Fernwood Family Newsletter #39, 6/13/23

~Thursday, June 15th, Last Day of School

Fernwood Flights Thank You!

Fernwood Flights was such a fun time.  Thank you to all the families who planned the event, attended, donated auction items, sang karaoke, and bid online. Our community can do such great things together.  

 We brought in over $17,000 this year which beat last year by $5,000! That’s an amazing result and you’all should feel proud for having played a part. 

That amount of fundraising ensures the programs funded by the Fernwood Fund continue and can even be expanded on.

Staffing

We’d like to announce the following staffing and classroom changes with the whole community.  We look forward to sharing names and welcome letters upon return for summer break.  All positions, with the exception of room 253 lower elementary, have been fully hired for, however, we are waiting for Human Resources on final contracts and paperwork.  We are working hard to find the perfect candidate for the lower elementary position and have some good leads; we have every confidence we will have an excellent teacher for this position by the time school starts in the fall.  We are able to share that Katie Walters, former paraprofessional and currently in Montessori training, will be the new teacher taking over for Ms. Guzman:

Retirements:

We’d like to thank the following amazing educators for their service and wish them the best in their retirement: Mary Ellen Quesada (teacher), Sara Raasch (paraprofessional),  Matt Ray (teacher)

New Job Opportunities:

We’d like to thank the following amazing educators for their service at Fernwood and wish them the best in their new jobs: Mollee Cleary (engineer, received promotion), Noami Guzman (teacher), Jamie Krutsch (paraprofessional who has been promoted to teacher), Patrick Tomter (teacher), China Triggs (secretary), Jenni Navidad (moving to classroom paraprofessional)

School-Wide News:

In order to accommodate enrollment, Room 21, a Lower Elementary classroom has been closed and we have added a Secondary classroom (7th and 8th).  Parents in that classroom have been communicated with about next steps.  Room 253, vacated by Ms. Mary Ellen has an amazing, new teacher going through the hiring process now!  

Room 7 (Primary) will move to Room 5. Our new Secondary classroom will now be in Room 7.  Secondary subjects and offerings will be shared with families when staff return from summer break.

School Supply List 2023-24 School Year

Below is the school supply list for the four different grade levels.  Please do not worry if there are items you can not find.  We always have enough supplies to go around.  School supply lists will also be available on Fernwood’s website.   School supplies can be dropped off during our back to school Open House on Wednesday, August 30th at 5:30pm.  

Primary (K3-K5): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bz9VP4-lDnW8Iw8bZExX7SWM2v7Bt3V-Ou2NsJOh82E/edit?usp=sharing

Lower Elementary (1st-3rd): 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bia4HNA1X6jViFFbvsuiVyx5-araGI6zlRG6gxN_oVE/edit?usp=sharing

Upper Elementary (4th-6th): https://docs.google.com/document/d/12I6XC7J8Tzzrzj020FuIeJ1DQClU50gfQbbr72Ve6vY/edit?usp=sharing

Secondary (7th-8th): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iIsuzDnXIfSiwBewt9W1DwWIhvA388qPOFIg5g26tsY/edit?usp=sharing

MMABSE Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Ms. Mary Ellen Quesada who is Fernwood’s Teacher of the Year.  Ms. Mary Ellen is student centered, incorporates her love and passion for art into her work as a lower elementary teacher, and has positively impacted so many students and families in her long and meaningful career.  Congratulations!

Chromebook Collection

All chromebooks and chargers should be returned to Fernwood.  If you still have one at home, please send it to school as soon as possible.   Thank you!

Volunteer Renewal for 23-24 School Year

Thank you to all of our amazing family members who have gone through the process to become an MPS volunteer.  Our school wide volunteers bring so much time, talent and amazing energy to our school.  

All currently approved volunteers will need to reapply to continue to be a volunteer for the next school year.  The renewal requests will be processed in late July and then volunteers will be approved to start in Fall.   

 Volunteer Renewal Form Link: https://forms.gle/o1jCep1bhZEYnb1C9

Medication Pick Up

If your child currently has prescription or non-prescription medication available to him/her at school. Please stop by the main office on or before the last day of school (June 15th) to pick up your child’s medication.

WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP MEDICATION AT SCHOOL OVER THE SUMMER. IF YOU DO NOT PICK UP THE MEDICATION, IT WILL BE DISPOSED OF BY THE 19TH OF JUNE.

If your child will need medication at school during the 2023-2024 school year new forms will need to be filled out by you and your child’s doctor. Copies of the necessary paperwork will be provided to you when you pick up your child’s medication at school.

If your child uses an asthma inhaler, he/she will need new medication, but can reuse the same spacer. When you see the doctor, please also ask him/her to complete an Asthma Care Plan. Return it to school with the inhaler, the spacer and the permission.

If you have any questions regarding this, feel free to call me at (414) 294-1388 or (414) 294-1953. Thanks and have a wonderful summer.

Gretchen Kuhnen, RN, BSN, School Nurse

Run Back to School

Register for the 16th Annual Run Back to School

It’s that time of year again to register for the Run Back to School! Last year, Fernwood won the $1000 grant by having the most registrations of any school in MPS.  We were able to use that money to purchase new playground equipment, including a basketball hoop for the primary students on the east playground. This 5K Fun Run/1.5 Mile Walk on Saturday, August 26 serves to fund MPS youth recreation and wellness programs across the district. See all pertinent details in the flyer attached. Please contact Lisa McLure, Team Captain, if you have any questions at samperld@milwaukee.k12.wi.us. 

Humboldt Park 4th of July Talent Contest

Tuesday, July 4th, 2023, 2:30pm at Humboldt Park Chalet.  Calling all individual students or groups.  Do you sing, dance, play a musical instrument, or perform?  The Humboldt Park 4th of July association is looking for students to perform in their talent show.  There are three age groups and cash prizes.  You must register by June 27th.  For the entry form, rules and requirements, please reach out to Char Crandal Crippen at 414-750-4894 or Jessica.k.mazur@gmail.com

Student Summer Reading 

FERNWOOD CROSS COUNTRY SEASON FALL 2023

Planning is underway for the upcoming 2023 Cross Country Season. Mark your calendars that Tuesday, September 5th will be the first practice. Deadline to join is Friday, September 8th. If you have a child who will be in 6-8th grade in the fall, and is thinking about joining the Cross Country team in September, please have them start training now. The runners who do best during the fall running season are the runners who put in the miles – and starting over the summer gives them a big advantage when the season begins. To help with this, we are once again offering a Summer Running Club. Details below.

 FERNWOOD SUMMER RUNNING CLUB (FREE)

We are excited to offer summer running for Fernwood’s incoming 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students – no running experience needed. We will run together on Monday evenings, June 26th through August 21st. We will meet at Humboldt Park from 5:45p – 6:45p (meet at the corner of Park and Idaho, just south of the band shelter). The athletes will be asked to also run on their own at least 2x per week. We will meet at the end of each workout for cool down drills. If your child is planning to attend, please RSVP with your contact info to fernwoodrunning@gmail.com. They will need running shoes, a digital watch, and a water bottle. Team alumni are welcome to join us (but we encourage them to run with their high school team instead). Thank you! FYI: It should be noted that there will be runners of all levels present, and athletes will be given routes to run where they could potentially be unsupervised. 

 MPS REC YOUTH SPORTS OFFICE – COED SUMMER CROSS COUNTRY CAMPThis is a 3-week summer camp in partnership with Marshall High School Cross Country program, for all students in 5th – 8th grade (ages 11-14). $36 resident, $55 non-resident. Register at Milwaukee Rec website.