EMS Newsletter
August 30, 2019
Dear EMS Families,
As a new 6th grader and I walked out of the building together on Wednesday, I asked, “What was the best part of your day?” and got the response, “Everything! I loved it all.”
With students back in the building, the heart, soul and oxygen has returned - what a joy!
Students have now received their schedules and locker assignments and are in the midst of getting to know their peers, teachers and routines.
In the coming days, academic work will begin to increase and any necessary schedule changes will be solidified. During this transition I encourage all of us to establish routines at home that support play after school and healthy sleep habits in order to help your child arrive to school each day with the energy needed to have a positive and productive school experience. Knowing that starting the day with a healthy breakfast is also important; I encourage students to head to the cafeteria at 7:30.
Finally, If you have any questions regarding your child’s schedule, please contact Pat Hulbert in guidance phulbert@bsdvt.org.
In partnership and with gratitude,
Meg
Friendly Reminders
September 3rd - Fall sport try-outs begin
September 17th - Picture Day
Community Announcements
At EMS, students are assigned a chromebook to use for academic work. Please see here for details regarding this use. Families will be asked to complete chromebook agreements in their annual student update on powerschool.
The new entrance to the EMS complex is now open - you can access it via Main Street. The entrance to EMS from South Union will be locked from 8:15 - 2:45 each day, so please come through the Main St. entrance if you need to access EMS during those hours.
Please see here for more information regarding GMT buses and travel to and from EMS. We apologize for the glitches with bus 54 this week and have been in touch daily with GMT to ensure things run more smoothly moving forward.
The final part of the construction will be complete at the end of October; until then our front lawn will be fenced off for the safety of the community.
JOIN THE EMS MATH CLUB THIS YEAR! Please consider joining the EMS Math Club this year! It’s open to all EMS students. We meet most Monday mornings from 7:10am to 7:50am in an EMS classroom, and we also meet most Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 8pm at co-coach Jeff Wick’s house. Students are welcome to attend one or both sessions each week and/or simply to attend when able. It’s a low pressure extracurricular opportunity to enhance math problem solving skills in a fun way. The club also offers those who are interested an opportunity to compete in the nation’s premiere middle school math competition MathCounts®. For more information on MathCounts®, please see www.mathcounts.org. Your EMS math club co-coaches are community/parent volunteers, Alan Matson and Jeff Wick. If you are interested in joining the math club, please email Jeff and Alan at jeff@wickandmaddocks.com and amatson@gmail.com for details.
For more information regarding Fall sports, please visit our EMS athletics website.
Dean's Den
Hello All,
What a wonderful first few days of school we’ve had. It takes time to reestablish routines and to begin the journey toward deep and connected learning. Our time thus far has provided a great foundation for what will surely be a tremendous year for all.
My name is Brent Truchon. I have been at EMS for over 20 years serving a social studies teacher, tech integration specialist, and instructional coach. I am excited to partner with the staff and community as the EMS Dean of Students this year. I look to connect with all students and am eager to work with families to find ways to meet the needs of every one of your children. It is truly an honor to work with such an engaged and supportive community. Thank you for your support as we embark on this journey together.
Sincerely,
Brent Truchon
Resources that will be helpful during the school year:
Electronics (NEW): Thank you parents for your support of our efforts to eliminate cell phones as distractions during school hours. Below is the policy that we will use to guide decisions.
Research is consistently showing that personal electronic devices (e.g. laser pointers, iPods, MP3 players, cell phones, cameras, etc.) are disruptive to the learning environment. Thus, our school wide expectation is that all personal electronics devices must be turned off and out of sight for the day. If a personal device is seen during the school day, it will be confiscated by teachers and returned to students at the end of the day. A second infraction will result in confiscation and parents will be asked to pick them up from Administration.
ABC’s To Success At EMS (NEW):
Act Responsibly
Be Respectful
Challenge Yourself
New Tardy Policy:
We have updated our policy for students who are late to class and/or school. Please take a look at our handbook for the updated language.
EMS Expectations (Updated):
In All Settings
Expectations
Adults will make a reasonable request and remind students to follow these expectations:
Personal electronic devices away for the day - including headphones
Safe Bodies
Backpacks in lockers
Gum/Candy away
Food/Snacks only in cafeteria and in classroom at teacher’s discretion
Consequences
If a student does not respond to a reasonable request - the following will occur:
1st time: Student Support Center referral for support and repair
2nd time: Parental contact
3rd time: 3:00 - 3:30 Repair/Make Up Time
*skipped “Make Up Time” will lead to SSC the next morning and parent communication with the expectation that the detention will be served another time.
**repeated refusal to respond to adult requests - either throughout the day or repeatedly over several days - will result in Repair/Make Up Time.
Community Time
This year we are excited to begin each school day with Community Time as we continue to meet our EMS goals:
ALL EMS students will feel connected - safe, respected, seen, heard, and understood.
All EMS students will find meaning in their work
Community Time will be the first 20 minutes of the day and provide time and space to develop the following throughout the year:
Meet the basic needs of all students to ensure readiness for the day
Ensure a trusting relationship with at least one adult in the building
Ensure advocacy and support for every EMS student
Connect with no academic ties or pressure
Connect with the whole child
Communicate messages across our school consistently and with clarity
Every day of the week follows this general structure:
Monday Light Circles: Get to know personalities, be joyful, playful and reconnect after the weekend Tuesday Technology Support and Academic Check-In: Identify how to improve work quality and/or timeliness Wednesday Whole School Assembly: Build whole school community and celebrate together Thursday Executive Functioning: Support students in developing their ability to advocate for themselves Friday Restorative Circles: Dig deeper into issues affecting students at EMS
After School News
Sept. 3rd: Morning Homework Help Begins (7:20 am in the Library)
Sept. 9: Afternoon Homework Help Begins (M - Th until 5:00 pm)
Sept. 16 - Nov. 8: Session 1 (8 weeks) No Afterschool Sept 26th & Oct 18th
Nov. 11 - Jan. 17: Session 2 (8 weeks) No Afterschool Nov 25 - 29; Dec 10; Dec 23 - Jan 3; Jan 20
Jan. 21 - Mar. 20: Session 3 (8 weeks) No Afterschool Feb 24 - Mar 3
Mar. 23 - May 29: Session 4 (9 weeks) No Afterschool Mar 26 & 27; April 17 - 24; May 7; and May 22 - 25
May 29: Afterschool Programs End
June 5: Homework Help Ends
From the Health Office
Dear Parent or Guardian,
There are many students in our school with chronic health conditions that make them very susceptible to infections due to their compromised immune systems. Specifically, Cystic Fibrosis (CF), a genetically inherited disease, is one of these conditions. CF is a disease that affects the lungs and digestive system, leaving a sticky mucous that is difficult to clear from the airway and provides a dark, moist place for germs to multiply dangerously. If a student with CF is unable to fight off infection, the child is admitted to the hospital for two weeks of antibiotic therapy as well as frequent, lengthy respiratory therapy treatments. A common cold in a healthy child could be life-threatening for a student with CF.
To ensure the best safe and healthy school possible for all students, please encourage your child to follow these guidelines:
Practice good and frequent hand washing
Cover your sneeze or cough with a tissue if available and wash your hands afterwards.
Use your elbow to cover a cough or sneeze if no tissue is available to lessen the spread of germs.
Stay home and go to the pediatrician’s office when you have flu-like symptoms or a fever.
Stay home for at least 24 hours after the last signs of vomiting, diarrhea, or a fever without the use of fever-reducing medicine. Children must be free of these symptoms for 24 hours before returning to school.
These guidelines, along with other health information, can be found in the Edmunds Middle School Family Handbook. It is very important that we follow these guidelines to ensure the health and safety of all students in the building, but especially for those students with chronic health conditions that leave students’ immune systems compromised. If these students are exposed to and contract a communicable disease, or even a common cold, it could be life-threatening.
The importance of good hand washing, eight to ten hours of sleep, and a healthy, balanced diet are great ways to prevent your child from becoming sick. We appreciate your support in helping to keep our school community as healthy as possible, and thank you in advance for keeping your child home when they are sick. Please be sure to read the Edmunds Middle School Family Handbook for guidance on when to keep your child home.
If your child is missing any immunizations required by the state to attend school, paperwork sent home with your child the first day of school MUST be signed and returned to the school nurse by Monday, September 9, 2019. You will need to take one of the two following actions:
Schedule an appointment with your primary care provider to receive missing vaccinations. Have your primary care provider sign the provisional admittance form with the scheduled appointment date. Return the signed form to the school nurse’s office.
Sign and return the proper religious or medical exemption paperwork as soon as possible to the school nurse's office.
Please note, if forms are not returned by Monday September 9, 2019, a letter will be sent home and your child will need to return with immunizations complete or an exemption.
While we have students with food allergies, no environment is every truly safe from any given food. If your child has food allergies, it is important we teach how individuals can prevent and respond to allergic reactions. There are no rules prohibiting any foods in the cafeteria. If you have any concerns about your child’s health needs in the cafeteria setting, please let us know.
If your child has an allergy that requires an epi pen, please provide an allergy action plan signed by your primary care provider and an epi pen to the school nurse’s office. If your child has asthma, please provide an updated allergy action plan signed by your primary care provider and an inhaler or permission from your primary care provider for your child to self carry an inhaler.
We have your child’s best health in mind here at school. We look forward to partnering with you throughout the year to keep your child healthy to ensure they can maximize their learning time here at school.
Happy start to the school year!
Sincerely,
Becca McCray, MSN RN
Edmunds Middle School Nurse