MacArthur Messenger

Dear MacArthur Families,

As we are preparing to finish this school year strong, we are always looking ahead toward the next year. I want to share a few staffing updates with you as we prepare to transition into the 23-24 school year. We want to thank the below individuals for all their hard work and dedication to MacArthur Elementary:

• Mr. Greifenkamp - 4th Grade Teacher: Retiring

• Mrs. Warnimont - Special Education Aide: Retiring

• Mrs. Miller- Art Teacher: Retiring

• Mr. Gradel - 4th Grade Teacher: Returning to Amy Belle Elementary

• Mrs. Dora - 3rd Grade Teacher: Moving to the Oconomowoc School District

• Mrs. Sobczak - 5K Teacher: Moving to Merton School District

• Mrs. Hegwood - Special Education Teacher: Moving to Milwaukee School District

These professionals have provided tremendous service and presence in our MAC community for many years. We are extremely grateful for their tireless work and service. We wish them all the best of continued success! Each of these educators have been an inspiration to many of us at MacArthur Elementary. May they enjoy the next steps in their individual journeys that lie ahead!

Our MAP results are in and as we noted in the last newsletter, we are so proud. It is great to see the outcomes directly resulting from all the hard work the teachers, scholars, and families have put in this school year. Below is a visual of the growth that has happened in the last couple years within the grade levels with multiple data points (3rd through 5th grade). Way to go... to our scholars and all of the wonderful people in their lives!

Reading MAP Score Growth (3rd-5th Grade)

Math MAP Score Growth (3rd-5th Grade)

As the school year ends, I am grateful for your support, partnership, and trust in our school community. It has been an honor to serve as the principal of MacArthur for the past two years and witness the growth and accomplishments of our incredible students. I am thankful for our dedicated staff, who have created a nurturing and engaging environment for our students. I am proud to witness the positive impact they have on the lives of our scholars.

I would also like to extend my appreciation to our PTA and parent and guardian community as a whole. Your unwavering support, active participation in school activities, and open lines of communication have been vital to our success. I am grateful for your ongoing commitment to your child's education.

To our students moving to sixth grade, we are confident that you will rise to the challenges ahead and achieve great things. We are excited to hear about your successes, so please keep in touch.

I wish you and your family a fun and safe summer filled with relaxation and family time. I encourage you to intentionally engage your child in conversation and continue reading with them this summer. Thank you once again for your support and partnership throughout this year. I am incredibly proud to be part of this wonderful school community.

Sincerely,

Mr. Gonzalez

Wednesday 6/7: 5th Grade Farewell. 6:30pm at PAC

Thursday 6/8: Last Day of 4K

Thursday 6/8: K5-5th Grade Annual Picnic Lunch (scholars can bring a blanket and/or towel to school)

Friday 6/9: Last Day of School for K5-5th Grade (Early Release), Dismissal at 12:03pm

Monday 6/12: Report Cards Released on Skyward, at 8am

Thursday 6/15: Last Day to Pick Up Medication from Health Room

Sunday 7/2: Last Day to Order School Supplies through School Toolbox (see below)

July: Email will be sent from District Office for online verification

Wednesday 8/23: PTA's 4K/5K New Family Night, 4:30pm-5:30pm

Thursday 8/24: Open House and School Pictures. 4pm-7pm

Friday 9/1: 5K-5th Grade First Day of School

Thursday 9/7: 4K First Day of School

Last Day of School: Our 4K students will have their normal hours for their last day of school on Thursday, June 8th. Please note that 5K-5th graders will dismiss at 12:03 on Friday June 9th. We will dismiss scholars in the same way we would on a normal Friday schedule, just at 12:03 instead of 4:06. Bus arrival time to residences/after school care will be expected to be approximately 4 hours earlier.

If you would like to change your scholar's dismissal plan for that day, please inform your child's teacher by sending in an Eagle Note. If you know of the change already, an Eagle Note can come in any time between now and the end of the school year for the last day of school. The half day is quite busy for our scholars and teachers and we would like to be as prepared as possible by preventing day-of calls into the office (and disruptions into the classrooms) that indicate unplanned dismissal changes.

If you have your child registered for Kids Klub on June 9th, it will begin as usual at the dismissal time of 12:03. Kids Klub will go until 6pm as normal.

Summer Hours: Our office will be open on Tuesdays during the summer months, from 8am to 2pm. Please note we will not be open during the week of July 3rd.

Yearbooks: The yearbooks for the 2022-2023 school year have arrived. If your family ordered a yearbook, they are coming home with your scholar today. Although ordering from Network Photography is closed, the office does have a few extra yearbooks on hand for purchase. The cost is $16 (cash only) and they will be available on a first come first serve basis. Please call the front office between the hours of 7:30am-4:30pm if interested.

Lost and Found: Our Lost and Found items have been placed on the stage (see above) so students are able to grab their missing items during their lunch period before school is done for the year. If your child is missing anything, please encourage them to look at the collection. You are also welcome to come and take a look during school hours. Any items left after Friday, June 9th will be donated.

Please look around your homes for library books and return them to MacArthur as soon as possible. The due date for all library books was last Friday, May 26th and we need to complete our end of year inventories. Thank you for your help in getting the books back to us!

Medication at School: Families with students who have medications in the Health Room at school, please be aware that you will need to pick up your student's medication at the conclusion of the school year. All medication left in the building after June 15th at 2pm will be disposed of. Office hours will be from 7:30AM - 2:00PM until June 15th. Medication will not be allowed to go home with your student per district medication policy.

If your student is attending summer school, the medication cannot be transferred there. A new medication form needs to be brought into KMS along with the medication for summer school classes.

Planning for Next Year: Thank you for filling out the intentions form for next school year. If you did not get a chance to fill it out and your child will not be returning to MacArthur for the 23-24 school year, please call the school office at 262-253-3468, or email Mrs. Krueger at mkrueger@gsdwi.org.

If your family has an incoming 4K or 5K* scholar and you have not registered for the 2023-2024 school year, please do so HERE.

*Registration is just for new families entering the district. If you currently have a 4K student at MacArthur, you do not need to go through the entire online registration process for them to enter 5K in the 23/24 school year.

More enrollment information and specifics can be found here. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the office.

School Supplies: Our school supply lists can be found by clicking the button below. The lists are also on our website, by clicking "Navigate" in upper right-hand corner. Then select "Documents" and the list is found in the Back to School 2023-24 folder. See the information in the PTA section below on how to order your scholar's supplies through the School Toolbox Program if you are interested.

School Pictures: The scholars will have their portraits taken during Open House on August 24th. Click the button below for ordering information. Please note that if you would like to order online, the Pre-Pay Link included in the document will not be activated until July 1st.

Tips on How to Prevent the Summer Reading Slide

By: Ms. Tracy Lukas

A summer slide in your child’s reading skills can easily happen when they are not taking time practicing to read over the long summer months. Of course, summer is a time to relax, spend time with your family, and enjoy the warm Wisconsin weather. But we don’t want your child’s academic growth to slide back over the summer after working so hard during the school year. There are small things that parents can do to help maintain their child’s reading growth during the summer. Below is a list of several fun suggestions to keep your child reading and learning over the summer. Happy reading!

Tip 1: Find interesting books

Visit your local library and let your child pick out books that interest them. The Germantown Public Library is offering a great summer reading program. The program runs from June 5 - August 5. You can sign up your child at the Youth Services desk. Click here for more information.

Tip 2: Make reading fun!

Take books with you when your family is visiting the park, the beach, or just while hanging out outside.

Tip 3: Set reading goals

Encourage your child to set a goal for how many minutes they will read each day or the number of books they will try to read over the summer. If you are looking for a fun reading log to help your child keep track of their reading goal, below are some fun options.

Tip 4: Read everyday

If there is one routine parents should stick to over the summer, it is having their child read everyday. Children should read aloud to an adult at home AND listen to books read aloud to them. A child is never too old to be read to. If you're looking for high interest book ideas, below is a button with many suggestions.

The 5th Grade Farewell is this coming Wednesday, June 7th, at 6:30pm at the Performing Arts Center. If you are a guardian of a 5th grader and would like to purchase a link to video dedicated to the scholars, please click the button below.

MacArthur DI teams returned home from the Global Finals 2023 Tournament in Kansas City, MO last week! Both teams assembled props, put on costumes, rehearsed, moved props to the performance area, repaired props and then finally performed for the judges. They did other STEAM activities, attended a duct tape street party, watched other teams perform, traded pins, and made new friends from other states and countries.

Team Midnight Madness acted out their flipped tale of Cinderella from the prince's perspective. They wowed the judges with their spinning backdrop, sparkly talking glass slippers, and creative storytelling. They also competed in a 5 min instant challenge and rocked it. They placed 12th out of 48 teams and we couldn't be more proud of them!

Team Roll With The Flow presented their roller coaster for the engineering challenge. They built their roller coaster, had to rebuild their launch mechanism, and even preformed their skit twice. After a miscommunication on rebuilding their coaster in part one they preserved and presented again the next morning for the judges. They placed 13th out of 46 teams!! We are incredibly proud of them!

On behalf of both teams we would like to say THANK YOU so much for your support! It truly takes a village to help our kids learn and grow. We are thankful for our village here at MacArthur. Your thoughtfulness and generosity was beyond appreciated. These teams will continue to dream big and reach for the stars as Destination Imagination advocates.

If your child would like to be involved in the Destination Imagination 2023-2024 team challenges please be on the lookout for tryouts in October of 2023. All students 3rd-5th grade can compete at the elementary level. We would love more parents to get involved as team managers. Please contact Kristin Jensen at kjensen@gsdwi.org for more information.

Thank you to all of the parents, family members, teachers, students and of course, volunteers for such a successful year! We have provided Smart TVs for all of the 2nd grade classrooms, field trips for every grade and numerous supplies for the teachers and students. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without all of your hard work and generosity! I wanted to remind everyone of some things for the end of the year, summer events and the beginning of next year.

This is a program that enables parents to order all of the school supplies for their students without having to go to the store. The teachers have provided the school supply lists for next year. With the School Toolbox program, you can order a supply box and it will be delivered to the school over the summer. You can pick the box up at orientation or Open House (the boxes will be located at the PTA table in the cafetorium) and walk it straight to the classroom. You should have seen a flyer come home this week on the program but can always register and order online.

Click the link below for more information. If you already have an account, login in the upper right-hand corner. If you do not have an account, you will need to create one. Please note that some grades have a boy and girl option, due to the teachers needing just half of the class to bring certain supplies. All orders are due by 7/2/2023.

We have one last restaurant fundraiser for this school year. Come join us this Sunday from Noon-3PM at the Tap Yard in West Bend. Mention you are there for the MacArthur PTA fundraiser and we will get 20% back!

Over the last two summers, we have had plants donated to us and have had volunteers come out to plant these donations around the school as part of our school beautification process. Please stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram pages for information on the dates and times this summer to help us plant more amazing plants around the school!

We attempted a program during the 2021-2022 school year to have volunteers work a concession stand for the Packers and Brewers to earn money for the PTA. There were very few volunteers but I have heard some parents asking about it this year. If you are interested in participating in a program like this (the participants have to be 16 or older) then please let us know at ptamacarthur@gmail.com and I will enroll us in the program over the summer for the Brewers and next Fall for the Packers.

We have a lot of wonderful parents leaving this year to middle school pastures. It would be great if we could get some amazing parents to learn more about our positions to see if they would fit their interests. If there are any potential volunteers who would like more information, please contact me at ptamacarthur@gmail.com. We would love any volunteers but if you are a parent of a K4, K5, 1st or 2nd grader, this would be the perfect time for you to jump in.

Urgent Needs:

Fall Art Fundraiser: We run this every other year and it will be Mrs. Killen’s last year running this event. If you are interested at all, it would be a good opportunity to work with our resident expert to learn the position.

MacCarnival Basket Raffle: Get a chance to work closely with teachers to make a themed basket for each class to raffle off during our MacCarnival.

Fun Run: If you had a chance to volunteer or watch our awesome Fun Run this year, Mrs. Dombroe will be running it again next year but could use two or three people to help her. This is a good chance to help out without having to be “in charge”!

Restaurant Fundraisers: Our PTA Treasurer will be overseeing this again next year but sadly it will be her last at MacArthur. If you enjoy working with the restaurants in our community, this is a great chance to do so while working with Mrs. Melby to learn the ins and outs.

5th Grade Position: For any current 4th grade parents that would like to help planning next years 5th grade farewell and camp experience, please let us know.

Have a great summer!

- Rob Sanchez

Check out the buttons below for summer Park and Rec information!

Riveredge is regarded as one of the most beautifully restored natural sanctuaries in southwestern Wisconsin, and 4th grade is a great time to explore it. At Riveredge, we think it's the perfect time for families to explore our natural world too.

All 4th graders are eligible to receive a free Family Membership to Riveredge, starting the summer before their 4th grade year through the summer after their 4th grade year!

Website: gsdwi.org/o/macarthur
Location: W154N11492 Fond Du Lac Ave, Germantown, WI, USA
Phone: 262-253-3468
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MacArthurGSDWI