Primary Press

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

Nothing too noteworthy at this time; short 'n sweet to start your week!

• 1/20: NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• 1/23: Kindergarten Family Cookie Day
• 1/24: NO SCHOOL - Professional Development Day
• 1/27: Report Cards live on Infinite Campus 3:00 PM

• Spartan Headquarters Donations for Feb. Vintage Sale to Benefit Food Pantry

• CESA 2 MHS Driver Education Program

• ACT Prep Plus - Registration Open

• E.D. Locke Library Weaving Workshop - January 24

• E.D. Locke Library Teen Crochet Party - January 30

• McFarland Dance Team Winter Kids Clinic 2025 - Registration closes February 7

• MHS DECA Superhero Training Camp - February 8

• Futura Grades K-2 Spanish Language Program

• Spartan Headquarters Vintage Sale to Benefit McF Food Pantry - February 11 & 13

• E.D. Locke and Galin Education Free ACT Diagnostic Test Day - March 11

• McFarland Youth Baseball Organization 2025 Season Registration Open

• McFarland Youth Softball 2025 Season Registration Open

• i9 Sports 2025 Spring Season - Register by March 28

• McFarland Soccer Referee Course - April 19

• E.D. Locke Library Teen Dungeons and Dragons One-Shot Adventures - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library VolunTeen Program - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library Teen S.T.E.A.M. - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library Teen Hangout - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library Teen UnBook Club - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library Teen Snack & Chat - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library Grades 3-5 LEGO Club - September-May

• E.D. Locke Library Grades 3-5 Graphic Novel Book Club - September-May

• E.D. Locke Library Grades K-2 Magic Tree House Book Club - September-May

• Free Triple P Positive Parenting Online Program for WI Families

The PTO is looking for input on meeting topics and activities that are of interest to families! Please fill out this short survey: CLICK HERE

Students and Staff did a great job with our Secure Drill this week. For a Secure, we focus on what we might do if there is something unsafe happening in the community outside of the school. We secure the perimeter, make sure all students are in the building and then it’s ’business as usual’ in the classrooms. We’ll determine when transitions between classes can resume based on the situation at hand. Kindergarten students were at lunch during our drill this month and they handled themselves beautifully. Way to go, Spartan Stars!

With frigid temperatures here to stay, the following information is from our district procedures for weather-related decision-making, specific to when we have inside recess:

• Temperature and wind chill at/or above zero degrees: Outside
• Temperature above zero, but wind chill below zero: Inside
• Temperature and wind chill below zero: Inside

To see the complete document of district weather related outdoor activity protocols. Please click HERE. We'll also take this opportunity to remind you to label your student's outerwear (gloves, hats, mittens, snow pants, jackets, boots) with their name so that we can return lost items directly to them when found.

Our annual Open House will be Thursday, February 20th from 4:00-5:30 PM. More details to come closer to that date.

We are again seeking snack donations, which we keep on hand to provide to those who may not otherwise have the means to bring one in. We can only accept donations that are peanut/tree-nut free. Specifically, we are looking for individually wrapped items such as:

• Goldfish

• Pirates Booty

• Applesauce pouches

• Skinny Pop Popcorn

• Scooby Snacks

• Cheez-It Crackers

• Pretzels

Donations can be dropped off at the main office for Ms. Keri. We greatly appreciate the generosity and support from our families. Thank you!

Welcome to winter in Wisconsin! With the cold weather here, the Health Services Team wants to remind families of some cold weather safety tips. You can help by reminding your student of the importance of wearing weather-appropriate clothing, especially in these below zero temps. Your student should be wearing several layers of clothing on very cold days including a coat, hat, mittens/gloves and water-resistant boots. Please see the following links for more information and resources. Reach out to Health Services with any questions. Stay warm!

WI DHS - Climate and Health: Winter Weather and Extreme Cold

WI DHS - Cold Weather-Related Health and Safety Tips (Hypothermia)

CDC - Winter Weather: Before, During, and After

National Weather Service - Understanding Cold Weather Alerts

Your student’s school health assistant will be sending out email notifications shortly for students who are still in process or not compliant with WI School Immunization Requirements, in preparation for the 2025-26 school year. Please follow up with your Primary Care Provider to ensure that your child becomes up-to-date with vaccinations for their age/grade for next school year, WI Student Immunization Law by Age/Grade Requirements. If you have updated immunization information or would like access to a waiver (for personal, religious or health reasons - see step 4) please submit a student immunization record (English, Spanish) to your students school health office.

Vaccine Clinics: Public Health Madison & Dane County is partnering with Madison Metropolitan School District and SSM Health to offer more school vaccine clinics to get students up to date on their school vaccines. These clinics will take place at the below dates and times in Madison.

• Saturday, February 8th – 10am-2pm – at Holtzman Learning Center

• Saturday May 17th – 10am-2pm – at Holtzman Learning Center

To find out more information and to schedule an appointment, see the attached flyer, or visit publichealthmdc.com/schoolclinics.

Each January, school boards in Wisconsin are required to determine the number of open enrollment spaces available for the next school year.

At its January 13, 2025 meeting, the McFarland School Board approved the following open enrollment spaces for regular education students:

• 4K: 27 spaces

• Kindergarten: 6 spaces

• 1st Grade: 19 spaces

• 2nd Grade: 13 spaces

• 3rd Grade: 3 spaces

• 4th Grade: 22 spaces

• 5th Grade: 6 spaces

• 9th Grade: 7 spaces

• The board also approved open enrollment for siblings of current McFarland students

• There is unlimited space at the virtual programs that are part of the Wisconsin Virtual Academies

Open enrollment is not new to McFarland. If all of these spots were filled, next year there would be 214 students attending via open enrollment. The highest number of students attending the district via open enrollment was 320 in 2012-13.

What is Open Enrollment?

• Open enrollment allows students who live in one school district to attend school in a different district.

How Are Open Enrollment Spots Determined?

• The formula is: Grade Level Capacity – Projected Enrollment = Available Open Enrollment Spots

Why Are Spots Available?

• Declining enrollment: McFarland, like many districts in Wisconsin, is experiencing declining enrollment, particularly in 4K-5th grade, due to lower birth rates. According to the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officers, there was a 15% decline in births in Wisconsin from 2008 to 2019 and another 4.4% decline between 2019 to 2020.

• McFarland also has the added challenge of low housing stock and high cost of real estate, making it difficult for younger families to start their residency in the McFarland School District.

How Does Open Enrollment Benefit the District?

• The revenue provided by students who open enroll into the district helps us maintain appropriate staffing and programming.

• Having enough students for 8 sections per grade level in Kindergarten through 6th grade helps us maintain full-time status for all of the non-core classroom teachers and other staff members that provide important services for our students.

• Districts with declining enrollment that aren’t able to fill sections using open enrollment have to sometimes consider sharing staff between buildings or reducing teachers below full time status.

Will Class Sizes Be Larger?

• Open enrollment spaces are carefully planned to keep class sizes within established targets and below class size maximums.

• There are situations where open enrollment may actually reduce class sizes as we are able to add another section to the grade and distribute those students across 1 more class.

Example:

If we have 140 resident students enrolled for kindergarten, using our target class size of 20, we would have 7 sections of 20 students.

If 10 students enroll in kindergarten under open enrollment, there would be a total of 150 students. These 10 students would result in approximately $90,000 of revenue at which point we would likely add another section.

We would then have 8 sections of 18 or 19 students each as opposed to 7 sections of 21 or 22 students each.

In this case the addition of 10 students would reduce class sizes.

When will you know if the spots are filled?

• The district will know more about the number of non-resident families that have interest in the school district by the end of April when the application period closes; however, families are not required to give official notice of attendance to the district until June 27th.

Questions or Concerns?

• Please contact Emily Broome, District Enrollment, Data, and Records Specialist, at 608-838-4581 or BroomeE@mcfsd.org.

January is...

Reflection and Motivation

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Looking for more things to do?

McFarland Recreation Aquatics & Play (MRAP) and the McFarland Performing Arts Center (MPAC) offer a wide variety of recreation and aquatics programs for community members of all ages. To learn more, visit MRAPNews.com

Questions about specific MRAP or MPAC programs?

Reach out to the staff contacts listed below:

• Stu Schaefer, Director of Community Services: schaefs@mcfsd.org | 608-838-3168
• Kayla Eliasson, Aquatics Supervison: eliassk@mcfsd.org | 608-838-3168
• Alisha Fix, Recreation Supervisor: fixa@mcfsd.org | 608-838-4666
• Zachary Franczak, Performing Arts Supervisor: franczz@mcfsd.org | 608-838-4461

Spanish Class Resumes in February! Did you miss registration in the fall? We currently have space available to add your student to the class roster! Looking for an exciting way for your child to learn Spanish? This 8-week adventure, ¡Vamos con los animales!, is just what they need! From “visiting” a pet store to exploring a family farm, the zoo, the ocean, and the rainforest, students will learn new vocabulary, conversation skills, and cultural facts—all in Spanish! Join us for a wild journey!

https://futuraadventures.com/wisconsin-region/

Please note: Students enrolled in the Full Year session, which started in the Fall, do not need to re-enroll.