CAMELS HUMP MIDDLE SCHOOL

Welcome Back

We are back in the House! The new year has never felt better. I again want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we bring 5th/6th grade students back to in-person learning. I am reminded that even with the challenges this year has brought how extremely fortunate I am to work within this community. The return of 5th and 6th graders to in-person learning has energized the building. It appears that morning drop off is still working even with the increase in traffic. The afternoon pick-up for 5th grade has been a bit dicey and hopefully those issues will resolve themselves in the coming days. I will be evaluating 5th grade drop-off next week and changes may need to be made. Winter weather has been a welcomed addition to these routines. In terms of the morning drop off and the morning music selection - suggestions may be accepted. If you have a suggestion please forward to Mr. Carbone.

Report Cards

First trimester Report Cards will be distributed to students on Monday, January 11, 2021. Please be looking for these.

Parent/Caregiver/Teacher Conferences

School-wide Parent/Caregiver/Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, January 13, Thursday, January 14 and Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Individual Teams have sent scheduling information to families. All conferences will be held virtually.

Winter Sports

We will be moving forward with an adapted basketball season starting Monday, January 11, 2021. We have sent information to individual families who had previously signed up for Basketball.

Additionally, the ice rink will be ready of student use this coming Monday, January 11, 2021. Please encourage your student to make use of this outdoor activity. We historically have supplied skates for student use and we will again be offering this option. We will have a more limited supply as cleaning and use protocols will limit our overall capacity.

FUTURE PLANNING

As the school or District works under the guidance of the Agency of Education and Department of Health, we may be required to move to remote learning in one or more of our schools with very little forewarning. Therefore, I want to share with you our current plan in regards to the event that necessitates our moving to remote learning. Hopefully, this plan will allow us to make this transition as smooth as possible for everyone.

Moving from our current hybrid model to remote learning:

Day 1

• In-person is cancelled for that day and students do not have school or classes

• Virtual group classes our conducted/held as scheduled

Day 2 through return to In-person instruction

• Virtual instruction for all students, Groups A and B, commences.

• Student daily schedules will remain the same

• All core classes will be held

• Teachers will provide students with new links for “new” remote learning classes

• Classroom instruction will remain synchronous.

• There will be some adjustments made to Unified Arts classes. These will be communicated at a later date.

Over the next couple of weeks, teachers will be preparing to move to remote learning if the need arises. Below is what to expect:

• Teachers will be working with students here in the building to organize and model for students the potential changes that will impact students

• Exploratory Arts teachers will be reviewing their Google classrooms and access with students.

• Teachers may be communicating with families with any additional classroom links that may be used if we need to move to a fully remote learning environment.

• School Administrators will communicate updated instructional timelines(virtual, hybrid, full in-person) with families

We recognize the challenges that transitioning to remote learning may cause a family. Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns. We are committed to supporting our families if we need to transition to remote learning.

FOOD PICK UP TIME

Pick up food time is 12:45-2:30 pm on Wednesdays!

5 Reasons to Pick Up FREE Meals from MMUUSD

1. The food is free to all kids 18 and under, no questions asked. Regardless of your level of need, it saves you money on food for your kids. Also, note that need can be financial, situational, or emotional.

“I want to save meals for those who really need it.” We have heard this comment throughout our community and we want to assure you that we have enough food for all.

2. When the food is not picked up, the Mount Mansfield Nutrition Department may receive less funding, which can lead to not being able to offer as much food, as well as employee layoffs. The food is reimbursed by the federal government on a per meal basis. The more kids we feed, the more reimbursement we get. The fewer we feed, the less we get. Plus, even with all kids now being eligible for the free food, fewer meals may actually be served than during a typical school year, leading to potential shortfalls in the future.

3. It can save the food from turning to waste. In some cases, if the food isn’t picked up, it has to be thrown away!

4. It’s comforting to kids to have familiar foods from their school. Kids love eating foods they would normally get at the school, and drinking milk from the little cartons they only get there as well. It’s hard enough missing normal school life – this gives them a little “taste” of it at home, and reminds them every day that the school misses them and wants to still take care of them.

5. It saves you some stress of feeding your kids, as most of the food is ready-to-eat. There are typically individual servings of cereal, milk, sandwiches, fruit, veggies, snacks, and more. Kids can just grab it and eat it.

“It has saved me a lot of time and hassle so instead of cooking or trying to figure out what to feed them, I can focus more on helping my kids learn!”

School food service guarantees healthful options for your kids, and it can be fun for kids to drive up to their schools and see some familiar faces, if even just through their car windows!

Go to THIS link to sign up. 5 and 7-day options available.