FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Upcoming Events / Meetings

DAC – District Advisory Council MEETING

Tonight, Thursday, February 1st

6:00-7:30 pm

Virtual

Zoom Link

 

50 YEARS OF MONTESSORI OPEN HOUSE

Saturday, February 10th

1:00 – 4:00 pm

MacDowell Montessori

More about the event – 50 Years Montessori

 

NO SCHOOL  – 

Friday, February 16th and Monday, February 19th

 

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION

Thursday, February 22nd

6:00 – 7:30 pm

MacDowell Auditorium

 

SPRING PICTURE DAY

Friday, March 1st

FLYER

 

FAMILY LITERACY NIGHT 📚

NEW DATE – Friday, March 1st

6:00 – 7:30 pm

See Flyer 

 

FAMILY CONFERENCES 

Wednesday, March 13th and Tuesday, March 19th

More info to come

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MORNING HUG AND GO FLOW

As winter weather has affected the clearance of streets in the city we would like to remind families of some morning drop off procedures.

• Traffic should flow North to South. 
• Refrain from parking on the east side of 64th st (children and parents crossing presents a hazard and slows up vehicles trying to exit the drop off line)
• Drop off is a HUG and GO zone. Students should be ready to exit when the vehicle reaches the doors 
• There is no parking on the west side of 64th st. Parents that want to walk their students need to park further down the street. 

Please be patient. The engineer and staff are working hard to clear sidewalks and make entrance safe. We are all battling the treacherous nature of the previous snow and ice storms. We all want our students in class safe and on time. 

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February is Black History Month! The origin of African American history month can be attributed to a week-long celebration created in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who hoped to raise awareness of the history and contributions of African Americans to civilization. It became a month-long celebration in 1976. However, over the past ninety-five years, America has come to realize that Black history is American history. 

Milwaukee Public Library Black History Month Resources

The Milwaukee Public Library has resources and ideas for books, e-books, audiobooks, e-audiobooks on Black history, stories, life and culture for every age group as well as fun activities and events.

Black History Month · MPL

MPS Black Lives Matter Week of Action is February 5-9 

The Milwaukee community will have opportunities to listen, learn, and add their voices to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) narrative to bring about positive change. Leading off Black History Month in February, Black Lives Matter Week of Action is designed to engage the community in topics related to the principles of Black Lives Matter.   

The theme of the Week of Action is “A Lifetime of Practice, with Power in Our Voice and Action in Our Steps.” Evening events are free and open to the public. The mission of Black Lives Matter is to decrease racial and social disparities by activating our voice, sparking action in our steps, ensuring that equitable practices exist, and uniting humanity for a better tomorrow.  

Find a listing of events and further details here!

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Kindergarten Enrollment for the 2023-2024 School Year: February 3 to March 4, 2024

• If you have a younger child that you wish to enroll in K3 or K4 at MacDowell, you must enroll during this enrollment window to receive sibling preference. The current student’s name should be included in the application. Sibling preference is not granted after this enrollment window.
• There is no advantage to completing the enrollment application on the first day of the process.  
• Current MacDowell students do not need to reapply.  They are automatically re-enrolled. 
• The application will be available online through the MPS website.
• Please encourage your friends, family and neighbors to choose MacDowell Montessori for their child’s education! Interested families should call the school office to schedule a tour. Please also remind them of our 50 Years of Montessori Open House on February 10th at MacDowell! 

Wondering if you can enroll your child?

• Students enrolling at K3 need to be 3 years old by September 1st and must reside in Milwaukee.
• Students enrolling in K4 need to be 4 years old by September 1st.

MPS Kindergarten Enrollment Page; MPS: Kindergarten Enrollment – Schools

If you have enrollment questions, please contact Parent Coordinator Ms. Jaeger mossergj@milwaukee.k12.wi.us 

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FAMILY CONFERENCES – Save the Dates!

We will publish sign ups for Conferences in the near future. Conferences will be in person

~Wednesday, March 13 from 3:45 to 7:30 pm

~Tuesday, March 19 from 3:45 to 7:30 pm

📘 We will have a BOOKFAIR the week of March 18th, more information to come. 📙

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Save the Date – 

50 Years of Montessori in MPS Open House

February 10th at MacDowell Montessori 

1:00-4:00pm

Join us for an exciting afternoon celebrating the past,present, and future of Montessori education in Milwaukee! Meet students and teachers and get an in-depth look at how Montessori methods are shaping learners from age three through high school.

MacDowell will have students demonstrating Montessori work, dance performances, and a choir presentation with SO MUCH MORE.

 

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ACT INFORMATION

2024 ACT District Testing Day March 12

MPS high schools will administer the state-required ACT to grade 11 students on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. On this date, only juniors will be in attendance. Freshmen, sophomores, and seniors will not report to school on this date but will engage in asynchronous work. Multi-grade schools on the early start calendar (e.g., K– 12, 3–12, 6–12) will have regular attendance for students not in grades 9, 10, or 12. Students should arrive at school at their regular start time to allow testing to be completed in a timely manner.

2024 PreACT District Testing Day April 10

MPS high schools will administer the state-required PreACT to grades 9 and 10 students on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. On this date, only freshmen and sophomores will be in attendance. Juniors and seniors will not report to school on this date but will engage in asynchronous work. Multi-grade schools on the early start calendar (e.g., K–12, 3–12, 6–12) will have regular attendance for students not in grades 11 or 12. Students should arrive at school at their regular start time to allow testing to be completed in a timely manner.

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Sports and Activities Update

JUNEAU ATHLETICS – High School

 December/January Newsletter  -> HERE

• Athlete of the Month – Dooney Johnson
• Winter sports update
• Prepare for spring sports with our stand alone Track and Field team

ELEMENTARY: 🗣️Call For Coaches

The spring season is right around the corner, and we are looking for coaches. The more coaches we have, the more kids can participate. Coaches are paid through Milwaukee Recreation.

We are currently looking for:

• 5th-8th Track coach

• 1st-3rdSoccer coach

• 4th-5th Soccer coaches.

Please contact Ms. Wanta if you are interested or have any questions: wantalm@milwaukee.k12.wi.us.

All schedules for the winter sports season are posted on Remind.

• ♟️ Chess Club-Tuesday https://www.remind.com/join/c68gd4
• ♟️ Chess Club-Thursday https://www.remind.com/join/g7b2kf2
• 🏀1-3 Basketball Team 1-Coach Glenn https://www.remind.com/join/ead63a 
• 🏀1-3 Basketball Team 2-Coach Shawn https://www.remind.com/join/b2d448 
• 🏀6-8 Boys Basketball https://www.remind.com/join/34cgf3 
• 🏐6-8 Volleyball Team 1-Coach LJ https://www.remind.com/join/ggahg8h 
• 🏐6-8 Volleyball Team 2-Coach Maiter https://www.remind.com/join/dhc274 
• 📣6-8 Cheerleading https://www.remind.com/join/ecfb6h6 
• 🏀4-5 Basketball https://www.remind.com/join/g898dbg

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DON’T FORGET:

UPPER EL NATURE’S CLASSROOM TRIP: 

February 26 – March 1, 2024 (4th-6th grade)

If your child will attend Nature’s Classroom, please complete both the NCI online registration and the MPS Field Trip Form as soon as possible. Please return the MPS Field Trip Form to your child’s teacher.

Payment does not need to be made immediately, please see the deadlines below.

PLEASE NOTE: We require a copy of medical insurance cards – you can send a photo of the front and back via email to your child’s teacher, or attach a copy with the paperwork.

 NATURE’S CLASSROOM DEADLINES:

• Both registrations (NCI online and MPS Field Trip) must be completed no later than Monday, February 12th.

• Insurance card must be included with registration.
• We will accept payment (cash or check made out to MacDowell Montessori, to the main office) no later than Tuesday, February 20th.

FORMS/INFORMATION:

Cover Letter

NCI Registration – online

MPS Registration / Field Trip Form 

Packing Information

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In Case You Missed It: 

SPRING PHOTO DAY: 

We have scheduled an additional Spring Picture Day for students who missed having their classroom picture taken in the Fall. Please save the date for this Picture Day which will be Friday, March 1st. View the flyer HERE. Order forms are available upon request or in the main office. The online ordering code for mylifetouch.com is EVTWGVWM9.

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Elementary FAMILY LITERACY NIGHT- 

Rescheduled to March 1st

We hope you can still join us!

6:00-7:30 pm

Family friendly crafts, storytime, display/demonstration of sandpaper letters, moveable alphabet, grammar boxes and sentence analysis. 

Volunteer : https://tinyurl.com/MacDLiteracyVolunteer24

RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/MacDLiteracy2024

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MacDowell Spotlight

DanceWorks 

Practices have been underway for our Danceworks Mad Hot Rhythm group. Danceworks Mad Hot Rhythm runs November-April. Danceworks teaching artists provide two weekly one-hour dance classes, during the school day, for 18 weeks – 36 total hours of dance instruction. Each year the program culminates with a city-wide competition for all participants. The Competition is free and open to the public! Families incur no cost for this program

Students in grades 4-6 have the opportunity to participate in Mad Hot, practicing two times a week with dance instructor and paraprofessional Ms.Emily Bowlin. This year students will learn three dances: tap, samba and afro hip-hop fusion.

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Volunteer Appreciation – Ms. Alyssa Villegas

MacDowell would like to extend a big Thank You to parent volunteer Ms. Alyssa Villegas. Ms. Alyssa spent two mornings this week photographing our Seniors to offer them portraits as they prepare for graduation. She will spend the next couple weeks reviewing and editing images to then offer the digital copies for their personal use and yearbook submission. Many of our students have taken advantage of her service and her expertise. Thank you Alyssa!              

 

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QUICK LINKS:

Lunch Menu – February

MPS School Calendar

MPS 2024-2025 School Calendar

School Website

IB January Newsletter

Juneau Athletics Dec/Jan Newsletter

Highschool Juneau Boys Basketball Schedule

Unit 4 Letter to Parents

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!! OPT-IN TO TEXT MESSAGING ! To receive notices via text message be sure to OPT-IN to text messaging from MPS. Text “Y” to 67587 to receive school notifications, transportation updates, newsletters and important messaging.

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How To Reach Me
If you need to reach me, my phone number is 414-935-1339 and my email is: mossergj@milwaukee.k12.wi.us 

~ Ms. Gail Jaeger        

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Resources & Events

Join the District Multicultural Multilingual Advisory Council!

DMMAC brings together parents, teachers, administrators, school staff, board members, and community members. The purpose of the council is to advise, advocate, and build the capacity of multilingual/multicultural programming in MPS. The goal is to have parent representation from every school.

Meeting Dates: Attend one or all!

Monday, February 12, 2024 • 5 – 6PM

Monday, March 11, 2024 • 5 – 6PM

Monday, April 8, 2024 • 5 – 6PM

Monday, May 13, 2024 • 5 – 6PM

South Division High School 1515 W. Lapham Blvd., Milwaukee, WI 53204

Download a flyer.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nC8UbsbCHhph6XR2Ipub2BhppORQDRYL/view?usp=sharing

Questions? Contact Yolanda Hernández-García at hernanyx@milwaukee.k12.wi.us