March 2022 Newsletter

A Message from Principal Thompson

Hello, Oak Creek East Middle School Families,

We cannot believe spring break is less than two weeks away! The weather has teased us with a few warm days and the students and staff are energized by the thoughts of warmer weather and outdoor recess!

During the month of March, we continue to focus on using respectful language and being kind to one another. In addition, our students are learning and practicing strategies to use when they are feeling frustrated. We are also recognizing students who practice kindness and are models for living their classroom mission statements through our PBIS Bingo. We appreciate your continued support in reinforcing the importance of being safe, engaged, respectful, and responsible with your students in all areas of their lives.

Thank you to our parents and guardians who attended our Virtual Spring Conferences. We appreciate your partnership in engaging in meaningful conversations regarding learning. We encourage you to connect with your child's teachers to follow up on any goals that were set and to make sure that students are on track for the remainder of this school year.

Finally, as we look ahead to April and the WI FORWARD assessment, our student services team has finalized our WI FORWARD testing schedule. Click here to view our first of several parent communications to help you and your student prepare for the WI FORWARD assessment. East students will complete the WI FORWARD Assessment the week of April 11-15, 2022.

We wish everyone a relaxing and rejuvenating spring break!

Sincerely,

Sue Thompson, Principal

Jodi Newell Associate Principal (A-L)

Casey Milroy, Associate Principal (M-Z)

Upcoming Events

Click HERE to see a full list of upcoming events!

March

March 9 (Wednesday) - Student Council Spring Blood Drive

March 21 (Monday) - Start of Spring Break

March 28 (Monday) - Return from Spring Break

April

April 5 (Tuesday) - 4th Quarter Begins

April 15 through 18 - No School

April 29 (Friday) - No School

Student Council Spring Blood Drive

CESA #1 Regional Spelling Bee Update

This year, Oak Creek East Middle School offered an online school spelling bee through Scripps National Spelling Bee. We had 44 students register this year, and even had a tie breaker! We'd like to congratulate all the students who participated and to our two students (Parmida Kumar and Dominik White) who tied for first place! Only one students could move on, and that was Dominik White, who had the opportunity to compete in the next level of the Scripps National Spelling Bee program! Way to go Dominik for representing your school in the 2022 CESA #1 Regional Spelling Bee!

Music Students Participate in Solo & Ensemble

For the first time since 2019, choir and band students at EMS (and WMS and OCHS) will participate in the district Solo & Ensemble festival on March 5! Students who have chosen to participate have been working on their music for the past several weeks and will perform for judges at OCHS. Mrs. Baker, Ms. Sandy, and Mrs. Honore are very proud of the music students for their hard work, responsibility, and willingness to perform in front of others!

Social-Emotional Learning Lessons

During the month of March students will begin Unit 4 of the Second Step Social Emotional Learning curriculum.

Unit 4 is focused on Managing Relationships & Social Conflict.

Students will learn strategies for developing and maintaining healthy relationships, perspective-taking, and dealing with conflict. This unit’s content helps students learn to honor and understand differences based on varied personal, familial, and cultural backgrounds.

The goals of this unit include students being able to:

Choose healthy relationships
Treat others with respect despite differing values and opinions
Use conflict-management strategies to manage conflicts (including those within close relationships) when values and perspectives differ

8th Grade Admirals Game Performance

The EMS 8th grade choir performed the national anthem before the February 16 Milwaukee Admirals game! It was the first time that any choirs from EMS have performed in this venue. The students then stayed to enjoy the game at the UW-Milwaukee Panther arena. Highlights - besides being in the spotlight - included catching goodies from the Admirals blimp and being featured on the big screen. Congratulations to all of the performers!

EMS Yearbook Sale

Haven't ordered a yearbook for this school year? Don't sweat it, we have you covered! Online sales can be made by visiting the Jostens website. We would love for each student to purchase a yearbook to see all the amazing memories that have been made this year.

Click HERE to order your yearbook today!

Gold Slips (Parent Permission Consent Form)

Students who will be staying before or after school for clubs, extracurricular activities, tutoring sessions, etc... will need to have a signed Gold Slip until the activity coach or club advisor has the student fill out a code of conduct that is signed by both the student and parent/guardian (if applicable).

Gold Slips can be found in the office or on the Forms section of the EMS website under the Parents tab.

Click HERE to print and fill out a slip to return to the front office.

Artist of the Month

Artist: Aubrey Michaels

Grade: 8

8th Grade student Aubrey Michaels has done a wonderful job these past two quarters developing her personal art style. Aubrey created this portrait with acrylic paint and white gel pen. Taking a risk in using a specific, bold color palette is not an easy task and she has greatly impressed me with her skills! I’m so proud of Aubrey and cannot wait to see where the art world takes her.

EMS Spring Robotics Club

Welcome to the FIRST EVER spring Robotics Club at EMS! Your child will learn how to build a robot and program. At the end of the 8-week program they will be able to put their robot to the test in an adventure obstacle course. Spots are limited and a first come first serve basis so click here to sign up! Rosters will be based on availability with preference to 6th- and 7th- grade students. There will be an informational meeting on March 31st from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Please bring any questions you have with you. Robotics Club will meet Thursdays from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

OC Olympics - Save the Date

SAVE THE DATE - Our next OC Olympics will be on Sunday, September 11, 2022 at 9am.

Our guest this year will be former Green Bay Packer, LeRoy Butler!!

Registration opens May 15, 2022 , watch for more details to come.

If you would like to join our planning committee, please contact e.moon@ocfsd.org.

We would love to have you. We are also in need of donations of water, soda, snacks and more. If you or someone you know would like to donate, please let us know! Stay tuned!

Aurora Student & Family Assistance Program

The Aurora Student and Family Assistance Program offers a variety of free supportive resources for the families of students in our district. SFAP provides up to 6 sessions of short-term counseling at no charge along with legal, financial, child care and elder care consultation and resources. Services are available to individual adults, couples, and families.

To learn more about these services, visit www.aurora.org/eap or call 1-800-236-3231.

Please mention that you are a parent of a student that attends Oak Creek East Middle School to gain access to the free services.

Cell Phone Free School

Click HERE to view our cell phone and headphones procedure

If you allow your student to bring a phone to school, it will need to be locked in the locker from 8:30 am until 3:45 pm.

As in the “olden days,” you can contact the office if you need to speak to or get a message to your child.

Absence Reporting

Please call the attendance line at (414) 768-6260 option “1” to report student absences and tardies. When leaving a message, please include the date, first and last name of your student, the spelling and grade.

Additionally you may email attendance information to our general office email address at office.eastmiddle@ocfsd.org.

Virtual Backpack

Don’t forget to check your student’s Virtual Backpack! The Virtual Backpack is our "eco-friendly" approach to distributing information supporting our district's educational goals and mission.

Virtual Backpack Link: ocfsd.org/parents/virtual-backpack

Background Checks

The District Volunteer Background Check Application is now online! We will no longer be accepting paper applications. Every volunteer must complete an online volunteer application form even if you were previously approved and are on the Volunteer Database. You will still need to submit an online volunteer application every five years after the initial online application. This new process will have results within 1-2 days!

The link can be found under the Parents tab on the district website.