Middlebury Elementary School

Birthdays and Special Activities

Last June, Dr. Sippy and Mr. Zamary sent letters to families regarding food and special activities. An excerpt from Dr. Sippy's letter follows:

"Prepared foods as well as home-cooked foods may provide ingredients that could be indirectly or directly harmful to some children. In recent years, we have had a growing number of students with serious and even life threatening food allergies. In addition, with concerns over childhood obesity and the increased frequency of juvenile diabetes, the administrative team and I feel the use of non-food rewards is a safer and healthier alternative for our students."

We will continue to recognize birthdays at Middlebury Elementary School and will continue to have special activities like 1st Grade Rotations. However, recognition within these activities will come from non-food items. To this end, the MES faculty and administration developed a list of non-food alternatives for celebrating birthdays which is listed below. Please do not send food to school for your child's classmates. Also, students or parents occasionally wish to have a party for a staff member who is getting married, having a baby, etc. The principal must approve these parties ahead of time.

  • Kindergarteners receive a song, special birthday pencil, sticker and crown on their birthday.
  • First grade birthday celebrants have a song, cheer, special birthday pencil, sticker and crown.
  • Second graders receive a t-shirt that is signed by all of their classmates in celebration of their birthday.
  • Third graders get a birthday t-shirt for their classmates to sign.
  • Fifth graders receive a pencil, pen, bookmark or sticker as well as a song for their birthday.

Party Invitations:

We should all remain sensitive to the fact that being left out, if invitations are passed out in school, easily hurts children. Therefore, we do not feel it is our responsibility to be involved in outside celebrations. It is also Board of Education policy that we cannot provide addresses and/or phone numbers of students.