Fernwood Family Newsletter #27, 3/5/24 

~Tuesday, March 12th, 6:30pm, Fernwood Fund Meeting, Fernwood Library and Virtual-email benjaminmstocks@gmail.com for meeting link

~Thursday, March 14th, 6:30pm, Music Parents Meeting, Virtual https://meet.google.com/fpf-rvca-uuk

~Thursday, March 14th and Tuesday, March 19th, 3:00-6:45pm Parent Teacher Conferences, Fernwood Montessori Classrooms

~Monday, March 18th, 5:30pm, SEC Meeting, virtual https://meet.google.com/hnp-uhmu-wpr

~Tuesday, March 19th, 6:00pm, PTO Meeting, Fernwood Library and Virtual http://meet.google.com/isc-jfjq-zow

~Friday, March 22nd, 2004-Sunday, March 31st, 2004, SPRING BREAK, school resumes on 4/1

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

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FRIDAY Popcorn Sales 

What do you call a bad popcorn joke?  Corny!

Popcorn is being offered after school on Fridays for $1 a bag.  Cash only. 

The popcorn is popped by our adolescent students as part of their micro economy project (which is part of the American Montessori Association’s curriculum requirements for Secondary students).  Proceeds are going to a fund that will be used to support the Secondary program (field trips, a pizza party, etc).

Please pop by (ha!) the Falling Heath Doors on Fridays after school! 

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Snacks for Teachers During Conferences

Attention Fernwood Helpers! 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, March 13th.Snacks For Teachers

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PIRATES MAKE MUSIC!  

CONGRATULATIONS  to the following students, who participated in the Wisconsin State Music Association’s Solo & Ensemble this past Saturday, March 2nd!  

Porter McGovern (7th), Amelie Bielinski (7th), Ziva Lavoe (6th) and Sofie Kubacki (8th) entered with individual vocal solos and all four Fernwood participants received the highest rating (1) for their respective level!  Well done and we look forward to seeing additional participants in the years to come!  

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SAVE THE DATE – FERNWOOD FLIGHTS END OF YEAR CELEBRATION

Mark your calendars and start arranging your childcare for this year’s Fernwood Flights on Sunday, June 9th (11am-3pm) at The Sugar Maple.  Fernwood Flights is the annual end-of-year celebration where Fernwood parents and community members gather to meet new people, laugh with old friends, enjoy some good food and beverages, win some great auctions, and have fun raising money to enhance the learning experience and environment at Fernwood Montessori.  Tickets are on sale now at https://events.readysetauction.com/mpsfdn/beerscheers24. 

P.S. If you would like to learn more about donating auction items, being a corporate level sponsor, or getting involved as a parent volunteer with the Fernwood Fund, please send an email to Brett at brett.mytys@gmail.com.

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Looking for a Field Day Coordinator

The parent who has donated much time and energy for many years as our Field Day Coordinator has to send her kid to high school (it’s going to happen to all of us)!  We are looking for a new volunteer to take on the coordination of this fun event.  Field day happens during one afternoon at school in May.  Historically, the event involves 30+ volunteers, over 400 kids, and a LOT of enthusiasm!  However, this new volunteer could absolutely reimagine the event to match their interest and capabilities.  Please reach out to Parent Coordinator Meredith at genricm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us if you are interested in this volunteer role.

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Spring Soccer Registration Open 

 6-8th girls soccer

Open for registration. It is first come first serve and spots will go very fast. Forms and fee need to be turned into Mr. Comp.  

6-8th Coed soccer

This is on hold as Fernwood is on the waitlist and we are not sure if we will get placed into a league.  If registration opens, we will notify families in the newsletter.  

1-3rd and 4/5th  Co-Ed 

Anyone who played in fall is already on a team and does not have to register. If you are not returning, please let your coach know. If you did not play in the fall and are looking to play this spring, let Mr. Comp (compra@milwaukee.k12.wi.us) know and he will try to place you on an existing team.

Soccer 2024.doc

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Classroom Placements for 24-25 School Year

Fernwood Montessori has highly trained, qualified teachers and values equity in following the tenets of Montessori.  We know your children well and appreciate your trust in our staff, school and community.  Therefore, we will not be taking parent requests regarding future classroom placements.  

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Bayview Red Cats Baseball

Is your son(s) and/or daughter(s) interested in playing baseball this spring and summer?  The Bay View Area Redcats have been offering baseball in the Bay View Community since 1974.  Practices and games take place at Lewis Field.  

Please see the attached flyer for more information on registration and volunteering as a coach!

Red Cats Baseball

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Celebrating Abilities Forum

The eighth annual Celebrating Abilities Family Forum is on Saturday, March 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Milwaukee Marshall High School. The forum will provide families with information and resources to support their students with special education

needs. This family-friendly event will include informative workshops, programs for families, and a resource fair featuring representatives from dozens of community agencies. Free childcare is available for children over age 3.  Please see the attached flyer for details.

MPS_Celebrating Abilities Flyer_Mar 9 2024_1223 V5.pdf

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Pirate Parent Needed to Coach Track and Field!

Fernwood is looking for a parent volunteer willing to coach track and field for adolescents.  We have many interested students and would like to offer the opportunity to have a team at our school.  The first meet is April 19th/April 20th.  Please let Mr. Comp know if you are willing to take this on at compra@milwaukee.k12.wi.us or if you have additional questions.  

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Spring Conference Sign Ups Available 

Conference days are Thursday, March 14th and Tuesday, March 19th 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.  Grade 7th and 8th grade families will also be able to sign up for a time frame slot (not an appointment).  Please see below for details.  

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

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.  

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

Primary (K3-K5): 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-48093177-fernwood

*Please note that Ms. Lorinda has a slightly different schedule.

Lower Elementary (1st-3rd):   

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-48094380-fernwood

Upper Elementary (4th-6th): 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-48094706-fernwood

Special Education Teachers: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-48095822-fernwood

Support Staff: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-48098106-fernwood

Art, Gym, Music: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-48095948-fernwood

Secondary (7th-8th): 

Secondary (7th/8th grade) conferences will be on a walk-in basis. Families will wait in line to see the teachers with whom 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.  

In an effort to control the lines that occur in the gym, we are asking families to sign up for a 30 min time slot.  This is NOT an appointment with a teacher and it doesn’t guarantee that you won’t have to wait.  We are hoping that if everyone has an assigned time, it will space out arrivals and control wait times.  

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AAA82AA5FBC34-48094959-fernwood

All secondary conferences on March 14 and 19 will be held in the gym. 

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Open ENROLLMENT for ALL NEW Students in 2024-25! CLOSES TOMORROW!

Attention little siblings!  Open enrollment for the 2024-25 school year is now happening for all students that are new to Fernwood.  Siblings of current Fernwood students are given priority enrollment at Fernwood but families still do need to register to secure this spot.  Please see the attached document for details on how to register correctly.  Some of the information below is slightly different from how the MPS website asks you to enroll.  Please reach out if you have any questions.  Enrollment closes on March 4th, 2024.

Enrollment Information for 2024-25 

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Fernwood PTO Apparel Sale now closed!  

Thanks to all the families that ordered Fernwood gear!  Items will be delivered to school and sent home with students in April.

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Classic Slice Fernwood Family Days

Thanks to all the families that ate pizza this week in order to help fundraise for PTO!  Another big thank you to Classic Slice boss lady and Fernwood Super Mom, Marisa Lange, who made this happen!!  

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2024 Fernwood Arts Fest – Calling All Vendors!

The Fernwood Arts Fest committee is currently accepting applications for this year’s event. If you or someone you know is interested in applying, please use the link found on the Contact page of the Fernwood Arts Fest website.

Reach out to Melissa Rabiego with any questions: melissarabiego@gmail.com

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Our School is Cool!

There’s always something cool going on at Fernwood!  Please see the attached picture of a giant avocado tree that was grown by Fernwood students and staff from an avocado pit!  This majestic specimen hangs out near room 250 and it is 8 years old!  We can grow young minds and plants!

***Our humongous avocado tree doesn’t have a name, but it was grown from an avocado seed. The student who started and nurtured that seed was Olivia Alamo. She cared for it over the summer of 2016-2017 when it sprouted into a tiny tree. Since then, Ms. Maribel has been our tree’s best friend. She gets students to water him and to wash his leaves. He has been trimmed away from touching the ceiling three times! He has moved to the greenhouse, to Ms. Maribel’s back yard and in and out of the balcony door. A parent, Mr. Estevez, is cultivating a mate for our tree. Maybe one day we will be able to grow avocado fruit! ***

Avocado Tree

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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 ______________________________________________________________________