MacArthur Messenger

Dear MacArthur Families,

As we approach this season of gratitude, I want to reflect on the importance of giving thanks and giving back. Our school community values kindness, generosity, and togetherness, and it is truly a privilege to be a part of it.

This time of year offers a fantastic opportunity to show our students the power of gratitude in action. When we come together to support each other, we create a culture of kindness that resonates beyond our classrooms and daily lives. This month, we’ll be emphasizing the theme of gratitude and giving back.

Tonight, our PTA and MacLeaders will be hosting a community Bingo night. We will be accepting donations of canned goods for the St. Boniface food pantry. Knowing that our value word is gratitude, our 5th graders will extend this kind gesture, and we (as a school) will continue it for the month. Our school will also be holding a food drive. See below for more specific details on our gratitude Character Strong focus this month and details around the food drive.

I encourage you to join us in this journey by talking to your children about what they’re thankful for and discussing ways your family might give back to others. Whether it’s through donations, volunteering, or random acts of kindness, every gesture helps us build a stronger, more compassionate community.

Thank you for being such an essential part of our school family. Your involvement and support make all the difference, and I am grateful daily to work alongside you to nurture our students’ growth and empathy.

Sincerely,

Mr. Gonzalez

Friday 11/1: PTA BINGO Night (6-8pm) and Fall Book Fair Preview!

Monday 11/4 - Friday 11/8: PTA Fall Book Fair during school

Friday 11/11: Veteran's Day - Wear red, white, and blue

Thursday 11/14: World Diabetes Day

Thursday 11/14: PTA Meeting, 7pm

Monday 11/18 - Friday 11/22: FOOD DRIVE! (see below)

Tuesday 11/26: Pajama Day

Wednesday 11/27 - Friday 11/29: No School/Thanksgiving Break

Monday 12/2: No School

Tuesday 12/3: International Day of People with Disabilities

Tuesday 12/3: DI Movie Night Permission Slips are Due

Thursday 12/5: Packer Day!

Thursday 12/5: PTA Meeting, 7pm (note this is rescheduled from the previous 12/12 date)

Friday 12/6: DI Movie Night (all MAC students are welcome - see details below!)

Monday 12/9: Spelling Bee during school day

Tuesday 12/10: PTA Chick-fil-A Restaurant Fundraiser, 4pm-8pm

Thursday 12/12: 5th Grade Concert, 6:30, at PAC

Friday 12/20: GHS Carolers visit MacArthur! (during school day)

Monday 12/23 - Wednesday 1/1: No School/Winter Break

Thursday 1/2: School Resumes

During the upcoming holiday season, we often spend time thinking about what/who we are grateful for. We are so grateful for our school community. MacArthur teachers and staff work hard to support our school community. We invite you to complete the google form below if you would like to recognize a staff member or team for their hard work and dedication. We will pass on the good news to them. Thank you in advance for sending an encouraging word, as we know it will mean so much to them.

We hope everyone had a wonderfully spooky and candy-filled Halloween! Today is an exciting day because we have the opening of our book fair tonight and we are also having an exciting night of Bingo in the cafetorium!

Bingo begins at 6PM in the cafetorium and you do not need to sign up. Students can come with siblings, parent, grandparents and any other family members that would like to have fun playing Bingo and winning prizes! There will be cookies and lemonade for all to enjoy.

While Bingo runs from 6-8PM tonight, you can stop in early (at 5:30PM) for the opening of the Fall Book Fair in the library. Students can bring their family members to see all of the books they will be shopping for over the next week. The book fair will be running until the end of Bingo so feel free to take a Bingo break and head down to the library.

Our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders will have the opportunity starting on November to compete in our annual Spelling Bee! They will practice over lunch one day a week in November and the beginning of December. The grade level spelling bee will take place on 12/4 and the school level spelling bee will take place on 12/9. Our students count on volunteers to run the spelling bee and its practices. Practicing in small groups is most effective for them in preparing for the bee, but without volunteers, they'll get less practice. No experience necessary! If you have questions, contact the Spelling Bee Coordinator. Contact info located in the signup site (CLICK HERE). Please be sure to complete a background check if you have not already so you can be cleared to help out.

Our November PTA meeting will be on 11/14 in the library from 7-8:30PM. As always, child care is provided for people attending in person and you are always welcome to join on Zoom with this link. Please note that our December meeting date has changed - it is now happening on 12/5.

Looking ahead in our schedule, our Chick-Fil-A restaurant fundraiser will be on December 10th. Please see the flyer below and note that all orders must be done online, even if you are picking it up at the store in order to count for the fundraiser. Please let us know if there are any questions about this process.

If you would like access to the PTA Google calendar, it can be accessed here. All of our events for the rest of the year are on the calendar and we are still in the process of adding items like field trips and ticket fundraisers from the Bucks and the Admirals.

Your PTA Representatives:

Robert Sanchez: President - robkiana@gmail.com - 858-663-8819

Lauren Beverung: VP - lauren4phd@gmail.com - 614-312-4890

Coral Kline: Secretary - coralrae.kline@gmail.com - 608-658-0475

Jackie Jubert: Treasurer - jackiejubert@gmail.com - 414-659-8631

• Please remember to always include the lunch choice your scholar would like to have (if they are coming in late, and would like to order a lunch) when completing an eagle note or calling your child in late for the day. If you do not include a lunch choice, and it is after 9:30am when your child arrives, they will be automatically given the "Option 2" choice.

• Families can find answers to many Food and Nutrition questions by looking at our Germantown School District webpage, by clicking on INFORMATION, then under DEPARTMENTS (in the center of the page), you will see Food and Nutrition.

Please send an eagle note in when your child has an after school activity. If your student has DI practice, Girl Scouts, Lego club, Girls on the Run, or any other activity, please note that the teacher needs to know they can release your child to that activity. They are unable to attend without a note from a guardian.

If your student rides the bus, please check the below link for the most updated routing information. The username is your scholar's student ID, and the password is the primary number on your Skyward Family Account (no dashes or spaces).

• Registration fees and food service payments can be made by check (payable to "Germantown School District") or cash at the MacArthur office. They can also be paid online via credit card, through your Skyward Family Access, with a service fee applied.

• Your registration fee balance is found by clicking "Fee Management" and your food service balance can be found by clicking "Food Service" on the left hand side of your Family Access Skyward Account. Please note that we are past due on registration fees. If you have not paid them, do so as soon as possible.

As a reminder, all medications (prescription or over-the-counter) need to have a permission slip turned into the health office in order for administration to be possible at school. This includes cough drops. Please do not send in over-the-counter meds or prescription meds to school with a child. Instead, all medication needs to be dropped off at the front office with accompanied signed permission slips.

Please find various health forms here and let us know if you have any questions at all.

The buttons below will take you directly to the permission slips for over-the-counter and prescription medications.

As the weather turns colder, please make sure your children are dressed to go out to recess. Unless it is raining, or the temperature/wind chill is too cold (below zero), the students will go out every day for two recesses. Please be sure to write your student's last name on a tag in their outerwear (hats, gloves, boots, snow pants, coats), so we can find the owner when things end up in our lost and found. If your scholar does not have snow pants AND boots, they will not be able to play off the blacktop when there is snow on the ground.

As a reminder, if your child has a fever of 100 degrees or above, has diarrhea, or is vomiting, they need to be out of school until they are symptom-free for 24 hours.

If your child has chapped/cracked lips, please know they are welcome to bring chapstick to keep with them during the day for their use!

Ms. Kinkade is getting ready for the 2025 Battle of the Books reading competition! This fun competition is for any interested 4th and 5th grade scholars. Click below for more information!

Our MacArthur DI team tryouts were held last month, and WOW have so much talent at MacArthur!! The creativity, motivation, and excitement surrounding the 3rd-5th grade team formation event was wonderful. A huge thanks all the wonderful volunteers to be team managers! See below for team placement. MacArthur is proud of you!

Are We There Yet?

(Improvisational)

Juliana S.

Ava D.

Aria E.

Zia S.

Aurora K.

Charlotte R.

Liza W.

Manager: Mrs. Ribecky

Less is More

(Fine Arts)

Grace D.

Andi M.

Jameson S.

Christian S.

Nadia S.

Charlotte M.

Brea T.

Managers: Mrs. Dombroe, Mrs. Coyle

High Wire Act

(Engineering)

Scarlett U.

Myra J.

Liam K.

Logan K.

Laasya T.

Autumn K.

Carson Z.

Manager: Mr. Kline

A big thanks to Maureen Warnimont and Mary Bykowski for their continual support in getting things rolling and overseeing the DI process! The 2nd grade Rising Stars teams will be forming soon, as interest forms went home with 2nd grade families. If you have a second grader interested in Destination Imagination, please reach out to Mary Bykowski at mbykowski@gsdwi.org!

Our DI teams will be hosting a movie night at MacArthur on Friday, December 6th. All MacArthur students are welcome! Please see below for the details and permission slip. Permission slips can be sent to school in your child's backpack, and they are due by Tuesday, 12/3. We will have printed copies in our front office if you need one.

We have another wonderful new Special Education Assistant to introduce. We are so happy she is here with us at MAC!

MacArthur families! I am ecstatic to share that I am one of the newest Special Education Support Aides at the school! I have happily spent the last 10 years as a stay at home mom raising my two kids, with my youngest having special needs of his own. With my husband being an Army vet, we moved here to Germantown from Alaska about 4 years ago with our cat and dog. We have fallen in love with the Germantown community, and are here to stay! In my free time I enjoy getting lots of exercise at the gym, hiking just about anywhere, and spending quality time at home with our little family. I feel so beyond fortunate to have the opportunity to make a positive difference with the kids at school, and watch them shine!

Our Kids' Closet is a non-profit, all-volunteer, community-based agency providing gently used clothing at no cost to low-income, foster families and emergency visits for families in need.

The Germantown Park and Rec. Department’s Fall/Winter Recreation Brochure can be viewed online here.

Upcoming Programs to register for include:

Afterschool Legos

Henna

Schools Out – Stream Sampler

Babysitters Classes

1st /2nd Grade Buckets

Hoopsters

Crochet Classes

Tae Kwon Do

Learn Magic

Art Classes & More!

Check out this link for program specifics:

Please complete the DISTRICT VOLUNTEER APPLICATION using the button above if you are interested in volunteering at school or chaperoning a field trip with MacArthur. This form MUST be filled out and the background check needs to be cleared (it can take up to two weeks to clear) if you would like to help. The background checks are good for 3 years, after which they must be renewed.

If you are visiting the school and have an appointment, please bring your I.D. with you so you are able to get a visitor's badge to enter the school.

We plan to post many updates and school happenings on Facebook. Please be sure to follow us so that you can celebrate the student learning and school happenings with us!

Website: gsdwi.org/o/macarthur
Location: W154N11492 Fond Du Lac Ave, Germantown, WI, USA
Phone: 262-253-3468
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MacArthurGSDWI