Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter

Dear Muskego Lakes Families,

Here at Muskego Lakes, we recognize how important it is that we enforce school rules consistently.

Working with young adolescents, we know just how important fairness is to our students. Developmentally, middle school students begin to push boundaries, and it is extremely important to them that when they do, all adults here at school enforce the school rules consistently.

So, just a few things we do at Muskego Lakes to make sure school rules are applied and addressed consistently:

• All students learn about and sign a Muskego Lakes Code of Conduct contract acknowledging they understand the school rules.
• All teachers use our Remind, Check-in, Take a Break System when students demonstrate problem behaviors in their classes (ie talking when the teacher is talking, off task, etc).
• Grade-level teams teach students what is expected of them, and every single teacher in the grade level has consistent consequences in place.
• Any student written up by a substitute teacher receives a lunch detention.
• Any student who demonstrates behavior that is disruptive to the learning environment (ie unsafe behaviors, bullying &/or harassment, etc.) receives an office discipline referral. Depending on the due process investigation, as principals, we respond with disciplinary actions that are consistent.

We work really hard to help students understand that the rules here at school are in place to keep everyone safe. We want them to know that while they may not agree with every rule, we want them to know that we will always listen to their perspective and do our best to help them understand. We also help them see the bigger picture when school rules fall under District Board policy.

We know that for adolescents, predictability is extremely important. So we work really hard to have systems in place that are consistent. And while our students may not get to know about the specific disciplinary actions we take with their peers, our hope is that they trust us as their principals to be fair in our approach with every single student.

If you ever have a question about our systems in place when it comes to discipline, please reach out. We know how important you are to the success of this school, and your insight and perspective is extremely important to us. We also encourage you to let your child know that he or she can always come to us if there are questions related to school rules and/or questions about how any office discipline referrals are handled. While we are responsible for upholding confidentiality, we will always do our best to help students better understand when they have questions or concerns.

We hope you enjoy the warm weather ahead this weekend!

With love,

Rachel Rydzewski & Nancy Pasch

Muskego Lakes Principals

• October 24-31st: Spooktacular Spirit Week

• October 31st: Halloween at MLMS

• November 4th No School - Professional Day

• November 10th 8th Grade Pre-Act

• November 11th Community Day

• November 23rd - 25th No School - Thanksgiving Break

• November 30th- MNS Choral Festival

• January 25th - Last Student Photo Day

The Muskego Lakes Student Council met and planned a Fall Themed spirit week for next week and leading up to Halloween! Check out the schedule below.

We look forward to seeing students in costumes on Monday, October 31st if they choose to do so. We reviewed the following expectations with students this past week, but ask that you also review them with your student.

• Students should reach out to their homeroom teacher if concerned about a costume being appropriate prior to Halloween.

• All costume preparations are to be completed at home. (No dressing or applying of makeup or colored hairspray once students arrive at school.)

• Any accessory that is used improperly, distracts the learning, or is considered inappropriate for school will be turned in and students will be able to collect it at the end of the day.

• Students wearing inappropriate costumes will be asked to call home (in the classroom) for a change of clothes.

• Foot attire must be worn at all times. No bare feet, stocking feet or slippers

The following are items that will not be allowed:

• No inflatable costumes

• No fake weapons (i.e. swords, guns, nun-chucks, etc.)

• No costumes or accessories that which depict, represent, solicit or promote alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gangs, cults, sex, violence, or profanity.

• No mask/headwear that covers your entire face can be worn.

On November 11, Muskego Lakes students will be participating in Veteran's day activities. One of those activities is an honor walk. Our vision for the honor walk is to highlight past and current service members so that our students can learn about the different branches of the military and the various ways in which people serve.

To make this honor walk a success, we ask if you or a family member have served or currently serve in an armed force to consider being part of the honor walk by submitting some information. We will compile the information shared into a sign (as shown below) for students to review and learn from during their honor walk. Please consider filling out this short survey and sharing a photo so we can highlight as many different individuals as possible during our honor walk.

For our next community day, students will be working to complete service projects for both those in the armed services and children's hospital. In order to do that, we are looking for some support to make it happen. If you are willing and able to help, please check out our Muskego Lakes Amazon Wishlist HERE. The MLMS PTO and Community Day planning group thank you in advance for your consideration and generosity!

Last year Muskego Lakes renovated an old cornfield into a new grass playing field on the south end of the property. The goal was to help increase our limited green space area for students. Adding another grass field helped eliminate more turf damage and soil compaction to our original field by sharing the usage. Now that our new field is fully established we have been able to start reconditioning our original green space on the north side of the building. This fall, our grounds crew overseed and aerated the field to reestablish the bare spots and will continue to fertilize the fields next spring and late summer. We have limited the use of the field to help establish the grass.

School pictures have arrived! We will be getting these to the students, and they should be brining them home on Monday, October 24 in their Musky Folders.

At Muskego Lakes, we are looking for someone to report to school every day from 7:15am-3:15pm. This role steps in anytime teaching staff are unable to be at school due to illness, attending a conference, medical appointment, etc. This position requires a minimum of an Associates degree but does not require a teaching license. If interested, please apply here Building Guest Teacher.

We have quite the collection of lost and found items ranging from shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, water bottles, etc. Please remind your child to check the lost and found items outside of Student Services. Any items still left on Friday, October 28 will be donated. Thank you!

Waukesha County Resources

Christmas Clearing Council

The 2022 Christmas Clearing Council Client Application is now available online! Parents struggling financially may apply for Christmas gift assistance for their children this season. Deadline to apply is Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, at 11:59 p.m.

http://www.christmasclearingcouncil.org/application

Hope Center

They offer a free shop and will help you find winter clothing, hats, gloves, etc., to prep for the cold weather. They have meals served on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 5:30 PM for those in need. In addition, they also accept once-yearly applicants for financial assistance if they are in the low-income population.

Reach them at:

502 N. East Avenue, Waukesha WI 53186

P: (262) 549-8726

Racine County Resources

Love Inc. can provide holiday assistance in many ways. Please contact at (262) 763-6226 to inquire about their "Thanksgiving Dinner Program" and "Adopt-a-Family Christmas Program." They also provided gently used coats, hats, scarves, and mittens for winter warmth.

If you have questions about any of the mentioned resources, don't hesitate to get in touch with Stacy Pawlak (stacy.pawlak@muskegonorway.org), the school social worker.

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.

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 order a middle school yearbook through Jostens, as yearbook sales are not handled through the school. In order to order a year book please visit: Jostens.com/YB23 . The deadline to place an order is February 1st, 2023. Additional copies of yearbooks will not be available at school after the deadline.

If you're not certain if you've already ordered a yearbook, please search your email for "Jostens" and look for a confirmation of sale. Or, if you created an account when ordering, you may login to Jostens.com, and view your purchase history.

To inquire about financial assistance, please reach out to Stacy Pawlak, Social Worker.

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

• November 16
• January 18
• February 15
• March 15
• April 19
• May 17

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