School District of Howards Grove

Greetings Parents & Guardians:

Time flies when you're having fun! Believe it or not, we are winding down to our final weeks of school. After today, there are only 33 more days of school for students. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our school district. This month's newsletter is packed with information. Please take a moment to read through the items being shared so that everyone is aware of the wonderful things happening in our schools.

Sincerely,

Shannon L. Kilton

Superintendent

Referendum Update

The timelines are coming together for the next steps after the design phase for our construction projects. In order to plan accordingly for the large construction projects that will be occurring on our school sites, we are being proactive in looking at our school calendars for 2024-2025 & 2025-2026. As the timeline below shows, the new construction at the middle school and high school is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2025.

To allow CD Smith Construction as much time as possible, we will likely need to alter our school calendars to accommodate their work. The current plan is to start the 2024-2025 school year a little earlier (prior to Sept. 1st which will require a waiver to the Department of Public Instruction) and end the year early (by Memorial Day).

Then for the 2025-2026 school year, the request is to start a little later to allow for a little buffer time for the grand opening. As a way to avoid drastically impacting the school calendar for students, families, and staff, school districts will often increase the instructional minutes each day to accomodate for the fewer days of attendance. We will be investigating all options and will be asking for input. I just wanted to put this on the radar, as all of these options will come with a potential change.

Please note: there are NO CHANGES to the calendar for next school year. The 2023-2024 school calendar is already set and approved by the school board. Here is a copy for your convenience. 2023-2024 calendar link

Finally, I am very excited to share some of the initial design photos for the middle school addition, the high school entrance, and the courtyard that will be a shared outdoor space for both schools.

Welcome to the new Howards Grove Middle School. This view will be the face of the new building if you are standing on Audubon Road. There is a circle drive to drop off students and staff and visitor parking nearby. The academic wings are on the left and the middle school and district offices are on the right. The tall entrance structure in the middle takes you directly into the commons, after going through a locked vestibule, of course.

As mentioned last month in my newsletter, the new middle school addition will also include an outdoor learning space/courtyard which will be all "hardscape," meaning no natural grass and limited maintenance for our grounds crew. In addition to providing an outdoor learning space, this space also allows for more natural lighting in classrooms, and was noted to be the more cost effective solution compared to directly abutting the new building against the current high school walls.

Looking Ahead

End of Year Dates & Events

High School

May 13 – Prom, HG Center for the Arts, 8-11 pm

May 24 – Band and Choir Concert, HG Center for the Arts @ 7 pm

May 31 - High School Senior Scholarship and Awards Night, HG Center for the Arts @ 7pm

June 4 – Graduation held in the high school gym @ 2:00 pm

Middle School

May 5th- Student Showcase, 5-7pm, held throughout the school

May 17th - Spring Concert 5/6th grade @ 6:30pm, 7/8th grade @7:45

May 31st- Awards Day @1:45pm, held at the Middle School

June 5th: - 8th grade Recognition, held at the H.S. @ 6:45pm

Northview

May 2: Spring Concert – Grade 1 @ 6:00 pm and Grade 3 @ 6:45 – HG Center for the Arts

May 4: Spring Concert – Grade 2 @ 6:00 pm and Grade 4 @ 6:45 – HG Center for the Arts

May 19th- PTO Spring Carnival at NV – Kitchen opens at 5:00 pm; Carnival is from 5:30-7:30 pm

June 7: Northview Field Day

District-Wide

May 26th-29th- Memorial Weekend No School

June 7 – Last day of school for students

Summer School Registration is OPEN!

Here are the important dates and reminders for the upcoming summer school program. For more information, please visit the summer school link on our website: https://www.hgtigers.org/summer-school/

Summer School Dates

April 6 – All summer school course descriptions and schedules available online. You may begin browsing and planning your child(ren)’s possible summer school class schedules and related costs.
April 12 - Summer school registration opens online.
April 26 - Registration closes.
May 12 - Fees for applicable classes will be posted to student's account.
May 26 - All fees need to be paid.
Session 1-June 12– June 30 Summer School classes in session Classes held Monday – Friday 8 am - 12 pm unless otherwise indicated.
Session 2-July 31-August 11 Summer School classes in session Classes held Monday – Friday 8 am - 12 pm unless otherwise indicated.
PLEASE NOTE – Swimming is held Monday-Thursday at 8:00 am and 10:00 am with a limit of 40 students in each time slot.

PLEASE NOTE - There may be other individual summer school offerings that are in sessions throughout July and/or August.

Grade Levels

Please remember that the grade levels used are the student’s 2023 – 2024 grade levels.

THANK YOU for the Support!

On Friday, April 14th, the Howards Grove Education Foundation hosted an amazing event featuring Ted Oliver Productions: Dueling Pianos, delicious food from Parker Johns, silent and live auctions, and an overall fun night for our school community.

The foundation is still tabulating all the funds, but preliminary results are showing close to a $40,000 profit! Thanks to each of you that came out and supported this great event. All of the money raised will benefit the school district. While they haven't picked a feature project to fund yet, clearly this amount will be a huge gain for the district.

A huge shout out to Parker Johns for the food and Cleveland State Bank for the entertainment!

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL SILENT AND LIVE AUCTION DONORS, especially:

Bitter Neumann

Terry Mueller of Gumdrop Books

Vandoske Dairy Farms

Romy Godard

GFL Environmental Waste Management

Millersville Sheet Metal

Keith & Traci Hiebing

George & Wendy Varish

Feldmann Sales and Service

Jansen & Sixel Landscaping

Howards Grove Chiropractic & Drs. George & Wendy Varish Wolf Pack Adventures

Howards Grove High School

We are HIRING

The School District of Howards Grove is accepting applications for a few open positions.

Business Manager

On Monday night, the school board accepted the resignation of Brian Walters as our business manager. Brian has accepted a job as business manager at CESA 7, which is closer to his home. As a result, we have posted the position and are accepting applications. Manager. The successful candidate, under the direction of the superintendent, will manage and fulfill all fiscal duties of the district. Must possess a strong sense of personal and professional ethics, requires excellent and effective communication skills, a proven leader and an expert in fiscal

management. General responsibilities to include, but not limited to, direction and oversight for

the accounting, payroll, budgetary, reporting, purchasing, insurance and employee benefits as

related to the school district. Candidate must be comfortable and proficient with technology.

This position requires a Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business administration or

public administration. Certified Public Accountant or DPI license (or must be in a program to

obtain appropriate licensure) and school experience is preferred. Experience with Skyward is

desirable but not required. This is a 12 month position. Acceptable background check required.

For additional information, please contact Shannon Kilton at skilton@hgtigers.com or apply on WECAN. https://wecan.waspa.org/Employer/Vacancy/PublicCertified/3498

Custodian/Cleaners

The School District of Howards Grove is looking to hire 2 part-time custodian/cleaners. Basic responsibilities include cleaning classrooms, bathrooms, hallways, and other areas as instructed, and following standard operating procedures for the School District of Howards Grove. These are part-time, 12-month positions; hours may be adjusted during the summer. For additional information, or if interested in either position, contact Dave Hoh, Buildings & Grounds Director at dhoh@hgtigers.com or Cell: (920) 226-4295. Applications accepted on Indeed.com

High School (3:00-8:00 pm)

Middle School (3:00-7:00 pm)

JV Girls Basketball Coach

The School District of Howards Grove is looking to hire a JV Girls Basketball Coach for the 2023-2024 WIAA basketball season. Experience as a player/coach is preferred. The season runs from November through March. For additional information, or if interested contact Tracy (Mueller) Sanchez at tmueller@hgtigers.com or (920) 565-4450. Applications accepted on Indeed.com or WECAN wecan.waspa.org

School Newsletters

Check out each link to find out what's happening in our schools!

High School

Middle School

Northview

Mark your calendar!

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 15 at 6:00 PM in the high school library.

In person visitors are welcome, but we also have a virtual link each month.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/96296511830?pwd=QVhxNWpmSUNYbnlWbXdNNWZKdjgyQT09

Communication Chain

As questions or concerns arise, please continue to follow this communication chain.

FIRST, Reach out directly to your child's teacher/team/coach.

In the event your concerns are not addressed or you need further support, NEXT reach out to the building principal or activities director.

Jon Hess- High School Principal: jhess@hgsd.k12.wi.us

Angie Houston- Middle School Principal: ahouston@hgsd.k12.wi.us

Sarah Ellinger- Northview Principal: sellinger@hgsd.k12.wi.us

Tracy Mueller- Athletic/Activities Director & Special Education Director: tmueller@hgsd.k12.wi.us

FINALLY, if you still need additional support, please reach out directly to me, Shannon Kilton, Superintendent: skilton@hgsd.k12.wi.us

In the event, we have all failed to help you navigate your questions & concerns, your last stop would be to reach out to the school board. Here is the actual board policy on navigating this process.

I am personally asking for this communication chain to help us all develop positive and trusting relationships, which are always grounded in open and honest conversations. Most often, concerns can be easily solved when we all talk directly to the person involved with the question or problem.

Thanks in advance for the support and understanding of this process.