Address: 6009 Johnson St. McFarland, WI 53558
Main Phone: 608.838.3146
EC-2 Principal: Greg Nelson
K-5 Associate Principal: Brooke Hauser
Building Administrative Assistant: Lyndsey Niebuhr
Online: Website & Facebook Page
Meeting the needs of every learner, every day
- 10/4: Blue/White or Spartan Gear Dress Up Day ⚪🔵
- 10/9: Kindergarten Farm Field Trip (Marking, Gray, Dettlaff, O'Brien)
- 10/10: Kindergarten Farm Field Trip (Cook, Paugel, Carey)
- 10/16: Unity Day - Wear orange 🟠
- 10/16: Futuras after-school Spanish program begins
- 10/16: PTO All Parent Meeting (topic: referendum) at the Waubesa MPR 6:30-8:30 PM
- 10/19: PTO Trunk-or-Treat 1:00-3:00 PM @ CEPS main parking lot
We appreciate feedback from families. Several items submitted through the "open feedback" link below include questions about the timing of this newsletter and about our english-language arts (ELA) curriculum. Specifically, the timing of this newsletter (Sunday at 6 PM) was agreed-upon by all district schools based on feedback provided by families last year through a variety of forums. Second, last year was our first year implementing our comprehensive ELA curriculum, Wonders 2023, that covers all components of structured literacy instruction (e.g., phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, spelling, reading, writing, etc.). We provided ongoing updates in this newsletter to keep families in the loop. Based on declining readership of those updates as last year progressed, we have let our teachers know to keep families informed of curriculum updates at the classroom level. In general, we want you to know we read and consider all feedback you provide to us! Sometimes we might be able to make changes based on feedback you provide, but if we're not making a change, it's best to at least provide rationale!
In order to account for adjusted roles and responsibilities among fewer staff this year, due to staff and budget cuts after April's failed referendum, we have identified areas in which volunteers could help us out. Keep reading, and if interested/have questions, reach out! For most positions, we are open to either one volunteer or several volunteers to help cover daily needs/larger projects.
Needed Now/Soon:
- Student Art Hanging: Help hang our beautiful student art; contact Art Teacher Mrs. Reda at kinstla@mcfsd.org
- Spartan Star T-shirt Order Sorting: One-time help needed when orders arrive
- Ongoing/Daily Lunchroom Assistance: Daily help needed in the cafeteria, especially with kindergarten (11:05-11:35); also 2nd grade (11:50-12:20) and 1st grade (12:35-1:05)
- Ongoing/Daily Lunch Card Sorting: Help re-organize student lunch cards from 1:00-1:30
- Weekly Book Room Organizing: Re-shelve books in our school's book room; once-weekly & flexible timing
- Clerical support: Variety of office tasks, projects, etc. throughout the year; we're compiling a list of those interested in being contacted on an "as needed" basis
How to help: If interested in any of the above needs, please contact Associate Principal Brooke Hauser at hauserb@mcfsd.org with your name, desired roles, and best contact info.
Before helping: You will need to complete a Volunteer Disclosure Form and have a background check (sent via email link after you fill out the form) that is good for three years. If you completed one last year, you're all set! If you haven't done one at CEPS, please do so before your first volunteer date. Note that this is the same process for field trips and classroom volunteering.
Spread the word: You don't necessarily need to be a current parent/guardian of a CEPS student for most of our volunteer needs. If you know of a relative or community member who would like to help out in our schools, share this message with them!
Thank you for keeping your child's relatives/caregivers in the loop on school procedures. For example, it is most helpful when other adults know ahead of time that if they arrive to school, they need to bring an ID and the parent/guardian needs to contact our front office before we can let other adults visit/release their child to them. For safety of all students, we will never allow non-parent/guardians to visit/pick-up students without prior permission.
See that photo at the top of the newsletter? Happy and hungry kids! Now a month into the school year, we are feeling confident that making the switch this year to having recess before lunch was a good move. Of course, when we have about 150 kids per grade all in the cafeteria together, we never expect it to sound like a tranquil spa! But that said, we have anecdotes from kids, staff, and families that support the decision. For example, there are fewer behavior issues at lunch and recess, kids are eating more of their meal, they are returning to class in the afternoon more calm, and more! We continue to appreciate the collaboration of our lunch/recess superivisors and our food service team as we work through glitches and kinks in the process as well.
CEPS students did a terrific job with our school safety drill this month: Evacuation. This year we are focused on reconvening a bit further away from the building in order to more closely replicate what we may need to do during an actual emergency. Please continue to reinforce with your students how important it is to keep a volume zero (no talking) so they can hear their teachers or emergency services announcements.
WI School Immunization Requirements & Vaccine Clinics
Every school in Wisconsin is required by law to report their student’s vaccination status to the local health department 30 days after the start of school. See WI Student Immunization Law by Age/Grade Requirements. Your student’s health assistant have sent out legal notices at that time if the school has no record or if your student’s immunization status is “behind schedule”. If you are not sure if your student is up to date with immunizations, you can contact your doctor's office/My chart or you can look them up on the Wisconsin Immunization Registry using your child's social security number and/or Medical ID. If you need access to a waiver (for personal, religious or health reasons) for any vaccination, please utilize the student immunization record (English, Spanish) see step 4 and return it to your student’s health office.
‼️ Please review DHS update regarding increased Pertussis cases in Wisconsin‼️
Vaccine Clinics: Public Health Madison & Dane County is partnering with surrounding school districts and SSM Health in a few weeks to offer more school vaccine clinics to get students up to date on their school vaccines in time for the 2024-25 school year. These clinics will take place at multiple locations and dates. Find more information and to schedule an appointment see the attached flyer (English, Spanish), or via publichealthmdc.com/schoolclinics.
