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Fernwood Family Newsletter #36, 5/20/25

May 20, 2025

FERNWOOD FAMILY NEWSLETTER #36, 5/20/25 _________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Volunteer Gifts in the Main Office Visitors to our Building Transition Information for Students Moving to a New Level Next Year Fernwood Experience...

Fernwood Family Newsletter #37, 5/27/25

May 27, 2025 | News

FERNWOOD FAMILY NEWSLETTER #37, 5/27/25

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Volunteer Gifts in the Main Office-Last Day Today

Food drive for the Bay View Community Center

Lettuce Sale This Wednesday! 5/28

Fernwood Flights- Sunday, June 8th – Tickets Selling Fast

Last Chance to see the Art Show at Beans and Barley

Visitors to our Building

Summer Cross Country Opportunity for Rising 5-8th Graders (Current 4th-7th)

Camp Closed on June 6th

Volunteers Needed for Field Day on June 5th

Last Day to Place Orders-Fernwood Compost Fundraiser

Attendance Recapture for Illness

Information on MPS Lead Testing Clinic for MPS Families

OUR SCHOOL IS COOL!

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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

~Thursday, May 29th, 2025, 5:30pm SEC Meeting, Virtual https://meet.google.com/tir-huzv-ikc

~Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025, 6:00pm PTO Meeting, Humboldt Park Beer Garden

~Thursday, June 5th, 2025, Field Day, Fernwood Montessori

~Friday, June 6th, 2025, NO SCHOOL

~Sunday, June 8th, 2025, 11am-3pm, Fernwood Flights, Sugar Maple Bar

~Tuesday, June 10th, 2025, 6:30pm, Fernwood Fund Meeting, Fernwood Library and virtual (email brett.mytys@gmail.com for link)

~Thursday, June 12th, 2025, 5:30pm, 8th Grade Completion Ceremony, Bayview High School Auditorium

~Thursday, June 12th, 2025, 6:30pm, Music Parents Meeting, Virtual https://meet.google.com/fpf-rvca-uuk

~Friday, June 13th, 2025, Last Day of School, Fernwood Montessori

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Volunteer Gifts in the Main Office-Last Day Today

Without volunteers, Fernwood can’t make it happen (what we do best)! We could not Soup Night! We could not field trip! We could not sound book! We could not Halloween Dance! We could not fundraise! We could not soccer! We could not library! We could not Fernwood, Sam I am! If you volunteered this year, in any way, please come by the Main Office starting today through 5/27 and pick up a small volunteer appreciation gift! We appreciate y’all so much and hope you know it….and if you don’t, come by the Main Office for a little reminder!

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Food drive for the Bay View Community Center

First, you drive your canned goods to school.

Then, someone else drives the goods to the Bay View Community Center Food Pantry.

Lastly, a person experiencing food insecurity drives your donated food home and eats dinner…..AMAZING!

Let’s do some driving, Fernwood! We can make a big impact in the Bay View community before the school year comes to a close! Fernwood Montessori is collecting food for the Bay View Community Center Food Pantry. Drop off boxes are located inside the Falling Heath doors. Last day to donate food is June 4. The following items can be collected:

Canned proteins: tuna, chicken, salmon, beans
Canned fruits (in juice or water, not syrup)
Canned vegetables (low sodium if possible)
Kids’ snacks
Toilet paper and paper towels
Soap (body and hand)
Shampoo and conditioner
Toothpaste and toothbrushes

Any questions, contact Sam at samskizycki@gmail.com.

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Lettuce Sale This Wednesday! 5/28

It’s plant sale season! The farmer entrepreneurs in Room 32 have been working hard at growing some lettuce plants and are now offering their plant babies for sale and consumption! Lettuce plants will be available this Wednesday during midday and end of day dismissal for $5 a plant at the Falling Heath Doors (cash only). This is the FIRST crop that they’ve been able to harvest (plants were planted after we got back from Douglas). Proceeds go to fund the purchase of the Flex Farm that they use for the project. See the “Our School is Cool” section of the newsletter for more details.

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Fernwood Flights- Sunday, June 8th – Tickets Selling Fast

Fernwood Parents…don’t miss out on the end of the year celebration and fundraiser known as Fernwood Flights. Get some childcare in place for Sunday, 6/8 and join us at Sugar Maple in Bay View for an afternoon of food, music, and fun! Besides a great social event, proceeds of ticket sales and the auctions/raffles go straight back into Fernwood Montessori through the Fernwood Fund. This is a 21-and-over ticketed event, so get your tickets asap. We have also enhanced the Key Supporter ticket this year with a commemorative glass and additional beer samples. Tickets can be purchased here: events.readysetauction.com/milwaukeepublicschoolsfoundation/fernwoodflights2025

Here is a sneak peak at some of our major auction items that will be available at the event: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jusn6c4QoORY0AedLjdvEHFMfESjIyS8/view?usp=sharing

We can’t wait to see you there!

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Last Chance to see the Art Show at Beans and Barley

The Beans and Barley Art Show is still on display until June 6th! See it while you can!

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Visitors to our Building

We welcome visitors to our building. All adults must report immediately to the main office to sign in and get a visitor badge before going to any classroom or other part of the building. We ask that families make appointments with any school personnel ahead of time, so that instructional time or other school functions are not impacted.

Thanks for your attention to our visitor policy and for helping to keep our kids and staff safe.

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Summer Cross Country Opportunity for Rising 5-8th Graders (Current 4th-7th)

The Milwaukee Recreation Youth Sports Office is excited to partner with High School Athletics Coaches to offer a Coed Summer Cross Country Camp Series designed to help middle school athletes prepare for the fall season. This 7-session camp is open to students entering 5th–8th grade (ages 11–14) and is ideal for building endurance, strength, and confidence, regardless of skill level.

It’s a great way for young athletes to stay active during the summer and get a head start on their fall Season.

For registration or additional info, families can visit the Recreation Website or contact our office.

Future Hawks Cross Country Camp (Youth Sports)

Dates: July 7 – July 21, 2025

Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Location: Madison Park – Milwaukee County Parks

Ages: 11–14.99

Fee: $36.00 (residents) / $54.00 (non-residents)

Program Code: RC01

Focus Areas: Running form, drills, warm-ups/cool-downs, course running

To celebrate the camp’s conclusion, participants are invited to join the Future Hawks Fun Run—free for all camp participants!

Future Hawks Fun Run

Date: Saturday, July 26, 2025

Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Location: Madison Park – Milwaukee County Parks

Ages: 5–14.99

Fee: $6.00 (residents) / $9.00 (non-residents)

Race Distances: 500m, 1000m, and 3K

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Camp Closed on June 6th

Fernwood Camp will be closed on June 6th. Thanks!

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Volunteers Needed for Field Day on June 5th

Field Day is happening on June 5th. There are two sessions that need volunteers (8-10:45am and 1-2pm). Please sign up below to help out for one (or both) of the sessions. Please email Cari at cariannbell@gmail.com if you have questions about volunteering.

Field Day Volunteer Sign Up

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Last Day to Place Orders-Fernwood Compost Fundraiser

Did you know that Fernwood Montessori works with Compost Crusader to compost food from the cafeteria instead of sending it to a landfill? To help offset the cost of this service, we are hosting a fundraiser through Compost Crusader. For every 35 lb bag of compost sold, Fernwood will receive a $4 credit towards its pick up service. Compost orders must be placed by May 27th. Pick up will be on Thursday May 29th between 3 and 5:30pm outside the Falling Heath doors.

Ordering is easy! Place your order at: https://accounts.compostcrusader.com/shop/Fernwood-Montessori-School/. If you have any questions about your order, contact education@compostcrusader.com. If you have questions about compost pick up, contact chelsea.malacara@gmail.com

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Attendance Recapture for Illness

Parents will complete this form to communicate with the Fernwood office evidence of student work completed at home so that attendance may be recaptured (UADI). This is only available if a child is home ill (appointments, funerals or travel do not count). You will get an attendance call as this will be checked later in the day, so please don’t worry. If you fill this out, we will get the attendance recaptured. Work options can be found in the description on the google form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBorB7gkqUIvWiMxYqOohbmzo3SiNHwaWgsmhQi_otjSGp-w/viewform?usp=sharing

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Information on MPS Lead Testing Clinic for MPS Families

https://city.milwaukee.gov/Health/Services-and-Programs/HomeEnvironmentalHealth/Ongoing-Lead-Hazard-Investigations-With-MPS

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OUR SCHOOL IS COOL!

There’s always something COOL going on at Fernwood!

What is Flex Farm?

Here’s the definition I wrote:

Flex Farm is the glowing and intimidating apparatus that hangs out outside Room 32 on the 3rd floor of Fernwood Montessori School in Milwaukee, WI. The Flex Farm uses seed pods, water, grow lights, child labor, and cardboard (apparently) to grow lettuce. Flex Farm prepares students to learn about healthy eating and possibly the way they grow food in the Star Wars universe (which is technically our universe just a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away).

Here’s the definition from the Flex Farm website:

The Flex Farm is the most efficient, scalable, and transformative indoor, vertical hydroponic technology on the planet. By carefully controlling everything plants need to thrive, each Flex Farm can grow more than 394 pounds of produce annually. They’re portable and only require a standard electrical outlet and less than 10 square feet of space. We believe that growing your own food promotes nutritious eating habits and a close connection to the living world around us. When placed in schools, Flex Farms give kids the opportunity to learn about agriculture while providing nutritious food to encourage lifelong healthful eating habits.

Both definitions are correct! How COOL is this project!?! These plants are available to you for purchase this Wednesday, they’re organic (but not certified organic), and give you a quick answer to the question, “Did you eat something green today?”. COOL!