Park Lawn Panther Press
August 15, 2019
300 Park Lawn Street Oconomowoc, Wisconsin 53066 (262) 560-8205
School hours: 8:30-3:40
Welcome to the new school year!
- Our school theme this year is, EVERY Day Counts. We will craft our PBIS-RC goals keeping this in mind and will strive to re-orient all members of our PKL family of the important role that school attendance plays in making EVERY Day Count.
- When you visit during Open House from 4-7PM on the 27th be sure to visit Mrs. Mankins-Gadwood in the newly renovated library and STEM lab; it's dynamite.
- Our wonderful Park Lawn PTO is planning for some activities during Open House; details in next week's Panther Press and Facebook.
If you're new to Park Lawn:
- We abbreviate Park Lawn; PKL
- Our school colors are purple and black
- Midnight the Panther is our mascot
- We are proud of our Outdoor Classroom
- Our average enrollment is around 460 students in 4 year-old Kindergarten-4th grade and four classrooms per grade level except 4K.
- Your're reading the Panther Press, our weekly school newsletter published every Thursday
- We are a PBIS (Positive Behaviors Interventions and Supports) school. This year we are going to incorporate RC (Responsive Classroom) as well. Detailed information will be in next week's Panther Press regarding how we will launch the school year.
- We will love your children and care for them every minute of the day and while we are not perfect, we sure work hard to be our very best.
- Starting a new school is a big deal; let us know how we can help.
We can't wait to see everyone, it's going to be our BEST year yet!
Mrs. Jones,
Principal
In this week's Panther Press...
- The big reveal
- Drop-off and Pick-up information
- Building Security
- School Hours and Attendance Reminders
- Safety Week information
- Introducing new staff
- EDUkit pick-up during Open House
- PTO Meeting September 16th at 4:15
Recurring from Spring:
- Dates to remember
- Breakfast Program-before school
- Nut free learning spaces
- Links to: Free and Reduced Lunch Application, Volunteer Background Check, Facebook, and Purple Folder
The Big Reveal
Drop-off and Pick-up Information
Please note:
- During the first week of school ALL staff will be present on the playground from 8:25-8:35 to assist students with lining up.
- Classroom teachers will have signs/whiteboards with their names to help with identification.
- EVERYONE should line up on the playground before school the first week.
- Beginning the second week of school, September 9th, we will return to our regular before school supervision (Mrs. Lawton door 3, Mrs. Didderich atrium, and Mrs. O. door 8) and students will line up at their designated classroom locations and begin entering the building at 8:30 when the first bell rings.
- You should not have any trouble identifying staff before and after school as they will be wearing yellow safety vests.
**PLEASE, PLEASE refrain from waiting before and after school in the office vestibule as this is not only an evacuation route, but it is a small area and it is difficult for staff to support students with physical limitations when the space is filled with families waiting to enter the building. Thank you for your cooperation.
Building Security
- Morning Y-Care drop off will remain in the gym; exterior building doors will remain locked until 7:45 and the YMCA will communicate how to initiate entry.
- After school Y-Care pick up will take place via the service drive Multi-purpose room door #10. This is an adjustment from previous years and an effort to maintain after hours security.
- The Y-Care program will again communicate with families how pick-up will operate.
School Hours and Attendance Reminders
- First bell rings at 8:30 with the day officially beginning at 8:40 and concluding at 3:40.
- School attendance includes arriving to school on time; in the classroom and ready for learning at 8:40. Children not in their classroom at 8:40, they will be marked tardy.
- Our school social worker, Mrs. Lee, reviews student attendance on a weekly basis and issues letters as attendance concerns arise. Should your child's school attendance be of concern, Mrs. Lee will contact you to set up an opportunity to meet and problem solve which may include requiring a doctors note for each absence.
- Should your family be considering a vacation, please complete a vacation request form available in the school office. At Park Lawn we believe that everyday counts. Our teachers strive to plan daily learning experiences in the classroom that can not be replicated with apps and packets.
- Vacation requests will be denied when a child's attendance is of concern. Often when reviewed weeks and months in advance illnesses can strike impacting overall student attendance.
- During our PBIS-RC launch with students Friday, September 6th, we will introduce our attendance goal of 97% and children will bring home an attendance goal letter for your family to review, sign, and return. Thank you for your partnership.
Welcome to the team...
Mrs. Stark
Mrs. Muehlbauer
Mrs. Huskisson
Mrs. Herzog
Mrs. Allison Jones
2019-2020 Dates to Remember
20th
Class Lists published to Family Access and will be available ONLY to families who have completed Online Registration
27th
4-7 PM -Park Lawn Open House and PTO Fundraising Celebration. We will celebrate our new playground equipment and PTO has arranged for local food trucks to be here if your family would like to purchase dinner.
September:
3rd First Day of School 5K-4th
4th First Day of School 4K
6th Raccoon Rally www.oasd.org/RaccoonRally
9th-13th PKL School Safety Week (see below for details)
October:
4th Homecoming Parade
15th Parent-Teacher Conferences 7:00-8:00 am and 4:00-8:00 pm
17th Parent-Teacher Conferences 1:00-8:00 pm (early release at 12:40 pm)
November:
11th-15th PTO Book Fair and Grandparent Lunches
December:
17th
Kindergarten Music Concert 5:30-6:00
*PTO Reserved Seats and Parking: Nuckles and Kelly Families
3rd grade Music Concert 6:45-7:15
*PTO Auction Reserved Seats: Chris Calderon
*PTO Auction Reserved Seats and Parking: Winkelman Family
18th
1st grade Music Concert 5:30-6:00
*PTO Auction Reserved Seats and Parking: Berlinski and McConeghy Families
2nd grade 6:45-7:15
*PTO Auction Reserved Seats and Parking: Hardt and Nuckels families
PKL School Safety Week: September 9th-13th
The OASD and Park Lawn believe that school safety is paramount to all we do. As a result we will dedicate the week of September 9th-13th to ensuring that our learning community is confident in our safety procedures. Below is a schedule of each day of the week and the drills that will occur. In addition we have included a brief outline of what Principal Jones will review with students during morning announcements and lunch, and what classroom teachers will review.
Please note that all of our staff are annually trained in ALICE; we have included detailed information and a link if your family would like to learn more about ALICE. We make every effort to support students in understanding the need to practice intruder drills in age appropriate ways that do not evoke a sense of fear but rather a sense of importance. We want the children to know that while a dangerous situation may feel like they do not have any control, there are strategies such as barricading and locking down and evacuating that can save their lives. Part of this training includes having a safe site within walking distance for us to evacuate. During the Friday drill we will be escorting ALL students off-site to our evacuation site, The Oconomowoc Public Library. Rest assured that our staff will take measures to ensure the safety of all students during this drill as we will practice this evacuation during staff training on 8/28 and meet with public library staff as well. Again, to learn more about ALICE please refer to the link below.
https://www.alicetraining.com/
Tuesday: Principal Jones and classroom review of the above and what it means if we have a medical alert
Wednesday: Continued review and a Tornado drill
Thursday: Continued review and a fire drill
Friday: Continued review and an ALICE drill with evacuation rally points with further evacuation to the public library.
**During PKL 94 Principal Jones will remind everyone of our school-wide expectations during a drill:
- Silence so that we can hear directions
- Walking for additional safety of all
- Tornado safe position
- Expectations for the public library and the walk to and from
***Classroom teacher responsibilities during this week:
- Specialist teachers will review with all classes where to go for all drills and the tornado safe position
- Classroom teachers will review drill locations along with expectations and the tornado safe position. Video link to a reading of I'm Not Scared I'm Prepared book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdNAl0ADUuk
- Expectations for the public library and the walk to and from and how we conduct ourselves once we are there.
We will conduct an additional Safety Week again the week of March 9th. Goals for this week of review will include but are not limited to:
- Mock simulation of an unsafe person in the building and the need to make split second decisions of whether to evacuation or lock-down and barricade.
- Understanding reunification at our evacuation site if we are forced to evacuate and not able to return to Park Lawn.
2019-2020 Breakfast Program
Park Lawn is fortunate to offer a before school breakfast program. This opportunity runs from 7:45-8:15 and is supervised by two staff members. No sign up required and daily attendance is not required. Contact the Park Lawn office for additional information. Students attending the breakfast program should enter via door 12 by the gym; doors will remain locked until 7:45
Beginning September 2019
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