Kegonsa Family Newsletter

2024 - 2025

February 21, 2025

Dear Families,

What a cold, cold week it has been! With lots of indoor recess, our students have been keeping busy and active inside. FINALLY... today, kids got to go outside and enjoy the beautiful snowy conditions! Despite the chilly weather, we had some exciting adventures—our second graders enjoyed a trip to the Overture Center on Thursday to see Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and today, our third graders visited Livsreise Norwegian Heritage Center. The sunshine we’ve had has been a welcome sight, and we’re all looking forward to warmer days ahead!

Looking to next week, we have a short schedule:

🔸First Grade Field Trip – First graders are heading out on an adventure next week, and the forecast is looking much warmer—just in time for March!

🔸 Wednesday & Thursday – Family Conferences (If you still need to sign up or reschedule, please reach out to your child’s homeroom teacher ASAP.)
🔸 Thursday – Half-Day for Students
🔸 Friday – No School

Have a fabulous weekend, and we’ll see you next week! 💙 Erin

Life Changing. Life Saving. Confidential.

Created by the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of School Safety (OSS), the SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT Resource Center is a comprehensive, one-stop place to turn with important concerns, offering a Threat Reporting System, Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management, Critical Incident Response and General School Safety Guidance.

Students, parents, school staff, or any community members can submit a school safety concern or threat. Resource center staff work around-the-clock to respond to tips and to deploy a response locally by communicating directly with school administrators, law enforcement, and counselors. Nationwide, more than half of public middle and high schools now operate a tipline.

Spring State Testing Season

Dear Families,

We are entering the spring state testing season. Please click the links below for more information.

Dear Kegonsa Families,

At Kegonsa LMC, For February, we highlighted Black History Month and Chinese New Year as part of our commitment to promoting education, reflection, and understanding.

Our Literati Book Fair is Here! Our efair link is https://literati.com/store/?school=kegonsa-elementary-school-stoughton-wi. Thanks to some exciting new partnerships, Literati book fairs now carry a wider array of activities, games, and books—including perennial favorites like Dog Man and The Baby-Sitters Club—only available online! We can not wait to see everyone during Parent Teacher Conferences at Kegonsa LMC

We’re excited to announce our new subscription to LOTE4Kids which was developed for schools to grow their World Language picture book collections, to help engage culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families and support kids learning a language. We hope our community will enjoy and benefit from our new LOTE4Kids subscription! We got it added to our E-Library resources where our students can access it! Kegonsa students and families can now access our own branded portal by:

Using a direct link from our website: https://lote4kids.com/us-kegonsa-elementary-school/
Downloading the mobile app, here
Searching for Kegonsa Elementary School on the LOTE4Kids home page
Entering our access code: KES12345

This will take our users to our school-branded home page, where you can access a picture book collection of 5,000+ book titles in 75+ languages.

Please, reach out with any questions or concerns!

Thank you for your ongoing support and engagement!

Breaking Up with Your Cellphone

“The latest data show that any one of us, any adult in the U.S., checks their phone 200 times per day. What it means, in concrete terms, is that if you’re a parent or an adult who is interacting with a child, you have 200 potential interruptions in both relationships.”

Emily Tate Sullivan in “Relationships Are Key to Kids’ Growth – and They’re in Crisis, Expert Says” in EdSurge, January 27, 2025

“While children and teenagers are suffering the most from the negative effects of social media and too much screen time; their parents – and frankly, all adults – are as well.”

Catherine Price (see item #2)

“The best parts of life don’t happen on a screen.”

Catherine Price (ibid.)

Read the full article HERE

Order your Kegonsa Elementary yearbook today!

The 2024-2025 Kegonsa Elementary School yearbook is now available!

Distribution will happen during the last week of the school year.

You can order from Lifetouch now until April 6th. Here is the link: https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/Order/SelectJob

Our Yearbook ID: 13444925. They are $10 each.

Shining Gilly Award Winners!

What is the Shining Gilly Award?

The Shining Gilly Award recognizes students who go above and beyond to show exceptional care for others or our school. These students exemplify the qualities we strive to nurture in all of our little citizens—kindness, responsibility, and a positive impact on their community. Whether it's an individual or a group of students, those who receive this award truly reflect the values we hold dear at our school.

Congratulations to Olivia (5th), Dalilah (1st), and Lyle (2nd) 🥳