CEPS Express
November 2020
Conrad Elvehjem Primary School Information
School Principal: Greg Nelson, nelsong1@mcfsd.org,
608-838-4602
Associate Principal: Brooke Hauser, hauserb@mcfsd.org,
608-838-4595
4K/CEPS Building Administrative Assistant:
Emily Broome, 608-838-4652, broomee@mcfsd.org
CEPS Administrative Assistant:
Sarah Goecks, 608-838-3146, goeckss@mcfsd.org
A Note From Our Principal
Dear Conrad Elvehjem Primary School Families,
In November, we encourage our students to give thanks for things big and small, people near and far, and for activities from the past, present, and future. I want to take this opportunity to share a feeling of thankfulness of my own: thank you to all of the students, staff members, and family and community members for all you do to make CEPS feel like my home away from home. I am truly honored to get to know, work with, and learn from all of you. I look forward to this continued partnership because I know we share the common goal of making your child’s year here a year of learning, growing, and of course, lots of fun!
Part of this partnership is communicating your child’s progress throughout the year. In addition to the ongoing communication you and your child’s teacher have, there are four formal opportunities for all K-2 students. We hold parent-teacher conferences in the first quarter, send a report card at the end of the second quarter, hold conferences again in the spring for third quarter, and then a final report card is sent home at the end of the year. Thank you for planning to participate in our fall conferences which are taking place this month. This is a great time for teachers and families to come together to share the strengths our students have shown thus far, while also collaborating around goals to work towards this year.
As you know, our district teaches and reinforces our expected student behaviors using the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework. At our level, we use a fun theme each year to motivate students, and this year’s theme is “Superheroes” (how fitting, that just like superheroes, we are all wearing masks as well!). Our students earned their first quarter reward by learning and showing the expected behaviors throughout the building, and got to enjoy decorating their own superhero masks at the end of October. It was fun to see how excited they were to be creative with their mask designs.
I have a couple quick-hitter reminders for you before I wrap up; thanks for paying attention to the following:
On November 23-December 4th, ALL EC, 4K, and K-2 students will be going fully virtual. CLICK HERE for the October 19th School Board slides and see slide 14 for more information. Your child(ren)’s teacher will be holding live Zooms in the AM or PM, just like at the beginning of the school year, and will communicate more details as we get closer to that date.
Thank you so much for your support with our asynchronous (“on your own”) lessons. With our shift to focusing on practicing skills at home, we do count on your assistance with reinforcing these expectations at home. This is due to the fact that with our shortened days in the hybrid model, we cannot provide as much time to work on building stamina at school as we would in a typical year, and your follow-through at home will help students keep the pace with their expected progress.
We appreciate that families are following our health procedures for screening students daily before school and keeping them home when sick or displaying symptoms of COVID-19, including keeping students home if they were exposed to potentially positive cases as well. Because of the fact that families are being so proactive, we have avoided any spread of the virus here at school from occurring thus far. We cannot thank you enough for doing your part to keep our students and staff safe.
If you would like the added resource of the Kinsa thermometer available this year, please contact Gwen in the health office at griffeg@mcfsd.org for more information. The app provides a list of COVID-19 symptoms after it logs the temperature for you to review. No specific student information is provided to school, only summary information like how many students have a cough this week. At least one more shipment can be ordered this year, and they will come in sometime in late November.
At this point, the district is still working with Empire Photography to determine if we will be taking student pictures this year. Once a decision is made, we will be sure to let families know the plan either way. Hold tight for further information, thank you!
CEPS parents can order cold meals for their students to bring home on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Orders can be placed for Wednesday meals along with their Tuesday orders, or parents can choose to order and pick up hot meals from WIS & MHS. We are offering meals to some daycares in the area. Please check with your provider to see if they are available through your facility. A new and improved ordering site is now available. It will allow parents to order meals for multiple children every day. Use THIS LINK to place orders.
Finally, with the fall days turning shorter and cooler, we appreciate your assistance and support with ensuring that our students are properly dressed for the weather. It is a good idea to make sure that jackets and hats/gloves are labeled with your child’s name, and are sent on those chillier days. Once the snow begins to fly, then plan on sending your child to school with their boots and snow pants as well, as we do hold recess outside during the day as long as the combined temperature and wind chill is above zero degrees Fahrenheit. On that note, please feel free to reference the following visual that we use to gauge when students do/do not need coats/jackets: CLICK HERE. Outdoor playtime and an opportunity to get fresh air is an important part of our learning day and we want to make sure your child has dressed appropriately so he/she can enjoy these activities.
Thank you for all you do to support your child and our learning community! As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I wish you and your family a wonderful celebration of togetherness and gratitude.
Working together to grow and empower responsible, kind and curious thinkers, learners, dreamers and doers,!
Greg Nelson
CEPS Principal
CEPS November Dates At A Glance
November 6 - Regular Scheduled School Day (previous calendar was a PD Day)
November 9 - November 13 - CEPS Fall Conference Week
November 23 - December 4 - Back to Step 2 (Virtual) for 2 weeks!
November 25- Jersey/Sport Day
November 26 & 27 - NO School/Thanksgiving Break
Coming Up:
December 1 - 4 - Virtual
December 7 - Back to Step 3 (Hybrid/In-Person)
December 21- January 3 - Winter Break (different than original calendar)
Attendance Information and Policies: Kindergarten-5th Grade
Conrad Elvehjem Primary School (K-2) 608-838-3146
Waubesa Intermediate School (3-5) 608-838-7667
MVP (Step 2)
School Hours
AM Session: 8:00-10:35
PM Session: 12:00-2:35
Hybrid (Step 3)
School Hours
AM Session: 7:45-10:45
PM Session: 12:15-3:15
Drop Off Start (Step 3)
AM Session: 7:45
PM Session: 12:15
Tardy After
(Step 3)
AM Session 8:05
PM Session 12:35
Daily school attendance is vital to your child’s success. We hope you can support us by making attendance a priority and helping your child understand that establishing good attendance habits now is important for success in school and beyond! Below are highlights from our School District’s Attendance Policy:
Please call your student’s school office to report an absence or tardy. If we do not hear from you regarding your child’s attendance, we will call you to verify your child’s absence. If we are unable to reach you to verify your child’s whereabouts, a member of the student services team may make a homevisit to ensure the student is safe and accounted for.
Attendance: Excused Absences
Students may be excused from school for the following reasons:
1. A parent or guardian may excuse a student before the absence for any or no reason. A student may not be excused for more than ten (10) days per school year and must complete any course work missed during the absence. Reasons in the category include, but are not limited to, the following:
Any professional and other necessary appointments that cannot be scheduled outside of the school day.
A death in the immediate family or a funeral for relatives.
Legal proceedings that require the student’s presence.
Family trips that can only be taken during the normal school term. Please notify a building administrator about the trip at least one week before leaving.
2. Evidence that the student is not in proper physical or mental condition to attend school.
3. Obtaining religious instruction or observing religious holidays
Please be advised that after a student has been absent ten (10) days in a school year, a conference may be requested to discuss measures related to attendance and how we can help improve the student’s attendance. If a doctor’s note or appointment card is presented as proof of appointments, they will allow the absence to be medically excused and not count towards the 10 days. In addition, students who have tested positive for COVID-19, were exposed to a positive case of COVID-19, or are experiencing COVID-like symptoms should work with the health office, our District Nurse and school administration to determine next steps (i.e. quarantine, access to instruction, etc.) and if the absence should be medically excused and not count toward their 10 days.
If a student is kept home, or sent home, for COVID-like symptoms, they must be evaluated by a provider before coming back to school. This may be by a virtual or actual visit to the healthcare provider. If the student is ruled out for COVID-19, they may return to school 24 hours after their symptoms are gone without medicines. You must provide documentation from the provider stating the student was ruled out for COVID-19. If the student is tested for COVID-19, they must be out until their results are received, and as indicated by the District's COVID-19 policy.
Attendance: Unexcused Absences
Truancy means any absence of part or all of one or more days from school, for which the school was not notified of the absence by the parent/guardian of the absent student. A habitual truant is a student who is absent from school without an acceptable excuse for all or part of five or more days during a school semester.
If a student is truant, a parent meeting may be requested. If efforts to reduce truancy are not effective and the student is considered a habitual truant, the student will be referred to the McFarland Police Department and a citation may be issued.
If a student is open enrolled into the District, and is habitually truant from the District, the Board may prohibit the student from attending in the succeeding semester or school year.
Tardiness:
Students must be in their classrooms at the established starting time for the school day (see above table). Students who arrive late should report to the office for a pass.
At any time, if chronic tardies or truancy are issues that you would like assistance from school staff to address, please do not hesitate to contact Lily Hlavacek, School Social Worker K-5 (608)-838-4610, Al Northouse, Associate Principal at Waubesa Intermediate School 608-838-4609, or Brooke Hauser Associate Principal at Conrad Elvehjem Primary School 608-838-4595.
COLD WEATHER GEAR
Both CEPS and Waubesa use Channel 3000 Weather to monitor the temperature.
Families can update their contact information via the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
Free Meals...
Dear McFarland Families, McFarland School District has been authorized to provide free breakfast and lunch to all McFarland children, ages 18 and under. This program is paid for by the National School Lunch Program and USDA. Every meal distributed helps our School Nutrition Department cover costs and continue our mission to provide healthy, good tasting meals to our community members under the age of 18. We have made a few changes to our program that we need to inform you of: Daily hot lunch ordering and pickup is available Monday through Friday at Waubesa from 11-12 and McFarland HIgh School from 11:00-12:30. Friday pickups will include the option to add two additional cold lunches and two additional breakfasts for weekend consumption on the ordering site. CEPS parents can order cold meals for their students to bring home on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Orders can be placed for Wednesday meals along with their Tuesday orders, or parents can choose to order and pick up hot meals from WIS & MHS. We are offering meals to some daycares in the area. Please check with your provider to see if they are available through your facility. A new and improved ordering site is now available. It will allow parents to order meals for multiple children every day. Use this link to place orders. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to feed your children healthy, tasty meals. We hope this provides some normalcy and structure during these ever changing times. Barb Waara waarab@mcfsd.org
Dental Newsletter
Important Reminders About COVID-19
COVID-19 Symptom Screening Checklist
Reading Tips!
Have a reader who is reluctant to get started or gets stuck and isn’t sure what to do? Here are some tips to help support the love of reading in your child! Click on links below for tips.
Encouraging Reluctant Readers Tip (click the link)
Good Habits for Solving Hard Words Tip (click the link) https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1A4hNQ1GnJ3-O8eTKFYmUoMaEw0oaLEivYGS2dh5iuI8/edit?ts=5f9b3182#slide=id.g9fb93126fb_0_275
For additional resources to support your child with at home learning please click on the “Resource” button in your child's homeroom teacher's Canvas Page.
PTO November 2020 Newsletter
The McFarland EC-8 PTO held its first at large meeting on October 20, 2020 with over 50 people joining us virtually via Zoom. Our guest speaker was Erin Sadler from the Rooted Family. She offered quick strategies to manage stress. Please visit her web site (therootedfamily.com) for free ideas. All three principals provided updates at the meeting for each of the three schools represented by the PTO. The PTO also shared how we continue to engage and support our school community this school year.
Goodie bags were distributed to teachers and staff at CEPS, WIS and IMMS in coordination with parent teacher conferences (being held primarily virtual this fall). Thank you to our supportive families for your generous donation of items and to PTO members Beth Malecki and Jaclyn Persinger for their time to assemble and distribute the bags.
Upcoming PTO Events:
November 18 & 19, 2020 Spartan Pizza Fundraiser. Take a night off from making dinner, support a local business, and the McFarland EC-8 PTO. A portion of all the proceeds will be donated to the PTO.
December 2020 Watch for updates regarding the No Hassle Fundraiser
Anyone is welcome to attend our monthly meetings, held on the second Thursday of the month at 7pm. Please contact Michaela Voeck at mcfarlandptopez@gmail.com for more information.
At large PTO Meetings: February 17, 2021 and May 10, 2021 (election for new officers and advisory council members)
You can see all of our updates by following our Facebook Page www.facebook.com/McFarlandPTO or visiting our website www.mcfarlandpto.org