Gator News

Friday, March 31, 2023

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Dear Caregivers, Gators, and Friends!

This March has been amazing! While these last few weeks have been full of activities and lots of buzz in our building, its been a great reminder of how Main Street Middle School is truly an AMAZING place to be and learn. I am constantly in awe of the excellence that our students show each and every day...whether in demonstrating their academic learning, their civic engagement, displaying their musical talents, or learning from their mistakes learning to be better citizens in our community. There's no place I'd rather be.

It has been wonderful to welcome Caregivers and their students into school today for conferences. We always look forward to this time in building our connections with our most important partners. Please know that if you have concerns about your student, you never need to wait for a conference day, please make sure you reach out to your Gator's teacher or Ms. Bravakis, our school counselor.

Hiring Committee: Caregivers Wanted!

Please let me know if you would be willing to serve our school community by serving on a hiring and/interviewing committee...we want our Caregiver's feedback in our hiring processes!

Next Year Staffing Changes!

We are excited to announce that Britta Hock will be moving from our SEL teacher to the new school counselor position. And Rebakka DiLauro will be moving into the math intervention position for next year! We have posted their current positions for next school year on SchoolSpring!

Vermont History Day

Our MSMS 7th and 8th Graders have been hard at work on their Vermont History Day projects. They presented their projects to our school community on Thursday, March 30. And we have a record number of students that will be presenting their projects the statewide event at UVM on April 8th. Added our own Mr. Dan Maguire was nominated for the National History Day teacher of the year! Congrats to Mr. Maguire and all our amazing students for their hard work. It was great learning from them!

8th Grade Promotion

We will be sending off our 8th graders in style on Tuesday, June 13th at 6:00 pm at the High School! It will be a great event celebrating the learning, growth, and accomplishments of our 8th grade class. There will be more details forthcoming but hold the date!

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Our New Administrative Assistant to the Principal : Jenny Bartlett-Hardy

As many of you are aware, Beth moved on to Vermont Compost so Julie and Jess have been trying to manage the helm this past month! A different kind of March Madness!

We are so excited that Jenny Bartlett-Hardy is joining our MSMS school community starting on April 3, 2023! I asked her to share a little about herself with our community and this is what she shared:

"I am excited to be joining Main Street Middle School as the new Administrative Assistant. I have been told I have a large role to fill and will do my best to assist everyone as much as possible. I look forward to meeting you all and seeing some familiar faces. Some of you may already know me from the Montpelier Recreation Department where I started my career working with families and children. Over the past years, I have expanded my professional growth working at schools in Randolph and Northfield mostly in Afterschool Enrichment Programs. I have chosen to step out of the classrooms and into an office setting, which I have always enjoyed, while still having the opportunity to work with students and families.

I grew up in Southern Vermont and currently reside in Northfield Falls with my husband and our pets. I enjoy woodworking, succulent gardening, skiing, and spending time with my family and friends in my free time.

Favorite quote: "I hope you're proud of yourself for the times you've said 'yes' when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else." ~ Mister Rogers“

MSMS Ambassadors for Rising Roxbury Students

We know that transitioning is a big deal for all of our rising 4th grade students at MRPS but especially our Roxbury students as we welcome them into Main Street Middle School. This is the first year where we have a specially designed transition program to help ease this transition. Our MSMS 5th and 6th graders were asked if they would like to me Mentor/Ambassadors to the six upcoming Roxbury 4th graders. We had over 70 students who wanted to fill this role in welcoming our soon-to-be Gators! What a great testiment to how much we love our Roxbury friends and are happy and proud to share our school experiences with them. We had our first meeting at Roxbury last week. Our Ambassadors will have two other meetings with these students to help build connections. Additionally to our Ambassadors, this program was designed and co-facilitated with two of Main Street's 7/8 students in collaboration with Up For Learning! Check out the pictures of our first day!

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Choral Program Changes: 4th Quarter

This year has been a big challenge for our choral program and that is incredibly regrettable.

We have been advertising and working to find a long-term substitute for our choral program for several weeks and have been unable to find a qualified and licensed teacher to fill this position. This has put us in a tight spot in trying to find ways to support our students. We are hopeful and confident that we will have a strong choral teacher in place starting this fall!

This means that we will not be having a MSMS choral concert this spring.

Additionally, the following changes are going to be made until we are able to hire a qualified long-term substitute:

5th and 6th Grade Students enrolled in choir will be now enrolled in an I-Lab class with Mr. Eli Rosenberg. Our Innovation Lab is a maker space of sorts designed to support student creativity, problem solving and collaboration.
7th & 8th Grade Students in Music Explorer or Choir will move to have a study hall during their music class time.

Please reach out to Mrs. Bravakis, Ms. Wells, or Julie if you have any questions or need additional support for your student during this transition.

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MSMS March Madness Success!

Thanks to our school Leadership Team for organizing these fun events! We had so much fun with our TA activities on Fridays and our first staff vs 8th grade basketball game ended on a buzzer beater for a tie! A super fun way to build school spirit and definitely a new tradition for our us to build on in the future!

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Week 5: Sustainability Challenge!

Week five Wednesday 4\3\23 - There is something called a green up day. But that's once a year. Try picking up as many pieces of trash as you can.

Some of our amazing fifth graders created a website and challenge to help create change! Check it what they had to say and their website! Share it wide!

Go to the website for more info. https://sites.google.com/mpsvt.org/sustainmontpeliercom/

MHS Acting Performance: Once Upon A Wolf!

COME SEE Once Upon A Wolf Friday, April 7th at 6pm on the Union Elementary School Stage. Tickets are by donation and all are welcome! Once Upon A Wolf is a 50 minute children's theater production including favorite fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Androcles and the Lion. Presented by the Montpelier High School Acting Performance and Technical Theatre classes and shown to many of the UES students during school on Friday, we are hosting an evening show for the community. We'd love to see you there. Doors will open at 5:40 for seating.

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Opportunity for Gator Greatness: VERMONT CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS!

The 36th Vermont Scholastic High School and Middle School Chess Championships will be held on Saturday, April 15th, 2023 at the Capital City Grange Hall on Vermont Route 12 in Berlin, VT. All Vermont students are eligible to compete for State Championships in Middle School (Grades 6 through 8) and High School (Grades 9 through 12) divisions.

The 36th Vermont Scholastic Elementary School Chess Championships will be held on Saturday, April 22nd, 2023 at the Capital City Grange Hall on Vermont Route 12 in Berlin, VT. All Vermont elementary school students are eligible to compete for individual State Championships in six divisions -- each grade Kindergarten through Grade 5.

All abilities are welcome and encouraged to participate. Advance registration is required. Complete rules and registration information can be found at http://vtchess.info or by contacting Mike Stridsberg, Tournament Director, at mike@vtchess.info.