The Hiawatha Buzz!
April 1st, 2022
Growing hearts and minds for a better today and tomorrow: every day, every way, every one.
Principal's Message
Dear families,
We can't wait to welcome you to our Open House on Tuesday, April 5th from 6:00-7:00. Please come in through the main office doors. We will be starting promptly at 6:00 in the gym with a welcome from me and a surprise performance!
I received some great feedback this week from a family around communication. I am going to start to send my newsletter out weekly. Each week we will also feature one to two school wide themes from Library, Music, Art, PE, Wellness, and SEL. Check out what we have been focusing on school wide for SEL below!
Have a great weekend, and I hope to see many of you on Tuesday!
Katherine
SEL update
SEL update:
We have been working for the last 6 weeks on a social justice schoolwide unit. A multidisciplinary team supported the development of this unit. We have drawn our learning targets from the Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards Anti Bias Framework here. Founded in 1991, Teaching Tolerance is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center dedicated to helping teachers and schools prepare children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy.
For our work we have focused on 7 schoolwide learning targets in 4 domains; identity, diversity, justice and action.
Identity: those things that makes you who you are; what makes you special
Diversity: all the ways that people can be different
Justice: making things fair for people of all identities
Action: doing something for justice, making things fair for people of all identities
Below are the schoolwide learning targets that have been taught in this unit.
Identity:
I can feel good about myself without being mean or making other people feel bad.
I see that the way my family and I do things is both the same as and different from how other people do things, and I am interested in both.
Diversity:
I can describe some ways that I am similar to and different from people who share my identities and those who have other identities.
I want to know about other people and how our lives and experiences are the same and different.
Justice:
I know some true stories about how people have been treated badly because of their group identities, and I know it’s not fair.
I know about people who helped stop unfairness and worked to make life better for many people.
Action:
I will work with classmates to make our classroom, school and community fair for everyone.
Our work has led to some rich discussion and work, and we are so proud of our students.
Morning drop off reminder
If students come to play on the playground their family member must stay with them until they go inside
Thank you for your support and attention to this
Four Winds is back!
Artist in Residency
Dear Families,
We are excited to share that we are hosting an artist in residency in dance this spring at Hiawatha! We are calling our project “Hiawatha’s Hoppin”. Our teaching artist is Karen Amirault, coming to us with 35 years of experience teaching dance in schools and communities throughout Vermont and New England and collaborating on a wide variety of dance projects. We have been supported by two grants from the Vermont Arts Council with this project.
Karen will be in residence for 8 days from May 23rd through June 2nd. She will be leading an exploration of jazz dance with all students and staff. Each grade level will create a dance, exploring different historical and cultural aspects of jazz dance and music. From African and Latin roots to Charleston, swing, rock ‘n roll and hip hop, students will learn movement vocabulary and styles from our multicultural heritage.
We will have two performances on Thursday, June 2nd. The residence is happening outside under a tent, so we will have a rain date of Monday, June 6th should the weather be bad on the 2nd. Performances will be 1:00-2:30 pm and 6:15-7:15 pm. All families and interested community members are invited to the performances, and we ask that you put the evening performance on your family calendars. There will be more information coming around logistics of performances.
Recap:
All school dance performances on Thursday June 2nd at 1:00 and 6:15 (rain date Monday, June 6th same times). Residency and performances happening outside under a tent.
Can’t wait to celebrate dance with our school community!
Friends making nature sculptures at recess
News from the Learning Center
PTO update
We have some exciting things coming your way!
First off is we have 3 open Playdates on the playground at Hiawatha scheduled. This is a way to bring the community together and for parents to meet.
Those dates are:
April 9
May 21
June 4
They will all start around 1 PM!
Next, we will be celebrating our teachers and staff in May (teacher appreciation week). If anyone is interested in helping out, please email Nikki at consultantmom@gmail.com
Our next meeting on April 12th from 6-7 PM, will be run by Erin Mcguire, our director of Equity and Inclusion. She will be presenting about the current EWSD policy. This will be held at the Hiawatha Gymnasium. Childcare might be provided, stay tuned.
Finally, all of the students just completed a tradition we have at Hiawatha, called Square 1 Art. We have submitted their pieces and it will be available soon if you would like to purchase their masterpiece on many different types of mediums. Flyer attached.
We are so excited to see everyone at Open House next week!
No bus running dates...
April 15th - No RED bus
April 25th - No RED and GREEN/BLUE BUSES
May 4th - No GREEN/BLUE bus
May 5th - No RED bus
May 11th - No RED bus
May 12th - No GREEN/BLUE bus
May 19th - No RED bus
May 23rd - No GREEN/BLUE bus
May 31st - No RED bus
June 1st - No GREEN/BLUE bus
June 8th - No RED bus
June 10th - No GREEN/BLUE bus
*** You can see this list on our website's home page too!***
what our artists are up to lately!
Important dates
* April 9th: PTO Playground Meet Up at 1:00PM
* April 12th: PTO meeting from 6:00pm to 7:00pm
* April 18th through April 22nd - Spring break - NO SCHOOL, please plan accordingly
community events
Hello!
I wanted to share an upcoming Girl Scout Event again, as it’s THIS SATURDAY 4/2/22 from 10:30am-11:30am at our Williston, VT Satellite Office. It’s a STEM activity open to all girls in grades K & up! Walk-ins welcome or they can call the # on the flyer to reserve their spot. Free event to check out Girl Scouting! Register to join Girl Scouting & join the Spa Science Activities!
I ask that you share this flyer with your families and direct any questions back to me! I appreciate your support of Girl Scouting! Where we build girls of courage, confidence, and character.
Kind Regards,
Heidi Roberge
Membership Growth Specialist
Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains
______________________________________________________________________________________
Good Evening,
I am reaching out to schools around Chittenden County regarding a summer cheerleading camp. This camp will be held on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:30pm - 4:30pm starting June 29th and is open to all incoming K-12th graders. We will be practicing at Maple Street Park in Essex Junction. The program cost is $30 per student and that covers the cost of the team shirt, bow, and facility rental space. The overall team name is the Royalty Elite All Stars.
To give you a little background about me, my name is DeAnna and I have been cheering for over 20 years and have been coaching for more than 10. I have currently just completed my 3rd season as the Essex Middle School cheerleading coach, and have branched out into the all star cheerleading world. I wanted to have a summer camp for all ages and abilities to be able to give those interested in cheerleading an outside opportunity.
I am hoping that I have reached out to the correct people and it can be passed along to students who might be interested. Registration for the camp is open from now until May 15th and camp fees are due by June 1st. We have a Facebook group and website set up for information that the schools and parents can look into. I have also attached our camp fliers.
Website: https://www.royaltyeliteallstarcheerleading.org/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/436238841579559
If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me directly via email or by phone at 802.503.8020, and please feel free to explore our website and Facebook page.
Have a Wonderful Evening,
Hiawatha Elementary School
Email: mmurphyertle@ewsd.org
Website: www.EWSD.org/HIA
Location: 30 Hiawatha Avenue, Essex Junction, VT, USA
Phone: 802-878-1384