Mary Hogan Family Newsletter

Dear Mary Hogan Families,

We have one more week until break but it is a FULL ONE!

• Student Council is organizing a Spirit Week so check out the days below and we hope everyone has fun showing their school spirit.
• We also have a twice rescheduled Book Character Dress Up Day on Tuesday as well as a rescheduled Literacy Night on Tuesday Night at 5.45.
• There is a Band and Chorus Concert on Wednesday Night at 6.30. Students will get a preview on Wednesday afternoon in an All School Meeting!
• Our last event of the week will be the end of the Readathon! On Friday 2/21 at 2pm, we will have our closing ceremony of the Readathon, including a video and if everyone did their reading a principals' challenge. What silly things will we have to do this year?!

We hope you will join us for some of the fun next week and will support your children in this fun, too!

💙, Jen

Monday 2/17 - morning skating - 9.30 - McColly/Franny, 10.30 - Collins/Bibb

Tuesday 2/18 - Book Character Dress Up Day!

• Author Visit - Ted Scheu visits Preschool
• 5.45pm - Literacy Night

Wednesday 2/19 - Free Book Give Away!

• morning skating - 9.30 - Levesque/Schondube, 10.30 - Poulin/Sears
• 2pm - All School Meeting - Concert Rehearsal
• 6.30 - Winter Chorus and Band Concert

Wednesday 2/19-Saturday 2/22 - Vermont Book Shop special event to benefit Mary Hogan. Mention "Hawks" at checkout. More info below!

Thursday 2/20 - Author Visit - Ashley Wolff visits Kindergarten

Friday 2/21 - TURN IN READING LOGS

• 2pm - Readathon Closing Ceremony

Saturday 2/22-3/2 - February Break

Wednesday 2/26 - Benefit Bake at American Flatbread to benefit MESA!

Tuesday 3/3 - March Family/Teacher Conferences

After break, we will be working with students on writing notes of kindness to one another. If you have any note cards you want to contribute, please send them in next week so we can get organized. We are looking forward to helping students share how caring they are with others who are also caring!

We will have Breakfast for Lunch on Monday for lunch instead of what is on the paper menu. Thanks for your understanding.

Students in Kindergarten will be skating with 5th grade buddies next week but this week the 3rd and 4th graders had their last times on the ice at the rink and they LOVED it. They had fun and learned more about this fun and healthy life sport. Thanks to Mrs. Palmer and Ms. Bull for getting us out and skating!

The students were incredibly interested as VINS raptor, Westford, and handler, Mya, came to visit preschool this week. Students asked thoughtful questions about Westford. He is a Kestrel that was found in Westford, VT (hence the name). The children asked about "how fast can he fly?"and "how high can he fly?"

They also learned about birds' different kinds of wings and their different diets. Thank you to the Otter Creek Audubon Society for supporting our young learners!

As part of the Readathon this week, MUHS students read with Mary Hogan students and we also had 5th graders reading with 2nd graders!

It was super fun and we are so grateful for the MUHS students who came over. They were fun, great role models, and showed that reading is pretty fun no matter what school you are in!

February's Harvest of the Month is winter squash. This month we will be cooking on Zoom on Monday 2/17 at 5.30pm. We make a vegetarian banh mi and carrot cake cupcakes.

There is a quick turn around. Sign up below by 2/15 if you want to Cook with NOM on 2/17. You will get an email on Sunday 2/16 with the link and info about the food coming home with your child on Monday.

MESA has been busy planning lots of fun events and fundraisers!

Read-A-Thon!

The Read-A-Thon is MESA's biggest fundraiser. It's a month-long celebration that encourages reading. We have lots of fun things planned for the month, including a closing ceremony, February 21st at 2pm. There is also a Literacy Night Thursday, Feb. 13th from 5:45-7:15. Come have dinner, meet other families, and attend literacy workshops. See the link for a full list! Read-A-Thon Events

Vermont Bookshop - special event Wednesday, February 19 - Saturday, February 22. Use the codeword "HAWKS" at checkout and they will donate 20% of your purchase total to MESA. This is a great collaboration with VBS.

Mary Hogan Benefit Bake at American Flatbread - Middlebury - Wednesday, Feb 26th - $3 from each small and $4 from each large flatbread goes back to MESA. This includes dine-in and take out!

Parents, Caregivers, Students, Staff & Community, we want to hear from you! In the Spring of 2024, ACSD began a two year process toward joint accreditation by NEASC and IB (read more here). We are currently in the self-study and evidence gathering phase and we want to hear from you! Please take 10 minutes to fill out this NEASC Learning Community Survey to help inform how we are doing in key areas and where we need to focus and improve in the future.

Please choose the survey links that best fits your role and school affiliation.

ACSD Elementary Schools:

• PARENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Parents-Fall-2024?id=54

• FACULTY: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Faculty-Staff-Fall-2024?id=54

• STUDENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Students-Fall-2024?id=54

MUMS

• PARENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Parents-Fall-2024?id=55

• FACULTY: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Faculty-Staff-Fall-2024?id=55

• STUDENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Students-Fall-2024?id=55

MUHS

• PARENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Parents-Fall-2024?id=56

• FACULTY: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Faculty-Staff-Fall-2024?id=56

• STUDENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Students-Fall-2024?id=56

We want to thank our thirteen ACSD School Board members for the time, collaboration, and deep investment they make to ensure a brighter future for our students, our district, and our community. We want to send a special appreciation to Chip Malcom and Joanna Doria who are leaving the Board this year. Chip has served on the ACSD board since unification in 2016 and previously served on the UD3 Board from 1985-2000, including 6 years as chair. Joanna has served on the ACSD Board since 2022. School board members are elected officials who live in one of our district towns and represent all members of the ACSD community. School board elections are held each Town Meeting day with a rotating number of our thirteen seats up each year. Learn more about the board: www.acsdvt.org/school-board/

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