Mary Hogan Family Newsletter
Update from Principal Jen Kravitz
5/3/24
Dear Mary Hogan Families,
The week has been full of buzzing activity, particularly among the 5th graders as they had Exhibition on Thursday. Exhibition was a chance for the 5th grade students to show and share all of their inquiry into a topic connected to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. It is also reflective of their whole elementary school learning journey.
And, wow! They did an outstanding job. The students were poised, thoughtful, clear communicators, and SO knowledgeable about topics as varied as: the gender pay gap, plastic pollution, banned books, animal cruelty, child labor, and more! Almost as impressively, the teams of students were able to speak to how their team worked together in the project. I hope you had a chance to come and if not, don't worry, it is an annual event!.
In other news...
We welcomed incoming Kindergarteners to school on Wednesday. They had a chance to play, spend times in the rooms and meet some of their future teachers. Here is the updated incoming Kindergarten event schedule.
Green Up, Clean Up morning is tomorrow - Saturday 5/4 from 9-11am. I hope you are able to come help take care of our school outdoor space!
Mary Hogan is thrilled to announce we are holding a summer program this year focused on reinforcing social-emotional learning (SEL) and academic skills. The program will run Mondays through Wednesdays Starting July 8th and ending July 31st. Students will be invited to join the program based on their academic and SEL data. We are looking forward to an amazing summer and the planning team is already hard at work. More information will be shared later and invitations for students will be going at the beginning of May. If you have any questions on the program please reach out to Stephen McKinney at smckinney@acsdvt.org.
There is just a lot going on this time of year, so keep your eye out for all the communication from school
Be well,
Jen
How You Can Recognize Awesome Teachers and Staff
We extend Teacher Appreciation Week to all staff and celebrate all month long! Our teachers and staff do so much to support our students and community. You can help us recognize them! Click here to share your appreciation.
Your appreciations also help to inform our nominations for our fall Teacher & Staff of the Year awards! We share as many of these appreciations as possible (last year we received over 220!)
Upcoming Events
May 4 - 9-11am - Green Up, Clean Up Day at Mary Hogan
May 6-10 - 5th grade at KEEC, Teacher Appreciation Week
May 6 - 5.30pm - Last Cooking with NOM - at Mary Hogan
May 10 - National School Nurse Day
- 4pm at MUHS - Mary Hogan Student Council Bake Sale to benefit the playground - Sign up here to help with baked goods!
May 13 - 1st grade field trip to Kayhart Farms
May 15 - Spirit Day determined by 5th grade
May 16 - 5th grade to Montshire Museum
- 9am - All School Meeting led by Kindergarten
May 17 - MESA-sponsored Teacher and Staff Appreciation Lunch
May 19 - Mini-Golf at Mary Hogan - sponsored by MESA - more info coming soon
May 22 - 6-7 - Incoming Kindergarten Parent Info Night
May 23 - Parent/Guardian Info Night at MUMS
May 24 - Kindergarten to Robert Frost Trails
May 25 - Mary Hogan Night at the Lake Monsters Game (see MESA Section for more info)
May 27 - No School
May 30 - Field Day (see MESA Section for more info) - rain date 6/3
June 6 - 5th grade goes to visit MUMS
June 7 - Progress Reports go home
June 13 - 1.30pm - 5th Grade Promotion
Volunteering for End-of-Year Activities and Field Trips
If you’re interested in volunteering for end-of-year activities and field trips, now is the time to register to volunteer! It takes a few weeks for background checks, so please start the process now with this volunteer form to ensure you’re approved. If you think you are approved already but are not currently volunteering regularly at school, it is probably a good idea to double check with Lorrie to make sure everything is all set. Once you are approved, you will be emailed at the beginning of each school year to remain an active volunteer.
Student Council News
Bake Sale to Benefit the Mary Hogan Playground
The Student Council is sponsoring a bake sale on 5/10 at 4pm at the MUHS Unified Basketball game to benefit the Mary Hogan playground. If you are willing to bake or bring items for sale, please sign up below. Items can be brought to the Main Office on Friday 5/10 during the day.
Thank you in advance!
- Mary Hogan Student Council
Updates to Mary Hogan Menus
Hello Mary Hogan Hawks!
We wanted to share some upcoming lunch changes:
Next year, pizza will be served every other Friday
Occasionally the kitchen staff will treat us to smoothies for breakfast in 4th & 5th grade.
The kitchen staff hopes to use Monument Farms products when making lunch whenever possible.
A group of Student Council representatives talked to Steven and the kitchen staff to help make these changes possible. Some of these changes came from student suggestions in the student council suggestion box.
Hope you enjoy them!
Yusuf, Jack, & Sylas
This Week at Mary Hogan
Exhibition
Inspired us to learn and consider how we all can take action on our learning
Learning about Mongolia
2nd graders in Sra. Mosquera's class learned about Mongolia from a college student with family connections there.
Morning Meetings
connected students as they returned from break
Updates from Art
In art class, students have continued to explore new materials and techniques! Kindergarteners used pipe cleaners and wiki sticks to weave on popsicle stick looms. 1st grade students have been practicing embroidery and are creating designs on burlap. 2nd and 3rd grade students designed clay sculptures. They planned an idea, learned to slip and score to attach clay, and have started glazing their projects. 4th and 5th graders are considering ways to refine their work and many are enjoying building sculptures in our recently introduced construction center.
ACSD Announcements
ACSD Equity Update & Listening Circles
This fall, ACSD worked with Dr. Rebecca Eunmi Haslam to address issues of racial equity at MUMS and MUHS through a confidential study called The Listening Circles Project. Now we are extending her work to our elementary school students and staff.
The goal of the Listening Circles Project is to hear directly from students and staff about what we can do to eliminate racial harm and ensure everyone feels safe and valued at school. All students and staff at our elementary schools are invited to participate. To participate you must read and fill out this consent form (parents/guardians fill it out on behalf of their child.) Listening circles will begin at elementary schools as early as next week, so please fill out the form as soon as possible if you want your child to participate. Parents of elementary students who participate will also have an opportunity to meet with Dr. Haslam.
As part of her work with secondary students and staff, Dr. Haslam is finalizing a report and recommendations for the ACSD administration. The elementary portion of this work will also result in a report and recommendations. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us as ACSD works to make all students and staff feel safe and valued.
MESA Message
EVENT UPDATES:
- Friday, May 17th - Teacher Luncheon - MESA hosts a teacher luncheon every year for all of the staff and teachers at Mary Hogan. If you would like to buy a teacher or staff person lunch, you can send us payment via venmo/paypal or cash/check. If you include a message in your donation, we will share that message with the teacher or staff person. Typically, lunch is $15 per person. There are over 100 teachers and staff members at Mary Hogan. We are also looking for donations of items, found here: Teacher Luncheon Sign Up
- Venmo: https://www.paypal.com/qrcodes/venmocs/533ad668-3f21-4644-adec-ad1562395437?created=1709142115
- Paypal: https://paypal.me/mesavt?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US
- Sunday, May 19th - Mini Golf at MHS - MESA is hosting a free mini golf event at Mary Hogan. There will be a sign up genius to secure a tee time. More details coming soon.
- Saturday, May 25th - Lake Monsters Game - Saturday, May 25th 6:05pm (First Pitch) - The Lake Monsters are hosting a Mary Hogan School night. Tickets are $8 and $4 from each ticket goes back to Mary Hogan.Click on the link for tickets: Lake Monsters
- Thursday, May 30th - Field Day (rain date Monday, June 3rd) - Field day is a fun-filled, all day, all school event. We have 8 stations set up on the fields by the school. Students are split into groups of 20 and rotate around stations run by volunteers. Stations planned for this year are: Disc Golf, Kickball, Skate Park/Pump Track, Dance & Bubbles, Relay Races, Lawn Games, Art and Tag. We are looking for more volunteers to run the stations in the time slots below. Please reach out to me at mesa@acsdvt.org to sign up.
- 8:30-9:15 AM - station set up
- 9:15-11:15 AM - 8 stations for Pre-K through 2nd grade
- 11:00 AM-1:00 PM - hand out popsicles at the BBQ lunch *Popsicles donated by Hannaford! *stay for lunch and eat with your student!
- 12:45-2:45 PM- 8 stations for 3rd Grade through 5th grade
- 2:30-3:00 PM - clean up
- Friday, June 14th - Dance Party! - MESA is hosting an end of the year dance party at the Middlebury Rec Gym. More details to follow.
Family Resources & Opportunities
Want to help out at Mary Hogan? - Sign up to be a volunteer!
Want to know more about the Volunteer Process? Check out more information HERE.
Photo of the Week
For more awesome photos, check out the Instagram account, below!
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STUDENT ABSENCES: 802-382-1401
STAFF ABSENCES: 802-382-1498
201 MARY HOGAN DRIVE
MIDDLEBURY, VT 05753
TELEPHONE: 802-388-4421
FAX: 802-382-1405