Fernwood Family Newsletter #35, 5/7/23

~Wednesday, May 10th, 6pm, Nikki Martin Memorial Event, Fernwood Gym

~Wednesday, May 17th, 5:45pm, PTO meeting, Library and https://meet.google.com/kmf-ejav-dpm

~Thursday, May 18, 6:30pm, Spring Concert, Fernwood Auditorium

~Monday, May 22nd, 5:30pm, SEC meeting, https://meet.google.com/srb-wjae-xko?hs=122&authuser=0 

~Tuesday, May 23rd, 5:30-7pm, Parent Education: Montessori Transitions, Virtual

~Friday, May 26 and Monday, May 29th, No School

~Monday, June 5th, No School

~Sunday, June 11th, 11am-3pm, Fernwood Flights, Sugar Maple

~Thursday, June 15th, Last Day of School

Fernwood Arts Fest

Thank you to everyone who attended the Fernwood Arts Fest this past Sunday! 

The weather was beautiful and it was a fun, fantastic and successful event!!  Together we raised more than $8,000 for our school programs!!

The vendors shared how happy they were with the turnout and how wonderful the people that came through were. 

The music programs, make and take flowers, delicious food, additional classroom art for sale and photography club showcase were seriously AMAZING as well as engaging for so many. 

Special thanks go out to: Ms. Kristy Lowell, Jenni Navidad, Mr. Mike Turner, Mollee Cleary (who was there at 7:30 am and did SO much throughout the day!), Molly Brown, Erin Folstad, Annie Hyma, Jenny Bouton, Aja Aviles-Soto, Kellie Krawczyk, Andi Getz, Katie Walters, Jennifer Sullivan, Brandon Miller, Ryn Botxford for the use of their room for the awesome make and take flowers, ALL of the Teachers and Students who made and sold their beautiful artwork and manned the tables all day and the SO SO many volunteers!!!  Without all of you this event would NOT be possible or nearly as great as it was!! 

It is such a pleasure to be a part of this incredible Fernwood Community!! 

Artfully Yours,  Barb Durkin, Arts Fest Coordinator 

Nikki Martin Memorial

Fernwood Parents Activity Council (PAC) is proud to announce the dedication of the Nikki Martin Memorial.

Nikki Martin, a dedicated mother, long standing PAC member, and volleyball coach at Fernwood Montessori, passed away from breast cancer in January of 2021.  The Fernwood PAC would like to recognize and thank Nikki for her service and dedication to the student athletes at Fernwood Montessori. The PAC is proud to honor her memory with a beautiful art installation, created by Fernwood parent Jennifer Espenschield, and donation of volleyball equipment the students can use during recess.  Please join us on Wednesday, May 10th from 6-6:30 PM for a short program to unveil the memorial, and play a game of volleyball in Nikki’s honor.  

PTO Thank You

Thank you SO MUCH for providing me with funds for my classroom. I have purchased computer speakers to help my kids hear the music/work that we do, roll-y stools to help our busy kids keep their focus on their work, and some books to add to my library! I am so excited to have more options for seating, reading, and listening! ~Mx. Botsford, Secondary (7th/8th) teacher

Interim Report Cards Available

Interim report cards are now available on the parent portal.  Interim report cards are published halfway through each trimester and indicate whether students are meeting expectations.  There are no interim report cards for K3/K4 students.  

Guardians need a personalized access code to create a parent portal account.  Please contact our secretary, Cynthia Arias at 414-294-1310 to receive your access code.  

Spring Concert: Updated Time

The concert will be held in the Fernwood auditorium on May 18th. Student performers should arrive at 6pm and the concert will start at 6:30pm. The time was moved back to accommodate students who are participating in the Junior Docent program at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Our 2023 spring concert will include the following groups: lower elementary choir (after-school with Ms. Molly), upper elementary choir, adolescent rock bands, and the 3rd grade recorder group. 

For the concert, we are looking for parent volunteers to help monitor students and usher them onto the stage.Please sign up here.

Brandon Miller, millerbm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us

Molly Pufall-Brown, mpufall@gmail.com 

Fernwood Parent Education Transition Night

Tuesday, May 23rd will be our parent education night around student transitions to the next level.  This applies to families who have current K5’s (please attend the Lower Elementary session), 3rd graders (please attend the Upper Elementary session), and 6th graders (please attend the Secondary session).  Families are welcome to attend any of the sessions if interested. Recordings will be provided in the parent newsletter after the meetings if you are unable to make the session.  During the sessions, you will watch a short video explaining more about the transition from a few of our amazing teachers, receive some additional information about what to expect next year, and will be able to ask questions you might have.  Please see the session times and links below:

Lower Elementary (1st-3rd), 5:30pm-6:00pm- https://meet.google.com/rgx-eeer-oxz

Upper Elementary (4th-6th), 6:05pm-6:35pm- https://meet.google.com/bdp-ywmk-car

Secondary (7th and 8th), 6:40pm-7:10pm-https://meet.google.com/tik-fyjh-tuy?authuser=0

Please reach out to Jenni Navidad with any questions at navidaj@milwaukee.k12.wi.us.

 Summer Academy at Fernwood

Fernwood Montessori will be hosting a Montessori Summer Academy.  Summer Academy is open Monday-Friday, June 26-July 28 from 8am-12pm.  (Closed July 3 and 4) Students will be able to connect with their Montessori learning in new ways while engaging in this fun program. Summer Academy is free.  Students who have completed K5 through 8th grade are eligible to attend. Register by June 5th.  For more information and to register, visit mpsmke.com/summeracademy 

Fernwood Experience Day

On May 24th, 2023 Fernwood Montessori will be holding an Experience Day.  We kindly ask that all students bring a cold lunch to school this day, since there will be many moving pieces during lunch (we will of course have hot lunches available if students need to order one, as always).

During Experience Day, students in K5, 3rd grade and 6th grade will have the opportunity to visit a classroom for a few hours at the next level to gain understanding about what their next classroom may look like and feel like, and will be welcomed by a student ambassador well established within that classroom community.  Please note that we have paired teachers up for Experience Day, and the classrooms that students will visit have no bearing on their classroom placement for the fall.  The purpose of this day is to help students feel comfortable and safe in their transition to the next level, while also building leadership skills in students who will be remaining in their classrooms next year.

Students in K4 will be invited by their primary teacher to attend school for a full-day.  Teachers will communicate with parents about a schedule.

Please reach out to your child’s teacher with any question

MPS Summer Specialty Courses

MPS is offering a wide variety of Summer specialty courses on so many cool topics.  Course titles include Coding for Kids, Architecture All Around, and Junior Robotics.  Programs are four days long from 8am -12pm.  Click on the fliers to learn more about the course options.  K-5 Flyer  K-12 flyer  To register, please go to this google sheet.  Courses that are available for your student’s grade level will populate as you complete the form.  Registration 

2023-24 School Calendar

Fernwood Montessori follows the traditional MPS school calendar.  The school calendar for the 23-24 school year is available on the MPS website and linked here. 

 23-24 Traditional Calendar

Fernwood Flights

We invite you to a fun afternoon for parents and other special people to meet and socialize with each other, celebrate the end of a fantastic school year, and raise money to help keep Fernwood Montessori thriving. “Fernwood Flights” serves as the Fernwood Fund’s most significant annual fundraiser, enabling us to offer additional financial support to the school in order to counteract public funding budget cuts and ensure the highest quality education for Fernwood Montessori students. Over the past three years the Fernwood Fund has invested over $45,000 into the school and it’s only possible because of support from our families and communities.

Buy your tickets now at: https://events.readysetauction.com/mpsfdn/fernwoodflights/landing/info

Nature’s Classroom Summer Program

Nature’s Classroom is offering Summer Day Camp Programs at their Mukwonago school location.  They have asked if we can share the attached flier with families.  Transportation from Milwaukee is included in their fee. Flyer 

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. 

Flamenco Dance Performance

Fernwood K5-3rd grade students were treated to a performance of beautiful flamenco dancing on May 5th performed by Studio K.  Fernwood Parent Kerensa DeMars was one of the performers and the owner of the studio.  Students were able to watch the performance, learn how flamenco is created and even practice some steps.  Thank you to Mr. Miller for setting up this great experience!

SSYC Summer Sailing Program Scholarship

The South Shore Yacht Club has scholarships available for their student summer sailing program (the Juniors’ Program).  Please click on the link below to find out more!    SSYC Scholarship

Box Tops for Education

Fernwood PTO just received a check for $180 from Box Tops for Education.  Thank you to all of the families who have electronically submitted their receipts!

Did you know Box Tops for Education has gone virtual? No more cardboard paper cuts (aren’t those the worst?). It’s super easy to scan your receipt or email a digital receipt and send money to Fernwood. The list of qualifying products includes a wide array of kid favorites like Annies, Cheerios and GoGurt. 

If you’ve been hesitant to make the switch to digital, I can tell you it’s super easy. Download the app and create your account. Every time you shop, you can just scan your receipt from stores like Costco, Meijer, Target, Woodman’s and more. The app will find qualifying products for you. Don’t have a physical receipt? You can email your digital receipt to receipts@boxtops4education.com and the money will be added to Fernwood’s account.

If you have questions about how Box Tops works, feel free to reach out to me, PTO member Danielle Brannan (danielle.brannan@gmail.com). My philosophy is: if this company wants to give free money to our school, we’ll take it!