Fernwood Family Newsletter #4, 9/19/23

~Wednesday, September 20th, 7:45am-12pm, Picture Day 

~Wednesday, September 20th, 5:30pm, High School Application Meeting, All 8th Grade Families, Virtual https://meet.google.com/tsv-kmzi-rho

~Monday, September 25th, 5:30pm, School Engagement Council (SEC), Virtual 

https://meet.google.com/hnp-uhmu-wpr

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

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

~Thursday, October 12th, 6:30pm, Music Parents Meeting, Virtual https://meet.google.com/fpf-rvca-uuk

~Thursday, October 12th and Tuesday, October 17, 3:00pm-6:45pm Parent Teacher Conferences, links to sign up in next newsletter

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

meet.google.com/isc-jfjq-zow

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

_______________________________________________________________________

THANK YOU Fernwood Community!

 

Fernwood Fest was a huge success!  Thank you to our wonderful PTO for organizing, our volunteers for staffing, our families for coming, and our students for sharing their JOY!  It was a great way to kick off the school year and welcome families that are new to our community!  In addition, our Upper Elementary students raised over $200 for their Nature’s Classroom trip!  

 

We loved working with Flour Girl & Flame, Pete’s Pops, Bounce-n-Jump-a-rama, and of course the Milwaukee Fire Department. If you have any suggestions for next year, please join us for our next PTO meeting on October 17th at 6pm in the library, or virtually via our Google Meet link. 

 

Here is a link to some images of the chalk art that was created at the Fernwood Fest!  

Chalk from Fernwood Fest.pdf

______________________________________________________________________

 

Note from Mr.Comp

 

Physical Education Reminder:

Students must have tennis shoes to participate in gym class.

No crocs, sandals, slides, dress shoes or boots.

This is a safety issue. Students will have to sit out if they do not have the proper shoes.

Thanks!  Mr. Comp

______________________________________________________________________

Looking for Library Volunteers

For many years the Fernwood School Library has been graciously staffed by volunteers. This allows our full-time librarian to teach classes about information literacy, digital citizenship, robotics, and much more.  We are looking for a few more volunteers to take a morning or afternoon shift on a bi-weekly basis.  This is a great way to get to know our students!  Grant Gehweiler, our librarian, will be able to train and support you.  Contact Grant (gehweigj@milwaukee.k12.wi.us) for more information.

______________________________________________________________________

Fernwood Montessori is Hiring

Fernwood Montessori is hiring a new secretary for our 10-month front-desk position.  We are looking for someone warm and welcoming with strong organizational, multi-tasking, and people skills.  Please apply if you are interested and/or pass along the word: 

https://candidate.milwaukee.k12.wi.us:4443/psc/gw/SELFSERVICE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM_FL.HRS_CG_SEARCH_FL.GBL?Page=HRS_APP_SCHJOB_FL&Action=U.  

If you plan on applying, please reach out to Kristy Lowell, Fernwood Principal at lowellkm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us so she knows to follow up about your application.  Note that you will apply centrally with MPS in order to take a test, and then your application will be forwarded to the school.

______________________________________________________________________

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. 

______________________________________________________________________

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

_______________________________________________________________________

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

______________________________________________________________________

Free Community Roller Skating Nights

Skate Night.jpg

______________________________________________________________________

 

Recapturing Attendance 2023-2024

 

This school year like last year, the Department of Public Instruction is allowing attendance to be recaptured for the situations listed below.  If your child meets criteria for one of these, please email Principal Kristy Lowell at lowellkm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us to receive a message from your child’s teacher about work options.  Your child will be marked “Absent Excused” and you do not need to call your child into the attendance line.  Once the work is completed, please inform Kristy Lowell at lowellkm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us and Cynthia Arias at ariascg@milwaukee.k12.wi.us and attendance will be recaptured using a special attendance code that indicates the child is not in the building, but is considered present since they did instructional work.

 

-COVID related reason for absence

-School Bus Transportation reason (no driver was available for your child’s route and you have no other way of getting them to school)

-Any illness resulting in an absence (this does not include appointments or injuries)

 

Note that in order for attendance to be recaptured, you must confirm that your child has completed instructional work.

______________________________________________________________________

 

Immunization Clinics

 

MPS, in partnership with the Milwaukee Health Department, is excited to announce the upcoming immunization clinics. The purpose of the clinics is to help students get updated on their required vaccines while making it easier on families by doing so during school hours. All childhood vaccines will be available, except for the flu and COVID-19. The immunization clinics will be held at the following locations:

 

• MACL – September 14, 2023 
• Lincoln Avenue – September 20, 2023 
• Elm Creative Arts – September 27, 2023 
• Engleburg – September 28, 2023 

 

All clinics will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Consent forms are attached and information on the MHD immunization program expanded walk-in clinic hours. Please note that the clinics are open to all MPS students. If you have any questions, please contact Tashanda Edelen, health services manager, at edelentn@milwaukee.k12.wi.us or 414-438-3539.

 

MHDImmunizationWalk-InClinicHours.pdf

______________________________________________________________________

 

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

______________________________________________________________________

Music Update 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

______________________________________________________________________

 

Arrival and Dismissal Procedure

School Daily Schedule:Office Hours 7:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Office Phone: (414) 294-1300

Student Start Time

School begins promptly at 7:25 a.m. each morning. 

Early Arrival

Children are not to be dropped off at school before 7:20 a.m. There is no supervision for children before 7:20a.m. unless they are coming off of a bus or in for breakfast at 7:05 a.m. Students who arrive early to school and are not eating breakfast will have to wait outside unsupervised. 

Student Entry Procedures

Students will be allowed to enter the building at 7:25 a.m. To alleviate congestion when entering the building please have your student enter the correct door associated with their room number. Please assist your child in making a smooth transition to school in the morning by saying “good-bye” at the door to the school. Staff will be available to help your child find his/her classroom. Parents will not be permitted to enter the building with their student during the morning entrance.  

~Lower and Upper Elementary students in Rooms 22,24,31,32, 33,34, and 35, will enter through Door #1 (Northeast entrance) in order to avoid the first floor. 

~Lower and Upper Elementary Students in rooms 250,251,252, and 253 will enter through Door #6 (Northwest entrance). 

~Upper Elementary students (in rooms 25, 27, 37) and the Adolescent students will enter through the Falling Heath Place entrance (Glass Doors). 

~Primary students (K3-K5) will enter through Door #2 (Southeast entrance) with siblings, if needed. For the first couple of weeks, primary students will line up on their classroom numbers and be escorted into the building by their teachers.  

***After 7:25 a.m. the Falling Heath Place entrance will be used for parents and visitors to enter the school.  All people entering the building must report to the office to sign in and receive a visitor’s pass.*****

End of the School Day for K3 and K4

K3 and K4 children end their school day at 10:20a.m. Please wait on the East playground to pick-up your child(ren). The teacher will escort each group out of the building.

End of the Day/Dismissal K5-8th

K5 through 8th grade students finish at 2:25 p.m. Parents of children who do not ride the bus meet them on the East playground. Do not park on Pennsylvania Avenue or Falling Heath Place. This is dangerous and interferes with the safety of the children who ride the buses. Students start boarding buses from 2:20 p.m. to 2:25 p.m. Buses will begin pulling from the school at 2:30 p.m. Our school’s primary responsibility is to ensure the safety and well-being of your children. We need your cooperation, assistance and support to ensure students’ safety especially during arrival and dismissal.

Fernwood parking/driving guidelines:

*Do not park or drop off 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.

* 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.  

_______________________________________________________________________

Breakfast and Lunch 

All MPS students are eligible for free breakfast and lunch each day.  

Breakfast 

Students that would like to eat breakfast may report to Door 2 or the Falling Heath Doors between 7:05am and 7:30am to be buzzed in by the secretaries.  Students will report directly to the cafeteria for breakfast.  Breakfast will be served from 7:05am-7:35am.

 

Lunch

If a student would like to have a hot lunch, they will sign up each morning in their classroom.  This year Fernwood students are having pre-packaged lunches.  The menu can be found on the MPS home page.  Please note that the meal served may be different than the planned meal due to supply issues.   Lunch menus can be found here: https://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/en/home/Lunch-Menu.htm. Note that changes may be made based on availability of certain meals and ingredients.

_______________________________________________________________________

Principal Office Hours

Communication with parents is essential to ensuring we are best supporting our students! If you wish to speak with Ms. Kristy Lowell, Fernwood’s Principal, please contact her directly at lowellkm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us or contact the main office to set up an appointment.  Meetings with parents will be by appointment only and her hours to meet with parents are between 9:00-10:00 am on Mondays and 1:00-2:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Thank you for your attention to this.

_______________________________________________________________________

Student Pick Up and Release Procedures

 

Anyone picking up a child early must present an ID to the main office and sign their child out in order for their child to be released.  Since we have new office staff, we need to make sure this is in place at the beginning of the school year until our office staff are familiar with parents and guardians.  Please ensure that anyone picking up your child is listed in Infinite Campus otherwise we cannot release your child to them.  Please contact the school secretaries if you would like anyone added or taken off of the list in our database.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation for this safety measure.  Note that we are unable to release children without an individual coming to the main office.

 

At pickup, teachers will release children to their parents or guardians.  If someone other than the parent or guardian will be picking up your child, please ensure the teacher knows and verify that person is listed in Infinite Campus.  The teacher will check their ID to verify they are the correct person that you have identified to pick up their child.

_______________________________________________________________________

Fernwood Cub Scout Pack 179-New Scout Night/First Pack Meeting

 

Do you have a student who is curious about the outdoors or is already an outdoor enthusiast? Then Pack 179 invites you and your future Scout to New Scout Night on Wednesday September 20th, at 6pm in the Fernwood Cafeteria. There will be fun activities for the kids while parents get to hear from parent Scout leaders what being a part of Pack 179 is all about.

 

Current Scouts-This will also serve as the first pack meeting of the year.

About Pack 179

Fernwood Cub Scout Pack 179 makes getting outside fun and easy. Scouts engage in many different activities while earning badges and friends along the way. These include monthly night hikes, outdoor skills, arts & crafts, cooking, scavenger hunts, camping, climbing, Brewers games, volunteering, the Pinewood Derby and more!

 

Fernwood Pack 179 is an inclusive Cub Scout Pack open to all K5 through 5th graders from a number of schools in the Greater Milwaukee Area. Scouts meet monthly with their den (assigned based on age), the Pack, and occasionally other Packs in the region. Many Pack events, like our monthly night hikes and camping, are also open to the entire family! If you are looking for a high-impact activity that engages the whole family, then we invite you to learn more.

______________________________________________________________________ 

Milwaukee Repertory Theater Saturday Classes

The Milwaukee Rep will be offering free theater classes (with a free lunch) on Saturdays at Fernwood from 9/23 until 10/28.  Families must register for classes.  More information including the QR code to register can be found here:

FY24 Fall SYP Poster.pdf

________________________________________________________________

All City Middle School Dance

Start thinking about what you are going to wear!  See attached flyer for the All City Middle School Homecoming Dance at McDowell Middle School for 7th and 8th Graders.  Students must have the attached permission slip to attend.  

MS HOCO Dance.pdf

MS Dance Permission Slip.pdf

______________________________________________________________________