Hello CenDen Families:

Welcome October!

With the school year off to a great start, we hope that your family has been able to settle comfortably into the routines of being back in school. Our students are making new friends, getting to know their teachers, and learning the new routines of the classrooms. They are reviewing and practicing skills to help them move forward with new grade level curriculum and building endurance to work hard while they are here.

With our social routines and expectations in place, it is time to dig into the academic content of the school year. Throughout the year, our teachers meet regularly to look at student assessment data. This information plays a big part in helping to guide instruction and implement best practice strategies that will lead to student success. This year, you will be hearing about a new universal screener for reading and math. The assessment is called “i-Ready”. It is an online program for students in kindergarten through 8th grade. It is designed to help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth. The test is adaptive, which means that it automatically adjusts the questions based on the responses of the student, making them harder or easier as needed. The purpose of this tool is not for grading, but rather to determine how to best support their learning. These screeners are given in the classroom with your child’s teacher present for guidance and support. Students in first through eighth grade have already completed the Fall testing session. Our kindergarteners will assess during the first week of November. Be sure to check out the parent report that will be shared at your Parent/Teacher Conference.

As we observe in our classrooms, in our hallways, and on our playground, we are reminded every day, how lucky we are to be in the “kid business.” Thank you for sharing your children with us!

Each month, our schools are required to practice safety drills. The three drills that we practice include fire drills, tornado drills, and lockdown drills.

Please know that our teachers demonstrate and talk about the safe locations and appropriate behaviors that are required prior to these drills. Because of the age of our students, we will always try to frontload a drill as the chance to practice what we need to do, just like they would practice for a soccer game. We would never want to cause a panic or any level of fear. With all of these drills, our focus is on keeping our bodies safe and our voices quiet so that we can follow the directions that are given by our adults.

Having had one fire drill already, I can tell you that our students did an excellent job, exiting the building quietly and in an orderly manner. Even our youngest learners exited to a safe location in the front of the school. We learn about being safe every day. Our drills are just additional ways to practice.

Wondering what your children are doing at recess time? Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what is going on while they are being social with their classmates and friends. We know it is fun to watch, and that you would never do anything that would harm your child, but we would like to discourage you from stopping along the fence line during our recesses to chat with the children. Being located so close to the downtown area, we do have people who pass by while we are outside. Just like you, they enjoy watching the children at play. We do not allow our students to talk with anyone who approaches them along the fences and we discourage passing by onlookers. Thank you for helping us to reinforce safe playground practices.

1. Instructional Approach: Our teachers will be using Structured Literacy principles to guide their reading and writing instruction. Each day, students will receive whole group instruction in phonics, comprehension, writing, grammar, spelling, and fluency. Teachers will be using small group instruction, for small portions of the literacy block, to differentiate instruction. Teachers will be meeting with small groups 2-3 times per week. 

We would like to share a few reminders about our pick-up and drop-off procedures. While we know that these beginning and end of the day scenarios can be frustrating, after many years of trying to work out the kinks, we have also learned that when everyone is patient and follows the guidelines, it really does work like a well-oiled machine.

Whether on Cook or Madison Street, please approach the pick-up/drop-off area slowly, but keep the line moving. DO NOT PARK IN THE LINE AND WALK YOUR CHILD TO THE DOOR. This blocks the traffic and causes the entire line to wait for you. It is easiest to have your child positioned to exit or enter your car on the passenger side of the vehicle. We do have staff members who will assist your child when getting in and out of the car. Please, if possible, do not walk between the vehicles. Everyone is moving slowly, but they are moving and we would not want anyone to be accidently pinched between the vehicles. Cutting into the pick-up or drop-off line from a side street is not helpful either. We know the lines can be long but they move quickly when everyone follows the plan.

Please remember how narrow those side streets are and how much traffic is moving through at these times. Be sure to check your mirrors and look before moving out into traffic. If you choose to park and need to cross the road, please be a safety role model and use the crosswalk. I know it is a few more steps out of the way, but it goes a long way in setting an example for our students and really is a safety factor.

Whether it is waiting for a parent to buckle their little ones into a car seat or following the guidelines given by our staff, patience and respect are key. Everyone is doing their best to keep our children safe. Use of foul language and gestures does not get the job done faster. It only adds to the frustration. Please stay in your car, be alert to moving bodies and vehicles, and be appreciative of the safe delivery of your child to your vehicle. We know that with time, things will settle, but in the meantime, please be observant of the process and respectful to those who are taking part in its success.

One of the biggest ways you can help your child succeed this school year is to make sure your child gets to school, on time, each and every day. The evidence is clear: children with good attendance are more likely to be successful in school. High attendance rates are linked to high student achievement. Every day counts, and missing school even 10% of the time has a significant negative impact on reading and math achievement as children progress through school. We want to ask for your commitment to making sure your child attends school every day possible this year.

You may login to Powerschool to record the reason for your child’s absence. Please see the directions linked here.

A parent or guardian may only excuse their child/children 10 days during the school year including doctor visits. After these 10 days, an absence can only be excused if the school is provided with a note from a doctor, dentist, court, etc. The same guidelines apply for excessive tardies.

Lake Geneva Schools (Badger and Joint #1) is excited to continue to offer students FREE Breakfast for the 2023 - 2024 School Year.

Contact: Jaclyn Sanders - jaclyn.sanders@badger.k12.wi.us - 262-348-1015

See what is happening at Central-Denison on a daily basis by following our Facebook page.

School attendance is very important, and we encourage families to make sure their children are in school as much as possible. However, children who are sick need to stay home for their well-being and to prevent others from becoming sick. Click the link to review the Lake Geneva Schools Protocols for When to Keep Your Child Home From School: https://bit.ly/3Bl6Gl9

Lake Geneva Schools partners with the Geneva Lakes Family YMCA to offer Y Base and Wrap Around Care for those children needing care before, during and after school for the 2022-2023 school year. Programs are located at Central-Denison and Star Center Schools but also service Eastview students. For more information, visit the YMCA website: https://www.genevalakesymca.org/main/child-care-solutions/

Central-Denison Facebook Page: Like and Follow Central-Denison Elementary School

Central-Denison Website: https://lgsd-cdes.ss16.sharpschool.com/