The Bobcat Bulletin

Founders Memorial School News: October 22, 2024

From the Principal

Dear FMS Families,

We have been so lucky with our fall weather so far! Yesterday morning, we had glorious weather for our annual “FMS” photo - the warm air and beautiful leaves made it a great way to start our morning together.

Please read below for some important schoolwide updates. Thank you for your continued partnership and support!

Sincerely,

Sara Jablonski

FMS Principal

UVM Outstanding Educator for 2024-25

FMS Music Teacher Tyson Valyou was selected to the EWSD UVM Outstanding Educator for 2024-25! Tyson's passion for music education has touched the lives of so many students in his more than 15 years as a teacher at FMS. This is a well-deserved honor. Congratulations, Tyson!

Tyson will be honored at at the UVM Outstanding Educator Awards Ceremony on November 7th at the University of Vermont.

Honoring our Veterans

We have many military veterans in our school community. As Veterans’ Day approaches, we are looking for your help so we can help our students understand the role of military veterans in our community. There are two ways you can help!

If you or a family member is a veteran or active service member, you are invited to send in a photo of you (or your family member) with your FMS student for a special bulletin board. You can have your child bring the photo to the front office, or email it directly to Emily Kim, ekim@ewsd.org.
If you are a veteran who is interested in speaking to students at either an all-school assembly OR through a short video clip, please contact Emily Kim at ekim@ewsd.org. We are looking for folks who can speak to the meaning of dedication to the service and how it helps our community and world. We are looking for either a short (30-60 second clip) or just a few minutes at an in-person assembly.

Family Conferences

Our family conference window is open from late October to late November. You may have already heard from your child’s teacher about signing up for a conference. Conferences are an important way that we connect with families and support our students in their learning and growth! Please be sure to sign up for a conference during this time. If you have questions, please contact your child’s teacher.

Safety Drill Update

This week, we will have a fire drill at FMS. Fire drills are times that we practice a swift evacuation from our school. Our students have been so successful in their safety drill practice these past few months!

PBIS Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are excited to share important updates about our school’s commitment to fostering a positive learning environment through the implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). PBIS is a proactive approach that promotes expected student behavior and enhances academic success. It is built on a system of tiered interventions that support positive behavior for all students.

As part of our PBIS program, we focus on teaching, modeling, and reinforcing positive behaviors in all areas of the school. These expectations are consistently communicated to students in both classroom and non-classroom settings such as hallways, cafeterias, bathrooms and playgrounds.

To further motivate and recognize students for demonstrating expected behavior, we have introduced a school-wide incentive program. This initiative acknowledges students who work hard to uphold our school wide expectations of: taking care of ourselves, taking care of others, and taking care of our school. When any educators notice students demonstrating these positive behaviors, students or classrooms are recognized by being given a pom-pom for their classwide bucket.

Classroom Celebrations: When a classroom fills their bucket with pom-poms they have a short class celebration.
School-wide Celebrations: When class buckets are filled, the class trades their pom-poms for larger pom-poms that go in the school wide bobcat paw in the main lobby. When filled, we have a school wide celebration based on student input.

We believe that positive reinforcement plays a crucial role in creating a respectful and nurturing environment where students feel supported and motivated to succeed both behaviorally and academically.

We invite you to partner with us by encouraging your child to participate in this positive behavior system and reinforcing these values at home. Working together, we can ensure that all students have the best possible experience at Founders Memorial School.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

The FMS PBIS Team

From the Health Office

Hearing and Vision Screening

It is time for annual vision and hearing screenings at FMS. Each year all third and fifth graders are screened. Additionally, fourth graders on 504 Plans, IEP's, or who have vision and/or hearing concerns are screened. If your student does not pass the screening, I will send home a referral letter. If your student has already been screened at their medical home or vision specialist and you would like to opt out of screening, please provide me with a copy of their results.

Screening guidelines come from the Vermont Department of Health Standards Of Practice: School Health Services Manual.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your student's vision and/or hearing, please contact agoodkind@ewsd.org or call 802-857-6304.

Lice

Lice: Pediculosis (head lice) is a common problem in school-aged children. The main mode of transmission of head lice is contact with a person who is already infested (i.e., head-to-head contact). Contact is common during play (sports activities, playgrounds, at camp, and slumber parties). While it is a nuisance and inconvenient, having lice does not carry significant medical risks. Weekly checks at home are a great way to detect head lice early and to keep them from spreading. If you suspect or find head lice on your child, you can contact your school nurse for advice. For more information on detecting and treating lice, as well as the EWSD lice protocol you can visit the Health Office Webpage