CEPS Express
February 2020
Conrad Elvehjem Primary School Information
School Principal: Greg Nelson, nelsong1@mcfsd.org,
608-838-4602
Associate Principal: Brooke Hauser, hauserb@mcfsd.org,
608-838-4595
4K/CEPS Building Administrative Assistant:
Emily Broome, 608-838-3146, broomee@mcfsd.org
CEPS Administrative Assistant:
Sheryl Leemon, 608-838-3146, leemons@mcfsd.org
A Note From Our Principal
Dear Families,
I am thinking back to last year and considering ourselves lucky! This winter has so far been comparatively quite mild when it comes to the extreme cold and snow we experienced just a year ago! Here’s to hoping I did not jinx us, and that February continues to be kind.
During the school year, our goal is to have four formal opportunities to hear how your child is doing in school. In the fall, families are invited to attend Parent-Teacher Conferences as the first opportunity. In January, teachers prepared the first-semester report cards for parents to view on Infinite Campus this month. Report cards communicate how your child is developing academically, behaviorally, and socially-emotionally. The third opportunity to learn about your child's progress will be in March at the spring Parent-Teacher Conferences. Lastly, the second-semester report cards will be available on Infinite Campus after school lets out in June. A strong home-school connection helps our students be successful, and I thank you for your partnership.
Just as a reminder, an optional breakfast is served before school in the cafeteria for K-2 students. All breakfasts include fruit, juice, and milk. The breakfast supervisors greet students, help them make food selections if needed, and chit chat with students as a positive way to start the day.
Please take a minute and check out our Early Childhood-8th grade PTO Website. The PTO recently revamped their website and does a LOT to support our schools. They are always looking for members and ideas, and I encourage you to explore the information on their page and contact them if you are interested in becoming involved in any way.
Finally, a quick “Lost ‘N Found” reminder: as our collection of lost items grows, please have your child stop by the lost and found items outside of our library (or come check it out yourself). Every couple of months, we “clean out” the current items that remain and donate them to a local nonprofit.
Thank you for all you do to support your student(s) and our learning community.
Sincerely,
Greg Nelson
CEPS Principal
February Dates At-A-Glance
February 3 - Report Cards Available on Infinite Campus at 3PM
February 4 - 1st Grade Planetarium Field Trip 9-11 am - Davis, Juszczyk, Schimanski
February 5 - 1st Grade Planetarium Field Trip 9-11 am - Adams, Brezenski, Froden
February 6 - 1st Grade Planetarium Field Trip 9-11 am - Mandli, Mueller, Rotunno
February 7 - Wear Red for American Heart Association
February 12 - After School Spanish Program starts again for 2nd semester
February 14 - Red/White/Pink Day
February 17 - NO SCHOOL - Staff Development
February 19 - At Large PTO Meeting - WIS Multipurpose Room - 6:30PM
February 21 - Kindergarten Orientation, RSVP required, 8:15-9:15 am
February 25 - 2nd Grade Music and Art Program
5:30 pm - Frazier, Presser, Punzel, Schmaling.
6:30 pm - Albrecht, Garvoille, Hemmer, Schmidt, Wisniewski
February 27 - 1st Grade Music and Art Program
5:30 pm - Adams, Brezenski, Juszczyk, Mueller, Rotunno
6:30 pm - Davis, Froden, Mandli, Schimanski
February 28 - Kindergarten Orientation, RSVP required, 8:15 - 9:15 am
February 29 - CEPS PTO Winter Carnival - CEPS Gym, 10AM - 12PM
Upcoming Dates in March:
March 3 - 4K Dr. Seuss Night, CEPS Cafeteria - 6:00-7:00 PM
March 5 - Youth Art Month Reception, 5:30 pm - ED Locke Public Library
March 13 - NO SCHOOL - Staff Development
March 17 - Welcome to 4K Parent Night, CEPS gym 6:00-7:00 PM
March 23- 27 - Spring Conference Week
March 27 - Last Kindergarten Orientation, RSVP required, 8:15-9:15 am
March 30 - April 3 - NO SCHOOL - SPRING BREAK
Updates from the PTO
The McFarland EC-8 PTO is starting 2020 with many new family friendly activities and fundraisers for early childhood to eighth grade students and McFarland community residents.
Visit our new website at https://www.mcfarlandpto.org/ This website has been generously donated by Big Rose Web Design, LLC. A special thank you to Taylor Dagenais for sharing your time, talent, and resources. The website is the heart of PTO communications.
Upcoming Dates and Family-Friendly Fundraising Events:
- February 6, 2020 - 7pm: PTO Advisory Committee Meeting at the McFarland House Café. Learn more about the inner workings of the PTO.
- February 12, 2020 - 5:30-7:30pm: Indian Mound Middle School Family Fun Night. A family friendly event open to all ages with fun activities including an Escape Room experience. The PTO will be selling pizza and root beer floats.
- February 19, 2020 - 6:30pm: PTO At Large Meeting at Waubesa Intermediate School in the multipurpose room. Join us to hear an informational presentation from school psychologist Angie Brunett on gender identity support in our schools. There will be principal and PTO updates as well.
- February 29, 2020 - 10am-12pm: Conrad Elvehjem Primary School Winter Carnival (for EC, 4K & K-2 students/families). Join the PTO for our inaugural event. The whole family is welcome to join and participate in games, crafts, see James the Magician perform at 10:30am and win silent raffle items. A suggested donation of $15 per family will give you 20 raffle tickets to win fun prizes and services. Cookies, popcorn and drinks will be available for purchase.
- March 12, 2020 6-8pm: Paint the Tile night at Waubesa Intermediate School. This event is designed for WIS students and their parents. Use your artistic talent or a stencil to leave your mark on a ceiling tile that will be displayed in the main hallway or cafeteria. All supplies will be provided and is $15/per family.
The No Hassle Fundraiser will be starting the first week of February. Letters will be sent home with your child and donations can always be made online at McFarlandPTO.org/donate.
Check it Out - For EC, 4K, K-2 families!
1st Semester Report Cards
https://mcfarlandwi.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/parents/mcfarland.jsp
Remember that you don't need to wait for report cards for an update on your child's progress. Feel free to get in touch with us at any time to discuss how your child is doing!
Please Label Winter Clothing & Check Lost and Found!
2020-2021 Enrollment Information for 4K and 5K!
Classroom Placement for 2020-2021
The process for determining class placement for the 2020-2021 school year occurs during the spring and summer, with final decisions shared with families as a part of fall registration in August. Many factors go into this complicated and time-consuming process as great care is taken to establish class rosters that support the unique needs of all learners. Please note that while we do NOT take family requests for placing their child(ren) with a specific teacher or peer(s), we are open to families that desire to share details about teacher characteristics or classroom environments that we might consider when determining a student's best placement for next school year. If you are interested in sharing preferred teacher traits or other student needs (without specific teacher names), please send an email or written note to Principal Greg Nelson by Friday, March 6th, 2020. Please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Nelson or your child's teacher with questions about this process
Kind regards,
Greg Nelson
Principal, CEPS
A Note from the Health Office
Students should be kept home from school for the following reasons:
o Fever greater than 100 without medicine (if you give them Tylenol or
Ibuprofen, and it is under 100, that doesn’t count) in the last 24 hours.
o Vomiting not related to diet or anxiety in the last 24 hours.
o Diarrhea not related to diet or anxiety in the last 24 hours.
Students diagnosed with the following illnesses must be home from school (per
policy and/or public health recommendations):
o Strep throat – 24 hours after starting antibiotics (i.e. if first dose is at 1pm,
must be home until after 1pm the following day), or 24 hours after last
fever, without taking Tylenol or ibuprofen, whichever is later.
o Pink eye – until they can control the drainage and not touch their eyes or
other people.
o Stomach “flu” (gastroenteritis, norovirus, etc) – 24 hours after last vomiting
or diarrhea or fever not treated with any medication, or 48 hours if
diagnosed with Norovirus.
o Influenza (true respiratory flu) – 24 hours after fever is resolved without
medicine of any kind.
If you are ever not sure, you can check the Health Services handbook on the
Health Services page of the district Website:
https://www.mcfarland.k12.wi.us/district/dept-health-srvc.cfm
If you send your student to school and they do not meet these criteria, they will
be sent home for the wellbeing of your student (as they need time to recuperate)
and the wellbeing of other students in the district.
The week of (1/20-1/24) we reached an all-time high of students out with illness. We
had over 110 students out throughout the district in one day. While we understand
the stress it puts on parents to keep a student home, we need to have a culture of
wellness within our student body, including:
If you’re truly sick, stay home to recover so you do not share germs with other
students and teachers at school
If you’re not truly sick, be in school to keep up with your classwork and save
your sick days for when you’re truly sick
Use good handwashing, use hand sanitizer, throw used tissues away right
away (don’t set them down on your desk), cover your coughs and sneezes
(use the “Dracula cough” and cough or sneeze into an elbow rather than
hands, or cough or sneeze into a folded/double thick tissue)
If you’re out truly sick more than two days in a row, get in touch with your
doctor’s office (in person, by phone, or using MyChart) to see if they think you
should be seen by a Provider at a clinic. If they recommend continuing to stay
home, but not a clinic visit, ask them to send a note to that effect to your
student’s health office (fax numbers can be found on the website listed
above). If they ask you come to the clinic, ask for a note about your student’s
illness for school. This isn’t to be mean, but instead lets us excuse the
absences so they do not count toward truancy.
Please know that we are also taking steps on the school side to protect from illness. Our
fantastic buildings and grounds staff have been doing extra sanitizing on days off of
school so that students come back to a clean environment each day. If you see one of
them, tell them thanks – they’re pretty amazing!
Online Parenting Class is FULL
Online Parenting Class:
At this time the online "Parenting with Love and Logic" class is full. We will be offering another class in the future. We will send an email notification to families when we have it scheduled. If you would like to be put on the list for the next class, please fill out this form.
Thanks so much,
Jill Runde
IMMS School Counselor
Are you interested in joining the McFarland Spartan Sharks swim team? We are hosting swim evaluations for new swimmers for our spring and summer seasons. The swim evaluations are to determine if your child is ready for a competitive swim environment and to help with group placement.
All new swimmers must complete a swim evaluation before registration.
Evaluations will take place on 1/22 and 2/5 from 6-7 PM and also 2/1 and 2/8 from 9-10 AM. A limited number of evaluations may be added in early March if needed. Swim evaluations will take place at the NEW McFarland high school pool. The entrance and parking lot are located off of Exchange Street behind the high school. The evaluations shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. More information about our competitive swim team can be found at spartansharks.com.
Please contact Coach Neil if you would like to schedule an evaluation.