Shorewood Hills Shark Tooth

I hope everyone has a wonderful winter break starting next week. We have accomplished some great things in this first 70 days of school. I am incredibly proud of all of our students and look forward to what's to come in the new year.

Please see the impotent message below from our Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, Cindy Green. This message will also be in the MMSD Family News today. It is concerning how school closures (i.e. snow days) will be asynchronous learning days moving forward.

In partnership,

Anne Gillespie

Principal

Please carefully read the following information for an update on how snow days (or other school closures) will be handled.

Overview:

+ When school closes (i.e. snow days), students will be given work to do at home.

+ Shorewood will send home the first of 5 packets next Tuesday. The remaining packets will be sent home after winter break.

+ Please keep these packets somewhere safe to be used only if there is a snow day. (This is NOT work to be done over winter break or during other vacation days.)

+ The work packets are grade-level work. For example, 3rd-grade packets will be at a 3rd-grade level. We understand that this may not match the level of work all students are doing at school. Therefore, we ask that students just try their best! Teachers will check the packets to see that a student attempted to complete the work and they will not be used to grade students for report cards.

+ Students should return the packet(s) to their teacher on the first day we reopen after a closure.

See this policy for how/when MMSD calls a snow day.

Full Message from Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning:

As we get closer to colder temperatures, snow, and ice, we want to ensure that your student's learning remains uninterrupted even during a school closure due to inclement weather. We have traditionally enjoyed "snow days" when schools were closed for these reasons. However, we are implementing new strategies to enable continual learning during such closures this year.

On days when we do not have advanced notice of inclement weather, such as an unpredicted snow storm, we will continue to observe traditional snow days, allowing students and families to enjoy the unexpected break. We have three instructional snow days built into our district calendar this school year.

However, in cases where we do have advance notice of inclement weather, we are committed to ensuring that learning continues outside the classroom. We are preparing for this new way of working over winter break, in the event weather impacts us in early January.

• For 4K through 5th-grade students, packets will go home prior to winter break. Each instructional packet carries the potential to spark learning and ignite the imagination and knowledge of our students. These packets should be completed only if a snow day is called immediately after winter break and we decide to continue with learning for that day.

• For students in grades 6 through 12, learning activities will be provided through Google Classroom to be completed and submitted to their teacher digitally. We understand that some families might need access to the internet and to support them, please know that we have hotspots that students may check out if needed. These hotspots are available through your school library.

While we hope such closures will be rare, this proactive approach will help maintain educational continuity for all of our students.

We understand the importance of consistent learning and academic progress and are committed to working with you to minimize any disruptions caused by inclement weather. We appreciate your support and cooperation as we strive to provide your student with the best possible educational experience.

Sincerely,

Cindy Green

Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning

Madison Metropolitan School District

Coming after Winter break...January 8th-12th will be a week-long school traffic and community safety campaign.

Since Shorewood does not have any school buses, this means all of our students are walking, biking, or being driven to school. We have a lot of pedestrian and car density, therefore, at pick up and drop off.

Be on the lookout for new signs, additional staff outside during pick up and drop off, more info on where to park in the neighborhood, safety tips and more!

Very proud to share that Shorewood’s Food Service Worker (and former Shorewood parent), Miryeong Hong, is also an artist! A display of her traditional Korean patchwork is now on display at the Sequoia Library!

More info about the exhibit:

Sequoya Library is welcoming a new art exhibit to their space this month! Artist Miryeong Hong is bringing their show JOGAKBO to the library from December 2023 - February 2024.

Jogakbo is a Korean traditional patchwork embedded with history. ‘Jogak’ means ‘pieces’, ‘Bo’ means a wrapping bag. Jogakbo’s main use is as Bojagi, a Korean traditional wrapping cloth. Nowadays, Hong says, Jogakbo can be found as art, lighting, handbags, table linen, and more:

"Jogakbo allows for a wide range of styles, from traditional to contemporary, and a variety of color palettes and patterns. I want to show diversity within the art form and the versatility of Jogakbo."

Stop into Sequoya Library to explore the exhibit over the next few months!

We have a lot of items in the lost and found. Please see photos below. We will place the lost and found rack outside at pick-up time next Monday and Tuesday. Otherwise, please come in and take a look any time.

Please find food service menus linked here. There is also an option to subscribe to the menus on iCal or Google calendar.

Upcoming Dates:

• Tuesday, December 19th: All school pajama day
• Tuesday, December 20th-Tuesday, January 2nd: Winter Break
• January: Arts Appreciation Month
• Monday, January 8th-Friday, January 12th: Traffic Campaign
• Tuesday, January 9th: 6:00PM PTO meeting
• Monday, January 15th: No School
• Friday, January 16th: No School
• Monday, January 29th: Second Semester Begins
• February: Black History Month
• Friday, February 2nd: Report cards live in Infinite Campus

Help Lines:

• Text “HOPELINE” to 741741

• Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 608-280-2600 or 1-800-273-8255

• Briarpatch Helpline: 1-800-798-1126

• Trevor Lifeline for LGBTQ+: 1-866-488-7386 or click here for Trevor Text & Trevor Chat

• 24/7 SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline - 1-800-985-5990

• 24/7 Parental Stress Line - 1-800-632-8188

• Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) Help Line: 608-251-4445 or 800-747-4045, If you are in immediate danger, call 911.