Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter

Dear Muskego Lakes Families,

As we look ahead to next week, our students will be taking the Wisconsin Forward Exam. The Forward Exam is, "a high quality, researched-based online state assessment designed to measure how well students are able to demonstrate proficiency on grade level academic standards."The Department of Instruction gathers the results in order to determine if our students are on track to be college and career ready. The results also help us as a school know if we are best serving all students. We examine the results with our school's leadership team in order to reflect and adjust curriculum and instruction to better meet students' needs each year.

All that being said, we know that state testing can bring about feelings of stress, anxiety, uncertainty, and nervousness from students. Some of those feelings are normal and natural. But we would appreciate your help in reassuring students that the only thing we ask of them is to do their best.

We want students to know that they may get stuck, frustrated, and likely won't know every answer to every question they encounter- and that is okay. Our hope is that we are cultivating a learning culture here at Muskego Lakes where students know they will be accepted and celebrated for their strengths- not because of how well they do on standardized tests.

So thanks for partnering with us to help message to students:

• The Forward Exam is just one test among many they have taken this year. So while we want them to do their best, there is no pressure to perform at a certain level.
• The Forward Exam is an opportunity for students to demonstrate all of the learning they've worked so hard on this year. If they can see the testing as an opportunity to shine, they will go into the test sessions eager to demonstrate their skills.
• It does not matter if they are the first or last to finish, and it does not matter if their score is higher or lower than the person next to them. The Forward Exam is about each student's academic progress over time. A great goal to aim for would be to score better than they had the year before.
• We highly recommend sharing with your child what strategies you use when faced with stressful situations. That will help model for them some ways they can cope if faced with frustration. (This might be taking a break, positive self talk "I can do this", Counting backwards to reset your brain, etc).
• Thanks for helping reiterate to your child that you believe in them. Sometimes middle school students experience a lot of self-doubt, but our confidence in them goes a long way.

And finally, thanks for partnering with your child next week to make sure he or she:

• Gets good sleep
• Comes to school with a charged Chromebook
• Brings wired headphones to school each day
• Has a snack and/or drink packed for the morning testing break
• Leaves any smart watches or devices at home for the week

There are so many ways your child has grown this year that cannot be quantified on a standardized test. And we know that state tests can't even come close to measuring what's most important about your child.

Finally, if your child is experiencing any test anxiety or you feel he or she would benefit from a check-in before Forward testing, please reach out to a member of our Student Services team:

• Janine Hake , 5th & 6th Grade School Counselor janine.hake@muskegonorway.org
• Jim Brickweg, 7th & 8th Grade School Counselor james.brickweg@muskegonorway.org
• Stacey Malek, School Psychologist stacey.malek@muskegonorway.org
• Stacy Pawlak, School Social Worker stacy.pawlak@muskegonorway.org

In partnership,

Rachel and Nancy

Muskego Lakes Principals

• April 17-22: Forward Testing

• April 19: Incoming 5th Grade Night 4-6pm

• May 9-11: Literacy iReady Testing
• May 11: Band Concert 7pm
• May 12: MLMS Dodgeball Tournament (5th & 6th Grade 3:45 to 6:00 PM & 7th & 8th Grade 6:15 to 8:30 PM)
• May 15-17: Math iReady Testing
• May 17: Band Trip to Chicago
• May 24: Choir Concert
• May 26: No School for Students
• June 8: Last Day of School

Shown below are the upcoming 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!

Your child's Quarter 3 report cards are now available on Infinite Campus. These can be found by going under documents on the left hand side and choosing "Qt 3 Report Card".

In addition, all report cards are also being mailed home, so please be on the look out for them!

• Directions for accessing report cards in infinite campus from desktop computer HERE.
• Directions for accessing report cards in infinite campus from a mobile device HERE.

Students are asked to bring corded headphones on all testing dates. Bluetooth headphones, such as AirPods, are not permitted to be used during testing. Please ensure that your child has a pair of headphones that works with their chromebook. If obtaining a pair of headphones is an issue, please reach out to us, so we can ensure your child has what they need during testing.

Thank you to all families who registered their children for Summer Learning Academy. At this time, the Infinite Campus registration is closed, with the exceptions of All-Sport Academy and Muskego Power (2:00-3:00 session). Parents can still register for All-Sport Academy and Muskego Power through the Infinite Campus Portal.

For all other courses, if you wish to be put on a waiting list, please choose and fill out the appropriate linked form:

• SLA (main)
• Fab Lab
• Micro Entrepreneur
• Volleyball
• June Swim

*Note - Open registration for July and August swim sessions will be forthcoming.

Completed schedules will be available on Infinite Campus May 26.

Who: Students grades 5-8 can form teams made with 8 peers from your grade.

*If you wish to play but don’t have a team, please reach out to Mrs. Heimerl & Mrs. Koeller to be placed on a team. After placements have been made, teams may have up to 10 players.*

When: Friday, May 12th

• 5th & 6th Grade Tournament from 3:45 to 6:00 PM

• 7th & 8th Grade Tournament from 6:15 to 8:30 PM

How: Get a sign up form from Student Services or click HERE

$24 per team - cash or checks made out to Muskego Lakes Student Council are due Friday, May 5th to Mrs. Heimerl or Mrs. Koeller

EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO WATCH

Admission Cost

• $2 for adults - or 2 canned goods

• $1 for students - or 1 canned good

• All canned goods will be donated to Muskego Food Pantry

• Goods or money will be collected upon entering the gym

Concessions will be available to purchase throughout the tournament!

We asked Mrs. Staniszewski 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:

"I have been teaching 33 years, nine in Muskego. I am proud of my journey to become a teacher – I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and went back to school to work with students with emotional and behavioral needs. I taught in Waukesha at Banting Elementary and Waukesha STEM Academy. I have loved every year of working with kids. I came to teach in Muskego nine years ago so I could spend more time with my middle school children. I went back to school to get my Master’s Degree in Education, doing more writing than I thought I was capable of. I’m at my sweet spot, teaching middle school students math. My goal each day is for students to love the challenge of solving problems they didn’t think they are capable of."

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

Favorite coffee drink -not a coffee drinker so none :)

Favorite subject when you were in middle school - math of course!

Fun fact about yourself that may surprise students and families - I love water activities - scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming

My Dream vacation -Tahita

Students & staff describe me as - hard working, loud, helpful

The 8th grade promotion committee has been hard at work planning to ensure the night is memorable for all. The students have voted and the theme will be Hawaiian! All are welcome to attend the next planning meeting on May 2nd at 7pm at Becky Sawallich's house.

More information about the details of the night, cost for students, volunteer opportunities, and donations will be shared in future newsletters.

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

A reminder that our next Muskego Lakes PTO Meeting is Wednesday, April 19. In addition to the normal PTO business, members of the Muskego-Norway School Board will be joining in case so that those in attendance can ask questions or share thoughts with them.

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.

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.

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