EMES School Newsletter

Phew! These past seven days have been especially full at EMES! Last Friday, we had a picture-perfect day for our all-school hike. The weather was amazing, the leaves were beautiful, and everyone had a successful hike at one of the many locations around Vermont. On Wednesday, we started the day with picture day, moved into a very full Open House, and ended with a community forum and board meeting. It was wonderful to see so many of you following your children around as they showed you their classrooms and all that they've been learning these past six weeks. We rounded out this week with an incredible all-district Fall Festival. In all, nearly 600 students and over 100 staff from all five elementary schools participated in this day together. Ask your child how this day went for them!

As we look ahead, we are starting to make plans for our annual Gifts for Giving during the school day on November 20th. Students will make hand-made gifts for family and loved ones. That evening, we will have our second-annual Soup for the Soul dinner here at EMES. All EMES families and community are welcome to join!

I hope you have a great long weekend with your kiddos. We look forward to seeing them back on Tuesday!

Best,

Alicia

Friday, October 10: Community Fall Festival at EMES

Monday, October 13: Indigenous Peoples Day - no school

Saturday, October 25: Trunk or Treat and Monster Mash at Peck Farm

November 10: Parent/Teacher Conferences - no school

November 20: Gifts for Giving during the school day

November 20: Soup for the Soul Dinner 5:00 - 6:30

November 24 - 28: Thanksgiving Break - no school

Come join the Families of Color Affinity Group for our first meeting of the year!

We will be meeting at U-32 from 5:30-7:00 on Thursday, October 16.

The Family of Color group is a space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) parents and/or parents of BIPOC students, to come together to discuss how things are going at school. We are a safe space to share concerns, ask questions and engage in advocacy and change throughout the district.

Below is an incomplete list of the activities/efforts we have engaged in over the past three years

• Met with Alyssa Chen of the Education Justice Coalition spoke with the group about opportunities for advocacy

• Met with admin about racial incident which led to changes in communication to families

• Met with the student rep for the Curriculum committee in regards to work they are doing

• Provided feedback for District Equity Policy, Core Beliefs and Strategic Plan

• Met with Restorative Practices facilitators to discuss growth in the program

• Spoke with Principal in regards to ongoing PD for staff

• FOC members joined the Humanity and Justice Coalition for a mtg to provide feedback

• Provided opportunities for PD from other organizations, as well as participation in conferences and camp

• Engage with Curriculum Committee

• Bring equity work into elementary schools

• Have a presence on the District Humanity and Justice Coalition

• Continuous work/feedback on policies/procedures

For this first meeting, we will take time to get to know each other and identify areas of strengths and challenges, as well as meet with Bec, the Community Schools Coordinator, to discuss how we can continue to create community for our families within the schools.

If you are interested in attending, please email at neckart@gmail.com

I hope to see you there!

Natasha Eckart