Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter

Dear Muskego Lakes Families,

As your child grows and develops, they will need to learn essential skills that help them navigate the complexities of everyday life. We call these executive functioning skills. These skills are like the "boss" of the brain and help your child make decisions, set goals, plan, organize, manage time, and practice self-control.

At Muskego Lakes, we often infuse strategies to help students grow these skills as often as possible. For example, teachers support students' use of planners to keep track of their responsibilities and help with time management. Another example our teachers often use is graphic organizers to help students plan and organize their thoughts, ideas, and information.

As a parent/guardian, you, too, can help to support, develop, and strengthen your child's executive functioning skills. Here are some strategies with you of things you can help do with your child to support their growth:

1. Establish a daily routine: Create consistent routines and schedules for your child that include time for homework, activities, and relaxation. This will help them develop good habits and reduce the need for constant decision-making.
2. Provide structure and clear expectations: Give your child clear guidelines for tasks and activities and help them break down larger tasks into smaller, manageable steps.
3. Encourage self-reflection: Encourage your child to think about their thinking and reflect on what they could have done differently to improve their performance.
4. Teach problem-solving strategies: Help your child develop problem-solving skills by encouraging them to identify the problem, brainstorm possible solutions, evaluate the pros and cons of each solution, and select the best one.
5. Use visual aids: Visual aids like calendars, checklists, and reminders can help your teen stay organized and on track.
6. Provide positive feedback: Recognize and praise your child's efforts and accomplishments, which can boost their self-esteem and motivation.
7. Encourage healthy habits: Exercise, sleep, and good nutrition can all positively impact executive functioning skills.
8. Manage distractions: Help your teen learn to manage distractions by creating a quiet workspace, turning off notifications on their devices during study time, or setting time limits for online social media or games.
9. Teach time-management skills: Help your child learn to prioritize tasks and manage their time effectively by breaking down larger tasks into smaller, more manageable steps.
10. Foster independence: Encourage your child to take responsibility for their executive functioning skills by letting them make decisions and problem-solve independently.

Building executive functioning skills takes time and effort. We recommend reminding your child that growing their skills takes time so they don't become frustrated. In addition, the more you can encourage your child to goal-set and celebrate successes alongside them, helps build their intrinsic motivation to continue growing these skills. If you are looking for more ideas to support your child, know we are here to listen and brainstorm with you, so please reach out.

In partnership,

Rachel and Nancy

Muskego Lakes Principals

• March 17th-19th: Matilda Jr!

• March 21st: 5th Grade Vision Screening

• March 24: End of Third Quarter

• March 27-31: Spring Break

• April 7 & 10: No School

• April 17-22: Forward Testing

• May 9-11: Literacy iReady Testing
• May 11: Band Concert
• May 15-17: Math iReady Testing
• May 24: Choir Concert
• June 8: Last Day of School

Shown below are next week's co-curricular events at Muskego Lakes!

If a change occurs from the date of this newsletter, we post on Infinite Campus in the announcement section. We commit to letting students/families know about changes and updating Infinite Campus announcements as soon as possible once we've been notified of a change.

Check out all MLMS events here which includes more detailed information!

You do NOT want to miss out on the Muskego Lakes Middle School production of Matilda Jr.! To order tickets click here. Performances are this weekend!

Online ticket sales will close 15 minutes after the show start time. The PAC Box Office in the PAC Lobby will open 1 hour before curtain time on the day of the show for cash and check transactions.

Performance Dates:

Friday, March. 17 at 7 pm (Miracle Cast)

Saturday, March 18 at 2 pm (Miracle Cast)

Saturday, March 18 at 7 pm (Naughty Cast)

Sunday, March. 19 at 2 pm (Naughty Cast)

Middle school can be such a hard time because every student is unique developmentally. Some young people in middle school spend most time outside of school with their family, while some spend time with peers outside of school. You can best support your child by:

• Having regular conversations about what qualities they look for in friends

• Encourage them to be themselves, keeping an eye on when you notice a shift in personality, disposition or attitude around particular peers

• Focus on the importance of quality versus quantity when it comes to trustworthy friends

• Encourage your child to join a co-curricular to help meet other students with common interests

• Challenge your child to think about what kinds of choices they make around different peers or peer groups

• If you are concerned about your child not having a friend or two at school, please reach out to our school counselors who can help partner with your child to foster relationship building aligned to common interests.

The Muskego Lions Club will be conducting vision screening for 5th grade students on Tuesday, March 21st from 12 - 1:30pm . If you do not want your student to participate please contact the health office to let us know. Parent and/or guardians of any student that does not pass this screening will be notified.

Each year Muskego Lakes hosts a breakfast celebration for the 8th graders during the last week of school. During the breakfast, we plan to have a slideshow running with pictures from 5k to 8th grade of all the students. To make this slideshow a success we need your help, specifically your pictures (printed or digital). They can be single shots of your student, but group pictures are strongly encouraged. And don't forget to go WAY back in your photos - the students always get a kick out of seeing pictures of themselves and their classmates from years ago. The preference would be to get 5-15 pictures per family.

We are looking for the following kinds of photos:

• Pictures from 5K to 8th grade
• School field trips
• Sporting events / team photos
• Selfies with friends

Please send all your pictures by March 31st.

• Digital pictures – email MLMSClass2027@gmail.com
• Printed pictures – send in mail to Tina Marine, S97W13893 Stonebridge Way, Muskego

We shared last week that anything still left would be donated as of Friday, but we had such an influx in items that we want to reunite with their owners, so we are sharing again in hopes of doing just that.

Encourage your child to stop outside student services and check for their item. Items still left end of the day on March 24th.

Request for Upcoming Forward and iReady Testing Dates

Muskego Lakes students will take the WI Forward Assessment and the spring diagnostic iReady Exam in a few short months. We ask that families check the dates of these assessments below and communicate with us if you know your child has a pre-planned reason/vacation to be out during those times, so we can plan accordingly to ensure testing can be completed.

Wisconsin Forward Testing Dates: April 17-22, 2023

Spring iReady Dates:

• Literacy: May 9-11, 2023
• Math: May 15-17, 2023

If you do have a pre-planned absence during these dates, please reach out nancy.pasch@muskegonorway.org

We asked Mr.George to share a little about himself and his career, in addition to what what makes him proud to work at Muskego Lakes and he said:

"Right after high school graduation I joined the US Air Force and was enlisted for 4 years. I was trained in Denver Colorado as an Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist. Deployed to Bitburg, Germany for 3 years and serviced jet aircraft such as the F-15, F-16, B-52. When back in the states I managed a few different restaurants then started my own commercial cleaning business with my wife. We still operate as Cleanings Mates Janitorial. Decided to work for the Muskego Norway school District and have been here for over 20 years. I consider myself a servant to others and am extremely proud and happy as a custodian at Muskego lakes Middle School."

Here is a little more to help you get to know Mr.George

Favorite coffee drink - French Vanilla Cappuccino

Favorite subject when you were in middle school - Definitely not math! Science was my favorite because of the teachers and how they presented the material.

Fun fact about yourself that may surprise students and families - Went to State competitions while in High School for singing solo and won.

My Dream vacation -Africa Safari to Photograph the animals

Students & staff describe me as - Happy, approachable, positive, fun

We asked Mrs. Brockmann to share a little about herself and her career, in addition to what what makes her proud to work at Muskego Lakes and she said:

"Hi, I'm Sue Brockman, an Instructional Assistant currently in fifth grade, also working with the students in the fifth grade homework club. I started out with a totally different career before I had children. After our second child was born, my husband was transferred to South Carolina where we lived for five years. During that time, I started out as a stay home mom, but after a year and a half I was asked to be a preschool teacher in a private school where our son attended. I enjoyed it so much that I started working in the Muskego-Norway school district shortly after we were transferred back to Wisconsin. I've worked with a variety of ages of students from early childhood up to eighth grade. My biggest accomplishment was being awared the Muskego-Norway Compass award in 2010.This surprise career change has been very enjoyable. I love being able to work with the students to help them achieve good study habits while learning in a positive learning environment."

Here is a little more to help you get to know Mrs. Brockmann

Favorite coffee drink - pistachio cold brew at Starbucks

Favorite subject when you were in middle school - Science! I loved the hands-on experiments over the writing. The hands-on work is how I enjoy learning new things even to this day.

Fun fact about yourself that may surprise students and families - I played basketball in middle school and made the freshman team in high school. I played guard for the team. I can truthfully say I was not particularly good, but sure had a great time and made some great friends. My three tall close teammates and I were the three and a half musketeers! (yes, you guessed it, I was the half!)

My Dream vacation - Rome, Italy - The city and country are full of so much history.

Students & staff describe me as - Most students I believe know "I can't" isn't an option in my vocabulary. I try to think of myself as fair and positive, encouraging all students to try their best, but most of all trying something at least once. As with myself, we all have different interests and learn in different ways. Some things won't interest them until they're older, but I encourage them to push through. Some students might think I expect too much from them, but I'm trying to set them up to succeed with great habits now in middle school. Organization and completion of their work is very important to me, which I try to tell the students it will only help them all of their lives.

Open gym until the end of March will be held at Mill Valley Elementary School. If attending, we ask that you enter at Door 12 (in the southwest corner of the building, by the gymnasium- NOT the main doors). Also please know there is no food and drink allowed in the gym! Looking forward to seeing you all there.

We are proud to continue to partner with Clinical Psychology Associates (CPA) to offer on-site counseling services at Bay Lane Elementary, Lakeview Elementary, Mill Valley Elementary, Muskego Lakes Middle School, Lake Denoon Middle School, and Muskego High School. For information about CPA’s services and therapists or to get started with an appointment, please visit our website.

A friendly reminder that when you notify school of your child/children being out ill/sick, it's important that we get the reason that they are out as we keep track of illness to monitor outbreaks.

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.

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

• April 19
• May 17

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.

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

Click here to attend your conference! This link is the same that you used to book your conferences.