MacArthur Messenger

Dear MacArthur Families,

We have been in school for over a month now and our students will be delving into the joys of fall, family, and feasts in the coming weeks. As the season unfolds, we can't help but look back on the start of school and all of the accomplishments and growth that has already transpired. Our 1st-5th graders have completed their fall MAP testing, a fire drill practice went well and we were impressed with the efficiency observed amongst students and staff, our first graders have enjoyed a first field trip of the year to Riveredge Nature Center, we have had a whole school dance party as a way to acknowledge great student behavior to kickstart the year, we've practiced and established routines and expectations for successful learning experiences and environments, and we have welcomed many new students and staff members to our MacArthur family. It was wonderful to see families at PTA's pizza party. Seeing our students socialize and run around with each other and siblings on the playground while parents and guardians were able to connect was great. A big thank you to our PTA, volunteers, and staff members for organizing and putting on such fun events.

We value the partnership between parents/guardians and teachers revolving around your child's education. Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on the evening of October 25th, and during the day on October 26th. Conferences for 4K students will also take place during the day of October 25th. On October 11th, our conference sign up will be available on Skyward. The sign up will close after October 20th. Conferences are a wonderful time for guardians, teachers, and scholars to connect about the academic and social growth that the students have made during the first part of the school year. It is also a time for you, as parents and guardians, to share with teachers more about your child and learn about ways we can work together to further their academic progress and success. Here are a few tips for how you can best prepare for conferences as a guardian:

• Prepare questions in advance. What groups has my child been assigned to? Is my child finishing the work assigned in class? The most important question of all is "How can I help my child at home?"
• Let the teacher know if there is a particular topic you want to discuss. If you want to talk about your child's progress in reading, let the teacher know.
• Describe clearly any situations in the classroom that make your child uneasy. Ask the teacher to describe your child's strengths and weaknesses.
• Exchange information. Let the teacher know about any situation at home that may affect your child's schoolwork, such as a death in the family, a new baby, or a change in daycare arrangements.
• Take notes. Your conference may result in several actions for both you and the teacher. Taking notes will help you remember what was discussed and what was agreed upon.
• Start with a positive attitude. Don't waste valuable conference time by focusing on the negative. You and the teacher are a team. Positive comments such as "How can we solve this problem working together?" will be the first step in coming up with good solutions.
• Discuss the whole child. Your child's social development is as important as academic success. Include questions about their interaction with other children and willingness to participate in class discussions.

I will be stopping in during conferences to hear about all the success being made. It's going to be a great year. Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our MacArthur community. I look forward to conferences and a wonderful fall season filled with memorable learning experiences.

Warm regards,

Mr. Gonzalez

Monday 10/9: Wear Packer Gear Day!

Tuesday 10/10: Destination Imagination Try Outs, 3rd - 5th Grade

Wednesday 10/11: Conference Sign Up Opens on Skyward, 8am

Thursday 10/12: PTA Meeting, 7pm

Friday 10/13: Fire Awareness and Prevention Presentation for 5K and 1st Graders

Friday 10/13: Fall Festival and Trunk-or-Treat at MAC (6-8pm)

Tuesday 10/17: Destination Imagination Parent Night (for DI parents)

Friday 10/20: Conference Sign Up Closes at midnight

Monday 10/23: Board of Education Meeting

Tuesday 10/24: Tie Dye Tuesday! (Wear Tie Dye)

Wednesday 10/25: No School for ONLY 4K Students, Parent Teacher Conferences for 4K

Wednesday 10/25: Evening: Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thursday 10/26: No School / Parent-Teacher Conferences (office closed)

Friday 10/27: No School / Professional Development Day (office closed)

Monday 10/30: Wear Black and Orange Day!

Tuesday 10/31: Harvest Celebrations

Friday 11/3: Popcorn and PJs Day!

Friday 11/3: PTA BINGO Night, Book Fair Fall Preview, 6pm

Monday 11/6 - Friday 11/10: Fall Book Fair during school

Tuesday 11/7: T-Shirt Tuesday! (Wear Your Favorite T-Shirt)

Thursday 11/9: PTA Meeting, 7pm

Tuesday 11/14: 2nd Grade Music Concert, 6:30pm

Tuesday 11/21: Turkey Trot Tuesday (Wear Athletic Wear)

Wednesday 11/22 - Friday 11/24: No School / Thanksgiving Break (office closed)

We have an exciting week as the weather starts to get cooler! Our next PTA meeting is Thursday, October 12th. It will be in the library at 7PM and, as always, childcare will be provided. We will also be online via Zoom here. The online experience is much better now that we have our new Owl to help with the video and audio. We will be voting on funding decisions so please make sure you show up!!

The next night, we will have our Fall Festival and Trunk-or-Treat. Break out the Halloween costumes and come join us for jumpies, games, Trunk-or-Treat and more!

Where: MacArthur Elementary School

Date: Friday, October 13th

Time: 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.

Reserve your trunk space, enter your favorite chili recipe and bring the family out for a night of wholesome family fun. Chick-fil-A will be on site with food available for purchase.

New this year, we are accepting home business vendors! Sign up using the link below and indicate any space/needs you would have in the comments.

While we love putting these events on to help build our MacArthur school community, please know that we cannot run them without volunteers. Volunteers are needed for everything from tear down and running of games to supervising the inflatables. Please share with any high school students, middle school students, or consider donating even an hour of your time to help make this event a success and one that can be enjoyed by all of our MacArthur families.

Please use this link to view and sign up for an available spot!

Calling All (gently used) Shorts! As we are transitioning into winter and you begin to clean out your summer wear, the health room would gladly take any shorts your children have grown out of and are in good shape.

Weather Appropriate Clothing: Although we have been relishing in the beautiful weather lately, the colder weather will soon arrive. Please make sure you are sending your scholar to school with appropriate gear (hats, gloves, jacket, boots) once the colder temps and snow arrives. It is always a good idea to make sure an extra pair of clothing (including socks) is sent to school with your child in the event the clothing gets wet while playing outside. Our students go outside for two recesses daily, unless the weather is considered too inclement or the wind chill temperature is below 0 degrees.

The Wisconsin State Law allows students up to 10 absent days, half or full, due to reasons of illness, vacation, appointments, etc. After 10 days, your child is considered truant. Germantown schools have four standard letters we send home regarding student attendance. Those letters are sent home when a student has:

1) Excessive Tardies (10 or more),

2) 5 Absent Days,

3) 10 Absent Days, or is

4) Habitually Truant (5 unexcused absences).

Click here for attendance guidelines and sample letters.

We encourage you to schedule appointments outside of school as much as possible. If an appointment is made during school hours, please bring a doctor/dentist excuse to the office. We are required to send a formal, written notice upon 10 days of accumulated absences. COVID-19 will be handled like any other communicable disease for all students. Ill and symptomatic students may return to school once they are fever/vomiting/diarrhea free for 24 hours without medication and with an improvement of symptoms. If your child must leave school for any purpose, please send in an Eagle Note indicating the time they are to be excused and the reason for the excuse. If your student will be missing school unexpectedly, please contact the office at (262) 253- 3468. Please let the office or your classroom teacher know if you are in need of more Eagle Notes and they will be sent home with your student.

The below points were included in the Welcome Letter. We rely heavily on the use of these notes - thank you for following this protocol whenever possible as we work on clear communication and less disruptions to classrooms throughout the day during academic learning.

• This is a very important form we use for communication purposes. It is extremely helpful to your scholar's classroom teacher and the office when these forms are used to communicate planned absences, late arrivals, early dismissals, or changes in dismissal plans. It is imperative to fill out the form completely and accurately.

• After filling out the form, send it to school with your scholar. Your child will hand it in to his/her teacher, and then it is sent to the front office. This process informs all that need to know the change of plans, and limits the disruptions of calls into the classroom when changes are called in during the day of the change. We understand that things come up unexpectedly, but please use these forms whenever possible.

• For unplanned absences/sicknesses, please call the front office by 8am.

• Blue Eagle Notes are available to pick up in the front office. Alternatively, please call the front office or alert your child's teacher of the need for more notes and we will have them sent home. At any time you may need more throughout the year, please let us know. There is also a printable link below if you need some in a pinch. We appreciate your partnership as we work to make our days as efficient and safe as possible.

As noted above, our conference sign ups will be available on Skyward, starting at 8am on October 11th. At that time, you can log on to your family access and click "Conferences" on the left-hand side to sign up for a time. Conferences for all grades are happening the evening of October 25th, and during the day October 26th.

The sign up will close at midnight on Friday, October 20th.

Go Riteway Bus Company's phone number is 262-677-3282. Please reach out to them regarding questions on your child's bus route, times of pick up or drop off, and other questions regarding the bus. If you would like to sign up for the bus, please contact them, and also let the office as well as your child's teacher know about the change.

Please be sure to check your student's balance on Skyward Family Access. Free and Reduced applications are always available online, in the school, and in the Food and Nutrition office. These should be turned in by October 16th. The sharing information form can also be found here. Families should make sure to fill out this form so the status can be shared for fee waivers.

October Celebrations

• National Farm to School Month

• Tomatoes, peppers, and onions are purchased from Lenny’s Vegetable Garden in Germantown, WI. Lenny frequents the Germantown Farmers Market. We offer these on our sub and burger days and on all of our Garden and Salad Bars.

• Apples from Rim’s Edge Apple Orchard in Colgate, WI. We will crunch into these apples for Apple Crunch Day on October 12th and some additional days during the month.

• National School Lunch Week: October 9-13

• Each year, the School Nutrition Association comes up with a new theme to showcase lunch. This year’s theme, “Level up with School Lunch,” links video games to nutritious foods. For example, when a character is low on energy or health in a video game, what do they do? They power up by finding food items.

• Below are some of the fun things we have in store for next week:

The picture on Tuesday will be supplied by the lunch staff :)

Click below to see the October menus! Please remember that if your child is coming into school late, and will need to purchase a lunch that day, lunch choices (hot or cold option) must be communicated in order for a lunch to be ordered for them. Communication methods are either by an Eagle Note handed in prior to the day, or making a phone call into the front office when calling your child in late prior to 8am.

Please remember to label your child's items they are bringing to school. Our Lost and Found is beginning to grow and when an item is labeled, we can find the owner easily. We will have items out for display during conferences, but please remind your student to look through the Lost and Found in the meantime if you are missing something. Unclaimed items are donated a few times throughout the school year as we run out of space to house unclaimed items.

Our Harvest Celebrations on October 31st are quickly approaching. Your scholar's classroom teacher will communicate specific happening for their classroom.

Please remember that a background check needs to be completed for any family members that are scheduled to help out with classroom parties. Consistent with other days of the school year, only individuals that have made appointments with classroom teachers to come into the school will be allowed to enter during the school day.

It is important to ensure students are in comfortable costumes to sit in the classroom. Please help your child make safe and respectful decisions about their costumes. Costumes must fit comfortably over their normal clothes. Students may not wear a mask during school. Make-up, weapons, fake blood, or inappropriate dress are not allowed.

If your scholar is bringing treats/candy to share, please be mindful of the classroom's health rules to ensure there is no conflict with student allergies in the classroom. If you are unsure, please contact your scholar's homeroom teacher directly.

If your child is going to have a dismissal change on the 31st, an Eagle Note should be sent in their backpack. Remind your child to give it to their classroom teacher. Please do not come to the office to pick up your child at dismissal. If you have sent an Eagle Note to have your child get picked up at the end of day, go to our normal parent pick up location- Door 12. Dismissal is at 4:06.

Effective November 1st, Kids Klub will not longer be accepting unregistered participants into Kids Klub. All children need to be registered prior to being dropped off in the morning, or entering Kids Klub after school. If you are needing care, please register ahead of time. If there is a last minute change to your schedule, please first call the Park and Rec Department, and then call the school to notify us of the change. Please do not call the school first. Late additions to Kids Klub mid-week are not possible online. Please note that if you register your child after 2:30pm, a late fee is charged.

Please remember to re-register your children when a new month begins, if you would like to continue Kid's Klub. Students will not be able to go to Kid's Klub if they are not picked up at dismissal (4:06).

Home-School Connection

Every month, we will have a new "value word" that our scholars at MacArthur are working on as part of our Character Strong program. We talk about this during assembly time and as part of the Monday videos that are shared school-wide. The students continue learning about the value word within their classrooms. MacArthur will focus on specific areas in the school as we teach the students how to practice the value word in their lives. So far, we have focused on Kindness and Respect.

This month we are talking about Responsibility. One way to define Responsibility is “taking action and understanding the impact of our choices.” Taking action can mean doing the right thing or completing the tasks you have been assigned. Understanding the impact of our choices means that our actions matter. Positive and responsible actions can help people and irresponsible actions can hurt others. Responsibility is 1 of 3 traits we will focus on throughout the year that helps students Be Strong. Throughout the school, students will be developing skills like focusing, organizing, and goal-setting.

As we know we are a village and we want to make sure we are providing home and school connections. Have some fun connecting as a family this month while practicing Responsibility.

Here are 2 “Purposeful Pursuits” for you to complete together:

Pursuit 1: As a family, think of ways in which you might make someone’s life a little easier by helping a neighbor or family friend with 1 of their Responsibilities. Could you bring the garbage to the chute or out to the curb? Could you carry things in from the grocery store? Could you invite someone over for a meal or a show?

Pursuit 2: Review Responsibility as a family! Responsibility is taking action and understanding how our choices affect others. Choose 1 household chore (or more!) that requires multiple steps. Then have each member of the family select 1 step to complete to help get the job done! Maybe it is washing the dishes, doing laundry, cleaning the living room, or unloading the groceries - whatever it is, see who can be the quickest or most effective at their task!

We loved learning about the deaf and hard of hearing community during our Deaf Awareness Week (9/18-9/22)! We learned about how to best include people with hearing loss, individuals who have hearing and the successes they have achieved, Deaf Art, sign language alphabets, and more! We all became more "Deaf Aware" and so appreciated the opportunity to share this awareness with our student population. Please click the button below to learn more. Hopefully your scholar shared some of the sign language they learned throughout the week!

We have one more new and wonderful face to introduce to you! We are lucky to welcome new help to our library!

Hello, MacArthur families! I am your scholars' new Library Aide, and I couldn't be more excited. I have a B.A. in English from Alverno College, and I've been a professional book peddler most of my adult life. Prior to Mac, I could be found slinging books at the Germantown Community Library. I'm a product of this school district, and I have a fourth grader at Amy Belle. I enjoy reading, camping, exploring nature, spending time with my son, our pets, friends and family, and seeing young people excited to check out books!

The Germantown Park and Rec. Department’s Fall/Winter Recreation Brochure can be viewed online here.

Upcoming Programs to register for include:

• Afterschool Legos
• Kids Cuisine
• Henna
• Schools Out – Stream Sampler
• Babysitters Classes
• Bucketeer Basketball
• 1st /2nd Grade Buckets
• Cake Decorating, Sewing & Art Classes

Check out this link for program specifics!

Please complete the DISTRICT VOLUNTEER APPLICATION using the button above if you are interested in volunteering at school or chaperoning a field trip with MacArthur. This form MUST be filled out and the background check needs to be cleared (it can take up to two weeks to clear) if you would like to help. The background checks are good for 3 years, after which they must be renewed.

If you are visiting the school and have an appointment, please bring your I.D. with you so you are able to get a visitor's badge to enter the school.

We plan to post many updates and school happenings on Facebook. Please be sure to follow us so that you can celebrate the student learning and school happenings with us!

Website: gsdwi.org/o/macarthur
Location: W154N11492 Fond Du Lac Ave, Germantown, WI, USA
Phone: 262-253-3468
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MacArthurGSDWI