful PTNO sponsored Monster Mash last Friday evening and the addition of having the outdoor area for pumpkins kept the crowds down inside the building. Mrs. Zeilenga and I talked about some ways to make this event better for next year. While this much-loved night takes place at EMES, it is not staffed by teachers who are here to supervise children. We ask parents to come with their children and "actively parent" their children, which means keeping eyes on them at all times. Unfortunately, when such exciting events like the Monster Mash aren't well supervised, things happen that could easily be avoided with more supervision. Unfortunately, Mr. Sherwin spent the better part of his week dealing with the after effects of the Monster Mash this week. Next year, there will be some changes that we think will improve the overall experience for everyone here. I am very happy to announce that the proceeds from the Monster Mash donations will fully fund our Soup for the Soul dinner later this month.

As you know, voting will take place at EMES next Tuesday. I want to assure you that we have taken added measures to ensure student safety on this day, and while we love our community using our beautiful school for things like voting, we also work to limit interactions between students and the general public on this day. K-6 students will use the music room doors for entry and at the end of the day. We will also have breakfast and lunch in classrooms and will provide library and PE instruction in classrooms and outdoors. I have also worked with the Washington County Sheriff's Department who will provide a sheriff at our school for the duration of the time students are at school. We're looking forward to a smooth day, despite some changes to our regular routines.

I hope you all have a great first weekend of November and we look forward to greeting your children back next week. If you haven't signed up yet and would like to join us on November 21st for our first Soup for the Soul dinner, please do so here!

Best,

Alicia

November 5: Election Day - voting at EMES

November 6: WCUUSD Board Meeting at Doty Memorial School 6:15

November 7: 9am Vermont Plow Day - SS Snow Scout visits EMES

November 8: 12:00 - 1:00: All-school celebration

November 11: Parent/Teacher Conference Day - no school

November 20: WCUUSD Board Meeting at U-32 6:15

November 21: Annual Gifts for Giving Day

November 21: Soup for the Soul Dinner

November 25 - 29: Thanksgiving break - no school

At our open house we shared information about how we use technology at EMES and some connections for home. If you were unable to join us for that presentation, please see the homepage of the EMES website for a link to a recording of the presentation and to resources that were shared.

Thank you to Doy Memorial School for inviting our 5th & 6th grade students to hear VT author Katherine Arden. Our students not only listened to Katherine Arden speak about her work as a writer, but also were able to ask questions and get books, bookmarks, or posters signed.

The U-32 Varsity Girls and Boys Basketball teams will be holding a pair of youth basketball clinics on Nov. 2 and Nov. 16 at U-32 from 9-11 a.m. Cost is $25 and a camp t-shirt is included.

This event is open to anyone 1st to 8th grade (boy or girl) and does not need to be a district resident either. For more information, click on this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1UwebBHGVslf_Dxj9wFjWpGMvlNjO8Lnu5qnvWIIDqU8/viewform?edit_requested=true.

4th Graders had their first afterschool book club. The book had a NASA connection and Ms. Gallagher arranged for a family friend John Carey who is an instrument manager at NASA.

An Instrument Manager is tasked with leading the development of a remote sensing instrument. In my case it is the Solar Wind Plasma Sensor (SWiPS) Instrument for the Space Weather Follow Mission (SWFO) Mission at Lagrange Point 1 (L1). This instrument is tasked with measuring the velocity (speed and direction), the density, and the temperature of the solar wind at L1. The SWFO-L1 mission is an operational mission and the SWiPS Instrument is required to operate for greater than 99% of the time it is in orbit with a mission life of five years once delivered into orbit. In my role as Instrument Manager I have to work with many engineers from multiple disciplines and other managers at both NASA and at the vendor which is performing the development of the SWiPS Instrument and also at the vendor that is developing the Spacecraft Observatory on which the SWiPS Instrument will be flown."

4th graders connected to a video call with John Carey, saw images of the spacecrafts involved, learned about his work, and asked him questions. At book club these students also participated in a discussion activity about Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruq.

The Family of Color Affinity Group was created to provide space for families to connect with our community, participate in ongoing learning , and advocate for our students. Over the past two years we have met with the Restorative Practices facilitators, the U-32 Admin Team, representatives from the Student Curriculum Council, and the Humanity and Justice Coalition. Additionally we have provided feedback on the Strategic Plan and several District Policies. We also meet with community organizations like the Education Justice Coalition, to learn about additional resources and events that are of interest to us and our students.

This year, in order to increase outreach beyond U-32 and into the Elementary Schools, we have asked all District Administrators to share this information in their newsletter on a monthly basis. In this way, we hope to engage more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) families to come and join us. In this case, a BIPOC family could have parents and students who identify as people of color, or just students who identify as people of color.

November's meeting will be held at the Berlin Elementary Library on Tuesday, November 19th from 5:30-7:00. If you are interested in attending that meeting, please fill out this google form.