EMS Newsletter
September 10, 2018
Welcome Back EMS Families,
It was wonderful to welcome students back last week. As per tradition, we gathered on the front lawn for our annual EMS whole school photo. The first few days of school were focused on fostering relationships, building routines and setting expectations. As we began our second week, 7/8th graders began to partake in a daily morning meeting where they meet on team to ready for the day ahead and foster a greater sense of connectedness with those they spend their day with.
As we begin week three, any student’s schedule changes should be wrapping up. Please reach out to our Guidance Counselor, Pat Hulbert, with any questions at phulbert@bsdvt.org.
We will be sending out a newsletter to EMS families every other week. It will be filled with reminders and announcements so I encourage you to read them and reach out with questions to 802.864.8486. You can also find our newsletter on our EMS website.
In partnership for a wonderful year ahead,
Megan McDonough
EMS Principal
Friendly Reminders
September 10th - After school homework help starts
September 13th from 6:30 - 8:30 - Ellis Music Instrument Night in the Cafeteria
September 17th - All after school programming (except homework help) begins Monday. *There will be no homework help on Fridays until further notice.
September 27th from 6-7:30 - EMS Open House *Please note in earlier communication the date was incorrect.
Community Announcements
Reminder to families - if you need to get in touch with your child during the day please call the front office. Our school wide expectation is that all personal devices are away during the school day - please support this by not using your child’s cell phone to be in touch during school hours.
A friendly reminder that our school day runs from 7:55 - 2:50.
Attendance is taken at the start of each class.
Any student entering after the start of class will be recorded as unexcused tardy.
Starting from the beginning of the week and resetting at the end of each week - when a student accumulates a total of 3 tardies from any classes they will serve a lunch detention the next day.
A list of students who have lunch detention will be posted on the board outside the front office every morning and an automated message sent home via School Messenger.
Students required to serve a lunch detention will be gathered from the cafeteria after they get their lunch and brought to the Student Support Center.
Good news! No more logging into different portals to access student information. This school year we are moving all of our gradebooks, attendance, and online classrooms into PowerSchool Unified Classroom. This system will replace Canvas completely. PowerSchool Unified Classroom is the online classroom branch of the PowerSchool company which we have been using for years. Having all of our tools in one place will make it easier for you to access the information needed to support your child(ren).
You will continue to log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal via the school website. Parents can access the PowerSchool Parent Portal by clicking on the PowerSchool icon (left) on the BSD website (www.bsdvt.org). You will see attendance, schedules, grades, and other information in there. You can receive automatic updates if you wish. For more information on using PowerSchool, click here.
Shortly, we’ll send information on accessing PowerSchool Unified Classroom. Unified Classroom will give you the ability to see more about your child’s courses, assignments, assessments, and progress toward course proficiencies. Please be aware that certain aspects of Powerschool are not yet up and running. We will update you as more comes on line.
You may have already logged on to PowerSchool to update your child's information. If you have forgotten your login information (username or password) please click on “Forgot Username or Password?” to begin to recover your username or password. If this process doesn’t work please contact BSD IT Help Desk at 802-864-8434.
This year EMS and Hunt Middle School are using GoGuardian as a tool to support students' appropriate use of their Chromebooks. GoGuardian content filtering applies only to district owned Chromebooks, but it is always used no matter where the student is. This means that the filtering is still on even when the students are not at school. They could be at home, the library, a friend's house, etc. and the Internet will still be monitored and filtered. GoGuardian keeps track of the websites that a student visits on their device. We will also be using GoGuardian to track missing Chromebooks.
Dress Code Reminder:
If you are shopping for your child’s fall wardrobe, this is a gentle reminder of our dress code. School is a student’s place of work. We expect students to dress in a manner that maintains a productive and focused educational atmosphere. Students have the right to express their creativity and individuality through their dress; however, such rights must not interfere with the learning environment. All students are required to come to school dressed appropriately.
The following are considered to be in violation of the EMS dress code and are NOT allowed :
Clothing displaying anything that, in the judgment of a school official, is sexually explicit, suggestive or insulting, or refers to illegal activity (e.g., use of drugs, gangs, tobacco, or alcohol) are not allowed.
Underwear may not be showing; this includes boxers, briefs, bras or bra straps.
Hats, hoods, and non-functional headwear are not permissible.
Low cut tops and shirts or tops that expose stomachs are not permissible..
Pajama tops or bottoms and slippers are not permissible.
Outerwear, vests, and coats must be stored in student lockers during the school day.
Students whose fashion choices interfere with the learning environment will be asked to put on their own alternative clothing, if already available at school, or students will be provided with temporary clothing. If necessary, students’ parents may be called during the school day to bring alternative clothing for the student to wear for the remainder of the day.
Welcome to all 6th Grade families! Join us for instrument night in the EMS Gym where you will be able to rent your BAND! instrument. If you haven't received an email from Mr. Lambert yet please read this welcome email: 6th Grade Welcome! Also, please share your email with Mr. Lambert by emailing him and saying: I'm a parent of a 6th grade musician in BAND!
Welcome back Math Lovers! The Monday morning MathCounts Math Club will hold its first meeting next Monday morning, September 17, at 7:10 in Ms. Howard's room (Room 213A), instructed by Alan Matson. MathCounts is a national middle-school math competition held every year in February at UVM. While we call ourselves the MathCounts Math Club, there will be a lot more than just 'problem solving.' We will talk about mathematical ideas like GAMES!, Infinity and Numbers. MathCounts Math Club is open to all EMS students who have an interest in math.
EMS parent Jeff Wick also holds Wednesday Night Math MathCounts’ problem solving sessions at his home, from 7pm-8pm, starting Wednesday, September 19th. Open to EMS students. If your child wishes to attend the Wednesday evening sessions, please email Jeff Wick at jeff@wickandmaddocks.com with your child’s name and grade.
Burlington School District has made the decision to adopt the standard response protocol by http://iloveuguys.org/. Please take a look at the website for more information. In a school emergency, your first instinct may be to pick up the telephone and start calling the school or rush up to the school and get your child/children. This only complicates matters from a safety and security standpoint. Parents too close to an incident often hinder the rescue attempts of police and fire officials on the scene. The best action parents/guardians can take in an emergency is to stay close to their phone and email and to monitor local radio and TV reports for regular updates and instructions.
- Food services at Burlington School District is looking to hire part time and full time - please see here for more information.
Tryouts for Nutcracker ballet announced
Come be a part of the holiday magic of Vermont’s longest running Nutcracker performance with Albany Berkshire Ballet. Student Dancer Auditions will be held:
Burlington, VT - September 30, 2018
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts – Flynn Space
153 Main St., Burlington, VT 05401
10:00 am Ages 4-5
10:30 am Ages 6-8
11:30 am Ages 9-11
1:00 pm Ages 12 and up
Audition fee of $15
Shows will help kick off the holiday season Thanksgiving weekend November 24 & 25, 2018. Children are generally in one show. For more information contact Lori Preiss at abbvermontnutcracker@gmail.com.