Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter

Dear Muskego Lakes Families,

This week at Muskego Lakes, we took time to pause and reflect with our students on what it means to experience success. At Muskego Lakes, we hold our students to high expectations as learners. We believe they are wildly capable, and so we work really hard to ensure each student is progressing academically. That being said, our school vision is to connect hearts and minds in all we do.

While learning is critically important, we know that success encompasses so much more. It’s about our students feeling safe, developing a sense of belonging, building self-confidence, and learning how to navigate life’s challenges. This week, students reflected on their own growth—identifying successes that ranged from mastering a new concept to being brave in a tough situation or showing kindness to a peer.

We hope these reflections helped students recognize that success looks different for everyone and that every step forward, no matter how small, is worth celebrating. As a staff, we wake up every day with your kids on our minds. We continue to build resources, systems, and supports that honor the whole child, ensuring that every student feels connected, confident, and capable.

We encourage you to ask your child about their reflections this week. Celebrate the unique ways they’ve grown and take pride in their journey, because we are so incredibly proud of each and every student.

In partnership,

Rachel Rydzewski and Nancy Pasch

MLMS Principals

• 12/9-12/11: Math iReady Testing

• 12/12: Winter Choir Concert at MHS PAC 7pm

• 12/13: 6th Grade Science Fair

• 12/16-12/20: Winter Spirit Week

• 1/16: Group Photo Day

• 1/23: End of Quarter 2

Students this week finished up their Literacy iReady testing, and next week students will be taking the Math iReady test starting on December 9th. As a reminder, the iReady Assessment is designed to provide a clear picture of students' current knowledge and areas they can focus on for improvement. This is the second of three times during the year that students will take this test.

Please have a conversation with your child about giving their best effort and not becoming stressed by any incorrect answers. We ask that you please help students to ensure that their Chromebook is fully charged and that they have a pair of wired headphones ready. A good night's sleep and a nutritious breakfast on test days will also contribute to their success.

Thank you for your support in helping our students excel during this assessment period. If you have any questions or need further information, feel free to reach out.

We are working with our MLMS PTO to look for different ways to add some fun activities during the school day for our students since they work so hard! The idea we are going to try is hosting some pop-up clubs during lunches. We believe this will help students connect and make friends with similar interests. That way, they can get to know others while trying out different interests or exploring things they may not otherwise.Members of our staff are going to be hosting some, but we wanted to extend the offer to see if their were any parent/guardians interested in hosting one for a lunch period or all lunch periods. A pop-up club could be based on a hobby or interest you or your child have.

Are you interested?

We ask that if you are interested you please fill out the MNSD Volunteer Application HERE and email Nancy Pasch, Associate Principal, at nancy.pasch@muskegonorway.org indicating your interest and idea for the club. We will then be in touch once your volunteer application is approved to schedule the club with you!

Lake Denoon will be hosting a dance/open gym night on Friday, December 13th from 5:00-7:00 pm. The event will be open to all 5-8 students from both Lake Denoon and Muskego Lakes and will include a DJ/dancing, open gym, and raffle prizes! A concession stand will also be available. Admission is $5 and sign-up is required ahead of time so that we can plan for staffing. If you have any questions about the event, please contact Nikki Kamperschroer at nicole.kamperschroer@muskegonorway.org or Jack Thompson at jack.thompson@muskegonorway.org.

We will also be looking for some parent volunteers to help out at this event! If you are interested in volunteering, you can sign up here. Thanks for considering helping us out!

Winter Wonderland Sign-Up Form (sign-up closes Wednesday, December 11th)

All students that start their day at Muskego High School, please be advised that your child will NOT attend Muskego High School on Tuesday, December 10th due to the high school having their Career Day. Students should report to Muskego Lakes at the start of the day.

Thanks to the suggestion from a parent here at Muskego Lakes, we added additional signage in the cafeteria to help students build their financial literacy & self-management skills when it comes to their lunch accounts. Students now have these signs shown below to help them make informed choices at lunch.

In addition, did you know that you can set a daily spending limit for your child? If you are interested in doing so, all you need to do is email julie.monigold@muskegonorway.org and she can assist you.

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.We will continue to update our photos weekly, but any items remaining on December 20th will be donated.

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.

The PTO is looking forward to treating the entire MLMS staff the week of December 16-20th and need your help! Please sign up HERE to help.

Donations can be dropped off at the front desk during school hours. If you'd like to order from Amazon and have it sent directly to the school:

W124 S8009 N. Cape Rd.

Muskego WI 53150

attn: Jenn Colon

Monitary donations can be made via Venmo @muskegolakesPTO.

Thank you for your support and Happy Holidays!

A huge thank you to everyone that help support our Fall Seat Raffle! You helped raised $400 to help support ML PTO. We are so thankful for your generosity and support. All funds raised help fund requests that go right back to our students.

Winter Band: 6th: Reid L (Kloc) and Brynn M (Kloc)

Winter Band: 7th/8th: Edith C (Janusz)

Winter Choir: Addison P (Modica) and Zoey B (Kloc)

Spring Musical: Gabrijela F (Warr) and Nathan F (Warr)

Did you know that shopping at Walmart can help our MLMS PTO earn money? Right now, there's a special offer: link your accounts, and the PTO earns $5 for each new connection! For more details, see the information below.

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:

• January 6
• February 3
• 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.

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