EMS Newsletter
May 31, 2019
Dear EMS Families,
Thank you to all those who provided yummy treats that filled our faculty room last week in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. The faculty was very grateful!
There is much going on in the EMS community as the end of the school year approaches. In hopes of providing insight, updates, and opportunities for discussion at home in readiness for next year please see below.
In partnership and with gratitude,
Meg
Opt-in Course Offerings for Rising 7th and 8th Graders
Below are the descriptions of the different courses students will have the opportunity to prioritize their interest in for next year in a survey shared with students next week. These courses are offered during exploratory periods in addition to PE, Performance Music and the Exploratory rotation of Health, Design Tech and Art. Seventh and eighth grade exploratory classes, except for Spanish and Performance Music, are semester courses. Please note that students will take health in both their 7th and 8th grade year.
7th grade Spanish: This year long class is an introduction to Spanish. Students will practice listening, reading, speaking and writing in basic Spanish. Students will hear and speak Spanish every day. Example topics include communicating about our school, likes, and family. Students will hear stories and music. We will learn a little about some of the people who speak Spanish.
8th grade Spanish: This year long class will pick up where (2019) Spanish class left off. Students must have passed 7th grade Spanish to continue on to 8th. Students will hear and speak Spanish every day. We will review for a few weeks and then extend our learning to more skills and topics. Example topics: going places around town, talking about others, and daily life. Students will have the opportunity to be creative in Spanish. More of the class will be taught in Spanish
The Library Club: The purpose of The Library Club is to engage 7th/8th-grade students with reading and the humanities and to foster civic-mindedness.
Students in this club explore literature, discuss ideas and participate in humanities-related learning activities. The Library Club students have opportunities to pursue personal interests and develop peer relationships. The tone of the class is to create a safe and nurturing learning environment that allows for both active and fun technology and hands-on activities. There is always a component of giving back to the community. Every semester the class work focuses on a particular theme such as gender equality, cultural awareness, and peer and family relationships.
The class is limited to 10 students.
WritLit: WritLit is a semester long class for 7th and 8th graders who enjoy reading and writing and are looking for more challenges. We read a variety of different types of books, write responses, and discuss in a Socratic seminar-style manner.
YPAR: (Youth Participatory Action Research) for school equity class is focused on creating solutions to community identified school and local issues. To accomplish this, the students collect, sort, and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data derived from student created collections tools.
African and African American Studies: This course will examine the history and culture of African and the African-American experience in the United States in an interdisciplinary way. This will include an analysis of the unique historical, cultural, and social developments from the Middle Passage to the present day. The literary and artistic contributions of African-Americans to American culture will also be addressed. Critical thinking, group discussion, reading, and writing skills will be used.
Algebra Update
The work to continue strengthening our math programming and curriculum in Burlington School District is ongoing. As a community we have a commitment to ensure all of our students are being challenged and supported to achieve their highest academic, intellectual and personal potential.
Our goal for 2019-2020 is to continue examining best practices for curriculum, instruction and assessment, while simultaneously reviewing our current practices and analyzing student achievement data. In the fall of 2019, BSD will be creating a committee to identity our next steps with regard to math curriculum and assessment scope and sequence. The committee will seek parent input in multiple ways throughout the review process.
The initial analysis of 10th grade math data (through the 3rd quarter) from Burlington High School demonstrates that students’ success in Algebra seminar, offered at our middle schools, directly correlates with success in Algebra II. Knowing this, we intend to continue offering the Algebra seminar at both middle schools for 2019-2020. We will be more deeply analyzing this data once end of year grades are finalized at BHS.
GMT Bus Incident Update
Last week a group of students riding a bus home from school were directed to disembark from the bus by the driver. These actions went against the protocol of GMT.
After disembarking the bus, students shared feelings of racial targeting. Regardless of intent, we as a community must continue to consider our own biases and recognize their impact. This situation clearly affords us as a community another opportunity to consider how we collectively support the healing needed and ensure ongoing community conversations about race.
Although this public transportation service is under the jurisdiction of GMT, these are our students and thus we have a collective responsibility to ensure their safety.
To this end, we are working collectively to identify next steps to address the harm done to students, reiterate expectations for appropriate bus behavior and consider how we - families and school - can work collaboratively with GMT to ensure students' safety while on the bus.
Friendly Reminders
May 31st - School dance in EMS gym - 6 - 8 p.m. *with 8th graders able to stay for an extra 30 min.
June 7th - Awards Assembly in EMS gym - 1:20 - 2:45
June 10th - Team trips *all day final end of year field trip varies by team
June 11th - ½ day for students - Noon dismissal
June 11th - 8th grade Celebration of Learning in EMS gym 1 - 2:30 p.m.
June 13th - Last day for students (half day)
Community Announcements
2019-2020 School year Calendar has been released - please find here and on our website
School Dance details
Location - EMS gym. Entrance through side door by the gym driveway.
Dance doors will be closed at 6:30
Snacks and drinks for sale (range in price from $.25 - $1) throughout the dance
Games offered in addition to dancing.
Students must stay in the dance until 8 after entering.
Jazz Festival Performances
Then catch our own Lulu Barr-Brandt and her band, Lulu and the Solar Flares, on Saturday, June 8 from 12:00-2:00, also on the City Hall Stage.
Dear Families, Friends and Community Members,
Even if your family is new to Edmunds Middle School this year, you’ve probably already noticed some of the things that make it special: Cabaret, Matilda, and the MakerSpace, to name a few.
There is a lot going on out of plain sight, too. Did you know about EMS’s total domination of the Hildene Lincoln essay competition, with Edmunds students writing the three best essays statewide for two years running and having won first place in five of the last nine years? What about Team Quest’s pillowmaking project in which students designed and made pillows for a local homeless shelter?
Did you know about Ann Gatch’s Unicorn Café, a partnership with Uncommon Grounds, City Market, and ReSource that brings together numeracy, literacy, social, occupational therapeutic and speech skills while raising money for life skills programming? What about Ashley Howard and Katie Wyndorf’s annual “Book Bunch” gathering in the Library/MakerSpace where students and families get a book to discuss and share?
Did you know about Eric Schoembs and Brent Truchon’s Design Build for Humanity class, a partnership with Middlebury College and Habitat for Humanity that culminated in students building sheds after a semester-long class on geometry, design, and carpentry? What about Carole Renca’s library club—part book club, part design club, part activist group, and part social studies class, all built this semester around Aisha Saeed’s Amal Unbound?
This year, thanks to families like yours, the PTO has sponsored or will sponsor an activity day at UVM, Cabaret, class dinners, the EMS literary magazine, end-of-year celebrations, field trip buses, a kiln for the Edmunds campus, MakerSpace furniture, musical instruments for band and orchestra, t-shirts for all 6th graders, Staff Appreciation week, supplies for the Valentine’s Day letter-writing for teachers, timekeepers for a track meet, and visiting speakers.
You can help make these amazing projects and activities happen by making a gift to the PTO. Supporting the PTO not only makes what we sponsor possible but also makes it possible for the school to spend money on different wonderful projects.
This is an almost cost-free fundraiser, so almost everything we raise will go directly to supporting students and teachers. Please consider a donation of any amount at all and please pass this message along to anyone who has a passion for education and enriching the lives of children.
There are four convenient ways to donate:
Via Venmo @emspto
Mail: EMS PTO, 275 Main St Street, Burlington, VT 05401
Drop-off: in the EMS office
Via PayPal at paypal.me/edmundsmiddleschool
With gratitude,
EMS PTO
Summer Camp Registration
We have a TON of free programs for a summer full of adventure and memories! Sign up with your friends today! Programs include...
Rock Climbing
Bait Fishing
Juggling Arts Camp
Anime and Manga
Hiking
Gardening and Cooking
Sailing
Summer Camp Film Fest
Flag Football and Kickball
Print Making and Design
Basketball for Fun
Skateboarding
Creating Clay Art
Water Rockets
Very Merry Theater Acting Class
Mr. Dolliver's School of Rock
Cartooning
Cycling
Floor Hockey
Ninja Warrior
...and many more!!
Check out the attached brochure https://bit.ly/30Yaftc for the full list of programs, and sign up for your favorites today! Please return the completed registration form to the EMS main office by the last day of school.
See you this summer!
-Mrs. W
Cultural Humility to Address Educational Disparities and Inequities
FALL 2019…As the EMS community continues the work of addressing racism, EMS PTO invites you to join us:
With Mercedes Avila, PhD, MSW
On the evening of September 10th, 2019
Edmunds Middle School
Dr. Avila will present on cultural humility and effective approaches to dismantle systemic oppression. The workshop will help participants better understand historical trauma and how to support students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The presentation will cover: racial, ethnic and class biases; cultural humility and structural competence; implications of demographic trends for disparities and inequities; and links between racial, educational, social, and health disparities.