UES Swoop Scoop

• MRPS Semester #1 Report Card Letter From Elementary Principals
• Everybody Wins! Raffle
  
• January Curriculum Coffee Resources
• UESCA News
• News From Nurse Megan
• Next MRPS School Board Meeting

Dear MRPS Elementary Learner Families,

We are just about halfway through the 2023-2024 school year. MRPS teachers continually monitor the progress of all learners, to ensure that every day we are meeting them exactly where they are on their personal learning journey. At our elementary schools, we officially report out to families on our grade level priority standards, twice a year, on a report card. Next week, you will receive an envelope in the mail, where you will find your learner’s Semester 1 Report Card for the 2023-2024 school year. For families who have been at MRPS prior to this year, you will notice this is a new report card. MRPS administrators and teachers have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure curricular alignment across our K-12 schools and that our district report cards are informative, digestible, and uniform for our district families. If you have a learner in more than one MRPS building, you will notice both the format and reporting on the new report cards look the same across all MRPS buildings.

Each learner’s report card has a lot of information on it, some of which may not be familiar to you due to the Level of Mastery scales we use to describe learner progress. It’s important to distinguish between the numbers on the report card and traditional final grades (A, B, C, etc.) that many of us are used to -- the picture above is the mastery scale you'll see on the first page:

The mastery scale based on growth and progress. The new report card has the following scoring options: 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, and 4. A score of .5 represents that a learner is displaying skills from the proficiency level above and below, but neither solidly yet.

The numbers themselves should not be looked at as final grades; in other words, a “1” should not be considered an “F”, nor should a “4” be considered an “A”. The numbers simply indicate how your learner is progressing at the halfway point of this school year.

Proficient, a score of “3”, is the targeted benchmark for our students by the end of the year. There will be numerous situations where a majority of our students aren't proficient yet given that we're only halfway through the academic year. It’s important to know, however, that areas in which a child falls lower on the scale, that expectation (a “1”, “1.5”, “2”, “2.5”) still indicate progress or growth. At this point in the year, we hope to see our learners Getting There in the Priority Standards assessed, which in turn will hopefully lead to Proficient or Above & Beyond in June!

Once you have received your learner’s report card the week of February 5th, feel free to reach out to building administrators with any clarifying questions about reporting in general or your learner’s teacher with questions specific to their academic progress. Please also mark your calendars for our Spring Family Conferences which will take place on Thursday afternoon, March 21st and all day on Friday, March 22nd. While we encourage families to reach out to teachers at any time, Family Conference Day is another great opportunity to connect with your learner’s teacher, discuss continued progress, and visit our beautiful buildings.

Thank you for your continued partnership and supporting your MRPS learner on their learning journey.

Warmly,

MRPS Elementary Principals, Katie Barea (UES) & Shannon Miller (RVS)

Thanks to the caregivers who made it to our first Curriculum Coffee focused on Literacy. Below are the slides for those interested in the information that was shared.

Please also check out the growing MRPS Family Curriculum Site.

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.

Caregiver Volunteers Needed for Upcoming Activities
Have you wanted to volunteer for UES activities, but haven’t had the chance? Well, now is the time! UESCA is once again organizing UES Loves Books, an annual celebration of books and reading held each spring. In the past, we’ve worked with Bear Pond Books and celebrated authors to offer free books for all learners and a chance to hear from local and international children’s authors. Also, we are organizing more teacher appreciation activities, including PIE Day (we serve pies to staff!), Teacher Appreciation Day in May (usually a breakfast) and an end of year celebration. If you are interested in any of these opportunities, email us at ues.families@gmail.com.

Good habits to help keep you and your family healthy:

1. Avoid close contact with those that are sick.

2. Stay home when you are having moderate or severe symptoms of illness

3. Wash your hands with soap and water throughout the day, but especially after blowing your nose, coughing or using the bathroom.

4. Cover your cough with your elbow or tissue

5. Avoid touching your face, that can easily spread more germs

6. Get plenty of rest each night

7. Drink plenty of water

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.

The MRPS Board of School Directors is meeting Wednesday, February 7, 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