Dear MUMS community,

We hope this message finds you well and that you were able to enjoy the Total Solar Eclipse with your family on Monday. It was absolutely spectacular and so many of our students shared cool pictures and stories about their experience when they returned on Tuesday.

This week we completed our Science VTCAP tests and also began the process of making up ELA and Math VTCAP tests that weren't completed last week. Kudos to families, students and staff for the effort and care that went into completing the tests.

Lastly, we ran into a bit of a technical problem while running the final report cards. It looks like we have fixed the major snafu and plan to print report cards and mail them home today. Thank you for your patience this week while we worked through the challenge. As indicated in last week's update, if you have technical or pragmatic questions, please reach out to Michaela and if you have questions about specific content, or grades, please reach out directly to your child's teacher.

Have a great weekend,

Michaela

If you have questions generally, please reach out to us at mwisell@acsdvt.org (Michaela)

or zjerome@acsdvt.org (Zach) or dhunt@acsdvt.org (Dustin) or by calling the MUMS office at 802-382-1600 or by visiting the MUMS website for more information.

- Michaela, Zach & Dustin

Michaela Wisell, Principal

Zach Jerome, Assistant Principal

Dustin Hunt, Dean of Culture and Climate

• April 22nd - April 26th: Spring Break
  
• May 1st: Early Release Day
• May 3rd: VT ACDA Honor's Choir Festival

In 7th grade/MYP 2 Individuals and Societies, students studied wars and the impact that war has on people's lives, through the lens of children's storybooks. As a culminating project, students wrote their own historical fiction stories to explore the question "How are people impacted by war?" They were challenged to create a narrative with realistic characters and historical detailIs. Ask a 7th grader what war they chose to learn about and what they focused on in their story. Below are several excerpts from students' writing that captures the power of the event they described:

Excerpt #1:

The headline said “SPANISH INFLUENZA OUTBREAK.” Wildly, Charl read through the article...about the thousands of people getting sick from the influenza, and many dying. Then, it occurred to him: This was what happened to Calvin and all the sick men in the hospital. The influenza had found its way to Camp Devens! Even with the impending shadow of disease looming over the camp, training still went on day after day.

Excerpt #2:

[H]e immediately hates it in the trenches....When he gets back it's night time and he tries to get a little bit of sleep but when there are mice crawling all over you it's pretty hard to sleep.

Excerpt #3:

Goodness gracious, what are we doing? Helping or harming? It seems we are doing neither...All those families torn apart, never to be put back together again. Life is short and what have I done with my life so far...Nothing!

Pam Quinn and Eileen Sears, MYP Coordinators

Destination: Boston

Date: Friday May 17th.

Times: 6:00am departure from MUMS & 10:00pm return to MUMS

Permission slips: Will be sent home at the end of next week

Chaperone interest: Caregivers will be able to express interest in chaperoning on the permission form (Please note that you must be cleared as a volunteer to chaperone)

*Please read through the permission slip closely. It will include how we are financing the trip, what we still need to raise to meet our fundraising goal, as well as any caregiver responsibilities associated with your child attending and lastly a student behavior contract.

Please help fundraise for the 8th grade class trip!

Please fill out this Sign Up Genius to to support this event

Wash cars! Bake treats! Spread the word!

Contact Martha 802-349-2493 if you have any questions

Parents and caregivers: 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 might already be registered, contact the administrative assistant at your school or email thuestis@acsdvt.org to double check. Once you are approved, you will be emailed at the beginning of each school year to remain an active volunteer.

Come out to cheer our MUMS teams on and Learn about Afterschool Clubs! Find our schedule of activities below.

For those of you interested in purchasing "MUMS Gear" please use this link.

Staff Wish List

• Our Staff Wish List includes lots of things you might have around your home unused, like magazines (for Ms. Ambrose's classes), milk crates (for Ms. Cosgrove's classes), tools, scrap wood, craft supplies and more!

We are so excited to welcome parents and community members back into our buildings this year! If you are interested in substitute teaching or volunteering this year, please start an application now!

If you are interested in joining our new Friends of MUMS group, email friendsofmums@gmail.com