|
|
 Newsletter for the Winnequah School Community - April
2017
|
|
|
From Principal Angie Fassl
|
I hope everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing Spring Break! The warmer weather always means more time to get outside and enjoy fresh air! It is such a refreshing time of year! At the same time, spring also means seeing how much growth and progress our students have made this school year. Students in grades 3-5 will be taking the statewide Forward Exam during the month of April. All students in grades K-5 will also be participating our district measures of progress by completing the MAP and DIBELS assessments in the areas of reading and math. These district assessments will begin at the end of April and continue into May. Although this means we are finishing up the year, please continue to encourage your child to have a strong end of the year with both behavior and academics!
Summer school registration for this summer will open on April 18th. Similar to last year, registration will be done online through Infinite Campus. Please be sure your portal account is activated so you are able to take advantage of the great summer school classes offered through the district!
One of the many wonderful things that makes Winnequah unique is our school garden. PTO has organized a garden work day on April 22 to get the garden ready for planting. Please consider donating some time to help with this event. All of our students enjoy planting and working in the garden in both fall and spring. Any help you can provide to help prepare for these experiences is fantastic. Thank you!
Happy Spring,
Angie Fassl
|
|
Online Registration for Returning Students
|
Online registration for returning Students begins May 1st.
Online registration and enrollment for returning students begins on May 1st and ends on June 30th. Families of returning students are required to register each year. You will receive an email at the end of April with instructions on how to complete the online the registration process.
|
|
2017-18 School Supply Kits
|
It's Time To Order Your 2017-2018 School Supply Kit! Order forms will be in your students Friday folder, on Friday, April 28th.
Be on the watch for your order forms! It really makes back-to-school supply shopping easy!
Please contact Kate Schiefelbein with questions at (608) 212.2847.
|
|
MGEF Grant Announcement
|
 Each year, Monona Grove Education Foundation awards grants to teachers who apply for
innovative, creative and out of the box plans for their MG students. MGEF grants allows
Monona Grove's teachers to push themselves and their colleagues to explore innovative and
creative teaching methods for the children of our district. The grant winners are featured each
year at MGEF's annual gala which celebrates the entire Monona Grove School District. On March 14th, the MGEF Board of Directors awarded grants for the 2017 grant cycle.
Congratulations to Winnequah kindergarten teacher Jenny Fonner. Ms. Fonner's grant is for software for Osmos Coding program.
Congratulations Ms. Fonner!
|
Summer School 2017
|
Monday, June 19 through Friday, July 14
(no class Monday, July 3rd and Tuesday, July 4)
Registration for Summer School will open at 5:00pm on April 18
th
. Registration will continue to be done online through your Infinite Campus Portal Account. To prepare for registration, families will want to be sure that their portal account is activated and that they are able to login. The Course Guide, along with directions on how to Request Summer School Courses through your Infinite Campus Portal Account, will go out the week of April 3rd.
What should I do if I forgot my user name, password or am having trouble logging into my Infinite Campus account?
First, use the Help options found on the Infinite Campus Parent Portal login page. A link to that portal is on this page. Please note there are options for "Forgot your password" and "Forgot your username" in this area. If those options don't work for you, please fill out the Infinite Campus Portal Help Request form. A link to the form is on this page.
Return to Menu
|
Kindergarten - Dr. Seuss Week
|
Kinders celebrated Dr Seuss week in the beginning of March.
We had fun with dress up days and enjoyed guest readers too!
Return to Menu
|
2nd Grade - Fractions
|
Second graders in Mrs. Vetter's classroom kicked off their fraction unit with a real world exploration lesson! The students explored items, such as a case of soda, package of colored pencils, a package of Gatorade, a package of batteries, etc and were to portion the items out into equal shares. Can you find items around your house and portion them out into equal shares?
|
3rd Grade - The Last Great Race
|
Many 3rd grade classrooms followed the Iditarod this year. This is known as "The Last Great Race". Due to weather conditions, the mushers started from Fairbanks, Alaska, and traveled over 900 miles with their dog sled teams to reach Nome. Students learned about the Arctic habitat. They did some math lessons tabulating the cost of financing a sled team. They used the mathematical statistics of mean, median, mode, and range when looking at checkpoint distances. They followed specific mushers and learned about the challenges of preparing for and racing in the Iditarod. All students learned about the need for determination, hard work, and perseverance in participating in this "Great Race".
|
4th Grade - Buddy Time
|
|
Students in Mrs. Koski's and Ms. Hendrickson's classes interviewed one another for their March buddy room activity. They asked and answered questions about some of their favorite things, as well as what they want to be when they grow up. Buddy time allows students to learn social skills such as cooperation, patience, and responsibility, and have fun at the same time.
|
5th Grade - 6th Grade Pen Pals
|
Winnequah 5th graders are participating in a great opportunity this spring! Each 5th grader has been paired up with a 6th grade student at Glacial Drumlin to act as pen pals. Students are given the opportunity to share letters back and forth to ask and answer questions about expectations at the middle school. Students seem to really enjoy this activity and also gain valuable information in the process!
|
| Math 24 Meet |
This year's Math 24 Meet was on Tuesday, March 7. Our Winnequah students joined other Dane County students to compete at Union-South on the Madison campus. The meet consisted of 4 rounds of 15 minutes each. During each round, groups of three students tried to solve as many Math 24 problems as they could. This year the overall winner came from Beloit. The highest score in our district was Preston Huemmer from Cottage Grove school.
Here are some reflections on how the day went.
Jakob said, "It was surprising to see how many people there were at the meet."
Kalen reflected, "It was a really fun experience."
Vivian commented, "It was fun to see how practicing made me better." (Growth mindset!)
"It almost felt like a dream, - it was a really cool experience", suggested Audrey.
Morris suggested, "The people that I competed against were very good, but it was still fun."
"I noticed that many kids had cards memorized. It made it tricky to compete against them but I admired their effort," explained Eliza.
|
| Thank you Stainbrook Agency and Meemic! |
Jenna Stainbrook,
Stainbrook
Agency presents Angie Fassl with a $500 For Our Schools Grant from the Meemic Foundation for the Future of Education. Barb Trapp applied for the grant on behalf of Winnequah School.
|
TerraCycle Update
|
Thank you to everyone for your help and cooperation collecting items for TerraCycle. Please continue to collect accepted items and bring them to the Monona Library drop site (all items collected there). Please remember to sort your items - this is a HUGE help for our volunteers who have very limited time. We want to send a huge shout out to the 5th graders from Barb Nyenhuis' class, who help manage the TerraCycle Cafeteria bins. Approximately twice a month, the students help sort items collected in the kindergarten classrooms and then tidy and clean out the cafeteria bins, repairing them as needed. A HUGE THANK YOU goes to the 5th graders for their efforts as well as to Ms. Nyenhuis for helping to coordinate our work days all year long.
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS:
We are always looking for more volunteers! Interested in helping once during the school year? Want to help each month throughout the year? It is entirely up to you! We have a number of ways that you can help out - many of them on your own schedule and timing. A few specific areas we are looking for help with include:
Communications
Are you someone interested in making radio spots, drafting social media posts, managing communications sent via the newspaper, various newsletters, and the like? If so, the TerraCycle Winnequah Team is looking for someone like you!
Materials Procurement
Do you know where to get a variety of cardboard boxes? or packaging tape? These are materials we need each month and we always have to go and find or purchase them. Help maintaining our inventory of boxes and/or tape would be appreciated. If you are interested in helping out with these or other things, please contact Kathryn at kechristo@gmail.com or 608-279-7568 to learn more.
Upcoming TerraCycle events/meetings (All are welcome!):
Meeting: Monday, April 3rd @ 7:30pm (Waypoint Public House) Library Box & Ship @ Monona Public Library: Sunday, April 23rd @1:30pm - volunteer sign up here For more information on all things TerraCycle, visit our
website or
Facebook page
.
We appreciate hearing from you!
Return to Menu
|
Save the Date! Fine Arts Night - May 3rd.
|
Save the Date! Wednesday, May 3
rd
is Fine Arts Night. All Winnequah students will have artwork on display. There will be additional student creations in the silent auction. The theme of the event is One World Many Stories. Our library will be hosting storytellers from the Monona Library. Food carts have been invited! There are many ways you can help out to make this amazing event a success. If you would like to know more please contact Peter Kuzma,
peter.kuzma@mgschools.net
or Jen Goodnough,
jennifer.goodnough@mgschools.net
for more information.
|
News from Nurse Kate - Spring Safety Tips
|
Bike Safety
Now that the weather is getting nicer children are going to want to be out on their bikes. Make sure that your child knows that they should always have their helmet on when riding a bike. Also have a chat with them regarding road safety and watching for cars backing out of drive ways if they are biking on the sidewalk. Outside exercise is great! Let's just make sure they are safe!
Spring Cleaning
In addition to your regular spring cleaning chores, consider adding some that will make your home a little safer for your kids, such as cleaning out your medicine cabinet, checking product recalls, and looking for broken toys, etc.
 Sun Safety: Remember, the sun's rays are strongest between the hours of 10am and 4pm. Use
SPF 15 or higher, even on cloudy days. It is important to get a healthy dose of sunshine each day.
New Immunization Schedules: Check with your health care provider to make sure you are properly immunized, especially children entering Kindergarten and rising 6
th
graders. All 11 year old students are required to have a Tdap booster (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis) prior to entering 6
th
grade.
 A word about head lice
This can happen to anyone, it's not uncommon. Most head lice are transmitted from head to head contact. Check your children regularly, if head lice are found consult a health care provider regarding treatment options. Follow package directions and comb out lice and nits thoroughly. While this is a time consuming task, it is also very effective at preventing repeat cycles. Clean all items that may have been in contact with your child's head. (Combs, brushes, linens, stuffed animals). Let your children's close friends and parents know so they too can check regularly. Report all cases to the school nurse, and I will re-check your child when they return to school.
Return to Menu
|
|
Winnequah Garden
|
 Hello Winnequah garden fans!
Things are starting to warm up, and soon all our bulbs will be sprouting in the garden. Keep an eye out for fun spring color! Seedlings are being ordered this week, and kids will be coming out soon to get the garden ready.
Please mark your calendars for our upcoming garden work day! April 22nd
from 9-4. We'll be cleaning up from the winter, hauling and spreading compost from Mrs. Jones farm, installing some signs, and cleaning out the shed. We'd love it if you came to help! Children are welcome, but only with parent supervision. If you have any questions, please contact
winnequahgarden@gmail.com
or Erin Staver at
cannonerin@hotmail.com
.
Hope to see you there!
|
|
4K Playground Project
|
Winnequah's 4K teachers have asked the PTO to help create a smaller playground for Winnequah's youngest population. The playground, which will be located by the garden, will feature a small play structure designed for smaller students as well as a handicap accessible swing. The playground will be available to ALL Winnequah students. The PTO has directed $10,000 towards this project already but we need YOUR help to get us to our goal. Donation forms will be in Friday folders this week and can also be found on the PTO page of the Winnequah school website.
|
|
Monona PTO Needs You
|
There are openings for chairpersons for the 2017-18 school year. Please email Cathy Bernards at
Monona PTO has the following positions open:
Monona PTO Board Member-At-Large- Be on the PTO Board! Meetings are typically the 3rd Thursday of every month at 6 pm. Help with the allocation and raising of funds for Winnequah School. Help with implementing community building events for our school.
Walk to School Day Co-Chairperson-Walk to School Day is Wednesday, October 4th, 2017. We need a co-chairperson to help plan the snacks, community helpers and work with school officials to have our annual Walk to School Day event.
Kindergarten Float Chairperson- Do you have a kindergartner for the 2017-18 school year? Be a chairperson to help coordinate the kindergarten float for the 2018 Monona Memorial Day Parade.
Back to School Night Social-Help coordinate the Back to School Night Social in the Cafeteria. This will take place on Wednesday, August 30th in the late afternoon.
After School Classes Committee- Help coordinate the after school enrichment courses at Winnequah School. This is a wonderful combination of enrichment of our students as well as a fundraiser for PTO.
Terracycle Co-Chairperson-Help coordinate the PTO's involvement in the Terracycle recycling program. Terracycle serves two purposes to help keep items from our landfill and as a fundraiser for PTO.
Winter Conference Book Fair Chairpersons- Help coordinate the Winter Conferences Scholastic Book Fair.
Endowment Fundraiser Co-Chairperson-Monona PTO holds a small popcorn and freeze pop sale at the end of the school year. All funds raised go towards the Winnequah School Endowment Fund.
Kindergarten Social- Do you have a kindergartener in the 2017-18 school year? If so, would you like to help plan and implement the back to school social for all kindergarten families? The social is typically held the day after Enrollment Day which would be tentatively Thursday, August 17th in the early evening.
|
|
Let's Dance Into Spring - April 23rd
|
 A family friendly event to benefit the Monona Senior Center.
Sunday, April 23rd, 1pm - 4pm
Adults $12
(kids free)
EAST SIDE CLUB
3735 Monona Drive
Door Prizes & Refreshments
RSVP-Call 222-3415
|
|
Monona PTO Treasurer's Report
|
Monona PTO has approved and allocated
$14,105.70
in expenditures in Winnequah School this year. Many of these allocations are items that are often necessary items to help with the education of the students at Winnequah School. Thank you to all families that have contributed with your time, talent, and financial support to make this a reality. Each grade level is given a budget of $10/student to spend. Music, Art, Library, and Physical Education are given $1000 to spend. School Wide Budget is given $4000. School Garden is given $250. Community Outreach (Monona Giving project to help families in crisis) is given $250.
Expenditures:
4K
Storage Bins-$75.96
Activity Materials- $300.00
Educational Materials-$87.67
Total: $463.63
Kindergarten
Reading Materials-$50
IXL Computer Math License Fee-$250
Caterpillars-$64.50
Puppets and Math Games-$287.04
Cake for Graduation-$48
Total: $699.54
1st Grade
IXL Computer Math License Fee-$250
Caterpillars-$79
Fidgets-$84.88
Attention and Focus Tools-$436.99
Incubator-$114.27
Total: $965.14
2nd Grade
Ornaments-$97.40
IXL Computer Math License Fee-$250
Owl Ornaments-$76.91
Time4Kids Magazine and Caterpillars-$146.25
Chapter Books-$337.88
Total: $908.44
3rd Grade
Spelling City-$168.00
Overture Center Bus-$162.94
IXL Computer Math License Fee-$250
Books-$159.76
Total: $740.70
4th Grade
IXL Computer Math License Fee-$250
Old World Wisconsin Trip-$370.
Total: $620.00
5th Grade
IXL Computer Math License Fee-$250
Time for Kids Magazine-$111.50
Wonders Reading Program Materials-$90
Slates and Shields-$133.77
Wonders/Template-$244.73
Total: $830.00
Art
Photo Supplies and Yarn-$171.50
Paper/Cups/Erasers-$68.64
Paper/Paint/Glue-$633.77
Paint/Light/Batteries-$123.47
Total: $997.38
Music
Music Stand Storage $500
Instruments-$696.66
Total: $1196.66
Phy Ed
Equipment-$1750.00
(they asked for extra allotment to help replace aging equipment)
Library
Author Jim May-$200
Scanner-$306.66
Technology Stations-$480.03
Total: $986.69
Building Wide
Safety Glasses for science lab-$91.60
PBIS Posters-$42.30
IXL Computer Math License Fee-$645.00
Classroom Rugs-$1360
Table and Stools-$345
Books-$60
Book Storage Bins-$530
Health Supplies-$230
Geometry Templates-$160
Misc. Supplies-$481.00
Total: $3944.90
Community Outreach-$250
Events and Fundraisers
Below is listed the total income from events and fundraisers as of March 15, 2017:
Bucky Books-$768
Kindergarten Ice Cream Social-
-$50.77
Back to School Night Donations-$64.64
Directories-$9.04
Sock Hop-$976.69
Hoot Hoot Hustle Fun Run-$4180.40
Walk to School Day-
-$141.02
Spirit Wear-$1529.01
REAP Natural Foods-$615.28
Trivia Night-$5437
Enrichment Classes-$1362.90
Extra Credit/Direct Donations-$137.55
Noodles and Company Fundraiser-$500
Easter Seals Clothing Drive-$253.20
Homemade Dane Bake Sale-$645
Box Tops for Education-$1404.90
Terracycle-$797.94
Bingo-$929.80
Book Fair-$1167.96
Culver's Night-$469.00
|
School Lunch Menus and Info
|
Menus are posted at:
http://www.mononagrove.org/district/menus.cfm
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:
|
Summer Show Choir Camp (Grades 4-7)
|
The High School Choir Booster Club (MGSings) is proud to be sponsoring it's 10th annual Summer Show Choir Camp held at Monona Grove High School. This camp is open to anyone in the Madison area. Junior Session (grades 4-7) dates are July 10-14. C
lick on the link below to register for the camp.
Sincerely,
Lori Nahirniak
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
