The Hiawatha Buzz!
October 23, 2020
Growing hearts and minds for a better today and tomorrow: every day, every way, every one.
Principal's Messages
Dear families,
We have had another successful two weeks! When I walk through the building and enter classes, children are engaged, learning, and happy. I am so humbled and proud of the Hiawatha faculty and staff for their dedication, resilience, and commitment to our students' well being, safety and learning.
This week we had another whole school meeting around social emotional learning. We focused on two learning targets. Learning targets are concrete goals written in student friendly language that clearly describes what students will learn and be able to do. All of our teachers are using learning targets to communicate what we want students to learn. The learning targets for the whole school lesson were:
- I can talk about when my feelings change.
- With help, I can talk about what stressor changed my feelings out of the green zone.
Please check out the presentation we used below. Asking your child about learning targets can be a great way to engage with them at home to discuss what they are learning and doing in school.
Whole School MeetingBe healthy and well,
Katherine
Hiawatha Daily Screening Reminder
Dear Hiawatha Families and Staff,
In order to be in compliance with State regulations and to keep our staff and students safe, all families with children participating in in-person learning and all staff members must agree to remain home for any of the following reasons:
They have an elevated temperature. I understand that my child will not be allowed into the classroom if they have a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher. Staff also need to take their temperature and stay home if 100.4 or above.
They feel unwell or have any of the following new or unexplained symptoms that are not due to another condition including : cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, chills, recent loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
In the past 14 days they have had close contact with anyone that is known to have COVID-19. Close contact is currently understood to be within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes.
They have made any non-essential trips to a yellow or red zone area in the last 14 days as defined by the State of Vermont.
Please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.
Reyna Maher, RN
857-7740
Our Prek students enjoying storytime out in out outdoor classroom!
Vision & Hearing Screening for the 2020 - 2021 School Year
Dear Hiawatha Families,
Due to COVID Guidelines in the school setting, the Vermont Department of Health is encouraging us to partner with the medical community to promote annual vision and hearing screenings in the medical home, during well child visits.
If your child had or will be having a well child visit this year, please send in a copy of their hearing and vision results. If they were seen by a specialist please provide me with a copy of those results, as well. You may email, mail, or fax them to me.
As always feel free to call or email me at any time if you have any questions or concerns about your child's health and wellness.
Thank you,
Reyna Maher, BSN, RN
School Nurse
802 - 857-7740
FAX 802 - 879 - 8190
Trying out watercolors!
A message from Mr. Evans
Hi there,
As a non-classroom teacher, I work with students in different ways. This is also true for Special Educators, Speech/Language teachers, the Principal, and many others. One of the ways we work with children is in social groups. In social groups, peers are asked to join students who need help with a certain social skill. For instance, if I'm working with a student on using friendly words, I might invite a classmate or two to join the group to help us practice. At some point during the school year, your child might be asked to join one of these groups, and they almost always love to come and participate. If for some reason you don't want your child to be invited to a group like this, please let me know. We really do enjoy working with all of our Hiawatha children!
Thanks so much!
Scott Evans
School Counselor
Halloween and other Holidays Reminder
Please remember we are not celebrating Halloween
This is an important time of the year to remind ourselves of our diverse community and to support all of our learners. This means students should not come to school in costumes or bring candy. Thank you for abiding by this equitable practice and district policy:
Holiday Celebrations
Religious Holidays & School Policy are on the EWSD webpage.
Sections of the policy you might find helpful
“Appropriate teaching about religious holidays is to be distinguished from inappropriate celebrations of holidays. District personnel will refrain from proselytizing or injecting their personal religious beliefs into school treatment of holidays.”
“Differences in opinion may exist concerning whether or not the celebration of some particular day is religious or secular in nature, such as Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, or St. Patrick’s Day.
Kid-Friendly Hikes In Vermont That Take 30 Minutes Or Less
1. Burton Island State Park at 2714 Hathaway Point Rd., St Albans City, VT 05481
2. Woodford State Park at 142 State Park Rd., Woodford, VT 05201
3. Brighton State Park at 102 State Park Rd., Island Pond, VT 05846
4. Fort Dummer State Park at 517 Old Guilford Rd., Guilford, VT 05301
5. Niquette Bay State Park at 274 Raymond Rd., Colchester, VT 05446
6. Button Bay State Park at 5 Button Bay State Park, Vergennes, VT 05491
7. Indian Brook Reservoir at 150 Indian Brook Road, Essex, VT 05452
Important Dates
11/3 Election Day - NO SCHOOL
11/17 School Picture Retake Day
11/19 Parent/Teacher conferences from 5:00PM - 8:00PM
11/23 Parent/Teacher conferences from 7:30AM - 3:00PM
Hiawatha Elementary School
Email: mmurphyertle@ewsd.org
Website: www.EWSD.org/HIA
Location: 30 Hiawatha Avenue, Essex Junction, VT, USA
Phone: 802-878-1384