Notes from the Nest

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year. It is hard to believe summer is coming to an end and we are already sending you information about the upcoming school year. I hope you were able to enjoy some fun summer activities. The dates and information in this newsletter will identify some important items and answer common questions to help you get the school year and our students’ first day, Tuesday, September 3rd, off to a successful start.

While we wanted to get you all of this information in one place, we also understand this is a lot and may seem overwhelming. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or need further information. You can contact us at (262) 644-5226 or find further information on our website at: https://www.slinger.k12.wi.us/schools/middle/.

Families must complete the Back to School Verification 2024-2025 process via Skyward Family Access by Friday, August 9th. If you have questions or run into issues, please call the school office at 262-644-5226 or email Sarah Cauwels at sarah.cauwels@slingerschools.org.

Families are required to pay the $75.00 annual student fee that is due by September 30th, 2024. You may make payment via RevTrak for school online payment, or cash/check (payable to Slinger School District). If you have any questions about your child(ren)'s fees, please contact Kimberly Gehring at kimberly.gehring@slingerschools.org.

If for any reason your child/ren will not be attending Slinger Middle School next year, please let us know ASAP as this will be helpful for planning purposes.

As of July 1st, the Slinger School District has transitioned to a new online payment processing system called RevTrack. More information about RevTrack can be found here. Families can access RevTrak through their Family Access account under Fee Management and/or Food Service as well as here.

Please review this letter from our School Nurse, Annie Sommers, if your child has medication administered during the school day or needs an action plan on file. After reviewing this information, please submit any medications/forms/action plans applicable for your child to the office before school starts. Please remember that all medications need to have a medication consent form completed and medications need to be in their original bottle. Prescription medications do require a doctor's signature on the medication consent form.

• Buses arrive and unload in the lower lot at 7:15. Typically, parents drop-off children in the upper level between 7:00 and 7:25, but if needed, students may be dropped off as early as 6:15. Early arrivers will sit in the cafeteria until the first bell at 7:15, which gives students plenty of time to get ready and in class by the 7:30 start bell (official start time). The day ends at 2:38, and all students who do not have a scheduled meeting, activity or practice must leave the school at dismissal, as there is no supervision provided for students.
• Parents are encouraged to have their children ride the bus for the first few days in lieu of picking them up. This will allow students to become acclimated to pick-up and drop-off areas.
• In the morning, only drop off students in the upper level. Cars should form a single line nearest the building; please plan on pulling up along the sidewalk as far as possible to allow for traffic flow.
  
• NEW THIS YEAR!!! PLEASE READ FOR A CHANGE IN PM PICK-UP PROCEDURES: Parents/families can pick-up students in the upper level only; there will be no buses in the upper lot this year. Families can also utilize local street parking as in years past. Only buses will be allowed in the lower lot after school for pick-up; if you intend to pick-up your student(s), you will not be able to get in/out of the lower lot until after the buses leave at 2:50 each day. We are hopeful this will eliminate safety concerns with students exiting the building. Thank you for your help and cooperation with this.

GoRiteway Transportation provides bus transportation for the district’s students and will notify each family qualified for busing during the week of August 26th. If you do not receive route information or have any questions regarding your child's bus transportation, please call GoRiteway at (262) 644-5016.

Schedules will be available via Skyward on August 7th. At this point, due to a variety of scheduling reasons, we are unable to make last minute changes. If you have any questions about your schedule, please contact Kelly Pokrzywa at kelly.pokrzywa@slingerschools.org.

3:30– 6:30 p.m.

6th Grade Open House & Network Photography Pictures: Tuesday, August 27th

7th & 8th Grade Open House & Network Photography Pictures: Wednesday, August 28th

Parents and students may attend the open house any time between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. Please go to the respective grade-level floor. Teachers will be in their rooms at this time to answer individual questions and offer any assistance you may need. If students cannot attend the open house on their scheduled night, they may still come on the opposite day to take their school picture and get their lockers ready. Please note the teachers are only required to attend their grade level open house. If your child cannot make either date, picture make ups will be held during school on October 3rd.

Please print your child's schedule prior to coming to Open House as it has class, room and locker information. The school's office will be open should you have any problems printing the information.

Students will have their pictures taken in August at either of our Open House nights or the additional August 26th 10am-1pm time.

If you are unable to come to any of these dates, we will have a photographer here on October 3rd to do make up pictures. Please click here for the information from Network Photography, which includes ordering options.

Your child will receive their student ID for the year when they get their picture taken.

We utilize an automated debit family account system. Families can deposit money into their family accounts via RevTrack or by dropping cash or check off in dropbox which is located in the hallway right outside the SMS main office. Families can apply for free/reduced lunch assistance online or by completing a fillable application. Meal assistance applications can be found on our website-Families-Food and Nutrition Services-Meal Assistance. Menus can be found on the website. For SMS, lunch is $2.85 and the reduced price $.40.

To check your student’s account balance, complete a Free and Reduced-price Meals Family Application, or to access your students ID number, please go to your Family Access Account.

One major factor related to success at school is regular daily attendance. We encourage students to be at school on time and prepared for the activities of the day. Wisconsin Act 239 allows parents to excuse their child no more than 10 times during an entire school year (includes vacations). If extenuating circumstances occur, please talk to Mr. Baker, the associate principal.

The student handbook, located on the middle school website, elaborates on this as well as school assignments when absent for multiple days (page 2).

Attendance is taken first thing every morning so we can accurately verify students who are present. If your child is absent, Mrs. Spaeth starts clearing those absences at 8:00 a.m. by checking voicemail and email messages. Please help with this by reporting your child’s absence as quickly as possible.

The automated District Voice Mail System can be used to report an absence by dialing (262) 644-9307. Select “choice one” and follow the voice prompts to report the absence. This system will allow you to report an absence any time of the day or night so you may call and not be concerned if the school’s office is open or closed. You can also email dawn.spaeth@slingerschools.org by 8:00 a.m. informing her of the absence.

If your child is absent and the school wasn’t notified, Mrs. Spaeth will send you an email requesting verification of the absence. You may respond by email or phone. If the school doesn’t hear back from you, Mrs. Spaeth will call the numbers provided in Skyward in an attempt to verify the absence.

Slinger Middle School is a closed campus, so students may not leave the school grounds without authorization from the school office during any part of the school day. Students who need to leave during the school day have two options.

1. Parents may email dawn.spaeth@slingerschools.org by 8:00 a.m. (preferred method)

2. Students bring a parent’s written note to the office before 8:00 a.m.

Please make sure to include the reason for the early release regardless of the option you choose.

Our student handbook is located on our school website and can be found here. Please make sure to read through this with your student.

Please read the letter from our SMS Athletic Director, Michelle Lastovich, for information on SMS athletics which can be found here. If you have any questions, feel free to contact her at michelle.lastovich@slingerschools.org.

A complete 2024/25 school supply list is available on-line here or in the school office.

EPI school packs are scheduled to be delivered mid August. After they have been delivered, we will be contacting families for pick up.

All students will be issued a Chromebook during the first week of school. Chromebooks will be picked-up by the student in the morning, transported from class to class and returned by the student at the end of the day. Chromebooks are not allowed to leave the SMS Campus.

All Slinger Middle School students have access to the Internet for educational purposes. The district has software in place that is designed to screen out inappropriate sites. In addition, the middle school has software that can assist or guide the student to appropriate sites based upon the area of study. However, it should be noted that these systems are not perfect. Students who misuse the computers or the school’s Internet policy may have their computer privileges revoked. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mrs. Lutter or Mr. Baker.

State law requires file records of immunizations for each child enrolled in our district. Please notify the school if your child has had any additional immunizations during the past year, including mumps. Forms for the updating of your child’s immunization records are available in the office.

Student lockers and locks are equipment of the school and directly controlled by the school authorities. Only school related materials and wearing apparel are to be kept in lockers. Locker contents will be supervised periodically in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of all students. Each student is assigned a lock for her or his locker and it will need to be turned in at the end of the school year. There will be a $5 replacement fee for locks not returned. Only school provided locks may be used.

Yearbooks are no longer purchased at the beginning of the school year with beginning year fees. Network Photography will be providing online ordering of yearbooks in early Spring. Watch for more information later in the school year.

The insurance carrier for the School District of Slinger is First Agency, Inc. If needed, this is supplemental insurance coverage for injuries that occur at school. Parents submit medical claims through their primary health insurance carrier first as the school policy will only be used as a secondary claim.

Slinger School District uses video cameras on school buses to reduce disciplinary problems and vandalism on the bus, thereby allowing drivers to focus on driving. The viewing of tapes to assist in the resolution of student misconduct on buses is limited to bus company personnel, school officials and selected students and their parents. Tapes will not be available for viewing by the general public.

The middle school has cameras in various locations throughout the building. The viewing of tapes is limited to school officials as well as selected students and their parents. Tapes are not available for viewing by the general public.

Pet of the Week is back! If your pet is chosen, your pet and child(ren) will come to the main office on a chosen day (which will be communicated with you ahead of time). Their picture will be taken and rumor is your pet might even get a little treat during his/her visit! Their picture will be shared on our SMS TV's as well as our parent and staff newsletters.

If you are interested in signing up for Pet of the Week, click on the link below. Please note, due to the high interest and the limited amount of weeks we have in a school year, we will have to keep the responses to the first 60 families who fill out the form. We look forward to getting to know your families!

Slinger Middle School is excited to announce the adoption of Character Strong, a character development program that focuses on increasing a sense of belonging and engagement and improving well-being by developing competencies that all students should have to be successful in their community, academics, and life beyond school.

• HERE is a description of the 6th-8th grade lessons
• You can click HERE for the family link where parents can sign up to view the curriculum. Once you sign up, you have full access for 30 days.

Please reach out if you have any questions.

School Spirit Wear will be offered from AKA Custom Lids this school year. Families will have the option to purchase Spirit Wear during the Back to School Apparel Sale and during a Fall/Winter Accessory Sale.

In the upcoming weeks, families will receive additional information on the Back to School Apparel Sale. Below is the timeline for ordering.

The online store is set to open the week of August 26 (Open Houses week) and the deadline to order will be mid September.

Individual Book Selections from Classroom Libraries

Classroom Libraries are small, cultivated collections of materials that are housed in the classroom environment to provide immediate access to materials for student reading at appropriate reading levels. If you would like your child to be limited to specific materials or genres please contact their classroom teacher.

Individual Book Selections for Personal Use (Library Media Center Collection)

Families can ask their child to login or use their child’s login credentials to access the library’s online resource database to view any book in the collection as well as their child’s currently checked-out books. If the family would like to restrict access for their child, they should contact the school library/media center staff.

In the district’s ongoing effort to save resources, we do not mail home copies of report cards or newsletters. The school year is divided into four equal quarters, each lasting nine weeks. We will post all report cards online. Mrs. Lutter emails parents “Notes from the Nest” every other Friday, an update of happenings around SMS. If you need hard copies of any correspondence electronically sent, please call or email Mrs. Cauwels at (262) 644-5226, sarah.cauwels@slingerschools.org. She will get you set-up to receive paper copies of this information.

Email: kari.lutter@slingerschools.org
Website: slinger.k12.wi.us
Location: 521 Olympic Drive, Slinger, WI, USA
Phone: 262-644-5226