MUMS Family Newsletter

Last week we hosted our first dance of the 24-25 school year. We had about 290 students in attendance which is new attendance record at a dance! Thank you to all of the chaperones and volunteers who made the dance possible and joyful for our students, we couldn't have pulled it off with out you!

We continued the theme of joy with our second early release day assembly! Students experienced another "team competition" in their pursuit for the Tiger Cup! Congratulations to Team 2 for winning this competition!

Lastly, quarter 1 report cards were mailed home yesterday. Please let us know if you don't receive one and check in directly with teachers about specific questions regarding grades!

As always, thanks for all of your support and have a great weekend!

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

• November 25th thru November 29th - Thanksgiving Break

Activities Calendar

Let’s give a big shout-out to Mr. Young and the MUMS jazz band! Not only do these musicians wake up extra early to rehearse at 7:30 sharp three days a week, but they contributed to the festivities at Wednesday’s assembly during musical chairs. The jazz band had to practice excellent communication (one of our IB Learner Profile attributes) to make sure the game ran smoothly. (If you’ve ever played musical chairs, you know that the communication has to be tight!) Check out this short video to see lots of kids in action.

Eileen Sears, MYP Coordinator

& ACSD Leader

esears@acsdvt.org

802-382-1753

Pam Quinn, MYP Coordinator

pquinn@acsdvt.org

802-382-1243

Spreading Holiday Cheer!

The MUMS Counseling Office is coordinating efforts to help support families over the upcoming holidays. We are welcoming donations of gift cards to local or online businesses that families can use to purchase gifts. Items that are popular include cards that can be used to purchase games, clothing, electronics, sports equipment, art supplies and books. If you would like to support gift giving for a MUMS student, donations can be brought to the Main Office or Counseling Office by December 13th. We are extremely grateful for your show of caring for the MUMS community.

Holiday Support for MUMS Families:

Earlier this week, information regarding available supports around the upcoming Holiday Season was emailed to each MUMS family. In case you missed the email, please see below information about the various school and community supports available to you.

• Holiday Trees:

• Northern Roots Tree Farm is providing holiday trees and trimmings to families who may not otherwise have them.

• Gift Support:

• Friends of MUMS as well as other community members have offered to support MUMS students with holiday gifts.

• Food Resources:

• Holiday Snack Bags can be given to students at school to take home for the Thanksgiving and Winter breaks.

Please complete this Holiday Support Form if you are interested in any of the supports listed above this holiday season. Please complete this form by Wednesday, November 20th.

Starting this week, we are seeking to acknowledge students who demonstrate the attributes of the IB Learner Profile. When teachers and staff see students being knowledgeable, open-minded, inquirers, reflective, balanced, courageous, thinkers, communicators, caring, and principled, we will acknowledge that by giving them a Tiger Paw Ticket to put in a box for a weekly drawing. If you are interested in donating prizes to the Treasure Chest (non-edible items, worth $1.00 or less), please drop them off in the Main Office.

Thank you for your continued support!

Please join the Addison Central Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) and Superintendent Wendy Baker to discuss the important topic of home-school communication for students that have IEPs and 504 plans. ACSD administrators are actively working on finding solutions that address the concerns of both families and school staff. If you have a student on an IEP or 504 plan, please join this conversation and help shape solutions moving forward. Your perspective and voice are important!

Wednesday, November 20th

6:00 – 7:30pm

MUHS library (virtual option: https://meet.google.com/gjk-ymhg-drj)

Learn more about the SEPAC at ​​https://www.addisoncentralsepac.org/.

Sign up for SEPAC updates here.

Come out to support our MUHS students! There are two shows left: Friday Nov 15 @ 7:00 PM

Saturday Nov 16 @ 2:00 PM Link to purchase Tickets

ACSD is working toward joint accreditation with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and International Baccalaureate (IB). NEASC and IB are independent nonprofit organizations that support schools with best educational practices, guidance, and resources. They each offer their own process to evaluate schools. (Read more details here). Now we are in the assessment and evidence gathering phase of accreditation. We are seeking parent and community involvement! There are two main actions this year:

1. Evidence gathering: We will assess the ACSD community on 5 of NEASC’s Learning Principles. Our teachers and staff will submit evidence toward the 5 Learning Principles. Later this year we will also introduce opportunities for students, caregivers, and community members to submit evidence.

2. Learning PrincipleTeams. We will create 5 Learning Principle Teams made up of ACSD teachers, staff, students, parents, and community members. They will assess the evidence that is submitted and present back to the ACSD community how we are doing toward each standard. They will meet from December-April. All team members will be compensated $40/hr. If you are interested in joining a Learning Principle Team, please fill this form out by November 30th, 2024.

Last Call For Winter Athletic Sign Ups

Sign ups will be closing Friday afternoon. Families can sign up using this link Winter Athletic Sign ups. In the winter MUMS offers gymnastics (open to all grades), wrestling (open to 7th and 8th graders), winter xtreme running (open to all grades), and 7th and 8th grade boys and girls basketball. If you have a 6th grader interested in wrestling or basketball they should plan on participating with Middlebury Parks and Recreation.

To order school pictures please visit LifeTouch.com and use your student’s Access Code and Portrait ID to order. Use code F202410OFF for 10% off your order. If you have any questions please contact Megan Curran at mcurran@acsdvt.org.

If your student got their picture retaken on Nov 6th these pictures and access code/ portrait ID will be available within 2 weeks. You will have plenty of time to get these retake pictures ordered after you receive this information.

If you did not receive a picture Access Code or Portrait ID customer service at 800-736-4753 or online chat at my.lifetouch.com.

Thank you

We want to share a new resource to help you engage with your student and understand what they are working on in classes: You can now find unit overviews for each of your child’s classes on our Middle Years Program page. These were designed collaboratively by our teachers including key components of each subject. Additionally, they suggest questions to help you talk to your student about their learning. We hope you find this resource valuable.

• 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