PRAIRIE EXPRESS Learning Together, Growing Together OCTOBER, 2018

Administrator’s Message

We are out of the gates and running here at Prairie Elementary. We hope you have experienced a positive transition to earlier bedtimes, early mornings, and highly engaging days. It has been a great start to the school year! Prairie has also welcomed 34 new families to our building this year. What a testament to the outstanding community and schools in Waunakee!

As with last school year, students are learning and practicing our PBIS (Prairie Build’s Its Students) behavior expectations of being safe, respectful, and responsible. These expectations are taught in all environments across the school (classroom, playground, cafeteria, hallway, school bus, and bathrooms).

To expand on our PBIS behavior expectations, we have added resilient. We have defined resilience as the ability to bounce back or overcome a challenge. Your child has been learning how to be resilient in the different learning environments and situations. For example, students have been learning how to be resilient when they don’t understand their school work the first time or they have been practicing strategies when a disagreement may occur with friends.

It is essential for us to be partners in your child’s educational journey as they develop their “Resilient” superpowers. Below are some questions to help foster the discussion at home around resilience.  What does resilience mean to you?

 How can you be resilient in the classroom and/or playground?

 How can you be resilient in an activity that you do outside of school?

 Tell me about a time that you have been resilient in the past. Why were you resilient during this time? What challenges did you have to overcome? What helped you overcome these challenges? (Other family members could also share a time when they were resilient.)

The goal of teaching resilience is to offer messages of encouragement, reinforce hard word, and celebrate dedication as your child strives to learn a new or challenging concept.

Feel free to connect with your child’s teacher, Ms. Doty, Mrs. Grundahl, or Mr. Kaminski regarding how you can support your child’s resilient mindset as they navigate through the learning process. Looking forward to a wonderful year of building success!

Dean Kaminski Katie Grundahl Principal Associate Principal

CURRENT EVENTS

Attendance Message

It is truly exciting to know that your child will experience continuous opportunities to grow socially, emotionally, and academically throughout this year. To insure that your child can reach their fullest potential this school year, we want you to commit to your child arriving in a timely manner and attending school each day. The evidence is clear: children with good attendance and arrive in a timely manner are more likely to be successful in school.

Students who attend school daily feel more connected to their classroom community, develop important social skills and friendships, and are significantly more likely to graduate from high school, setting them up for a strong future. But when kids are absent or tardy for an aver- age of just two days of school per month, even when they are excused, it can have a negative impact. The evidence also shares that absences affects children as early as Kindergarten. Below are graphs that shows when attendance (including tardies and full days) becomes chronic and the comparison data of grade level reading proficiency and attendance.

This data is alarming! What can we do?

Attendance Works (http://www.attendanceworks.org/) is a national and state initia- tive that promotes better policy and practice around school attendance. See this flyer for information about how you can support your child’s attendance. http://www.attendanceworks.org/wordpress/wp- content/uploads/2013/08/Elementary-Attendance-2-sided-March-14-2012.pdf  You are your child’s most influential teacher, so we are asking for your commit- ment in helping your child. We realize that every family faces challenges - illness, anxieties, transportation, child care, or scheduling demands, but through your dedi- cated efforts you will be setting your child up for a lifetime of success. Please let us know if your family needs help dealing with these challenges to ensure your child is timely and attends school.  We believe that mutual respect and trust are the keys to a successful educational experience. Coupled with continuous communication between home and school, we believe that we have the key ingredients for educational excellence.

Thank you for all you do to support your child’s school success and well-being.

Dean and Katie

CURRENT EVENTS

Scholastic Book Fair Trick or Treat for UNICEF! October 9-12, 2018 Prairie students will soon be bringing home Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes. We are en- Prairie LMTC couraging our students to bring their boxes Tuesday—7:45 a.m.— 3:15 p.m. along while trick-or- treating and asking for donations to UNICEF. Wednesday—7:45 a.m.—3:15 p.m. Thursday—7:45 a.m.—7:30 p.m. UNICEF helps children in over 150 countries by providing Friday—8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon health care, clean water, education, and emergency relief. There will be limited access for purchasing during This is Prairie’s 14th year of participation and we have raised over $14,000 over those years. Our goal this year is the day. Thank you for supporting our schools! to raise over $1000.

Fire Safety Week One of the aims of both parents and schools is to develop compassionate, caring, and responsible citizens. Trick-or- Fire Safety Week is October 7-13. Treat for UNICEF is one example of what schools call Go over safety rules in your home “service-learning activities” - where students learn through with your children so they are pre- doing, and give back to the community through their actions. By trick-or-treating for UNICEF, students discover that pared. they can have fun while they are learning about and helping * Firefighters will visit classrooms to talk about fire children in our global “community”. safety on Monday, October 8th. Participation in this project is optional, but we hope many * Kindergarten classes will visit the fire station on of our students will choose to take part again this year. Stu- dents should bring the money they raise back to school the Thursday, October 11th. week after Halloween and give it to their classroom teacher. They can return money in their box or put it in a Ziploc bag. Attention ‘Fathers/Father-figures’ of They do not need to count their money. Prairie Students! More information on this project will be coming home in

take-home folders. If parents have any questions about Dear Fathers and Father-figures, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, they can contact Kristin Meyer,

Prairie School Social Worker at 849-2200 ext 5004 or kris- Prairie Elementary School is excited to continue ® [email protected], check out the Trick-or- our WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students) Treat for UNICEF website at: program. The goal is to have fathers and father- https://www.unicefusa.org/trick-or-treat figures be positive, male role models for our stu- Happy Halloween! dents by spending time one day a year at the school among the students. During the day, Watch DOGS may read and play games with students, play at recess, eat lunch with students, patrol the school entrances and hallways, and participate in other activities where they are actively engaged with not only their own students, but other students as well. Parent/Teacher Conferences Fall Parent/Teacher conferences for Grades K-4 at For more information and to sign up please visit Prairie Elementary School will be held on: our Prairie web page under What's New:  Thursday October 11th, 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/prairie/index.cfm  Friday, October 12th 8:00 am to 12:00 pm Conferences are scheduled for 15 minutes; if you If you have questions about the need more time, please schedule another time to program, please contact Katie Grundahl, Associate Principal, meet with your child's teacher. at katiegrun- If you would like to schedule a conference time with [email protected]. a specialist, please email the teacher.

ONGOING EVENTS/INFO

Safety in the Crosswalk Upcoming Dates in October We want to thank everyone for keeping our fourth to add to your Calendar grade safety patrollers safe by consistently re- specting the safety patrol stop signs and proceeding 2 4th Gr (Leder, Hottinger, Chaimson) to Schumacher through intersections after the patroller or children Farm are back on the curb. 7-13 Fire Safety Week 8 Food Drive begins Your safe actions help avoid dangerous situations and help to keep our children from getting hurt or 8 Fire Safety Presentations someone from receiving a traffic citation. Safety 8 4th Gr (Ehle, Walker, Jensen) to Schumacher Farm patrollers and the adult crossing guard have been 9-12 Book Fair instructed to take down the license plate numbers 9 Picture Retakes of those who ignore the signs by entering the crosswalk while it is still occupied. The plate number will 11 Parent Teacher Conferences 3:30-7:30 be given to the police who will in turn contact the 11 Kindergarten to Fire Station offenders who may be issued a citation. 12 Parent Teacher Conferences 8:00-12:00 12 NO SCHOOL Again, thank you for proceeding cautiously around school crosswalks and for your help to keep our stu- 16 Food Drive Ends dents safe! 18 Kindergarten to Indian Lake 23 October Birthday Sundaes @ 1:40 23 PTO Fall Family Night Lunch/Recess Times 25 NO SCHOOL Staff Development Day Students are expected to go outside unless the 26 NO SCHOOL School Fall Break weather does not permit. The lunch and recess 31 Halloween Parade 8:00 am schedules are as follows: Lunch Times Lunch Recess Kindergarten 11:15-11:30 (5 sections) 11:30-12:00 Grade 1 11:00-11:15 (5 sections) 11:15-11:45 Grade 2 11:45-12:00 (5 sections) 12:00-12:30 Grade 3 11:30-11:45 (6 sections) 11:45-12:15 Grade 4 10:45-11:00 (6 sections) 11:00-11:30 Birthday Sundaes 1:40 in the cafeteria Parent Checklist Mr. Kaminski and Mrs. Grundahl will celebrate stu-  Pay school and field trip fees through the parent dent birthdays each month for students in the caf- portal. eteria at 1:40 p.m.  Send notes or call office before 1 PM if after school arrangements change. October—Tuesday, October 23  Post events calendar at home. Check website for November—Tuesday, November 27 updates. December & June—Tuesday, December 18  Check your child’s Thursday folder. January & July—Tuesday, January 22 February & August—Tuesday, February 26 Keep Bringing in Pop Tabs March—Tuesday, March 26 We collect pop tabs throughout the school April—Tuesday, April 23 year with the hopes of hitting one million May—Tuesday, May 28 for donation to the Ronald McDonald House. Prairie has collected over 2 million tabs over the Parents you are welcome to join your child for

last 4 years. Help us reach our next million!!! his/her birthday sundae.

ONGOING EVENTS/INFO

Canned Food Drive

October 8—16, 2018 Your child has been working hard in art class! "Art To Remember" can transfer your child’s Our annual Canned Food Drive artwork onto products such as for the Waunakee Food Pantry clocks, mugs, shirts, boxes, will take place from October 8 - bag tags, etc. 16. This year we are asking each classroom to collect 2 specific items that are of highest need for Each student will receive a personalized order the Food Pantry. Students may bring in as many of form including due dates. their 2 classroom items as they would like and Orders will be delivered to Prairie before winter place them in their classroom collection box. A break. list of items for each classroom will be sent home in Thursday Folders. What a great gift idea for family and friends! Mary Wright, Prairie Art Teacher PLEASE CHECK EXPIRATION DATES CARE- FULLY AS THE WAUNAKEE FOOD PANTRY CANNOT ACCEPT EXPIRED ITEMS. If possible, please donate items with expiration dates well into 2019, 2020 and later. Please note that we cannot accept partial or opened packages.

Prairie Elementary REMEMBER TO CHECK 700 North Madison Street THE LOST AND FOUND Office 849-2200 Attendance 849-2200 ext 1 Fax 849-2255 DURING CONFERENCES . Principal Dean Kaminski 849-2200 Please label your child’s Associate Principal Katie Grundahl 849-2200 cloths, boots, hats, and coats. Admin Assist Janice Henn 849-2200 ext 0 [email protected] Attendance- Shelley Finnel 849-2200 Ext 1 Check out the Prairie website at [email protected] http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/prairie/ [email protected] You will find up-to-date school events calen- Health Assist-Diane Laubenstein 849-2200 Ext 2 dar, parent newsletters, teacher websites, [email protected] photos from school events taken throughout Nurse Wendi Dorn 209-5555 the year, health, other parent resources, [email protected] and much more! Counselor Brit Doty 849-2200 [email protected] Psychologist Sarah Dimick 849-2200 Check out the Community Events link: [email protected] http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/community Social Worker Kristin Meyer 849-2200 [email protected] Taher Food Service 849-2185 Lamers Bus Service 850-5253 Ext. 2

ONGOING EVENTS/INFO

Getting to School Whether children walk, ride their bicycle or take the bus to school, it is vitally important that they – and the motorists around them – take proper safety precautions. Walkers »  Walk on the sidewalk; if there is no sidewalk and you must walk in the street, walk facing traffic  Before crossing the street, stop and look left, right and left again to see if cars are coming  Never dart out in front of a parked car  Parents: Practice walking to school with your child, crossing streets at crosswalks when available  Never walk while texting or talking on the phone  Do not walk while using headphones

Bike Riders »  Always wear a helmet that is fitted and secured properly  Children need to know the rules of the road: Ride single file on the right side of the road, come to a com- plete stop before crossing the street and walk the bike across  Watch for opening car doors and other hazards  Use hand signals when turning  Wear bright-colored clothing

Bus Riders »  Teach children the proper way to get on and off the bus  Line up 6 feet away from the curb as the bus approaches  If seat belts are available, buckle up  Wait for the bus to stop completely before standing  Do not cross in front of the bus if possible, or walk at least 10 feet ahead until you can see the other drivers

Drivers, Share the Road »  Don't block crosswalks  Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, and take extra care in school zones  Never pass a vehicle stopped for pedestrians  Never pass a bus loading or unloading children  The area 10 feet around a school bus is the most dangerous for children; stop far enough back to allow them to safely enter and exit the bus Resource: National Safety Council

Prairie School presents… No Electronic Devices at School “Special Delivery” Music Program Cell phones, I-Pods, etc., should not be used while at school. Strong caution is given to even bringing Friday December 14, 2018 these to school. If they are at school they need to 8:15 a.m.-Kindergarten be shut off and out of sight. 9:15 a.m. - Second Grade 10:15 a.m. - First Grade Invitations at school 12:15 P.M. - Third Grade Sorry, but invitations to parties should not be dis- 1:15 p.m.—Fourth Grade tributed at school.

PTO SCOOP

Fall Family Fun Night PTO Dates Tuesday, October 23 Fall Family Fun Night: Tues. Oct. 23 Family Fun Fitness Night: TBD We will be sponsoring our annual Family Fun Family Learning Night: Thurs. Feb. 21 Night on Oct. 23 from 6-7:30 p.m. This is Ice Cream Social: Thurs. May 16 always a fun event for families to come together to make crafts, have some munchies and maybe even get spooked by our witch- Interested in attending the next PTO meet- es. Hope to see you there. ing? It will be held at 6:30 p.m. on November 15th in the  Decorate a pumpkin, cookie and Hallow- een card! (Be sure to bring your own Prairie LMTC pumpkin) Upcoming Meetings January 17, More TBD  Drink a spooky drink and eat a spooky The more hands we have helping, the easier snack! the project. Thank you.

 Create cool projects and much more!! PTO BBQ Kick Off

Thank You! The PTO of Arboretum, Heritage, Prairie and In- Fall Family Fun Night Volunteers termediate Schools would like to thank all parents Fall Fun Night is October 23. If you are and staff who volunteered at the annual PTO BBQ interested in volunteering, please watch the Kick Off. Thank you for providing a fun and enjoy- weekly news letter. The link will be availa- able event for students, parents and community ble there. members. You are all amazing!!! Thank you

Halloween Parade (October 31) The Halloween parade will be held on Wednesday, October 31 at 8:00. Children may wear costumes to school and bring a change of clothing for after the parade. Costumes do not need to be elaborate. If the costume includes a mask, please Please save be sure your child is comfortable and able to see. A small amount of makeup is allowed if this will not bother your Box tops for Education child’s skin. Knives, guns, swords, or other weapon-like ob- Ask relatives and friends to save jects are NOT allowed. too! Its an easy way to help Families are invited to come and watch the parade in the earn money to benefit our GYM. Door #3 (by gym) will be open for families access at school. 7:45. Please do not enter or come prior to 7:45. Upon conclu- sion families will be asked to exit door #4 in the gym. Hall- ways will not be accessible.*If you do not want your son/ daughter to participate in the parade, please send a note to their teacher.

PTO SCOOP

2018-19 Prairie Elementary PTO Board

Principal: Dean Kaminski, [email protected] President: Jodi Benz, [email protected] Vice President: Open position Secretary: Christen Pothoff, [email protected] Volunteer Coordinator: Jaime Brunet, [email protected] PSAC (Prairie Staff Appreciation Committee): Christen Pothoff & Jaime Brunett Art To Remember Rep: Jennie Herbrand, [email protected] Prairie Stomp Representatives: Gwen Olson, [email protected] Susan Brown, [email protected] Christen Pothoff, [email protected] Maggie Ziegler Teacher Representatives: Jay Guelker, [email protected] Amie Zellner, [email protected] Jen Schmalz, [email protected] Bulletin Board: Traci Phillips, [email protected] Webpage: Allison Voeller, [email protected] Joanne Wangerin To stay up to date on PTO events, please like our Facebook page, Waunakee Prairie PTO. PTO email: [email protected]

Committees: Basket Bonanza (tentative event): Amie Zellner & Jen Schmalz Box Tops: Gwen Olson Family Fun Night: Amie Zellner & Jen Schmalz Family Learning Night: Amie Zellner & Jen Schmalz Ice Cream Social: Jodi Benz

Thank You PTO! Our PTO officers and volunteers work very hard during the year to give Prairie students many amazing opportunities and experiences. They organize the Prairie Stomp, decorate for the holiday program, provide meals for teachers during conferences and so much more. Our PTO in conjunction with the other Elementary Schools and Intermediate School welcome students and families back by hosting the BBQ Kick Off and the Ice Cream Social at the end of the year. Please consider joining this group as a member or by volunteering for some of these events. Without the help of a tremendous amount of people, we would not be able to provide the support to our students and staff that we know they all deserve.

WHAT’S NEW IN THE DISTRICT

From the Health Office... We want you to be aware of a situation that impacts every school around the country causing millions of school-aged children in the United States to get head lice each year.

Some interesting facts: · Anyone can get lice; it does not discriminate against income or hygiene practices, etc. · Lice love friends and like to go from one child to the next, so please don’t share items like headphones, hats, helmets, hair brushes, etc. · Head lice are super tiny and quick; too hard for most to see. · Nits are bigger and easier to spot, but HARD to remove. If you can blow it or flick it, it is not a nit. · Scratching here, scratching there, scratching everywhere on the head is the most common sign of head lice. · There are MANY treatment options available, from over the counter products you can find in any pharmacy, to oil treatments, and heated air treatments found at shops within 20 minutes of Waunakee. Whatever you choose, you need to treat them to get rid of them. · Treating the hair isn’t enough...bedding, stuffed animals, hats, coats, towels (all recently worn or played with) need to be washed in hot water or placed in a plastic bag for 14 days to eliminate any remaining lice. And don’t forget about your CAR and those car seats!! If the head has touched it, clean it!!!

PLEASE: If you discover your child has lice, notify the Health Office at 608-849-2200, option 2. We want to help prevent any spread of those bugs!!! Or if you have any questions, please call the school nurse, Wendi Dorn, at 608- 209-5555.

More information on head lice: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/from-insects- animals/Pages/Signs-of-Lice.aspx-

TAHER NEWS: Morning Milk Reminder Just a reminder if your student is taking morning milk the fee for that is $36.00 a semester. Payments must be made in order for your child to receive morning milk. If you haven’t paid that fee and you want your child to receive milk please make payment thru the online site or you may drop or mail a check to the Food Service Office at 101 School Dr. in the lower level of the building. Breakfast Information Eating breakfast is essential for your child’s best learning to occur at school! All Schools continue to offer breakfast. The breakfast menu is a separate menu from the lunch menu. Menus are located on the food service website: http://www.taherfood4life.org/schools/waunakee/. The Elementary student breakfast price is $1.25/day Lunch Information Elementary students have two entrees to choose from. The fruit and vegetable bar has fresh vegetables and fruits for students to pick from so they are sure to find their favorites. A hot vegetable or starch is also offered most days of the week. Let us know if you don't see an entree your child would like to see on the menu. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the numbers below to answer any of your questions. Food Service Phone Numbers Director of Food Services: call Connie Vacho at 849-2185 ext 3 Free/Reduced information: call Jessica Dargenio at 849-2185 ext 2 Lunch Account Questions: Kelly Regali at 849-2185 ext 1

OCTOBER, 2018

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 4th Grade to Schu- Stomp Rain macher Farm– Date Mrs. Leder, Mrs. Hottinger & Ms. Chaimson classes

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Fire Safety Kindergarten to NO SCHOOL Program Picture Retakes Fire Station Parent Teacher 4th Grade to Schu- Parent Teacher macher Farm Conferences Conferences 8:00-12:00 Fire Safety BOE Mtg 7:00 pm 3:30-7:30 Week Columbus Day Book Fair October 9-12 Food Drive October 8-16 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 BOE Annual Mtg Kindergarten to 7:00 pm Indian Lake

Food Drive October 8-16 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Birthday Sundaes NO SCHOOL NO SCHOOL 1:40 Staff Develop- Fall Break Fall Fun Night ment

28 29 30 31

Halloween Parade 8:00