Sand Lake Elementary
March Newsletter
From the principal’s desk…
Sand Lake Families,
I
hope this message finds you well! March has long been one of my favorite months
of the year! The weather is hopefully taking a turn for the positive, the
excitement for Spring is building, and there are plenty of good basketball
games on TV! Here are a few of the highlights ahead this month:
·
Monday, March 4-Friday, March 8: Read
Across America and National School Breakfast Week
·
Monday March 4: Our 3rd graders in Drama
Club will perform their school play at 6:30 pm.
·
Thursday, March 7: 6:00 p.m.: 1st Grade
Concert, 7:00 p.m.: 5th Grade Concert
·
Tuesday, March 12 and Thursday, March 14 (Option Night, Thursday, March 21): Parent/Teacher Conferences
(expanded info below).
·
Tuesday, March 19: 6:00 p.m.: Kindergarten Concert,
7:00 p.m.: 3rd Grade Concert
·
In the midst of all of this, our 3rd, 4th,
and 5th grade students are preparing for and taking their FORWARD
exams.
Each
of these presents a unique opportunity to visit and connect with our school. We
value our families as critical parts of the educational process and I welcome
opportunities to connect with you. I hope to see each of you and connect
personally at our upcoming events!
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for March 12 and March 14. March 21 is an option night for teachers who need additional time to meet with families. Each conference is allotted only fifteen minutes, so it is important that we start and end on time. If a conflict arises and you are unable to attend, please contact the school office and/or your child’s teacher prior to your scheduled meeting. Mrs. Frederickson recently sent communication regarding how to sign up for your child’s conference. If you have any questions, please contact the main office.
During
the conferences, teachers will discuss student progress, strengths, daily work
habits, assessment results, interaction with classmates and areas for
improvement. Time will also be provided for parents to ask questions. It would
be beneficial to discuss with your child how they feel their school experience
is going prior to attending the conference. This information can be
communicated to your child’s teacher about what is going well, as well as what
type of assistance your child might need. We have great students here at Sand
Lake and this can be an opportunity for you and your family to celebrate your
child’s progress!
Our Sand Lake staff appreciates the opportunity to collaborate regarding your child’s achievements. We hope that you will continue to maintain open communication via telephone calls/e-mails, written notes, and when we can, visits to the school.
Please don’t hesistate to reach out if
you have any questions about your child or Sand Lake Elementary
Matt Meyers
2024-2025 Sixth Graders
Please join us in the Holmen Middle School in Gym B on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. for this informational meeting.
If
you have any questions, please contact Ryan Vogler, Holmen Middle School
Principal, at 608-526-3391 ext.
5405 or vogrya@holmen.k12.wi.us
Art Room News from Mrs. Staige
Sand
Lake will be participating in the Original Works art fundraiser again this
year. This program allows you to have your child’s very own artwork printed
onto a variety of quality products. Some of the products include: magnets, note
cards, coffee mugs, tote bags and keychains. Artwork, order forms and
price list will be sent home with your child this month. Orders are due back to
school by Friday, March 22.
Please
remember to fill out ONE order form per artwork.
Questions?
Contact Mrs. Staige at stajen@holmen.k12.wi.us
Thank
you!
Counselor Connection – Mrs. Kobs
I want to welcome Coulee Council to Sand Lake. During the month of March and April, they will be teaching lessons in all Kindergarten, First, Second and Third grade classrooms on such topics as responsibility, refusal skills for healthy drug free living, and interpersonal skills to resist peer pressure through the Too Good For Drugs Program. You are encouraged to ask your child about what he or she has learned throughout March and April. This program is part of the school counseling and health curriculum. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call at 608-781-0974 or send an email to kobamy@holmen.k12.wi.us.
Amy Kobs, Sand Lake School CounselorDistrict Open Enrollment
Wisconsin’s
inter-district public school open enrollment program allows parents to apply
for their children to attend school districts other than the one in which they
live. Students in 5-year old kindergarten to grade 12 may apply
to participate in open enrollment. Open enrollment for pre-kindergarten,
4-year old kindergarten and early childhood education is limited. Parents
should call their resident school districts to find out if their preschool-aged
children qualify for open enrollment. The Open Enrollment application period
for the 2024-2025 School year is from February 5 - April 30, 2024. Parents must apply to
the nonresident district. A nonresident district is defined as the
district you do not live in, but where you want your child to attend.
It is recommended that
you apply for open enrollment through the on-line application process at http://dpi.wi.gov/oe. The open enrollment application period closes at 4:00 p.m. on
April 30, 2024. Late applications will not be accepted for any
reason.
If you have any questions regarding open
enrollment, please contact Courtney Wilson, Open Enrollment Coordinator for the
School District of Holmen, and Student Services Department at 608-526-1309.
Early Release
Reminder
Educational Assistants EXTRA
*Please continue to send boots and snow pants. Boots may be
needed for wet conditions.
*Please be sure students are dropped off no later
than 8:35 a.m., as they need to be in their classrooms and ready to learn by
8:40 a.m.
Elementary Family Handbook Reminder
We have seen an increase
in students with smart watches. We know these are handy communication tools for
students and families, particularly if your student is walking or riding the bus
home. However, they are to be stored in student’s lockers at school, not worn
in “silent” or “emergency” mode. Here is the language from our elementary
handbook:
· CELL PHONES OR PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES (INCLUDING SMART WATCHES) If a student brings a personal electronic device to school, it needs to be turned off during the school day and remain in his/her backpack.
Farm 2 School
The La Crosse County Farm2School program is a collaboration between public school districts in La Crosse County and the La Crosse County Health Department. The Farm2School program provides student opportunities for health and nutrition education. Each month, one locally-grown produce item is selected as the Farm2School "Harvest of the Month". March’s “Harvest of the Month” is sweet potatoes.
Fifth Grade BASH
Four-Year Old Kindergarten (4K)
Registration
The
School District of Holmen will begin accepting enrollment for the 2024-25 Four-Year-Old
Kindergarten (4K) Program soon. Any child who is four-years-old on or
before September 1, 2024 and lives in the school district boundaries is
eligible to participate. We encourage early registration in order to help us
plan accordingly for the 2024-25 school year.
Note: All enrollment is done online– www.holmen.k12.wi.us
Important
4K Information:
· 4K classes are currently held at Viking
Elementary School
· AM Session: 8:15 a.m.—11:00 a.m.
· PM Session: 11:45 a.m.—2:30 p.m.
· Placement in AM or PM session is based upon
transportation needs. We notify families of class placements during the first week of August.
Health Office News
Nurse: Emily Hanes, RN, BSN
Health Aide: Annette Hundt
Cold
and Flu Season Continues…
We
recommend a student to stay home if they have any of
these below signs/symptoms:
- Fever
(100 degrees or higher)
- Vomiting
or diarrhea
- Headache
severe enough to interfere with learning
- Cough
causing difficulty breathing, chest pain or enough to interfere with learning
- Sore
throat serious enough to interfere with swallowing or accompanied by fever or
rash
- Undiagnosed
rash
- Any
bacterial infection until student has been on antibiotic therapy for 24 hours
Returning
to School:
- Your
child should be fever free (100 degrees or lower) for at least 24 hours without
fever reducing medications.
- If
your child has vomited or has diarrhea, we recommend they stay home an
additional day.
Suggestions
for Recovery:
- Encourage fluids as tolerated
- Encourage extra rest time, consider limiting their extracurricular activities for a couple of days.- Reinforce
the importance of hand washing.
- Wipe
down hard surfaces with a disinfectant solution.
Holmen Rotary
The Holmen Area Rotary Club has unveiled a “Teacher of the Month” program. The club has been honoring outstanding Holmen High School Students with their "Student of the Month" and felt that it would be good to also honor the outstanding educators in the Holmen Elementary School system. Holmen Elementary Students can nominate their special teacher by filling out and submitting a short and simple questionnaire on why they feel their nominated educator is special. This month Sand Lake has been selected to participate and we encourage you to nominate one of our amazing teachers! The link to submit is included below and paper copies are available at the school.
Holmen Area Rotary Teacher of the Month Nomination
Kidz
Klozet
We have plenty of clothing items for all seasons. The Kidz Klozet will be open during Parent/Teacher conferences. Please feel free to stop in and take a look. As always, contact us if you have any questions! Thank you.
Any
questions, please contact us at:
timmeg@holmen.k12.wi.us
yassar@holmen.k12.wi.us
This
March 2024 in Music we will be focusing on the following
musical elements:
Kindergarten: Introduction to instruments of the orchestra and concert preparation
First: Concert Preparation, seasonal songs and activities
Second:
Instruments of the Orchestra and following a musical score
Third: Concert Preparation, Instruments of the Orchestra preparation for our orchestra field trip and
note reading for recorder
Fourth:
Continued recorder, note reading/note values/terminology and melodic composition
for the recorder
Fifth: Concert Preparation and music terminology
Upcoming
Concert Dates:
March
7 - 1st grade 6:00 p.m. and 5th grade 7:00 p.m.
March
19 - Kindergarten 6:00 p.m. and 3th grade 7:00 p.m.
Thank
you for supporting music education!
National
School Breakfast Week –
March 4-8
“Surf’s
Up with School Breakfast”
Sand Lake
will be celebrating National School Breakfast Week. Students are invited to participate in the
following fun activities during breakfast ONLY.
Tuesday, March 5: Beach Ball Toss! Toss the ball into a bucket and win a prize *Wear PJ’s or Comfy Clothes Day!*
Wednesday, March 6:
Lucky Tray Day at Breakfast!
Thursday, March 8: Spin
the Wheel Game! Spin
the wheel to win a prize
Friday,
March 9: Sand Bucket Day! Reach
into the sand bucket to win a prize
Parent Teacher Group (PTG) News
Please know you are welcome to join our upcoming PTG meetings on March 4 (5-6pm) April 1 (6-7pm) and May 6 (6-7pm) in the Sand Lake conference room. This is a great time to meet other parents, connect with our principal, hear from teachers, learn about school events, and share your ideas.
We are very
excited to announce our first big fundraiser of the year to be held at Toppers
on Tuesday, March 19 where 25% of sales will be donated to Sand Lake to support
our teachers and students. Mention DOUGH when calling in your order or enter
promo code: DOUGH in your online order so they know you are electing to be a
part of the fundraiser. Mark your calendars now for this special event!
Fundraising is very important to PTG and our school; for this month alone PTG
is providing catered food for our teachers at Parent/Teacher conferences and
supplies for our upcoming Drama Club performance “Ridiculous”. If you would
like to directly donate to PTG, feel free to drop off a personal check or cash
to the office. We appreciate your support and generosity very much!
Our upcoming 5th Grade Bash collaborative planning meetings will be on March 18 and April 15 at 5:00 p.m. at HMS. A special shout-out to our parents who have already been a part of the planning! ~ Jamie Bell, DJ Adam Bell (yeah Grizzly Entertainment!), Amanda Jensen, Jessi Knapmiller, Kristin Erickson, Jenna Houdek, Ami Berg, Jessica Hembd, Kelly Nestingen, Rebecca Grego and Mandy Craig. Reminder - registration and t-shirt contest forms including the $10 fee are due on March 8th.
Check out our past meeting minutes and other information on our website at https://www.holmen.k12.wi.us/schools/sandlake/parents/sand-lake-ptg.cfm. You can reach us at any time as well, at sandlakeptg@gmail.com.
Happy Spring!
Sand Lake PTG
Mission Statement: The mission of Sand Lake PTG is
to promote the welfare of the children of Sand Lake Elementary and to bring the
home and school together for social and educational interaction.
Physical Education - Sneaker News from Mr. Fredrick
February brought us a lot of excitement in the gym with cartwheels, climbing ropes, cargo nets, rolling, balance beams, climbing walls, and much more in our K-5 classes. Students in 2nd and 3rd grade created fun and unique balance beam routines while 4th and 5th graders had the opportunity to create a routine on the flat mats. It was so fun getting to see students move in fun, different ways on equipment many do not normally get to use. Make sure to ask your student(s) what their favorite station or activity was!
I
am thinking that March will go even faster than February seemed to go!
With Parent/Teacher conferences, music performances in many of the grade
levels, and Spring break, we will have quite the unique schedule! 4th and
5th grade students will be starting their invasion games unit where they will
use the tools of football, soccer, and ultimate frisbee to learn about invasion
game tactics. Grades K-3 will be starting their object control with their
foot unit which will include soccer type skills such as dribbling, passing,
and shooting. I look forward to continuing our way to Spring so we can
hopefully get outside and enjoy learning our various skills and tactics
outside. Enjoy the nice weather, and as always, make sure to encourage
your students to get outside and play!
Read Across a America Week- March 4-8
Dress
Up Days
Monday- Head to Toe in Love with Books
(Wear a Hat and/or Fun Socks)
Tuesday- Snuggle Up To Reading (Wear Pajamas)
Wednesday- Pawsitively Wild About Reading
(Wear Animal print and/or clothing with Animals)
Thursday- Team Up For Reading (Wear Your Favorite
Team Clothing)
Friday- School Spirit Day (Wear Viking Clothing or Colors)
Spring Break
There will be no school for students in the School District of Holmen from Monday, March 25 through Friday, March 29 for Spring Break. School resumes on Monday, April 1.
Summer School
Support Services Substitute
Title I Annual Notice
Sand Lake
receives federal funds through Title I. One requirement of that program is to
provide certain Information to families. Here are a couple of annual notices
that were not included in our K-5 Elementary Family Handbook, but are important
for you to know about Sand Lake:
·
Families may request information regarding state or local district
policy regarding student participation in mandated assessments.
·
Families may request information regarding the professional
qualifications of their child’s classroom teachers.
Virtual Backpack
The School
District of Holmen has implemented a “green” approach for distributing flyers
from community organizations, and has discontinued the process of sending paper
flyers in your student's backpack, unless they are school related. The
information is divided into three sections, by grade levels, and updated on a
regular basis.
Click on
this link: https://www.holmen.k12.wi.us/community/virtual-backpack.cfm
to be directed to the actual webpage which is housed in the COMMUNITY tab of
the homepage.
Note that most of these advertisements
are not district publications (unless marked). The District enables their
online distribution as a community service to inform you of educational
opportunities, activities and events available in our area.
