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Newsletter for the Winnequah School Community - November
2016
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From Principal Angie Fassl
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Fall is in the air! With the crisp, cool air moving in on a more permanent basis, I am sure my family wasn't the only one digging around for hats, mittens and scarves. Please let us know if Winnequah can help your family prepare for the colder weather with warm clothes.
We were so pleased to see so many families at our Fall Parent/Teacher conferences. Winnequah saw 98% of our families for conferences to help set goals for children
academically, behaviorally, and socially/emotionally.Thank you to the families that helped provide meals for Winnequah staff during our conferences times. We are so appreciative of this thoughtful tradition at Winnequah.
The connection between home and school is so important to the success of our students. Our Family Outreach group at Winnequah has been working hard to get feedback on how to improve our communication and also to offer opportunities for more parent involvement. You will find several opportunities to help us grow our connections with families in this newsletter and we would love to hear from you and of course, see you more in our amazing school. Thank you in advance for your time!
Enjoy the long weekend coming up and also the long weekend in November!
Angie Fassl
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Halloween Parade 8:45 on Monday, 10/31
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Our annual Halloween Parade is scheduled for October 31 at 8:45am. We have changed our walking route this year to incorporate a visit to the Community Center. Students will parade in costumes down the sidewalk by the playground, turning left on Greenway. Off of Greenway, we will follow the walking path to the Community Center, walking through the downstairs and out the front doors and then heading back to Winnequah.
Viewers are welcome anywhere along the route. We love seeing families while we parade. In the event of rain, we will have an indoor parade through the gym.
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Learn about PBIS @ 11/17 PTO Meeting!
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Ever wonder what the Winnequah Way is or why your child is coming home with purple and green tickets? Join the PBIS Coaches Team at 6pm on November 17th for a brief presentation at the PTO meeting in the library to learn about these things and more.
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Meet Our New Owl:
Paula Gray
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 Name: Paul Gray
Position: First Grade Teacher
Teaching History: Long term substitute in First Grade at Winnequah.
Family Info: Husband Dan, three children, Adam, Maria and Stella.
Pet bunny named Stanley.
Hobbies: Water and snow skiing, running, biking, skiing and hockey.
If you could be any animal, what would you be and why:
A frog so I could live in the water and on land.
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: Mexican
Favorite Book: Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
Who is your least favorite superhero and why?
The Hulk - he is scarey.
Who inspires you? My father, my husband and my children.
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Meet Our New Owl:
Aimee Theo
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 Name: Aimee Theo
Position: Special Ed Paraprofessional / COTA (Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant)
Teaching History: I assisted in after school programs with MSCR (Madison School Community & Recreation) as an inclusion aide.
Family Info: I was born and raised in Madison and have lived their with my immediate family my whole life.
Hobbies: Reading, spending time with friends and family, exercising, running and being outdoors.
If you could be any animal, what would you be and why:
A dog! They are always happy and full of energy.
Favorite Color: Turquoise
Favorite Food: Tacos!
Favorite Book: Harry Potter
Who is your least favorite superhero and why?
Spiderman - I hate spiders!
Who inspires you? My Dad inspires me - he has always been there for my family and always is a huge support no matter what I'm going through.
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Early Learning Fair - Monday Feb. 6th
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 On
Monday, February 6th, 2017, the Monona Grove School District will hold its annual Early Learning Fair and
Together 4 Kids Registration at Nichols School (MG District Office) in Monona. This event is a free service to families of pre-school children. Parents will have the opportunity to meet with a professional to share information about their child's development and to register for the 2017-2018 T4K program.
Registration information will be sent to families in mid December. Parents should call the Early Education Office at 839-2113 to schedule an appointment upon receipt of registration materials.
If you have any new neighbors with young children aged birth to 4 ½, please have them call Gina in the Early Education Office at 839-2113.
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From the Family Outreach Committee
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 Thank you all for all of the responses to our Family Outreach and Communication Survey! We found that most of us appreciate email and paper notifications, so along with the newsletter we will be communicating in alternate ways as well.
We have started a
Winnequah School Facebook page. It is a closed group and you will have to request to join. The group will be focused on sharing events and day to day happenings around the school--we will avoid posting individual pictures of students on this site. If you would like to join this Facebook Group please click on this link:
Also, we are looking for Parent Voice in Committees in and around school. If you are interested in being a part of the PBIS team (our school wide behavior team), an "In-Residence" parent--if you have a special skill or trade that you would be willing to share with our students, or a part of our Family Outreach Committee please email Mindy at
melinda.boyd@mgschools.net.
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Kindergarten Field Trip Fun
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Kindergarten had a fun month beginning with our Eugster's Farm field trip. We took a wagon ride into the field to pick a pumpkin and then wandered around the farm looking at animals (babies too!) and the Halloween silo and barn.
Fire safety week led us to the Monona Fire Station for a tour. We saw fire trucks, the ambulance, the inside of the station and Mrs. Fonner wearing turnout gear!
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KDG / 2nd Grade Harvest Party
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Mrs Fonner's and Mrs. Vetter's classes (Buddy Rooms) celebrated a Hoot Hoot Harvest Party. They made applesauce, painted pumpkins (from PTO Garden Club), apple printed, apple taste test where we graphed the results, and shared and ate foods made with harvest foods from students.
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1st Grade Fun
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First grade has been busy with our family unit and will be moving on to our first science unit of Force and Motion during the month of November. We have been learning new math games and working hard on our math facts. We have also been learning about patterns. In reading, we have talked about friends, pets, and growing up. We have noticed a huge improvement in student reading already this year.
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1st Grade Citizenship
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Mrs. Jones 1st Grade Class helped the PTO deliver Winnequah Owl shirts to learn about the concept of citizenship.
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2nd Grade Gardening
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Ms. Trapp's 2nd graders had fun planting tulip bulbs and picking raspberries in the Winnequah Garden.
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3rd Grade
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Mrs. Dyer's 3rd Graders are doing some bottle biology in science class. They connected clear pop bottles to create a simulated closed system of our earth. The terrarium section models the carbon-dioxide cycle. The decomposition section models the nitrogen cycle, and the aquarium section models the water cycle.
Students are making observations and collecting data to understand the changes that are taking place. They love watching the small pond protozoan in the aquarium section.
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4th Grade - Old World Wisconsin
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On Friday, October 14, the fourth grade spent the day at Old World Wisconsin. Students got to see first hand how the early settlers of Wisconsin lived their lives. They witnessed how wool was spun, bread was made, shoes were constructed and how laundry was done. They also learned about the choices immigrants had to make as they packed for their journey to America, and what a school day was like for the early settlers.
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Zones of Regulation
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Along with our Second Step curriculum, students are learning about the Zones of Regulation in classroom guidance. The Zones of Regulation is a curriculum that teaches emotion management and self regulation skills.
The attached information sheet is intended for important people in students' lives so that they understand the vocabulary students are learning and can reinforce it at home or in the community.
Zones of Regulation Info Sheet
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Student Services News
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"Greetings from the Student Services team! This month in our guidance lessons we will be learning tools to stay calm when we're upset, how to use positive self-talk to keep us going when times are tough, and how we can make Winnequah a safer school. We encourage families to talk with their students about their favorite ways to calm down when upset; and how students can use those calming tools at school.
Winter is coming, and we are looking for donations of new or gently used winter gear for families in need.
 Especially needed are:
- small and medium snow pants
- waterproof gloves
- hats
- coats
- winter boots
Families who need support in getting winter gear or holiday gifts for their students are encouraged to contact Becky Swance or Leah Kutschke. Thanks in advance for your generous donations!
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Winnequah Garden Update
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Hello Garden Families!
This month has been a busy garden month, as things always are at harvest time. Since it has been fairly warm and rainy so far this fall, the garden has still been producing! But, we still need to get to work "putting the garden to sleep" for the winter. Many kids and classes have been out harvesting and doing other projects such as planting bulbs for spring, pulling out plants that are done for the season, and cutting back flower beds. The sunflower house and pumpkin patch have been cleaned up, and some teachers had their buddy groups get together to paint pumpkins and gourds. We got a generous donation from the Glacial Drumlin garden of many gourds to supplement our harvest. Thank you to them, and what a great collaboration! The peppers, kale and raspberries are still going strong, so after the first frost, we'll clean everything up and put straw on the beds to protect them for the winter.
As always, we encourage you to stay in touch on
Facebook or email us at
winnequahgarden@gmail.com. Even though we are entering a less busy garden season, we can always extra hands and help so please contact us if you are interested in volunteer opportunities.
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Sock Hop - November 18th
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The Sock Hop is on November 18th from 6:00-8:00pm at the Winnequah Gym. This is a family event (no drop-offs!). Cost is $1 per person.
Please consider helping at the event.
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REAP Order Forms Due Nov. 3rd
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 Just a reminder that the REAP Food Group order forms are due by November 3rd.
This holiday fundraiser not only raises money for Winnequah but also benefits small WI farms and businesses. Featuring a variety of high-quality, locally- and sustainably- produced items they are great for personal use or to share with others as reasonably-priced gifts. On average our school will keep between 30-40% of the total dollar amount of your order (depending on which products you order) with the rest benefiting local farms and businesses.
Order Form
Order Form en Espanol
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Monona PTO News
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Thank you to all of those that helped and participated in the Walk to School Day on October 5th. Thanks to Macy Femrite, Ms. Swance and Angela White for spearheading the organizing of the day for all the students and families of Winnequah.
Reminder that only a few days are remaining on the Bucky Book Sale for Monona PTO. Orders are due
November 3rd.
They make excellent gifts! Thanks to all that have supported this fundraiser so far this year. The order form:
http://www.mononagrove.org/Winnequah/BuckyBook_2016.pdf
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Easter Seals Update
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THANK YOU Winnequah families for your support of the Easter Seals Drive! Together we collected over 1200 pounds of clothing earning over $250 for Winnequah. Keep collecting your donations - we'll be hosting another clothing collection in May!
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School Lunch Menus and Info
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November Menus:
November Elementary Breakfast
November Elementary Lunch
Making Payments
Payments to a Food Service account can be made from within Infinite Campus by clicking on the payment link (on the left). You may also pay with a check or cash in the school office. Please place the payment in an envelope clearly marked food service with your student's name.
Account Balances
Clicking on the Food Service tab in Infinite Campus will allow you to access account information including current account balances, transactions, and account history.
Additional Info:
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Monona Public Library Events
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Read to a Dog
Nov. 21 and Dec. 28 at 4:30
Construction Zone!
(Formerly known as LEGO® Club program)
Oct. 31, Nov. 28, and Dec. 26
Spanish Storytime con Marisol Gonzalez
Oct. 25 to Nov. 15, 2016
25 de octubre al 15 de noviembre
4:15PM a
4:45PM
For additional info and more events visit the Monona Public Library website by clicking
here.
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