Montessori Memo
December 22, 2021
WAMCS Vision: Guiding children to become lifelong learners and global citizens of moral character.
WAMCS Mission: Through the use of Montessori principles, including experiential learning and individualized instruction, we help students to achieve academic success, advance their awareness of self, encourage their responsibility to and for each other, and guide them to work together towards improving their community and the larger world.
Head of School - Highlights
Dear WAMCS Family,
Have a wonderful and safe holiday break! We will see you in 2022!
Warmly,
Mrs. Channel
Upcoming Events
December 23-January 2: WINTER BREAK
January 11: Community Open House @ 4:00pm-8:00pm
January 14: EARLY RELEASE - 11:15 am
January 17: NO SCHOOL
January 21: E2 to Grand Theater
January 25-28: Art Cluster
WSD Gifted & Talented Student Nomination Process
evaluations. If you have already completed a Permission to Evaluate for Gifted and Talented Identification Form, no further steps need to be taken. Students who are already identified as gifted and talented do not need to be re-evaluated.
Parents whose second through fifth grade child has not been previously nominated as gifted and talented and who feel that they have a high achieving child may pick up a Permission to Evaluate for Gifted and Talented Identification Form with the Parent Inventory Form on the back from the school office. Nominations from parents are due by January 14, 2022.
When the completed parent forms are returned to the school office, each student will be scheduled for several assessments. These will be done sometime during the school day. These assessments, along with other test data, will provide the district with a student profile. This profile will help determine whether or not a child meets the District’s guidelines for gifted and talented identification. The assessment review is expected to be completed in May and the results will be shared before the end of the school year.
The Wausau School District recognizes that appropriate instructional challenge is needed for all students regardless of ability. The GT identification process is one way to help us provide for the educational needs of high ability students. Should you need further information, please contact Matt Adams, GT Learning Resource Teacher or Tammy Steckbauer, Coordinator for Gifted and Talented, at 715-261-0220.
iPads and the Cold
This is just a friendly reminder to all of you that technology devices do not like being left in the cold, the heat or damp areas. The battery will begin to die and the screens will begin to have issues as well. Bringing them into a warm room quickly after they were in the cold may cause condensation inside and also long term damage.
In general - you will want to avoid leaving any technology devices in extreme temperatures (cold or heat) as much as possible.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Community Open House
Each child would sign up for a 2-hour window of time to take any visiting families through our school and talk to them about the great aspects of being a Montessori student.
If your child is interested, please sign up! You are welcome to reach out to Mrs. Channel if you have any additional questions!
Virtual Learning Days/Snow Days
Here are some items to remember:
- We will do our best to be proactive should inclement weather be predicted and send home all necessary materials including student iPads. We will also be sending student iPads home on Fridays for all students.
- All students should plan to attend a classroom Google meet at 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. Each Google meet will last approximately 15 minutes. Google meet codes for each classroom will be shared through Seesaw.
- During the live Google meet, guides will check in with students, explain the learning activities that students will be completing for the day and answer any questions.
- Each grade level will be assigned one encore activity through Seesaw. The grade level the child is in will determine what encore activity will be assigned. This activity will be something that the students can complete on their own and should take about 15-20 minutes to complete.
- Depending on the child's grade level, additional learning activities will be assigned by the guide that the student should complete during the day. For K-2, this will be approximately an additional 15 minutes and for grade 3-6, this will be about 75 additional minutes.
- We understand that on inclement weather days internet connections may not always be working. Please do your best to connect to the Google meet when possible. If you are in need of a hot spot, you may check out one through WAMCS. Please contact Mrs. Channel for more information.
Be Informed, Get Involved!
WAMCS Governance Council
President/Vice-President: Tiffany Rodriguez-Lee
Secretary: Chris Dietsche
Upcoming Meetings:
Tuesday, December 21st @ 5:30pm
Tuesday, January 18th @ 5:30pm
Tuesday, February 15th @ 5:30pm
Location: Montessori Library (Room 141) - Come into the building through Door 3
WAMCS Parent Connect
President: Dawn Dietsche
Vice-President: Melissa Schreiber
Secretary: Elayna Clark
Upcoming VIRTUAL Meetings:
Thursday, January 6th @ 6:00pm
Thursday, February 3rd @ 6:00pm
Meeting ID
Wausau School District - Announcements
COVID Testing Mobile Units
The Wausau School District will have two mobile units available for COVID-19 testing starting Monday, November 8, 2021. That means a mobile unit will visit every school campus. The schedules are below.
As a reminder, the mobile units are giving free PCR COVID-19 testing to all students, staff, and even their immediate family members who are interested. Anyone who would like to receive that free test must register/give consent. You can pre-register for a test below. You can also register at one of the mobile units.
You also have the option to fill out a consent form for your child(ren). That consent form for students is available below, along with information to pre-register them.
It’s imperative that you know the District will not test students without parental/guardian consent.
You can pre-register at this link: https://register.covidconnect.wi.gov/en-US/
WSD COVID GUIDELINES 21-22
Students must stay home from school if they have the following symptoms.
One of these symptoms:
❏ New or worsening cough
❏ Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing
❏ New loss of smell or taste
Two or more of these symptoms:
❏ Fever over 100.4/Chills
❏ Diarrhea
❏ Sore throat
❏ Runny nose/congestion
❏ Headache
❏ Fatigue
❏ Nausea/vomiting
❏ Muscle/body aches
If a student has symptoms, it is recommended that they immediately be tested for COVID, regardless of vaccine status.
The student may return to school with proof of a negative rapid or PCR COVID test from a medical facility (not a home test) or an alternate diagnosis from a medical practitioner. (Proof may be an email, text, or paper copy.) If a student returns to school without proof of a negative test, s/he will be sent home.
If parents choose not to have their symptomatic child tested, the student is presumed positive and must stay home for 10 days, be fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication, and have improvement of symptoms before returning to school.
Parents are asked to notify the school if a student develops symptoms or tests positive for COVID. A positive home test will be accepted. A lab verified test is strongly recommended.
Parents may choose to quarantine the siblings of a positive student in the home based on the health department recommendation, and the absence will be excused.
If your child is identified as a close contact to someone outside the home, follow the directions from the health department.
Contact the Marathon County Health Department with questions. 715-261-1900
The Wausau School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, sex (including transgender status, change of sex or gender identity), or physical, mental, emotional, or learning disability (“Protected Classes”).