Family Cheetah Tracks
September 15, 2025
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Finding Our September Stride
Finding Our September Stride
Hello JES Families,
As we enter the fourth week of school, our learning community is beginning to settle into strong routines and rhythms that support success for all. Students are learning the importance of consistency, respect, and responsibility through our daily practices and expectations. Whether walking through the halls, engaging in classroom activities, or interacting in common spaces, staff members are working hard to model and provide opportunities for students to practice the positive behaviors that help create a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment for everyone.
In classrooms, teachers are diving into literacy instruction using our district's new American Reading Company (ARC) resource. In math, students are diving into initial lessons and building habits as mathematicians for their new grade level. Teachers are also in the process of collecting beginning-of-year assessment data to better understand each learner’s strengths and needs in both math and literacy.
This week we will begin Second Step lessons school wide during our weekly Cheetah Connect time on Wednesday mornings. Second Step is a widely used social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum designed to help students build skills in areas like empathy, emotion management, problem-solving, and responsible decision-making.
Beyond academics, we are committed to nurturing a sense of belonging among all students and staff. Whether it’s through classroom morning meetings, team-building activities, or simple daily check-ins, we are creating a school culture where every member of our community feels seen, supported, and valued. We’re off to a great start and look forward to the continued growth and connection that lies ahead!
Warmly,
Katie Barea
JES Principal
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
October 2nd-3rd ~ No School
October 7th ~ JES Open House 5:30-7:30pm
October 8th ~ October Early Release
School Happenings
September Safety Drills
In accordance with state statute, all schools are required to conduct safety drills throughout the year. At Jericho Elementary, these drills include fire drills, options-based response drills, bus evacuation, and a relocation drill. We will always give you a heads up about the week during which drills will take place.
Next week, we will have bus evacuation drills and a fire drill. Staff will be reviewing procedures with students ahead of time to ensure they are set up for success.
Safety drills are an important part of ensuring the well-being of all students and staff. They are conducted in developmentally appropriate ways to help prepare everyone for the event of an unexpected emergency.
Questions about these drills? Please don't hesitate to reach out!
FROM THE DISTRICT
2025-2026 MMUUSD Calendar
We encourage you to review the district calender to help plan for key dates throughout the year. Upon review, you’ll see that there are eight Early Release Wednesdays, when students will be dismissed two hours early to allow our staff time for ongoing professional learning.
Click Here: District Calendar
NEWS FROM JES PIE
Mission Statement
Mission Statement
Partners in Education is an organization whose purpose is to enhance and strengthen the educational and social environment for the Jericho Elementary School students.
ONLINE SCHOOL STORE
GET YOUR CHEETAH GEAR!!!
GET YOUR CHEETAH GEAR!!!
Welcome to the JES Cheetahs Online Store, the place to score cheetah SWAG.
Get some JES swag for your whole family!
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
We are excited to begin this year's Robotics Club! The students will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on building and coding, taking on exciting challenges and achieving impressive results while developing valuable skills and confidence.
This semester, 4th graders in the Challengers team will prepare for a statewide competition that highlights their robotics and coding abilities, emphasizing innovation, teamwork, and creativity. Currently, there are two parent volunteers supporting the Challengers team. The goal is to form two teams, each consisting of up to six students. Previous Robotics Club participants who are now in grade 4 will have priority for signing up followed by new members. Sign-Up Sheet
We would like to start a non-competitive Explorer team for 2nd–3rd graders, but this will require dedicated volunteers. This group would be focusing on basic engineering, teamwork, and creativity. Expanding the club to younger students needs dedicated parent volunteers. The more parental involvement means more opportunities for kids of different ages and helps sustain the club long-term. Parents who would like to volunteer and students in grade 2nd-3rd who are interested in joining please e-mail Mr. Bouchard at David.bouchard@mmuusd.org. He has volunteered to help get this group off of the ground.
Robotics Club will be held on Thursdays from school dismissal until 4 p.m. in Mr. Bouchard’s classroom. We are aiming to start on Thursday September 25th and need to know how many kids are participating no later than Friday September 19th to order kits as soon as possible!
Additionally, the Challenger team will meet on a few Saturdays leading up to the December competition. I would like to emphasize that this is a parent-led program, and we are grateful to Mr. Bouchard for sharing his classroom for this exciting opportunity. This year we are thrilled to have Kirk Newcomb as Team Leader for Robotics Club!
COUGAR CUB FIELD HOCKEY CLINICS
On Tuesday September 16th and Tuesday September 30th from 3:30pm - 5:00pm the MMU Field Hockey program will be hosting Cougar Cub Field Hockey Clinics for K-4th grade students on their field at MMU. No previous experience necessary.
If you are interested in details, please reach out to Paige Manning at pb4wego421@gmail.com
Email: jesoffice@mmuusd.org
Location: 90 VT Route 15, Jericho, VT 05465
Phone: 802.899.2272
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