Fernwood Family Newsletter #6, 10/03/23

 

~Wednesday, October 4th, 7-7:25am, Walk/Bike/Roll to School Day-Fernwood East and West Playgrounds

~Tuesday, October 10th, 6:30pm, Fernwood Fund Meeting, Fernwood Library and Virtual-email benjaminmstocks@gmail.com for meeting link

~Thursday, October 12th, 5:30pm, Music Parents Meeting, SASI Meeting, 5225. W. Vliet St.

~Thursday, October 12th and Tuesday, October 17, 3:00pm-6:45pm Parent Teacher Conferences, links are below

~Tuesday, October 17th, 6:00pm, PTO Meeting, Fernwood Library and Virtual

meet.google.com/isc-jfjq-zow

~Wednesday, October 18th, Picture Retake Day, Fernwood Auditorium

~Monday, October 30th, 2023, 5:30pm SEC Meeting, virtual https://meet.google.com/hnp-uhmu-wpr

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Link to Fernwood Family-School Manual 2023-2024: Family-School Manual 2023 2024 SY.docx

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Family Teacher Conferences

Conference days are Thursday, October 12th and Tuesday, October 17th 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 October 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 staff members.  

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

Primary (K3-K5): 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-44451002-fernwood

Lower Elementary (1st-3rd):   

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-44516629-fernwood

Upper Elementary (4th-6th): 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-44517521-fernwood

Special Education Teachers: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-44518196-fernwood

Support Staff: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-44544525-fernwood

Art, Gym, Music: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-44519605-fernwood

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 five teachers your student works with for up to 5 minutes. The teachers and the content they teach are as follows: Mr. Jerabek, Science; Ms.Davis, Social Studies; Ms. Zimmers, STEM and Health; Mx. Botsford, Language Arts; Ms. Bussewitz, Math.  

All secondary conferences on October 12 and 17 will be held in the gym. 

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Snacks for Teachers During Conferences

Did you know that in addition to teaching your kids, teachers also eat food?  Our teachers work hard during the long days of conferences.  The PTO would like to provide them with some snacks to fuel their brains and their hearts on the Tuesday and Thursday 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 Meredith in the school office on the morning of Wednesday, October 11th. Snacks for Teachers

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Picture Retake Day, 10/18/23

Picture packages will be sent home this week.  If you would like to have your students picture retaken please do the following:

If you purchased a photo package and would like the picture retaken, the package with the pictures needs to be returned on retake day.  (Oct 18) 

If you did not order a photo package you may still have a retake. 

If you would like your student’s picture retaken, please email your teacher and Meredith Genrich Mertes (genricm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us) so we are aware.  

Students who were absent will also have their picture taken on retake day.   

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Attendance

When your child will be absent, it is imperative for our records that you call in so we can excuse the absences.  You can email Cynthia Arias at ariascg@milwaukee.k12.wi.us or call 414-294-1360.  If absences are not excused, there is a truancy protocol that is eventually activated (after 5 unexcused absences, you will get a letter and then action continues).  Please note that an excused absence still counts as an absence.  We completely understand and appreciate your diligence in keeping your child home if they are sick.

Because attendance is so critical for student learning, for schoolwide accountability, and for high school entrance (7th grade families, this is the year where attendance will be closely looked at for high school enrollment, more information to come!) we do offer the opportunity this year for the school to recapture your child’s attendance.  This has been allowed by DPI. Your child will be marked absent (excused if you call it in, unexcused if you do not); however, if you are able to provide evidence of your child engaging in work during that day of absence, we have special codes we use that marks a child out of the building, but present.

In order to qualify for the attendance recapture you must email Kristy Lowell and Cynthia Arias, lowellkm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us and ariascg@milwaukee.k12.wi.us requesting work options.  A letter will then be sent from your child’s teacher with options.  Once you have confirmed your child has engaged in any of these options via email, we will utilize the special attendance code that indicates your child was not in the building, but is considered present since they did instructional work.  Please note this is only available for a COVID-related absence, a school bus transportation issue, or any illness resulting in the absence (not including appointments or injuries).  We are unable to recapture attendance for family trips.

Finally, we understand that sometimes your child is too sick to engage in work and always defer to the family to make the decision about this.

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Costume drive! 

Look through your closets, dress-up bins, and costume storage and see if there are any gently used costumes your family will not use anymore. Some students from Fernwood’s Cross Country team are collecting costumes of all sizes to provide to Fostering Community (https://www.fostering-community.com/ ) so they can distribute them to their families. We hope to give all kids the opportunity to dress in fun costumes if they wish.

Wash and clean them as necessary. Costumes can be dropped off at the bin near the glass doors on Falling Heath from Wednesday, October 4 – Tuesday, October 17. 

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Recording of Nature’s Classroom Meeting

Please see the recording from the informational meeting held September 27th here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vUajGMy5UOYMYFoysYu3OrNvZ2EKXdLY/view

The content begins around the 4-minute mark.  If you were unable to make the meeting, we highly recommend watching the video to learn more about this exciting program.

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Yearbook Photos!

Are you a wonderful family volunteer who is working with a Fernwood club, troop or sports team? (Thank you!!)

Do you have any school function or class candids you can share?

Please submit pictures to our Fernwood yearbook crew.  Please label your picture with grade level and class or group/team/club name.  We would also love to have pictures of your groups in action.  All pictures should be submitted to FernwoodYearbook@outlook.com 

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After-School Lower Elementary Theater Classes

Fernwood is partnering once again with Character Kids to offer after-school theater/stage skill-building classes.  Classes will meet once a week for 8 weeks on Mondays from 2:30-3:30pm in the Fernwood Auditorium.  The cost for families is $100 per student.  Fernwood will be paying the additional cost per student using COVID relief ESSER funds for after-school activities.  If families are in need of a full or partial scholarship for this program, please email Brenda Dodge at brenda@characterkidsdrama.com.  Enrollment will be first-come, first-served and families may only sign up for 1 session.  This is an opportunity for lower elementary students, grades 1-3 only.

Session 1: October 16-December 18 (no class on 10/23 or 11/20). FULL

Milwaukee Public Schools Registration — Character Kids www.characterkidsdrama.com

Session 2: January 8-March 11 (no class 1/15 or 2/19).  Registration coming soon!

Each session will end with a parent showcase.  More information to come!

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After-School Upper Elementary Broadway Kids Musical

Fernwood is thrilled to announce that we will be offering a Broadway Kids Musical in the spring for Upper Elementary students, grades 4-6.  Please stay tuned for an announcement of the show and registration.  

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Playground After School

Our large camp program utilizes the West playground after school many days from 3:15 until 4:30pm.  We kindly ask that students not in camp clear the playground from 3:15-4:30pm.  Thank you for your cooperation.

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Bike Walk and Roll to School Day 

Did you know that studies show that students who walk or bike to school are more focused during lessons? It’s also fun!  October 4th is National Walk, Bike, and Roll to school day!  Join us on the East and the West playgrounds before school on October 4th from 7-7:25am for a small celebration!  There will be a little activity for interested students and tokens available, too!  

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Opportunities for Montessori Teacher Training and Sponsorship

Are you or anyone you know interested in becoming a Montessori teacher?  Milwaukee Public Schools will be sponsoring candidates interested in the training for free for elementary and secondary training, held in Milwaukee!

To qualify, an individual must work for Milwaukee Public Schools or Milwaukee Rec as a current employee, substitute teacher, or as camp staff.  Training begins in January and if you aren’t a current employee, picking up a few hours a week at our camp program would qualify you for this experience.  Please contact Camp Fernwood Director Michelle Stehlik at stehlim@milwaukee.k12.wi.us to learn about next steps to apply.

Please see the information below about upcoming informational meetings for sponsorship.  Please pass this information along!

MPS Montessori Sponsorship Process

MPS Montessori Sponsorship Meeting

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Wisconsin Montessori Association Annual Conference, Fernwood Montessori

Fernwood will be hosting the WMA conference this year on November 10th for administrators and 11th for all interested individuals including grown-ups of Montessori students.  There are two parent options which are $10.00 to attend the keynote and morning sessions, and $25.00 to attend the keynote, morning sessions, and to have lunch.  Please see the link here to register: https://wma3.wildapricot.org/event-5376754

Please email Kristy Lowell, Principal and WMA Board Member if you have any questions at lowellkm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us. 

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Camp Fernwood is Hiring!

Camp Fernwood is hiring for Classroom Instructors Monday through Friday from 2:20PM until 5:30PM. Recently restructured, starting pay is competitive and based on experience and education. Please contact Michelle Stehlik at stehlim@milwaukee.k12.wi.us for further information. 

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School Engagement Survey

We want your feedback about school and community engagement!

Your responses to the following survey help identify improvement areas for our school’s engagement efforts and can provide valuable insights into family involvement, satisfaction, and connection within our school. 

The electronic survey is available in multiple languages and takes about 10 minutes. Families can choose a language preference from the menu.  Survey closes on October 31, 2023.  

https://mpsresearch.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_55RugxfFabDfr94

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Fernwood School Calendar Online

Did you know that there is a school calendar on our website?  This hidden gem can be viewed by going to https://schools.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/fernwood/  Here you should click on the word calendar at the top of the page to be taken to a grid style calendar that lists all our school events.  

School Calendar.png

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Military Connected Families Survey 

The Department of Public Instruction is asking schools to annually collect information from military connected families. If a parent or guardian at Fernwood is connected to the U.S. Military, we are asking them to complete the military connections survey. This is optional and no family must return the survey. Please return the survey to Meredith at genricm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us by November 1st.  Form is linked below.

22-23MilitaryConnectionsSurvey.docx

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Music Information from Mr. Miller

There is LOTS of information from Mr. Miller about Choir and MANY other music opportunities for our students.  Please see the link for his update which includes ways to sign up.

Fernwood Music 2023-24

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