Schedule of Events

• Thursday, August 29, 2024, 5:00-6:30pm, Fall Open House Meeting (Returning K4-8th grade students and families)
• Friday, August 30, 2024, 9am-10am, New K3-K4 Orientation
• Tuesday, September 3, 2024, First Day of School, all returning K4-8th Students
• Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 6:00pm, PTO Meeting, Fernwood library
• Saturday, September 14, 2024, 10am-12pm, Fernwood Fest, West Playground
• Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 6:30pm, Fernwood Fund Meeting, Fernwood library and virtual, email brett.mytys@gmail.com for link
• Wednesday, September 18, 2024, 7:45am-12pm, Picture Day
• Thursday, September 26, 2024, 5:30pm, School Engagement Council (SEC), virtual

Welcome!

Ready or not, school is starting! Welcome to the 2024-25 school year! I am Ms. Meredith, the Parent Coordinator at Fernwood Montessori. I am also the mom of two Fernwood superstar students (I am you, you are me!)! Please read below for information about staying connected at Fernwood and please reach out to me with questions at genricm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us. I am here to coordinate with all of you!

Each Tuesday a newsletter will be sent out to the email address you have listed in your Parent Portal account (these newsletters will get shorter, I promise!). Weekly newsletters will have information about upcoming events in our school, resources for families, and information about ways to get involved in Fernwood. If you need to update your email address, please reach out to our school secretaries. New topics will be listed at the top and older topics will move down the document. There will always be a schedule of events at the top of each page and a table of contents.

The website is also a great resource for staff contact information, agendas from SEC meetings, and a Fernwood calendar.

If you would like to receive the newsletter by text, you will need to opt in to the MPS text messaging system. To opt in to receiving Fernwood and district text messages, please text 67587 with “Y” or “Yes.”

Fernwood has a Facebook group for current Fernwood families to communicate with other Fernwood families called Fernwood Montessori Community. Please note that this group is not for communicating with Fernwood staff or administration, but to speak with other families. Please keep topics relevant to Fernwood and lead with kindness.

Fernwood Calendar

Fernwood Montessori follows the MPS districtwide calendar. See the 2024-25 MPS Districtwide Calendar (PDF).

Fernwood Family/School Manual

Fernwood Montessori has updated our Fernwood Family School Manual. This manual has tons of information about family engagement, procedures, dress code, staff contact information and so much more.

New K3, K4, K5 Orientation

Parent Orientation for K3, New K4 and New K5 Students: K3 and new K4/K5 parents will drop their child off at their classroom on Friday, August 30th from 9:00-10:00 a.m. and then proceed to the auditorium. We will offer a 45-minute orientation for parents while children are being acquainted with their teacher, assistant and the classroom environment.

Phase-in attendance for K3 and new K4 students will be explained during orientation; you should have received letters with your child’s teacher and phase-in date at the beginning of August. New K5 students will begin school on the first day, Tuesday, September 3rd. Orientation will be your opportunity to take “First Day of School” pictures with teachers.

If you have not done so already, please bring proof of address, a copy of your child’s birth certificate, and immunization records for enrollment purposes. If you have questions regarding your child’s start date, please contact the office at (414) 294-1300.

Arrival and Dismissal Procedure

Daily Schedule:

Office Hours 7:00 a.m.-3:15 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 registered for the Before-School Camp or are coming 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 21,22,24,31,32, 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.*****

Students in room 26 should come in through the Falling Heath glass doors where Ms. Toni will be available to supervise.

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.

Essential Attendance Information

Please review the Attendance Letter from Ms. Kristy regarding attendance for this school year.

Fall Open House

This will be held on Thursday, August 29 from 5:00-6:30 pm. We invite returning students and families in K4-8th grades and all new families in 1st-8th grade to school to visit classrooms and teachers, drop off supplies, and reconnect with other Fernwood families and friends.

Please join us at any point during the Open House on the West Playground to pick up a scavenger hunt and to sign in. The sign in table will have a red table cloth.

The Gymnasium will also have tables where families can learn about our family groups, learn about sports teams, and meet our mental health support staff.

Futura Spanish Enrollment

Futura Spanish will be enrolling students in their after school Spanish classes at Open House on 8/29. Registration details will be made available in the September 3rd newsletter for those that cannot attend Open House. See this flyer for details on the program.

Character Kids Enrollment

Character Kids will be enrolling students in their after school theater program at Open House on 8/29. Registration details will be made available in the September 3rd newsletter for those that cannot attend Open House.

Music Vacancy

Unfortunately, Mr. Miller, our former music teacher, resigned his position late last week. We are working to develop a plan to make sure students have access to high quality music education. If you know of anyone who is fully licensed looking for a music position (that does not currently work for MPS, as we cannot take from another school at this point in the year), please have them reach out to Kristy Lowell. This position is full time, working primary with K5-6th grade students with general music classes, and also teaching a few music specialty classes to our 7th and 8th graders. Ideal candidates would have experience with choir or vocal performance.

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. Students will not be allowed into the building until 7:05 or after due to supervision.

Lunch

If a student would like to have a hot lunch, they will sign up each morning in their classroom. 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.

Fernwood Fest!

The PTO is excited for our annual back to school family fun event! This year Fernwood Fest will be held on Saturday, September 14th from 10am-12pm. There will be popcorn, face painting, bounce houses, food trucks and a special appearance by the Milwaukee Fire Department! All families are invited to come to meet new families and connect with old friends.

We are looking for lots of volunteers to make this day a success. Please consider volunteering for an hour! Volunteer Sign Up

See the Fernwood Fest Flyer

Sports at Fernwood

Welcome back Fernwood Families! I am the new Sports Coordinator for Fernwood Athletics and am excited for the new school year and the Fall season to get underway. I have been a Fernwood parent and fellow coach for the last 11 years.

Beginning in 1st grade, there are lots of great opportunities to participate in sports at Fernwood. All opportunities will be listed in the Tuesday newsletters at the start of each new season. Fernwood sports programs are coordinated by Milwaukee Recreation. Each team is led by a volunteer parent coach who determines the one time per week practice. Games are usually on the weekends. Please stop to see me at the open house. There you can learn more about what sports are available each season, volunteer to coach, and enroll in Fall sports.

Registration for co-ed soccer (grades 1-3/4-5), girls’ basketball* (grades 4-5/6-8) and Cross Country (grades 6-8) is open. Teams fill up fast and we do have a limit so please turn in Athletic forms and payment (cash or check made out to Fernwood) at the time of registration. Forms will be available at the open house as well as provided in this newsletter. The forms and payment can be delivered to the school office. All athletes/parents will have to fill out a MPS rec packet that includes the concussion protocol, however, that will all be in electronic form and sent from the individual coaches.

*Please note that if you join fall girls’ basketball you will not be able to play winter coed basketball. Coed basketball and Volleyball registration will open mid-October so please keep a look out in upcoming newsletters.

We are in need of a soccer 1-3rd coach and possibly 4/5th soccer coach. If you are interested in coaching any of the sports teams, please reach out to me for more information.

Thanks for making Fernwood Athletics such a success!

Chanda Miller
Cell: 414-202-5255 chandamiller@hotmail.com
Fall Soccer (2024) info
Girls Basketball (2024) info

K5 Daisy Girl Scouts

We will be starting a Fernwood K5 Daisy Girl Scout Troop this fall. Girl Scouts is a great opportunity for kids to make friends and try new activities in a supportive environment. Katrina McNamara and Darcy DuBois will lead our troop. We will meet once a month at Fernwood from 4:30-5:30 pm on the third Tuesday of the month.

Girl Scouts maintains ratios for troops and we can have up to 12 girls in the troop for this age group. Registration will be taken through the Girls Scouts of Southeastern Wisconsin website on a first come, first served basis. Interested families may register right here. Or you can go to this mygs.girlscouts.org/ and search troop number 37935.

Thanks to special funding, there is no cost to join Daisy Girl Scouts this year. Please note, once the funding runs out and in future years there is a yearly registration fee through Girl Scouts. This year, there will be an additional cost to purchase the Daisy Vest and initial badges (information will follow on these items).

Throughout the year, we will have multiple opportunities for families to be involved and support the troop and our activities. We will have a brief family meeting following our first meeting on September 17th to share more logistics about the troop and ways to volunteer.

Our School is Cool!

There’s always something COOL going on at Fernwood! We’re barely back and ALREADY there are COOL things happening. If you are new to the school, there are TWO COOL LADIES that you need to know about…our school secretaries! These ladies supply anyone and everyone in the building with what they need to educate the next generation.

Ms. Cynthia is COOL because she’s the nicest lady and super knowledgeable about every random topic that comes up (attendance, forms, substitute teachers, class assignments, MPS policies, time off)….but few people know that she also almost always has ice in her drink (to keep extra COOL!).

Ms. Kristin is starting her sophomore year here as Fernwood secretary. She is the person who triages anyone who comes into the office and directs them where they need to go. Need a bandaid/ice pack? She’s got you. Feeling like you need to throw up? She has a trash can and your mom’s number at the ready. Deliveries? Check! Dentist appointment? She will have you ready to be picked up right on time. This woman can seriously handle anything! She has four of her own kids so that must be why she is as COOL as a cucumber!