Happy 2023! As I reflect on the first half of the year I am grateful for all the learners, the wonderful families, devoted community members, and our staff family. I am looking forward to all the possibilities that are ahead in 2023 for Maple Grove Charter School learners!

We were all bummed to 2022 with a snow day with so many fun activities planned. Classrooms will be wrapping up these festivities when we come back Jan. 3. To make it even better we will also have our PJ Day on Jan. 3, because I heard many staff and learners were sad we missed that dress up day! So let's start out the 2023 school year comfy and cozy in our jammies!

Open Enrollment and the application for new families to Maple Grove Charter School is just around the corner, February 6th- April 28th, 2023. Families with learners that are currently attending Maple Grove Charter School do not have to fill out the application again and if you are not part of the School District of Athens but have already open enrolled you do not have to fill out the forms again.

The application (will come out February 6th via SeeSaw, Campus, and our Website) is only for NEW learners at any grade including new kindergarteners. So if you have a child or children already attending here but have a new kindergartener coming, you will need to fill it out for your new kindergartener.

Open enrollment forms from DPI (will be available on the DPI website February 6th) are only for families outside the School District of Athens boundaries and you are new to Maple Grove Charter School.

The reason I am putting this out here in advance is for you to spread the word and get your friends and neighbors thinking! Word of mouth has been our best marketing tool for our AMAZING school and we want others to know how much you love this school and the education your child(ren) are receiving! I also encourage you to tell them to call the school to schedule a tour, meet with me, or simple just get more information. We will have an open house as well later in February date TBD.

Many families may not know what Open Enrollment is or the application process can be confusing, but I urge you to ask questions if you or others have them. Thank you for spreading the word about the awesome things we are doing at Maple Grove Charter School!

Jesper the Elf watched over all the Maple Grove Learners and staff the month of December and reported back to Santa each night letting him know who followed the CRISP traits each day. From my perspective he had great reports each day, because we have outstanding kids at Maple Grove! He showed up in unique spots each day sometimes doing something silly or mischievous or sometimes just hanging out. Until Next Year Jesper, thanks for hanging out!

A big shout out to the Nook in the Woods for our great new MGCS apparel! Kids and families are loving them!

I can't say it enough, it was amazing to see such a full gym for both the K-2 and 3-5 concert! Thank you to Mrs. Matz again for putting together such a wonderful program. Thank you to the learners who worked so hard to learn and practice their songs and their parts. d. Thank you to Delta Music for their wonderful bell piece at the 3-5 program. Thank you to the Maple Grove Foundation for the beautiful corsages for the staff. Thank you to the PTO for the refreshments and cookies and bags. Finally, thank you to the families and community members for attending these programs. It is always great to hear traditions carry on by hearing the sounds of the traditional Silent Night, sung by all!

Thank you to all the families and staff who were able to ring bells for the Salvation Army either at Fleet Farm or Walmart! It's a great way to give back to the community and teach our kids how giving back is so important!

Hello from the Governance Board! We’re so happy to see all the amazing things going on at Maple Grove this month! This month, our update answers the question - What is a Charter School? How is it different from other traditional elementary schools?

Wisconsin Charter Schools operate within a public school system, like other elementary schools. Maple Grove Charter School operates within the School District of Athens. Charter schools fulfill a need in the local community – for example, Maple Grove offers an innovative environmental curriculum that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the area! In exchange, we strive for excellence in student success, character traits, and enrollment. We report to the School District on our progress and success stories. The School District funds Maple Grove like the other district schools, but Maple Grove’s Governance Board, PTO, and Foundation fund our special environmental curriculum with grant monies and fundraisers.

A thank you to the Student Council who set up our dress up days the month of December! Kids and staff had so much fun with it! Many kids and adults were bummed we missed PJ day with the snow dayl, but don't fret, we will come back on Jan. 3 with PJ DAY!!!!

Please welcome Kelly Soczka Steidinger! Kelly is a Hamburg community member and joined our board in November.

We celebrated our November reading incentive. Learners had fun decorating ornaments and frosting and decorating Christmas cookies all while listening to Christmas music. Hope everyone had a chance to read a good book over break!

You may have noticed some blue lines running through our beautiful forest. This is an expansion project we are doing this year as part of our Environmental and Agriscience Grant. We are adding pipeline for maple sap to our curriculum. We will continue to have each learner tap 2 of their very own trees, which they found already in the fall, by identifying the Maple Tree through various characteristics. These trees will hang their bags on for them to collect through the season. Now we will also be tapping trees on pipeline.

Learners will have the opportunity to observe and get hands on experience on installing a pipeline. They will be comparing efficiency between bags and pipeline and also using their math skills in comparing production amounts between the two ways. A big shout out to Craig Christians, Wes Kottke, and Wayne Kottke for helping to make this a reality and all your work and time you have already done to start this process! Another shout out goes out to the Leader dealers, Joel Oelke and Craig Christians for your generosity on the discount for supplies. We are looking forward to all the learning opportunities in this expansion!

All grades will be taking their midyear screeners the week of Jan. 18th. Please make sure they get plenty of sleep and a good breakfast or have breakfast here at school those days. This is a screener we take 3 times a year in reading and math to monitor progress and determine where we need to best support our learners. You will receive the results after we complete it and review the data. Thank you for your continued support at home with your child's education!

Our PTO Meeting is Monday, Jan 9 at 5:00 at Maple Grove. ALL are welcome! Our main topic will be our Open House/Family Fun night. Please come share your ideas, talents, or just come to see how you can support a great event!

Reminder our Pizza Fry Fundraiser is due this Thursday, Jan. 5th. Checks should be made out to Friends of Maple Grove. Happy Fundraising!

Jan. 2: No School-Winter Break

Jan. 3: Back to School

Jan. 3: Pajama Day

Jan. 5: Pizza Fry Fundraiser Due

Jan. 6: Recheck of Hearing and Vision

Jan. 9: Artastic Club 3:00-4:00

Jan. 9: PTO Meeting 5:00 at MGCS Gym

Jan. 9: Governance Board Meeting 6:00 at MGCS

Jan. 13: 3rd Grade School Forest

Jan 16: Athens School Board Meeting

Jan. 20: No School for Learners...Inservice

Jan. 17: End of 2nd Quarter

Jan. 18: FastBridge Testing Window Opens

Jan. 25: 4th Grade School Forest

Feb. 3: No School for Learners-Inservice

Feb. 11: Pizza Fry Pick-up 9:00-Noon

Feb. 20 & 21: 5th Grade to School Forest (overnight)

Feb. 20: Artastic Club 3:00-4:00