Spartan Scoop Jan 20

• No School - Staff Professional Development Day

• Start of second semester. Be sure to check IC for your Term 2 schedule.

The parking timeline has been adjusted slightly. Please see below:

• Seniors who missed the initial sign-up will have to enter into the lottery with the underclassmen.

• Students will be notified of approval for parking by January 24th.

• Fees will be entered into IC and parking rules and regulations google form will be emailed to approved students on January 24th

• Only students will be able to access the form using their school google account. Parents will not receive this email nor will they have access to the form. The student must complete the form and agree to abide by the parking rules and regulations.

• Students must pay the $35 fee and submit the google form prior to picking up the parking pass. NO EXCEPTIONS.

• ALL passes must be picked up or arrangements for pick up made no later than January 31st at 3:30 PM. Passes will not be held past 3:30 PM on January 31st unless the fee has been paid AND the form has been completed.

• Any passes not picked up or stalls not signed up for will go into a lottery for underclassmen.

• If there are any available stalls remaining, lottery sign up will be done via a google form starting February 3rd. Watch your email.

• If there are any stalls left for the lottery, the random drawing will take place on Friday, February 7th.

Eligibility

As stated in the MHS 2024-25 Family Handbook:

PARKING – STUDENTS

Student parking at MHS is by permit only and parking stalls are allocated as follows:

1. Parking permits are issued twice during the school year, in August valid through semester 1, and in January, valid through semester 2.

2. A parking permit can be revoked at any time by the administration for behavioral referrals, multiple SBs (significantly below standard expectations) in Conduct and Effort grades, and/or unsafe driving in the HS parking lot.

Students may purchase a permit in accordance with the following criteria:

• No outstanding referrals.

• No unexcused absences for the previous semester.

Students who have questions regarding their number of unexcused absences may inquire in the MHS office. Parking permits are $35.00 per semester, and seniors meeting the criteria may purchase permits online on a first-come-first-serve basis. Specific information regarding online sign-up will be sent to parents via Infinite Campus.

Spring is state testing time! Please note the following dates and ensure your student is in school for test days. More information will be shared at a later date.

• March 11 - ACT - Juniors only will attend school. The exam will conclude at approximately 12:45 pm.
• April 1 - 4 - Wisconsin Forward Exam - All sophomores will take the test during their World History classes. Everyone attends school these days.
• April 16 - PreACT Secure - Only freshmen and sophomores attend school. The exam will conclude at approximately 11:30 am.

Contact Kim Wink (winkk@mcfsd.org), Testing Coordinator, with any questions.

There has been an update to how our high school athletic events will be lives treamed. Spectators will no longer be able to access the live streams via YouTube as this is no longer a feature that Hudl provides.

ALL live streams can now be viewed on Hudl Fan. This is FREE for spectators, however an account will need to be created to view events. This change was out of our control and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Linked below you will find more information about Hudl Fan and how to create an account to continue to view our MHS athletics.

Create a Hudl Fan Account

Hudl Fan View a Livestream FAQ

The Technology Education Department has awarded 49 students with the Woodwork Career Alliance Sawblade certificate! This industry and State of Wisconsin recognized certification was completed by students who performed a skill-based evaluation as well as a performance test.

The amazing adults in our 18 to 21-year-old program enjoyed getting their very own tour of the police station from Officer Z!

All students and families are invited to MHS Advising Night, Wednesday February 5th from 4-7pm at MHS. Course registration information for next year, over 50 colleges and employers at the college and career fair, and presentations on financial aid, planning for life after high school and more! It's the biggest event of the year. See you there!

Parents, PLEASE REPORT ALL ATTENDANCE IN INFINITE CAMPUS. You are able to enter your request directly into IC at any time of day, even for short notice or late requests. (Instructions). If you are concerned that the office staff is not receiving your IC absence request, please make sure you allow push notifications for the Infinite Campus app on your phone. Once the IC request is processed you will get a notification.

As a back-up, you can leave a message on the attendance line, 608-838-4657, or email mhsattendance@mcfsd.org.

• 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

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, 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 2025-24 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.

Girls Basketball: Had a busy week and competed well against Monona Grove, Verona and DeForest.

Boys Basketball: Had 2 nice conference wins over Reedsburg and Portage.

Boys Hockey: Had 2 nice wins over Waupun and Monona Grove. The MG win is for the Waubesa Cup. Congratulations.

Girls Hockey: Competed well against Cap City Cougars and the Rock County Flurry.

Boys Wrestling: Had a tough loss to Waunakee in a dual Friday but came back on Saturday and took 2nd place at the DeForest invite.

Girls Wrestling: Had a tough loss to Waunakee as well on Friday, but Emily Karls went 3-1 and won the consolation bracket at the Wausau Girls wrestling invite.

Boys Swimming: Had a nice conference win over Sauk Prairie on Tuesday and competed very well at the Middleton invite on Saturday taking 5th overall.

MHS Dance: Dance had the weekend off but they are getting ready for WACPC Regionals this upcoming Saturday.

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.

Summary from the 1/13/25 School Board Meeting:

In addition to their regular duties of approving minutes, staffing, and expenses, here are some highlights from the meeting:

• Superintendent Aaron Tarnutzer and DEIB Coordinator Brittany Brazzel provided a District equity update. More information can be found HERE.

• Notice was provided for the Educational Opportunities available in the District HERE.

• Evie Vidrio shared a report from the MHS student body.

• Action items that were acted upon included:

• The Board approved open enrollment space availability for the 2025-26 school year. More information can be found in the newsletter above.

• Approval of MHS early graduation request

• Approval of Citizens Advisory Facilities Naming Committee membership

• Approval of second reading and adoption of policies

COMING UP:

The next School District of McFarland School Board meeting is scheduled for February 3, 2025.

Click HERE for a link to the McFarland School Board agendas and minutes.

Click HERE for a link to the McFarland School Board meeting recordings and upcoming YouTube live streams.

January is...

Reflection and Motivation

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day