Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter

• Muskego Lakes Middle School Website
• Muskego Lakes Academic Guidebook for 2021-22
• Muskego Lakes Report a Concern

Dear Muskego Lakes Families,

We are excited to share that we are launching Speak Up, Speak Out at Muskego Lakes!

Speak Up, Speak is a threat reporting system available 24/7 coordinated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of School Safety.

Students, parents, school staff and community members can submit a school safety concern by downloading the SUSO app (Android & iOS), visiting speakup.widoj.gov or by calling 1-800-MY-SUSO-1. Resource Center staff work around-the-clock to respond to reports and to deploy a response locally by communicating directly with school administrators, law enforcement and counselors.

Threat reporting systems - or tip lines - are recommended for use by the United States Secret Service when developing comprehensive school violence prevention plans. Tip lines are used to identify threats to schools, and other daily safety concerns students encounter, such as bullying, drug use, suicidal thoughts and more.

Who knows more about what’s going on, in or out of school, then students themselves? Individually and collectively, they play an essential role in keeping Wisconsin schools safe. It’s crucial for students to understand that there’s a clear difference between tattling or “snitching” and disclosing concerning information to a trusted adult to keep themselves and their classmates safe. The SUSO threat reporting system aims to empower students to share their concerns safely and confidentially. And, we encourage you to talk to your child about the importance of letting a trusted adult know about their safety concerns.

To learn more about the SUSO Resource Center &/or to report safety concerns, visit speakup.widoj.gov or check them out on social media @speakupwi.

As always, please reach out if you have any questions!

With love,

Rachel Rydzewski & Nancy Pasch

Muskego Lakes Principals

• End of First Quarter: Nov. 5th
• 7/8th Grade Boys' Basketball Try Outs: Nov 8-9th
• 8th Grade Pre-Act: Nov 10th
• Veteran's Day- Nov 11th
• Co-Curricular Group Photo Day: Nov 15th
  

• Muskego Lakes Hosts the School Board- Monday, November 15th at 7pm

• 1st Quarter Report Cards mailed home: Nov 18th

• Parent Satisfaction Survey- November 19th-December 17th

• No School Thanksgiving Break: Nov. 24-26th

• Choir Rehearsal at MHS- November 30th
  

• Winter Band Concert Dress Rehearsal- Wed, December 1st

• Winter Band Concert Performance- Wed, December 1st

• Winter Choir Concert Performance- Thur., January 13th

As you know, middle school can be a time when students explore a variety social media platforms. Therefore, Officer Sandretti will continue to visit students in each grade level to teach strategies to make safe and healthy choices on social media. A few tips that we encourage in case you are interested in following up with your child:

• Only accept friend requests or follow people who you know. If you don't know the person well and/or have never met the person, do not communicate on social media.
• Refrain from sending, sharing, posting, or publishing images or videos of yourself unless you wouldn't mind if your family, relatives, and teachers see them.
• Ask permission before posting images of anyone on your social media pages.
• Only post comments on social media that you would say to someone in person.
• Unfollow or remove yourself from anyone engaging in illegal activities (ie underage drinking, cyberbullying, etc.)
• Never publish your birthdate, your address, your last name, or any other identifying information about yourself on social media.

If you have any questions about social media, feel free to reach out to Officer Sandretti or Principal Rydzewski who are happy to help in any way!

We are excited to share that on Wednesday, November 10th, 2021, all 8th grade students at Muskego Lakes will be given the PreACT assessment. Students who begin their day at Muskego High School should report to Muskego Lakes at 8:05am. The high school staff has already been informed they will not be attending.

PreACT provides:

• Early indication of progress and ideas for improvement—PreACT gives students an estimated ACT test score and can be used as an indicator of college and career readiness.

• Fast, robust reporting—Reports are ready quickly, so teachers and students can get to work turning PreACT insights into action. Reports include a predicted score in all tested areas (Math, Science, STEM, English, and Reading), an overall composite score, and an item response analysis.

• Career Map showing 26 career areas that are matched to students’ interests and predicted ACT score.

Please make sure that your child has the following on the testing day:

• 3 sharpened (No. 2) pencils with good erasers

• A watch to pace yourself (no phones please)

• Calculator for the math test (recommended, but not required); see ACT Approved Calculators.

Tips to share with your child:

• Get a good night’s sleep the night before the test

• Eat a good breakfast

• Follow directions exactly and don’t be afraid to ask questions

• Don’t spend too much time on a single question

• Choose the answer you think is best and move on

• If the test is completed before time is called, recheck work

Would you love working at Muskego Lakes or know someone who would be interested in joining our staff? You are in luck, as we are currently looking for an 8th-grade special education instructional assistant.

The hours are 11:15am-3:15pm and no experience is necessary.

If interested, please reach out to Rachel Rydzewski (rachel.rydzewski@muskegonorway.org) for more information and the next steps in the application process.

Back by popular demand, we have our PTO offering spirit wear! It’ll be open from now until Monday, November 15th and delivered the week of December 13th!

Here’s the link and the flyer https://muskiesfall2021.itemorder.com/

Do you have any old spirit wear from Bay Lane that you no longer want/wear? Please label it with a note that says "BLE Upcycle" and send it in to the MLMS office. We will match families in need at Bay Lane with the items, how cool!? Thank you for considering!

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 Christmas Clearing Council of Waukesha County promotes and coordinates giving to families in need during the Christmas season. We provide a clearinghouse that matches families with area groups, families, businesses, and individuals who wish to help families less fortunate. Applications are online this year and can be found at the following website:

https://www.christmasclearingcouncil.org/application

If you would like assistance completing the application, don't hesitate to contact Stacy Pawlak, School Social Worker, at (262) 971-1800 ext. 5403 or stacy.pawlak@muskegonorway.org

Please consider joining the Muskego Lakes PTO. We meet monthly in the MLMS library. 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 2021-2022

• November 17, 2021 @ 6:30pm
• January 19, 2022 @ 6:30pm
• February 16, 2022 @ 6:30pm
• March 16, 2022 @ 6:30pm
• April 20, 2022 @ 6:30pm
• May 18, 2022 @ 6:30pm

Webinar Subscription -

We are so excited to share with you that we have received a grant from Waukesha County Health and Human Services that will allow schools in Waukesha County access to our ever so popular substance abuse and mental health webinars at NO COST for all your parents in the school district. Parents will receive exclusive access to over 30 webinars on the topics of anxiety, depression, suicide, substance abuse, vaping and much more that they can watch on their own time and in the comfort of their own home.

Here is how it works – you share with parents that this service is now available to them for the 2021-2022 school year. Then parents register by

1. Going to https://www.yourchoiceprevention.org/webinars-members-school,

2. Clicking “join”

3. Create an account and enter code MUSWEB21-22 to remove the fee.

Then they can access these webinars whenever they wish. A flyer that you can share with parents is attached.

With busy schedules, and COVID-19 cases on the rise, it’s hard to hold in-person events. These webinars are a great way for parents to have information available whenever it’s most convenient for them.

Family Weekly Test Kits

• To opt into this program, please complete our online form by clicking here.

COVID-19 Exposure Notification

• Please to submit the follow form if you, your child, or anyone in your household has been exposed to and/or is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. (Form: COVID-19 SYMPTOM OR STATUS NOTIFICATION FORM. After completing the form, someone from Health Services will be in touch with you about next steps.

Parent COVID-19 FAQ

• You can find any and all information related to COVID-19 and our response in the PARENT COVID-19 FAQ. Please take a look there before reaching out to the Health Services team.

For all other questions related to COVID-19, please refer to the MNS Health Services website for the latest health information including but not limited to COVID-19 guidelines, Illness and Injury guidelines, Immunizations, Forms, and other useful information.

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