All Saints' Day is a solemn holy day of the Catholic Church celebrated annually on November 1. The day is dedicated to the saints of the Church, that is, all those who have attained heaven. It should not be confused with All Souls' Day, which is observed on November 2, and is dedicated to those who have died and not yet reached heaven.

Although millions, or even billions of people may already be saints, All Saints' Day observances tend to focus on known saints -- those recognized in the canon of the saints by the Catholic Church.

All Saints' Day is also commemorated by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as some protestant churches, such as Lutheran and Anglican churches.

Students have been working hard, studying saints, creating art, and writing reports. In the past, we have held presentations after Mass as a whole school. Last year, we took a brief hiatus from this practice, but we are excited to bring back one of the most treasured events of our school year. Students will be presenting their chosen saints after Mass on Monday, adhering to our health and safety practices. While we will not be able to welcome families to watch the presentations, we are excited that students will be able to present - this is such a wonderful teaching tool for our school community.

The Unstuffed Turkey Trot will go through the heart of downtown Morrisville and the proceeds will support The Lamoille Community House in Hyde Park. Race in-person on Saturday, November 20 from Bishop Marshall School or trot on your own wherever you choose!

[Click here for more information and to register]

Please complete and submit this form; if you are having trouble completing the form, please stop by to see Nurse Yates in the morning at drop-off.

Planning has begun in anticipation of the FDA approving vaccines for younger children. The state is planning vaccination clinics in pharmacies, community clinics, pediatrician offices, and some schools (though BJAMS will not serve as a clinic). These clinics will be administered by the Vermont Department of Health district offices. A schedule of clinics will be posted in future Friday Notes.

During the week of October 25th, teachers will be instructing their students on how to respond to a violent critical incident in our school. BJAMS uses ALICE (an acronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate), which is a comprehensive set of strategies used to respond to any type of violent critical incident. All of our staff are trained in ALICE and we practice ALICE drills several times a year to help all of us practice - just like we do fire drills! Next week, our "drill" will be informational and instructional only. Classroom teachers will provide instruction in a grade/age appropriate manner. Younger students may listen to the book, "I'm Not Scared, I'm Prepared" while older students will receive instruction on each of the strategies of ALICE and what that might look like in their classroom.

We are pleased to announce that Ms. Samantha Gentle (BJAMS '13, SHS '17, Merrimack College '21) will be joining our support team as a social-emotional interventionist. Samantha, or Miss Sammy as she will be called, will be working with teachers and students to promote healthy social, emotional, and behavioral growth. Please join us in warmly welcoming Samantha to our support team!

Samantha's position is fully-funded through the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund/Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools (GEERS/EANS) through the Agency of Education.

We are disappointed to share that we are not able to host our Grandparents' Luncheon on November 18, as we had hoped, due to health and safety considerations.

Thank you to our coaches and assistant coaches: Erica Silveira, Jim Curran, Brian Buczek, Pete Glowac, Cara McLaughlin, Katie Marvin, Randy Pratt, and Samantha Buczek for your outstanding commitment to our athletes and school! What a great season! We also wish to acknowledge our student coaches: Liam Nichols, Noah Brown, Virginia Titcomb, Grace Marvin, and Lucy Stabach.

We are in the preliminary stages of determining what basketball might look like for our hoopsters in grades 1-8. There is much to consider and we anticipate having a definitive plan the week of November 15.

The outpouring of generosity continues, thanks to the Dixon Family who donated 4 gallons of maple syrup to our kitchen!

Thank you so much!

Zero Balance Friday - it's still our policy!

Be sure to login into your Family Portal to check your ASP and cafeteria balances. Milk only orders and ASP snack charges appear there. Please be sure to pay them in a timely manner.

~ Mrs. Marcoux

Both the SMS girls' and boys' teams won at the NVAC Mountain Division championship meet in Craftsbury, where runners from 14 schools participated!

BJAMS was represented by Avery Tomlinson, Brinley Hirce, and Lucy Stabach running for the SMS girls' team and Luke Slesar running for the SMS boys. Luke placed second overall out of 94 runners, and first for the Stowe team, running the 2500 meter course in lightning fast 9:46.1.

This weekend, BJAMS runners Leila Griffith and Luke Slesar will compete for SMS amongst the top runners from around the state in the Middle School Vermont State Finals at the Catamount Outdoor Center. Run like the wind, Leila and Luke!

Due to Trunk-or-Treat, we will not host ASP.

Please RSVP and sign up to participate in our trunk decorating contest! [Click here]

ASP registration is required to participate in the Learn to Sew classes (regular ASP fees apply).

Please send a separate email to Michelle Tomlinson to sign up for this special offering.

October 21 - Half Day (family conferences) - dismissal is at 12:00 sharp - No ASP

October 22 - No School - staff in-service day - No ASP

October 29 - Trunk or Treat - please RSVP! No ASP on this day

November 1 - Half Day (All Saints Day) - dismissal is at 12:00 sharp - No ASP

Rice Memorial High School is again offering FREE 3pm matinee Stunt Nite tickets for all 6th-8th grade students. To reserve your tickets and purchase additional tickets for accompanying family members, please contact Stacy Bessette (contact info below).

This limited time offer is available until Friday, November 12, 2021. After that date, we will not be offering FREE tickets and all other tickets will have to be purchased through the Flynn. Please contact Stacy Bessette or Mari Miller at Rice with any questions.

bessette@rmhsvt.org or miller@rmhsvt.org

862-6521 ext. 2246