October 2024 Superintendent Update

At the start of the school year, all students in grades 4K-5 in WUSD are actively building and improving their literacy skills from the first day of school! In our classrooms, we use an approach called "structured literacy," which is based on the Science of Reading and research about how the brain learns to read. This year, we’ve introduced a new reading program called Into Reading by HMH, which helps students master five key areas of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.

For students who may need extra support, classroom teachers and specialists work in small groups to ensure they're strengthening the specific skills they need. We're committed to helping every student grow as a reader, and we’re seeing progress every day.

Our first DIBELS assessment shows that we are performing 10% higher than the first year of implementation! Please thank your amazing teachers for this progress ;)

Artificial intelligence learns by analyzing data, or information. The more data you feed to an AI, the more accurate it can become at completing a task. Please take the time to sit with your child and go over these following key items. AI is an amazing tool and resource that we can embrace, however, we are teaching students to be safe with the tool- Please see the below lessons your 6th-12th grade student learned about AI:

• You should communicate with your teachers and principals about the expectations surrounding AI in your classes.

• You are responsible for verifying the accuracy and appropriateness of generated content.

• You should acknowledge or cite when AI is used to create material.

• You should never copy and paste generated content directly into your assignment or use these tools to completely rewrite your text. The AI tools can be used as a starting point or a finishing touch.

• You must adhere to the WUSD Academic Honesty Policy, which includes the use of AI technology to generate work. (Student Handbook)

• You must adhere to the WUSD Acceptable Use Policy for all technology, including AI. (Board Policy.)

• Use AI on our devices for educational purposes, appropriate language, and in compliance with anti-bullying and harassment policies.

• Never share personal or private information online, including with AI tools.

Parent's Ultimate Guide to Generative AI

WUSD Grades 6-12 - AI Literacy Lesson

Grades 6-12 - AI Literacy Lesson Video

Whitewater Parents and Guardians,

In the next few weeks, our school district will be mailing a community survey that you can take online or return mail. Please be on the lookout for an email from School Perceptions. The goal of the survey is to gather input on how to best address our facility needs.

School Perceptions is an independent education research firm we are working with to administer the survey. Therefore, your feedback will be confidential. Thanks in advance for participating!

As you are all aware, chronic absenteeism increased significantly in the aftermath of COVID-19. We initiated a district-wide Attendance Task Force to address this last year. The task force worked on attendance procedures being consistent across the district, an attendance campaign for students and parents, and plans for intervention procedures for our students and families that struggle with attendance. Last year, those efforts reduced chronic absenteeism by 10.4% district-wide! ✅ Keep supporting your students attendance!

October 10: Middle School P/T Conf 4:00 - 7:30pm

October 24 & 25: NO SCHOOL

November 1: 1st quarter ends

November 6: Elementary P/T Conf 4:00 - 7:30pm

November 7: 1/2 day for ALL STUDENTS/All schools P/T Conf 1:00 - 7:30pm

November 8: NO SCHOOL

November 27 - 29: NO SCHOOL

Say “hello” to two-way messaging in the Whitewater app! The same district app now offers class streams, class announcements, and parent-teacher chat. Parents/guardians check your email with instructions to sign up and access new features.

Download for Android https://bit.ly/3Lh0fSC

Download for iPhone https://apple.co/3OoQ5RY