Swoop Scoop

• Labor Day, Monday, September 6 -- NO SCHOOL

Hello UES Community!

Well, the first full week of the 2021/2022 school year is in the books, and though we didn’t get through it completely unscathed, our staff and students have made great strides in establishing routines and expectations throughout the building. These routines are crucial to the ultimate success of individual students as well as groups of students. Thank you to all our staff members who are working to create safe, predictable environments for our learners, regardless of age or school experience.

Along the lines of routines, we continue to work on our arrival and dismissal process, looking to achieve both maximum safety and efficiency. Thank you all for your help with this! Listed below are some of the tweaks we are working on across the building in general:

• While we love seeing families on campus in the morning it does create great apprehension/ trepidation regarding possible viral spread. Starting Tuesday, September 7 we are asking caregivers to please drop their children off on the perimeter of the school grounds for them to walk to their designated area. In addition to discouraging viral issues, this also promotes a healthy sense of independence in children!

• I have been working with the Montpelier Police Department as well as members of the Traffic Division to examine our current bus and car drop off/pickup procedures with the aim of creating safer and more efficient routines. More to come on this effort.

• We have tents, and we are working on designing routines and traffic flow with the goal of beginning to use them for lunch starting on Tuesday.

• We are working diligently to hire additional instructional assistants (we are currently short three!). If you or someone you know is interested in one of these positions please call or email me!

There are, of course, a whole slew of other things happening, but it’s Friday afternoon on a three day weekend, and I’m hoping you all have great plans to get outside and enjoy our beautiful state!

Pleasure to be working with you all!

Peter

Photo credit: Lauren Antler

If your child or someone in your household is a close contact of someone with Covid-19 or, is positive with Covid-19, please contact Nurse Megan right away at Meganspaulding@mpsvt.org or Peter Farrell at Peterfarrell@mpsvt.org.

It’s going to be a beautiful 3 day weekend! We highly encourage everyone to follow the CDC’s recommendation that all people who are not vaccinated or not able to be vaccinated, should not travel at this time. Currently, we know that case numbers in Vermont have been high, and in order to help prevent your child from getting Covid-19, it might be best for your family to choose to stay home or choose to take a hike where there would be lots of space to be able to distance from others.

Every situation is unique this year because this year we have a lot of people vaccinated! When someone is fully vaccinated, not having any symptoms and they are in close contact with someone who has Covid-19, then they do not need to be quarantined per the VT Department of Health. However, they would need to get a test 3-5 days after their last contact with the positive person. They would also need to monitor for symptoms for the next 14 days. If in the next 14 days, they develop symptoms, then they would need to quarantine and get tested again. People who are not vaccinated would need to be quarantined at home, and on day 7 from the last exposure, they would need to take a Covid-19 PCR test.

It is important to keep your child home if they are having symptoms and get them tested for Covid-19. There are many other common colds and different viruses that are circulating as well, but it’s important to know if it’s Covid-19 or not so we do not continue to spread it.

The top 3 most common symptoms in children with Covid-19 in Vermont are:

1. Runny nose

2. Cough

3. Headache

Other symptoms are: sore throat, fever (100.4F), fatigue, muscle aches, diarrhea and vomiting, and loss of taste or smell.

Did you know that every Thursday from 3-6pm, there is a drive through test site at 134 State Street in Montpelier? If you are not a close contact, having no symptoms, you and your students can test asymptomatically and still come to school while waiting for results.

Here is the link to sign up:

https://www.healthvermont.gov/covid-19/testing/where-get-tested

• MASKS: Caregivers please be sure to have a mask for you and your student at both arrival and dismissal if your child is a car-rider or walker. If your child rides the bus, please make sure they are also wearing a mask when they get on the bus in the morning.

• ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL TIMES: School begins at 8:00 a.m. everyday. Please be sure your student is at the school before 8:00 a.m. so that they can walk inside with their class and begin their school day. Bussers are dismissed at 2:45 p.m., and walkers and car-riders are dismissed at 2:50 p.m. for all K-Grade 4 students.
• When dropping off a car-rider, please make sure your student is ready to exit the vehicle promptly so that we may make the process as efficient and speedy as possible.
• If your child is going to be picked up for an early dismissal during the school day, please send a note in with the student to give to their classroom teacher, or send the main office an email detailing this information so that we have that information in writing(dianakoliander@mpsvt.org and alyssahamel@mpsvt.org).

• CAR SIGNS: Starting Tuesday, those students that are car-riders will receive a sign with their name and teachers name on it. Caregivers, please display this sign in your windshield at pick-up to help facilitate the pick-up process.

Your student should have received a hard copy of the UES Food Service form on Friday for the next week. A link to the form is also included below if you need to print a copy.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17X8llGrSHR0QWQYO575mD2iUTsb4JG4q/view?usp=sharing

The menu for the month of September is available on our website. A link to that page is below:

https://sites.google.com/a/mpsvt.org/mps-nutrition-services/ues-menu?authuser=0

Greetings Union Elementary Caregivers!

We are very excited to be kicking off our 2021-22 school year with the implementation of a new Social Emotional Behavioral Learning (SEBL) curriculum across grades K through 8. Our students and teachers will be engaging in weekly social-emotional learning lessons and activities geared toward building knowledge and practicing SEBL skills based upon our district SEL standards. These standards are grouped into “domains” and include: Self-awareness, Self-management, Relationship Skills/Connecting with Others, Mindset, and Decision-Making. Our district SEBL team and grade-level teachers have identified essential skills for each domain area upon which we will be focusing this year. You can find those essential skills here and in the Health & Wellness section of our district website.

The SEBL curriculum is comprehensive and built upon materials from various sources including the RULER approach out of the Yale Institute for Emotional Intelligence, the Fly Five SEL Curriculum from Responsive Classroom/Center for Responsive Schools, the Peace of Mind Curriculum and also various materials and lessons used over the years by our highly qualified school counselors and social emotional learning teachers.

The critical importance of social emotional behavioral (SEBL) skills is well documented and widely understood. We are very excited to be explicitly teaching these skills and sharing this information throughout our school community. Each week you can expect to see communication coming home that allows you and your child(ren) to reflect upon that week’s lesson and practice these concepts and skills together.

Our first couple of weeks together we will be defining the word “emotion”, talking about the importance and purpose of emotions, and how we experience emotions in our bodies and minds. We will also be building community and identifying how everyone wants to feel at school, what kinds of behaviors influence those feelings, and we will commit to the hard work of engaging and reflecting on those behaviors and feelings as we move throughout the year.

Be on the lookout for upcoming caregiver events where we will come together to explore more about the tools and strategies and how you can use them at home.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher or any of the SEBL team members here at MRPS with any questions. We look forward to learning and growing together with you and your child this year!

Suzanne Francke, UES School Counselor suzannef@mpsvt.org 802-225-8247

Melissa Anderson, UES SEBL Teacher melissaanderson@mpsvt.org 802-225-8200

Mary Bechtel, District Social Emotional Learning Coordinator marybechtel@mpsvt.org

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fDd6B-p4XlFCJxFsrQ8H0NInprPMy-Zj/view?usp=sharing

The UES Caregivers Alliance (UESCA) is a collective of caregivers who support a welcoming, inclusive UES community. Please note our first meeting has changed and will be on Thursday, September 23 from 7:30-9pm. Click Here for the meeting link.

Add your name to this year's class directory. Continuing our model from last year, UESCA created a form for any caregiver who would like to be added to their child's class directory. It is optional, and the purpose is to make it easy to communicate with families in your child's class. Click Here to complete this short form.

Pass the hat for UESCA! Can you contribute to UESCA to support school year activities? Follow this link to read about all the fun, supportive activities caregivers did during the 2020-2021 school year and contribute what you can to support activities for this school year. Go to MRPS Partners in Education: Donate (squarespace.com) or follow the details to mail a check. Thank you!

You can access UESCA materials and notes on our webpage, here. Have a question or need? Email us at ues.families@gmail.com.

Website: https://www.mrpsvt.org/ues
Location: 1 Park Avenue, Montpelier, VT, USA
Phone: 802-225-8200