August 29, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• Shout out to you all for all the preparation for Open House this week.  The families and students left smiling and many told me how much they are looking forward to this school year.  I know that is partially because of your warm welcome yesterday!

• Shout out to James who took on the shortage of desks with a can-do attitude and located some for us to use if we need them until new ones can be ordered and delivered!  Thank you James!  (When is your channel starting???)

• There were many people that stepped in and helped Kimi and Patti this week with organization, delivering items, and communication.  I love the teamwork!

• HUGE shoutout to Patti and Trisha.  You are keeping track of the comings and goings, but mostly comings, of students and families into the school.  Keeping me on track and trying to make this as smooth as possible for our students this year.  I don't know how you find the energy, but I am incredibly grateful for you both!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 1
• Labor Day - No School

• Tuesday, September 2
• First Day - Doors open at 7:30 and kids can come to their locker/classroom starting at 7:45!
• Parents can escort children for the first week (longer for our 4K/5K/1st graders)
• Morning Duty: 7:30-7:45am
• Chambers, Schulte, O'Toole (Big playground/blacktop)
• Schuett, Braunschweig (4K side)
• Fortmann, Caine-Arnes (Breakfast in commons)
• Lunch Duty: 
• 12:00 - Schuett
• 12:30 - Miller
• 1:00 - Klink
• Afternoon Duty: 3:05-3:20
• Juech, Klink (Blacktop)
• Huelsman (Circle Dr)

• Wednesday, September 3
• Workout Wednesday
• Social Media Posts due to Jenny: Donovan, Juech

• Thursday, September 4
• Fire Drill at 10:15am

• Friday, September 5
• Purple Friday!
• Is your Go-Kit ready for the year? (Don't forget to update the roster if it changes throughout the year though.)
• Locker numbers for your students shared with Patti by September 9.

Nitty-Gritty

• First Week
• If you have time to assist with lunch or the lunch recess as the kids are learning the routines, please help in the commons or the playground.  The more hands and help, the more it helps our students learn the routines.

• Line Spots
• Don't forget to create line spots for your class.  You will need to teach and reteach this throughout the day(s).  It is a proactive technique to avoid conflicts or issues later.  I know it is harder the younger the child, but the process and time it takes now, will pay off exponentially later this year.  If you need any help with this, please reach out to Teresa, myself or the previous year's teacher(s). This should start on Day 1 please.

• Mrs. Huelsman Reading
• Did you sign up for a time for me to read to your class?  I would love to come visit next week to see your students!  Sign up HERE if you haven't yet!

• Safety Drills
• As Brad shared, the first drill of each type will be announced and the remainders for the school year will not.  Remember this is for staff and should not be shared with students.  Our students will be looking for their teacher to lead in an emergency.  We practice so that they have the experience and knowledge, but need us to know the procedures so that we are as safe as we can be.  Below are the dates:
• Fire Drill: 9/4 @ 10:15
• Administrative Hold: 9/11 @ 2:15pm
• Lockdown: 9/18 @ 9am (recess will be moved)
• Tornado: 10/2 @ 8:30am

• Go Kit and Class Rosters
• Be sure that you are getting your go kit ready for the year.  Do you have all of the supplies you need and an updated roster?  This should be done and ready before September 5.

• Substitute Folder and Plans
• Most of us don't plan to be gone right away next week, but you never know what comes up.  Please make sure to have emergency plans put into your substitute folder on the Shared Drive by Friday, Sept. 12.

Library Information from Christina

• I'm so excited to get your students going with iPads! Please sign up for a 30 minute time to go through iPad expectations HERE. I will come down to your classroom for this lesson and I will be asking for your participation, so please plan to stay in the room.

• Similar to last year, your students will need to set up their ClassLink multi-factor picture. The first time you do this process, students need to pick a picture that they will use EVERY time they sign into ClassLink. I would be happy to come and do this with your class! I will block off 30 minutes to ensure everyone gets successfully signed in. If you would like me to do this process with your students, sign up for a 30 minute time HERE. Please be sure this is scheduled after my initial iPad expectations lesson. You can do this on your own with your class by following THESE INSTRUCTIONS for K-1-2 or THESE INSTRUCTIONS for 3-4-5.

• You can introduce your class to Watson and his job here at school through THIS Book Creator digital book. Though it is the same as last year (with some updates), I am very appreciative of you sharing it with your students as a reminder and for those new to our district. 

• On Friday you will hear about a tool that will help in the literacy goals Jenny talked about on Monday. The tool is called Rally Reader. I recognize we are all new to this literacy tool, so I would love to come in and get your students started. Please schedule a 30 minute time HERE so I can come into your classroom to introduce, get students logged in, and get them reading on Rally Reader! For grades 5K, 1st, and 2nd, I will intro some age appropriate digital reading tools during this time. We will revisit Rally Reader a bit later in the year.

• I want to ensure that you and your students are successful and feel comfortable with your iPads and digital reading on top of ALL the other important pieces to your classroom. To accommodate all these pieces, library lessons will begin the week of Sept. 29th. I really appreciate your patience in allowing for these important tasks to happen for not only the elementary, but for our middle and high school too. I'll be putting your library times into Google Calendar, so be on the lookout for that reminder. 

• Lastly, please know that I would be happy to deliver any books (specific titles or topics) you need for your classroom for the first few weeks- just reach out!

Friday Funny

In honor of the numerous families and staff that will be camping this weekend, here is a funny meme for you all.