Muskego Lakes Family Newsletter

Dear Muskego Lakes Families,

It’s hard to believe that we’re already halfway through the school year! Time has flown by, and as we reflect on the journey so far, there’s so much to celebrate—both as a school community and for each individual student.

From gaining new skills in the classroom to building friendships and navigating life’s challenges, every achievement is worth recognizing. It’s often the “little wins” that make the biggest difference—a moment of confidence during a presentation, tackling a difficult problem, or simply showing resilience when things get tough.

We encourage you to celebrate these victories at home as well! Take a moment to ask your child what they’re most proud of so far this year or what they’ve worked hardest to accomplish. These conversations help them see how much they’ve grown and remind them that their efforts truly matter.

Thank you for your unwavering support and for being such a vital part of our school community. Let’s continue celebrating our amazing students as we look forward to an exciting second half of the school year!

In partnership,

Rachel Rydzewski and Nancy Pasch

MLMS Principals

• 1/29: D.A.R.E. Graduation 12:30pm

• 2/2: Bandorama

• 2/3: 8th Grade Promotion Committee Meeting 5pm MLMS Libary

• 2/3: MLMS PTO Meeting 6pm Library

• 2/12: MHS counselors at MLMS to meet with 8th grade

• 2/14: 8th Grade Career Fair

• 2/17: No School

• 2/27: Spring Conferences 4-8pm

A reminder that second semester classes start on Monday. Students can review their schedules in Infinite Campus.

Your child might need some supplies if they have a new encore class, so we are providing the supply lists again for your review.

• 5th Grade Supply List
• 6th Grade Supply List
• 7th Grade Supply List
• 8th Grade Supply List

All families share the same objective: to drop off or pick up their student(s) as quickly as possible and continue with their day's plans. We are committed to assisting you in achieving this goal with ease. Our procedures have been refined over time based on feedback from our families, and they are designed to efficiently move the maximum number of cars while ensuring safety. Achieving this requires teamwork! Please follow the instructions below to ensure a smooth experience.

1. Proceed slowly and be aware of surroundings once you enter/exit Muskego Lakes. Many individuals are outside of our building, in vehicles, and on foot; excessive speed puts everyone in danger.
2. The drop-off and pick-up zones are designated in the image above by the red lines. The curb of our pick-up and drop-off area has been painted red in front of the school, while cones mark this area at the back. As you enter the pick-up zone, please continue all the way forward before coming to a stop, making use of all available space.
3. Students who are being dropped off can exit the car once they have entered the extended red zone and moved as far forward as possible. They will exit their vehicles and enter through the main entrance if being dropped off in front of the school, or through the library doors if being dropped off behind the school.
4. Students waiting for a ride will remain on the sidewalk outside the main entrance or the library. When their ride enters the pick-up zone, students will be instructed to wait until the car has moved all the way forward and come to a stop. Due to the requirement for cars to pull forward and use all available space, students may need to move either forward or backward to reach their car. This is essential to maximize the number of cars in the pick-up zone, and consequently, the number of students picked up at once.
   
5. Stay in a single file line and only drop-off or pick-up by the designated area. We ask that you stay in the drop-off/pick-up lines and do not pull out to bypass parts of the line or others dropping-off/picking-up. If this happens, it negatively impacts the systems in two ways: (1) it causes a safety concern for pedestrians, and (2) cars pulling out to pass and then moving back into the line causes congestion and could surprise families leading to a fender bender.

It takes a couple of minutes for students to exit the building and get the pick-up line moving. Encourage your student(s) to promptly leave the school and wait in the pick-up zone. Once the line starts moving, the process becomes efficient when everyone adheres to the procedures outlined above.

We appreciate your partnership in ensuring a safe and efficient experience when dropping off and picking up students.

Please be advised that your child's semester exam at Muskego High School is now scheduled for Monday, January 27, 2025 necause of the cold day on Tuesday this past week.

Because class times are extended during exam days, please note the time change listed below:

• 1st Period 7:25-8:35
• 2nd Period 8:45-9:55

The bus company is aware of the schedule change and bus transportation is provided after each exam back to Muskego Lakes.

The first meeting for the 8th Grade Parent Promotion Committee is Monday, Feb 3rd at 5pm in the Muskego Lakes Library. If you'd ike to attend, all are welcome.

5th Grade DARE Graduation is on Wednesday, January 29th at 12:30pm. Families are welcome to attend. Parking will be in the visitor lot, and we will have you enter gym doors directly. Seating for adults attending will be on the bleachers.

At Muskego Lakes, our hope is that over lunches, our students get time to relax, unwind, and have fun. It's a time for them to soak in the fresh air if they choose to get outside and/or stay inside and visit with friends.

Huge thanks to PTO for their support in ensring that we were able to secure some games and activities for students to use over lunches- especially during these winter months. That being said, we do still have quite a few students who still like to get out and move around- even in these cold temperatures. So as the snow and cold settles in, thanks for helping us make sure students have what they need to stay warm should they decide to head outside after eating their lunch.

Is your student interested in trying out for volleyball? 8th grade try-outs will be held on Jan 27 and 28th from 3:15-4:45pm. 7th grade try-outs will be held on 29th and 30th from 3:15-4:45pm. Students should have a ride home at the end of try-outs.

If you have more questions, please contact Allie Tome alexandra.tome@muskegonorway.org.

Our goal is to help you and your child reunite with items they have lost or misplaced. This means that our staff checks items turned into Lost and Found for names, and when possible call students down to reunite them with their belongings. One way that would help us do this, is to ensure that you label items as much as possible with first and last names.

Common items we find are:

• water bottles
• school supplies
• assignment notebooks
• lunch bags
• sweatshirts

Please encourage your child if they are missing sweatshirts, jackets, water bottles, pencil cases, hats, headbands, etc. to stop by student services to check for their missing items.

Shown below are the upcoming co-curricular events at Muskego Lakes.

If a change occurs from the date of this newsletter, we post on Infinite Campus in the announcement section. We commit to letting students/families know about changes and updating Infinite Campus announcements as soon as possible once we've been notified of a change.

For more detailed information about MLMS events, click here.

Did you know that shopping at Walmart can help our MLMS PTO earn money? A huge thank you to everyone that has linked their accounts for Box Tops! You've helped PTO bring in nearly $60 just by doing your everyday shopping. If you want to help out please follow the directions to get signed up!

Looking for a way to get involved and support our amazing school community? The PTO is always looking for helping hands, and we’d love to have you on board—no commitment necessary! Whether you can spare a little time to make phone calls, lend a hand at events, donate resources, or even consider serving on the board, there’s a place for you. We do have a few open board seats for next year, but even if that’s not your thing, any support is welcome. Interested in learning more? Drop us a line at muskegolakespto@gmail.com . We can’t wait to hear from you!

The MLMS PTO is looking to continue the traditon to have snacks for staff each Wednesday. We need your help though by signing up to donate snacks each week. This greatly helps them make it through the week. You can donate snacks or a group of families can donate. We have roughly 100 staff members. Snacks can be anything you'd like.

Please sign up HERE for a date below if you can. Drop off will be in the front office by 8am on the Wednesday you sign up.

Please consider joining the Muskego Lakes PTO. We meet monthly in the MLMS library at 6:30pm. We always welcome new faces and would love to hear your ideas on how we can make this an amazing school year ahead!!

Our last meeting Dates for the 24-25 School Year are:

• February 3
• March 3
• April 7
• April 28

In an effort to ensure students can move through the lunch lines efficently, we ask that you remind your student to ensure that they bring their school ID card with them to lunch daily or ensure that they have gotten their finger scanned.

For you ease, we have linked the September menu below with other helpful resources. You can always find the link to updated lunch menus, at the end of this newsletter.

• Lunch Menu
• Guide to Making a Complete Meal
• Top Ten Reasons For School Meals

2024-25 Lunch Prices:

• Elementary School $2.55
• MS Diner meal $2.95
• MS Pizza meal $3.50
• MS Grab n Go $3.50
• MS Creation meal $3.90
• Adult $4.65
• Milk Carton $0.50
  
  

Questions related to the food service program can be directed to Benny D’Epiro, Food Service Director at 262-971-1790 x4522.

We are proud to continue to partner with Clinical Psychology Associates (CPA) to offer on-site counseling services for students enrolled in Lakeview Elementary, Mill Valley Elementary, Bay Lane Elementary, Lake Denoon Middle, Muskego Lakes Middle, and Muskego High School. For information about CPA’s services and therapists or to get started with an appointment, please visit our website.

Please make note of days off and important events on the 24-25 calendar. It is ideal to make dentist and doctor appointments on days we do not have school whenever possible.

The 2025-2026 school calendar is now available for you to review and use for planning purposes.

We encourage you to follow us on Facebook.

Website: https://www.muskegonorway.org/schools/muskegolakes/
Location: W124 S8009 North Cape Rd.
Phone: 262-971-1860
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muskegolakesmuskies

To view current support staff job vacancies, click HERE