- Last Updated on Sunday, 21 April 2013 12:27
Union students in grades 3-5 are jumping all over the place. And that's a good thing. March was Heart Healthy Month, and the upper grades participated in the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser for the American Heart Association. PE teachers Marie Jennings ("MJ") and Emmanual Riby-Williams taught a variety of jump rope skills. They also discussed other 
ways to keep your heart healthy and strong your whole life long. The culminating event was Jump Rope Day, with demonstrations of skills and competitions.
Up-Coming Events:
Family Fitness Night is May 3rd. Both gyms will be open and available for various heart-healthy activities for parents and children. More info forthcoming. Stay tuned!
- Last Updated on Monday, 14 January 2013 18:08
You have probably heard about the spread of influenza this winter. It is important to understand the difference between flu and the common cold, and to take the proper precautions to protect yourselves and your children against the flu. You can find info from the Center for Disease Control about the differences HERE.
For protection against flu:
- Get vaccinated. Vaccination is still the best protection against the flu. It is not too late to get vaccinated this season.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
- If you or your child gets sick with a respiratory illness like flu, limit contact with others as much as possible to help prevent spreading illness. Stay home (or keep your child home) for at least 24 hours after fever is gone except to seek medical care or for other necessities. Fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.
- Conduct routine cleaning and disinfecting. Flu viruses are relatively fragile, so standard cleaning and disinfecting practices are sufficient to remove or kill them.
- If an outbreak of flu occurs, schools should contact the Department of Health 802-863-7240 to report the outbreak and seek guidance.
- The CDC has an excellent website dedicated to influenza in school settings. Please check it out if you have questions.
This information provided by the Vermont Department of Health and your School nurses. Please call us at 229-8206 if you have any questions.
Trees-Ah Elder Sarah Mele
- Last Updated on Thursday, 03 January 2013 10:57
Happy New Year!
We are looking for donations of winter outerwear for students in grades 3-5. Any gear such as boots, snowpants, jackets, mittens, scarves and warm socks would be greatly appreciated. We are looking for items of sizes to fit 8-12 year olds.
All items may be dropped off at the Excel classroom or at the Office. As always, please check in at the Office if you are coming to the classroom.
We appreciate you generosity. Your contributions will ensure that all students can enjoy recess in warmth and comfort during the cold winter.
We also need hand-me-down sneakers of all sizes now that boot season is here. Please bag the sneakers and bring them to the Office. Thanks!
- Last Updated on Friday, 21 December 2012 14:34
We have spent a great deal of time this week thinking about the best way to support our children and each other in the aftermath of the tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, December 14th.
A group of UES professional staff met with me on Sunday afternoon to develop a response plan for the week. We had the good fortune to speak with Dr. Anne Stewart, Professor of Psychology at James Madison University in Virginia. Dr. Stewart is an expert in crisis response and specifically in school crisis response. Dr. Stewart has given us express authority to use her research to support the UES community through this difficult time. Dr. Stewart has authored a number of articles on the topic and suggested this one by Rob Evans and Mark Kline that specifically addresses the Newton tragedy.
On Monday morning we met as a staff to share ideas and take care of each other. Our plan was and is to continue to keep our students and staff safe. We also talked about what to do if students asked staff and faculty about the tragedy; we would address those questions and comments individually and we would not address this information in an assembly format. If we saw that a student needed more support we would contact parents and also offer assistance.
UES Chief of All Things Maintenance and Custodial - Todd Keller and I met with 22 parents Wednesday 11:30-12:30 at my monthly Principal’s Roundtable. We focused on school safety and specifically UES’ response to the Sandy Hook tragedy. We gave an overview of the UES safety procedures and answered all questions.
I met with Union School Parents Group, USPG President, Vivian Ladd-Tomasi on Thursday, December 20th. We are planning to have a sole focus of safety at UES at the next USPG monthly meeting in January. A flyer will be sent home with the date and time TBA
Please let me know if there is anything that you need. It is important that we work together with tenderness, care and compassion as we move forward during this difficult time.
In this very dark week both on the calendar and in our lives let’s lift light up around us both literally and figuratively.
Kind regards,
Owen Bradley
Here are some resources for talking with children:
- Last Updated on Thursday, 01 November 2012 13:18
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education sets national standards for PE in K-12 schools. Third Grade PE standards based on NASPE Standards 1 & 2 are: Shows overall body control alone and within a group, and Uses balance/force/time/flow in psycho-motor skills. Makes for some dull reading. But thanks to new PE teacher Marie "MJ" Jennings, they are a blast to put into practice! MJ worked in secret with Ms. LeFebvre's class to pull off a "flash mob" dance to Michael Jackson's song, "Thriller."
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