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November 2024 Newsletter

 

Sugar Creek Newsletter

Hello Sugar Creek families,

 

Many of the items highlighted in our November newsletter speak to our school’s long-standing commitment to the health and wellness of our students. A child who is fed, healthy, well, and safe is a child ready to learn! We appreciate your partnership everyday in making Sugar Creek a wonderful place to learn and grow. We are thankful for you all everyday and hope that you have a great month.

 

Please let us know of any future topics you might find helpful in our newsletters!

~Mr. Brunner and Ms. Houghan

 

 

Important Dates

  • 11/14-Books for Kids
  • 11/14-Thankful Dress Day-Wear your favorite activewear or Team Sports apparel
  • 11/18-Late Start
  • 11/21-Thankful Dress Day-Wear Wildcat Colors
  • 11/22-Building Brighter Smiles Dental Clinic
  • 11/25- Late Start
  • 11/27-11/29-No School for Thanksgiving Break
  • 12/2-Late Start
  • 12/5-Community Gathering
  • 12/9 Late Start
  • 12/9 PTO Meeting
 

Books for Kids

Our annual Books for Kids event is happening today! You might see your child come with 2 new books to keep :-) Huge thanks to Ms. Doberstein, Ms. Hoffman, and our PTO for making this event happen each year.

 

 

Ash Trees at Sugar Creek

We’ve shared in recent years updates about the slow and - eventually - what appears will be complete loss of our ash trees out front. VASD’s building and grounds staff had treated the trees, and carefully pruned them over the years, but even more had to be removed recently.

 

We worked with K&A Greenhouse in recent years to buy and install a large variety of hardy trees all around the school, which have all done quite well and one day will give us a nice canopy in the front and shade on playgrounds in the back.

 

 

Fall Assessment Data

Many teachers shared some of your students’ Fall assessment data at conferences. Additionally, STAR Math (Grades 1-5) and STAR Reading (Grades 4 and 5 only) reports should have come home with your child last week. Our data systems changed a bit this year and students in Grades K-3 are no longer taking STAR Reading, but rather taking an assessment called Aimsweb+ which assesses their oral reading fluency(reading rate) in Grades 2-5 and early literacy skills in Grades K and 1 (such as blending letter sounds together to make words, knowing and identifying letter names and sounds, and fluency with sight words).


Our teachers and reading specialists then use this information to inform their instruction in their classrooms and groups. If you have any questions about your child’s’ Fall assessment information, please reach out to your child’s teacher, our Curriculum and Learning Specialist Katie Mohr (mohrk@verona.k12.wi.us) or our Associate Principal Kirstin Houghan (houghank@verona.k12.wi.us)
 

 

Help Save the Information Fair

Please attend an informational meeting on Google Meet at 7:30pm on Monday, November 18th to see how you can help keep an amazing science and writers fair running this Spring. https://meet.google.com/uhu-veov-qxr

 

 

Indigenous People's Month

We are celebrating Indigenous People's Month by reading We are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorrell in each classroom this month! This book discusses how the Cherokee tribe show gratitude throughout the year.

 

 

Golden Awards

October Golden Award Winners:

Golden Shoe-Ms. VanHandel's Class

Golden Recess- 5th Grade TWI

Golden Lunchtray-Mr. Westberg's Class

Golden Dustpan-Ms. Laube's Class

Ms. VanHandel's Class
 
 
5th Grade TWI
 
Mr. Westberg's Class
 
 

 

Taste Test of Vegan/Vegetarian Options

Students shared with us that in the past that they were interested in more healthy options at school, so Sugar Creek has partnered with VASD’s Food Service to expand offerings in our lunch line! One change that has been implemented is a daily salad bar. Another new option is that, any day when chicken is on the menu, students can instead have a vegan burger or vegan nuggets. These are made from wheat and soybeans, which grow right here in Wisconsin.


We recently held taste tests of the new vegan nuggets for our students in Grades 1 - 5, and they were overwhelmingly popular. Here’s a recent article in the Verona Press about this!
 

 

Endowment Fund created for Sugar Creek

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”.

 

 

Hispanic Heritage Celebration

Sugar Creek hosted a Hispanic Heritage celebration on Thursday, October 24th, which was a wonderful opportunity for students, families and staff, particularly those in the Two Way Immersion program, to connect and spend a few enjoyable hours together. A special thank you to staff members Ms. Rivera, Mr. Jorge, Ms. Yami, Ms. Espinoza, Ms. Maria, and Ms. Gutierrez, among many others, for their vision and support for this.

 

 

 

Classroom Visits

Ms. Houghan and Mr. Brunner often visit classrooms each day. Sometimes it’s informally, such as just to visit / assist a student, teacher, or substitute teacher; to read a book to a class; to join in an activity; or to present. Sometimes our visits are more formal, such as for evaluations, or for us to better understand how our staff are doing as the teach the Wisconsin Academic Standards, have learning tasks that connect to the standards, and help ensure students are learning the standards, such as the (excellent!) lesson you see pictured above that we watched in Ms. Fagan’s Second Grade classroom.

 

 

 

PBIS

New staff and students quickly notice that our school has a good “feel” to it, in terms of behaviors. This is no accident. We have a long record of focussing on culturally responsive behavioral practices, called Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Representatives (pictured here) from the Sugar Creek PBIS team recently attended the national PBIS conference, which is an opportunity to learn new ways of helping our school.

 

 

 

Badger Ridge Usage

Sugar Creek is part of a campus of five VASD schools and our central office. One of the benefits of this location is that our physical education teachers can use the Badger Ridge track, which is close by. As you can see in the above picture, they were recently using it for the 50 year dash, half mile run, and mile run.

 

 

 

Lunch Helpers

At Sugar Creek, it’s important to us to find ways to create leadership opportunities for our students. One such way that Third Graders sometimes choose to be a part of is Lunch Helpers, such as these three wonderful volunteers pictured above!

 

 

 

Learn English

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.

 

 

 

Updates from our School Nurse

Immunization Clinics

Did you know that Wisconsin has an immunization law required for students in public schools? The Wisconsin Student Immunization Law requires students to have a minimum number of doses of vaccine.

 

In an effort to get students caught up on their immunizations required for school, the Verona Area School District, in partnership with Public Health Madison and Dane County (PHMDC), SSM Health, GHC and UW Health held a Back to School Clinic at Sugar Creek Elementary on October 15, 2024. We had a great turn out! Over 80 people, including VASD students and staff, (and many Sugar Creek students and staff) attended the immunization clinic.

 

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.

First and Third Grade Level Vision Screenings

On October 15, 2024 Sugar Creek Elementary, in partnership with the Verona Lions Club, held First and Third Grade vision screenings. In total, approximately 205 students were screened for multiple vision concerns! Families will be notified if their students are being referred for an eye exam. Being able to see clearly is so important to students and their learning.

Verona Smiles Partnership

Verona Smiles visited Sugar Creek on October 31 and November 1. Eighty students were able to have a dental exam by a dentist and x-rays. Any treatment or dental problems identified during this dental exam will be provided by local dentists in their dental office. Thanks to Verona Smiles for ensuring that every student who needs dental care, gets it.

Bridging Brighter Smiles

Verona Area School District continues to partner with Bridging Brighter Smiles to provide preventative dental care at school. Registration remains active for 2-3 years. If you have not registered or re-registered recently on the Bridging Brighter Smiles website, your student may no longer be registered. You can still register or re-register your student to receive preventative dental care for this school year here: Bridging Brighter Smiles enrollment. If you have questions about the program or your student’s enrollment status, contact Bridging Brighter Smiles at cwolff@bbsmiles.org.

 
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Kaite Mohr

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