Wise Owl: December 10

December 10, 2014

"Have You Seen the Owl Today?"
 

Welcome to the Union Elementary Wise Owl!  We hope that you enjoy this new way of learning what's going on at UES! I'll be updating the Owl every few weeks with both news and celebrations, and our goal will be to send it to as many members of the UES community as we can. If we have your updated email address, you'll get it!

Some news and information that will be helpful to know as we approach the Holidays:

PLEASE SUPPORT UPP: THE UNION PLAYGROUND PROJECT With the busy holiday season upon us, the UPP fundraising team wanted to provide a link to a letter you may forward or print and send to grandparents or other family members and friends who may like to purchase an alternative gift this season.  This is the same letter we sent out last month, but here it is again for you to share with friends and family if you'd like:

Fundraising Letter For Friends and Family

4th/5th GRADE HOLIDAY CONCERT! The annual 4th/5th Grade Orchestra/Band Holiday Concert will be next Tuesday, December 16 at 7:00 in our auditorium. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by to cheer on these young musicians!

UPCOMING ASSEMBLIES In addition to the concert above, there are some other shows/assemblies coming up next week:

1) The UES World Chorus and Ukelele Ensemble will be performing on Thursday, December 18 at 6:00 in the auditorium. If your child is performing, please arrive 15 minutes early.

2) The UES 75th Birthday/Winter Carnival Kick-Off Assembly will be taking place on Tuesday, December 16 at 8:30 for grades 3-5, and 1:30 for grades K-2.

Busy, busy! Parents and family members are always welcome to attend our shows and assemblies -- we hope to see you there!

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR A HUGE SUCCESS!! From the UES Parents Group:

"The Union School Parents Group would like to thank all the volunteers, families, students, and staff who helped make the Fall Scholastic Book Fair a success!  We couldn’t have done it without all of your support!

We had about 20 volunteers helping to set up, run the book fair, and pack up everything.  A special thanks goes to MJ Jennings and Emmanuel Williams who kindly moved their PE classes from the little gym for two days, and to Todd Keller and Doris Viens who helped make sure the little gym was ready and we had everything we needed.  

This Book Fair earned the USPG over $2000 in cash to directly assist the students and teachers of UES through field trips, art projects, classroom activities, etc.  

Thank you all for your support!  See you at the Spring Scholastic Book Fair!

Suzie Smith and Sidney Collier, Co-Chairs of the Scholastic Book Fair"

COLD WEATHER PRACTICES/PROCEDURES The faculty and staff of UES strongly believe that our children need as much time as possible running and playing outside, even during the cold of our Vermont winters. For our students to enjoy this time on the playground, it's essential that they come to school with adequate snow gear to keep them warm and dry. There are certain mornings and days, however, where it really isn't safe to be outside no matter what they're wearing due to extreme conditions. The procedures we follow are straightforward and in general practice around the state: if the temperature (with wind chill) is at 0 degrees or above, we'll be going outside. On cold days, we monitor the local conditions very closely at this weather site:

Local AccuWeather Forecast

This is an excellent site, and it will take you directly to the conditions and forecast for Loomis St. here in Montpelier! You can't get much more local than that! Again, please make sure your child comes to school prepared for the conditions, and please let me know if you have any questions. If you need assistance getting appropriate gear for your child, let Mrs. Giffin (ext. 8230) know about it right away; we have quite a supply of gear on hand here at UES!

Fun in the snow yesterday afternoon!

LISTSERV COMING SOON! We are working hard this year to improve communication at UES. As a complement to the Wise Owl, a group of parents has set up an email LISTSERV to connect parents, teachers, and staff with one another. The goal is to create a platform to share ideas in a way that constructively supports UES and educational experiences. Look for an invitation next week. If you would like to join the organizers in managing the LISTSERV, please contact ues.families@gmail.com.

NEXT MIDDLE SCHOOL MEETING Thanks to all of you who joined me, Mrs. Arnold and Dr. Ricca at last week's discussion on the 5th grade move to Main Street. It was a very positive discussion, and things are really moving in the right direction! For your calendars: our next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 3 from 6:00 to 7:00 at Main Street.

HENNESSEY'S HOOTS! A Hennessey Hoot to:

* ...1st grader Asa and his classmates in Mrs. Mello's class for helping out Mr. Keller and keeping our hallways neat and tidy so we can keep them clean. Asa noticed boot piles that were unacceptably messy, and he did something about it! Check out his work:

If only the entryway in my house looked like this!  How does yours look??

Excellent work!

*  ...The Montpelier Clicks Robotics Team who went to the Vermont State Tournament at Norwich University last month and competed with 29 other teams (some who were much older, grizzled veterans) and took home the second-place trophy in the Core Values competition!!  The team is comprised of MPS students in the 4th through 8th grades -- these 4th graders were participants:  Avery Smart, Owen Zeigler, Noah Samuelsen, Ben Asay, Dariush Sarafzade, and Anja Rand.  Congratulations on such great work while having fun doing it!