All Things SLI

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a peaceful and joyful winter break.

January 15 & 22 are teacher professional development and work days so mark your calendar as our students do not have school those two Mondays. Staff will be engaged in professional development, reviewing data, and preparing the first semester report cards. The end of the first semester is Jan. 19. For students in grades 7 and 8, please check Skyward for missing work and contact the teacher with any questions prior to the Jan. 19.

First semester with report cards posted to Skyward Family Access on January 26.

Have a great weekend!

Jill Marr, SLI Principal

Jan. 15 & Jan. 22 - No School/ Professional Development & Work Days

Jan. 19 - End of First Semester

Jan. 18 - Feb. 5 - SLI Course Selection Window Skyward Family Access

Jan. 23 - Incoming 5th grade Parent Night 5:30pm-6:30pm

Jan. 26 - First Semester Report Cards Posted to Skyward Family Access

Our winter MAP testing is scheduled to take place next week, January 8-12, with makeups the following week. MAP stands for Measure of Academic Progress. The purpose of this assessment is to give teachers information about what concepts students already know and what their next steps in learning may be which may include intervention or enrichment support. This information helps our staff understand and meet the unique learning needs of each student. Students cannot pass or fail these assessments. The MAP growth assessment also gives a prediction for performance on the Wisconsin Forward Exam and ACT High School Assessments.

MAP Schedule

Mon. Jan. 8: 5th grade ELA, 6th grade ELA, 7th grade ELA

Tues. Jan. 9: 5th grade ELA, 6th grade ELA, 7th grade ELA, 8th grade ELA

Wed. Jan. 10: 5th grade Math, 6th grade Math, 7th grade Math, 8th grade ELA

Thurs. Jan. 11: 5th grade Math, 6th grade Math, 7th grade Math, 8th grade Math, 8th grade ELA

Students at SLI Conect, Explore and SOAR. They do this by coming to school each day with a fully charged Chromebook. Please help your child establish a Chromebook charging nightly routine. The SLI staff appreciate the efforts so students can be successful.

*** Very important to have Chromebooks charged for MAP testing next week.

Please consider supporting the SLI PTO Un-Fundraiser for this school year. We are aiming for a $15,000 goal to continue supporting our building technology needs. We have already had some donations! Here is the link:

https://oconomowoc.revtrak.net/r2#/v/sli-pto-un-fundraiser-2023

Unfundraiser Alert: Veridian Homes Foundation donated $5,000 toward our Unfundraiser efforts! Thank you to them. Last spring, they awarded $2,000. We are so appreciative of Veridian Homes and thank you to Colleen Moran, SLI PTO President, for seeking out this donation for our school.

8th grade student tech leaders are already hard at work planning for the slideshow and video for the 8th grade promotion ceremony in June. 8th grade families, look for an email soon requesting photos of your student! #sliconnectexploresoar

Students are working as field geologists. They are looking at 9 different mystery minerals and have to figure what type of mineral they are. They got to take the mass using a triple beam balance, find volume by using water displacement, test hardness with a penny, a nail, and a piece of glass, test the streak of their mineral on a strike plate, and test the magnetic attraction. All of these tests come together to form a list of observations that connect with the mystery mineral.

Ms. Green, one of our 8th grade teachers receives the Chain of Awesomeness from Lexi L. who in turn gives the Chain of Awesomeness to Caden S. Caden is amazing at all he does and everywhere he puts his heart! I have had the privlege of having him be a part of Student Council for years and could not be more proud of all he is able to contribute to the club! Not only is he an MVP on serving up root beer floats and hot chocolate at our school events, but he has amazing and creative ideas to contribute for the school to have as best of an event as possible. PLUS, he is also an MVP on the kickball court and debate panel Thank you for all you do for our school! SLI is so lucky to have you as a part of our SLI family!

Ms. Sindic, one of our 5th grade teachers receives the Chain of Awesomeness from Anika U. who in turn gives the Chain of Awesomeness to Charlotte T. Charlotte is such a fantastic human being! She is consistently caring, thoughtful, hard-working, and honest. She has a very kind heart, and it shows as she moves through her school day. I am so lucky to have her as a student this year!

Mrs. Findlay, one of our explore teachers receives the Chain of Awesomeness from Faith B. who in turn gives the Chain of Awesomeness to Kyla B. Kyla is the friend everyone needs in their life! She will be your personal cheerleader, loyal friend, and offers such a positive outlook each day she comes to school. It's a privilege to be her teacher, I'm so lucky!

Cold and flu season is upon us and general illness, Influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 continue to be reported as widespread across the United States. While we know that illnesses are common at this time of year, I am reaching out to remind everyone of our health practices at school and our illness guidelines to keep our students, staff, and schools as healthy as possible during this time of year.

Health Practices at School:

• Our school will continue to be cleaned and sanitized daily and nightly, with high-touch surfaces receiving additional cleaning throughout the day.
• Staff will continue to encourage good hand hygiene routines throughout the day.
• Students who are feeling unwell will be given a pass to go to the health room for evaluation and parents will be contacted when a child needs to be sent home.

Illness Guideline Reminders:

• We strongly encourage you to monitor your child’s health continually. It is important to be mindful of any illness symptoms that your child may have BEFORE sending them to school.
• Please keep your child home from school if they are ill.
• If your child is staying home due to illness, please contact our attendance line to report the absence and illness symptoms. 262-560-4302
• If your child experiences fever, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea as their only symptoms, they may return to school 24-hours after the symptom has resolved.
• If your child experiences multiple symptoms or symptoms that could indicate COVID-19, please refer to our OASD Illness Guidelines. OASD Illness Guidelines

Thank you for your partnership to keep our school healthy.

Parents of students 16 and younger seeking a work permit, will now log on to the Department of Workforce Developments page and use their permit application tool. Here is the link: Work Permit.

This new system will allow you to apply for a permit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer, tablet or smartphone. You will make your payment through the system as well. The department will mail a paper copy of the permit directly to your child's employer.

Want to see pictures of students and events happening during the school day?

Want reminders of upcoming events?

Follow SLI on Social Media! We welcome new followers.

Parents United is a non-profit consortium of 27 southeastern Wisconsin special education departments that have united to provide an educational community service. Listed below are some upcoming presentations for any parent that is interested in attending.

Go Riteway is looking to hire Oconomowoc bus drivers! We appreciate our bus drivers for safely transporting our students around our district for the school day and also driving students to athletic, academic and numerous other events. They truly keep our district running! Click here to apply: https://bit.ly/3KxDdYS

Our school needs more short-term substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, and custodians - can you help?

As a short-term sub, you have the flexibility to choose which school you would like to work at, and what schedule works best for you. Use this online form for a fast and easy application process if you’re interested in joining the OASD as a short-term substitute.

Long-term substitute teacher, paraprofessional, and custodian positions are also available at all of our OASD schools. You can apply online through WECAN for a long-term position by creating an account, then searching for Oconomowoc Area School District in the support staff section.

Please consider working for the OASD and making a positive impact on our school and students!