Hunt Middle School Blog - October 30, 2016

 

Hunt Middle School Blog - October 30, 2016

 

 

 

October PTO meeting minutes, 10/27/2016

 

President’s Report – Paula Henry

Harvest Dinner that was to be held this evening has been cancelled, due to lack of available staffing resources.  All acknowledged that this is a terrible disappointment and a loss to the school community.

Three to five volunteers are needed to help fill out our school’s Principal Profile form, distributed to all schools from the Superintendent’s office.  Any parent interested in working on this should contact the PTO at huntmiddleschool@gmail.com.

The PTO is still looking for a 6^th grade parent to step forward as a Treasurer “apprentice”. We will need a new Treasurer in place by next September.  Paula is currently filling this role (as well as President) but this is not a good idea, and she is an 8^th grade parent.  Any parent interested in finding out about the PTO Treasurer role should contact the PTO at huntmiddleschool@gmail.com.  Jen L’ecuyer has offered to communicate with 6^th grade teams, to see if any of those parents are interested.

Treasurer’s Report – Paula Henry

Very little financial activity since last month.  Our checking account balance, as of September 30^th  is $8,370.  Of this, $4,524 is unrestricted funds.  The 2016-17 budget was reviewed.  There are many fundraising opportunities, which we need parent volunteers to step forward and take on. 

The PTO agreed that the holiday wreath fundraiser is a community favorite but the vendor we use each year results in a very labor-intensive project.  Len found another local vendor who delivers finished wreaths directly to customers.  Paula will check into this to see if this is something we can take on.

New Business

At this time, our primary fundraiser is the HMS t-shirt sales.  The pre-orders were delivered to students earlier today, and we are preparing to sell more shirts at school shortly, once the school store is set-up and manned by the new Student Council.  Contact the PTO if you can’t wait and want to buy your shirt now!

Fall gardening is mostly done by Property Services.  Paula will clean out the planters.  Bella can help as needed.  All agreed that the students really appreciate the work done on the gardens in front of the school.

More fundraising opportunities

We are still looking for a team of volunteers to head up an online fundraiser which would allow parents to donate by credit card.  With the holidays approaching, we will repost information to families about our Shutterfly account.  Jen will give us an update next month.  We can also consider partnering with a local restaurant for a percentage of sales on a given night. 

The issue of Idling was raised again at this meeting.  A study was done by an outside group, and HMS was found to have very low emissions, due primarily to our lack of busing. However, we can still do better.  Increased signage and student/parent education was discussed.  Student produced videos could be linked to our website and shared as part of our Digital storytelling.  Bella will work with Len on this initiative.

Principal’s Report – Len Phelan

Mr. Phelan was sad to report the need to cancel the popular HMS Harvest dinner.  Unfortunately, the school schedule was such that the dinner could not be held this year.  We hope to be able to host this positive event in the future. 

He also mentioned that it is important for the community to support the Burlington School District in the upcoming months as the school district budget for the next school year is created.  Our district in intent on providing the most beneficial educational programming possible for the students of Burlington.

New $20,000 Grant, through the Verizon Charitable foundation, has been awarded to HMS!  A special thanks to Victor Prussak & Val Lodish for writing the grant.  The funds will be used to create a Makerspace in the library.  There will also be 9 STEM-themed carts that teachers can roll into their classrooms for hands-on learning!  Stay tuned for more exciting info on our future Makerspace!

This Friday, 11/4, marks the end of the first term, with Report Cards going home next Friday 11/11.  The school has changed the way it does Progress Reports, due to the CANVAS student grading system. All parents have access, real time, to their child’s assignments and grades.  If any parents are having trouble getting onto Canvas, please do not delay in contacting the school.  This is important information. 

Paper copies of Progress Reports will continue to go out if a student has a grade lower than a C in any subject.  Progress Reports are still available UPON REQUEST by any parent.  Please contact the school if you would like to receive a Progress Report.  Students look at their grades in CANVAS every Monday in homeroom, so ask your student how s/he is doing!

Parent-Teacher conferences will be held ALL Day MONDAY 11/21, and in the MORNING TUESDAY 11/22.  There is no school that entire week of Thanksgiving.  Please note: IF YOU WANT a P-T conference, please call or email the school’s Guidance office and let them know.  They will send you a link to schedule your conference online.  THE GUIDANCE OFFICE IS NOT CALLING ALL PARENTS TO SCHEDULE CONFERENCES.  YOU NEED TO CALL THE SCHOOL.  Scheduling has already started.  Conferences last 30 minutes and are with all of the teachers on your child’s team, all together at the table.  Unified Arts and Language conferences are separate.  A Connect5 robocall will go out soon, to let parents know.

 

 

 

Science Poster Walk

 

Please join us for our Science Poster Walk. All 7/8 students are participating!

 

Students will be presenting their ideas about how to improve water quality or biodiversity for the local waterways. The format will be similar to a science fair.

When: November 9 (Wednesday) from 12-1

Where: All Oasis, Phoenix, and Solstice classrooms

If you would like to join us and see your child, please contact your child's science teacher so she can let you know where they will be sharing their work.

Solstice: Kate Jesdale   kjesdale@bsdvt.org

Phoenix: Michelle Cullen   mcullen@bsdvt.org

Oasis:  Kathy Willey   kwilley@bsdvt.org

Thank you very much,
Kate, Michelle, and Kathy

 

Office Notices

Conferences are to be scheduled during the Thanksgiving Week on Monday and Tuesday the 21st and 22nd. 

We want to remind parents that they can have conferences with their child's teachers anytime, not just on Conference days. 

Please call the Guidance Office at 802-864-8470 to arrange a conference with their child's team teachers.

 

 

 

 

Agreement Between Burlington School Board and Burlington Education Association

 

Please note that a corrected version has been posted online of the October 24th Burlington Free Press article detailing the final agreement between the Burlington School Board and Burlington Education Association.

 

Corrections included this statement:

Also, teachers will receive a 2.75 percent average wage hike with no step increases this year in their one-year contract. The percent was incorrect in a previous version of this article. 

Full article found here. 
 

Given that there have been questions surrounding the details of the agreement, please also find attached a copy of the Summary of Finality Agreement.