May 2, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Congratulations to Jahra Juech who was named the Dodge County Teacher of the month for April. Please help me congratulate her on this award!

• Jr Coaches had a great trip this week that was just for them. They are building leadership skills and helping us each day.  Thank you to Teresa and Blasia for taking them on this trip!

• This week I had the privilege of sitting in on an IEP meeting for a 3rd grader. It was awesome to hear the growth that the student has made this school year and see the pride on her parent's face.  Never doubt that you are making a difference in a child's life! 

• Lauren's last day with us is Tuesday, May 6!  Please help me congratulate her on her upcoming graduation and wish her much success in her teaching position for the fall!  Good Luck Lauren!

What's Happening At Dodgeland?

• Saturday, May 3
• Happy Birthday Eneida!

• Sunday, May 4
• Star Wars Day - May the Forth be With You!

• Monday, May 5
• Seals on Wheels Visits start - These are longer appts because it is teeth cleaning and applying sealants for each student.  They will be set up in the elem. conference room all week.
• Bus Duty: Zastrow, CaineB, Schulte, Donovan (meet buses at end of sidewalk in the morning)
• Lunch Supervisors:
• 12:00 - Schuett
• 12:30 - Westphal
• 1:00 - Fortmann
• Jenny in a meeting from 8:30-10am
• AimsWeb Assessment starting in Grades 4K-3rd
• Teacher Appreciation Week - I always appreciate you, but this week I get to show you too. Get ready to be spoiled!

• Tuesday, May 6
• 2nd Gr Data Meeting (SEL only) in District Office Conf. Rm @ 12:05-12:55pm
• 1st Gr. Data Meeting (SEL only) in 1st grade classroom @ 3:05pm
• Para Meeting in IMC @ 3:15 

• Wednesday, May 7
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am
• 4th Gr. Data Meeting (SEL only) in 4th gr. classroom @ 12:35-1:25pm

• Thursday, May 8
• 5K field trip from 8:15-11:30am
• 4K Concert in Elem. gym at 2:30pm

• Friday, May 9
• 5th grade Band rehearsal on the stage from 8-8:30am, all 5th graders will have PE at 8:30 instead
• 5K Data meeting (SEL only) in District Office Conf. Rm @ 11:35-12:25pm (RESCHEDULED due to field trip on Thursday)
• Harvest Lessons in grades 4-5 starting at 10am
• Patti in a training from 12:30-2pm

Nitty-Gritty

• Americorps - Reading Corps
• You may have been hearing information in the news regarding Americorps and it's funding.  I get frequent updates from the directors of Reading Corps.  At this time, the funding for our tutors, Bethany and Ashley, is still in place and we expect that they will both be back next year!  Yay!!!

• Citizenship Grades
• Please put in citizenship grades for your students for April. This will help you at the end of the month when it is time to do the report cards.

• Updates on the 2025-26 School year
• This week was difficult for many due to the many changes that are occurring throughout the district. The decisions made were hard and the unknowns for many of us are stressful as well. Please know that I will share what I can, you are always welcome to meet with me or give me feedback and that I always think through all decisions that I make. If you don't understand something, it is always better to ask for clarification than it is to make assumptions.  That being said, these are the changes that I know about for now.
• Gabrielle Zastrow will be our new ML Coordinator for the district. She will take on some of the tasks that Rose has done for us, and she will be supporting us as we help our ML students to continue to thrive and grow!
• Kari Westphal will be staying in her current classroom, but will be teaching 2nd grade next year.
• There will be 3 sections of 4th Grade next year. Stephanie Neis will be joining Trisha and Lindsey to teach 4th grade and will be moving into Rose's current classroom.
• There will be 3 sections of 5K next year.  Tina Ellefson will remain in her current room, but will be teaching 5K instead of 4K.
• Amber Jenkins will be teaching 3K in the morning and Early Childhood in the afternoons.
• Courtney Mook will be a shared teacher with the Hustisford School District. This means that one day a week she will be out of the building teaching.
• There will be other updates on logistics as plans are finalized for next year. If you have specific questions, please enter them HERE. This will help me to make sure your questions are addressed.

• Class Creator
• Many have asked me about the class creation timeline. I plan for us to be creating these class lists on June 5. Please make sure that you complete the surveys for all of the tabs by May 30. This will allow me to have the drafts done before June 5 when we will meet as a group.

• Library Updates
• Week of May 12th is our last week of typical 30 minute library lessons
• Monday (19th) - Wednesday (21st), you can bring your class into the library for a discarded book event. Students will have the opportunity to take a number of discarded books home to keep forever!
• Friday, May 23rd - All library books are due back to school
• Wednesday, May 28th - BOGO book fair for the community from 3:00-5:00pm
• Thursday, May 29th - BOGO book fair for the community from 3:00-7:30pm
• Friday, May 30th - BOGO book fair for students (more detailed information to come about limited times students from each grade can come shop)

• Budget Sheets
• Jessica emailed out about the Budget planning for your classrooms.  Remember, it is critical that you only budget for what is essential.  The worksheet will be in your mailbox and is due by May 14. I will look through them at that point and let you know what is approved and then you can submit Purchase orders.  All PO's should be completed by June 9 this year.

• Supply Lists for next year
• As a group, please look over the supply lists for your grade.  We will be using a company this year that will be a option for our families to buy school supply boxes sent directly to the school for the next school year.  This is totally optional.  It has the ability to be a fundraising piece, but I have not looked at that part. At this time, I have a proposal of what it would cost our families if they were to order it based on the supply list from last year.  Click HERE to look through the boxes. When we are ready for this, we will update the supply list on the portal here and it will adjust the cost of the box in real time.  This process will be completed by May 12.  (You will see on the link that it is sent directly to me, but I think it is a better way to share the details than me trying to summarize it!)

Recess Information

Upcoming!

Field day will be Tuesday, June 3rd. 4k - 3 grade will be in the morning and 4th-5th grade will be in the afternoon similar to the format of years past. More information to come.

TechKnow Tip

As you work through sorting, saving, and organizing this year’s materials for next year, be sure you are logged into iCloud! You may notice a red notification bubble on your settings app (iPad) or you may be prompted with a pop-up (laptop). These frequent logins with iCloud are set for security measures. Be sure to log into your Apple ID on your iPad AND laptop whenever you see the notification or you get a pop-up notification. Being logged into your Apple ID ensures proper iPad backup of your files, photos, and apps. This is the same for students too, so feel free to encourage them to stop tapping “Later” and log in to ensure their priceless work is saved.

Friday Funny

Nate Bargatze is back in WI this month.  Here's a short clip of another of my favorite stories!