December 2018

Hello SAGES families!  Can you believe we are already beginning December? What an amazing journey these last three months have been for our students and staff at SAGES. As I reflect back to all the "new beginnings," I realize how blessed we all are to be a part of this amazing community and school! With our upcoming concert on Thursday, December 20, the PTO will be doing a bake sale to help raise funds for an outdoor schoolyard project. The bake sale will be held AFTER the 9:30 a.m. program and BEFORE the 1:30 p.m. program starting at 12:45 p.m. We ask that you do not come any earlier than 9:00 a.m. to attend the morning concert, and no earlier than 12:45 p.m. for the 1:30 p.m. concert. We appreciate your help in this, as learning will still be taking place before and after the concerts. A few reminders... Students should not be dropped off before 7:40 a.m. as we do not offer supervision until that time. If your child is eating breakfast at school, please get them here by 7:40 a.m. so they have enough time to eat in the cafeteria. Students should be in their classrooms ready to learn by 8:00 a.m. Students will be marked tardy if not at school by 8:00 a.m. Letters are sent home when students have 5, 10, and 15 tardies. Once they have 15 tardies, we will ask to set up a meeting to overcome this obstacle and discuss how we can help you get your child to school on time. Absence Letters are sent home at 5, 7, and 10 absences. Students are only allowed 10 excused absences a year. These would include vacations, fever, flu, not feeling well, etc. Medical/Dental/Court absences are not included in the 10 allowed per year, as these are considered "professional". However, only the amount of time that the appointment takes and travel time is considered as a professional absence. If your child takes the entire day off and the appointment only takes an hour, the hours outside of the appointment will count towards the 10 allotted days for the school year. Drop off for students in the morning can be in the back of the building from 7:30-7:55a.m. If you are dropping off your child after 7:55 a.m., your child will need to come to the front of the school building and enter by the office. I apologize if this wasn't clear before. WASD is continuing to improve school safety. Starting December 3rd, all schools will be implementing a new visitor management system. Visitors will be required to show a government-issued photo ID (drivers license) when visiting any of the buildings. Please watch this video for more information. Please contact Mrs. Stiteley if you have any questions. I wish you all a most blessed and healthy holiday season!

Mrs. Julie Schmidt, Principal jschmidt@waupun.k12.wi.us (920) 928-3136 ext. 2600

Important Upcoming Dates/Events

School Events/Dates Monday, December 3: PTO Meeting- SAGES Library 5:00 p.m. Friday, December 7: Field Experience Friday Saturday, December 8: Holiday Fun Day for K-5 at the Jr./Sr. High ran by the Waupun Area FFA, must have filled out the form Fox Lake's "December to Remember" Parade 5:00 p.m. Thursday, December 13: 4K Holiday Activities 4:15-6:15 p.m. Friday, December 14: Highschool Childcare class visits our 4K and K classrooms to continue their learning. Monday, December 14: WASD School Board Meeting Thursday, December 20: SAGES Holiday Concert at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. *PTO Bake Sale AFTER the 9:30 concert and BEFORE the 1:30 concert. Friday, December 21: Field Experience Friday December 24-January 1: No School, Winter Break SAVE THE DATE : Thursday, January 17: SAGES' Family Literacy Night and Jim Heuer Chili Supper 5:00-5:30 pm = Chili Supper with Staff in Cafeteria 5:30-6:30 pm = Visit classrooms for reading activities OR enjoy chili in cafeteria Friday, February 15: PTO/Student Council Dance 5:30-7:30 p.m. (more information to come) Community Events/Dates Saturday, December 8: Holiday Fun Day at the Jr./Sr. High ran by the FFA, must have filled out the form Fox Lake's "December to Remember" Parade 5:00 p.m.

We Love Learning!

Classroom Enrichment in Sixth Grade!

In Math... 6th grade students have been exploring area these past few weeks. They learned how to decompose complex shapes and construct formulas for a variety of polygons. Throughout our unit, students also applied their area and perimeter skills to real world problems. We wrapped up our learning of area by creating and exploring tessellations. In Science... 6th graders were challenged to make a 3D edible model of a cell (animal or plant).

2018 Lunchroom Leftover Challenge Thursday, November 15, was "America Recycles Day" and also the launch of a new "Reducing Waste" project with SAGES' 6th grade. The project's driving question:  How can we improve the school's recycling system, so we can reduce waste?  As a part of this project, learners looked at "food waste" and how to participate in the Wisconsin Statewide Science Challenge 2018: Lunchroom Leftovers. During "Field Experience Friday" on November 16, Mrs. Adams and Mrs. Hicken worked with the 6th graders to collect baseline data about the lunchroom waste for breakfast and both lunch periods that day. The data collected included separating the waste stream into the following 4 categories:

A. Food Waste - partially eaten food or unpackaged food not wanted B. Unopened pre-packaged food in its original wrapper / container C. Recyclable Items D. Trash (Landfill Items) Following the collection, 6th graders weighed each category realizing that in just one day we generated almost 50 pounds of lunch room trash with nearly 50% being wasted food! This exercise was only the beginning of this real-world project. Stay tuned...

December's "Meet SAGES' Learning Partner"

Meet SAGES' Learning Partner is a monthly segment showcasing the valuable people, businesses, and groups who contribute to the success of our school. For December, we highlight Gene Huettner and the City of Fox Lake ! Director of Public Works for the City of Fox Lake, Mr. Huettner and his crew at the City Garage have provided strong support to SAGES over the years. During winter 2013-14, when SAGES’ 1st and 2nd graders designed an “Outdoor Classroom” for our schoolyard, Gene kindly transported and placed our 5 donated boulders for “classroom seating” one by one with the city’s endloader. That spring, he also hauled wood chip mulch to our school so we could complete that outdoor learning space. The truckloads of mulch didn’t stop there though. No matter what season we call, Gene is willing to help bring mulch for us to use in our garden projects, as well as at the School Forest. Summer 2018, after we had cut and cleared the sod for a new corn plot at our Community Garden, Gene and Chris helped us haul the sod away and prep the ground with their tractor-powered rototiller ﹘ tasks that would have taken us multiple trips and lots of time using our walk-behind tiller. Mr. Huettner, your willingness to answer our calls and assist with “heavy-lifting” for our projects is “mulch” appreciated ! Thank you , Gene and City of Fox Lake!!!

S chool for Ag ricultural & E nvironmental S tudies ( S AG E S ) PHONE: (920) 928-3136 | FAX: (920) 928-2284 EMAIL: jschmidt@waupun.k12.wi.us WEBSITE: www.waupun.k12.wi.us/o/sages FACEBOOK: schoolforagriculturalandenvironmentalstudies -------------------------------------------------------------------- Cultivating Inquiry. Growing Minds. Walls Optional.

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