Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter

Dear Muskego Lakes Families,

It's hard to believe we've already approached the halfway point in our first quarter and that next week is our first night of fall parent/teacher conferences! With that in mind, we suggest taking time with your child to sit down and look at Infinite Campus, discuss what they've been up to in class, and review any returned/graded work.

When looking over Infinite Campus with your child, we recommend looking for any missing assignments, upcoming assessments, and project deadlines. In addition, we encourage reviewing your child's assignment notebook (it's an expectation that students use this daily to record their assignments) and checking in with them about how they are staying organized and on top of their assigned class work.

We encourage your child to check in with their teachers if there are any questions about their grades or classwork so that they can work with your student directly. Thank you for all the ways you partner with us to support your child's academic achievement!

In Partnership,

Rachel Rydzewski & Nancy Pasch

Muskego Lakes Principals

• Fall Parent Teacher Conference Dates - October 13th and 19th

• November 4th No School - Professional Day

• November 23rd - 25th No School - Thanksgiving Break

• MNS Choral Festival - November 30th

Our staff is looking forward to being able to connect with families at our upcoming parent/teacher conferences. Each night, conferences will be between 4 pm-8 pm. Please mark your calendar for the following dates:

• Thursday, October 13th, 2022: In Person
• Wednesday October 19th, 2022: Virtual

We will be using "Meet the Teacher" to schedule these conferences, and each conference will be 10 minutes long with 2 minute transitions in between. As shared last week, this sign up opened this past Tuesday, October 4th, 2022 @ 7:00am. If you have more than one child at MLMS, you will be able to book conferences for all with the same log-in.

Steps Needed and Important Information When Scheduling

• Virtual Conferences

• In-Person Conferences

• How-To Video (signing up for in-person or virtual, and attending a virtual conference)

Link to Sign Up

https://MLMSconferences.meettheteacher.com/

Please add a message for the teacher!

• In order for the conference to meet your needs, please indicate outcomes that would make the conference a success. When booking your appointment with a teacher on the booking grid, you will have the option to “Add a message for (teacher name).”

For 5th and 6th grade students

• The 5th and 6th grade teachers teach either science/social studies, math/science or literacy/social studies. You will be able to sign up for those teachers only once, but will be able to talk about both classes during your conference.

For 7th and 8th grade students

• If your account shows that your child has the same teacher for more than one class, PLEASE ONLY SIGN UP WITH THAT TEACHER ONCE. You will be able to talk about both classes during your conference.

How to book conferences with your child’s high school world language or math teacher (if applicable)

• If your child attends Muskego High School for a world language or math class, please look for separate communication from the high school regarding setting up a conference with their teacher

Need more time with a teacher?

• Conference bookings are for 10 minutes with a 2 minute gap between appointments. We ask that you be mindful of the schedule and the time limit so that all conferences run on time. If 10 minutes are not enough, please reach out to that teacher to make alternative arrangements on another date to accommodate your needs.

Step 1: Login

Fill out the details on the page then click the Log In button.

You must enter information as it is in Infinite Campus.

• Use Samantha not Sam, if Infinite Campus uses your daughter's full name

• When entering an email address, ensure it is one associated with the Infinite Campus profile

• If you have multiple children, you can decide which child's information to use. They will all give you family access!

A confirmation of your appointments will be sent to the email address you provide.

Step 2: Select Parent Teacher Conference

Click on the date you wish to book.

Unable to make all of the dates listed? Click I'm unable to attend.

Step 3: Select Booking Mode

Choose Automatic if you'd like the system to suggest the shortest possible appointment schedule based on the times you're available to attend. To pick the times to book with each teacher, choose Manual. Then press Next.

We recommend choosing the automatic booking mode when browsing on a mobile device.

Step 4: Choose Teachers

If you choose the automatic booking mode, drag the sliders at the top of the screen to indicate the earliest and latest you can attend.

Select the teachers you’d like to book appointments with. A green tick indicates they’re selected. To de-select, click on their name.

Step 5a (Automatic): Book Appointments

Skip this step if you chose Manual.

If you choose the automatic booking mode, you'll see provisional appointments which are held for 2 minutes. To keep them, choose Accept at the bottom left.

If it isn't possible to book every selected teacher during the times you are able to attend, you can either adjust the teachers you wish to meet with and try again, or switch to manual booking mode (Step 5b).

Step 5b (Manual): Book Appointments

Skip this step if you chose Automatic.

Click any of the green cells to make an appointment. Blue cells signify where you already have an appointment. Grey cells are unavailable.

To change an appointment, delete the original by hovering over the blue box and clicking Delete. Then choose an alternate time.

Step 6: Finished

All your bookings now appear on the My Bookings page. An email confirmation has been sent and you can also print appointments by pressing Print. Click Subscribe to Calendar to add these and any future bookings to your calendar.

To change your appointments, click on Amend Bookings.

The 2022 Christmas Clearing Council Client Application is now available online! Parents struggling financially may apply to receive Christmas gift assistance for their children this season.Deadline to apply is Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, at 11:59 p.m.

http://www.christmasclearingcouncil.org/application

Next week Friday (October 14th), Chef Benny will be here featuring a ramen bowl at all grade level lunches. To learn more about this meal, click here.

It won't surprise you to learn that teens are living a large portion of their lives online. But did you know that 50% of teens admit to feeling addicted to their phones?

Excessive time online has been linked to teenage depression, sleep problems, and a wide range of physical and mental conditions, often leading to disruptive student behavior in the classroom.

Here are a few healthy habits for teens to manage their time online and make sure they are using social media responsibly and positively:

Keep Schoolwork and Smartphones Separate: It's hard for students to focus when their phone constantly tempts them to look at just one more Instagram post. To stay focused when doing homework or other activities, teens should try leaving their phones in another room until their task is complete. Challenge your child to try it for one night and see how it goes.

Set Daily Limits and Take Digital Breaks: One of the easiest ways for students to cut down time spent on social media is to turn off push notifications or set "Do Not Disturb" hours on your phone. That way, their phone isn't constantly buzzing and interrupting their focus.

Think Before You Post: It's so easy to overshare online. And that can lead to all sorts of problems, from public humiliation to cyberbullying. So here are five things your students can ask themselves before posting something online:

• Is it true?
• Is it kind?
• Would I say it in person?
• Is it helpful or useful?
• Will I feel good about it tomorrow?

If the answer to any of these is no, they should consider not hitting that POST button. Asking these questions is an excellent way for kids to practice social media safety and avoid posting something they regret. Once it's on the internet, it's often there forever.

Use Social Media for Good

We spend a lot of time discussing social media's negative effects, but social media has positives. The internet connects us to friends and family and can be a powerful tool for sharing our passions and doing good in the world. Ask your child to brainstorm positive ways they use social media and share it with you.

The MLMS PTO wants to thank the excellent staff for everything they do by providing midweek munchies. Every Wednesday, you have an opportunity to sign up to bring in munchies for the staff to help them make it through the week and brighten their day. If you are interested in supporting this, please sign up here.

The fair is coming up soon and out PTO is looking for some families to help us run the show. If you can spare a few hours this Sunday, October 9th between 7am and 4pm, please sign up here. Any help is grealy appreciated to make this event successful!

Are you ready to hit the slopes? The MLMS Ski /Snowboard Club is just around the corner! Click here for registration information and important details about the MLMS Ski/Snowboard club! Registration forms and payment are due the week of October 10-14, 2022. Early submissions will not be accepted, late registration only accepted if space allows. If you need any forms printed, please pick up in student services.

If you have any questions, please contact Laurie Buxengard, laurie.buxengard@muskegonorway.org, 262-971-1800 x 2110 or Barb Mattson, barbara.mattson@muskegonorway.org

Reporting of Illness

If your student is ill please keep them home and notify us at 262-971-1860 ext 5000. You may also use the Campus Parent App to report the illness.

Reporting of COVID

If your student has a positive COVID test please keep them home and Report your student's COVID ISOLATION using the COVID-19 SYMPTOM OR STATUS NOTIFICATION.

Please refer to the Health Services website for additional information.

If your K-8 student(s) have been part of the free/ reduced lunch program for the 2021-22 school year, a new application needs to be completed prior to October 14, 2022 for the benefits to continue for the 2022-23 school year. If you have high school students, they start the school year with a paid status until a free/ reduced application is submitted and approved.

There was a waiver the last two school years due to COVID which allowed for the prior year’s meal status to be rolled over to the new school year. This waiver has ended so it is now necessary to return to the prior requirement that a new free/reduced lunch application be completed each school year. The free/ reduced application can be found on the Muskego Norway School District website under the Parents & Students tab:

https://www.muskegonorway.org/parents/FreeReduced.cfm

Please return the completed application to the food service office at the high school. If you have any questions, please contact Deb Matson at 262-971-1790 Ext. 4622 or

deb.matson@muskegonorway.org.

For your planning purposes the October lunch menu is available here. This includes not only the menu but the nutritional information as well.

You may order a middle school yearbook through Jostens, as yearbook sales are not handled through the school. In order to order a year book please visit: Jostens.com/YB23 . The deadline to place an order is February 1st, 2023. Additional copies of yearbooks will not be available at school after the deadline.

If you're not certain if you've already ordered a yearbook, please search your email for "Jostens" and look for a confirmation of sale. Or, if you created an account when ordering, you may login to Jostens.com, and view your purchase history.

To inquire about financial assistance, please reach out to Stacy Pawlak, Social Worker.

Please consider joining the Muskego Lakes PTO. We meet monthly in the MLMS library at 6:30pm. We always welcome new faces and would love to hear your ideas in how we can make this an amazing school year ahead!!

MLMS PTO Meeting Dates for 2022-2023

• October 19th
• November 16
• January 18
• February 15
• March 15
• April 19
• May 17

Children’s Wisconsin now has a walk-in Mental Behavioral Health clinic available 7 days a week from 3:30 – 10:30pm. To learn more about their services click here.

You may make a report by visiting the website, using your smartphone by downloading the SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT app from the Apple Store and Google Play, or by calling 1-800-MY-SUSO-1 to speak to a resource center analyst.

We encourage you to follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Website: https://www.muskegonorway.org/schools/muskegolakes/
Location: W124 S8009 North Cape Rd.
Phone: 262-971-1860
Twitter: @MLMSmuskies