District Office Newsletter
New Year Edition
Dear Shorewood Families and Caregivers,
I can’t believe it’s the end of October! As I visit classrooms and buildings, I am impressed by the levels of deep learning and engagement that are taking place - and I am happy to see that the excitement of the new school year is still going strong! Students have settled into their routines and have become comfortable in the school setting, and teachers are focused on providing every student with opportunities for critical thinking and learning. I also love seeing students enjoy the unseasonably warm temperatures when they are outside for lunch or recess. The positive energy across our schools is a testament to everyone’s dedication to making the school year a success.
Thank you to those of you who participated in our strategic planning survey. The Strategic Planning Committee convenes for the first time this Saturday, October 26. There will be more opportunities for you to be involved in the process. We hope to see you at one of the upcoming community engagement sessions, and I will be sending communication soon to those who expressed interest in participating in a focus group.
In addition, there are many exciting events coming up at all of our schools: concerts, parades, dances, fall plays, AFS Showcase, Veterans’ Day recognition programs, “Let’s Talk About” engagement sessions, and more! It is always wonderful to see students share their talents with the community and to meet with families and caregivers. Make sure to check out the District Calendar to see upcoming events and Board meetings.
As a reminder, November 5 is Election Day and school is not in session. Please make a plan to vote!
It is an honor to serve the Shorewood community. Thank you for your partnership.
Sincerely,
Laurie Burgos, Ph.D
When determining whether a snowstorm closure is necessary, the Shorewood School District monitors the estimated snow accumulation and the timing of the storm through the National Weather Service. If the District is considering closing school due to bitter cold and wind chill, it will do so if the National Weather Service changes a wind chill advisory to a wind chill warning (at -35 degrees).
In the event that the inclement weather occurs outside of school hours, the North Shore school superintendents conduct an early morning conference call (typically conducted between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.) to compare information and to determine the impact on the snowfall in each local community.
In the event that the inclement weather occurs during school hours, the North Shore school superintendents conduct an immediate conference call to compare information and determine the impact of the snowfall in each local community.
Ultimately, the decision to close the schools or to dismiss students early in the event of existing or predicted hazardous weather is determined by the Shorewood District Administrative team. When school is closed or dismissed early due to weather, school district-sponsored activities, athletics, and Shorewood Recreation Department activities are also cancelled.*
*If school is in session all day and inclement weather is forecasted for the afternoon and/or evening, the Recreation Department and the District Admin team will make decisions on the closures of after school/evening activities by approximately 2 p.m.
Please note the following:
- The decision will always be made to ensure the safety of the Shorewood School District's students, parents, and staff.
- When possible, the decision to close school will be made by 5:30 a.m., and to dismiss early by 11:30 a.m.
- The District will use the Infinite Campus communication system to contact families. In addition, the District will also post the school closure information on its website and social media pages.
- The following radio and TV stations will be notified and asked to announce the closures.
- TV Channels 4, 6, 12, and 58
- WISN (1130 AM)
- WTMJ (620 AM)
- Parents/guardians should be certain that their children are properly clothed, instructed, and otherwise prepared for weather emergencies. If you will not be at home, please have an alternate safe location arranged. Listen to radio and TV reports during times of severe weather.
- If parents/guardians disagree with a District decision to hold school on a bad weather day because they think it is unsafe, they are urged to keep their students at home. Likewise, if a parent/guardian becomes uncomfortable with the weather conditions throughout the day during a bad weather day, we encourage the parent/guardian make the necessary arrangements to pick up the student(s). In either situation, the students will be marked as excused as long as the school receives a phone call from the parent/guardian citing "inclement weather conditions."
What might appear to be a simple decision involves the consideration of many different factors, and the decision to cancel school is only reached after seeking the counsel of many sources. The District's first priority of is to ensure the safety of Shorewood students, parents, and staff.
Dr. Kentaro Iwasaki Partners with the Shorewood School District
Shorewood welcomed Dr. Kentaro Iwasaki to our schools on Thursday, September 26th to begin a partnership with a goal of creating more equitable practices and outcomes in our math classrooms. Dr. Iwasaki taught high school for 16 years in San Francisco and holds a B.A. from Stanford and a Doctorate in Education Leadership from Harvard. He received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching in 2011 and is a National Board Certified Teacher.
During his visit, Dr. Iwasaki visited various classrooms, spoke with teachers, and met with administrators to better understand our schools and community. Throughout the school year, our 6th-12th grade math teachers will be working with Dr. Iwasaki to update curricular resources and examine the systems used to track students into advanced math learning opportunities as early as 4th grade. The goal of this work will be to increase math achievement across the district, provide access to advanced learning opportunities for all students, and ultimately address the inequities in student achievement that occur in math classrooms. The approach to this work uses a “complex instruction” model grounded in the belief that group work provides greater access to higher-level math for more students with a wide range of academic skills and proficiencies. Dr. Iwasaki has engaged in this work with a variety of school districts including the Cambridge School District in Massachusetts.
Our Partnership with the SWIFT Center
You might recall the information from our newsletters over the course of the last year that we believe including all students in classroom spaces across the district is important. In the Shorewood School District, we strive to have representation in our classrooms that mirror the larger community outside of our classroom. We want each learner to be able to participate in the same spaces as their peers. This representation is based on a learner’s race, gender, (dis)ability and more. When we talk about “inclusion”, sometimes the term gets used interchangeably with “belonging” but they do have different meanings.
In a LinkedIn post shared by Annemarie Shrouder, it describes inclusion being an action or state of being included within a group while belonging is an affinity for a place or situation. While our goal is always belonging, we need to work from an inclusive lens in order to create environments where true belonging is created for each learner. As we strive to continue to improve how we do this, we are honored to be selected as a model demonstration site for inclusion of dynamic learners. This includes students who may have been identified with developmental disabilities from Autism to Traumatic Brain Injury and Intellectual Disabilities.
We are working with the SWIFT center to help us continue to improve and create systems that other districts and schools can put into action for their districts as well. As part of this, we will continue to seek feedback from our families and if you are interested in participating as part of a focus group this spring, we are seeking parents and students at all age levels and buildings. Please reach out to Kate Harder if you would like to learn more about participating in this process.
*Calling all parents of students with IEPs: We’d like to connect with you! Does your child have an IEP but you aren’t sure what you need to know about special education? Reach out to our parent liaisons, Cara Crafton and/or Jenn Maple to learn more about special education or find opportunities to connect with other families who have students with differing abilities.
Parents United
Did you know that Shorewood is a Parents United District? If you aren’t familiar with Parents United, here’s what you need to know. Parents United is a consortium of 25 different school districts who work together to provide free learning opportunities for parents and guardians, as well as staff, on current and relevant topics impacting our youth. Parents United was started by a small group of parents who were looking for more opportunities to learn about how to work best with their children and has expanded to a multi-district group of parents and educators working together to understand and improve upon everything that we do with our youth. Please use this link to check out the upcoming offerings at any point in the year or look for flyers in your child’s building (coming soon!). There are topics for everyone, from special needs planning and transitions to drug addiction, anxiety and ADHD. Most events are now conducted via Zoom and ALL are welcome!
What Equity Looks Like For Our Faculty and Students
Our equity commitment is still embedded and threaded in all of the work the Shorewood School District is doing. We are focused on providing professional development to our staff to see how we can continue to create more inclusive spaces for all of our learners.
In August all district employees engaged in our Courageous Conversations series that is done at all the buildings. The Courageous Conversations series is an opportunity for staff to build a community and culture that identifies and collaboratively addresses inequities to best serve all learners. Our work focused on thinking about who we stand with, why we stand with them, and specifically how we stand with the learners we serve. We also took a moment to reflect on our collaborative commitments to equity and how those commitments show up in our day-to-day work.
In October we had the opportunity to work with the ACLU and our administrative leadership team with a Know Your Rights Campaign. The training was engaging and allowed our leadership team to learn more about their rights in their communities. The plan is to have the ACLU come back and work with our students to learn about the rights they have as well. This partnership is also part of the work the ACLU of Wisconsin has done with Shorewood High School through the various clubs and organizations that are offered at the high school.
Director Shari Tucker and Associate Principal Amanda Jamerson also co-planned a visit to the UNCF Empowerment Tour hosted by Milwaukee Public Schools. Twelve of our high school seniors were invited to the Baird Center in downtown Milwaukee to experience this opportunity. Milwaukee Public School’s Department of College and Career Readiness partnered with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and local partners to host their signature Empower Me Tour (EMT) in Milwaukee. It was a national college readiness program that was motivating and interactive. It was an exciting opportunity for Milwaukee area seniors to gain acceptance into undergraduate colleges and universities, earn scholarship funds, and attend interactive workshops to inspire and encourage them through the college decision process. Students left the fair, informed and empowered to reach their greatest potential.
Students that attended the Empower Me Tour participated in:
A College Fair that included onsite admissions to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and local Wisconsin institutions
Workshops on topics including scholarship and financial literacy
Motivational Presentations
Scholarship Interviews
Lastly, Director Shari Tucker has spent the last several months partnering with organizations such as the Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC), Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), and Project Shema, to help work with our secondary teachers. This partnership has led to us co-planning ways to discuss the Holocaust, current events, as well as Jewish identity in our curriculum. The partnership focused on the district's commitment to ongoing learning and creating lessons that represent our diverse learners.
When to Keep Your Child Home From School
As we gear up for the new school year, we want to remind you of the importance of keeping our children healthy and safe. As the school district nurse, I would like to remind you about the guidelines around when to keep your child home from school. It is crucial to keep children home if:
they have an illness that significantly impacts their ability to learn
a fever of 100.5 or higher
vomiting
have diarrhea
untreated live head lice
if they have confirmed communicable diseases that require exclusion from schoo
For more information, please refer to the DHS Communicable Disease chart and the Shorewood Head Lice Protocol
If your child takes medication at school, please carefully read and complete this form.
All vaccination records and medication forms can be sent to the Health Office Aid at your child's school. See contacts below.
Sherelle Hughes - Atwater Elementary
Tracy Yothsackda - Lake Bluff Elementary
Jeyshka Nuñez - Shorewood Intermediate
Cortney Erxleban - Shorewood High
We deeply appreciate your attention to these important matters, and we want to express our gratitude for your cooperation in keeping our school community healthy and safe. Your role as caregivers is integral to our collective efforts, and we thank you for your commitment.
Ms. Altman Presents at WI Music Educators Association Conference
Attending the conference not only allows Ms. Altman to contribute to the professional development of her peers but also to grow personally and professionally. Such opportunities are invaluable for exchanging ideas, building networks, and staying updated with the latest happenings and research in the field of music education.
Lake Bluff Elementary Celebrates 100 Years of Excellence
In September, Lake Bluff Elementary School celebrated its 100th birthday. In partnership with the Shorewood Historical Society, the Lake Bluff PTO sponsored a wonderful picnic celebration to coincide with the Historical Society’s building tours. The event was a success and about 350 people attended to mark the centennial milestone.
SIS Students Learn What it's Like at the Polls!
SHS Named to the 2024 AP Honor Roll
Congratulations to Shorewood High School which has been named to the 2024 AP School Honor Roll! SHS is a Bronze member of the Honor Roll. Of the students who took one or more AP exams during high school, 83% of seniors scored a three or higher on at least one of their exams. Great job to our students for engaging in and challenging themselves with advanced level courses. Learn more on our website!
Join Us on Social!
Attending a sporting event or after school activity? We want to see your photos! There is a lot that happens in the SSD community, and we enjoy using photos of our students in newsletters and communication. You can email your photos to mcampbell@shorewood.k12.wi.us
FOLLOW US!
Scroll with us on Instagram!
Like us on Facebook!
