Mary Hogan Family Newsletter

Dear Mary Hogan Families,

We are nearly ready for the start of school! The construction in A wing is finished and furniture is in classrooms. Teachers return to school on Monday 8/19 and all staff will be back on Tuesday 8/20 for inservice. This is a week of learning, reconnecting, and lots of work by everyone here to get things ready. We also get to welcome new faces to our faculty and staff, including:

• 3rd Grade Teacher - Josie Sinopoli
• School Counselor - Tina Bly
• Paraeducators - Andrea Blodgett, Jessica Francese, Harris Gerner, Kelli Zauli
• Student Teachers - Alex DeFeo (working with Sra. Mosquera), and Jessica Reyes (working with Melissa Flint)
• Social Work Intern - Jessie Witscher

We are excited to welcome you and your child(ren) into the building for our Visitation on Friday 8/23 from 9-10am and then on the first day of school on Monday August 26th.

Below, you will find some important information for the start of the year, including:

1. Important Upcoming Dates,
2. Bus Routes,
3. Lunch Menu,
4. Family Handbook,
5. Arrival & Dismissal Routines, and
6. Information for Kindergarten Families

I can't wait to see you and your children soon, to hear about their summer, to learn what their favorite new book is, and be all together.

💙, Jen

Friday 8/23 - 9-10am - Student Visitation Day - Come see your new classroom and meet your teachers

Monday 8/26 - First Day of School!

Monday 8/26 - Wednesday 8/28 - Kindercamp for all incoming Kindergarteners

Thursday 8/29 - Friday 8/30 - No School for Kindergarteners (All other students have school.)

Monday 9/2 - No School - Labor Day

Tuesday 9/3 - 1st Day of Preschool

Wednesday 9/4 - Picture Day!

Thursday 9/13 - 6-7pm - Back to School Night

Mary Hogan (Middlebury) Bus Routes can be found on the ACSD website under the Families Tab. They will also be published in next week's (8/22) Addison Independent.

All times are approximate. Times for bus routes can vary by several minutes depending on traffic, construction, weather, and ridership. Students should be at their bus stop at least 5 minutes earlier than the published time.

For safety reasons, drivers will not wait for students to come to the stop. Kindergarteners & 1st graders must have an adult or older sibling with them at the bus stop in the morning and meet them in the afternoon.

If you have questions about a route, please contact your school. We will update any changes to the bus routes as soon as they are known.

When you are driving and see a bus, please slow down and prepare to stop when a school bus’s yellow lights are flashing. Drivers must come to a full stop and wait when a bus’s red lights are flashing and its stop arm is extended. It is illegal to speed up and pass a bus as it slows to a stop with its yellow lights flashing or is stopped with its red lights flashing. Drivers may proceed only after the bus’s lights have stopped flashing and the bus has begun moving again. Even when a bus doesn’t have flashing lights, drivers should exercise caution for children who may be crossing unexpectedly.

Parents should teach their children to arrive at the bus stop at least five minutes before the bus is scheduled to be there and to play it SAFE:

• Stay at least ten feet—five giant steps—away from the curb.
• Always wait for the bus to stop completely and the bus driver to signal it’s safe to board.
• Face forward after finding a seat on the bus.
• Exit the bus after it stops, wait for the bus driver to signal it’s safe to cross, and then look left-right-left for cars before crossing a street in front of the bus, never behind.

Each month, we will send home a lunch menu. You can also access the menu on the ACSD website under Families>School Meals (HERE).

September's Harvest of the Month is sweet peppers, which will be featured many days during lunch in the meal or in the salad bar. If you are looking to try some sweet pepper recipes or learn more about them, check out this link from Harvest of the Month.

Vegetarian options are listed on the menu in RED.

You can always access our Family Handbook on our Mary Hogan Website. It had A LOT of important information about Mary Hogan and how we do things, including:

• Arrival and Dismissal,
• Health Information,
• Code of Conduct,
• Student Supports, and more.

Take a minute when you have a chance to check it out. Read what feels pressing now and explore so you know how to find things later.

An email was sent out to all incoming Kindergarten families today (8/16) about the first 2 weeks of school. If you didn't get it, please contact Jill Laberge. Here is a link to the email

Want to know more about the Volunteer Process? Check out more information HERE.