Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter

Dear Muskego Lakes Families,

Hopefully by now, your child has brought home his or her Quarter 2 Report Card. (And if not, you can always log-in to Infinite Campus to see the report card as well.) And while your child's learning is our #1 priority here at Muskego Lakes, we are just as concerned about your child's social-emotional well-being here at school. We celebrate their growth as readers and writers and musicians and artists, but we also get just as excited when they look out for another, take positive risks, learn to manage their emotions, and find their voice among their peers.

Here at Muskego Lakes, we work really hard to connect hearts and minds, doing our very best to handle each one of your children with care. That being said, we certainly know that it takes a village—especially in middle school—to navigate these pivotal years. So thank you for all you do to partner with us to best meet the needs of your child here at school. Our hope is that you know we are here for you- to listen, to support, and to partner with you every step of the way. So we wanted to remind you that not only are your child’s teachers here for you, but so are the rest of us:

• Rachel Rydzewski, Principal rachel.rydzewski@muskegonorway.org or (608) 628-8546

• Nancy Pasch, Associate Principal nancy.pasch@muskegonorway.org

• Stacey Malek, School Psychologist stacey.malek@muskegonorway.org

• Leigh Grall, School Counselor- Grades 5,6 - leigh.grall@muskegonorway.org

• Jim Brickweg, School Counselor- Grades 7,8- james.brickweg@muskegonorway.org

• Stacy Pawlak, School Social Worker- stacy.pawlak@muskegonorway.org

• Jared Sandretti, School Resource Officer- jared.sandretti@muskegonorway.org

Please know we mean it when we say we are here for you. If there is anything we can do to better support your child here at school, please let us know. If you just need someone to listen, we can do that. If you need us to all rally around your child, we can do that too. We are all here for your child and will do just about anything we can to make sure he or she feels seen, accepted, and loved here at school.

In partnership,

Rachel Rydzewski and Nancy Pasch

MLMS Principals

• 2/12: MHS counselors at MLMS to meet with 8th grade

• 2/14: 8th Grade Career Fair

• 2/14: Community Day

• 2/17: No School

• 2/27: Spring Conferences 4-8pm

Our spring parent/teacher conferences will be held on Thursday, February 27th, with both in-person or virtual meeting options from 4:00-8:00 PM. With only one night of conferences, we ask that families be mindful when selecting a time to ensure availability for those who need it most.

As in recent years, we will once again use the Meet the Teacher platform, allowing families to choose either in-person or virtual meetings. Each conference will be 10 minutes long with 2-minute transitions in between. This sign-up is now open, and will be closed for booking on Wednesday, February 26th at 3:00 pm. If you have more than one child at MLMS, you will be able to book conferences for all with the same login.

Important to note is that:

• When you sign up, make sure to indicate if you plan to conferences in person or virtually

• If you have more than one child at MLMS, you will be able to book all conferences for all of your children using the same login.

• Should you need more than that amount of time to meet with any teacher OR should you not be available that evening, please reach out to your child’s teacher(s) to set up an alternative time to connect.

• If you’ve never used Meet the Teacher before or need a refresher, we’ve provided directions for you HERE (or call our Student Services team who can help walk you through the process at (262) 971-1860 ext 5004.

Link to Sign Up

https://MLMSconferences.meettheteacher.com/

Step 1: Login

Fill out the details on the page then click the Log In button.

You must enter information as it is in Infinite Campus.

• Use Samantha not Sam, if Infinite Campus uses your daughter's full name

• When entering an email address, ensure it is one associated with the Infinite Campus profile

• If you have multiple children, you can decide which child's information to use. They will all give you family access!

A confirmation of your appointments will be sent to the email address you provide.

Step 2: Select Parent Teacher Conference

Click on the date you wish to book.

Unable to make all of the dates listed? Click I'm unable to attend.

Step 3: Select In-Person or Virtual

When you choose a date that has both in-person and virtual appointment sessions available, you can choose which you want to book. Then press Next.

Step 4a (Automatic): Book Appointments

Choose your earliest and latest time window. For example 4-6pm only.

Select the teachers you’d like to book appointments with. A green tick indicates they’re selected. To de-select, click on their name.

Generate Appointments

2 minutes to accept or reject

Step 4b (Manual): Book Appointments

Click any of the green cells to make an appointment. Blue cells signify where you already have an appointment. Grey cells are unavailable.

• To change an appointment, delete the original by hovering over the blue box and clicking Delete. Then choose an alternate time.

• Leave a message for the teacher to say what you’d like to discuss beforehand.

• Once you’re finished booking all appointments, at the top of the page, press Click Here to finish the booking process.

Step 6: Finished

All your bookings now appear on the My Bookings page. An email confirmation has been sent and you can also print appointments by pressing Print. Click Subscribe to Calendar to add these and any future bookings to your calendar. To change your appointments, click on Amend Bookings.

Please add a message for the teacher!

• In order for the conference to meet your needs, please indicate outcomes that would make the conference a success. When booking your appointment with a teacher on the booking grid, you will have the option to “Add a message for (teacher name).”

For 5th and 6th grade students

• The 5th and 6th grade teachers teach either math/science or literacy/social studies. You will be able to sign up for those teachers only once, but will be able to talk about both classes during your conference.

For 7th and 8th grade students

• If your account shows that your child has the same teacher for more than one class, PLEASE ONLY SIGN UP WITH THAT TEACHER ONCE. You will be able to talk about both classes during your conference.

How to book conferences with your child’s high school world language or math teacher (if applicable)

• If your child attends Muskego High School for a world language or math class, please look for separate communication from the high school regarding setting up a conference with their teacher

Need an interpreter?

• Contact Mary Amaya with your request at mary.amaya@muskegonorway.org or 262-971-1860.

How to invite a 2nd parent/guardian to the conference

• Once you have made your bookings (or when you later log in and go to My Bookings) click on the Invite Parent/Guardian link at the top of the list of your bookings. If you have already sent an invitation this link will show as Manage Invites instead. A maximum of two guests can attend the conference at the same time.

Need more time with a teacher?

• Meet the Teacher holds firm to the start and end time of each scheduled 10 minute conference. The conference timer begins at the scheduled start time, not when the family joins the conference. When the 10 minutes are up, the conference ends automatically. This is a feature of Meet the Teacher that our teachers cannot manipulate. The benefit of this feature is that teachers will not get backed up causing conference start times to move back. Families can count on every scheduled conference starting on time. If your conference ends and you need more time, please reach out to your child's teacher to schedule another time.

If you weren’t able to sign up for a teacher you’d like to meet with.

• If you’d like to schedule a conference after booking has closed, or if you cannot attend conferences during the designated dates and times, please contact the teacher directly to set up an appointment. They are happy to set-up time to connect with you regarding your child.

Getting ready for your in-person conference

• So that you are on time for all of your appointments, consider coming early to get a map of the school or print one HERE.

Getting ready for your virtual conference and troubleshooting

• Check out the guide HERE

Technology isn’t your thing?

• Call the Muskego Lakes office and ask for Cassie Vogler. She can help walk you through the process to get you signed up!

Need to speak with a principal or someone in student services? Please email to arrange a time that works best for you.

• Rachel Rydzewski (Principal) rachel.rydzewski@muskegonorway.org

• Nancy Pasch (Associate Principal) nancy.pasch@muskegonorway.org

• Stacey Malek (School Psychologist)- stacey.malek@muskegonorway.org

• Leigh Grall (School Counselor- Grades 5,6)- leigh.grall@muskegonorway.org

• Jim Brickweg (School Counselor- Grades 7,8)- james.brickweg@muskegonorway.org

• Stacy Pawlak (School Social Worker)- stacy.pawlak@muskegonorway.org

• Jared Sandretti (School Resource Officer)- jared.sandretti@muskegonorway.org

Quarter 2 report cards were sent home with your student yesterday at the end of the day. We strongly encourage you to review your child's scores and the personalized comments teachers made regarding how well your child is learning.

You can also view your student's report card digitally via Infinite Campus.

• Directions for accessing report cards in infinite campus from desktop computer HERE.
• Directions for accessing report cards in infinite campus from a mobile device HERE.

As we shared last week at Muskego Lakes community days focus on investing in our vision and building the culture of respect we have at Muskego Lakes. We offer students various activities tailored to learning, passions, interests, and more! These activities are designed to help foster new friendships for students with similar interests, build on existing connections between students, and give back to the community.

Our students will be having an upcoming community day on February 14th. Highlights for this upcoming community day will be student culture-building activities, service learning, and academic and career planning.

To make our community day a success, we are again partnering with our PTO, but we are also looking for your support! Please consider helping us make this day happen by visiting our wishlist HERE or by sending in any valentine's day making supplies (no glitter), such as balloons, stickers, Valentines' Day themed paper, etc. for a project we are planning for students.

If you have items, they can be dropped off in the main office c/o Jen Ruditys. In addition, if you are interested in helping the day of our community day as a volunteer, please reach out to one of us; we would love to have you join!

Rachel Rydzewski: rachel.rydzewski@muskegonorway.org

Nancy Pasch: nancy.pasch@muskegonorway.org

Did you know that your volunteer applications expire every 2 years? If you have registered with us before 60 days before your registered volunteer status expires, you will receive an email to re-apply.

We highly recommend that you please renew your application if you are want to be able to volunteer in the classrooms or with a potential field trip. If you haven't completed the Volunteer Application, CLICK HERE to do so.

A reminder that we offer homework center daily for students. It is a quiet space that students can access during their lunch hour to accomplish any task from a class. In addition, a staff member who can help answer students' questions about work they are stuck on will be present.

Reasons Students Might Visit the Homework Center:

• The student is struggling with an assignment or studying for an upcoming assessment and would like some extra help.

• The student wants a quiet, focused space to work or read.

• The student cannot stay after school to attend our afterschool Homework Club or have extra-curricular activities after school.

• Homeroom isn't quite enough time to finish your work.

• The student is looking for someone to guide them more on a specific task.

• A teacher has asked the student to go to get caught up on work they are behind on

Our goal is to help you and your child reunite with items they have lost or misplaced. This means that our staff checks items turned into Lost and Found for names, and when possible call students down to reunite them with their belongings. One way that would help us do this, is to ensure that you label items as much as possible with first and last names.

Common items we find are:

• water bottles
• school supplies
• assignment notebooks
• lunch bags
• sweatshirts

Please encourage your child if they are missing sweatshirts, jackets, water bottles, pencil cases, hats, headbands, etc. to stop by student services to check for their missing items.

Shown below are the upcoming co-curricular events at Muskego Lakes.

If a change occurs from the date of this newsletter, we post on Infinite Campus in the announcement section. We commit to letting students/families know about changes and updating Infinite Campus announcements as soon as possible once we've been notified of a change.

For more detailed information about MLMS events, click here and double-click the calendar item you are interested in.

Did you know that shopping at Walmart can help our MLMS PTO earn money? A huge thank you to everyone that has linked their accounts for Box Tops! You've helped PTO bring in nearly $60 just by doing your everyday shopping. If you want to help out please follow the directions to get signed up!

Looking for a way to get involved and support our amazing school community? The PTO is always looking for helping hands, and we’d love to have you on board—no commitment necessary! Whether you can spare a little time to make phone calls, lend a hand at events, donate resources, or even consider serving on the board, there’s a place for you. We do have a few open board seats for next year, but even if that’s not your thing, any support is welcome. Interested in learning more? Drop us a line at muskegolakespto@gmail.com . We can’t wait to hear from you!

The MLMS PTO is looking to continue the traditon to have snacks for staff each Wednesday. We need your help though by signing up to donate snacks each week. This greatly helps them make it through the week. You can donate snacks or a group of families can donate. We have roughly 100 staff members. Snacks can be anything you'd like.

Please sign up HERE for a date below if you can. Drop off will be in the front office by 8am on the Wednesday you sign up.

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 on how we can make this an amazing school year ahead!!

Our last meeting Dates for the 24-25 School Year are:

• March 3
• April 7
• April 28

In an effort to ensure students can move through the lunch lines efficently, we ask that you remind your student to ensure that they bring their school ID card with them to lunch daily or ensure that they have gotten their finger scanned.

For you ease, we have linked the September menu below with other helpful resources. You can always find the link to updated lunch menus, at the end of this newsletter.

• Lunch Menu
• Guide to Making a Complete Meal
• Top Ten Reasons For School Meals

2024-25 Lunch Prices:

• Elementary School $2.55
• MS Diner meal $2.95
• MS Pizza meal $3.50
• MS Grab n Go $3.50
• MS Creation meal $3.90
• Adult $4.65
• Milk Carton $0.50
  
  

Questions related to the food service program can be directed to Benny D’Epiro, Food Service Director at 262-971-1790 x4522.

We are proud to continue to partner with Clinical Psychology Associates (CPA) to offer on-site counseling services for students enrolled in Lakeview Elementary, Mill Valley Elementary, Bay Lane Elementary, Lake Denoon Middle, Muskego Lakes Middle, and Muskego High School. For information about CPA’s services and therapists or to get started with an appointment, please visit our website.

Please make note of days off and important events on the 24-25 calendar. It is ideal to make dentist and doctor appointments on days we do not have school whenever possible.

The 2025-2026 school calendar is now available for you to review and use for planning purposes.

We encourage you to follow us on Facebook.

Website: https://www.muskegonorway.org/schools/muskegolakes/
Location: W124 S8009 North Cape Rd.
Phone: 262-971-1860
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muskegolakesmuskies

To view current support staff job vacancies, click HERE