MUMS Family Newsletter

Dear MUMS community,

We had a wild weather week as we entered the month of December! In some ways the weather mirrored how the month of December feels at MUMS.

This week marks the beginning of our winter sports season. We had lots of excited student athletes gearing up for Basketball, Wrestling and Gymnastics! Thanks to our coaches and assistant coaches who have put so much time into their teams. Without you, none of this would be possible.

Additionally, we hosted our Student Council elections this week. Running for student council offers students valuable lessons in leadership, teamwork, democracy and communication and it requires candidates to be principled, balanced risk takers. Please accept my heartfelt thank you to all the students who dedicated time and effort to run for student council, showcasing their commitment to our school. Lastly, congratulations to the newest members of the 2025-2026 student council, your leadership journey is just beginning!

I hope you all stay warm and have a great weekend!

Best,

Michaela Wisell ~ Principal

If you have questions, please reach out to us:
MUMS office 802-382-1600 or visit the MUMS website.
Michaela Wisell, Principal mwisell@acsdvt.org

Fieh Chan, Assistant Principal fchan@acsdvt.org

Erin Jipner, Student Response Coordinator ejipner@acsdvt.org

Dustin Hunt, Athletics and Activities Director dhunt@acsdvt.org

• Dec. 9th: 8th Grade trip to Town Hall Theatre

• Dec. 10th: Early Release Day (12:45 Dismissal)

• Dec. 10th: Relocation Drill

• Dec. 24th-Jan. 2nd: School Break

• Activities Calendar

Greetings MUMS Caregivers!

Perfectly timed with our snowy week, our 6th grade Language and Literature classes have been exploring a snowy adventure unit about Mount Everest with reading, writing, and sensory boxes!

In the unit, “Let’s go on an adventure!”, students with Ms. Bauer, Ms Luce and Mr Petrosino are learning about writing with sensory language.

After some inquiry research about Mount Everest, students built these really cool sensory boxes! The boxes included 2 senses, and students created everything from cold ice, snow, mint smells, food smells, butter tea, hot chocolate, frozen hands, climbing rope, view box of mountain vistas, and more! The students really got into the creativity and enjoyed experiencing the sensory boxes. Students then wrote sentences using sensory vocabulary to talk about Mount Everest. They will also be reading No Summit Out of Sight by Jordan Romero.

As one of the culminating assessments, students will write a well-composed narrative from the point of view of a Sherpa or climber on Mount Everest, incorporating rich sensory words into their writing. This allows students to explore the key concept of self-expression while building vocabulary and writing skills.

Our theme for our spirt day which is hosted on Early Release Days is NEON! Please consider showing some school spirit on Wednesday December 10th, 2025

We would like to inform you about an important safety drill scheduled for Wednesday, December 10th, 2025. Earlier this year, we communicated about practicing Options-based drills and additionally, we've practiced egress drills. In the month of December, we will be focusing specifically on "Relocation." The relocation procedure is a crucial step to ensure the safety of our students and staff in the event of an emergency that requires us to move to a safer location. As with any safety drill, practicing this procedure is vital.

Our MUMS School Safety Team has been diligently refining our relocation protocol, and we are now ready to conduct a practice drill with staff and students. Students will participate in this exercise “on team,” with guidance from our School Safety Team. Our primary relocation site is the Middlebury Recreation Center which is where we will relocate to on the 10th. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Thank you for your continued support.

Hello MUMS Families! We are organizing a Staff Appreciation Brunch for faculty and staff members at MUMS! The brunch will be Thursday December 11th, 2025. This is a great way to celebrate the wonderful staff at our middle school with a delicious brunch buffet. If you would like to contribute by bringing items for the brunch, please indicate on the sign up below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F48A5AA2EA2F8C43-60677183-friends

"The charge of the Wellness Policy Working Group is to monitor, support, and evaluate the implementation of Addison Central School District’s local wellness policy (C9). The working group will assess the policy’s impact on student health, nutrition, and overall well-being, ensuring alignment with state and federal requirements as well as district priorities. The group will provide recommendations for policy adjustments and implementation strategies to ensure that the district fosters environments that promote healthy lifestyles and student success. We welcome students, staff, families, and community members who are passionate about wellness to join our group. Please reach out to Dr. Sonya Oefelein at soefelein@acsdvt.org for more information or to join our next meeting."

If your student will be absent from school, needs an early dismissal, or will take a different bus, please follow these directions:

• Absence / early dismissal: Call 802-382-1297, the MUMS attendance line, before 8:30am (helpful tip: add this number to your phone now as "MUMS attendance line")
• Early dismissal + bus notes: Students must deliver a caregiver's note to the front office when arriving at school (before TA).
• If taking a bus other than their regular bus: Students must bring a caregiver's note and have it signed by a MUMS Administrative Assistant in the front office to be valid.

Please use the "button" above to preview our ACSD bus routes.

Also please note a few caveats that impact students who ride Cornwall or Shoreham buses home.

Cornwall and Shoreham buses do not come to MUMS at pick-up time. Students who ride those buses must take a shuttle from MUMS to MUHS to meet their bus.

Cornwall students use the Bridport bus as their MUMS-MUHS shuttle and get on the Cornwall bus at the High school to ride home.
Shoreham students use the Weybridge bus as their MUMS-MUHS shuttle and get on the Shoreham bus at the High school to ride home.

We are so excited to welcome parents and community members back into our buildings this year! If you are interested in substitute teaching or volunteering this year, please start an application now!

If you are interested in joining our new Friends of MUMS group, email friendsofmums@gmail.com