MUMS Family Newsletter

I hope this message finds you well!

Yesterday was an unexpected day with our first "snow day" of the school year. I hope that you were all safe in your travels and we look forward to welcoming our students back for our last day of the week!

Today we will be sending twenty five students to MUHS for the day to participate in our Districts Band and Choral concert. We are so fortunate to have such a strong music program at MUMS with two very dedicated teachers. We wish them well today and hope that anyone who plans to attend tonight's concert truly enjoys the music. The following are the times and locations for the concerts at MUHS.

• 6:30 - MS Jazz and HS Strings Concert in the Auditorium
• 7:30 MS Chorus and HS Band Concert in the Gym

Thanks for your continued support!

Best,

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 Wisell, Principal

Zach Jerome, Assistant Principal

Dustin Hunt, Activities Director

• February 10th - Friends of MUMS Mtg. (6:30-8:00)
• February 12th - Early Release (12:45 dismissal)
• February 16th - BINGO Fundraiser for 8th Grade Trip (1:00-3:00 at American Legion)
• February 24th thru March 3rd - February Break

Activities Calendar

In 8th grade Spanish, students are in the midst of their “Mi Casa es Tu Casa” unit, in which they examine the question, “What makes a home?” through their reading, writing, speaking and listening. Below, check out the photos from Senorita Hall’s students, who built models with Spanish captions to demonstrate their growing vocabulary. ¡Gracias por mostrarnos tu aprendizaje, estudiantes! (Thank you for showing us your learning, students!)

Eileen Sears, MYP Coordinator

& ACSD Curriculum Leader

esears@acsdvt.org

802-382-1753

Pam Quinn, MYP Coordinator

pquinn@acsdvt.org

802-382-1243

Parental Notification Letter

February 7, 2025

Dear Parent or Guardian:

Our school is taking part in the 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey March 10 - 12 during Wellness class. This was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is sponsored by the Vermont Department of Health and Agency of Education. The YRBS has been administered every other year in Vermont since 1993. Separate versions of the survey ask middle or high school students about health behaviors and assets or protective factors. Topics include personal safety and injury prevention, mental health, nutrition, physical activity, sexual health, substance use, and protective factors. At the same time as the YRBS, we will also be administering a short survey in collaboration with the United Way of Addison County (UWAC) February 19-21. The UWAC survey is administered by Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) and includes some additional questions about alcohol and other drug use and the strengths and concerns of youth.

Results from the surveys help us determine the extent to which adolescents engage in or experience health risk behaviors. The results support public health officials, educators, and community organizations ability to assess and improve efforts to reduce health risk behaviors among adolescents throughout the state and nation. They help us develop and evaluate health-related programs and securing their future funding.

Both surveys are anonymous. They have been designed to be confidential and to protect your child’s privacy. Students will not put their names on the surveys and student login information is not recorded. Individual survey responses will not be revealed in a report of the results or disclosed to any school employee.

For these surveys to be accurate, it is important that all students, regardless of whether they have engaged in health-risk behaviors, are given an opportunity to participate in the surveys. We would like all students to take part in the surveys to best understand the issues and experiences of youth, however, the surveys are voluntary. Students may skip any questions they do not wish to answer or stop taking the surveys at any point without penalty. As a parent, you have the right to view the surveys before they are administered and to have your child opt out. A copy of the YRBS survey is available on the Department of Health YRBS webpage (http://www.healthvermont.gov/yrbs). The UWAC survey can be viewed here. If you have any questions or concerns, please call Katie Ford at 382-1218.

Please visit the Vermont Department of Health website at: http://www.healthvermont.gov/yrbs for more information about the Vermont YRBS including previous reports. Links to the CDC’s YRBS page, FAQs, and other background information are available by clicking “Learn more about the YRBS” on the website.

If you have questions about your child's rights as a research participant in the UWAC survey, you may call Elizabeth Waiters at PIRE’s Office of Research Integrity and Compliance at 866-PIREORG (866-747-3674) ext. 1 or email her at irb@pire.org.

Please notify Kandy Kinne, Administrative Assistant at 382-1204, if you wish to opt your child out of taking the survey by Monday, February 17th. If you have any questions please contact Michaela Wisell, Principal at 382-1202 and thank you in advance for supporting this important work.

Sincerely,

Michaela Wisell, Principal

8th Grade End of Year Trip fundraiser/event

When: Sunday, February 16th

Time: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Where: American Legion

See below for more details!

We want to thank our thirteen ACSD School Board members for the time, collaboration, and deep investment they make to ensure a brighter future for our students, our district, and our community. We want to send a special appreciation to Chip Malcom and Joanna Doria who are leaving the Board this year. Chip has served on the ACSD board since unification in 2016 and previously served on the UD3 Board from 1985-2000, including 6 years as chair. Joanna has served on the ACSD Board since 2022. School board members are elected officials who live in one of our district towns and represent all members of the ACSD community. School board elections are held each Town Meeting day with a rotating number of our thirteen seats up each year. Learn more about the board: www.acsdvt.org/school-board/

MUMS families: Do you have all-black dress pants, collared shirts, dresses, or dress shoes taking up room in the back of your closet that a child in your family has outgrown? The MUMS Tiger Concert Closet is a newly formed initiative that is seeking donations of all-black concert attire for kids to borrow for the winter and spring concerts. This school-based "borrowing closet" will be available for all band and choir students to use throughout their years at MUMS. They will borrow what they need for each concert and return it afterwards.

Whether it's being short on time, schedules, transportation, finances, or some combination of these things, the hope is that the Tiger Concert Closet will make things easier for families and students. A special shout-out goes to Junebug, who is graciously donating two huge rolling racks, sizing dividers, bins, hangers, and their time to help us set this up at MUMS! You are an amazing organization and we are lucky to have you as our partner!

Beginning this week, you can bring in your donation to either the front office of MUMS during regular school hours (8:00 am- 3:30 pm) or to Junebug (9 am- 5pm, 211 Maple Street, Middlebury). There will be a bin clearly marked "Tiger Concert Closet" where you can leave your donation. You can also donate clothing or money at Junebug (they'll have a collection jar earmarked for MUMS Tiger Concert Closet). We will add clothing and shoe donations directly to the Closet, and turn any collected money at Junebug to purchase high-need items. We can accept sizes from kids 10-12 to adult XL.

If you have questions or want to join our committee, please email etothsears@gmail.com and we will be in touch. Thanks for supporting our young musicians!

Please see the below link to access our Finalized 2025-2026 School Calendar.

If neither you or your child’s other biological or adoptive parent have a 4 year college degree, your child may be eligible for the program! Please fill out this quick form and our VSAC Counselor will reach out to you with the application.

It's that time of year again! Several positive flu cases have been reported here at MUMS, with an increase over the last week. With that in mind, we wanted to share some guidance and reminders to help minimize the spread of illnesses. Please remind your students not to share water bottles, food or anything else that can further contribute to the spread of illness. Please also encourage your students to eat well, stay hydrated and get plenty of rest. Good hand washing is the #1 way to prevent the spread of contagious illness!

We expect students to stay home with any potentially contagious illnesses or symptoms including the following:

1. Vomiting/diarrhea-must be 24 hours symptom free before returning to school

2. Fever 100.4 or greater -stay home until fever free without use of medication for 24 hours

3. Any infection requiring antibiotic-keep your student home until they have been on antibiotics for 24 hours

4. Persistent cough that disrupts normal activity

5. Unexplained rash

6. Influenza and COVID-stay home until fever free without medication for 24 hours

7. Any other symptoms or illness that impedes a student’s ability to learn or staff’s ability to work.

Students may return once feeling well enough to be at school and fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications.

If your student tests positive for Influenza or COVID, it is very helpful if you are able to call or email the school nurses to report this so we can track trends and determine if we are having outbreaks.

Thank you!

Liz Palko, BSN, RN

• To report your child absent from school or notify us of an early dismissal please leave us a message on our attendance line by calling 382-1297 before 8:30 AM.
• If you send a student to school with an early dismissal note or bus note they should bring them the office before TA.
• All bus notes need to be stamped/signed by one of our Administrative Assistant's in the front office. Students will not be allowed to ride a bus to another location without a note from home that is stamped/signed by the office.

Do you volunteer in our schools? Join Superintendent Wendy Baker for a discussion about how to streamline, strengthen, and improve our volunteer program at ACSD schools. We will schedule a time to meet this fall to gather your feedback. Interested?
Button or link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1H6laR0CJwNAVk9RKvXDYd2kvHeiw0vzwBb_9qcRNwg4/edit

To view monthly school menus click here.

Here is a list of the 2024-2025 ACSD Bus Routes.

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