Sand Lake 3600 Sand Lake Road Holmen, WI 54636 School’s (Voice) 608.781.0974 Fax) 608.781.2809 (Web) February www.holmen.k12.wi.us

Natalie Morgan, Principal Newsletter [email protected]

From the principal’s desk…

Brrrr! Winter has arrived. Please keep that in mind when sending your child to school each day. If the temperature is one degree or above, studentsetter DO go outside for recess. Also, there are times when students are outside – waiting for the bus, going to and from the car before and after school to name a few. Boots, hats, gloves, snow pants and a winter coat are all priorities this time of year!

We have recently passed the mid-point of the school year and I hope that to this point it has been a successful one for you and your child(ren). Students and staff have been working hard. Our assessments are complete and you should have received your child’s report card. If you have any questions – please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher.

Technology has changed the way that we all live our lives. Social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), cell phones, instant messaging, and texting have allowed each of us to conveniently and instantaneously communicate. Cyber bullying has seen a rapid rise in school-aged children throughout the country, and unfortunately, seldom does a day go by without hearing these stories in the media. Although we do not allow this sort of communication here at school with students, we have seen students come to school upset about something that was posted from home. I would encourage all parents to closely monitor their child’s use of these methods of communication.

There are also many benefits to technology and at Sand Lake we know firsthand the importance of incorporating technology into students’ learning. We teach lessons on responsibility in regards to technology to help students better understand the magnitude of how far you can reach the outside world using technology. Students are learning how to navigate computers/ipads, using coding software with robotics, word processing creative stories, researching historical or current events and some teachers are even using videos to create individualized flipped classrooms. All amazing opportunities for our students!

Thanks for all you do to support your children’s education!

Sincerely, Natalie Morgan

Sand Lake Elementary – Dedicated to Excellence

Art Room News from Mrs. Staige Fifth Grade: Students have been exploring 3D art. Students are creating a 3-dimensional mask using the paper mache method along with studying color and texture. Fourth Grade: Students are learning about optical illusions and how to trick the eye. Fourth graders are designing their own optical illusion while trying to trick the viewer with using different paint contrast. Third Grade: Artists have been studying realistic and abstract art. Third graders are creating a wacky self- portrait using color, line, shape, and digital technology. Second Grade: Students are learning about paint theory while creating penguin paintings. First Grade: First graders are studying self-portraits. We looked at realistic art and abstract art while studying portraits. Kindergarten: Students are continuing to explore the Elements of Art. Students just finished learning about printmaking and created a heart stamp project. Students will also explore the primary and secondary colors by mixing paint. Happy Creating, Mrs. Staige Barnes and Noble Fundraiser Sand Lake Elementary will be hosting a fundraiser at the Barnes and Noble in Valley View Mall on Saturday, March 7 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Stop by to hear students and staff from Sand Lake reading books. When making your purchase, present the voucher or mention Sand Lake, and a percentage of your purchase will be given back to Sand Lake classrooms. Can’t attend on Saturday, online purchases made from 3/7/20 to 3/12/20 also support Sand Lake. Just enter the bookfair ID: 12587978 at check out. A flyer with additional details can be found at the end of this newsletter and will also be sent home later this month.

Box Tops Fundraiser The Sand Lake Elementary Library will continue collecting General Mills Boxtops for Education. Thanks for helping with this fundraising effort!

Counselor Connection – Mrs. Kobs February is the month of many activities to promote emotional regulation and school success. Guidance classes in Kindergarten and 1st grade will focus on managing emotions and learning coping strategies for uncomfortable feelings. The second and third grade classrooms will work to develop positive problem solving skills. Fourth grade students will be working on their strengths and talents planning conference folder. Fifth grade students will be working on goal setting. A SMART goal will be added to your child’s personal strengths and talents folder. Please continue to feel free to call or email with any questions or concerns. The Sand Lake School Counseling Program is for all students.

Amy Kobs, School Counselor [email protected] 608-781-0974 ext. 3400

Camp Invention Imaginations will soar this summer in the all-new Camp Invention ® program, Elevate! Campers in grades K-6 will spark their creativity and build collaboration skills while controlling their very own flight simulation robot, protecting Earth’s ecosystems, designing the ultimate sports complex and learning the value of their ideas! Local educators will lead fun, hands-on STEM activities inspiring children to ask questions, overcome obstacles and be confident in their innovative ideas. Visit invent.org/camp or call 800-968-4332 to register. Use promo code SUM25 to save $25 (expires 3/31) or SUM15 to save $15 (expires 5/12).

Early Release Reminder

As a friendly reminder, there will be an early release day on Wednesday, February 12th, in order to provide professional development opportunities for staff. School will be dismissed at 1:40 p.m. Surround Care will be available.

Educational Assistants EXTRA Each month our Educational Assistants will be sharing useful information, tips and reminders.  School starts at 8:40 a.m. If you are dropping your student off, make sure they are here in time to be in their classroom by 8:40 a.m.  The earliest morning drop off time is 8:10 a.m., unless you are part of the YMCA Surround Care program.  Please remember to send boots, snow pants and shoes with your child(ren) every day.

Farm 2 School The La Crosse County Farm2School program is a collaboration between public school districts in La Crosse County and the La Crosse County Health Department. The Farm2School program provides student opportunities for health and nutrition education. Each month, one locally- grown produce item is selected as the Farm2School "Harvest of the Month" and featured in taste tests, as part of nutrition education in the classroom, at special events, and of course, in the cafeteria. February’s “Harvest of the Month” is sweet potatoes. Check out the Farm2School link on our website.

Four-Year Old Kindergarten (4K) Registration The School District of Holmen will begin accepting enrollment for the 2020-2021 Four-Year-Old Kindergarten (4K) Program on Monday, February 10th. Any child, who is four-years-old on or before September 1, 2020 and lives in the school district boundaries, is eligible to participate. We encourage early registration in order to help us plan accordingly for the 2020-2021 school year. Note: All enrollment is done online – www.holmen.k12.wi.us

Important 4K Information:

 4K classes are currently held at two elementary schools in the district: Prairie View Elementary School and Viking Elementary School  AM Session: 8:15 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.  PM Session: 11:45 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.  Site/session is based upon transportation needs. We notify families of class placements during the first week of August.

If you have any questions please call our Public Preschool Office at 608.526.1381.

Groundhog Day is February 2nd – Think Spring!

Health Office News Nurse: Emily Hanes, RN, BSN Health Aide: Annette Hundt

Head Lice With hat season upon us, I would like to talk about…….head lice. Good head hygiene habits are essential. If your child complains of an itchy head/scalp, we encourage you to check your children’s heads for the presence of any lice or nits. Head to head contact is the most common form of transmission. Items such as combs, brushes, hair bows, head bands, helmets, towels, pillowcases, hats, or other head coverings also aid in the spread of head lice. Please discourage your child from sharing these personal items. Lice do not jump or fly from head to head, but crawl.

Getting rid of head lice is tedious work! A boxed head lice treatment kit can be purchased from most stores. Prescription shampoo treatments are also available from your doctor. Alternative treatments are available and only recommended after doing a store bought “box” treatment. These treatments include mayonnaises, olive oil, and coconut oil to the head, covered with a shower cap or cling wrap for 8 hours to suffocate the lice. It is not recommended putting your child to bed with this on their head due to the risk of suffocation. Nits (eggs) then have to be either combed or picked out of the hair. However, lice combs do not remove eggs well with certain hair types so picking isthe preferred removal method. Deep cleaning of the home and the classroom daily is required to prevent re-infestation, or infestation of others. All couches, car seats, mattresses, and flooring needs to be vacuumed. The vacuum bag must be thrown out after vacuuming or they may crawl out. Sheets, towels, and worn clothing must be washed daily and placed in the dryer on the highest heat setting. Anything that cannot be laundered (including stuffed animals) must be placed in plastic garbage bags and let to sit for two weeks or longer if lice and nits are still present in the home. The length of time for nit removal and house cleaning varies, depending on how quickly all lice and nits can be completely removed from the head.

When checking for nits, if it removes easily from the hair, it is not a nit. Nits are attached by a strong glue to the hair shaft, about half an inch to two inches from the scalp. Lice can live 1-2 days on a surface without a human host. They live about a month on the scalp, and the female louse can lay 6 or 7 eggs (nits) a day.

There is a rumor that “Super Lice” are present. This is due to lice being resistant to head lice brands that have been around for many years. Just like how some antibiotics aren’t as effective due to over use, the same thing is happening with head lice treatments.

If you believe your child has head lice, PLEASE contact the health office for assistance in treatment. We are here to help your child get rid of their head lice as soon as possible.

For more information please refer to the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/index.html

Kidz Klozet Our Kidz Klozet is in room 206 (located in K-1 Wing). We are stocked with school supplies and clothing items. A HUGE thank you to Michelle Griffin for volunteering her time to sort and keep the materials organized. We couldn’t do it without your help! Donations are always accepted. Any questions or need to make an appointment, please contact us at: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Musical Notes from Mrs. Heerts This February in Music we will be focusing on the following musical elements: Kindergarten: Introduction to instruments of the orchestra; matching pitch; melodic direction Frist grade: Concert Preparation; seasonal songs and activities Second grade: Instruments of the Orchestra, read and create rhythm patterns Third grade: Beginning of Concert Preparation; Orchestra Field Trip preparation Fourth grade: Recorder with inclusion of notes B, A, G, low E, low D Fifth grade: Recorder composition; note values/terminology

Concert Dates The remaining concert dates for this school year are as follows: ♫First grade March 19 6:00 p.m. ♫Third grade March 19 7:00 p.m. ♫Fifth grade April 30 6:30 p.m. ♫Kindergarten May 7 6:30 p.m.

All programs will be held on our cafeteria stage.

Thank you for your continued support of music education.

No School On Friday, February 14, 2020, there will be no school for students in the School District of Holmen.

Parent Teacher Group (PTG) News

Save the date for this year's Family Fun Fest - Saturday, March 28th from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Come join us for fun with inflatables (provided for free from our fall fundraiser sales), food (sold by the 5th Grade Student Council), games for younger kids, the annual raffle, plus more. As always, many volunteers are needed to help with this event. An email/ Sign Up Genius invite will be sent closer to the date ~ please consider donating just an hour of your time so this event is fun for all. Supervise an inflatable, oversee the raffle table, or help with clean up. If you are interested or have questions, send a message to [email protected]

The next PTG meeting will take place on February 13th at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are open to any parent or staff member and usually last about an hour. We would love to see parent and teacher representation from all grades. Join us as we plan for upcoming events like our Family Fun Fest and a late spring / end of year all school event. Child care will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!

Original Works artwork fundraiser - New this year, orders will be taken for the Original Works fundraiser during Parent Teacher conferences in March. Please set aside extra time to look through your students' artwork and place your order. Artwork will not be sent home this year. More information will be emailed at a later date.

Physical Education - Sneaker News from Mrs. Abraham

It’s “Heart Health Month”. What is your family doing to keep your hearts healthy?

Look at what we have been doing….

We have been learning about nutrition, my plate and how to balance a healthy plate. We have also had new adventures with crossing country skiing, thanks to a Nordic Rock Grant. We have lots of fun in the educational gymnastics unit!

Currently, Kindergarten through Third Grade are having fun in the Educational Gymnastic Unit. Students are learning about muscles, working on agility, balance, jumping and landing and basic tumbling skills.

Fourth and Fifth Grade students are engaged in a cross-country skiing unit - thanks to finally having snow. What a great winter activity for everyone!

Welcome…Rachel Getzinger to Sand Lake Elementary. Ms. Getzinger will be student teaching during 3rd quarter. Glad you are here!

My name is Rachel Getzinger or Ms. G for short. I am from Grayslake, Illinois which is a town close to Six Flags Great America. I grew up playing soccer and guitar along with a few other instruments. I am doing my student teaching at Sand Lake and enjoy teaching Physical Education! I love being outdoors and exploring nature so you may find me hiking on a trail somewhere. If you see me around, feel free to say Hi, I look forward to meeting you!

February 17, 2020

Sand Lake Family Literacy Night

Sand Lak PBIS Burrachos Night Fundraiser

You’re invited to a benefit for Sand Lake Elementary PBIS on Wednesday, February 12th from 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Come to Onalaska Burrachos Mexican Grill where 25% of Sales will be donated to Sand Lake Elementary PBIS. Scrip cards for Burrachos in the amounts of $10 and $20 are available for purchase in the office. Thank you!

School District Open Enrollment

Wisconsin’s inter-district public school open enrollment program allows parents to apply for their children to attend school districts other than the one in which they live. Students in 5-year old kindergarten to grade 12 may apply to participate in open enrollment. Open enrollment for pre-kindergarten, 4-year old kindergarten and early childhood education is limited. Parents should call their resident school districts to find out if their preschool-aged children qualify for open enrollment. The Open Enrollment application period for the 2020-2021 School year is from February 3 - April 30, 2020. Parents must apply to the nonresident district. A nonresident district is defined as the district you do not live in, but where you want your child to attend.

It is recommended that you apply for open enrollment through the on-line application process at http://dpi.wi.gov/oe. The open enrollment application period closes at 4:00 p.m. on April 30, 2019. Late applications will not be accepted for any reason.

If you have any questions regarding open enrollment, please contact Monika Buggy, Open Enrollment Coordinator for the School District of Holmen, and Student Services Department at 526-1309.

Summer School Elementary Summer School July 20 – August 6, 2020 Morning Hours Prairie View Elementary Priority given to students who could benefit from additional support in the areas of reading and math TAG! You’re It – Mrs. Lazarcik Students from fourth and fifth grade took a geography quiz to determine the participants in our school’s Geography Bee. The students who had qualifying scores from this initial challenge participated in a formal Geography Bee at Sand Lake. Daylan Herman, Landen Kelly, Dean Teale, Caleb Eggerichs, Marcus Shay, Ella Everson, Brennan Schloegel, Brock Needham, Brody Wilber, and Jed Larson earned the opportunity to participate in Sand Lake's School Geography Bee. Congratulations!!

Brock Needham placed first in the school bee! He will take an online test in hopes of qualifying for the Wisconsin State Geography Bee!! Daylan Herman was the second place finisher at the Sand Lake Bee! Congratulations to both these students on their accomplishments!!!

Virtual Backpack The School District of Holmen has implemented a “green” approach for distributing flyers from community organizations and has discontinued the process of sending paper flyers in your student's backpack, unless they are school related. The information is divided into three sections, by grade levels, and updated on a regular basis.

Click on this link: https://www.holmen.k12.wi.us/community/virtual-backpack.cfm to be directed to the actual web page which is housed in the COMMUNITY tab of the homepage.

Note that most of these advertisements are not district publications (unless marked). The District enables their online distribution as a community service to inform you of educational opportunities, activities and events available in our area.