Hello Sugar Creek Families,

Happy First day of Spring! The snow this week was certainly unexpected, but hopefully some of you are headed for warmer weather during Spring Break. As we move into 4th quarter, we look forward to many upcoming Spring events like our Spring Concerts, Art Night, Día del Niños, and 5th Grade Promotions. Read this newsletter to find out more about these exciting events at Sugar Creek. Safe Travels and enjoy some rest and relaxation next week.

~Mr. Brunner and Ms. Houghan

Monday March 24th-Friday March 28th: No School Spring Break

Monday May 31st- Late Start Monday

Thursday, April 3rd-Community Gathering

Friday, April 4th- Dia de los Niños Event (5-8 pm)

Monday, April 7th-Late Start Monday

Monday, April 14th-Late Start Monday

Friday, April 18th-Swim Unit Ends

We have very large playgrounds that at times attract different wildlife, and a few weeks ago, on a very cold February day, an eagle flew slowly over to check things out during recess time. Ms. Whitehorse snapped this beautiful picture as it glided over.

Incident Response Protocol Practice on March 21

Your children's safety is always our top priority at Sugar Creek. For instance, we use our staff in all areas inside and outside the building to supervise children entering and exiting each day to ensure everyone gets to school and home again safely. During the school day children are always supervised in their classrooms, throughout the hallways, and at recess and lunch.

This week, during Morning Meetings in classrooms, all teachers led classroom discussions in English and/or Spanish about how to stay safe at school.

These lessons addressed:

• Listening Skills - why listening is important and how teachers will get student's attention

• My Teacher Keeps Me Safe - all the ways teachers keep kids safe, from washing hands to sitting safely, to going to a safe place in an emergency like a tornado or fire.

• How to Safely Leave the School - looking at exits throughout school and where to go if we ever needed to leave the school in an emergency

On Friday, March 21, we held an all-school simultaneous Incident Response Protocol practice. At the elementary level, we never enact a scenario, but rather have discussions. We went through the three stages of the VASD safety protocols: Building Secure, Classroom Hold, and Active Threat Options. It all went very smoothly! (As you can see in the picture, Officer Schultz of the Verona Police Department joined us as an observer and advisor.) Your children were very responsible and respectful, they shared helpful ideas and were great listeners for teachers.

If you have questions about these lessons, or about the practice that your children had today, please let me know. We will continue to work together to ensure the safety of all of our students and staff at Sugar Creek.

• PTO is looking for a current SC family who may have an incoming Kindergartener who might be interested in helping to plan the Kindergarten playdates that happen toward the end of summer. The time commitment for this is around 10 hours. If you might be interested, please contact.
• There will be a Fun Run Planning Kick-Off Meeting on Google Meet on Monday, April 21st at 7 pm! If you want to help with any aspect of the Fun Run or attend the meeting, please reach out to Alissa Dyreby at alissa.dyreby@gmail.com.

Well, not only you (obviously) but a large percentage of families at Sugar Creek. In fact, in January 638 different people read the newsletter and engaged in clicking the links throughout the newsletter. We appreciate you taking the time to read. Please let Ms. Houghan or Mr. Brunner if you have ideas or suggestions for our newsletter.

During the week of March 3-7, we had special announcements about National School Breakfast Week, which included various foods and activities. One day, all students were treated to a strawberry-and-granola yogurt parfait. They were a huge hit!

Our team of Resource teachers planned a host of fun activities for kids and teachers to celebrate books and reading! This included “Bubbles and Books!” Day on Friday, March 14th. Every class got to come to our step room, read with a friend, and have bubble gum. They loved it

Each year, we hold a Fifth Grade Promotion to honor our departing students. This is a family event - no reservations necessary - and a dress-up occasion for the students. It will be held on Monday, June 9, at 1 p.m. in our gymnasium.

Oh, yes. In fact, we have three jets: Jet H., Jett S., and Jett J. Pictured here, all three are in First Grade, they hang around together at times, and they have found themselves called “the Sugar Creek air force.”

At times, we have staff out for whatever reason and have guest teachers (substitutes) working in their place. These people are not afterthoughts to us. We purposely seek out the best we can find, and support and retain them. Further, we expect students to be their best for guest teachers.. Recently, two student council members delivered thank you cards and chocolate to substitutes including Ms. Xavier (pictured here), who is a part time Music teacher and guest teacher at Sugar Creek.

February Golden Award Winners:

Golden Lunch Tray-Ms. Cady and Ms. Muench's Class

Golden Shoe- 2nd Grade TWI

Golden Recess- Mr. Daniels

Golden Dustpan-Mr. Rippl

Sugar Creek has a trained Building Emergency Response Team (BERT). Recently, we met with district officials and Verona Police officers to review our emergency procedures (see picture). We appreciate each and every member of this team for their service to our students, families and staff.

Black history is part of American history. Music, physical education, art, library, lessons, halls, announcements, doors, display boards, etc., brought this to life.

The Sugar Creek Multicultural Team is thrilled to announce the upcoming Dia de los Niños event on Friday, April 4th from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at our school. This special celebration, recognized across Latin American countries, honors and acknowledges the vital role children play in society. We encourage families to bring a dessert to share—whether homemade or store-bought! Please sign up here so we know how many desserts to expect. We would love for you to be a part of this exciting event and hope to see you all there with your families!

El Equipo Multicultural de Sugar Creek se complace en anunciar el próximo evento del Día de los Niños el viernes 4 de abril de 5:00 a 8:00 p.m. en nuestra escuela. Esta celebración especial, reconocida en varios países de América Latina, honra y reconoce el papel vital que juegan los niños en la sociedad. ¡Animamos a las familias a traer un postre para compartir, ya sea casero o comprado! Por favor, regístrense aquí para que sepamos cuántos postres esperar. ¡Nos encantaría que fueran parte de este emocionante evento y esperamos verlos a todos allí con sus familias!

We are excited to tell you about a new resource that will extend student learning in the math classroom in Grades 2-5.

Beginning this semester, we will use Concept Quests, a supplemental opportunity consisting of challenging math tasks that align with our Bridges Math curriculum. This resource is available in both English and Spanish. Each of the seven Concept Quests units consist of 12 problem-solving tasks and puzzles, including:

• Six Excursions to apply and deepen students’ understanding of essential unit concepts.

• Six Adventures to extend students’ thinking and provide opportunities to make important mathematical connections. Adventures are often more challenging than Excursions.

Excursions and Adventures will be available to all students and will be completed in the math classroom. They may be completed in any order, and at a student’s own pace, but at least three Excursions must be completed before moving on to Adventures. Collaborating with others is highly encouraged, especially for particularly challenging tasks.

Concept Quests provide students an opportunity to extend their learning and see that math problems can be solved in multiple ways, and finding the solution often takes time and exceptional effort. Students are empowered when they conquer challenging tasks!

We encourage you to ask your student about any Excursions or Adventures they have completed in class.

Hi! My name is Gwen Fuhrmann and I have 3rd and 5th graders at Sugar Creek (and an 8th-grade Sugar Creek alum). Reading has always been a passion of mine, and so when Ms. Vitela put out a call for library volunteers a few years ago, I was excited to find a volunteering opportunity that was such a good fit! I help out 1-2 times per week organizing, shelving and repairing library books. I love getting to see the new books come in and hear how excited students are about reading. And as a bonus, this year my volunteer time overlaps with my daughter's weekly library visit, so it's neat to be able to connect with her and hear about what she's learning.

In addition to helping out in the library, I also support math groups in 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade once per week. I stumbled into this opportunity after teaching a CML group in my son's 2nd grade class last year, but I'm so glad I did. It's exciting to see those lightbulb moments when a student understands a new concept or to see their minds working out a particularly tricky problem.

When I'm not in and out of Sugar Creek, I also volunteer at a few other local organizations and try to keep up with our three kids and their busy schedules.

Side note: If you're debating volunteering, I've found that Sugar Creek is a wonderful place to be! I have always felt welcomed and supported in any area that I've tried, and they do a great job of matching interests/talents to available opportunities.

Spring Concert

We are excited to announce our upcoming spring concert at Sugar Creek Elementary. Students in grades 1st through 5th will present their concert entitled, “Moving to Music” on Friday, May 9th, 2025 in the Sugar Creek Gym. Our musicians are busy rehearsing and are so thrilled to perform for you. The concert times for each grade level are listed below:

Grade 1: 8:00-8:20 am

Grade 2: 8:45-9:05 am

Grade 3: 9:30-9:50 am

Grade 4: 10:15-10:35 am

Grade 5: 12:30-1:00 pm

Here is a link to a helpful Parking Map. Please be sure to give yourself plenty of time to find a parking spot, get to the entrance, and then find a seat in the gym.

Kindergarten students will perform at their picnic on the last day of school. More information about this fun event will be coming soon.

Please be aware that students will perform during their portion of the concert and then they will return to their classroom. We would like to request that no siblings of student performers be pulled out of their classroom instructional time to attend the concert or art show. All students will be able to view a school only recording of the entire concert during their music classes. Thank you for being understanding. If you have any questions regarding our concert, please contact us. We look forward to seeing you there!

‘Sing’cerely,
Marie Kyle, Music Teacher, kylem@verona.k12.wi.us

Spring Art Show-"Kaleidoscope of Color"

In conjunction with the spring music concert, we look forward to celebrating each and every one of our student artists. Classes are busy creating artwork for the show “Kaleidoscope of Color” and we are excited to share our artistic creations with you.

Our entire collection of colorful artwork will be available for viewing in the auxiliary gym at various times. We hope you will pick a day that works best for you. Please note the the following times:
 

• Thursday, May 8th (5:00-7:00 pm) - Kindergarten through 5th Grades

This evening is dedicated to viewing and enjoying all the artwork alongside your student artist.
 

• May 9th (Before or after grade level concerts - See concert times listed above)

While families may view artwork at this time, students will not be available to view along with them as they will be engaged in concert prep and/or classroom work.

We look forward to seeing you and sharing the artwork from each of our students!

Ann Kruse, Art Teacher krusea@verona.k12.wi.us

Tiffany Laxton, Art Teacher laxtont@verona.k12.wi.us

Illness Reminders

Illness is all around our community and we need your help in keeping our school a healthy place to be.

Students with a temperature of 100.0 F or greater must stay home from school until they have not had a fever for 24 hours AND they have not taken any fever-reducing medications such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen, or medications that contain Tylenol or Ibuprofen.

Students with nausea/vomiting or diarrhea must stay home from school for 24 hours after the last episode of nausea/vomiting or diarrhea.

Students must be able to participate in their school day, including recess, field trips and Physical Education, when they return.

Please contact Ms. Borelli, our School Nurse at borellik@verona.k12.wi.us, or 608-354-1102 if you have any questions.