Endeavor Happenings

Endeavor students volunteered for the Salvation Army in December. Endeavor student groups covered all of the Watertown locations for an entire day.

We welcomed 8th grade students to visit our school to learn more about what Endeavor is and how things are done. While they were here, they were paired with a current Endeavor student for a tour of Endeavor, an introduction to an average day in Endeavor and activities to help them understand Endeavor. 8th grade visit day is organized and facilitated by our 8th grade recruitment team.

Every student in Endeavor has a leadership role in the Endeavor community. They collaborate with their peers to complete a task that helps the Endeavor community. This trimester, students worked in a variety of groups including Math Support, 8th Grade Recruitment and Horizon Printing.

• Math Support- Students are using the skills they have learned from their math classes to help other students. They created a hint site for the students learning math through ALEKS math to use as a resource.
• 8th Grade Recruitment- Students designed and ran all of the events to recruit new students in Endeavor. They created publicity, visited Riverside, gave tours at Freshmen Preview Night, designed and ran 8th Grade Visit Day, and corresponded with potential students.
• Horizon Printing- Students learn and execute every step of the Endeavor banner printing small business. They learn design, printing, invoicing and publicity.

It's almost time to start building the pacing guides for trimester 3. Students will meet with their advisors to get their pacing guides approved. Then, students should be bringing pacing guides home to also get a parent signature. Please feel free to snap a picture or make a copy so you know what your child should be getting done each month of the trimester. Thanks so much for being an important part of the team.

Students in Endeavor are given the opportunity to set individual goals about their courses and credit. At the same time, students in Endeavor are expected to strive for a high level of rigor and progress. Students also have the responsibility to earn credit at a pace that will keep them on track to graduate with their class. Students who earn 2 credits in the trimester or 6 credits in the year qualify as a Student in Good Standing.

Student in Good Standing status will determine athletic eligibility, extracurricular eligibility, work study/ internship eligibility, ELT flexibility, flexible worksite day release eligibility and break out space eligibility.

Seminars are opportunities for students to be able to earn credit in a teacher-directed environment! They usually last 2-3 weeks depending on the topic and the advisor. Students signed up for the seminars that fit their interests, schedules and credit goals. A few of the seminars this trimester were:

• Room to Grow (Hydroponics)- Mr. Harms

• School Rights and the Supreme Court - Mrs. Oswald

• Novel Study of A Lesson Before Dying- Mrs. Mueller

• Music Appreciation - Mr. Martin

• Personal self-defense - guest teacher, Mrs. Roche

Each trimester, students are given the option to choose from 2-3 digital learning courses in science, social studies and Health. Students who are taking Digital Learning classes in Endeavor must be done with those courses by the end of the trimester. Each course has a pacing guide for the student to know where they should be in the course on any given day. Some students take digital learning courses to meet graduation requirements while others take them to explore a new subject area. Digital learning courses are completely optional. The digital learning classes for third trimester are Earth Science and Sociology. These classes start on Tuesday, March 11.

Is your child doing ALEKS math online? You can help them stay on track by checking the ALEKS math pacing chart to see where they should be at the end of every month and help them set goals. All students working through an ALEKS math course should have that course done by the end of May.

In Endeavor, students are given the opportunity to show their learning in whatever way they and their advisor agree on. This gives students a variety of options to think outside the box and practice creativity. Students are creating:

• A diagram of acid rain
• A magazine about social issues
• A 3D model of a hurricane

In February we focused on career exploration during Endeavor hour. Students found a career cluster they were interested in and then looked at different opportunities within that cluster that required different levels of education. We linked our classroom learning to the community by visiting Waukesha County Technical College and having a variety of guest speakers.

All Endeavor students have Endeavor hour as the last hour of the day. In Endeavor hour, we focus on learning and growing in 21st Century Skills.

Mondays- Town Hall Meeting and 21st Century Skills practice

Tuesdays- Collaboration projects

Wednesdays- Advisory meeting

Thursdays- Presentations and giving feedback

Fridays- Team building and goal setting/ reflection journals

Endeavor students can earn credit for things they do outside of the classroom too! In a sport or taking a yoga class? That would make a great personal improvement project! Working to help the elderly at an assisted living home? That could be a perfect volunteering project! Learning to crochet or program a computer? Turn those into discovery projects! In Endeavor, you are limited only by your creativity.

As a charter school in the state of Wisconsin, we are governed by a five member Board of Governance. This board is responsible for making sure our school is being guided by our mission and vision. It is also responsible for being ambassadors for our school. Would you be interested in being part of our board? Learn more here.

Advisor- In Endeavor, we call our teachers advisors. Why? We strive to have students' interests, passions and curiosity drive their learning as they strive to answer important questions. The advisor is there to coach, advise, and help students maintain high quality learning. Our advisors have teaching certifications in math, science, English, reading, public speaking, social studies, and music. They have a combined total of more than 100 years of teaching experience!

Learning Target- Advisors use state and nationals standards to guide them in writing learning targets for students. These are statements that define what a student should know or be able to do in each of our courses. Students pick learning targets that align with their driving question for each of their projects. Then, students create a target defense plan, or contract with the advisor for how they will learn and show their learning of each target. When a student earns 10 targets in a course, they earn 0.5 credit.

• February 20- last day to present for credit on trimester 2
• February 28- last day for credit on trimester 2
• March 7- No School- teacher work day
• March 10- first day of trimester 3
• March 11- Flexible Worksite Day
• March 12- ACT for all juniors. No school for freshmen, sophomores and seniors.
• March 19- Gosling Career Fair
• March 24-28 Spring Break
• May 29 Gallery Night- required for all Endeavor students

Don't forget to mark your calendar for our 11th annual Gallery Night. This is a celebration of the successes of all of our students for the whole year. Each student will present their best project from the year. This is a must see event for families and is required for all Endeavor students.

Endeavor is now accepting enrollment for the 2025-26 school year. Seats still available. Word of mouth is our best advertising, and you are our best ambassadors. Know someone who might be interested in taking control of their own learning? We offer private tours and individual family orientation meetings for those who are interested. Enrollment forms can be found at https://www.endeavorcharterschool.org. Students in Endeavor this year do not need to reapply. Email Mrs. Mueller for more information.