Gator News

• Principal Update
• Important Board Meetings - Wednesday Nov 1 at 6:30
  
• Request for Caregivers serving in the Military
• Equity Focus Groups
• Net Zero Ad Hoc Committee
• PIE New Executive Director Announcement
• MSMS Caregiver News Update
• Heatlh Office Updates: COVID and upcoming Vaccine Clinics
• Future of MRPS Facilities
• Annual Family Support Fund
• News from Our Athletic Director
• Gator Gear
• Board Warnings

Thank you Caregivers and Community Members for your support. It's hard to believe that we are already one quarter of the way through the school year. This Gator News is PACKED with information & Opportunities for our Caregiver participation and voice. I hope you will take the time to read and be an active part of our school community!

Caregiver Conferences

Caregiver Conferences are scheduled for November 10th. Your student's teachers should have sent you the information to sign up for a time slot. Please reach out to them if you need assistance in signing up or call us to help you. We look forward to talking with you about your student progress!

Please remember that in order to provide opportunity for all families to have a conference, you should sign up for just one slot with their homeroom teacher/core team and you are welcome to add in specialist teachers as well. Please honor the time slot you are given as it is a very full day for our teachers and we want to make sure that we are ready for the next set of caregivers.

#GATORNATION CELEBRATIONS!

Have a Gator Celebration? Email me! julieconrad@mpsvt.org

We LOVE to celebrate the great things our amazing GATORS do both in our school community and community at large! Do you have a shout out on how one of our students or staff have stepped up? Please email me and let me know so we can spread our Gator Pride!

Shout Out to:

• MSMS Cross Country Runners finished 5th at the State meet this past Sunday! Well done!
  
• Our Sustainability students for having already provided over 300 meals to our community through their hard work in the sustainability program working to help be a part of the solution of food insecurity in our own community.
• Our own Ms. Windy Kelley for running her second marathon this past week in Washington DC

Sincerely, Libby Bonesteel, Superintendent, and Jim Murphy, Board Chair

On November 1st, Wednesday and November 2nd Thursday:

Equity Audit Focus Groups and Survey: MRPS (this includes MHS) has partnered with The Equity Leadership Group to conduct an equity audit of our current systems, and we want to hear from YOU! Please visit https://www.mrpsvt.org/diversity-equity-and-inclusion to learn more about the audit and two opportunities for caregiver and community member participation: attend a focus group in person or virtually on Thursday, 11/2 or Friday, 11/3 (RSVP!) and/or complete an anonymous Survey (scroll down after you click the link).

And if you believe reaching out to Dr. Manning and emailing your feedback in place of the survey please do so here karla@equityleadershipgroup.com

On November 3, from 5:00-6:00 PM, Caregivers can meet with Dr. Manning in the MHS Library to participate in the listening session.

The members of the board of MRPS Partners in Education are excited to announce that we have hired an Executive Director! As you may know, this is a new role on the PIE team, and we anticipate that the continuity and oversight that an Executive Director will provide will allow PIE to continue to grow as an organization and even better serve the students, families and staff of the MRPS district.

We are thrilled that Vic Guadago has accepted the position. Below is a brief bio that we will soon share with the wider MRPS community. Vic is looking forward to chatting with each of you about the role that PIE plays in our school community and will reach out to you soon to schedule a time to talk. In the meantime, you can reach him at executivedirector@mrpspie.org.

Victor Guadagno

Victor Guadagno is an Emmy-award winning producer and founder/managing director of the media non-profit, Bright Blue Ecomedia. He holds a BS in industrial engineering from Northeastern University and an MS in leadership for sustainability from the University of Vermont. He produces the Bordertown podcast, which recently turned its attention to stories of the Central Vt. flood and the rebuilding effort. The father of a MSMS 8th grader, he is excited about contributing to the wellbeing of our community and school district, with a particular focus on storytelling and ecological design

MSMS Community Alliance News

*We are still taking donations for Popcorn Friday. This money goes to purchasing all the supplies necessary to give every student and staff member popcorn every other Friday for the year. Please consider donating...every little bit counts! Thanks.

DONATE

If you want to volunteer to be on a MSMS-CA committee there are still spots open- SIGN UP HERE

*If you would like to be added to our email list- Please SIGN UP HERE

November 1: School Board Meeting sharing upcoming budget pressures.

November 1-2: Equity Audit at MSMS

November 9: Early Release Day (Students dismissed at 1)

November 10: Caregiver Conference Day (No School for students)

November 20-24: Thanksgiving Break

MRPS follows the Vermont Department of Health guidance regarding Covid-19, which can be found here: https://www.healthvermont.gov/disease-control/covid-19/covid-19-symptoms-treatment.

In summary, the date symptoms started or the positive test (whichever came first) is day 0, and the student can return to school on day 6 if they are feeling better and have not had a fever (100.4 or higher) in the last 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicine.

A negative Covid test is not required to return to school.

If a student is exposed to Covid, they can still attend school. The Vermont Department of Health recommends that a close contact test if they develop symptoms or 5 days after exposure, if they do not have symptoms.

We encourage families to let the pediatrician or primary care provider know when students test positive. "

There are 3 Covid and Flu vaccine clinics that are coming up:

Nov 8th: 4pm-8pm at Spaulding High School

Nov 18th: 9am-4pm Montpelier High School

Nov 19th 9am-4pm Harwood Union High School

These are walk-in clinics only. They do have the Covid vaccine for children which has been hard to find! They offer Covid and Flu vaccines for people ages 6 months to 64 years old. You can keep checking pharmacies online, but I would recommend trying these clinics if you have had a hard time finding the vaccine for your family.

For more information, here's their website:

https://www.waterburyambulance.org/vaccinations.html

Every year, the MRPS PIE community raises money to directly support families in the Montpelier Roxbury School District. This is a meaningful way for neighbors to support neighbors and to share the love during the cold days ahead.

Our goal this year is to raise $10,000 by December 8th! If you can help, please donate here. And consider sharing this page - on social media, email, or any way you can! You might share with friends and family who live out of state, as our community has been supporting one another throughout the flood recovery, and while the need is greater, the resources may be depleting.

NEW MRPS Athletic Registration Site

A lot of you have physicals for your students on the previous registration site. If that form is still compliant (date of physical is within two years) we can take the form from that site and transfer it over to the new site. Please reach out if this is the case.

***One of the most important things is for both parents/caregivers and student-athletes to download the Rank One app for your phone. This will be the best and easiest way for you to get notifications regarding your team. You can always access the site via a computer but the quickest way to get these messages will be through the app.

1. The MS and HS winter season begins on 11/27. Sports we offer at the MS in the winter are:

7th and 8th grade Boys' and Girls' Basketball

Nordic Ski

***OPEN COACHING POSITIONS: 7th Grade Boys' and Girls' Basketball Coaches

2. Like last year, we will hold a Meet the Coaches Night in order for everyone to meet their coaches before the season begins! This meeting is for both the player and the parents/caregivers. You'll get to find out more about practice times and try out information, along with team expectations and policies at these meetings so please make sure you show up. Meet the Coaches Night will be at the high school on Thursday 11/16 at 5:00 for the MS

3. The VPA has put into effect a couple of policies that will have some impact on our student-athletes. The first is the guidelines regarding non-binary athletes. The second is about student-athletes' Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and how that may affect their eligibility and what is permitted by the VPA in relation to that. Information on both of these new acts can be found by going to: VPA Policies (Non-Binary policy page 3, NIL page 9)

4. General information on the winter season and the sports we offer can be found in the MHS and MSMS slideshow which is linked below (the slideshow is for both the HS and MS).

Click here for the MSMS and MHS Sports Informational Slideshow

Our online calendar with practices and games can be found at Montpelierschools.tandem.co All games and practices will be updated there as we get closer to the season. All HS games are currently on the calendar for all sports.

Gator gear we have a school store open and ready to go!

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/vermont/montpelier/main-street-middle-school

Part of the proceeds kick back to the school so not only will you be able to show off your Gator pride but you'll be helping out the teams as well!

• Finance Committee happening Wednesday, November 1st, 2023 at 5:30 pm
• Regular school board happening Wednesday, November 1st, 2023 at 6:30 pm
• Superintendent Evaluation Committee happening Friday, November 3rd, 2023 at 1:15 pm.

• Facilities and Energy Committee is scheduled to meet on Friday, November 3rd, 2023 at 12:00 pm. Please find the agenda attached to this email and visit https://www.mrpsvt.org/facilities-and-energy-committee for more information.

• 
  

Instagram: MainStreetMiddleSchoolVT

Facebook: Main Street Middle School

MRPS BLOG: Visit https://www.smore.com/7agn0 and subscribe!

Main Street Middle School Webpage

MRPS Webpage

MSMS Athletics Webpage

2023-2024 MRPS School Calendar

MRPS Power School Portal

MSMS Bus Routes

MSMS Food Services

MRPS Student Support Services: Special Education Handbook for Caregivers

Caregiver Reporting: If you believe you have witnessed or experienced discrimination, bias-based harassment, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, or bullying at MRPS, please report it to a school administrator as possible. If you do not feel comfortable reporting in person, please complete this reporting form. If you have any questions please contact MRPS Director of Social Emotional Learning & Wellness, Jessica Murray, at jessicamurray@mpsvt.org or (802) 505 0435.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW for the MRPS Masque Theatre production of Urinetown: The Musical by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann. This satirical comedy is bound to get you laughing and hopefully questioning as it paints a ridiculous picture of our potentially resourceless future.

December 7th-9th at Montpelier High School

Is this show for kids?:

"There's no adult language or sexual innuendo, though there is some brief, cartoon violence when evil is inevitably punished. Urinetown's comedy extends far beyond toilet humor, as well; the lyrics and jokes are clever enough to appeal to adults, and clean enough for children younger than high school age." -bmgator.org

Volunteer to be a Heart & Sole coach with Girls on the Run VT for Main Street Middle School this spring! The impact of a volunteer coach is as boundless as it is beautiful. Not a runner? No problem! Haven’t coached before? No problem! Girls on the Run VT (GOTRVT) provides training, easy to follow lesson plans, supplies and support from GOTRVT staff for a transformational season.

Heart & Sole is a middle-school age after school program that utilizes a research-based curriculum to empower, increase self-worth and spark joy in its participants, while creatively integrating physical movement. The program takes place over 10 weeks, with teams meeting twice a week for 90 minutes each session. Participants connect, move, learn and have FUN each session. The Spring 2024 season begins the week of March 18th and concludes with a celebratory 5K on June 1 in Essex.

Visit gotrvt.org/coach to learn more, or sign up to volunteer. Questions? Contact GOTRVT at anne@girlsontherunvermont.org or 802-871-5664.

VTeen 4-H Science Pathways Cafes:

Teens Reaching Youth (TRY) for the Environment: TRY stands for Teens Reaching Youth and is an environmental leadership opportunity for students in grades 7-12. It is an environmental education program taught by teens and designed to increase environmental literacy and responsibility in younger youth. TRY for the Environment connects young people to real-world environmental problems by allowing them to be key change agents contributing to real-world solutions. Learn more here. Applications are due no later than November 7.

VTeen Leadership Weekend: November 17-19, 2023. VTeen Leadership Weekend is a fun-filled weekend developing important skills and traits that will help you stretch and improve your leadership, communication, problem solving, teamwork and other transferable skills to take back and use in your club work, school and community. Learn more here. Open to all youth in grades 7-12; limited to 50 youth.

Discover Engineering: A FREE full day event with workshops at UVM to promote the field of engineering and help youth understand different pathways they can take to pursue a future as an engineer. More information coming soon. Save the Date! Saturday, February 17, 2024.