The Wise Owl

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Wise Owl: November 23

November 23, 2014

"Have You Seen the Owl Today?"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

It's been a busy November! Some news and information that will be helpful to know...

PLEASE SUPPORT UPP: THE UNION PLAYGROUND PROJECT The Union Playground Project has taken off and is full of energy and momentum! Folks, after decades of little action and improvement, our school's community playground is finally going to get the attention we've been waiting for! Our Planning and Fundraising Committees have already been working long hours to get this project off the ground, and it's clear to me that these folks have more than enough creativity, energy, and staying power to see this through! Very exciting!!

From the UPP Fundraising Committee:

Hello UES Families,

As promised in the letter from the UES Playground Fundraising Committee that went home via your child's folder- Here is the online version with an alternative gift letter attached making it easy to forward to relatives.

Please Support UPP

Union Playground Project

What is UPP?

UPP is the Union Playground Project. This fall kicked off a fundraising campaign and a multi-year project to repair and significantly improve both the kindergarten and the upper playground. This valuable project that will greatly benefit the comprehensive developmental needs of all children is now gaining momentum for a multi-phase endeavor!

UPP Needs Your Help! There are 2 ways you can help before the end of the year:

1. Please Donate!

Help boost UPP outdoor recess for our children and enrich their play, growth, development, minds and muscles! Our public school and community playground is so much more than a place to expend excess energy and increase gross motor skills. The benefits of a well-planned and improved play space will inspire greater creativity, decision-making, imagination, social skills and problem solving skills and improve the overall physical and mental health of our children.

Please make checks payable to: Montpelier Public Schools and send to: c/o Theresa Giffin, Union Elementary School, 1 Park Ave. Montpelier, VT 05602 OR: Return in your child’s folder.

2. An Alternative Gift for The Holidays In Honor of A Union Elementary Student!

Do you have relatives, friends and neighbors who might like to make a donation in honor of someone special (your child!)? This is a meaningful gift option that’s guaranteed to be long lasting, doesn’t run on batteries and won’t clutter your floor!

Please see the attached letter, which you can forward to grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives. You may also decide to honor your own child.

Please note: Alternative gift cards will be mailed to the UES student being honored.

Kind regards,

The UES Playground Fundraising Committee (Theresa Giffin, Chris Hennessey, Sarah McKearnan, Jennifer Matthews, Kristin Darcy, Alison Lamanga, Emma Bay-Hansen & Jenny Sheehan)

Fundraising Letter For Friends and Family

Check out this preliminary Playground Board designed by UES mom and local architect Tolya Stonorov:

UPP Playground Board

VETERANS DAY PARADE If the incredible work of our playground committees wasn't enough to make me feel proud, this year's Veterans Day Parade perfectly symbolized why I love working and living in Montpelier so much. Our veterans were honored by students of all ages from the beginning of the parade until the ceremony at the high school, and I still get goosebumps when I remember what it felt like to turn the corner off of State Street with all the Union children and see the entire MHS student body and faculty there to cheer us all on! What a great event for our veterans and our community! A photo gallery:

MAIN STREET MIDDLE SCHOOL MEETING DECEMBER 2! Please join Dr. Ricca, Mrs. Arnold, and myself on Tuesday, December 2 from 6:00 to 7:00 in the MSMS library to discuss all things middle school. All members of the Montpelier community are invited to attend. The MSMS Parents Group put together this flyer/invitation for us:

MSMS Meeting Invitation

PLANTING HOPE ON NOVEMBER 4 Planting Hope visited UES on November 4, and it was a wonderful day of fun and cultural exchanges for all of us! From Ms. Lloyd: "Chris, my class LOVED ...the visitors from Nicaragua. Our guests introduced themselves and fielded questions from students. They spoke about their jobs in Nicaragua and the differences they notice between their own culture and our culture in Montpelier, VT. They spoke in English and Spanish-- I got to use my Spanish skills. Then, a few of the visiting teachers taught my class a Nicaraguan salsa dance! What followed was one on the most amazing cultural exchanges I've seen in all my years of teaching: 5th grade kids who spoke mostly English were trading dance moves with Nicaraguan teachers who spoke mostly Spanish. Both were filled with admiration and respect for each other. By the end of the day, when I asked my students how many were interested in visiting Nicaragua some day, 100% of them raised their hands. One student even exclaimed, "Visit?!! I want to spend a YEAR there!"

Ms. Lloyd's 5th Graders with Planting Hope

UES 75th BIRTHDAY NEWS! LET'S CELEBRATE UNION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL’S 75^th BIRTHDAY!

From Mrs. Kane, who has done a tremendous amount of work getting this project off the ground: "This February, Montpelier’s Union Elementary School students, alumni, staff and community members, and their family and friends are invited to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of our school building during our first-ever UES Winter Carnival! We are planning special events for the week of Monday, February 16 through Friday, February 20.

Leading up to the Winter Carnival, local artist Gowri Savoor will visit UES for a lantern-making art residency from February 2-13, thanks to the “Artists in Schools Grant” awarded by the Vermont Arts Council. In Art classes, all K-5 students will create a hand-made lantern from sustainable materials including willow and tissue paper. Lanterns will be suspended from bamboo poles and lit with battery operated LED lights.

At 6:00 on Wednesday, February 18^th, we will have a special evening celebration for Union Elementary School’s 75^th Birthday. Led by samba band Sambatucada, we will parade with our lanterns from UES to the Vermont College of Fine Arts Green. At the VCFA Green, we will celebrate with hot chocolate and singing. Our parade is supported by a “Community Arts Grant” awarded by Montpelier Alive and funded by the Downtown Improvement District Assessment. Students will take home their lanterns following the celebration!

More details will follow soon. Thanks to the UES Parents' Group for their amazing work and support! Please contact Jenny Sheehan at <jennybrownsheehan@gmail.com> if you are interested in working with us to prepare for the special events."

UES DELAYED OPENING AND CANCELLATION PROCEDURES: Winter is coming, and with the unpredictable weather comes the possibility of cancellations or delayed openings for school. There has been some confusion in recent years about the exact time school opens at UES on delayed opening days, but we finally got this cleared up last year. Here is what you need to know in case Mother Nature throws a snow or iceball at us one of these mornings:

UES DELAYED OPENING PROCEDURES

9:30 Teachers arrive

10:00 UES doors open; buses begin to arrive; we're open for business!

10:00- Students will begin arriving to class; transition time; Morning Meeting.

10:25

10:25 UES schedule officially begins. Students will proceed as normal where the schedule would be normally at 10:25. Lunches will not be effected.

SOME ECO HIGHLIGHTS If you haven't had a chance yet to join your child on an ECO trip, please try to do so as soon as you can. You definitely won't be disappointed! Here are a few nice pictures of some science adventurers in Mrs. Mears' class:

Bugs and Logs. Always a good combo!

HENNESSEY'S HOOTS! A Hennessey Hoot to:

* Todd Keller, Chris Luce, Pam Foster, Zephyr Cerulli, Nancy Webb (and the WHOLE cafeteria staff), and, well, all of us, for putting on a spectacular and smooth UES Thanksgiving Luncheon last week. Together, we served over 850 students and family members on Wednesday! Among the many highlights was having students from the MHS Soar program join us to help out in a variety of ways, and they shared this beautiful slide show with me of their experience:

Turkey Day at UES from high schoolers' POV

* First grader Olivia in Ms. Freeman's class, who noticed that some of the children on the playground weren't always being nice to each other and decided to do something about it. Olivia created this anti-bullying poster that she shared with her class. Very well done, Olivia!

* Second grader Isabella in Ms. Pine's class, whose artwork was selected to be on the front of our UPP (Union Playground Project) greeting cards! You'll all be seeing these cards soon enough, and be sure to thank Isabella for her beautiful design when you see her!

Monday, November 3, 2014

November 3, 2014

"Have You Seen the Owl Today?"

Look closely. There is some amazing creativity in this picture!

2015 SCRIPPS SPELLING BEE! I am very pleased to announce that Union Elementary will be participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee this spring! Over 10,000 schools from around the country (including Main Street Middle School) participate in Scripps, and the best of the best get to go to Washington, D.C. in May to go for the championship. Scripps is open to students in grades 5-8, so the winner from our 5th grade will have the privilege of representing UES at the state championship at St. Michael's college in the spring! Many more details to follow, but here is the link to Scripps if you'd like some more info:

Scripps Spelling Bee

THANKSGIVING DINNER AT UES! The annual UES Thanksgiving Dinner will be held this year on Wednesday, November 19. Folks, if you haven't joined us before, you won't want to miss it! Due to high demand, reservations are required for the dinner, and order forms will be coming home with your children this week.

2014-15 UES FAMILY DIRECTORY From the UES Parents Group: "The ever-popular Union School directory will be published in November. Paper forms went home last week and are due back at school by this Wednesday, November 5. This year, we are asking families with internet access to fill out the form online at UES Directory Form in order to save us time and decrease errors. The directory provides the Union School community with families' contact information. It is intended for use only by UES families and staff, and only families that fill out the form are included. Participation is optional and families can include as much or as little contact information as they'd like."

HENNESSEY'S HOOTS! A Hennessey Hoot to:

* Kindergartener Holden, who realized that the stacks of chairs in Mrs. Koch's class were leaning forward and in danger of tipping over. Well, he decided to do something about it! I noticed students stacking the chairs this way and said, "No, no, they all need to be in the same direction." One of Holden's classmates corrected me gently, saying, "But Mr. Hennessey, Holden found a better way. Now they don't tip over!" Yes he did!

Holden, proudly showing the best way to stack chairs. Genius.

* 2nd Grader Calvin, who, rumor has it, knows a thing or two about Batman.

Batmen

Monday, October 27, 2014

Wise Owl: October 27, 2014

October 27, 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...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Halloween is coming this Friday, and it's time to be thinking about how we'll approach this special day as a school community. As much fun as it would be to celebrate with costumes and parties, we believe that such revelry would be simply too disruptive to the learning environment for an entire day. We ask that students keep the costumes and candy at home so they can be ready for the fun on Friday night. Please help us maintain a healthy learning environment the following days as well; we ask that all candy remain at home when the children return to school on Monday. If you have any questions or concerns, please call me or stop by.

On a more fun note, many children know that I have a very close friendship with Batman (it's true!), and I know for certain that he'll be spending Halloween night at my house in the meadow neighborhood! As always, all superheroes who stop by will get two treats! Have lots of fun and be safe -- we hope to see you all!

UES PREK-4 DESIGN TEAM I'm happy to announce the formation of a Union Elementary PreK-4 Design Team starting next month! As you know, the 5th grade will be moving to Main Street Middle School next year, and with that move will come a restructuring of the grades and teams at Union. This team of myself and ten teachers will be researching the most student centered approaches to structuring a PreK-4 school with five grades instead of our current six. This will be very exciting work, and our goal will be to make Year One as disruptive to as few children and teams as possible. Please be on the lookout for a Parent Survey in the next few weeks; we'd really like to get your input on this very important topic! In the meantime, please contact me or stop by if you have any questions or concerns.

PICTURE RETAKE DAY TOMORROW! Lifetouch Photography will be at UES tomorrow from 8:00 to 11:00. If your child missed Picture Day last month or would like a retake, tomorrow (Tuesday) is the day to get it done!

LOST AND FOUND Anyone who has been in the lobby of UES in recent weeks will notice that we have a growing collection of high quality jackets, sweatshirts, and other items that haven't made it safely home. In the past we have always kept these items in the auditorium for months at a time in the hopes that children and parents would claim them. Storage has become an issue, however, and we figure that if we have a deadline, people are much more likely to claim their lost items! So... on Monday, November 10, all unclaimed items will be donated to Planet Aid. Every two weeks thereafter, the lost and found will be cleared and all items will be donated. Now is the time to check with your child to see if he or she is missing something. There are some really nice things on those racks, so please check them out!

On a related note, as a baseball fan, I am sure someone is missing this beauty of a Detroit Tigers cap. I know I'd be missing it! It's a size 7 5/8, so please come in to claim it if it's yours!

2006 Tigers World Series Cap -- any takers?

PUBLISHER'S WORKSHOP WITH MRS. CODY Last week, Mrs. Cody and her students invited me to their classroom to celebrate the completion of their first books! Not only did they share apple cider and goldfish crackers with me, but these 1st graders also treated me to readings of their books! It was a lot of fun -- thanks Mrs. Cody's class!

Mrs. Cody's 1st graders celebrating the publication of their first books

WALK AND BIKE TO SCHOOL WEDNESDAYS! Mr. Williams, MJ, and I plan on continuing our "Walk and Bike to School Wednesdays" at least up to the Thanksgiving break, and we'd love to see you join us! I'll be at Shaw's, Mr. Williams can be found at the State House lawn, and MJ will meet children at the college green. We'll always leave just after 8:00 for a brisk, refreshing walk to UES! Last Wednesday, our numbers went down due to the pouring rain, but that didn't stop McKenzie (2nd grade), Dax, and Tong (both 1st grade), from joining me under my big umbrella for some fun puddle jumping on the way to school! Here we are just before class:

McKenzie, Dax, Mr. Hennessey, and Tong -- dry and ready for school!

PLANTING HOPE ON NOVEMBER 4!

Mark your calendars: Planting Hope will be visiting UES on Tuesday, November 4 to share their dance and improv performance with our students. By all accounts, this is a very exciting show, and we'll all be ready to give our Nicaraguan friends a warm UES welcome!

UES PARENTS GROUP: PLAYGROUND UPDATE Last week, the UES Parents Group held a meeting in the UES library to discuss planning and fundraising for the ongoing playground rebuilding project. Two sub-committees emerged from this meeting: one devoted to fundraising and the other to planning and design. Both groups will be meeting in early November to continue the discussion, and I think it's safe to say that we all left our first gathering very excited about the future of this project! I'll have more details about this work following our next meetings in a few weeks.

FIRE SAFETY WITH MRS. BATES Officers from the Montpelier Fire Department paid a visit to Mrs. Bates' class last week to talk fire safety with UES kinders. Needless to say, the firemen had a very enthusiastic reception with lots of excellent questions. Thanks for coming, gentlemen.

THE FALL SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR IS COMING SOON -- SAVE THE DATES! From the UES Parent's Group:

Save the dates! Thursday, November 13, 8am-3:30pm, and Friday, November 14, 8am-3:30pm and during Friday Family Movie Night (time and movie TBA), Union Elementary School, Little Gym, First Floor

We invite you to visit the UES Parent’s Group Fall Fundraiser to experience a celebration of reading that provides the opportunity to support a universal mission: encouraging kids to read every day! Please be on the lookout for the Scholastic books preview that will be sent home soon. During the Book Fair, each child will visit with his/her class and will have the opportunity to discover and purchase from hundreds of fun, engaging, affordable books, starting at only $2. Parents and family can come to the Book Fair during the day or before or after school. You can also select books from your child’s teacher WISH LIST to help build their classroom library.

Also, if you or extended family are unable to attend, or you want to purchase books outside of these hours, please visit our online fair beginning November 7:

http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/unionelementaryschool19

We look forward to having you participate in our Book Fair, and remember, all purchases benefit our school! Last Spring’s USPG Book Fair was able to raise over $2000 in cash to directly assist the students and teachers of UES through field trips, art projects, classroom activities, etc. In addition, we earned over $500 in free books for students and classroom libraries. Volunteers are needed to help set up, help kids choose books, or help pack up.

Please contact Sidney Collier #223-9120 / Suzie Smith #338-0669 or at bookfair@mpsvt.org

Thank you all for your support!!!

HENNESSEY'S HOOTS! A Hennessey Hoot to:

* Mrs. Kane, who once again did a beautiful job creating the Kinder Cave with all of our aspiring artists! These young artists (along with their families) built the cave in just 35 minutes -- a new record!

Kinder Cave Fun!

* Mrs. Wrigley, who was honored last Wednesday as one of UVM's Teacher of the Year winners! Dr. Ricca and I joined Mrs. Wrigley and her family along with other honorees from around Vermont at UVM's beautiful Ira Allen Chapel for the ceremony. Congratulations Emily!


Mrs. Wrigley with fellow Honoree Mr. Taylor of Main Street Middle School

* Mrs. Goldblatt and the 4th/5th grade orchestra, who sounded terrific when I stopped by the auditorium the other day. Here they are getting ready for their next performance:

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Wise Owl: October 13

October 13, 2014

"Have You Seen the Owl Today?"

Mr. Hennessey's Crew outside Shaw's

Mr. Merrylees greeting happy walkers and bikers Wednesday morning

Next Main Street Middle School Information Night Our first informational night for parents of 4th graders moving to the Middle School next year was a big success last Tuesday night! About 25 parents joined me and Main Street Principal Pam Arnold for a tour of the school and a Q & A session. Mrs. Arnold and I have scheduled the next meeting for Tuesday, December 2 from 6:00 to 7:00 at the Middle School. Though the focus of these meetings is on the move of the 5th grade to Main Street, we'd like to welcome all MPS community members to join us for the discussion. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!

Ms. Lloyd's Class Constitution Ms. Lloyd's 5th graders have spent time this fall putting together a Class Constitution based on C.A.R.E.S. (if you don't know what C.A.R.E.S. is, ask your child about it), and I had the pleasure of joining them at the State House last Friday as they ratified the document in the House Chamber. It was a beautiful ceremony that showcased a learning experience of incredible authenticity. How many children in the United States can walk from their classroom to their State Capitol in less than ten minutes? What a treat! Here are some photos of the experience:

Ms. Lloyd's 5th Graders at the State House

Linnea reading her section

Students signing the Constitution

Genevieve's Fundraiser! The UES Parents Group asked me to remind you all that the order forms for this fall's Genevieve's Fundraiser are due by the end of the day tomorrow, Monday, October 13!

Parent/Teacher Conferences There will be no school on Thursday and Friday, October 23 and 24. If you haven't scheduled a conference with your child's teacher yet, now is the time to do so!

Playground News! For those who aren't aware, UES is applying for a state grant of up to $25,000 to be applied to upgrading our upper and lower playgrounds. This work is a long time coming, as significant improvements haven't been made to our grounds in over 20 years! As I mentioned at a school board meeting in May, this project is a major priority for the UES community, and we're going to need your help! A few things to consider:

* the grant proposal was due this past Friday, October 10. An enormous thank you is due to UES parent Angelica Caterino for coming in and using her tremendous grant writing skills to lead the way and to Montpelier community members Stephanie Congo and Beth Burgess for helping us as well.

* in just over a week, we collected over $4,000 in cash and $15,000 in "in-kind" donations from various individuals and businesses in Montpelier. If approved, the state will match up to $25,000 of these funds! Though the grant proposal was due Friday, we can continue to collect donations for up to two months.

* an informational/planning meeting will take place Tuesday, October 21 from 6:00 to 7:00 in the UES library to update interested folks about the project. We hope to see you there!

The Great Pumpkin! We got our annual Great Pumpkin visit last week, and many of our children had a chance to come out and marvel at the 1400+ pound behemoth you see below! Many thanks to Mrs. Quinn's Amelia, whose gramp loves to come visit every year to show off his hard work.

Mrs. Koch's kinders enjoying the Great Pumpkin!

Hennessey's Hoots! A Hennessey Hoot goes to:

* Superintendent Brian Ricca, for being honored by Phi Delta Kappa as an Emerging Educational Leader. Check out the link below:

http://pdkintl.org/files/PR_Ricca-Brian.pdf

* Theresa Giffin, for her unbelievable efforts in rallying the community to get behind our Playground grant proposal (see above) the last two weeks! UES wouldn't be in the running for this large sum of money without Theresa's hard work, enthusiasm, and persistence!

* 4th graders Ella and Anna, for their efforts in putting together a Winter Talent Show with the UES Parents Group. This show wouldn't be happening without their hard work, enthusiasm, and persistence! (Do we see a theme emerging here?)

Anna and Ella

Thursday, September 25, 2014

September 23

September 24, 2014

"Have You Seen the Owl Today?"

UES Parents Group

INFORMATIONAL MEETING

Tuesday, September 30

6:30 to 8:00 pm

UES Cafeteria

Refreshments and Childcare Available

Please join the UES Parents Group Board for an informational meeting about existing programs, volunteer opportunities and the vital ways Parents Group supports UES through fundraising efforts. You will have an opportunity to hear from Chris Hennessey, principal and current Board members. We would also love to hear your thoughts and ideas about new programs. Sign up sheets and a suggestion box will be available. Please RSVP to Jennifer Matthews, USPG President at unionschoolparentsgroup@gmail.com, 223.1213 (h) or 505.0009 (c)

Morning Drop Off and Afternoon Pick Up Procedures Three years ago, the UES Parents Group helped to create a new drop off and pick up procedure for families driving their children to school. This highly successful set up improved safety and congestion in a big way! For everyone's review:

The UES Drop Off and Pick Up is the designated area on School Street, inside the barriers, for parents unloading or loading their children by private vehicle. The area is separate from the bus unloading /loading location, so there is no conflict with the two operations.

For everything to function safely and smoothly, several procedures must be followed:
 Enter the barricaded area on Loomis Street from School Street. No U-Turns, please.
 Cars should line up single file, along School Street waiting to enter the “unloading/loading
zone” (the barricaded area).
 While lined up on School Street, please do not block the exit to Cedar Street.
 Students should only be dropped off and picked up in the barricaded area (not on the corner or on School Street).
 Pull up as close to the crosswalk as you can. Avoid dropping off in front of the stairs.
 After dropping off, please exit forward onto Loomis Street.
 Do not park in or block neighbor driveways unless you have permission from homeowners.
 Drivers should remain in their car.
 Parents wanting to enter the school must park in available street parking spaces.
 Have all your materials for school ready before drop-off.
 Keep goodbyes brief; other drivers will be waiting behind you to discharge children.

Time Saving Tips:
 Arrive early for the morning drop-off. The busiest time is five minutes before the start of classes. Plan to arrive 10 to 15 minutes before the final bell, when the traffic is lighter.
 Arrive later for the afternoon drop-off. The busiest time for the afternoon pick-up is before the bell rings and right after. Arrive 5 minutes after the dismissal bell and the wait time is less.
 Adjust for rain. The number of cars will increase when it rains. Be patient, and plan on spending a small amount of additional time.

IMPORTANT: If you have changes to your pick-up plans, please phone Pam and Zephyr by 12 noon, so your child(ren) are in the appropriate pick-up location. The UES Office phone number is 225-8204.

Picture Retake Day If your child missed out on getting his or her picture taken last week, or you'd like a redo, Retake Day has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 28.

Mr. Hennessey's "Hoots"! A Hennessey Hoot goes to:

Mrs. Goldblatt and all musicians in the 4th and 5th grade for getting the UES Band and Orchestra started last week! Check out these proud 4th graders showing off their new instruments:

All Kindergarten and First Grade Teachers and Students for their unbelievable patience as we all had to wait for the Lower Playground Play Structure to get repaired! The structure finally opened for business last Friday, and there were lots of happy children using it to its full capacity on a beautiful day!

Mrs. Cody's 1st Graders enjoying the new bridge!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

September 10, 2014

"Have You Seen the Owl Today?"

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!

Some news and information that will be helpful as September kicks into gear...

PICTURE DAY! This year's Picture Day will be next week, Tuesday, September 16. Ordering forms and other info will be coming home in your child's folders this week.

OPEN HOUSE 2014 This fall's UES Open House has been rescheduled for the evening of Thursday, October 2 from 6:15 to 7:15.

OPENING WEEK HIGHLIGHTS! What a great start to the year! Barely two weeks in, Union Elementary is running smoothly and our 490 (!) children are clearly happy to be back with their friends and teachers in the learning environment they love. Here are a few pictures from the opening week:

Mr. Keller, Ms. Bailey and Mrs. Hart greet Kindergarteners as they get off the bus for the first time.

Ms. Pine's 2nd Grade "Pineers" gather on the first day of school

A Kindergartener enjoying a book in the library on his first day of school

UPDATES ON THE PLAYGROUND Anyone who has been on the lower playground lately has noticed that our play structure has been closed. Our goal was to have the structure repaired and cleared for play last week, but the parts needed are unfortunately back ordered. I have been assured by the manufacturer that the parts will be shipped to us no later than next Monday. Once we have the parts, the work for repairing the structure will go very quickly. We're hoping to have the children playing on the structure next week!

UES PARENTS GROUP Members of the UES Parents Group met with me last week, and it was a terrific meeting! Among other things, we talked about how the Parents Group can assist with our Winter Carnival, the UES 75th Birthday Celebration, and playground renovation planning. We also talked about bringing back a fall Talent Show and the fall Fundraiser. Be on the lookout soon for how you can get involved!

MR. HENNESSEY'S HOOTS! For those of you who don't know, a "hoot" is given to our students when they do something positive for the community. I'll be using this space to give out Hennessey Hoots to deserving members of the UES community, both young and old!

A Hennessey Hoot goes to:

* ...UES Administrative Assistant Pam Foster for her tireless efforts to help us take our daily attendance electronically after 75 years of paper and pencil!
* ...the whole 2014-15 UES Kindergarten class (and Montpelier High School Class of 2027!) for their terrific start to the year! Veteran teachers have been highly impressed with this group of young children, and so have I!
* ...UES Kindergarten teacher Emily Wrigley for being selected as the Montpelier nominee for the prestigious University of Vermont Teacher of the Year Award! If your children have or have had Emily as a teacher, you know how deserving she is of this honor. Here is Emily accepting the nomination at our opening in-service at the high school:

CONGRATULATIONS, Mrs. Wrigley!