Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter
August 13, 2020
Muskego-Norway School District Covid-19 FAQs & Resources
We Are One!
Dear Muskego Lakes Families,
Thank you for completing the District reentry survey. Your responses have helped us further plan for the start of the 2020-2021 school year. Whether students are attending Muskego Lakes in-person this fall or learning virtually, ALL students and families are part of the Muskego Lakes family! We are committed to the success and well being of all of our students. Because we believe that we are still one learning community, we will use our family newsletter to deliver information to families of students attending in-person and those attending virtually.
This newsletter will mark the beginning of our pattern of sending out a weekly Family Newsletter as there will be much to share to help you prepare for the upcoming year. Please keep any eye out for our newsletters as they will hold much information for our virtual and in-person students and families. In addition, if you would like an email address added to our newsletter mailing list, please reach out and let us know!
If you are not following us on social media yet, please consider locating us on Facebook (@muskegolakesmuskies) or Twitter (@MLMSmuskies) to stay informed and to get reminders regarding upcoming dates, important information, etc
In partnership,
Rachel Rydzewski & Chad Krupar
Muskego Lakes Principals
To contact Rachel: rachel.rydzewski@muskegonorway.org or (608) 628-8546
To contact Chad: chad.krupar@muskegonorway.org or (262) 955-1274
Important Dates Ahead
8/19 (11:00am - 2:00pm) - Chromebook Pick-up 5th Graders & New Students (Sign up below)
8/21 (7:00am - 3:00pm) -For Students Returning for In Person Learning, Building Open to Settle Into Lockers and Walk Student Schedules (Sign up below)
8/24 (10:00am - 6:00pm) -For Students Returning for In Person Learning, Building Open to Settle Into Lockers and Walk Student Schedules (Sign up below)
8/24 (4:00pm - 6:00pm) - Chromebook Pick-up 5th Graders & New Students (Sign up below)
9/1 - 1st Day of School for In-Person and Virtual Students
Virtual Learning Updates
Welcome to our Virtual Learning experience for Muskego Lakes Middle School!
We are happy to provide this option to our Muskego Lakes families. We will be sending multiple updates before the start of school, which is September 1st for all of our students.
Curriculum for Virtual Learners
Our school has adopted Edmentum, a virtual learning platform, in order to deliver high-quality learning experiences to our students. Edmentum has been used with great success for a number of years by Muskego High School, which makes it a natural fit for our system as a whole. Our goal is to use Edmentum’s courseware and their pre-developed classes to build out experiences that mirror our in-person scope and sequence and units. We are using the expertise of our teachers who teach the in-person classes to build these classes in Edmentum. Students will work through these online classes with the support of two designated virtual teachers who will be focused just on the virtual learning students. The teachers will be monitoring student progress and pacing, and providing additional support as needed. Also, the teachers will offer regular “office hours” where students can drop in virtually and speak live with a teacher for individual help, as needed.
For our youngest students transitioning to 5th grade at the middle school, we will have a hybrid model where 5th graders will receive direct instruction from their virtual teacher for literacy and math- with Edmentum for all other courses as described above.
Electives
As with in-person learning, fifth and sixth graders will receive an exploratory sampling of electives. Seventh and eighth graders who chose Spanish or French will be enrolled in online Spanish and French. These classes will be supported by our French and Spanish teachers. We will be reaching out to 7th and 8th grade students with additional elective choices next week.
Assessment & Intervention
Just as our in-person students, we will be using the iReady assessment tool mid-September to collect data on student achievement and growth in order to make decisions about which students require additional support to learn and grow. This assessment will be completed by virtual students from home, and the results will be analyzed and used to provide students appropriate leveled supports, just as we do for our in-person students.
Where do we “belong”?
You are absolutely part of the Muskego Lakes family! The teachers supporting the online learning will be Muskego Lakes staff and are considered part of our school. Likewise, the virtual learning students are an important part of our Musky community. As an example, they would be able to take advantage of our co-curricular activities. In addition, on Friday, September 25th - our first PD Day, we will schedule time for our virtual students to get their picture taken to receive their honor card and be included in the yearbook.
Supply List
Your supply list will look different because Edmentum, the virtual learning platform, will have different requirements, and in many cases, you may need fewer supplies. A planner will be provided for you and will be available for pickup at the school. We will notify families when they arrive.
Here is a preliminary list of supplies:
-designated work space that will be minimized from distraction
-chrome book
-charger cord
-planner or calendar
-pencils
-individual white board
-dry erase markers
-graph paper (with the small squares)
-scissors
-one notebook
Information regarding Chromebook pick-up for 5th graders and new student students can be found further down in the newsletter. This also applies to our in-person and virtual students.
Virtual students and families will complete this process online just as our in-person students and families.
All of our students, in-person & virtual, are Muskies! Therefore, all Muskies will be following the same school calendar.
In our next newsletter, we will:
introduce our teachers who will be leading the virtual learning environment
share more details on what a typical day/week will look like
Preparing for In-Person Instruction
Preparations continue for welcoming students back to Muskego Lakes on September 1st. Here are some steps we are taking at Muskego Lakes so we can Stay Safe to Stay Open.
Students will be provided with a Muskego Lakes cloth face mask on the first day of school.
Hand sanitizer stations mounted outside every classroom. Students will be expected to use hand sanitizer before entering every classroom.
Plexiglass is arriving and being placed in classrooms, learning lounges and the cafeteria.
Furniture is being moved out of classrooms to maximize our ability to physically distance students.
The arrival and dismissal procedures are being modified to spread out students entering and exiting the building each day. Look for more details on our modified pick-up/drop-off procedures in our next newsletter.
Stanchions are being placed in hallways to control the flow of students in hallways.
A 30x40 outdoor tent is being installed in our parking lot to provide additional outdoor instructional space.
Band and choir classes will be held in the gymnasium this year. The space will allow for our musicians to physically distance themselves to mitigate risk. Given the enrollment numbers in band and choir, the spacing needed was not achievable in the band and choir rooms.
Our physical education teachers are collaborating in preparation for outdoor physical education instruction. They will focus on developing and/or modifying existing units to reduce risk to students.
Snacks or treats will not be permitted on buses, at lockers or in classrooms. This also means we will not have birthday or holiday treats at school this year. Thanks for understanding as we seek to stay safe to stay open.
To allow for contact tracing, we will have assigned seats in the cafeteria by the second week of school.
While attending Muskego Lakes in-person will be different than in past years, we are excited to have students back in the building. Our teachers and staff will be working with students the first week of school to learn new procedures and understand why they are in place. Previewing this information with your child will help prepare them for returning to school. Look to next week’s newsletter for more information.
UPDATE: Virtual Forms and Fees Days
With our shared goal of staying safe to stay open, both Muskego Lakes and Lake Denoon are piloting a virtual Forms and Fees process. This will allow for the greatest flexibility for family schedules as all steps can be completed 24/7 from any location. No need to wait in line, take off early from work or stress about late summer vacation conflicts.
Simply log in to Infinite Campus at any time to pay fees and complete online forms for the upcoming school year.
A reminder that on Monday, August 17th at 8am, you will be able to access your child's schedule as well as access their locker assignment for the upcoming school year.
Because students typically have the opportunity to walk their schedules and get their lockers set up at Forms and Fees Days, we wanted to make sure students still have that opportunity to do so. This is an OPTIONAL opportunity. Students are not required to come to the building, and students enrolled in the virtual track would not benefit from coming to the building.
The times the building will be open and available for you and your child to come walk his/her schedule and drop off school supplies in his/her locker are as follows:
5th Grade Families & New Families to MLMS:
*Any 6th - 8th grade students with 5th grade siblings can attend with the family during these times.
- Wednesday, August 19th from 11am-2pm
- Monday, August 24th from 4-6pm
6th-8th Grade Families
- Wednesday, August 19th 9:00am - 5:00pm
- Friday, August 21st 7:00am -3:00pm
- Monday, August 24th 10:00am - 6:00pm
To ensure that families are able to maintain physical distancing while visiting Muskego Lakes, we are asking families to sign up for a window of time to attend. Use the links below to sign up for a time:
- 5th Grade & Students New to Muskego Lakes Sign Up
- 6th Grade Sign Up
- 7th Grade Sign Up
- 8th Grade Sign Up
For our incoming 5th grade families, once students are in middle school, we do not have an Open House event that you may be used to experiencing at your child's elementary school. That being said, our 5th grade teachers are amazing. They will return to the building on August 20th, and they will be excited to hear from you should you wish to connect with them via email or phone.
And later this fall, we will need your feedback on your experience with a virtual Forms and Fees process to help us determine our planning for the following school year.
Attention 5th Grade & New Families to Muskego Lakes
Please visit this LINK for information on the finger scanning process.
New Interventionists at Muskego Lakes
Supply Lists for 2020-2021
Muskego Lakes Middle School
Website: https://www.muskegonorway.org/schools/muskegolakes/
Location: W124 S8009 North Cape Rd.
Phone: 262-971-1860
Twitter: @MLMSmuskies