September 12, 2025

 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

• HUGE Shout out to our Reading Corps Tutors, Bethany and Ashley.  They are the first site to have their assessments done and the tutoring ready to start in the area.  I even got an email from the Reading Corps director praising them!  Way to go guys!  We are so lucky to have you at Dodgeland.

• Unfortunately, we have had a few injuries this week on the playground. Thank you to all of our supervisors and Patti who have taken such good care of our kids, got them what they need, contacted parents and were super loving when they were in pain. This makes a not so great situation better when you know someone cares about you.

• i-Ready testing is going strong in grades 2-5.  Shout out to the teachers and interventionists for getting the groups going so kids can do their best work! 

• Shout out to Ashley Gunderson and Teresa Chambers for jumping in and helping staff create procedures to help with students so they can be successful in the classroom.  This includes working with parents, county workers and communicating clearly with students' teams.  Thank you both for all of your work!

What's Happening at Dodgeland?

• Monday, September 15
• Jenny in meeting from 9-10am
• Fall Fundraiser begins, send packets home
• Morning Duty
• Blacktop: Neis, Westphal, Stampfl
• 4K/5K Playground: Mook, Ellefson (meet bus)
• Breakfast: Tietz, Houk
• Lunch Duty
• 12:00 - Ellefson
• 12:30 - Juech
• 1:00 - Schulte
• Afternoon Duty
• Blacktop: CaineT, Duhr
• Circle Drive: Jenkins
• Admin Assistant Team meeting at 3:15 in DO Conf. Rm

• Tuesday, September 16
• Social Media Posts due to Jenny:
• Jenny in meeting from 9-10:30

• Wednesday, September 17
• Workout Wednesday
• Jenny in meeting from 8:30-10am

• Thursday, September 18
• Happy Birthday Kimi!
• Lockdown Drill at 9am

• Friday, September 19
• Fall Field Day 
• All school Dance party on blacktop from 2:45-3:00
• Pyramid Model Leadership Mtg - CANCELED
• Sub Plans for Paras due

Nitty-Gritty

• Handle with Care

• Students often go through difficult times. While the details of those struggles should remain private, we can all offer a little extra kindness and support. If you see an email with a student's name and the subject line "Handle with Care," please know that they are having a tough day. Our staff is already aware and working to support them. In the meantime, please offer them a little extra grace, patience, and understanding.

• Confidentiality Reminder
• We want to maintain confidentiality for our students. When sending emails, please use the first initial followed by the first three letters of the last name.  For Example:
• J Hue
• J Joh
• T Cha

• Class Dojo
• Most of you already use Class Dojo frequently.  Especially if you have parents that need translated items, please use Class Dojo to communicate with them.  It has a translation tool built in and is easy for both parents and staff to communicate with one another.  In addition, please remember, you can use the events for upcoming activities like field trips, but there are also options for parents to sign up for times/events, and group chats as well.  If you need any help, please let me know!
• Please remember to invite Gabrielle to your class Dojo page so that she can keep up with your class events and communicate with your families too.

• Increased Police Presence
• Per Mr. Greco's email, there will be more police presence on campus starting Monday for the following week.  They are using our track for some training and there is nothing to be alarmed about.  Just in case you see anything you will know what it is about.

• Homecoming Coming Up
• Homecoming week starts the week of September 22.  The committee will be in touch with more details including dress up days.  To plan ahead, school will be dismissed on Friday, September 26 at 2:30 pm.  Staff will still work their normal hours that day however.  Den will still be open, just starting earlier.  Stay tuned for more details.

PD Spotlight

Five minutes to Fluency...Do you have 5 min. for your students to work on math facts this year, each day.  The goal is to help them build fluent skills with strategies, not just memorization.  The Amplify program goes as low as counting and subitizing. I highly recommend that you use one of these iPad tools, or even give your students choice if you like.  Being able to watch progress will be important for both students and staff.  If you want to explore on your own, here is the link: https://fluency.amplify.com/

Login with your Google Password.

TechKnow Tip

In addition to Rally Reader and the resources with MyView for Reading, you will also have access to Reading A-Z.  For those that have Raz-Plus, there is a new section within the program that includes Foundations A-Z that includes resources for phonics, phonemic awareness, etc.  It also has a new section to download decodables for students to read as well.  Watch for future optional sessions to learn about this as well if you are interested.  I have submitted a PO for it, so it should be up and running soon.

Here is a link for a number of Resources that they put together for us, including ways to correlate MyView with resources in Reading A-Z or Raz-Plus.  Have fun exploring! 

Recess Information

Junior coaching will start Monday, September 15th during lunch recesses.

Field day is Friday, September 19th.

5k-3rd -  8:30 - 11:00

4th-5th - 1:30 - 2:45 (slight time change)

All school dance party 2:45 - 3:00

Here is the full schedule: FIELD DAY

Specials teachers, please coordinate with the classroom teachers to cover classes at field day during your scheduled times.

Shed

A new lock had to be placed on the shed so we could secure it better. Unfortunately, it is no longer a universal key. There is a key in Teresa’s office (Rm 104), and in the office with Patti.

3k/4k box

The 3k/4k box lock still has a universal key

Behavior Specialist Information

Here are the links to important guiding documents for our building. Instead of doing a mass printing and putting them in the office, please just print what you need.

Behavior Matrix

Progressive Discipline Matrix

Recess Clothing Recommendations 

Zones of Regulation Folder

SEL instruction

As we talked about during inservice, we will be continuing with SEL instruction in the classroom. K/1 will be using Emotional ABCs and 2nd-5th will be using Everyday speech. Please plan to start lessons by the first week in October at the latest (I know you are trying to get Digital Citizenship in too). The Scope and Sequence is in Google Classroom for each grade.

Teresa will start hosting SEL meetings with individual teachers starting the week of 9/29 and will talk about how to incorporate Zones of Regulation during those meetings.

New students

If you have any new students that came after the expectations presentation for your class, please email me the list of names. I will schedule lunch bunches so we can make sure all of our students know our expectations.

ELL/ML Teacher Tips

Hi everyone! I am Gabrielle Zastrow, Dodgeland's New ML Coordinator. For those I haven't met yet, I'll be seeing you at an upcoming meeting soon. I appreciate your patience as I get up to speed in this new role and with all the changes happening in the ML Program. I'm really looking forward to working with you all. I plan to send out a quick tip each week that I hope will offer a new perspective or challenge you to think a bit differently.

For Quarter 1, these tips will help us all to build foundations and get to know our ELL students: 

Week 1: Create a Welcoming Environment. Greet each student at the door and learn to say "hello" in their home language. Display signs and labels in multiple languages if possible, for a culturally responsive environment.

Week 2: Learn Student Names. Take the time to learn the correct pronunciation of each student's name. Practice saying them out loud and ask students to correct you if needed. You may want to video record the student saying their name so you can practice at your own convenience.

Friday Funny

You all know what I will be doing on Sunday.  I really don't care about the Emmy's, but I can't pass up a chance to watch my favorite comedian perform!  :-)