Primary Press

• 1:00-2:15 PM - Mandli & Rotunno

10/17 - 2nd Grade Community Garden Field Trip

• 9:15-10:00 AM - Albrecht

• 12:45-1:45 - Hemmer

• 1:00-2:15 PM - Brezenski & Brown

10/18 - 1st Grade Fall Walk

• 1:00-2:15 PM - S Davis & Mueller

• 2:45-3:45 PM

10/19 - 1st Grade Fall Walk

• 1:00-2:15 PM - Fröden & Robbins

10/19 - PTO Meeting @ CEPS

• 6:30-8:00 PM

Weather is changing! Thanks for sending your child to school with the appropriate outerwear, as we go outside as much as possible, barring too cold/rainy conditions. Two very helpful things you could do to help: make sure each item your child wears (hats, mittens, boots, etc.) is labeled with their name with permanent marker, and have them practice zipping zippers, buttoning buttons, and clasping clips. The more independent they are in dressing themselves, the more play time they get outside!

With the first month of school under our belt, we appreciate our school staff for building a community of learners who now understand the expectations, routines, and procedures of their classrooms and our school. Our learners are prepared to dive into all of the learning and fun of this school year. We also appreciate our students, for they truly are the “Spartan Stars” of the show here. They bring the energy, joy, and intrigue that you can only find in this age of students. Finally, we appreciate you...the families! Thank you for your partnership with us here. One of the many reasons staff enjoy working in our district is the strong support of our McFarland community; thanks for that!

We all know the importance of communication. This month, your child’s teacher will be reaching out to set up a time for you to either come to school and conference face to face, or to set up a virtual meeting; we offer both options to accommodate the different needs and preferences of our families. At the end of the second quarter, you will receive the mid-year report card in your child’s Infinite Campus (IC) portal. In the third quarter will be another opportunity to meet for a parent-teacher conference, and the end-of-year report card goes live on IC the week after our last day of school.

As always, thanks for reading with your child as much as you can, and for getting them to school on time ready to learn!

McFarland School District: Meeting the needs of every learner, every day

Morning drop-off is between 7:20-7:45 AM. After 7:50 AM, students are marked as tardy.

We understand there are occasional circumstances that will cause our students to arrive late to school. If you drop your child off after 7:50 AM, please make sure to follow these steps in order to ensure their safety:

1. Using the Johnson St. parking lot, either park your car in a marked visitor spot and use the crosswalk to walk your child into the main entrance, or pull up in front of the building and leave your car idling if you will be quick
2. Enter our main vestibule with your child, and press the buzzer
3. Our front office staff will greet you from our transaction window, and buzz your child into the building

Due to the young age of our students, we cannot have students dropped off after 7:50 AM without an adult caretaker walking them into the building. With the above steps in place, there is no concern that at any point a child is either outside our building unsupervised or left locked out of the office in our main vestibule by themselves. In addition, our policy is that students dropped off after 7:50 AM without an adult are marked as "Tardy Unexcused" in Infinite Campus. By walking them into the building, they are marked as "tardy excused."

At CEPS, we encourage opportunities for family involvement in ways such as classroom visits/volunteers, field trip chaperones, etc. With safety being our top priority, the following guidelines are in place for visitors to CEPS.

• We use the Raptor Visitor Management System for any non-staff visitor that enters our building beyond the main office area, and it runs a quick background check and provides a name badge to wear for the duration of the visit. All visitors should enter our main vestibule, press the button on our camera located near the transaction window, and our office staff will greet you via the two-way microphone and ask for your name and reason for your visit.

• Each student will have a week where they are “Special Person” in their class. During that week, we allow any “special adults” (e.g., parents, guardians, grandparents, etc.) to join them for lunch in the cafeteria (note this is a change from last year based on family feedback, where only one adult was permitted to join one time). Due to space and supervision restrictions, we cannot accommodate lunch visitors more often than this, nor can we accommodate non-CEPS siblings to join. Classroom teachers will let you know well in advance when it is your child’s turn getting to be Special Person so that you can plan accordingly. If you plan to eat the school lunch, please call our main office that morning.

• Parents and guardians may pick students up early for appointments, etc. Please notify the main office and classroom teacher by phone or email prior to 7:30 AM on the morning of the early pick-up.

• Other non-parent/guardian adults may only pick students up during the day with prior parent/guardian permission. The parent/guardian must call or email the main office on the morning of the early pick-up. The parent/guardian is also responsible for making sure the visitor knows that a photo ID will be required so they can be scanned in with our Raptor system.

• We ask that you avoid changing your child's dismissal plans as much as possible. If you must change your child's plan for the day, you need to contact our Main Office before 2:00 PM the day-of the change. Please always email both the classroom teacher and our attendance line at cepsattendance@mcfsd.org. In addition, if your child is a bus rider and won't be on the bus, please call Nelson's at 608-205-9040. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that any changes you communicate after 2:00 PM will be accommodated, but will do our best.

• If a visitor arrives without prior parent/guardian permission, they will be directed by our office staff to contact the parent/guardian who must then call the office before being allowed to visit for lunch or pick-up the child.

• If at any time during the year you think you would like to help in a classroom or on a field trip, you must have the Volunteer Disclosure form completed. If you have any non-traffic convictions, you must disclose them, and it won’t necessarily automatically exclude you from volunteering; unfortunately, we have had to turn people away in previous years for not filling out the form honestly.

Our dismissal supervisors have noticed that on some days, there are caretakers that come up to the door to pick up their child and then remain to chat with others. We have observed some students running around on the sidewalk and playing together as adults talk, and are concerned for our students' safety. We ask that if you walk up to the building to pick up your child, please leave the pick-up area and feel free to use the green space by the tennis courts if you'd like to chat with others. This might become a moot point as the weather becomes less and less pleasant, but still felt worth sharing. Thank you!

Check out our Wonders (English-Language Arts curriculum) grade-level newsletters by clicking the buttons below, to keep up-to-date on what your child is learning, along with tips on how to support literacy at home!

🎓McFarland School Board

COMING UP

The School District of McFarland Annual Meeting and Budget Hearing is scheduled for October 23, 2023 at 7 p.m. to follow their 6:15 p.m. regular meeting of the School Board. The Annual Meeting is a meeting of the School District stakeholders to take action on items such as approving the budget for the 2023-24 school year, approving the District to dispose of surplus property, and determining the salaries for our elected School Board Members. Please join us to participate in this meeting if you are a U.S. citizen aged 18 years old or older and have resided in the School District of McFarland for at least 28 days. The Annual Meeting and Budget Hearing will be held in the District Office Board Room located in McFarland High School.

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.

Would you like to Join the Family Equity Council (FEC)?

The FEC is a group of caregivers who meet at least monthly in the evening with Aaron Tarnutzer, District Administrator, and Brittany Brazzel, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Coordinator. These meetings are an opportunity to lift the voices of our current students and families by providing the district with direct feedback and collaborating to increase feelings of belonging. If you are interested in attending future meetings please reach out to Brittany Brazzel at brazzeb@mcfsd.org

October is...

Bullying Prevention Month

• Standing up and speaking out is one way for all of us to build a happier and safer community for all.

LGBTQIA+ History Month

• Let's learn about the wonderful people and moments that have contributed and impacted our diverse society.

Physical Therapy Month

• This is a time to celebrate the physical therapy profession, spotlight the many benefits of physical therapy, and show how those in the profession can help anyone make changes to improve their quality of life.

October 15 - 21 Safe Schools Week

• This week is Safe Schools Week, a time for all of us to work together on keeping our schools safe. If you see something, say something. We want to always be working on ensuring a positive and safe climate for learning, teaching, and working.
  

October 18 Unity Day

To uplift the message of #UnityDay schools across the country will wear orange to symbolize acceptance, inclusion, and belonging.

* Wisconsin Public School Observance Days

Every night in the United States an estimated 600,000 people live on the streets. This October, SoulPancake and Kid President want 2 million people to prove that even the smallest acts of love, like donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of those who are homeless. For more information go to -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH5ozEo1Ao4

How can we help make good things happen? Let’s get in on this Act of Kindness! From October 2-20, send in NEW socks, any size/gender/color, to be collected and donated to an area shelter and the McFarland Food Pantry.

Once the collection drive is finished, we will share our collection totals with families. Thanks in advance for considering this great cause!

-CEPS Staff

Wisconsin state law requires all public and private school students to present written evidence of immunization against certain diseases within 30 school days of admission. The current age/grade specific requirements are available here. If you have received a letter from the health office, it is because we are still awaiting information for your students immunization record. Do not hesitate to contact your schools health office with any questions!

Bridging Brighter Smiles will be at CEPS on Wednesday, October 25th!

See flyer information for more details and how to enroll.

The following flyers are not necessarily school-sponsored activities, and the McFarland School District does not provide support or endorsement of the program/flyer. It has neither reviewed nor approved the program, personnel, or activities announced in the brochure/flyer. Permission to distribute this material must not be considered a recommendation or endorsement by the School District.

A Message from the Village of McFarland

Just a reminder that the Village of McFarland is conducting a community survey regarding the future of the Downtown and Terminal & Triangle area, including areas near Brandt and McDaniel parks. The results of the survey will serve to inform the Village’s efforts to update the Redevelopment District No 1 & 2 Plans. A link to the survey can be found HERE and should take 10-15 minutes to complete.