Janssen SCHOOL
September 2023 Newsletter
Janssen Families,
It is hard to believe that we are already closing out the first quarter of our school year. Our students and staff have worked together to create a collaborative environment that fosters a sense of belonging and community. Together, they will continue to push their thinking and identify areas of focus that will move their learning forward this school year and beyond.
In November, the Janssen learning community will work collaboratively together to emphasize gratitude and students are encouraged to notice and name opportunities where they can recognize, demonstrate or reciprocate gratitude throughout their day. As parents and families, I encourage you to engage in conversations with your child about examples of gratitude that they encounter outside of school. This will allow opportunities for students to continue to build connections between their in and out of school experiences.
On November 7th and November 11th, you will have an opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher at parent teacher conferences. I encourage all of you to attend as we continue to work together to share in your child’s successes, accomplishments, and areas where they will continue to grow this year.
Wishing you and your family well as we enter this month of gratitude. Please know that I am deeply grateful for our amazing students, our compassionate staff, as well as our Janssen community as a whole for all you do to help our students be successful.
We are excited to share that the Board of Education has selected a new superintendent to lead our district. More details can be found in the full press release below.
Kimberly School Board Announces Dr. Holly Prast as its Next Superintendent
The Kimberly Area School District (KASD) Board of Education announced Monday evening, October 14, 2024, that Dr. Holly Prast will be the next Superintendent of Schools. Prast will replace Dr. Robert Mayfield, who will retire after 32 years of service at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
“With a rich background in educational leadership and a proven commitment to student success, I have confidence Dr. Prast will continue leading the District toward excellence and growth,” said Mary Pribbenow, President of the KASD Board of Education.
Dr. Prast has spent the past 11 years as Assistant Superintendent for KASD. Prior to that, she held leadership positions as both the Executive Director of Administration and the Director of Assessment, Improvement, and Communications for the Oshkosh Area School District.
“The Kimberly Area School District has a long-standing reputation of excellence. I am honored that the Board has selected me to continue working with our students, families, administrators, teachers, staff and community to maintain our excellence, and build upon it moving forward,” said Dr. Prast. “My goal will be to foster a culture where students see the connection between themselves, their experiences here in KASD, and the world beyond our doors. I look forward to serving our Papermaker Community in this new role.”
Dr. Prast earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from UW-Green Bay, a Master of Educational Administration degree from Marian College, and a Doctoral degree from Cardinal Stritch University. Prast was previously named Wisconsin State Reading Administrator of the Year, and she is a member of the State Reading Advisory Council and the Wisconsin Early Literacy Curriculum Council.
November 1 - 1st Grade Field Trip to Barlow Planetarium
November 7 - Parent Teacher Conferences
November 7 - 2:00 Early Release (No after school care)
November 11 - Parent Teacher Conferences
November 11 - 2:00 Early Release (No after school care)
November 12 - Vision Screening
November 15 - Noon Dismissal
November 28 - No School
November 29 - No School
December 3 - 2nd & 3rd Grade Winter Concert
It is time to plan our Parent/Teacher Conferences for Grades 5K-4. Conferences will be held In-Person on Thursday, November 7th and Monday, November 11th from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm. Conferences will be held between the parent/guardian and the classroom teacher.
Janssen Elementary School uses PTCFast.com to make signups as convenient as possible. To schedule your preferred time for a parent/teacher conference:
Go to: https://ptcfast.com/schools/Janssen_Elementary_School
Choose your student’s teacher (If your child has 2 teachers, please schedule with their literacy teacher. In 3rd grade the literacy teacher is the PM teacher) and submit. The non literacy teacher will reach out to you if an additional conference is needed with them.
Enter student information.
Enter parent information.
You will then receive an email with a link to select the date and time of the conference.
The following staff will be available for walk-in conferences on the times listed:
Mr. Englebert (Gym), Miss St.Arnold (Music) and Mrs. Cutler (Speech) will be available both nights from 5:00-8:00 PM.
Miss Wells (Counselor) will be available on Monday, November 11th from 5:00-8:00. Miss Wells is also able to schedule meetings to meet at a different time/date if needed.
Mrs. Lamers (Art) will be available on Thursday, November 7th 6:30-8:00 PM and Monday, November 11th from 6:30-8:00 PM.
Mr. Brinkmann (School Psychologist) will be available on Monday, November 11th 5:00-8:00 PM.
Students in grades 5K-4 will be dismissed at 2:00 pm on conference days. Unlike Friday 2:00 pm release days, childcare is not available unless your child is enrolled in the YMCA after school program.
If you do not have internet access, please send a note to your student’s teacher with requested times. We ask that you request your times by Friday, November 1st. Teachers look forward to this opportunity of sharing with you and discussing the progress of your child(ren).
If you have a veteran or active military member in your child’s family, please send a photo of them with your child to school prior to Friday, November 8. Please label the photo with your child’s name, teacher, and the connection of who the person is to your child. Together, we will create a display in our main hallway to honor Veterans Day on Monday, 11/11.
We need you, our Janssen community, to help us out. We are looking for Noon Hour Supervisors to join us. Being a Noon Hour Supervisor is extremely flexible. You can work 1 day, 2 days, or however many may work for you. Or, we can work week by week to schedule your days. We are very flexible! Hours are approximately
10:45am – 12:45pm and pay is $10.50/hour.
What being a Noon Hour Supervisor entails:
- Assisting students with opening lunch packaging.
- Having the opportunity to get to know your student’s Janssen friends.
- Supervising students during recess.
- Getting to know other Janssen community members.
- Being a steward to our Janssen community.
By becoming a Noon Hour Supervisor, you join the Janssen Team and become even more entwined in the Janssen community. We are extremely grateful to our past, present and future supervisors for enabling us in providing a safe and fun lunch and recess. It takes numerous people to run a school community.
Please reach out to me if you would like to join us on a new adventure, or if you just simply have questions.
Thank you!
Arianna Champeau
920-788-7915
With many field trips coming up, it is a great time to check if you have a background check on file to join in on the fun! Please call the office if you are uncertain about having a background check. Background checks expire after 5 years.
We ask that background check forms be turned in at least 2 weeks prior to volunteering (i.e. attending a field trip) in order to give the background check vendor time to process the check. Unfortunately, if we do not receive the background check form prior to 2 weeks, you may not be permitted to attend the field trip.
Greetings from Life Skills
Starting the month of November during Life Skills students will be learning about:
5K- Career planning: education and training, Career planning: law, public safety, corrections and security, Career planning: health science
1st- Skills for learning
2nd- Career planning: manufacturing career cluster, Skills for learning
3rd- Career planning: STEM, Career planning: Architecture and construction
4th- Career planning: marketing, sales and service, Career planning: agriculture, ofod & natural resources, Career planning: arts, audio/video technology & communications
Buddy Goes To Work
Hello Janssen Elementary Parents and Guardians,
Students at Janssen are learning about Career Clusters. We are looking for volunteers to help with our Buddy Goes to Work Project. This project will help students learn about different careers from you! If you are interested, email Katie Wells, the Janssen Elementary School Counselor at kwells@kimberly.k12.wi.us.
Those who sign up will get a laminated picture of Buddy to bring to their work and take pictures of Buddy working. You will receive instructions in your child's backpack with Buddy and a return date for Buddy; as well as, a short report to fill out about your career. These reports and pictures will be displayed at Janssen for Janssen students to learn more about your careers. Thank you so much for your participation.
Medication consent forms are required for all over-the-counter and prescription medications. This includes cough drops, ointments, creams, etc. These forms are conveniently available for you here. Prescription medications do require a physician’s signature. Forms are available for asthma, bee sting allergy, diabetes, food allergy, seizure medications and general medications. If you have any questions, regarding these forms, feel free to call the school office. Thank you!
If your child will be receiving a prescription medication at school and you would like consent to apply to summer school, please have physician extend “end” date through completion of summer learning sessions (e.g. 8-30-24).
Student & Parent Handbook
Bus Handbook
If your child(ren) will be riding the bus at any time during the school year, please review the Pupil Transportation Handbook with them. The last page of the handbook is a form that must be completed and signed by a parent/guardian for each pupil that will ride the bus. The completed form should be returned to the child's school secretary by September 22, 2023.
Janssen Families,
Welcome to another year of awesome music learning here at Janssen! I am so excited to work with your students this year - we are going to have so much fun! :)
I wanted to share some very important dates with you early this year, as we have some adjustments from past years as it pertains to concerts.
This year, the 2nd & 3rd grade students will be performing in the Winter. That date for the concert is Tuesday, December 3rd.
The 1st & 4th grade students will be performing in the Spring. Their date is Tuesday, March 4th.
The 5K will be performing the day after, Wednesday, March 5th. This will be a daytime performance, starting at 2:00 pm.
I will have more details regarding times of performance of older students within the next month. Thank you for your patience as we get these concerts scheduled. I cannot wait to showcase your students' lovely talents!
Miss St. Arnold
