IMPORTANT DATES - OCTOBER 2017
October 2
5th Grade Field Trip
9:15 a.m. - Noon

October 10
GEPTO Meeting
6:00-7:00 p.m.

October 11 
Guest for Principal Experience Day - Tammy Kielhofer Great Lakes Educational Loan Services  Also Leslie McAllister Northside Early Childhood Zone, social worker

October 19
K-1 Eugster's Pumpkin Patch 
9:00 am - Noon

October 20
School Pictures in the a.m.

October 26
GEPTO Fall Festival 5:30 p.m.
All Families Invited

October 27
NO SCHOOL ( Staff Only Day)

QUICK LINKS

Dismissal Times:
Mondays at 1:55 p.m. and 
T-F at 3:27 p.m.  

Important Numbers

Gompers Office - 204-4520
Badger Bus - 298-5471
For Spanish (Angie) - 204-4554
Click here for additional Immigration resources.
Dear Gompers Families,

We are off to a wonderful start to our 2017-2018 school year and have enjoyed welcoming back familiar faces of our amazing students, staff and families and welcoming new students, staff and families to our Gompers family.  The first four weeks of school have been spent building relationships and developing a positive classroom and school culture where all students feel supported to learn and do their best work.  

Attending the September Scoopie night was a great reminder of the amazingness of our community and it was great to see so many families, students and staff have dinner at Culver's in support of our school.  

We also appreciate the teachers and families for our successful spaghetti dinner, feel free to stop by and check out the amazing family photos in the office and the showcase in the lobby.    

Over the summer, teacher teams met to continue to plan rigorous reading lessons in order to support all students all students to develop their literate identities while also learning and preparing to implement our new math curriculum, Bridges.  Also, our School Based Leadership Team met to revise our schools' equity vision to ensure we are supporting all students to develop the skills they need in order to graduate college, career and community ready.  

Equity Vision:
We at Gompers have a shared responsibility to make everyone feel safe, valued and supported by creating a culturally and linguistically responsive environment to foster independent learners.   

We appreciate your support as we keep our work focused on our equity vision. 

Thank you for sharing your children with us.  

Kindly,
 
Jackie Smith
Principal
PICTURE DAY IS OCTOBER 20
You will receive picture order forms and information in your child's backpack.  Extra forms are available in the office.  Please remember, if you pay for your child's pictures with cash, you must have the exact amount due as the photographer is not able to make change.  You can also pay online and order the pictures.
GOMPERS SAFE ARRIVAL
GOMPERS SAFE ARRIVAL
Safe Arrival Phone Number: 204-4522
 
Please call this number by 8:30am when your child will be absent or tardy.

Parents - please remember: The best way to ensure that your child is correctly marked for an absence is to call the Safe Arrival phone number directly. Other messages and notes may not be relayed to the correct person for record keeping. Thank you!

Use our online form to report your child absent from school. You are welcome to continue using our Safe Arrival / Attendance Line phone number if you'd prefer. The online form is simply an additional option for attendance reporting. Learn more.

East's Homecoming Week is Oct. 9-14
A night on the Red Carpet(and celebrating their new theater!)

Spirit WeekThemes
Monday: Film Noir (Black & White/1920s)
Tuesday: Greek Theater (Toga Tuesday!)
Wednesday: "On Wednesday we wear pink!" -Mean Girls (Oct is Breast Cancer Awareness Month)
Thursday: Movie Characters
Friday: Spirit Day (Wear your purple & gold)

Parade: Friday 10/13 @ 5:45p
Come out and support East and watch clubs and sports teams march in the parade.
1000 block of E. Mifflin Street to Breese Stevens. (starts at the intersection of Baldwin & E Mifflin)

Football Game: Friday 10/13 7pm @ Breese Stevens vs Middleton

GEPTO OFFICERS FOR 2017-2018
President - Amanda Kruse
Vice President - Jen Klutterman
Treasurer - Jenny Camponeschi
Secretary - Vacancy
Community Outreach Coordinator - Lynnea Nielsen
Communications Coordinator - Kelly Hauser
Volunteer Coordinator - Vacancy
Box Top Coordinator- Heathere Irwin

Our next GEPTO Meeting is Tuesday, October 10 at 6:00 p.m.
GEPTO Fall Festival 
October 26 at 5:30 p.m.  All families are invited to attend. 
See you there!
MEET OUR NEW STAFF
Jessica Twitchel

Hello Families,
I am so excited to be the new social worker at Gompers Elementary! Gompers is an amazing, welcoming community I am grateful to be a part of. I recently graduated from UW-Madison. Go Badgers! I love living in Madison and am passionate about the North Side community. Some things I do at the school include teaching child safety lessons, supporting positive behavior, helping families in crisis, assisting families experiencing transitional housing, supporting the special education process and teaching social emotional learning. Please reach out if you ever have any questions. I am at Lindbergh Monday, Wednesday, Friday (608-204-6509) and at Gompers Elementary Tuesday and Thursday (608-204-4558). I look forward to meeting you.

Sincerely,
Jess Twitchell
Jane Menting

My name is Jane Menting. I am a long-term substitute teacher and will be working with the first graders in Ms. O'Duffy's classroom. What I like best about my position as a substitute teacher is that I have taught in every elementary school in the Madison Metropolitan School District! I also teach on a daily basis throughout the district so I know thousands of students! I'm at Gompers quite often so you may hear your children mention me throughout the school year. I look forward to teaching at Gompers more often this year. 

Sincerely,
Mrs. Menting 
Hannah Slotten

Hello Gompers families! My name is Hannah Slotten and I am the new CC teacher at Gompers this year. This will be my first year teaching, and my first experience as a cross-categorical teacher. However, I am not new to Madison Metropolitan Schools. I was born and raised in Madison and attended Kennedy Elementary. From Madison I went to the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee for my bachelor's degree in early childhood education, graduating this past December. During my time in Milwaukee I worked for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee as both a SPARK literacy tutor and a Kinder Academy teacher at Mary Ryan Boys and Girls Club. When I'm not teaching I love baking, attempting to knit, exploring Madison, and spending time with my cat, Sebastian. I also like spending time outside working in my yard. I'm very excited to be a part of the Gompers Family and can't wait for the year to really get into full swing!

Sadie Skibo

My name is Sadie Skibo and I am thrilled to join the Gompers family as a 4th grade teacher. Even though I was born in Central Illinois, I am a lifelong Packer fan. I went to college at Illinois State University and then taught in Champaign, IL for 2 years. Moving to Madison was a big decision but one I am so glad I made! I have so enjoyed getting to know the students, staff, and families at Gompers. Thank you for making me feel welcome!

Angie Contreras

I'm originally from Whittier, California  , but have lived most of my life in sunny Guadalajara, Mexico.  I studied fine arts at the University of Guadalajara and completed a Masters in Art Education from the same University. I love traveling, cooking and learning new languages, I am trying my luck with Italian at the moment. I started working for the district as of last year, working at Crestwood Elementary and briefly at West. I am excited to join Gompers this year as the Spanish BRS, working with the students and with the community in general. 

Angelina Anton
 
I am so excited to be a 1st grade teacher this year!  I attended  the University of Illinois where I student taught in 1st grade, 3rd grade, and taught abroad in Italy teaching ELL students. I moved to Wisconsin a year ago from my home town of West Dundee, Illinois, not far from Chicago! This past year, I taught preschool at the Goddard School. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, doing photography, reading, and cooking! I'm looking forward to an amazing year!

Deesa Pence

Although I grew up on the south side of Chicago, I graduated from, and earned my teaching credentials from UC Davis, a university in northern California. As the years passed, my family grew to include four sons and various pets. When the boys entered school, I began subbing. Eventually I began working as an SEA at Crestwood, Hamilton, East High and Madison College. This year, I've come full circle to join Ms. Shedesky's kindergarten group. It has been a lot of fun!

Nathan Wewetzer

Greetings from the Gompers Music Program!

Hello, my name is Nate Wewetzer, and I'm the General Music teacher. This past December, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin- White-water, where I received my Bachelor of Music degree in both General and In-strumental Music Education, along with two certifications in Jazz and Music Theory.
One of my favorite things about music is performing it. Being a per-former provided me with the opportunity to see much of the U.S. and several other countries around the world. A few of the places I've performed at are:

 Lambeau Field (Green Bay) and Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
 Lincoln Jazz Center and Carnegie Hall (New York City)
 Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta (Canada)
 Vienna State Opera House (Austria)
 Municipal House (Prague)

Some of the things I love to do in my free time are producing/listening to music, visiting national parks, and going on hiking and camping trips with my friends and family.

The Music
"Where words fail, music speaks."
- Hans Christian Andersen

This year, students at Gompers Elementary will learn more about other cultures through music and dance. Every student will develop a portfolio of their work and every assignment/task given to them will assess at least one of four categories: "Creating," "Performing," "Responding," and "Connecting." Our school is very fortunate to have many quality resources for the students to have a wonderful experience with, and as a member of the Gompers family, you are more than welcome to be a part of it.

Please contact me anytime!
Nate Wewetzer 608-204-4520 newewetzer@madison.k12.wi.us


MUD RUN 2017
Thank you to all parents/students/families for allowing their child(ren) to participate in this year's Mud Run. We had a great turn out this year with 41 participants running either the .3 or 1.5 mile course. The excitement and smiles on all the kids' faces makes all the planning worth it! The money received from Tri 4 Schools will be used for new Physical Education equipment to make class that much better at Gompers. I hope you had as much fun as I did and will participate again next Fall. 

Thanks again!!!

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