Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter
March 8th, 2024
Dear Muskego Lakes Families,
Getting input on our impact is important. The feedback we receive helps us identify our strengths and opportunities for improvement. Earlier this year, you had the opportunity to take the Parent Satisfaction Survey. Last month, our employees took the Employee Satisfaction Survey. The goal is always to learn more about what is working, ideas for improvement, and gather input from all stakeholders, including our students.
Earlier this week, students took a 20 question survey in either their science or social studies class about their overall school experience. They will also be taking a 7 question survey for each class on their schedule in the next week or so. The 7 question survey allows students to give specific feedback to each of their teachers. The seven questions are:
1. My teacher works with me to make sure that I am learning.
2. My teacher is interested in me as a student and as a person.
3. I think that what I learn in this class will help me be successful in life.
4. The rules and expectations in this classroom are reasonable.
5. I feel safe to share my ideas in this class.
6. I am proud of the work I do in this class.
7. My teacher believes I can be successful.
When teachers receive the results, they will analyze them to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. Our teachers value student input and will use it to determine the next steps to grow their classroom practice.
We are so fortunate that our community can provide input to continue to engage students, be innovative, and partner with families. Thank you for partnering with us and trusting us to help your child learn, grow, and succeed.
In partnership,
Rachel and Nancy
Muskego Lakes Principals
Important Dates Ahead
March 11-15: PTO Penny Wars
March 12: Youth Art Month Reception 5-6pm @ Muskego Public Library
March 25-29, April 1: Spring Break
April 6-7: Willy Wonka, Jr. @ MHS PAC
April 8-30: MLMS PTO Seat Raffle
April 10: PTO Meeting 6:30pm
May 8: PTO Meeting 6:30pm
May 30: 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony 6pm
Request for Upcoming Forward and iReady Testing Dates
Muskego Lakes students will take the WI Forward Assessment and the spring diagnostic iReady Exam in a few short months. We ask that families check the dates of these assessments below and communicate with us if you know your child has a pre-planned reason/vacation to be out during those times, so we can plan accordingly to ensure testing can be completed.
Wisconsin Forward Testing Dates: April 15-19, 2024
Spring iReady Dates:
- Literacy: May 7-10, 2024
- Math: May 15-17, 2024
If you do have a pre-planned absence during these dates, please reach out nancy.pasch@muskegonorway.org
PTO Penny Wars Help Needed
The Muskego Lakes PTO is hosting Penny Wars for our students during lunch and needs your help! Please consider signing up to volunteer for PTO to help supervise during student lunches. If you are able to help sign-up HERE.
Safety Tips from Officer Sandretti
We live in a day and age where children are granted access to school issued chromebooks, as well as smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart televisions, and video game consoles. All these devices have one thing in common, and that is, they have direct access to the internet. The luxury of school issued chromebooks is they can be tracked by teachers, administrators, and the school district IT department. Unfortunately, the smart devices used by children on a daily basis outside of school are not always tracked, unless parents or guardians take preventative measures to keep their children safe. Through my experiences in Law Enforcement, I have gathered information that I would like to share with all families in regards to what to look out for on your children or families personal devices.
Video game consoles allow children to play online with people all over the world. This is a great place for strangers to interact with each other and try to gain the trust of your child. When setting up devices, make sure they are in private mode; this way no strangers can message, set up private chat groups, or add your child as a friend. A lot of these games require online access, and that is okay, but discuss with your child to never accept friend requests from individuals they do not know.
The smartphone has changed how every person lives their lives, and some of the perks of the smartphone are the ease of communicating with friends and family, as well as location tracking of your children. With the perks of smartphones comes some negatives, unless they are closely watched. Please consult with your phone provider to see what forms of parental security they provide for your child’s device. Have conversations with your child about who they are speaking with on their devices. Download tracking apps such as the app called “Life 360,” which allows location sharing amongst family and close friends. Life 360 also has features that help keep your child safe if they are driving, as far as real time location and speed, and crash detection. In addition, check with your child if they have apps that are tracking/sharing their location with people, to ensure that only those that might need to track them (i.e. parent/guardian) have access to their location.
Stay tuned to next week when I share more information about common social media apps.
Youth Art Month Reception
Please help celebrate Muskego Norway’s annual Youth Art Month on March 12th from 5-6 PM at the Muskego Public Library for the middle school and high school students. Students have been selected to participate in the annual K-12 Muskego Norway Youth Art Month in grades 5-8 from Muskego Lakes Middle School. This event is open to all community members.
Is your child interested in Track & Field?
There was an informational meeting for all 7th and 8th graders interested in Track and Field this past week. If your child was not able to attend, the information is below for your reference:
Please email jack.thompson@muskegonorway.org or eric.hetzel@muskegonorway.org with any questions.
Does your student start their day at MHS?
As a reminder, 7th & 8th graders are not to report to Muskego High School for their classes on Tuesday, March 12th, as the high school will be hosting ACT testing for the Juniors only. We ask that students who normally start their day at MHS report to Muskego Lakes at the start of the day and report to the library.
Bingo Night at Muskego Lakes
Muskego Lakes will be hosting Bingo on Friday, March 15th from 4:30 - 6:30. This event is for all students 5-8 grade from both Lake Denoon and Muskego Lakes. Admission will cost $5 at the door and there will be concessions available for purchase as well. This will be a fun opportunity for students to hang out with their classmates and have the chance to win some awesome prizes! If your child is interested in playing, sign up here by Tuesday, March 12. Sign-up is required ahead of time so that we can plan for staffing. Reach out to Rebecca Heimerl (rebecca.heimerl@muskegonorway.org) with any questions.
Willy Wonka Jr. Tickets On Sale Now!
Muskego Lakes Middle School production of Willy Wonka Jr. will have four fantastic performances for you to come and see all our talented middle schoolers! Mark your calendars for the following show performances:
- Saturday, April 6th at 1pm (Flavor Shifters Cast)
- Saturday, April 6th at 5pm (Mallows Cast)
- Sunday, April 7th at 1pm (Mallows Cast)
- Sunday, April 7th at 5pm (Flavor Shifters Cast)
Tickets are available for purchase by clicking HERE.
Lost & Found
Is your child missing something? We have quite the collection of lost and found here at school. Encourage your child to stop outside student services and check for their item.
Anything still left in lost and found on Friday, March 22nd 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.
SIgn Up Today for Mid-Week Munchies
Every Wednesday the Muskego Lakes PTO is looking for volunteers to donate snacks to our teachers and staff. This greatly helps them make it through the week and brighten their day. 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 for a date HERE if you can. Drop off will be in the front office by 8am on the Wednesday you sign up.
Thank you in advanced for helping spoil our staff.
Get Involved By Joining The Muskego Lakes PTO!
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!!
Meeting Dates for the 23-24 School Year
- February 14
- March 13
- April 10
- May 8
Reminders for the Lunchroom
In an effort to ensure students can move through the lunch lines efficiently, 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 your convenience, we have linked helpful resources. You can always find the link to updated lunch menus, at the end of this newsletter.
2023-24 Lunch Prices:
- Elementary Lunch: $2.55
- MS Lunch 1: $2.95
- MS Lunch 2: $3.50
- MS Creation Station: $3.90
- Milk Carton: $.50
- MHS Ala carte meal rates as noted on the monthly menu will apply.
Questions related to the food service program can be directed to Benny D’Epiro, Food Service Director at 262-971-1790 x4522.
Clinical Psychology Associates Services
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.
Muskego Norway School District Calendar
Please make note of days off and important events on the 23-24 calendar. It is ideal to make dentist and doctor appointments on days we do not have school whenever possible.
Thank you!
Muskego Lakes Middle School
Website: https://www.muskegonorway.org/schools/muskegolakes/
Location: W124 S8009 North Cape Rd.
Phone: 262-971-1860
Twitter: @MLMSmuskies