Mary Hogan Family Newsletter

Dear Mary Hogan Families,

It is a busy season here at school. One time that is particularly busy is arrival and dismissal. These times have been moments of frustration for some of you. We have been working with families to improve what we do. Together, we developed suggestions on how to make these times a little less stressful:

• Walk and bike to school when you can - even if you live over by MUMS, you can walk or bike to school with your child. You can even talk with neighbors and share the responsibility. Students love getting out to walk and roll in the morning!
• Consider parking at the Memorial Sports Center and walking with your child over to Mary Hogan. You can even let them walk by themselves if you feel they don't need support. This will be much faster most days than going through regular drop off an pick up line.
• Be patient. Families are doing their best to get through the line and while Chris Pratt is out there daily, he can't make the light speed up. Just be patient even though I know waiting is so hard.

We are also working with the town on the light and possible new routes for cars in the fall.

If you are going to ride your bike, please do not ride it on the sidewalk where it gets congested with walkers. It is safer to just walk the bike in these places. Thanks for your help with this.

Finally, for drop off, we are asking families not to pick up by Hawk Zone but instead by the parking lot and swings area. It is hard for teachers to ensure student safety when they are leaving their class at mulitple points. Thanks for your help with this!

💙, Jen

Monday May 19 - 3pm - MESA Meeting on the playground!

Tuesday May 20 - Kindergarteners do yoga with Prem Prakash thanks to MESA funding

Wednesday May 21 - MESA sponsored faculty & staff lunch

Thursday May 22 - 5th grade to Montshire Museum

Monday May 26 - No School, Memorial Day

Tuesday May 27 - Kindergarteners do yoga with Prem Prakash thanks to MESA funding

Wednesday May 28 - morning - 5th graders go to MUMS for Move Up Day

• 3rd grade goes to the Swing Bridge

Thursday May 29 - Field Day! and VT Department of Health Puppets visit grades pk-3

Kindergarteners were amazing leaders of our May All School Meeting. They led us in some favorite songs - and a dance that got us moving. They were knowledgeable about what is living and nonliving - as well as being knowledgeable about how to be great leaders. We were SO lucky to have them lead us in our last All School Meeting of the year! Way to go, Kindergarten!

This past Wednesday was a Walk and Roll to School Day. It was a perfect day for it, with warm temperatures and clear skies. The Student Council worked with Middlebury Safe Routes and found out that over 68% of our school walked, biked, carpooled, or took the bus on Wednesday! Woohoo! Way to go. We also calculated percentage of each class who participated. Here are the top 3 classes:

1. Ms. Corrigan's class with 95% - Muddy Boot Award winners!
2. Miss Delaynah's class with 90%
3. Mrs. Raymond's class with 88%

5th graders were doing some gelli plate printing in art. This printmaking allows students to work on creating different prints with different materials and colors, so that they are each original prints. Check out the artists below.

Two of Mr. Ceci's former students reached out to him about giving a more in-depth presentation of their Exhibition topic as part of them "taking action" and informing students about the problems they were trying to address related to climate change and pollution, both on land and in water. They had a chance to present in his class and help younger students understand the impacts of climate change and pollution. They were also a great model of what taking action can look like for the 3rd graders.

The 5th graders in Jessica McColly's class named their class the "Birdwatchers" this fall. All year, they have been doing different activities that connect with birds - from keeping a class list of the birds they see out the window of their room to visiting the VT Bird Museum with their kindergarten buddies. This week, they had a chance to learn about bird banding from experts. They went out to Crown Point and learned how birds are caught, why they are banded, and how this helps scientists. They also got to release some of the birds. What a great opportunity for the Birdwatchers to help the birds!

The 4th grade headed up to Burlington on Thursday to explore the exhibits at the Echo Leahy Center. There, they had a chance to learn more about Rube Goldberg machines - big machines that are overly complicated but do simple things. This was just one exhibit where they did a lof of exploration of physics and engineering while they were there. They had an awesome time!

Here are some highlights coming up:

• Mini Golf - Sunday, May 18th from 3-5pm - Mini Golf is back! Mini Golf Signup
• Teacher Luncheon - Wednesday, May 21st - if you would like to donate lunch for your teacher or a staff member at Mary Hogan, you can venmo us (venmo.com/MESAMaryHoganSchool) or send in a check to school (made payable to MESA). You can also donate items by signing up here: Teacher Lunch Signup.
• Vermont Lake Monsters Game - Saturday, May 31st - First pitch at 3:05pm. Ticket Link
• Mary Hogan Field Day - Thursday, May 29th w/ a June 2nd rain date - We will need a lot of volunteers to help run this event. If you would like to help, please email us at mesa@acsdvt.org! You must be registered as an official volunteer with ACSD.
• Dance Party - Friday, June 13th 5-7pm - come celebrate the end of the school year with your friends and family (not a drop-off event). NEW THIS YEAR - from 7-8pm, the dance will be open for rising 6th graders and their families only. This will be their final event as a class before heading to middle school.

Our teachers and staff are amazing! At ACSD, we turn Teacher Appreciation Week into Teacher & Staff Appreciation Month. You can help! Share an appreciation HERE.

• Parents ~ Ask your child if a teacher or grown-up has done something to make their school day better. Open the form and fill it out together or share something you have appreciated!

• Students ~ ALL appreciations matter...but hearing your words is especially meaningful!

The form will be open all month. You can also nominate our ACSD Teacher & Staff of the Year awards (presented at our August 2025 staff Welcome Back week)!

Want to know more about the Volunteer Process? Check out more information HERE.