Fernwood Family Newsletter #26, 02/28/23

~Monday, February 27th through Thursday, March 2nd, Classic Slice Fundraiser, see information below

~Wednesday, March 8th, 5:45pm, PTO Meeting, Library & https://meet.google.com/ukz-rtby-cbe

~Wednesday, March 8th, 6pm PAC Meeting, Fernwood Community Room

~Monday, March 13th & Wednesday, March 15th, 3pm-645pm, Family Teacher Conferences, Sign up Below

~Friday, March 17th & Monday, March 20th, No School

~Friday, March 24th, 5:45pm, PTO Movie Night, School Gym, K3-3rd grade families

~Monday, March 27th, 5:30pm, SEC Meeting, https://meet.google.com/srb-wjae-xko?hs=122&authuser=0 

Family Teacher Conferences

Conference days are Monday, March 13th and Wednesday, March 15th from 3-6:45pm.

Please sign up for ONE conference time slot for your K3-6th grade student with your student’s teacher. Conferences will be in person in the classroom. 

If you have more than one child at Fernwood, please consider allowing some “travel time” between your conferences. 

This sign up genius will be available until March 5th. If you need to schedule or reschedule a conference after this point, please contact your child’s teacher.

If your child receives special education support, please also schedule a conference with your child’s special education teacher. 

Conferences are also available with our gym, music and art teacher.  Additionally, conferences are available with our support staff.  Please click on the links to pick a time to meet with these awesome staff members.  

Free childcare will be available in room 9 (near the cafeteria) during conferences.  

 Primary (K3-K5): https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094DAAAA2DA1FB6-primary2 

Lower Elementary (1st-3rd):   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094DAAAA2DA1FB6-lower2 

Upper Elementary (4th-6th): https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094DAAAA2DA1FB6-upper1   *Ms.Sangita Nayak will be sending a separate link to her families.  

Special Education Teachers: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094DAAAA2DA1FB6-special5 

Support Staff: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094DAAAA2DA1FB6-support4 

Gym, Art, Music: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094DAAAA2DA1FB6-physical 

Secondary (7th-8th): 

Secondary (7th/8th grade) conferences will be on a walk in basis.  No appointments will be scheduled. Families will wait in line to see the teachers with which they would like to meet. You will be able to meet with any of the four teachers your student works with for 5 minutes. The teachers and the content they teach are as follows: Mr. Ray, Sustainability; Ms.Davis, Social Studies; Ms. Zimmers, Math; Mx. Botsford, Language Arts.  

All secondary conferences on March 13 and 15 will be held in the gym.  

Ms. Davis will be attending a conference in March and therefore offering family teacher conferences at a different time.  She will be available for walk-in conferences on Monday, March 6th and Wednesday, March 8th from 3-6:45pm:  Conferences with Ms. Davis will be held in her classroom, room 151.   

Classic Slice Fernwood Family Days

Looking for a delicious meal, a way to support Fernwood PTO and a local family owned business?  Good news, February 27th through March 2nd will be Classic Slice Fernwood Family Days.  Order any time during these days and 20% of the profits will be donated to Fernwood.  Thank you to Marisa Lange, owner and Fernwood parent for this generous fundraiser.  Classic Slice Flyer

Thank you PTO

With the PTO reimbursement funds, I was able to purchase a variety of items including books, games, fidgets, and “A Little Spot of Feelings” curriculum to teach students emotional regulation skills in fun and engaging ways.  I also purchased a deck of CBT cards to promote the use of positive coping skills to reduce anxiety & worry while encouraging relaxation and stress reduction.  These are great additions to my resource collection to benefit social emotional learning and overall academic success for students at Fernwood.  Thank you for your contribution, it is greatly appreciated!   Ms. Christina Chanal, School Social Worker

Fernwood 6-8th Grade Soccer Coach Needed

Fernwood is seeking a volunteer soccer coach to lead the co-ed 6th-8th grade soccer team.  The 6-8th grade league only plays in the Spring season.  Practices are usually held one day per week at a location of the coach’s choice. Please reach out to Mr. Comp by March 6th if you are interested.  Thank you!! compra@milwaukee.k12.wi.us

Rainbow Book Fair During Conferences

We are excited to announce that Rainbow Books will be hosting a book fair in the Community Room Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of conference week.   There will be a great selection of books from this locally owned book seller.  A portion of the sales will help out the Fernwood PTO.  Flyer

Book Fair Hours:  Monday 2:30-7pm

      Tuesday 2:30-5:30pm

      Wednesday 2:30-7pm

Fernwood’s Community Room is located on the same floor as the office.  The Community Room entrance is across from room 17 and room 11.  

We will need lots of family volunteers to help out with the book fair.  There are options to help with set up/ take down on Monday and Thursday mornings and to work a short shift during the sale.  Please click on the link to sign up for a shift. Rainbow Book Fair Volunteer

PTO Movie Night

Fernwood families of K3-3rd grade students are invited to a movie night at Fernwood on Friday, March 24th.  A movie (to be named!) will be shown in the Fernwood gym.  Families can bring blankets to sit and snacks to munch on.  This event is hosted by the PTO and is free.  Fernwood secondary (7th/8th) grade students will be selling popcorn.  Adults must stay with their students for this event.  Doors open at 5:45pm and the movie starts at 6pm.

Let us know what movie you would like to see.  Survey closes March 3rd:  Movie Night Survey

Camp Fernwood Updates

Wrap Around Camp at Fernwood currently has a few openings for any K3-K4 children. Wrap Around Camp runs from 10:20 AM until 2:20 PM Monday through Friday. If you would like to enroll your child, please contact Michelle Stehlik at stehlim@milwaukee.k12.wi.us.

Families of children in grades 5K – 6th grade should receive a Summer Camp Fernwood Interest Form in their class folders on Tuesday, Feb. 28th. Please complete the form and return it to the Main Office or Michelle Stehlik by March 15th, 2023. Completing this form does not guarantee a spot in Summer Camp Fernwood.  Camp Fernwood will be open from June 16th through July 28th  

Snacks for Teachers on Conference Nights

Our teachers work hard during the long conference days.  The PTO would like to provide them with some yummy snacks to fuel their brains and their hearts on the Monday and Wednesday of conferences.  Please click on the link below to sign up to bring a snack for our staff.   Donations can be dropped off in care of Jenni in the school office on the morning of Monday, March 13th.   Teacher Snack Sign Up

K3 and K4 Fernwood Enrollment!

Online enrollment for new K3 and K4 students will begin in MPS on February 4th and run through March 5th.  The application is online through the MPS website. Enrollment website.   Click “the online application” near the bottom fourth of the page.   

Please share this information with any potential families who are interested in attending Fernwood in the Fall.  Students must be 3 by September 1st, 2023 to be eligible to apply.   

~If your new to Fernwood K3/K4 student has a sibling currently enrolled at Fernwood, a spot is guaranteed.  However, in order to get a spot, an application must be submitted during the application window and the current student’s name should be included in the application.

~Applications can be submitted throughout the application window.  There is no advantage to completing the application on the first day of the process.  

~Current Fernwood students do not need to reapply.  They are automatically re enrolled.

Native America: In Translation

There is a new show at the Milwaukee Art Museum called Native America: In Translation. https://mam.org/exhibitions/native-america/.  This is the first contemporary Native art exhibit the Milwaukee Art Museum has ever had.  

In addition to this new exhibit, the Milwaukee Art Museum is hosting a Family Sunday: Celebrating Native Art and Artists on Sunday, March 12th from 10am-4pm.  Celebrate Indigenous cultures and creativity during this day of family fun. Explore contemporary artworks by Native artists, make art together, and meet guest artists from our region.This drop-in experience is included with Museum admission and is free for Members. Admission is always free for kids 12 and under, thanks to Kohl’s. Come prepared for your visit by reserving tickets at the door or online.

A Cappella Opportunity

The International Championship of High School A Cappella semi-final (yes, think Pitch Perfect) is happening here in Milwaukee at the Pabst Theater on Saturday, March 25th at 7pm!  A Fernwood parent judges this competition annually and has secured a way for half price tickets for the Fernwood community.  We need 10 or more tickets ordered in order to secure the 50% discount.  With tax and fees, tickets will come to $27 each.  

This is a fantastically fun way to see very high level high school a cappella singing without having to travel to New York City.  The show is likely most appropriate for Upper Elementary and Adolescent aged students.  Parents will certainly enjoy the show as well!  To get tickets, please Venmo Molly Pufall-Brown (@molly-pufall) your total ($27 x how many tickets you want) and email Molly at mpufall@gmail.com with your name and number of tickets you would like so she may email you your tickets in advance.  Deadline for getting half price tickets is March 7th. 

Learn more: https://www.pabsttheatergroup.com/events/detail/varsity-vocals-2023 or https://varsityvocals.com/ 

Fernwood Parking/Driving Guidelines:

*Do not park or drop off or pick up students on Pennsylvania Avenue or Falling Heath Place. These spaces are reserved for buses only.  

*Please have your student cross the street at the intersections with a crossing guard.

*To ensure the safety of all students please avoid double parking, which causes heavy traffic congestion. It is unsafe for your child to run between vehicles. 

*Avoid stopping or parking in front of fire hydrants, near stop signs or any other no parking zone.  

* We need to respect the rights of our neighbors. Do not park or drop off students in front of their driveways.

*The school parking lot is restricted and not open to the public. The parking lot is for staff members only.  Please do not have students walk through the parking lot or use the parking lot as a space to pick up students.  

*At dismissal time, families of students who do not ride the bus need to pick up their student on the East playground, not near the Falling Heath entrance.  

In summary, please follow all traffic and parking rules near Fernwood school.  We are moving over 750 children in and out of a building and we all want to do our best to keep them safe.  

Order Your Yearbook 

It is time to order your 22-23 yearbook.  All yearbook sales will be online only though the Lifetouch website.  Yearbooks are $12.  Yearbook sales will be through pre order only.  We expect yearbooks to be delivered at the end of May.  

To order a yearbook, please go to ybpay.com.  Fernwood’s yearbook ID code is 14852523.   (If you have already ordered a yearbook through Lifetouch for this school year, no need to take any additional action.) 

Thank you to Amanda Lavoe, Fernwood parent, for volunteering to create our yearbook. 

 Community Conversation Sessions 

MPS will be hosting quarterly virtual community conversations to strengthen communication and collaboration across the Milwaukee community. We will spend time in breakout rooms holding a discussion with participants. All community conversations will be held virtually from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

• Wednesday March 15, 2023: Multi-Tiered Systems of Support  • Wednesday May 17, 2023: Pre-college and Summer Activities 

Community Conversation flyer.

Participants are encouraged to register in advance and submit any questions they would like to see addressed. Please also reach out to Jenni at navidaj@milwaukee.k12.wi.us if you plan to attend.