Rusch December 2018
A GREAT PLACE TO BE: EVERY STUDENT, EVERY CHANCE, EVERY DAY
Mr. Meyer's Message
This month will be a quick one! Some things to look forward to include our Rusch Family Pride Meeting (a.k.a. our PTO) on December 11th! We meet in room 106 and have a blast planning fun events for our students and finding ways to support our kids! Another big event is the Winter Concert on December 18th! It starts at 5:30 p.m. and is held in our gymnasium. Our students are working hard practicing the songs and are excited for their families to see them perform.
I started a new video series I am calling "Walking the Halls with the Principal". In the video series I will be interviewing teachers, paraprofessionals, cooks, custodians, administrative assistants, and other important people at Rusch. I will share the videos with our students during their morning announcements and also on our district's Facebook page. Here is the link to my first episode where I feature our Superintendent, Dr. Margaret Rudolph https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxG9DCnmk_M
It's going to be a wonderful month! As always, feel free to stop by and say hello to us! We are also looking for caring adults to volunteer in our classrooms. If you are interested in volunteering please let us know in the office!
Thanks!
Jason Meyer
Principal, Rusch Elementary
DATES TO REMEMBER
December 18th~Winter Concert 5:30 PM in the Gymnasium
December 24th~January 1st~No School
Office News
Thank you to parents for their support of the book fair. It raised $850 for the school.
Our School Day is 8:00-2:55. Students are considered late/tardy after 8:00 AM.
All tardy students must be walked into the main office and signed in by a parent/guardian.
If you need assistance with cold weather clothing, please call the office.
For planned absences, please contact our office for pre-authorization forms.
If your child will be absent please contact the main office by 8:00 AM. 608-742-7376
Please refrain from parking in the front of the school during arrival and dismissal times.
Chaperones or volunteers need to complete an annual background check online at least two weeks prior to volunteering. Please use this link to locate the form. http://www.portage.k12.wi.us/district/volunteer-opportunities.cfm
If you need help with this process, please call Rusch office at 742-7376.
Rusch Family Pride Organization
Ms. Egan's Class
Advanced Learners Opportunities/Events
December 7 - Creative Arts Festival Grades 3/4
January 11 - Math 24 tournament - Grade 4
January 18 - Math 24 tournament - Grade 5
24 Tournament Rules
February 5 - Regional Spelling Bee
February 8 - Writing due for the Young Author's Contest
February (end) - Math Matters Competition
March 5 - Regional Math 24 Tournament
April 3 - Youth Art Madison
April 25 - Creative Arts Festival Grades 5/6
May 28 - Young Authors Conference
LEGO Club application forms can be picked up by your child in the office. Adults are always needed to facilitate groups of students. Your child is automatically placed in a club (yours!) if you volunteer.
Holly Kobza
K-5 Learning Coach (GT & Tech)
2600 Woodcrest Drive
Portage, WI 53901
608-742-5531
2nd Grade
In Science second graders have been learning and experimenting with matter. We have learned that we can construct different things with the same materials (matter). Here are a few examples:
We are also going to be making donations to the Mitten and Hat Tree this year at Community Bank. Each year second graders contribute money to help with the purchase of hats and mittens for children in need. This is an opportunity to show empathy and charity during the holiday season.
Cafeteria
Please click on the link for December Lunch Menu.
Please ask the office for Free and Reduced applications any time throughout the year.
Please remember in order to purchase any a la carte items (e.g. milk) there must be enough money in your child's account to cover that item.
Library
Our Battle of the Books has gotten off to a great start! We have lots of teams enrolled in all of are elementary schools. I am planning BoBfest. It will be after school one night later this month. We will play Battle Jeopardy, Battle Pictionary, do puzzles based on the books, read the picture books to them, eat pizza, and talk strategy. This event is not mandatory for Battle participants, but we do have a lot of fun and it is good practice for the teams. There will be more information coming your way when we have a date scheduled.
Fourth and fifth graders both participated in a Breakout Box activity last month in their tech class. Breakout Boxes are educational versions of Escape Rooms. We have a box with several locks on it. Students have to solve puzzles to get the combinations of the locks. They have their 30 minute class to solve all the problems. These activities require a lot of communication, teamwork, and out of the box thinking. While not all the classes got into their boxes, they will have another try later this year with different puzzles. We have 2 Breakout activities planned for third grade as well, and are working on some for the younger grades.
Family Resources
Nursing
When your child is ill
Students have attendance expectations, but if your child is ill, please keep him or her home to rest. The Student Health Guidelines are published in the student handbook. Please review these for expectations of the district. The district medical advisor has participated in the development of the guidelines.
Students who present to the school office with symptoms during the school day will have these guidelines taken into consideration for the action plan. For example, a student who comes to the office complaining of not feeling well will be asked to identify what is not feeling well. Is it a headache, stomachache, fever, cough. Temperature checks are made frequently. Sometimes a few minutes of rest and a drink of water is all that is needed. But we will call you if your child meets a guideline and ask you to take action.
Please remember that students who need medication during the school day must have the medication delivered to the school office by an adult in the original pharmacy labeled container or original package with directions for over the counter meds, and one medication consent/request form per medication shall be completed and submitted to the office for the nurse to review before giving. Medication forms are online for your convenience. Go to Nursing Services, Medication.
Ask the pharmacist to provide a second bottle for school when ordering or picking up the medication from the pharmacy.
The school nurse is available to you as a resource, please do not hesitate to call for support and guidance. Mrs. Hon covers all elementary buildings and may be reached at 608/742-4867, ext 4131, 608/697-4912, or honv@portage.k12.wi.us
Phy Ed.
If you have any questions, please email me woodhousej@portage.k12.wi.us or call me at 608-742.7376 ext 6111.
~Mr. Woodhouse
Art
Mrs. Adams and Mrs. Martens presenting a pop art sculpture session at the Wisconsin Art Education Association conference in October.
Art students have been learning about Pop Art this last month, including famous artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, James Rizzi, Roy Lichtenstein, and Keith Haring. What fun it has been for students to create sculptures of donuts, paint tubes, candy, jumbo crayons. Younger artists fine-tuned the art of painting with watercolor and tempera.
In other art news, I am looking for volunteers to come into the Art room and take photos of artwork to upload to the Artsonia webpage. This is easy and allows parents to see their child's art in a safe space. I am at Rusch on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Lewiston on Wednesdays and Endeavor on Fridays. An hour goes a long way!
Music
We in the music room have some big news from last month: we have a new instrument! It is called a cajon, it comes from the caribbean music tradition and is basically a wooden box with things inside to make noise when the box is tapped. The students suggested names for the cajon and then the whole school voted on a name during their music classes. The name with with most votes was: Rock-ta-gon! Here is a picture of some 5th grade students using the Rock-ta-gon for an instrument activity.
Also, remember that the Winter music program is on Tuesday, December 18th at 5:30pm in the Rusch gymnasium. This past week students were selected to play the instrument parts in the concert and we all continue to practice our music.
See you at the Winter program!
-Miss Janes
Stitch Club
Backpack Program
The goal of the program is to provide nonperishable food items for students to take home on the weekends and long breaks during the school year.
The Backpack Program hopes to reduce food anxiety so that students can have more positive social, emotional, and academic outcomes in school.
For more information about this program please visit https://sites.google.com/portage.k12.wi.us/portage-community-schools-back/home
Rusch Elementary School
Website: portage.k12.wi.us/rusch
Location: 117 W Franklin St, Portage, WI, United States
Phone: 608-742-7376