Have a Wonderful Winter Break

December in an elementary school is a busy time of year. The snow, the magic of the holiday season, and the excitement of students to share their family traditions make our hallways buzz with excitement! Tomorrow we'll have an all-school cozy day to celebrate all classrooms meeting their December goals of being Safe, Caring, and Responsible.

We hope your family has a wonderful two weeks off spending time together and enjoying a slower pace! We look forward to the New Year-2026!

~Ms. Houghan and Mr. Brunner

VASD Bookmark Contest

Below is a list of our finalists and semi finalists in the VASD Bookmark contest. All classes will be voting next week with the contest winners announced at a later date. The creativity and artistic abilities demonstrated in the bookmarks submitted was amazing!

Finalists:

Itzel Carrasco (First Grade)

Opal Wagner (Second Grade)

Quinn Kirner (Second Grade)

Cora Heisterhamp (Fifth Grade)

Semi finalists:

Adeline Hruska

Rafi Pastor

Clara Compoesto

Aria Sprain

Wesley Chung

Anabel Switzky

Libna Chavez Santiago

Penelope Ulrich

Alexander Woolums

Brynnly Guzman

Liam Burgos Vergara

Fifth Grader Annie recently donated to Sugar Creek many dozens of posters that she bought with her own money from Michael’s Arts and Crafts contest. We appreciate her kindness and leadership!

Many family members recently participated in our Fall Family Conferences survey. The purpose of this was to closely look at how we are conveying to you the academic, behavioral and social progress of your children at this important point half way into the first semester. Our leadership team will be reviewing this survey and the comments further and sharing with our staff, but some key takeaways we’d like to share with you today include. Of the 56 respondents taking the English or Spanish survey:

97% said it was easy / very easy to schedule a conference.

93% said it was easy / very easy to have their interpretation needs met, if applicable.

93% said they had enough time to ask have all their questions answered.

96% said information shared was useful in understanding how their child is performing academically.

Many of our teachers and staff add needed items to our Amazon Wish List. If you would like to support our students, please check it out. We are in need specifically of playground equipment like soccer balls and dodgeballs, as well as items for our staff lounge like coffee. These items are all listed on the wish list. We appreciate your support!

We are happy to share that an endowment fund has been established for Sugar Creek, to provide a stream of income for all time to support the mission and vision of our school. If you or someone you know would like to support this endowment, they may mail gifts directly to the Madison Community Foundation, or to our school office, for the “Sugar Creek Elementary School Endowment”.

Our Health and Wellness team (comprised of family and staff members) are focussing this year on staff wellness. We have a coffee station in our lounge that staff can use free of charge during the work day. Ms. Jamie Schultz, who helps maintain it, is presently seeking items for it such as: Keurig cups, sugar packets, kitchen sponges, napkins, plastic silverware, creamers, and small or large paper plates. Thank you!

Ms. Cady’s and Ms. Muench’s classes, along with their music teachers Ms. Kyle and Ms. Xavier, were invited to be guest singers at Oakmont Senior Community, across from Sugar Creek. The residents LOVED the visit and erupted into applause when these Third Graders arrived!

Our Sugar Creek PTO and staff held a well-attended family engagement activity recently at Redeemer City in Fitchburg. Many families came, which was just super to see! The child care rooms were full, the parking lots were full, the presentation by PTO and school staff was informative, and the food and opportunities to talk with families was wonderful.

Playground item purchased with Fun Run funds!

The Fun Run’s impact on the day-to-day experience of our students cannot be overstated. From ukuleles, risers, African drums, and a piano for Music class; Art Night, new furniture, and artistic displays for Art class; to snowshoes and bicycles for Phy Ed class; to fun reading furniture, fixtures and books for the Library; to free field trips for all, and free books for all; to creative ideas from our teachers - all kids are impacted daily in amazing ways.

Our PTO, which coordinates October Fun Run, recently announced that Fun Run proceeds will help purchase a 16 foot by 16 foot shade structure to be installed later this school year on our front playground! The front playground presently has no shade whatsoever, so this will be such a great new item which will benefit our kids!

Thank you, families, for your continued support for our annual Fun Run!

Officer Brad Stoll, VASD’s School Resource Officer, is available whenever any VASD school has a need for his services. We recently hosted him for a short visit to our 3rd and 4th Grade lunch. He said hello to students and gave them stickers.

At our December Community Gathering, our Educational Assistants showed us how important it is to dress appropriately for recess in Winter in a memorable way: by holding a friendly competition between each other! In front of the whole school, they raced to get dressed in their winter gear and bounce a basketball. It was SO much fun!

A whole lot of what you see in this picture: tunnel digging, sledding, shoveling, and playing. This December’s cold and snow has added an exciting - and fun- dynamic to recess.

From Kindergarten through 12th Grade, the ONLY time Sugar Creek students are a regular part of a school’s morning announcements is in Fifth Grade! We offer all Fifth Graders the opportunity to do this. They are given tips around public speaking, and then each day for a few weeks the students join Mr. Brunner to do our school’s announcements (which are done in Spanish as well as in English.) The morning announcements include the Pledge of Allegiance, birthdays, weather, special announcements, the menu, and…the joke of the day, so we all start the day with a smile.

Ms. Kyle happened by the lunchroom recently when Kindergarteners were eating, and so she asked them if they’d like to sing with her - and they did! The impromptu lunchroom concert featured everyone’s favorite: “Mousey in the Snow.”

For years, all of our staff have been encouraged to write a “Good News Phone Call” to acknowledge students at Sugar Creek when they exemplify our school expectations (being Safe, Caring and Responsible.) We want to give a huge shout-out to #7,000: Alan! Ms. Maier, pictured here with Alan, complimented him for being a responsible student, making great choices in class, and being a good role model for others. When Mr. Brunner called his mother, she was so excited to hear the news.

Way to go to Alan, and all the 6,999 other recipients through the years!

Each December, the Music Department of our high school holds a “Fifth Grade Demonstration Concert” to inspire VASD elementary students as they prepare to consider the various opportunities for music education that our middle schools and high school offer. In February, the Badger Ridge Middle School music teachers will visit Sugar Creek and spend time with our Fifth Graders to help prepare them for registering for Sixth School.

On Tuesday of this week our large BERT gathered with school district officials and local police, fire, and EMS officials to review procedures and discuss various scenarios. Opportunities like this are so important for us to go through, increase our knowledge and abilities to work together, and help us in countless ways to keep our school a safe, secure and welcoming for all.