Houdini Hawk's Tale

9/12 - PTO Meeting 6:00 (LMC)

9/13 - 3rd Annual 5K Run & Walk at Kaleidoscope Academy

9/23-9/27 - Homecoming Spirit Week

9/24 - Picture Day

10/5 - Tough Kid Challenge @ Highlands Elementary School 9AM - 1PM

10/5 - The Academy Martial Arts Leadership Parent's Night Out

10/10 - PTO Meeting 6:00 (LMC)

10/11 - PTO Fall Fest 4:30 - 7:00

We will be conducting our Hold and Evacuate procedures on Friday, September 13 at approximately 10:30 am.. Please know that at no time will there be any threat to students. Hold and Evacuate procedures are used by school districts to respond to emergency or crisis situations. Students, under the guidance of their classroom teachers, will stay learning in their classrooms under a Hold procedure. They will then will leave the building walking to Appleton Evangelical Community Church across Capitol Drive under Evacuation procedure with the support of Grand Chute Police to control traffic. The walk-through of these procedures are educational in nature and are followed up by question and answer sessions. If you have any questions, please contact the main office at 920-852-5490.

Students in grades 4 and 5 who participated in the Wisconsin Forward Exam will have their Individual Student Report (ISR) sent home with them today. The ISR provides information about your child's performance on the Wisconsin Forward Exam, administered in the Spring of 2024. For more information or questions regarding your student's ISR, please contact your student's teacher.

Dear Houdini Families,

The Appleton Area School District is committed to creating a great place for students to learn, teachers to teach, staff to work, and for parents to send their children to receive a strong education. To build on this commitment, the leadership of the school district gathers and analyzes data on essential goals and measures. The leadership of the district maintains a focus on data to identify gaps, take action, and follow through to ensure continuous improvement.

The Family Engagement Survey was administered to all parents/caregivers with a child in the school district in the spring of 2024 to assess the level of satisfaction parents have with their child’s school. Collecting feedback from parents/caregivers allows leaders to recognize the good work that many school leaders, teachers and staff accomplish every day, and to identify opportunities.

At Houdini School, we had 128 parents/caregivers complete the survey. I am so appreciative to those that gave their time in sharing their satisfaction. The more feedback I receive, the more I know and can guide our building on the priorities of our community. Two of our school’s top strengths were:

1. The staff members at this school demonstrate a genuine concern for my child.

2. My family is treated with respect at this school.

One area for improvement that was communicated at both the district and school level is the desire to regularly receive feedback from the school staff on how well your child is learning. Staff will be providing information on student learning through the following measures:

• Scored assignments with feedback sent home via Thursday take home folders.

• Discussion of achievement on diagnostic and summative assessments at Parent-Teacher Conferences.

• Updates via email and/or phone calls, as needed, throughout the school year.

I welcome you to contact your child’s teacher or me for additional information on how well your child is learning or to ask questions that you may have throughout this school year.

Thank you for being involved in your child’s learning.

Your partner in education,

Katie Hardesty

We have a group of excited 5th graders volunteering to develop their leadership and responsibility skills by supporting their Houdini community in helping their fellow Hawks get to school and home from school safely each day. Thank you for making sure your child(ren) understand that the crossing guards and safety patrol are there for their safety. It is very important that all students and family members respect and follow our drop-off and pick-up procedures.

This year we will be having a silent auction and we need your help! Each grade has a theme, and we are asking families to donate items in order to create baskets to bid on. Please see the flyer below that will be going home.

So, how can you help?

Donated items fitting the themes below (labeled for grade level) can be brought to the office OR feel free to email ptohoudini@gmail.com and a volunteer will pick up the items from your student's classroom!

Lastly, if you know of any local businesses who would like to donate a basket or gift certificate, please let us know and a volunteer will contact that business.

K: Arts & Crafts

1: Movie Night

2: Fun and Games

3: Outdoor Adventures

4: Baking Up Memories

5: Let It Snow

Thank you for your partnership in building community at Houdini!

Houdini PTO