Spartan Scoop Mar 3

No School - Staff Professional Development Day

District Solo and Ensemble at MHS.

The high school has an upcoming Conference Night on March 12th from 4-7pm. Based on your feedback following our last conferences offering, we will be making a few revisions to our process to hopefully increase our level of collaboration and communication.

Our teachers are being asked to reach out to the families of students who may be in need of some additional academic and/or social support and encourage these families to schedule a time to come in for a collaborative conference. This invite communication including a sign up link will take place the week of March 3rd.

At the end of that week, teachers will then email the families of all of their students to share their drop in availability for that evening. In the chance you stop by a teacher’s room that evening and the wait for a drop-in conversation is longer than your schedule allows, all teachers will have forms near their door for you to leave a note to ask your student’s teacher to connect with you, as well as noting your preferred mode of communication.

As always, know that our staff can be reached via email or phone outside of our scheduled conference dates. This contact information can be found in our MHS Staff Directory, so please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have. We strongly believe that a partnership between school and home is the best way to support our students through their high school years, and look forward to continuing to partner with you.

Go Spartans,

Brett Jacobson

As most of you know, parking is quite limited at McFarland High School, forcing some students to park on the street. We spent the 1st semester of this ‘24-’25 school year collecting some student parking data, and operating under our current structure (parking spots reserved for specific students) we are averaging 25-55 unfilled spaces throughout the day. There are many contributing factors creating this inefficiency, but regardless of those factors, this is inefficient, as it accounts for roughly a third of our available student parking.

In an attempt to more efficiently use our ~120 available student parking spaces, beginning in the ‘25-’26 school year, student parking will be available on a first come, first served basis for those who purchase a parking pass.

To begin the year, we will be selling 175 parking passes to students. Seniors will have the 1st opportunity to purchase these parking passes. Juniors will have the next opportunity to purchase these passes on a first come, first serve basis until all 175 parking passes have been sold. The price for parking passes will be reduced to $25 per student per semester.

Similar to past years, students will receive a message in the summer about purchasing a parking pass. The exact process, including dates and qualifying criteria, will be outlined in this messaging. As always, the provided tag will need to be visible on the vehicle’s rear view mirror on a daily basis in order to be parked in any of our student parking stalls. Students, be on the lookout for more parking information that will be shared with you this coming spring and summer.

Go Spartans,

Brett Jacobson

Spring is state testing time! Please note the following dates and ensure your student is in school for test days. More information will be shared at a later date.

• March 11 - ACT - Juniors only will attend school. The exam will conclude at approximately 12:45 pm.
• April 1 - 4 - Wisconsin Forward Exam - All sophomores will take the test during their World History classes. Everyone attends school these days.
• April 16 - PreACT Secure - Only freshmen and sophomores attend school. The exam will conclude at approximately 11:30 am.

Contact Kim Wink (winkk@mcfsd.org), Testing Coordinator, with any questions.

We hosted close to 250 students and staff from across Southern Wisconsin for the 2nd annual We Are Many United Against Hate - Unity Youth Summit.

The summit was a chance for student leaders from different districts to collaborate, learn, and share how they can stop hate and build belonging and acceptance in their communities. Our McFarland students helped plan, run, and emcee the entire event!

Mr. Hawn took autos students down to the Chicago Auto Show.

• ACT Test Day for Juniors - only Juniors report to school.
• Freshmen, Sophomores and Seniors do NOT have school.

Band concert 7:30 pm in the PAC.

Spring Break

Parents, PLEASE REPORT ALL ATTENDANCE IN INFINITE CAMPUS. You are able to enter your request directly into IC at any time of day, even for short notice or late requests. (Instructions). If you are concerned that the office staff is not receiving your IC absence request, please make sure you allow push notifications for the Infinite Campus app on your phone. Once the IC request is processed you will get a notification.

As a back-up, you can leave a message on the attendance line, 608-838-4657, or email mhsattendance@mcfsd.org.

• Youth Apprenticeship Info Nights 2025 - February 12 and March 3

• E.D. Locke Library Card Design Contest - March 1-April 4

• CESA 2 MHS Driver Education Program

• ACT Prep Plus - Registration Open

• E.D. Locke and Galin Education Free ACT Diagnostic Test Day - March 11

• E.D. Locke Trinity Irish Dancers - March 17

• Boys and Girls Club of Dane County Madison Shamrock Shuffle - March 15

• McFarland Youth Baseball Organization 2025 Season Registration Open

• McFarland Youth Softball 2025 Season Registration Open

• E.D. Locke Library Bad Art Afternoon - March 28

• i9 Sports 2025 Spring Season - Register by March 28

• McFarland Soccer Referee Course - April 19

• IMMS McFarland Spring Craft Fair - April 26

• Dane County Humane Society Camp Wildside 2025 Day Camps and Summer Camp

• E.D. Locke Library Teen Dungeons and Dragons One-Shot Adventures - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library VolunTeen Program - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library Teen S.T.E.A.M. - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library Teen Hangout - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library Teen UnBook Club - January-April

• E.D. Locke Library Teen Snack & Chat - January-April

• Free Triple P Positive Parenting Online Program for WI Families

• WI School of Business - Grade 8 & 9 Free Precollege Summer Camp: Business Basics

• Badger Bots Kids Summer Camps

• Online Enrollment Form – Spanish – Bridging Brighter Smiles
• Online Enrollment Form – English – Bridging Brighter Smiles

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Please take some time to review the CDC Measles Cases and Outbreaks regarding increased cases of Measles seen in Texas. While the current outbreak has not spread to Wisconsin yet, the potential exists. Measles is a viral infection that causes fever, cough, sore/watery eyes, rash and can lead to serious complications. Measles spreads very easily, so it is important to protect against infection DHS - Measles Fact Sheet. Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent measles. Two doses of Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine provide the best protection against disease and is routinely recommended between 12-15 months and the second dose before entering school, at 4-6 years. Waivers to the state school requirements are available for religious, health, and personal conviction reasons (Student Immunization Record). However, in the event of an outbreak of measles students with waivers/unvaccinated may be excluded from school until the outbreak is declared over. You may check your child’s immunization record by logging on to the Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR). Your local health department, family health care provider or online health MyChart may also have your child’s immunization record. If interested in getting your student vaccinated please visit Public Health Immunization Clinics or reach out to your clinic. Please reach out to your primary care provider for questions. As always thank you for your collaboration in keeping our students and staff healthy and safe each day!

Boys Hockey: Had a very busy and exciting week with a overtime win against Cedarburg on Tuesday, and CONGRATULATIONS on beating Monona Grove in the WIAA Sectional Final on Saturday. It was an amazing win. 5 overtimes and the team won 2-1. The team will now advance to the WIAA State Tournament, and play on Thursday March 6th. Good Luck.

Boys Wrestling: CONGRATULATIONS to JOEL KARLS and LUKE RUX for participating in the WIAA state individual wrestling tournament. Both wrestlers competed very well.

Girls Basketball: Played extremely hard and put up a good fight the entire game vs. Mount Horeb in the WIAA Regional game, but came up short in the end. Congratulations to the athletes and coaches for a good season.

Boys Basketball: Had a tough loss to Elkhorn on Monday, but came back with a nice conference win over Portage on Thursday. Congratulations on taking 2nd place in the Badger Small conference. They received a #5 seed in the WIAA tournament and will play at Stoughton on Friday March 7th at 7:00 pm.

COMING UP:

The next School District of McFarland School Board meeting is scheduled for March 3, 2025.

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.

March is...

Women's History Month

Youth Art Month

Music In Our Schools Month

• February 28 to March 30 - Ramadan
• March 3 to 7 - School Social Workers
• March 3 to 7 - National School Breakfast Week
• March 4 - Casimir Pulaski Day
• March 8 - International Women's Day

The McFarland School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, sex, (including gender status, change of sex or gender identity), or physical, mental, emotional, or learning disability (Protected Classes) in any of its student program and activities.