Shabazz Wildflower Word - Welcome Back!

September 2021

Welcome Back Message from Mary Jankovich

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to a great year at Shabazz City High School. We are all thrilled to welcome all our students back into our building this fall, and staff has been hard at work with a very robust Shabazz Welcome Back that has been grounded in equity and keeping all students at the center.

Arriving at School: The doors will open at 8:15 am. As we work to keep everyone safe, please ensure your student does not arrive before 8:15 am. We are very excited to have a new space upon entry---The Shabazz Welcome Center. Students will now be buzzed in by Lynn Pauly--make sure to give her a big hello when entering.

Electronic devices/cell phones:

MMSD allows students to possess cell phones while on school property; however, learning is our priority at Shabazz. Student cell phones must remain out of sight and not in use during instructional times unless permitted by the teacher for instructional purposes. Students may use their cell phone during the designated lunch period, in the hallways between class periods, and before/after school. If you need to contact your child in an emergency situation during class time, please call Hannah in the office at (608) 204-2446.

Lunch and Learn expectations:

This year students will be allowed to eat in specific spaces only: outdoors, in the Shabazz Cafe, the Shabazz Student Center, and in classrooms with teacher permission. Students will still be allowed to leave campus for lunch with the expectation that students are on their best behavior in the community, and that they return promptly before 12:20 pm (12:05 pm on early release Mondays).

We are all very excited about the start of our new school year. As always please take the time to read Hannah’s very informative emails as she is up to date on all the happenings with our fantastic learning environment.

Always committed,

Mary Jankovich

Very Important Calendar Highlights

September 8: All School Field Trip to School Forest

Shabazz students will be traveling to the School Forest to kick off our "Explore Days" (part of our new Project Based Learning Model), while continuing to build community and establish strong school culture on Wednesday, Sept 8. Buses will pick students up at Shabazz at 8:45 am and return at 3:15 pm. While at the School Forest, students will participate in School Forest Challenge Course including: low ropes/portable group initiatives, orienteering, and climbing wall.

It is very important for parents/guardians sign and the MSCR Outdoor Programs Cautionary Statement and students bring it to school no later than September 8. These forms will be handed out to students during welcome back week.

September 16: Picture Day

All students will be getting their school picture taken which is used for their very important Student IDs. Please encourage your student to have their picture taken!

October 1: No School - Mental Health First Aid Training

Shabazz Staff will be participating in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training. MHFA is an international education program proven to be effective in teaching adults how to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges.

The past year has been a tough one for all of us and we are excited to be able to provide our staff with this learning opportunity to foster consistent effective approaches to supporting our community's health and wellbeing at Shabazz.

Schedule and Schedule Changes

Returning students:

Your schedules are available in Infinite Campus.

New students:

You will have the opportunity to learn about fall course offerings and schedule your courses on Thursday, September 2nd. You will get your printed schedule on Friday, September 3rd.

All students will have the opportunity to request schedule changes through Tuesday, September 7, 2021. Please review the Important Information Regarding Schedules. The google form for requesting schedule changes is linked in this document.

New Faces At Shabazz

We are thrilled to welcome three new staff to our Shabazz Community.

Megan Miller

School Social Worker

Rene Staskel

School Psychologist

Chelsea Washburn

Resource Teacher

Megan Miller will be serving as our school social worker. "I am thrilled to be (back) at Shabazz. I previously worked at Shabazz in 2000 as an Intern while completing my Masters at the UW. Upon graduation I was hired by MMSD and I have served as School Social Worker at elementary, for alternative high school programs, and at Central Office … always with hope in my heart to return to Shabazz - and now that dream has come true! I enjoy hiking, biking, paddleboarding, live concerts, listening to music, dancing, cuddling with my kitty, and having adventures with my two kids and hubby. I also am enamored with dolphins! I look forward to getting to know all the amazing young humans and you - their families - who will be joining us at Shabazz this year. May you be well!"

Rene Stasel is our new School Psychologist "I have been with the district for 8 years as a School Psychologist at Sherman Middle School and East High School. Prior to working with MMSD I worked as an out-patient clinical psychologist with UW-Hospital and Clinics. I grew up in the Madison area and completed graduate school training in California and Illinois."

Chelsea Washburn is our new Resource Teacher at Shabazz. "I am looking forward to meeting all of you!

COVID Mitigation Strategies at Shabazz

Before we talk strategy, we need to talk purpose: we’re concerned about the Delta Variant and we want to make Shabazz as safe as humanly possible for students and staff. You’ll receive a more comprehensive and detailed list of our guidelines in a separate communication, but here are some of the most important measures we’re putting, or keeping, in place:

Mask-wearing is a non-negotiable as everything we know about this virus tells us this is our number one mitigation strategy, so students and staff will be consistently held to this expectation

When students aren’t wearing masks (when eating or drinking, for example) they will be spaced 6 feet apart

We’ve broadened our areas to eat lunch, including classrooms (with teacher permission), outdoors, the Shabazz Student Center, and the Shabazz Cafe. Students can drink in any space, at any time, we just ask that they replace their mask after drinking.

Contact tracing will continue to be a combined effort between our nurse’s office, our admin, and our Central Office

We can’t stress this one enough: if your child is sick please keep them home, and you can always call our nurse’s office to talk through the situation

If a student is having symptoms at school, they will be cared for by our nursing staff and brought to our “Care Room,” an isolation space for those with COVID-like symptoms