MUHS Community Newsletter

Dear MUHS Community,

Congrats to students for wrapping up Semester 1, and big thanks to teachers, staff, and caregivers at home for helping them get it done! Everyone deserves a rest!

There is no school on Monday, January 19 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Tuesday, January 20 is an in-service day for teachers, who will be submitting grades and preparing for the new semester. We're excited to have students back in the building on Wednesday, January 21, the start of the new semester. Printed report cards will be sent home during the week of January 26.

Remember that Success Saturday/Proficiency Recovery is scheduled for Saturday, January 24. If students haven't quite crossed the finish line with assignments for semester 1 courses, they can ask their teachers if they may be eligible for this extra chance to have time at school with support from MUHS educators.

Have a wonderful long weekend.

Warmly,

Caitlin Steele, Principal

Ben Weir, Assistant Principal

Sean Farrell, Activities Director

Julie Pettis, Student Response Coordinator

We have seen an uptick in the number of students ordering food from local businesses to be delivered to MUHS. These orders have been disruptive to the learning environment. Please see below our new policies for food being dropped off at the high school.

Food dropped off by caregivers:

We encourage all students to take part in our school nutrition program. If a student is bringing in food from home, they should arrive at school in the morning with whatever food they need for the day. In the rare instances that a student forgets food, caregivers may drop food off in the front office. Food should not be left in the front vestibule and should not be handed directly to students. The office will call students down to get their food at the end of their next class.

Food delivered by outside services:

Students may not have food delivered to the school by businesses (Dominoes, Doordash, etc.) Any deliveries will be held in the front office until the end of the school day.

We had to postpone our options-based safety drill this week because the public announcement (PA) system in the school is not functioning properly. Our facilities team has been working on it. We've run a couple of tests and narrowed in on the problem areas. There will be a team on site on Monday working on a repair. Assuming they get the system fully up and running again, students can anticipate a rescheduled safety drill within the next couple of weeks.

We are excited to welcome parents and caregivers of rising ninth graders for an 8th Grade Family Night on January 22, 6:30-7:30 in the MUHS auditorium. Thanks for helping us spread the word!

In November, the ACSD Board voted to educate Shoreham and Bridport together at Bridport school beginning in August 2026. The Shoreham building will also begin a new chapter, educating preschool students. We want to share the principal update with all members of our community:

• Jenny Urban will continue as the full-time principal at Bridport Central School, and Lashawn Whitmore-Sells will join her as a 0.5 principal.

• Principal Whitmore-Sells will also be the preschool administrator at Shoreham, working with our preK team to stabilize and grow our early childhood programming by relocating our Bridport PreK classroom to Shoreham Elementary School, expanding preK offerings, and exploring birth-to-3 partnerships to best serve our communities.

• Principals Urban and Whitmore-Sells both bring exceptional care for our students and staff, and we are incredibly lucky to benefit from their expertise as we move forward.

Help shape the future of education in our community! The ACSD Board will have open School Board seats this year in Bridport, Middlebury, and Salisbury. If you're interested, gather signatures* on your nominating petition and submit the petition and your Candidate Consent form to your Town Office by January 26, 2026. This is also a great time to reach out to encourage someone you think would be a great candidate! Board elections occur on Town Meeting Day, March 3, 2026. Terms are 3 years. You must be 18 or older and a resident of the respective town to run. You'll play a crucial role in enhancing our schools and advocating for every student. Learn more on the Running for School Board page of the Vermont School Board Association website.

* Petitions must be signed by 60 voters or one percent of the ACSD checklist—whichever is less. Petitions and the Candidate Consent Form are available with the links above, at your Town Hall, or the ACSD District Office (49 Charles Ave, Middlebury). ​​​​​​​

Each semester our colleagues at the Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center recognize outstanding students in each of their technical and pretech programs. Their breakfast celebrations are an inspiration. This term, the following MUHS students were recognized for excellence in their PAHCC courses. We're so lucky to have this educational resource "just down the ramp" at MUHS. It's fun to see students really lit up by their learning there. Congrats to them all!

Course registration for the 2026-27 academic year continues to be underway with the class of 2027! Please refer here for the important information about the process for each grade level, registration timeline, the MUHS Course Description catalog, Hannaford Career Center information and more! If you have any questions, please reach out to your school counselor.

Semester 2 officially begins on Wednesday, January 21st. Students are allowed to make changes to courses that begin semester 2 (not year-long courses) until Wednesday, February 4th when the Add/Drop period ends. Teacher change requests, or changes so that students can be with friends will not be honored, though students are welcome to reach out to their school counselor to discuss changes to elective courses. After February 4th, students are not permitted to make course changes except under extenuating circumstances with administrator approval.

The Governor’s Institutes of Vermont (GIV) is now accepting applications for the 2026 Summer Institutes. Passionate and curious students who live in Vermont or go to school in Vermont are invited to apply for the learning adventure of a lifetime! Each Institute takes place on a college campus and offers a residential program filled with content, community, and collaboration. Since 1983, students at GIV have attended Institutes and made new friends, learned new skills, and experienced career pathways and opportunities that expanded their horizons... just like it did for me, when I attended GIV in 1994 and 1995!

This summer, GIV will be offering eight different Institutes including Arts, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Global Issues & Youth Action, Health & Medicine, Mathematical Sciences, Technology & Design, and Weather & Climate Science.

Students can apply online at GIV.org/apply. If they are accepted, students can attend GIV for as little as $10 through our sliding scale tuition, and several Institutes offer embedded college credit that can help kickstart careers and postsecondary opportunities.

On Wednesday, April 8, we will be bringing interested juniors and sophomore students to the VSAC’s College & Career Pathways event at the Vermont State University Castleton Campus. Students will attend the event from 8:45am-2pm, engage with 70+ colleges and training programs at the fair, and participate in two workshops of their choosing. Workshops will include how to choose, apply to, and pay for college and career training programs, and pathways to skilled trades, apprenticeships, and great careers that don’t require a degree. If your student is interested in participating, they should pick up a permission slip in school counseling. Space is limited, Juniors will be given priority and returned permission slips secure a spot.

Students and their parents/guardians are also invited to attend the free event for families on Saturday, March 14, with options to participate in-person at UVM or online via Zoom. All sessions will also be recorded for future viewing.

You can find more information and additional college and career planning resources for families at vsac.org/ccp.

January 19 - Martin Luther King Day, No School

January 20 - In-service Day, No School

January 22 - 8th Grade Family Night

January 24 - Success Saturday, Proficiency Recovery

Check out the MUHS Events Calendar online here.