Farmington Elementary Newsletter

Hello Farmington Families,

As we step into the month of May, I invite you to join me in a heartfelt celebration of the remarkable individuals who shape our children's lives every single day: our outstanding staff.

The FES Staff are the heartbeat of our school community, dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to nurturing, educating, and inspiring our children. They create vibrant learning environments where curiosity flourishes and where every child feels valued and supported.

In a world where their impact often goes unnoticed, it's crucial that we take the time to recognize and appreciate the incredible work that our staff do. Thank you to our PTO who has some exciting plans for celebrating our staff during Teacher Appreciation week coming up in May to show our thanks to all FES staff members.

Take Care,

Angie Petersen

apetersen@kewaskumschools.org

262-626-3102

Farmington Principal

District Assessment Coordinator

Farmington students were well represented at the district art show April 17th! Creations filled the walls, halls and boards showcasing our students' talents. We thank our district art department, especially our own Mrs. Lucas, who put in countless hours in preparing student work for the show. What an exciting event!

Keeping our passwords private and our accounts secure is of utmost importance to us. Therefore, all current 5th grade and 8th grade student passwords will be changing on July 8th. This change is necessary as 6th grade and 9th grade students have increased password security requirements.

In late June, an email will be sent out to student email accounts containing their new password. We kindly ask that you remind your child to write it down in a safe place for future reference. Once the password changes are made, your child will not be able to use their current password to access their accounts.

Thanks to those that attended Mcteacher's night! We raised $955 for our school-one of the highest totals the managers at McDonalds have seen in a long time!

💐The flower sale is wrapping up today 4/26 with pickup on 5/11.💐

How the PTO financially helped this year... bus money for each classroom to take a field trip, sensory bins for each classroom, purchased DARE shirts for the 5th graders, flexible seating project, bookmarks/books for read across America week, bounce houses for the end of the year fun day, and much more!!

We thank each of you for your fundraising efforts.

📅Join us for the last PTO meeting of the year on 5/14.📅

We are happy to announce that Officer Aaron Roth has joined the Kewaskum School District as our new School Resource Officer full time - effective Monday, April 22. Following a thorough interview process in March, Officer Roth was selected to become our SRO beginning with the 2024-2025 school year. Recent events have accelerated the timeline for his start.

District and School Calendar-Click on tabs at the bottom to switch between calendars.

When your children get home from school or their sporting events for the evening, do you ask how their day was? How about how their friendships are going? What about that most recent test they shared was really making them nervous?

These open communications and being present with your child are SO IMPORTANT in not only connecting with your child, but also offering an opportunity to get a sense of where they are at in their mental health. There’s a stigma attached to that word, but an awareness to mental health is ever present in our communities. Having a “normalized” conversation around the topic can help you get a pulse on whether your child has the coping skills and accessible resources to get through difficult moments.

This is the perfect time to start these conversations if you haven’t already.

Here are three tips to help you start that conversation in a low-key way:

• Ask questions to help engage in conversation such as: How was your day? What was your favorite part of today? Was there any part of your day that went really well or didn’t go so well? (If so, would you like to talk about it?) How did that test go? Who did you play with at recess and what did you do? Was anything “out of the norm” today? What specials classes did you have and what activity/project did you work on?

• Use a simple “I noticed…” statement if it appears something is wrong or they are in a heightened mood, then follow it up with “Do you want to talk about it?” If they say “no”, simply remind your child that you are there for them if they change their mind.

• Listen without judgment. Be accepting of all emotions your child expresses, helping them feel validated and heard. Get curious and ask questions vs. jumping to consoling them or giving quick-fix advice (ie telling them it will be fine and not to worry might feel like a dismissal of their feelings vs. asking “How do you think you want to solve this?” Or asking, “Would you like my assistance with this, or do you think you have a plan?” ).

As a school community, we care about your children and appreciate the partnerships we have developed with our families to address not only the academic needs of our students, but also the overall well-being of our school families. If ever there are concerns with your child’s mental well being, please feel free to reach out to your child’s classroom teacher, the school principal, the school counselor or the school psychologist. Sometimes it might be a quick conversation with any one of these individuals, other times it may be a referral to community resources for longer-term care.

There are many resources available on the Kewaskum School District website under the “parent” tab. Feel free to click here to be directly connected to these mental health resources.

Our neighboring Slinger School District is also hosting two public presentations for those interested in attending. Click here for more info.

Our school day begins at 8:55 and ends at 3:45. Our building doors will be open to students at 8:45am. At the end of the day students will begin to be released to the busses and adults who pick up at 3:40pm.

Any time adults volunteer to work with our students, whether in the building or on a field trip, we must have a completed background check. To complete the background check, please click on this link: ADULT APPLICATION

For future reference, you can find the link on our webpage: kewaskumschools.org >parents>volunteer>ADULT APPLICATION

Each family has been assigned a number to help with the efficiency of pick-ups. Cards were handed out to most families at Open House with the student's last name and the family number on the card. If you need another card, please contact Mrs. Seiser. You can replicate the information on your own piece of paper, making sure the number and last name are large enough to be visible from 5 to 6 feet from your vehicle.

If you will be dropping off your child(ren) for school, please enter the pick-up/drop-off loop, and stay in the right lane. The first vehicle in the line should pull up to the end of the sidewalk. All students should stay in the vehicles they arrive in until the building doors open at 8:45. The playground will not be available for use before school.

If you will be picking up your child(ren) at the end of the day, please park in the right lane of the Pick Up/Drop Off area. stay in your vehicle, and have your card visible. The first car in the line should park at the end of the sidewalk on the right hand side. A staff member will come out read the cards, and send that information into the building. Next, those students will come out, load their cars, and those 5 cars will be waved to leave. Then, all cars will pull up 5 spots and we will repeat the process. If everyone follows the same protocols the line will be efficient and most importantly, it will be a safe way to dismiss all students. Students will begin to be dismissed to vehicles at 3:45.

Families utilizing our before or after school care through Forever Friends should enter through Door 3 (door nearest to the gym).

October 2023 UPDATE:

So, what can you do if you arrive and the pick up/drop off loop is full during pick-up at the end of the day?

• You could choose to park in the visitor's lot and walk to the front door with your family number to pick up your child.
• You could choose to drive around the block and come back at a later time.
• You could choose to plan to come to pick up your child anytime after 3:46 (by this time our first two sections of vehicles have been dismissed and there typically is no longer a line).
• You could choose to wait on the road-again, we are hoping vehicles only wait on the east shoulder of the road, (the side closest to the building) to create more space for traveling vehicles on the road.

Additional reminder: when you're in the vehicle line, please pull as far forward as possible-this allows us to get more vehicles off of the road.

**These routines may change during the year if we find the current procedures do not fit our school needs. Any changes will be communicated to you through a newsletter/Skyward message.**

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin recently opened the Craig Yabuki Mental Health Walk-in-Clinic for children ages 5-18 at their main campus. The clinic runs seven days a week from 3:00 PM- 9:30 PM. More specific information can be found here. If you know of someone in need, please share this information with them.

• FES Elementary School Website
• Breakfast & Lunch Menus
• Bridges (Math) Math at Home

Email: apetersen@kewaskumschools.org
Website: https://www.kewaskumschools.org/fes/home
Location: 8736 Boltonville Road, Kewaskum, WI, USA
Phone: 262-626-3102