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Hello Sugar Creek families,
Happy Holidays from Sugar Creek to your family. We are endlessly grateful for our amazing families, students, teachers, and staff members that make our school the amazing place it is. We hope you have a relaxing Winter break and have time to celebrate with family and friends. We will have a school-wide Pajama day on Friday, December 20th to celebrate the upcoming winter break! We'll see you in the new year on January 2nd!
~Mr. Brunner and Ms. Houghan
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- 12/20-1/1: Winter Break--> No School. School resumes on January 2nd, 2025!
- January 6th- Late Start Monday
- January 8th-Extended Day program for 4th and 5th graders
- January 9th-Community Gathering
- January 9th-Kindergarten Information Night (6:00-7:00pm)
- January 13th-Late Start Monday
- January 13th-PTO Meeting (6:30 pm)
- January 15th-Extended Day program for 4th and 5th graders
- January 16th-Kindergarten Information Tours (9:00-9:45 and 1:15-2:00)
- January 17th-end of 2nd Quarter
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Our Teachers and staff often have small but important items that would so benefit their work. The Sugar Creek PTO has created an Amazon Wish List, where families can see the evolving list of items staff would love, if you or someone you know might be willing to donate them. Best of all - all you do is order, and they will be delivered directly to school. Please take a look, and thank YOU for supporting Sugar Creek!
Amazon Wish List Link
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The PTO is hosting a winter dance at Sugar Creek on 1/24 from 5:30-7:30! If you would like to help with the dance, please sign up here!
The PTO is looking for volunteers for the Imagination Fair! There will be a meeting on January 6th at 6:30 pm in the LGI at Sugar Creek if you are interested in helping!
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Families, the drop off lane is only for dropping off students. If you need to get out of your vehicle OR help your child out, please park your car in the lot. Thank you!
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We have amazing students at Sugar Creek, and along with that work hard to create a culture where the older kids are good role models AND look out for the younger ones.
One boy who models that so well is pictured above. EVERY DAY, Bentley carefully and kindly walks his sister to her Kindergarten classroom. Watching him take care of her never grows old - each and every time, it’s just amazing. Way to go, Bentley!
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Students in Grades 3-5 took our Student Experience Survey on December 10th. They answered questions to help us know more about their thoughts regarding the following topics:
- Teaching & Learning
- Value & Belonging
- Wellness & Mental Health
- Community Collaboration
- Student Agency
- Safety & School Engagement
Staff will analyze the results in January to work toward our continuous improvement goals!
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We have some new staff (highlighted on our website) whom we’d love for you to meet!
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Fourth Grade is a key grade in an elementary school. They’re in their fifth year in a school (ours, or another if they transferred in) and are not like Fifth Graders, who often have their eyes already set on middle school. They’re “all-in” and here to do their best, and expect from us our best.
Our student council representatives surveyed their classmates recently. We were happily surprised to see SO many positives! The student council is presently discussing next steps, but would like to share with you the top themes, in order of votes received:
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November Golden Award Winners:
Golden Lunch Tray-Ms. Weaver
Golden Shoe-Cady/Muench
Golden Recess-Mr. Beirowski
Golden Dustpan-Ms. Strand
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The Fun Run almost single-handedly supports the entire work of our PTO each year - and that’s saying a lot, because our PTO does so much for our students and staff. In addition to all the regular programs and opportunities it provides, it ALSO allows for some funds to support special projects, which this year includes these:
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Playground equipment and Wildcat Walker prizes
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Flexible seating with floor tables
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Soccer Goals
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Classkick
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Milton House field trip
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Board games
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Literacy games
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Spanish books for Free Little Libraries
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Ocean of Knowledge books
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Classroom organization and comfort
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Hispanic Heritage Celebration
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Día del niño (Children's Day)
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Educational board games
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Ukeleles
Thank YOU, families, for your support for the Fun Run. It is an amazing family event and, as you can see, a major supporter of so many things that impact the educational experiences of our students.
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One volunteer at Sugar Creek is Karen ver Voort. Pictured above is Karen, helping out at one of our Free Little Libraries. While our Free Little Libraries are open daily before school starts, Karen’s presence means teachers can choose to come with their classes during the day. Thank you, Karen!
Another volunteer is Liz Buerger. Liz Buerger, a former multi-age teacher in VASD, volunteers two days a week in Joanna Van Handel's first grade classroom. She supports learners with a variety of math activities in small groups and is always willing to pitch in whenever and wherever needed. Mrs. Van Handel and her students appreciate her help and always look forward to her visits! |
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Liz Buerger
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Karen Ver Voort
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This committee, composed of family members, Sugar Creek staff, and district representatives, meets each month. Recent work included the progress of our Wildcat Walkers recess program from Laurie Tackett, a review of VASD’s new health and wellness policy (insider tip: Sugar Creek is leading the way in this), an on-site tour of our lunchroom and serving area and resulting focus on new signage and other educational materials for students about how to eat healthy, and a search for grants and other support for our efforts.
The Sugar Creek Health and Wellness Committee wants you to know there are area cooking classes for kids, if you are interested:
https://www.bpnn.org/cooking-classes#
Kids Cooking Class
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Each year, students in some Kindergarten classes read and then learn to compare and contrast the many versions of the gingerbread man story, then they work together to make and bake a gingerbread man and lastly - after they see that the gingerbread man has run away and left a clue by the empty oven - go on a “search” around the school, following more clues in hope of finding the gingerbread man. Once they find him, all students get to eat a little piece of the cookie!
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The Wisconsin Association for Bilingual Education (WIABE) invites students in grades 3-12 who are learning in two languages to participate in the 2025 WIABE Student Art & Writing Contest. Students are invited to write or create artwork about the theme: Bilingualism/Multilingualism: Deepening our Roots, Cultivating Languages, Empowering Communities! ¡Bilingüismo/Multilingüismo: Fortaleciendo Raíces, Cultivando Lenguajes, Empoderando Comunidades! Submissions are due on Friday, March 7, 2025.
WIABE will recognize winners in each grade category for both Art & Writing Contests. Prizes will be awarded only to the first-place winner in Grades 3-5. Winners will receive a variety of prizes and will be invited, along with two parents/guardians and their teacher, to the awards luncheon on Saturday, April 26, 2025, during the 2025 WIABE Conference where they will read their essay or description of their artwork and receive their award. Winners will also receive a one-night stay at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells.
Families, if you would like your child to participate in this outside-of-school contest, please see here for more information:
Art Contest Information
Writing Contest Information
WIABE Student Contest Flyers
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VASD’s elementary summer school program will again be at Sugar Creek. Here are the dates. Registration information will come out in the coming months.
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Session A: June 23rd - July 3rd
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Session B: July 7th - July 18th
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Session C: June 23rd - July 3rd & July 7th - July 18th. No school on July 4th
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If you have recently arrived in the United States within the last three years and are interested in learning English from Sugar Creek's Bilingual EA, Ms. Yami Reyes, please complete this form. Classes will start in the spring and be held on Mondays and Wednesday evenings.
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Immunization Clinics
Public Health Madison and Dane County is hosting another immunization clinic on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at the Holtzman Learning Center, 333 Holtzman Road, Madison, WI, 53593. You may make an appointment online by clicking on this link.
The vaccines are free for school aged kids over the age of 5. PHMDC may vaccinate if you do not have insurance, are under 19, are Alaskan Native or American Indian, have BadgerCare, Quartz, GHC or Dean Insurance.
If you have any questions related to immunizations required for school, please email the Sugar Creek School Nurse at borellik@verona.k12.wi.us. |
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New Clavinova!
Each of our music teachers, Ms. Xavier and Ms. Kyle, have and extensively use a piano. The one in Ms. Xavier’s room, a piano donated 15 years ago to our school and one that was over 60 years old and in declining condition, badly needed replacing. We are excited to announce that we were able to make this happen, and Ms. Xavier and Ms. Kyle are pictured playing their FIRST ever song on it.
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Rollerblading Unit to begin!
On behalf of the Physical Education department, we would like to share some information about an upcoming unit that will begin when school resumes from Winter Break on January 2nd, 2025! When school starts back up, all students K - 5th will be participating in our district-wide Rollerblading Unit. Sugar Creek’s Rollerblading unit will occur from January 2nd-January 24th. Students love this unit and enjoy this life-long activity!
Our Rollerblading Unit learning focus and goals are related to DPI PE Standard 1 which states, “The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns” and Standard 5 which states, “The physically literate individual recognizes the value of physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and/or social interaction.” Students will also learn about how to choose and find the correct rollerblades, how to start and stop, as well as how to safely fall towards their bottom. Throughout the unit, balance assistance will be provided through low chairs/stools, PVC roller walkers, or rolling bins (on wheels) for students in order to build confidence and comfortability.
During the unit students are required to wear helmets and long socks while participating in class. Additional safety items that are offered and encouraged for students to use include: knee pads, elbow bad, and wrist guards throughout the duration of the unit. VASD provides all safety gear items for students, but if you would like to send your student with their own safety gear,
you may.
-Ms. Heather Curtis
-Mr. Bill Rose
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