Lodi Elementary School & Ouisconsing School of Collaboration
Website: lodi.k12.wi.us
Phone: 608-592-3842
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LodiSchoolsWI/
Dear LES/OSC Families,
Happy February! I hope you are all doing well. Below is some important information and events. Thank you for taking the time to read through our newsletter to see all of the amazing things happening at LES/OSC. It truly is a great place to work and learn!
- Yearbooks: There is a flyer below about ordering yearbooks but you can order a yearbook by clicking by visiting our yearbook store: https://shop.yearbookmarket.com/lodi
- February Community Value: Our community value for February is being Empathetic & Encouraging. We are empathetic towards others and consider their feelings, perspective, knowledge and life experiences. We know words are powerful and we use our words to encourage others in their journey because we never know what someone else is going through.
- Parent -Teacher Conferences and Scholastic Book Fair: Conferences and the book fair are happening the week of February 17th. Staff have invited families to these conferences if there are concerns they would like to connect further on. But any parent is welcome to sign up for a time to meet with their child's teacher. If you would like to show support for our staff, feel free to sign up HERE to bring in an item for them. It is much appreciated!
- 4k-5 Bully Prevention Presentation: There is more information included below but Monday, February 24 from 5:00-6:00 pm at PS Library you are invited to come learn about what bullying is and how we work to prevent this. (Please RSVP here or on the link below if you are able to attend.)
- Protective Behaviors & Personal Safety Lessons: Towards the end of this month Mrs. Bahr will begin our Protective Behaviors & Personal Safety lessons. These lessons focus on building knowledge and skill in the following areas: Personal Safety, Touching Safety, and Assertiveness. Here are the links to the parent letter with more information about these lessons (English or Spanish).
Thank you for your continued support of our teachers, support staff, and students. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Eric Scheunemann
Lodi Elementary School/OSC Charter School Principal
(608) 592-3842 ext. 2102
"No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship." ~ James Comer
Just a reminder that with it being winter, even though it hasn't felt like it, school may be canceled due to inclement weather. In most situations, the district plans to use two days of school as regular days off. If the district has additional inclement weather days, we will provide students with virtual instruction on those days to meet our state required hours of instruction. As always, the district will prioritize in-person learning experiences for our students whenever possible.
If we decide a virtual learning day is needed we will notify you. We will also send Chromebooks home with students and will have reviewed our virtual learning expectations with students so they know what to expect. If you indicated that you have no internet access or inconsistent internet access we will be sending a virtual learning packet of materials home as well. Below are the virtual learning letters for each grade level/team that we will be sending home in preparation soon.
- LES 3rd Grade Virtual Learning Plan
- LES 4th Grade Virtual Learning Plan
- LES 5th Grade Virtual Learning Plan
- OSC Virtual Learning Plan
If you have any questions please reach out to me or to your child's teacher.
This is a reminder of the importance of reporting an absence if a student is going to be missing from school. Families can complete the Absence Form (button below) instead of calling school or emailing the office; however, if you have questions or are unable to complete this form you can still call the attendance line: (608) 592-3842 ext 2100 or email the school office: lesoscoffice@lodischoolswi.org.
The form is also accessible through the Lodi Elementary School page and the Ouisconsing School of Collaboration page with a link that says “Report an Absence” on the main page.
Hello LES & OSC Families!
Here’s what’s happening in SEL! Our January SEL lessons wrapped up our Growth Mindset unit and we began our Emotion Management unit. We talked about how the two units are related and that having a Growth Mindset or a Fixed Mindset can influence our emotions and vice versa and students watched a short video where they identified Growth & Fixed Mindset as well as the different emotions the characters were feeling.
January Highlights:
- Growth Mindset Snowflakes - stop by the school to see all the unique snowflakes up in the hallways!
- 4th/OSC & 5th grade completed our Growth Mindset Unit with some teambuilding and goal setting challenges.
- 3rd Grade watched a Growth Mindset movie.
- Working on identifying emotions/Emotion vocabulary building - review of Zones of Regulation
- We also practiced Progressive Muscle Relaxation during SEL time
- Our WIN groups had visits from the therapy dogs, Maximus and Monty! Mrs. Nelson also made sure the dogs were able to visit some classrooms too!
As we move into February:
- Students will continue to work on applying their skills in understanding and managing their emotions. We will continue to build upon these important lessons to foster emotional intelligence and resilience.
- Random Act of Kindness Day: Mark your calendars for February 17! You can participate in this special day by engaging in acts of kindness everywhere! Let’s spread positivity and compassion together!
- As we reach the end of February, we will begin our Protective Behaviors & Personal Safety lessons. These lessons focus on building knowledge and skill in the following areas: Personal Safety, Touching Safety, and Assertiveness. Here are the links to the parent letter with more information about these lessons (English or Spanish).
Thank you for sharing your amazing kids with me every day!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if there is anything you or your child needs.
Phone - (608)592-3842 X2111 or email - bahrke@lodischoolswi.org
Heart Awareness Month
February is American Heart Month, which gives each of us an opportunity to motivate our students, family, and friends to promote healthier decisions and steps to prevent heart disease. Taking care of your heart can be challenging during our daily lives but small acts of self-care, exercise, quality sleep, and cooking healthy meals can help your heart.
National Wear Red Day Friday, 7th
Dental Awareness Month:
This is a great time for a reminder of dental health for your child(s) and family. Some basic reminders with your child(s) will help them to maintain healthy oral health.
Brushing teeth at least twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, especially after breakfast and before bedtime.
Drinking water after eating also helps to clear your teeth of food particles.
Flossing everyday
Limit the number of snacks, especially snacks that are sticky such as fruit snacks.
Visiting the dentist every 6 months for a routine checkup and cleaning.
Dental Resource at School: Bridging Brighter Smiles
Dental Information from Madison College: In February, Madison Hygiene Clinic is offering free dental cleaning. Please contact them at 1-608-258-2400. Space is limited so it’s recommended that you call to check availability. Without the offer the clinic does offer cleaning, x-rays, and examination for $40.00. Click on this link for more information Dental Hygiene Clinic
Vision Screening:
LES/OSC 3rd and 5th Grade vision screens in coordination with Lake Wisconsin Lions Club will be on Tuesday, February 11th. A parent letter to those families was sent out via email in January. If you do not wish your child to participate then please email sivamja@lodischoolswi.org
Illness:
It's that time of year that we have seen an increase around our area and state of respiratory illnesses such as Influenza, COVID, or Pneumonia. We have been monitoring and increasing cleaning throughout the schools including a reeducation with all students of the importance of handwashing. Frequent handwashing is one best way to avoid getting sick and spreading illness. Although it’s impossible to keep hands germ-free, washing hands with soap and water throughout the day can help limit the transfer of bacteria, viruses, and other microbes.
Basic steps to help prevent the spread of illness:
Stay home when you are sick.
Cover your mouth and nose CDC Link.
Clean your hands CDC Link. Frequent hand-washing is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading illness. It is a good reminder to wash your hands throughout the day.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth .
Please keep your child home if they have the following symptoms:
Fever (100.0 degrees or more without the use of fever reducing medication)
Vomiting (must be 24 hours vomit free before returning to school)
Diarrhea (must be 24 hours diarrhea free before returning to school)
If they have been diagnosed with the flu or COVID then they will need to stay home until they are 24 hours fever free without fever reducing medication and their symptoms are improved (when they are feeling well and can actively participate in school)
Chills, body aches, or active cough (cannot control coughing and coughing frequently), it’s ok to have an occasional cough
Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Janelle Sivam RN, BSN
School Nurse
ES/OSC: 608-592-3842 ext: 2103
By making reading fun and interactive, you help foster a love for books that can last a lifetime. The key is to make it a dynamic, enjoyable experience that sparks your child’s imagination and curiosity.
1. Book-Related Activities
After reading a book, engage in activities like cooking a recipe related to the story, making a craft, or going on a nature walk to look for items mentioned in the book.
If the book features a holiday or cultural event, create an experience around it (e.g., making paper lanterns after reading a story about the Lunar New Year).
2. Make Book-Related Challenges
Create a “book report” challenge where kids get to act out a scene from a book they’ve read, draw the main character, or summarize the plot.
Try reading a book, then watching the movie or animated version together and compare the two.
3. Create a Reading Chart
Use a reading chart or sticker system to track progress. Here is a February Reading Log you can use to encourage your child to read each night. Choose a goal together and pick a fun reward or activity to do with your child when they fill in all of the hearts!
Celebrate milestones with fun rewards like a special outing, a new book, or a trip to the library.
During the month of January within LES/OSC Physical Education classes we worked on a large range of basketball skills when we returned from break! We spent most of our time focusing on dribbling, passing, shooting, and rebounding. We did spend some time on inbound passes and jump balls as well.
We finished our basketball unit by scrimmaging every team, and everybody, in our classes. Students did a great job of passing the ball to everybody and playing hard nosed defense.
When the weather turns cold in late fall we unfortunately have to pack up the GaGa Ball Pit for the season when the snow and ice sets in. Students always miss playing GaGa Ball until the spring.
This year we decided to bring GaGa Ball back during Winter! We set the pit up inside the gym and played a variety of different GaGa Ball games including survivor, revenge, mystery, boys vs girls, red vs blue, double ball, etc.
The students enjoyed doing this so much that we will make sure to make this an annual tradition!
Question to ask your student: What basketball skill did you work on most to improve?
Question to ask your student: What type of GaGa Ball game was your favorite?
February New Foods
Happy Winter!
I hope everyone is staying warm!
One item I would really like to highlight is our Vegetarian Meatless Taco. Please give them a try and let us know if we should run them on the menus again in the future. We hope you like our new additions and please give us your feedback on these items. Your feedback helps us decide what to put on your menus. Speak up and make your likes and dislikes known to us so we are able to do menus you want.
Special announcement! Melanie Wirth, our registered dietician from our corporate office, will be at OSC on February 25th in the morning. Melanie writes our Healthy to a “T” newsletter that we post every month along with the menus and Harvest of the Month flyers. Melanie and Diane (Food Service Director) will talk about healthy food choices and we will make a healthy snack that you will be able to make yourselves and take with you when you are hiking on the Ice Age Trail. Melanie is very experienced and she also does our menus for the schools. Please make sure you come and have fun and ask lots of questions.
Last but not least we are having the second annual Kids in the Kitchen cooking class with Taher Regional Chef, Camilo Garavito, and Diane! We will be making pumpkin chocolate chip snack bread. It will be on Tuesday February 11th from 3:15pm-4:30pm. We will be sending out a flyer and sign up sheet soon with more information on the class. So much to look forward to this month!
Everyone stay warm and hopefully we will get some snow so you can all play outside!
Have a great February and Happy Valentine’s Day!
Taher Food Service Director
The Lodi Community Action Team (LCAT) was established in 2007 to address alcohol use among teens in the Lodi area. Over time, LCAT began to analyze the data collected in the community and assess actual events. This led to efforts to educate the community about the dangers of risky behaviors and promote a safer environment for our children.
In the winter of 2024, a strategic plan was developed to guide LCAT's initiatives. This plan is built on three key pillars: engage, empower, and elevate. With these pillars in mind, we aim to fulfill our mission of empowering our school and community to prevent youth substance use through education, environmental prevention strategies, and fostering connections with caring adults. Our quarterly newsletter is a way to share projects, events, trainings, and meetings.
