District E-Newsletter          March 2018

Greetings!

At the start of this school year, both the District and Wauwatosa School Board emphasized a focus on equity. 

This word is not a new concept to us. We've worked diligently over the past several years in this area; adding a Supervisor of Equity, creating Equity Coordinator roles, adding Instructional Coaches for Equity at the elementary level, and implementing a successful plan to increase participation of ALL students in our most rigorous Advanced Placement courses.

But to close the achievement gap, an objective in our five-year strategic plan, we must do more. Over the past several months we've created a team of staff, administrators, teachers, and parents to identify specific areas we can improve and/or create equity. The team then developed a plan for how we will do so over the next two years.

The purpose of the District's Equity Plan is to ensure students, staff, families, and community members of all cultures and perspectives are provided an environment and resources necessary for our students to reach their greatest potential. 

Action steps will support the following five core objectives:

  • Empower all students to achieve their own academic vision/goals and encourage excellence in education for all.
  • Increase Cultural awareness/competency of all teachers, administrators, and staff.
  • Ensure welcoming, safe, inclusive, and equitable school environments for all.
  • Recruit, hire and retain teachers, administrators, and staff of color.
  • Strengthen parent and community partnerships.

The proposed Equity Plan has been presented to the school board, and a vote on it is forthcoming.

You can expect to hear more about our work and ways parents and families can partner with us as we move forward.

As always, thank you for your partnership.

Phil Ertl
Superintendent
Wauwatosa School District Events
School Board Meeting
Monday, March 12; 7-9 p.m.
Fisher Administration Bldg. RM C
Child Development Screenings
Thursday, March 22
9:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.
Fisher Administration Bldg. RM C
School Board Meeting
Monday, March 26; 7-9 p.m.
Fisher Administration Bldg. RM C
EFW High School Bowling
Thursday, March 29
8:30-11:00 p.m.
Bowlero Wauwatosa

NO SCHOOL - Spring Break
March 30th-April 5th
Your Educational Community News
Summer School Registration Changes
We are excited to share a new process for Summer School registration with the Wauwatosa School District.

This year, Summer School registration will take place online via our Power School portal instead of through the Recreation Department.

We recognized a need for improved logistics specifically for communicating with Summer School families and managing Summer School registration and the new system will address this. As a result, we will be able to give more people the opportunity to take high-engagement classes.

Summer School registration will open on April 10th and will remain open until the first day of Summer School. Please click below for complete details.

Reminder: Community-wide survey regarding master facilities planning is coming this spring
The Wauwatosa School District wants  YOUR  input as we work to create a long-range master plan for our facilities to address significant identified needs in our schools. A survey will be mailed to all Wauwatosa residents in late April/early May to gather broad community input in this process. Watch your mailbox and please participate. Your Input Matters!
Redesigned District website offers improved navigation for parents and community to stay informed
You may have noticed, the Wauwatosa School District public website has a new design and layout. In 2017, the District began the work of researching best practices for
educational websites in an effort to improve this important communication tool. As part of our work, we partnered with experts in K-12 education website design and management, and gathered feedback about what information is most requested from our parents. With that in mind, the new website features updated content and is designed to improve navigation and make it easier for parents, community members, and prospective families to find the information most important to them quickly and easily.

Additionally, the new website more prominently highlights ways for parents, students, and
the community to engage in District opportunities including our recreation programming and school clubs or organizations (found under the "Activities" tab on school pages).

We encourage you to visit www.wauwatosaschools.org to get familiar with the new layout and subscribe to our newsletter on the homepage to stay up-to-date on District news!

Top 10 Books for Spring Break
Whether your family is traveling for a vacation or staying home to enjoy some down time, reading is a great way to keep your children entertained!

To help you out with some fresh ideas, we asked our elementary and secondary library experts to give us their Top 10 Spring Break Reads for students of all ages. We hope you enjoy!

Academy Award-nominated filmmaker inducted into East High School Wall of Inspiration
An award-winning investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill, was inducted to the East High School Wall of Inspiration during an all-school assembly on Wednesday, March 7.

Scahill is also a producer and writer of the Academy Award-nominated film  Dirty Wars. He spoke to students about his work as a war correspondent and how his time in high school laid the foundation for his future career.

He is one of four alumni to be inducted this year. A second ceremony will be held on Friday, April 20th to honor the founder of Stars and Stripes Honor Flight, the editor-in-chief of  The Weekly Standard , and a long-time Wauwatosa School Board member.

Watch for it: CBS 58 will also feature a long-form piece on Scahill during its Sunday morning news program.
The Trendiest Tosa Tidbits
WSD Students to recognized by Wauwatosa Library Foundation
Wauwatosa School District Students Mary McMahon (East High School) and Olivia Keenan (West High School) are among five high school juniors who will be recognized, along with a local Wauwatosa businessman, at the Wauwatosa Library Foundation Leadership Luncheon on Monday, March 12.

Guests will be treated to New York Times best-selling author Susan Cain as a key-note speaker. #tosaproud
Student Spotlight: West High School journalism students
Wauwatosa West High School journalism students currently have their feature story about the non-profit Dream Bikes featured on the Student Reporting Labs (SRL) website. SRL is the student-journalism portion of PBS News Hour.

Dozens of Wauwatosa School District students qualify for State Solo and Ensemble Festival
Congratulations to all of our Wauwatosa School District students who advanced to the State Solo and Ensemble Festival through the Wisconsin School Music Association . The state competition will be held the last Saturday of April and first Saturday of May.

Students who advance to the state festival must compete at the advanced level - Class A - and receive a *1 rating. 

East High School had 22 orchestra events and 14 band events that qualified for State. West High School had 21 band events, 10 vocal events, and 18 students who qualified in orchestra. Four students from Whitman Middle School also competed at the Class A level and advanced to state. #tosaproud

Superintendent Phil Ertl to receive distinguished alumni award from UW-Lacrosse
Congratulations to Dr. Phil Ertl who is among seven UW-La Crosse alumni who will be recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award in September.

Dr. Ertl will receive the Burt and Norma Altman Teacher Education Award which honors and recognizes outstanding educators and the significant contributions they make to children and communities. #tosaproud


State Rep. Rob Hutton visits West High School
State Representative Rob Hutton recently toured West High School and spoke with students about their opportunities and experience. Additionally, Culinary Art students showed off skills they have developed in class by cooking lunch for Rep. Hutton and members of the District's Legislative Advocacy Committee. We appreciate Rep. Hutton's time, interest in our District, and issues related to education.
Your Educational Community
12121 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa, WI 53226 |  (414) 773-1000
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