October 13, 2015
"Have You Seen the Owl Today?"
Some important news and fun celebrations to share as autumn kicks into high gear. Could we have had a more glorious holiday weekend?
Community Forum Tonight! A reminder that our second MPS Community Forum is happening TONIGHT from 6:00 - 8:00 PM in the Montpelier High School Library. Building on the tremendous first forum from last April, we are continuing the series on changes in education called The Future of School. The evening's discussion will focus on the key skills our students need to develop in the coming years in order to become capable, motivated contributors to their local, national and global communities.
The Bi-annual Scholastic Book Fair is coming to UES! Movie Night will also be happening that Friday night from 5:30 to 8:00. The book fair will be open during movie night in case you missed out on this opportunity!
The Scholastic Book Fair is a great profit earner for parent's group, earning crucial funds which we use to support field trips, transportation, art supplies, guest speakers, etc. at UES. Thank you for your support. It is also a great chance to buy books for your child or child's classroom starting at just $2 per book!
Scholastic Book Fair! From Scholastic Book Fair coordinator and UES mom Heidi Groff:
Save the Dates: Thursday and Friday, November 12 and 13 from 8:00 to 3:00.
The Bi-annual Scholastic Book Fair is coming to UES! Movie Night will also be happening that Friday night from 5:30 to 8:00. The book fair will be open during movie night in case you missed out on this opportunity!
The Scholastic Book Fair is a great profit earner for parent's group, earning crucial funds which we use to support field trips, transportation, art supplies, guest speakers, etc. at UES. Thank you for your support. It is also a great chance to buy books for your child or child's classroom starting at just $2 per book!
We also need volunteers to help put on the Book Fair. Set up starts Wednesday, November 11, and we do need help setting up. The fair needs to be staffed from 7:45 to 3:30 on Thursday and Friday, and then again from 5:15 to 8:15 during family movie night on Friday.
If you are interested in volunteering for the Book Fair or Movie Night, please email Heidi Groff at hsgroff@icloud.com or call 279-1681.
Thank you for helping make this event a success!
If you are interested in volunteering for the Book Fair or Movie Night, please email Heidi Groff at hsgroff@icloud.com or call 279-1681.
Thank you for helping make this event a success!
Picture Retake Day Picture Retake Day is this Friday, October 16.
Welcome New UES Faculty! If you haven't done so yet, please give a warm welcome to new UES teachers Samantha Funk and Andreah Ustianov! Samantha has quickly transformed the UES music program into a favorite part of the week for many of our students, and Andreah has already had a huge impact on the work of her 3rd grade team, her Special Education colleagues, and, most importantly, her students! A few shots of Ms. Funk and Ms. Ustianov in action:
Walking School Bus Our first month of the Walking School Bus has been very successful, and it's our hope that these can continue each Wednesday morning right through the winter! For those new to Walking Wednesdays, here is how it works:
Welcome New UES Faculty! If you haven't done so yet, please give a warm welcome to new UES teachers Samantha Funk and Andreah Ustianov! Samantha has quickly transformed the UES music program into a favorite part of the week for many of our students, and Andreah has already had a huge impact on the work of her 3rd grade team, her Special Education colleagues, and, most importantly, her students! A few shots of Ms. Funk and Ms. Ustianov in action:
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| Ms. Funk |
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| Ms. Ustianov |
Children/families meet a UES staff person at one of three locations -- Shaw's (by the Red Box), the Capitol steps, or the VCFA green. At 8:00 sharp, the groups enjoy a vigorous walk to school together, meeting on the UES playground. The three of us will be looking to have a "team" join us eventually so that we can be covered each week in case of illness, meetings, or other life events. So far, Ms. Fagin and UES nurse Sarah Mele have joined the team. If you're interested please let me, Mr. Williams, or MJ know -- these walks are a perfect way to start your day!
SBAC News Parents of last year's 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders recently received their children's SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) reports in the mail. As most of you know, last year was the trial run of the SBAC in Vermont, and we should all be very proud of the performance of our students in all three Montpelier schools! I'd also like to point out that the whole process went incredibly smoothly at UES primarily due to the efforts of two people: Math Coach Cathy Clements and Technology Integrationist Jeffrey Jarrad! Many schools around the state experienced technical and organizational challenges with the SBAC last spring, but not UES! Due to the efforts of Mrs. Clements and Mr. Jarrad, all of us at UES were able to really focus on making the SBAC a positive and meaningful experience for all of our students. Thank you, Cathy and Jeffrey!
Snack Heroes The UES Snack Program is on! Thanks to Snack Coordinator and UES mom Bianca Magiera for her resilience and can-do spirit! If you have any questions about the Snack Program or would like to volunteer (yes, we still need volunteers!), contact Bianca directly at:
snack@mpsvt.org
Nurses Office News From UES nurse Sarah Mele:
"Thank so much if you have completed your pink Health Form and returned it to the nurse this fall. If you have not yet, please send it in ASAP. If you need another form and/or have any questions contact me at sarahm@mpsvt.org or 225-8206. I have no medical information on about 85 students still."
Lunch at UES How often are you asked, "What's for lunch?" Well, if you're me, it's pretty often! The good news is that thanks to our cafeteria staff, you can find the daily hot lunch menu both on the UES Website and here:
UES Menu
Call In Procedures for Absences and After School Plans In order to ensure that we know where all students are and where they are going at the end of the school day, we'd like you to be aware of our procedures concerning absences and after school plans:
We have a serious need for crossing guards. We pay for one hour (7:30 to 8:30, and 2:30 to 3:30). The pay is $12 per hour. We are also in need of a substitute (or two) in case one of our guards is sick or can't make it to work.
Join the UES Listserv! From Listserv Coordinator and UES mom Alison Lamagna:
Hennessey's Hoots! A Hennessey Hoot goes to...
* UES mom Bianca Magiera, who has stepped up to fill three (!) important roles at UES this year! Not only is Bianca our Snack Program coordinator, but she has also become our Library Aide and one of our Crossing Guards! What would we do without her? Thank you, Bianca!
* the whole UES Faculty for embracing blogging and web site design as a way to communicate with families! UES Technology Integrationist Jeffrey Jarrad has been working with teachers since the summer to get us all ready, and the results are wonderful! Here is a link to the contact page on our web site; simply click on the teacher you'd like to learn about, and his/her site will come right up:
UES Contacts
Snack Heroes The UES Snack Program is on! Thanks to Snack Coordinator and UES mom Bianca Magiera for her resilience and can-do spirit! If you have any questions about the Snack Program or would like to volunteer (yes, we still need volunteers!), contact Bianca directly at:
snack@mpsvt.org
Nurses Office News From UES nurse Sarah Mele:
"Thank so much if you have completed your pink Health Form and returned it to the nurse this fall. If you have not yet, please send it in ASAP. If you need another form and/or have any questions contact me at sarahm@mpsvt.org or 225-8206. I have no medical information on about 85 students still."
Lunch at UES How often are you asked, "What's for lunch?" Well, if you're me, it's pretty often! The good news is that thanks to our cafeteria staff, you can find the daily hot lunch menu both on the UES Website and here:
UES Menu
Call In Procedures for Absences and After School Plans In order to ensure that we know where all students are and where they are going at the end of the school day, we'd like you to be aware of our procedures concerning absences and after school plans:
PLEASE CALL your student in absent before 9:00am to the front office
PLEASE CALL After school changes in before 1:00 pm to the front office
PLEASE DON’T text or e-mail after school changes.
September Assembly Mrs. Giffin, Mrs. Kane, and Ms. Funk have taken the lead on bringing CARES themed assemblies to UES this fall. These shows have been incredibly fun, informative, and inspiring! If you're in the neighborhood, we'd love to have you join us for our next show, which will be on the morning of Thursday, November 12. We'll have more details for you as the date approaches.
Crossing Guard News Families who live in the lower Elm Street/Meadow neighborhood have surely noticed that we've been going without an afternoon Crossing Guard on the busy Spring/Elm intersection for most of the year. As a resident and dad of that neighborhood, I'm well aware of how tricky it can be for the kids to cross that intersection. Despite a full effort to get someone on board, we haven't had any luck as of October 12 finding any takers. Here is the ad/notice we've been running since early September:
Crossing Guard News Families who live in the lower Elm Street/Meadow neighborhood have surely noticed that we've been going without an afternoon Crossing Guard on the busy Spring/Elm intersection for most of the year. As a resident and dad of that neighborhood, I'm well aware of how tricky it can be for the kids to cross that intersection. Despite a full effort to get someone on board, we haven't had any luck as of October 12 finding any takers. Here is the ad/notice we've been running since early September:
We have a serious need for crossing guards. We pay for one hour (7:30 to 8:30, and 2:30 to 3:30). The pay is $12 per hour. We are also in need of a substitute (or two) in case one of our guards is sick or can't make it to work.
If you know of anyone who might be interested, please contact the UES office at 225-8204.
Join the UES Listserv! From Listserv Coordinator and UES mom Alison Lamagna:
Dear Members of the Union Elementary School Family:
The Communications Committee of parents at UES recently created the "UES Families" LISTSERV as a way to improve communications with one another and the school. The LISTSERV is a tool to organize and connect parents, caregivers, teachers and administrators in ways that constructively support UES. The LISTSERV is a two-way communication vehicle that enables discussions related to school, activities, and education.
- Do you want to start an after school club and connect with others in the UES community with a similar goal? This LISTSERV can help find partners to work with.
- Would you like to become more informed with the school budget process before voting? This LISTSERV can be be used for such inquiries and to announce relevant meetings.
- Did you wish that you heard about the World Chorus before you booked your after school activities?
- Would you have liked to know about the UES through the Box Tops campaign before you sent out the recycling?
Regardless of how often you are able to actually be at the school, "UES Families" will enable you to easily interact with others. If you are worried about an excess of emails, fear not. The LISTSERV is hosted on google groups, which allows you to control how often you receive messages (e.g., individual emails or as a digest).
"UES Families" is managed by parent volunteers and not the UES administration. The LISTSERV will be moderated to ensure that discussions are appropriate and follow the etiquette described below (The key point is to be respectful.) If you have any questions, email ues.families@gmail.com.
We look forward to meeting you on “UES Families"!
TO JOIN:
OPTION 1: Follow the link: https://groups.google.com/d/
OPTION 2: If you don’t like online systems, just write us at ues.families@gmail.com and tell us your child’s teacher or your role at the school (e.g., 2nd grade teacher).
ETIQUETTE:
When posting comments, it is expected that users maintain respectful dialogue and will adhere to the following LISTSERV etiquette:
- Absolutely, no negative remarks of parents, teachers, or administrators
- No solicitations or classifieds
- Limit messages and use “Reply to Sender” whenever possible
Hennessey's Hoots! A Hennessey Hoot goes to...
* UES mom Bianca Magiera, who has stepped up to fill three (!) important roles at UES this year! Not only is Bianca our Snack Program coordinator, but she has also become our Library Aide and one of our Crossing Guards! What would we do without her? Thank you, Bianca!
* the whole UES Faculty for embracing blogging and web site design as a way to communicate with families! UES Technology Integrationist Jeffrey Jarrad has been working with teachers since the summer to get us all ready, and the results are wonderful! Here is a link to the contact page on our web site; simply click on the teacher you'd like to learn about, and his/her site will come right up:
UES Contacts
