MUMS Family Newsletter

Dear MUMS community,

We had another busy, but productive week at MUMS! The sunshine and warm weather has been such a treat and allowed many classes to get outside and soak it up!

This week a group of our Peer Pals presented at the Vermont Association of Middle level educators (VAMLE) conference. This group of students did a remarkable job preparing for their presentation and have been pivotal in implementing this new program that supports our 6th grade transition.

Additionally, we had a group of band and choir students participate in our first annual MUMS roadshow. This event is designed to introduce our rising 6th graders to the middle school, teach them a bit about electives and share what it's like to be a middle schooler at MUMS! Again, our students rose to the occasion! They will visit Mary Hogan and Weybridge later in the month.

I hope that you all have a great weekend and thank you for your partnership.

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

• Mar. 18th - Bus Evacuation Drill
• Mar. 19th - Parent/Teacher Conferences PM (IN PERSON ONLY)
• Mar. 20th - Parent/Teacher Conferences AM (VIRTUAL ONLY)
• Mar. 20th - Inservice (no school for students)
• Mar. 20th: Jukebox Jubilee - 7:00-10:00 @ Notte. (more information below)
• Mar. 23, 24, 25: Science VTCAP assessment for 8th graders

• Activities Calendar

Greetings MUMS Caregivers!

7th grade students have been hard at work conducting a number of investigations in their science classes!

With Mr. Montague and Ms. Holderness, 7th grade students are learning about “Chemis-tree”: chemical changes and interactions. Students predict how varying the amounts of reactants (pictured here, baking soda and vinegar in a flask) will affect amounts of product (here, CO2 captured in a balloon). They’ve also explored glow stick reactions with varying temperatures, and Alkaseltzer reactions with varying surface area.

These hands-on explorations lead to understandings about dependent and independent variables, how to conduct a scientific investigation, and understanding chemical reactions. Next they will be tackling chemical reactions in plants: photosynthesis and cellular respiration just in time for the spring leaves!

💡Talk to your student: Be an observer: with the changing seasons and daylight, what can we observe about nature around us? About our solar system? How is the scientific method and scientific knowledge different from observations or other forms of knowledge?

Dear MUMS Families,

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday March 19th from 4:00 - 7:30pm, and Friday March 20th from 8:00am - 12:00pm.

• Conferences hosted on Thursday March 19th, 2026 will be IN PERSON ONLY.

• Conferences hosted on Friday March 20th, will be VIRTUAL ONLY.

• Please sign up HERE via PTCFast to indicate which teachers and times you would like to meet.

Conference sign ups will close on Monday March 16th at 7:30am. If you have any questions regarding this process please contact Megan Curran at mcurran@acsdvt.org.

MUMS had 6 students this past week head over to NH to test their geography skills at the Northern New England regional competition. These students have been working together with a caregiver since December to research and learn geography, culture, and history and they all did really well in the competition. We had a 1st place, 2nd place and 4th place finisher. These three also qualified for nationals and internationals for the Geography Bee. We are super proud of our students. They worked hard but most of all they encouraged one another and cheered each other on throughout the entire competition! Congratulations!

There is currently one open seat on the ACSD Board for a representative living in Middlebury. If you live in Middlebury and are interested in serving on the ACSD Board, please write to board@acsdvt.org. If you do not live in Middlebury but know a Middlebury resident who would make a great Board representative, encourage them to contact board@acsdvt.org. The Board plans to appoint someone to fill this seat at the March 23rd meeting of the ACSD Board.

The Jukebox Jubilee fundraiser in support of the annual 8th Grade Class Trip to Boston is returning by popular demand! Clint Bierman (father of Sam in 8th grade) is bringing The Grift Trio back to Notte (operated by Holmes Jacobs and Megan Brady, parents of Piper in 8th grade) on Friday, March 20. Doors open at 7pm for mingling and early bidding; music and dancing from 8pm.

This year tickets will not be sold in advance. Instead, the event will be first-come/first-served, to try to accommodate as many attendees as possible. A $20 door charge will go to the class trip fund. (As much as we love our kiddos, please note that this event is intended to be a fun, adults-only night out.)

How it works: Attendees will scan a QR code that will allow them to bid on songs in The Grift’s extensive catalog in real time! The songs with the highest bids (or earliest time-stamp, in the event of equal bids) will be played first! Feel free to bid multiple times! You will only be charged for the songs that you bid on that are played. A competitive spirit is welcomed and encouraged!

If you aren’t able to attend and would like to support the cause, please click this link to gift a donation!

The $20 door charge, all proceeds from song bids (played), and 25% of Notte sales from the evening will go to the class trip fund!

Please note that full dinner service is not able to be provided this year, but the evening is timed so that attendees can dine out or at home before the event. Additionally, food can be ordered in Notte from the Two Brothers Tavern kitchen.

Thank you for supporting the 8th Grade Class Trip tradition, and many thanks to The Grift for making the evening possible!

Please use this link 2026 Spring Sports Signup to sign your student up for various spring athletic offerings. Spring athletics will tentatively start on Monday April 6th (weather permitting). Practice schedule and coaching assignments will be available later in March.

Here are the athletic programs we offer in the Spring:

• Baseball- Open to 7th/8th Graders
• Softball- Open to 7th/8th Graders
• Boys Lacrosse- Open to 7th/8th Graders
• Girls Lacrosse- Open to 7th/8th Graders
• Track and Field- Open to all MUMS Students
• Ultimate Frisbee- Open to all MUMS Students

*6th Graders interested in playing Baseball, Softball or Lacrosse should register through Middlebury Parks and Recreation*

Dustin Hunt

Activities/Athletic Director

Middlebury Union Middle School

802-382-1213

If you will have a child who will be 3 years old by September 1, 2026, and you are interested in enrolling in an ACSD preschool for the 2026-2027 school year, please read more here and fill out this interest survey by March 31st, 2026.

Memory Books are now available to purchase for $20 each. They are expected to arrive in early June.

We are asking that anyone who would like to purchase a Memory Book this year do so as soon as possible. There will not be many books available to purchase after the fact this year, so we are encouraging students to fill out this order form, which they have received in TA. Please submit all order forms with a Cash or Check payment (payable to MUMS), to Gail Williams in the Main Office. Order forms are available in both the Counseling Office and the Main Office.

If purchasing a Memory Book presents a financial hardship for your family, please don’t hesitate to contact Dustin Hunt for support at dhunt@acsdvt.org or (802)382-1213.

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