UES Swoop Scoop
September 5, 2023
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
November Kindness Club - This Week!
Kindness Club Returns! Kindness Club at UES is a group that meets once a month on Wednesdays after school from 3-4pm in the school library. Our mission is to spread kindness throughout our school community, and beyond. We start each meeting with a light snack, and discussion, and spend the rest of our meeting time engaged in a kindness project. Learners sign-up for each individual meeting that they are able to attend.
Any student in 2nd-4th grade is welcome to attend. Sign Up Here for the November 15th meeting.
News From Nurse Megan
Below are dates of two Covid and Flu vaccine clinics that are walk-in only for ages 6 months to 64 years old. They are put on by Waterbury Ambulance:
November 18th Saturday: 9:00am-4:00pm Montpelier High School
November 19th Sunday: 9:00am-4:00pm Harwood Union High School
There are also appointments that you can make online for other clinics for Covid and Flu vaccines that the Waterbury Ambulance is hosting. For more information on the clinics see this website:
https://www.waterburyambulance.org/vaccinations.html
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.
Picture Day - November 30th
We are excited to have Lifetouch Photography take portraits of your child on 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, order forms will be sent home in backpacks this week.
Girls on the Run Coaches Needed at UES!
Volunteer to be a Girls on the Run coach for Union Elementary School this spring! The impact of a Girls on the Run volunteer coach is as boundless as it is beautiful. Girls on the Run is an afterschool program that uses a research based curriculum to empower, increase self-worth and spark joy in its participants.
Not a runner? Haven’t coached before? No problem! Girls on the Run VT (GOTRVT) provides training, easy to follow lesson plans, supplies and support for a transformational season. Our season begins the week of March 18, 2024, and ends with a celebratory 5K on Saturday June 1st. The team will meet twice weekly for 90 minute sessions to connect, move, learn and have FUN! Fun fact, this is GOTRVT’s 25th anniversary season!
Visit gotrvt.org/coach to learn more or sign up to volunteer. Questions? Contact GOTRVT at info@girlsontherunvermont.org or 802-871-5664.
Local Resource for Holiday Support from your UES Social Worker
It's hard to believe, but we are approaching the winter holidays already! If your family could use some extra support this holiday season, here is a local resource that you might find helpful. As more information and resources become available, I will continue to share them here with our community.
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 daily this week, Monday through Friday, from 10 am to 12 noon. If you need further information, call Danny or Angie at (802) 495-8842.
Annual Family Support Fund - Please Donate and/or Share
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, 11/15
Future of MRPS Facilities: Attend community workshops happening Tuesday, 11/14 and Tuesday, 12/5
District Equity Audit: Complete a survey and learn about an opportunity to connect 1:1 with the auditors
District Caregiver Council: Learn more about the Council and consider joining. The next meeting is happening Thursday, 11/16
Next MRPS School Board Meeting
The MRPS Board of School Directors is meeting Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 6:30pm at RVS. 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