Madison Memo
November 2021
A Message From the Principal
I can't believe November is here and we are already into 2nd quarter. We have been working hard to demonstrate behaviors "The Madison Way" by being safe, respectful, and responsible. Classroom goals have been set and many achieved with a new goal to work towards. Ask your child what their classroom goal currently is.
This month also brings some events to our building. The PTO will be sponsoring the Scholastic Book Fair November 9th, 10th, and 11th. Watch your child's Friday Folder for details. Parent teacher conferences are also this month. You should have received an email and text message with a link to sign up for conferences. Conferences this year will be Thursday, November 11th from 1:00 - 7:00 pm. This day will be an 11:30 dismissal for students.
Recently you also received a parent survey via email from the Manitowoc Public School District. This survey was sent through School Perceptions, an independent educational research firm. Your input is important and responses will be collected through November 21st at 5:00 pm.
As you know at Madison we are a Kids at Hope school, we believe all kids can succeed, no exceptions. One of the important ways we do this is ensuring students have a caring adult in their lives. We work to build relationships with all kids. At home you can support this work by having a conversation with your child about who are caring adults they can count on - a family member, a babysitter, a coach, a neighbor, and many more.
We are excited to see each of you at conferences this month. Keep reading and stay Madison Proud!
Mrs. Opahle
Upcoming Dates
- Monday, October 18th - Wednesday, November 24th - Toy for Tots Donation Drive
- Tuesday, November 9th - Thursday, November 11th - Book Fair
- Thursday, November 11th - Half day of classes, dismissal at 11:30am AND Parent/Teacher Conferences 1pm-7pm
- Friday, November 12th - Picture Retake Day
- Monday, November 15th - PTO Meeting, 6:30 in the the library
- Friday, November 19th - No School, Staff Development Day
- Monday, November 22nd - Club's Choice fundraiser pick up from 2:30 - 4:30
- Thursday, November 25th and Friday, November 26th - No School, Thanksgiving Break
Drop Off Reminders
Madison Attendance At A Glance
The teachers and staff at Madison Elementary School are committed to providing a safe and engaging learning environment for all students. We know that when students attend school regularly and are engaged learners in the classroom they gain important skills, valuable knowledge, and worthwhile experiences.
Keeping an Eye on Attendance
Every two weeks the Madison attendance team meets to review student attendance data. This team is composed of building administrators, school counselors, and support personnel. The goal of the team is to maintain positive attendance rates and to support students and families who struggle to attend school consistently.
How many days can my child be absent prior to being considered truant?
The MPSD recognizes a maximum of 10 partial or whole days of excused absences per school year. Examples of excused absences include illness, funerals, vacation, and doctor’s appointments. Building administrators will work closely with families experiencing unique hardships or circumstances that cause a student to miss more than 10 days.
Any absence beyond the 10 day threshold is considered unexcused
How do students earn unexcused absences?
When a student is absent from school without parent or guardian permission and/or an acceptable reason.
When a student is tardy from school for more than 2 hours
When the 10 day threshold of excused absences has been reached (any additional absence without administrative approval or a doctor’s note is treated as an unexcused absence).
What will happen if my child shows a pattern of irregular attendance?
Step #1 - Parents, guardians, or caregivers will be contacted by our attendance office via phone call.
Step #2 - After three unexcused absences families will receive a written communication from the school. As partners in positive attendance and student learning this letter will request improved communication between the family and the school.
Step #3 - With little or no improvement and the accumulation of six or more unexcused absences, school representatives will contact families via written communication and phone call. The family and the school will discuss strategies for overcoming barriers that prevent improved attendance.
Step #4 - Should a student reach ten unexcused absences, school administration and a school resource officer will request an in-person meeting with the family. Should the family fail to meet requirements of the improvement plan created in this meeting, a fine for habitual truancy totaling $439 may be issued. Families receiving a fine will be automatically enrolled in the truancy buy back plan.
Who do I Contact to Notify the School of my Student’s Absence?
Madison Elementary School Attendance Hotline (920) 663 - 9730
Please contact any of our administrators at Madison with questions! Engagement and academic success are of the utmost importance to all of us here at Madison Elementary School.
Need a COVID Test?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yGHh48Mx1xepzJTbWPjxGeXbEnwLXzzzxiisTLZH8jc/edit?usp=sharing
Nursing News - A few friendly reminders with the start of cold weather season…
The cold weather months typically lead to more viruses being spread because children and adults are spending more time indoors together. As a reminder...
Please do NOT send your child to school if he/she has any of the following:
Fever greater than 100.4 degrees. Children must be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications before they can return to school.
Vomiting or diarrhea within the last 24 hours. Children must be free of vomiting or diarrhea for at least 24 hours before they can return to school.
Continuous coughing that is not relieved with cough medicine as this is very disruptive to learning.
Covid-19 is still very prevalent in our community but we realize that many other illnesses cause the same symptoms. If you choose to have your child tested for Covid-19, they must remain home until you have their results and communicate them with the school office.
Please help us teach your children good healthy habits to protect themselves as well as others. This helps us prevent the spread of illnesses in our school!
Plenty of rest and nutritious food are necessary.
Do not eat/drink from the same utensil or container after someone else.
Keep hydrated by drinking plenty of healthy fluids (soda does not count).
Cough or sneeze into a tissue or bent elbow.
Frequent handwashing is the best way to prevent the spread of germs.
Students need to be picked up if they become ill at school. For this reason, please be sure that the office has a current telephone number and inform the school of any changes throughout the school year.
The Math Corner
Math Help at Home: Asking Questions
When you’re working with your child at home, there are many ways you can help. One of the simplest is to ask questions about their thinking. By expressing curiosity about your child’s thinking, you can help them develop deeper understanding, build confidence in their own abilities, and encourage the habit of justifying reasoning. Here are Two Rules of Thumb:
Rule 1: Try to understand your child’s thinking. It’s easier to help if you have insight into your child’s thinking about the problem. Questions like, “Tell me about …” or “How did you …” are great openers.
Rule 2: Build on what your child knows. Your goal is to help your child build on what they already know. One way to do this is to paraphrase and question. When your child shares their thinking, paraphrase what you heard them say, and then ask a question. “I hear you saying … How did you figure that out?”
Additional Questions to Ask:
Question 1: What do you notice?
Question 2: How did you figure that out?
Question 3: How can you show your thinking? (e.g., picture, model, equation)
Question 4: Do you see any patterns?
Remember, you don’t need to have all the answers. When you model learning alongside your child, you’re teaching them much more than mathematics.
© 2021 The Math Learning Center | mathlearningcenter.org
For additional resources to support your student's math learning at home, visit the Bridges Family Support page. Click to visit the page and explore resources by grade level.
The Counselor's Corner - World Kindness Day and Extra Benefits of Kindness
World Kindness Day
World Kindness Day is a global day that promotes the importance of being kind to each other, to yourself, and to the world. The purpose of this day, celebrated on November 13 of each year, is to help everyone understand that compassion for others is what binds us all together.
Benefits of Kindness
You may have heard that being kind benefits not only the recipient of the kindness but the person giving the kindness as well because it feels good to make others feel good. Well, here are just some of the benefits of fostering kindness can have for your child/ren:
Can enhance feelings of gratitude when helping others less fortunate
Can increase self-esteem by feeling a sense of pride and positivity
Can positively benefit friendships by being seen as someone kind and friendly
Can create a sense of belonging and community by connecting with others in a positive way
Can positively impact mental health and stress related factors by increasing “feel-good” hormones in our body
*benefits reported from Ripple Kindness Project 2019
What You Can Do at Home
Here’s a fun yet simple way to make kindness a focus for your child/ren and in your home.
Set a goal as a family each week about how many kind acts you are going to try and do
Pick a kind act of the day that everyone in your home will try and do that day
Share stories about kind acts with each other
Go on a kindness scavenger hunt and watch for simple acts of kindness from others
Greetings from the Madison School Library
This month’s theme is Kindness.
Children have opportunities every day to choose to be kind to one another or make good choices. Reading books can help children discover self-awareness and think about how their behavior might affect others. The Madison Library has picture books that feature social emotional learning concepts, like kindness and citizenship. Call the library at 920-663-9350 to request a book to be sent home with your child or login to Destiny Discover to place a book on hold yourself. Use your child’s ID # (example: 41228) and password to login to Destiny.
The Reading Corner
Hello Madison Families,
Last month we invited families to Madison Family Game Night in order to show off some of our new math and reading games that can be checked out from our school’s library! It was a very successful evening with plenty of fun and excitement centered around skills that elementary students need to develop in order to be successful in math and reading.
Whether you were able to make it or not, I wanted to take some time this month to show you how you can view these games in our library’s online catalogue and put them on hold so that they can be checked out to you! Please follow this link to watch a short tutorial on how to do this!
Checking Out Home Kits Tutorial
Soon, each Home Kit will also include a picture to make it even easier to check out your favorite games! If you are unsure of what games might benefit your child, reach out to their teacher or the Madison Reading Department, and we can assist you!
Happy reading!
The Madison Reading Department
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Madison Elementary School
Website: https://madison.manitowocpublicschools.org/
Location: 701 North 4th Street, Manitowoc, WI, USA
Phone: 920-663-9540
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MPSDmadison