West Middleton Update
~Building a Compassionate, Collaborative Community For All~
A few quick updates from Mrs. Krych for January 2019
I hope you all had a wonderful winter break. It was nice to have the shorter week last week to ease back into things. Now we're ready to conquer our first 5-day week of 2019! During our first 3 days back, students and teachers modeled and practiced our Wolverine Way expectations in all of the common areas. Each grade level rotated through the different school environments (hallways, cubbies, lunchroom, playground, bus, cafeteria, bathroom and classrooms) showing us what the Wolverine Way looks like, sounds like and feels like. Ask your child what it means to follow the Wolverine Way and see if they can tell you about the different teachers who retaught them how to be Responsible, Respectful, Safe and Learners at West Middleton.
Our winter assessment window opens up today (Monday, January 7th) and teachers will be reassessing students using the Fountas & Pinnell reading assessment, as well as our new computer adaptive assessment, STAR. STAR is a new assessment for MCPASD and we have been digging in and familiarizing ourselves with all of the information and resources it offers. Here is a brief FAQ on STAR for parents if you are interested. I will be hosting a STAR Parent Information Night on Tuesday, February 12th from 5:15 - 6:00 if you are interested in learning more about the assessment.
We will be sharing the results from our winter assessments with you at our "spring" parent/teacher conferences. I used quotations around spring because conferences are actually in late winter this year, on February 19th and 21st. Teachers will be sending out sign ups near the end of January. In order to connect with our families earlier in the year, we moved our fall conferences up from November to October. This allowed us some time to get to know our students, while also giving us an opportunity to connect with our families in a meaningful way face-to-face earlier in the year. Late February will be a great time for our spring conferences because we will be able to share more recent STAR and F&P data and there will still be 3.5 months after conferences to focus on more growth and more learning.
Finally, we will be having our first "official" family night of the year on Thursday night. Please join us for our West Middleton Family Math BINGO night on January 10th from 6:00 - 7:00 at West Middleton in the Multi-Purpose Room. We will have popcorn, play BINGO and there will be prizes!! Families will leave with grade level specific resources to support our Bridges curriculum and your child's math growth at home. The following Thursday, January 17th, we will be hosting a Family Wellness Event at the Elver Park Neighborhood Center (1201 McKenna Blvd, Madison) from 6:00 - 7:30. There will be booths with various ways to treat yourself and keep your whole family well, crafts, make and take snack items and free recipe books, Yoga, food samples from Middleton area restaurants, sports to play, and freebies galore! Not to mention there will also be prize drawings every 15 minutes during the event and 5 grand prize drawings at the conclusion of the event for your chance to win Harbor Athletic Club passes, Middleton Rec. summer pool passes, Spa items, Gift Certificates from area businesses, and more! We hope you are able to join us for one or both of our family nights this month.
Take care of yourselves and each other. We are #bettertogether!!!
Mrs. Krych
Updates from the PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) Team
We started back with having all grade levels reteaching the Wolverine Way expectations of: Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Safe, and Be a Learner. Grade levels worked together reteaching these expectations in the common areas of: hallways, bathroom, cafeteria, bus, playground, and the classroom.
We had an assembly on Monday to celebrate our learning and focus from last month of being responsible in the cafeteria. This month's PBIS Student's of the Month are:
- Kindergarten - Ava Sleep
- 1st Grade - Ye Zhu
- 2nd Grade - Hisa Schoephoester
- 3rd Grade - Kaylee Bell
- 4th Grade - Abinav Sathiskumar
- Teacher's of the Month - Ms. Mikka Harden and Ms. Emily Langland
We also spent time in the assembly to learn about our focus for the month of being a learner in the classroom. We watched a video created by Ms. Finnessy's 1st grade class that taught us what this should look like and sound like. All teachers will be looking for learners in the classroom for the month of January.
Reteaching PBIS Expectations
Remembering the Wolverine Way in the Cafeteria
Practicing our Hallway Expectations
Announcing Before School Clubs - Enrichment Opportunities for All
Tuesdays and Thursdays are clubs for 3rd and 4th grades. Students do not need to sign up but they do need to get a ticket from the entryway of the school when they arrive as their “ticket into the club.” Once the tickets are gone, the club is full for the day (there are 20 spots per club). With their ticket, students walk straight to the club. If students arrive and the tickets are gone, they can go back outside to recess. We may be offering additional clubs or changing the club topics, depending on student and staff interest.
Monday, 7:25-7:40:
- K, 1, and 2 coloring in the technology classroom (room 501)
Tuesday, 7:25-7:40:
- 3rd and 4th grade coloring in the technology classroom (room 501)
- 4th grade lego building with Mr. Geissel in the Annex
Wednesday, 7:25-7:40:
- 2nd grade coloring in the Technology classroom (room 501)
- Kindergarten and 1st grade coloring with Ms. Ace
- 1st grade math games with Ms. Rojas
Thursday, 7:25-7:40:
- 3rd and 4th grade coloring in the technology classroom (room 501)
- 3rd and 4th grade Yoga with Mrs. Hulsey
January Updates from the PTO
ATTENTION SECOND GRADE PARENTS
It's time to host the 2nd grade appreciation lunch celebrating the wonderful staff at West Middleton on Tuesday, January 15. Please consider welcoming them back from break by signing up to bring something! http://signup.com/go/haAAcXs
NEXT PTO MEETING
The January PTO board meeting is Tuesday, January 15th in the West Middleton library at 6:30pm. All parents and staff are welcome. We hope to see you there!