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Stoner Prairie News
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2nd Edition, October 2nd, 2023
Welcome to our Second Edition
Welcome to the second edition of our Stoner Prairie School-Wide Newsletter! This newsletter will come to you weekly, on Mondays. Below are links to your child's individual classroom teacher newsletter.
Every newsletter will include helpful information from our across our school community including:
- A Principal weekly message
- Information from related arts and the library
- PTO Updates
- Classroom newsletters (included in the next section). This week the daily scoop is linked!
Our goal is to send one weekly communication (instead of several separate emails). In addition, we are also using Smore - a program that enables us to translate the content in over 65 languages! We will reach out in a few weeks for family input on our new communication method.
Principal Connection
What a great week we shared at Stoner Prairie. We started with our professional learning communities (PLC) on Monday morning. A PLC is a tool that works to gather staff together to support collaboration with a specific focus. Our grade level PLC's are working with our instructional coaches to plan for lessons using grade level standards. Every staff member belongs to a PLC that meets weekly. The work of our PLC's aligns our practices with those defined in our district's strategic framework.
Later in the week, many of our grade levels began conducting Fall assessments as we continue to get to know our scholars and plan for conferences. Staff met on Wednesday after school to talk about our shared planning for conferences and ways that we are supporting our students this year.
We also have been busy getting ready for conferences with our family photos taken at the welcome back bash! We installed a monitor in our entry and will be getting photos up and running in time for families to enjoy later this week.
Finally on Friday, we gathered together for the first PTO Fun Run! What an amazing event that had everyone excited for exercise in the warm sunshine - thank you to Mr. Vergeront and our PTO Fun Run Team for putting on a successful fun run!
Teacher Newsletters: Click here to see your child's newsletter
Important Updates & Upcoming Dates
Attendance reminders:
Please call 608-845-4203 (English attendance line) or 608-845-4200 (Main line with Spanish option) or email sp-attendance@verona.k12.wi.us (English and Spanish) with all attendance changes. Contacting the attendance office directly is important! Stop by the office during conferences for a fridge magnet with helpful information!
Digital Citizenship
Dear Families,
As the district continues addressing digital citizenship as part of our strategic plan, throughout the school year your student/s will engage in lessons in Digital Citizenship using the Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship Curriculum (click here for more details). It is a digital world and our kids need the valuable lessons learned at school and at home on how to navigate the internet safely and appropriately. We will engage our students in lessons about their digital footprint, media balance, safe and appropriate communication, cyberbullying, news and media literacy and privacy and security.
This month your child will be learning about their Digital Footprint and Identity. As a family, you can continue the conversation at home using these Tips for Families and these Grade 2 and Grade 3-5 activities.
If you have any questions, contact your school’s Educational Technology Coach - Ben Geissal @ geissalb@verona.k12.wi.us
Thank you!
Fifth Graders Launched The Fun Run in the Fog
Our fifth graders were the first group to participate in our fun run and enjoyed an early morning run!
Book Fair Thursday 10/5 and Tuesday 10/10
The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Stoner Prairie 10/5 - 10/10! New this year, students will preview the book fair during their library time. Shopping will only be open after school and during conferences from 2:30 pm - 7:00 pm on Thursday, 10/5 and Tuesday, 10/10. We would like to get a book in every student's hands! If your family would like a scholarship book, please contact our social worker, Laura Confer, at conferl@verona.k12.wi.us. If you'd like to support our scholarship book program, you can donate money to our eWallet account (click here).
The Stoner Prairie Fun Run is a Success!
The first Stoner Prairie Fun Run was held on Friday, 9/29 during each grade's related arts block! All students who participated received a free t-shirt, took a class picture, ran for 20 minutes, and enjoyed a post-race snack all while raising funds for the Stoner Prairie PTO. The results are in:
Most determined - 5th & 3rd
Most teamwork- K & 4
Most enthusiastic- 2 & 1
Please know that we are still collecting donations until 10/6. We ask that all cash be turned in by this date as well as final collections. All funds will go to our Stoner Prairie PTO - the PTO is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax-deductible. It’s easy to use our online site by
clicking this link.
School Counselor Update from Ms. Browman
Our school counselor, Ms. Browman, has visited most classrooms in the last two weeks to deliver the first guidance lesson of the year! The focus was on bullying prevention: knowing how to recognize it and interrupt it. Small groups by grade-level also started this week! In the classroom, teachers deliver our social-emotional learning S(EL) curriculum called Second Step. Our school counselor offers small groups by grade-level every week to provide a “booster” in the SEL material. These topics include: listening skills, growth mindset, setting goals, and learning from mistakes.
10/9-10/13 - It's homecoming week!
Next week, we will be joining schools across the district to celebrate homecoming. We will have special days across the week:
Monday - Pattern Day (wear strips, polka dots, glitter, etc)
Tuesday - PJ Day
Wednesday - Hat day
Thursday - inside/out day
Friday - Wildcat colors! Join us for the parade at 4:15 (see message below).
First Graders Stay Hydrated and Smile!
The fog lifted and our first graders ran in the sunshine!
Patrols are coming!
This week we will meet with our fifth graders about greatness patrol opportunities. ALL fifth graders may serve as patrols and there are a wide variety of jobs for all scholars. From reading with younger scholars to playing math games or supporting kindergarten scholars with breakfast routines, there is a job that will help our school run more smoothly! More information to come in the next two weeks or look for the bulletin board near the fifth grade classrooms.