Spring 2024 Newsletter

Welcome from Mr. Brunner

Hello Sugar Creek families,

It’s important to our school that we maintain open lines of communication with our many stakeholders. This includes with people such as our students, our staff, our central office leaders, our families, and even our substitute teachers.

To make sure we are in tune with you, our families, each year Sugar Creek has a mid-year family survey. It’s not a rating system but rather an opportunity to share your thoughts in an open-ended format. We find this type of survey so much more meaningful and useful as we strive to continue what’s going well here, and strive to improve. All parents and guardians were provided with a survey, in Spanish and in English, so it went out to over 1350 individuals.

In the interest of being transparent with you, here are the top themes that were noted in the survey responses, in order:

1. What is Sugar Creek doing well?

Great teachers / administration / leadership

Appreciation for the school community and culture, and events

Communication

2. What should Sugar Creek be working on?

Praise for Sugar Creek / no constructive feedback

General communication - related topics

Lunch / food

3. Anything else you would like to share?

Appreciation for our staff

I read and reply to each participant in the survey but otherwise comments are kept completely anonymous. The detailed results are reviewed, successes are celebrated, and next steps for areas of improvement are planned with:

*Representatives of our two public sector unions: the VAEA and VESPA
*The Director of Elementary Schools and other VASD leaders
*Sugar Creek’s School Based Leadership Team
*VASD’s Food Service Director

If you have any thoughts or questions about the results, let me know. I share this today, not only for you to see what’s top of people's minds at Sugar Creek, but to show you how we are working to continually improve Sugar Creek. Thank you for your partnership with us.

Mr. Todd Brunner

Ms. Laura Marquardt

Where you see SNOW, our kids see … BUILDING MATERIALS!

This week’s surprise April snowstorm left our playgrounds with something we were woefully lacking much of the winter: the white stuff! Pictured here are a handful of Fourth Graders who eagerly used their recess time to get to work designing and building with the plentiful snow.

Sugar Creek Family Events & Involvement

Community Gatherings

Each month, Sugar Creek has a Community Gathering. Topics may include special announcements, school behavioral goals, special performances (as seen in this exciting picture from a December Community Gathering), special guests, and more.

Families are welcome to attend. These run from 7:30 - 7:50 a.m. on the dates listed below, so you can park and enter the gym with your child (no need to sign into the office as there are lots of staff present to guide and supervise). Students sit by their teachers and families can sit on the bleachers.

The dates are as follows:

Apr. 11, May 9.

Fifth Grade Promotion

Our Fifth Grade promotion ceremony for friends and family will be on Thursday, June 6, 2024, from 1:00 - 2:00 in our gym.

Yearbooks

We chose a yearbook company that provides ALL students with a FREE yearbook. We are anticipating they will be here in early June.

Moving Away?

If you are moving away from Sugar Creek, please be sure to let us know right away so that we can assist you and your new school to ensure the transition goes smoothly.

Have a new neighbor?

If you have a new neighbor with children, have them call our school office at 608-845-4100 or the VASD Registrar at 608-845-4361 so that we can help ensure their children can attend school!

Supply Lists for 2024-25

Our teachers will be finalizing our 2024-25 school supply list in the coming weeks, then the final document will be shared with families no later than the last day of school.

You will notice that next year’s supply list will be SHORT. We are committed to ensuring that we are only asking for items your child will truly need and saving YOU money.

Placement

In spring, our teachers carefully create the following year’s class lists. Then, around the first week of August, VASD elementary schools email families their teachers’ names to families (always ensure we know if you change your email address.) Let your teachers know if you have any questions about this. In addition, we work with Badger Ridge Middle School staff to assist them in their placement process for our current Fifth Graders.

Classroom Teacher Sections

Each year our school’s Two Way Immersion (TWI) program has a team of two teachers per grade (so, we have 12 total TWI teachers), with one teacher instructing in Spanish and one teacher instructing in English. This year we have 21 monolingual teachers, and this number will grow by one additional section in Third Grade for next year. Class sizes are looking like they will be about 18-24, which are right where we like them.

Enrollment

Did you know that Sugar Creek is the largest elementary school in Dane County? Our enrollment number is 702. (See here to learn more great things about Sugar Creek.) We are a diverse community of students and staff (33% of whom are of varying racial backgrounds/ethnicities and 20% are male) which reflects - and prepares your children for - adult life in our society and workforce. These days, it’s rather hard to predict our school’s future student enrollment numbers. Recently our numbers have been:

2022-23: 690

2021-22: 671

2020-21: 645

2019-20: 540

VASD is an excellent place to live and have children attend school and, as you can see from all of the construction around Fitchburg and Verona, it continues to grow in every direction. All staffing and budgets for our schools are determined centrally in VASD.

New Students!

It is not unusual for Sugar Creek to welcome new students to our school. We love new kids! Three recent new friends (pictured here) have been so excited to be a part of our school

Visitors at Lunch

We give kids up 20-25 minutes a day to eat lunch, which is super. Our lunchroom is a busy and joyful place, where kids get to relax and eat and talk with friends. We have several Visitors Tables (see picture). Should you ever wish to visit and eat with your child for a special reason, call our main office and our secretaries can tell you more!

Golden Lunch Tray

We look for ways to acknowledge kids for doing the RIGHT thing. Being positive is the “P” in our school-wide behavioral system, PBIS. One of these acknowledgements is just for students in grades K - 3. Each Monday morning we announce classrooms that have won the Golden Lunch Tray, based on meeting our school expectations for lunch behavior. In addition to the schoolwide recognition on the announcements, the class earns the right to receive and proudly display a Golden Lunch Tray!

Tornado Practice Event

VASD schools can pick which day of the week of Wisconsin’s Tornado & Severe Weather Awareness Week they will hold their practice. At Sugar Creek ours will be on Thursday, April 11, 2024 at 1:15 pm.

Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair was very successful. We raised over $5,000 in Scholastic book dollars for Sugar Creek. We use those book dollars to provide free books for all students at other school events. We work hard to promote books and reading at Sugar Creek!

Sugar Creek PTO Parent Teacher Organization

Below is the link to the Sugar Creek PTO newsletter. It's the same link each week, and every week important information, events, and ways families can be involved at school are shared:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ruo9aznJeNn7BFkkRjWVeaNny1vIuBR-6xuTI8cYgow/edit?usp=sharing

Imagination Fair Participation

For this year’s Imagination Fair family event we had 169 students participate - an amazing 24% of our entire student body! There were both Science fair and Author fair submissions.

Upcoming Music and Arts Special Events

Our students are getting ready for Celebrating Sugar Creek’s Artists event AND our Spring Concerts .

Families all received this message recently. Please take a look at this Parking Map of Sugar Creek (parking is noted in bright red), consider carpooling, and give yourself some extra time as we are expecting it to be busy. Your students have been working hard to prepare for these two events!

Ms. Sayre awarded $800

Jana Schroeer of the Verona Area Educational Foundation recently came to Music Teacher Nicki Sayre’s class (see this picture, of her with Mr. Daniels/Ms. Bindl’s class) to present her with an $800 check. Ms. Sayre wrote a grant request for the money, so that she could purchase ukuleles!

Students with Apple watches, cell phones, etc.

The VASD Elementary Family Handbook section called Cell Phones and Personal Communication (VASD Admin Rule 533) states that at school “we expect these devices to stay powered off and safely secured during the school day.” If they are out and being displayed or used during the day, the Valuables from Home section states that “staff have discretion to confiscate the item, to be returned to the student/parent/guardian at a later time.”

New windows for Sugar Creek

Sugar Creek’s windows are the original ones, installed over thirty years ago when this building was the Verona Area Middle School. They have experienced many issues through the years, issues which have been compounding with age and moisture. VASD strives to keep its facilities maintained well, and this summer will begin a months-long project of replacing virtually all of our exterior windows.

Gymnastics at Sugar Creek

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 Spring Break on April 1st, 2024! When school starts back up, all students K - 5th will be participating in our district-wide Gymnastics Unit. Sugar Creek’s Gymnastics unit will occur from April 1st-April 12th. Students love this unit and enjoy this life-long activity!

During our Gymnastics Unit, student learning focuses 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 gymnastics apparatuses such as the pommel horse, balance beam, parallel bar, vault and basic tumbling and balance skills. Throughout the unit, visual aids, protective matting, and technique/skill modifications will be provided for students in order to build confidence and comfortability.

For health and safety reasons, during the gymnastics unit students are required to wear PE/gym shoes for activity. In order to keep mats and equipment clean, please send students with clean PE/gym shoes for activity

Family Learning Resources

Sugar Creek Great Book Exchange

Sugar Creek Great Book Exchange Date: Tuesday June 4th

Families are able to donate books they no longer want and students will have an opportunity to choose "new to them" books with their class. Readers will get to take their "new" books home and keep them for summer reading!
Families can send any book donations to school with their child the two weeks leading up to the event (Weeks of May 20th and 27th). There will also be a book donation box in the office.

From our two amazing reading teachers, Ms. Hoffman & Ms. Doberstein.

Latinx literature and Spanish language integration into our library programing

A very popular bilingual read aloud that has been shared recently during library with many TWI and some monolingual classes is Not a Monster by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez / Illustrated by: Laura González. This story, integrating English and Spanish, takes us deeper into the indigenous roots and Mexican habitat of this fascinating creature. Not a Monster explores the traits of the axolotl, the Aztec origin myth about the species, and the way pollution is affecting its natural habitat.

4th grade TWI also has been introduced to Selena Gonzalez and Adriana Garcia's new book Remembering/Te recuerdo (see picture) which just won a 2024 Pura Belpré Youth Illustrator Award, an award "presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth." (Ala.org)

Both of these titles, and many more, will be available in our library in both English and Spanish upon publication.

Digital Citizenship

We continue to address digital citizenship in our classrooms as it grounds us in our belief in teaching the whole child. Keeping our kids safe and happy, both offline and online, is so important! Last month your child learned about Relationships and Communication online using the Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship Curriculum.

In Spring, your student(s) in Grades 3-5 will learn about both Digital Footprings as well as News and Media Literacy. Students in Grades K-2 will learn about being safe online. As a family, you can continue the conversation at home using these Family Activities (en Español) activities. If you have any questions or are looking for additional resources, please reach out.

Thank you!

Melissa Ruder

Educational Technology Coach

ruderm@verona.k12.wi.us

Health Services Updates

Upcoming FREE Dental Care Treatment available at Sugar Creek - REGISTER NOW!

New this school year, Verona Area School District is partnering with Verona Smiles to provide free dental services (x-rays, dental exams, and treatment) to eligible students at school! If you have not registered your student for Verona Smiles this school year, you still can by completing this Google Form: Verona Smiles enrollment.

REGISTER NOW FOR LOW OR NO COST PREVENTATIVE Dental Care at Sugar Creek!
Verona Area School District continues to partner with Bridging Brighter Smiles to provide preventative dental care at school. Registration remains active for two 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 wecare@bbsmiles.org.

Does your child need a doctor? Concerned about your child’s hearing or vision? Your child recently started on medication that needs to be administered at school?

Please call the School Nurse at (608)-354-1102, email sc-healthoffice@verona.k12.wi.us or stop by the Sugar Creek office for assistance. We are here and happy to help families.

If your child is sent home with clothes from the Health Office, please return to the Health Office as your earliest convenience.

ooking for information about medications at school, the latest illness guidance, or requesting dietary accommodations? Check out the updated Verona Area School District Health Services website: VASD Health Services. Please email sc-healthoffice@verona.k12.wi.us with any questions or concerns.

Kelly Borelli, School Nurse

Cell Phone: (608)-354-1102

Health Office: (608)-845-4115

Email: borellik@verona.k12.wi.us

Heather Strang, Health Assistant

Health Office: (608)-845-4115

Email: strangh@verona.k12.wi.us

Sugar Creek Community News

Free books for Sugar Creek students this week!

The library hosted a Madison Reading Project Free Book Fair on Thursday, April 4th! Every one of our students got to pick a free, brand new, book to keep forever. This is a first-time literacy collaboration between Madison Reading Project and Sugar Creek Elementary to cultivate and celebrate the joy of reading and multilingualism. Thank you, Madison Reading Project!

A shout-out to our learners of two languages

Third Grade students in the Two Way Immersion Spanish classes each chose a different arctic animal, learned all they could about the animal, and prepared and delivered a detailed presentation in Spanish to their peers. Pictured here is Colvin, doing a fabulous job educating his classmates about orcas.

Kindergarten visits the Overture Center!

On January 19, our entire Kindergarten attended a production at the Overture Center called “The Rainbow Fish,” as well as 2 other companion stories, “Rainbow Fish Discovers the Deep Sea” and “Opposites.” Students loved the event, as well as the bus ride into downtown Madison!

Battle of the Books a great success!

Sugar Creek had 108 participants in this year’s Fourth and Fifth Grade district-wide activity, Battle of the Books - the most participants of all VASD schools! Teams of students spent months reading and preparing, mostly outside of class / school, for the all-VASD competition which was held on Tuesday, February 13th. As you can see in this picture our students really gave it their all! A big thank you to VASD librarians, many Sugar Creek staff, and family volunteers who supported and attended the event to help our teams!

Special Guests from BRMS & VAHS

Recently, our Student Council hosted Principal Love and Assistant Principal Arengo Tavera from Badger Ridge Middle School, and also Principal Cox from the Verona Area High School. Student Council members welcomed them, gave them an in-depth guided tour of our school, answered questions, and presented our guests with small gifts. All three guests are among the brand new building principals in VASD this year, and are principals of schools that Sugar Creek students will one day attend.

Mr. Cox from VAHS Mr. Love and Ms. Arengo Tavera from BRMS

Middle School Music try-outs

Each February, the Music Department at Badger Ridge Middle School comes to Sugar Creek for a day and meets individually with each of our Fifth Graders (pictured here you see Ms. Therese Josephson with two students) to guide them in their middle school music choices. Before hand, students and families receive information and a video to help inform them. Then, the music teachers and our students review family input, try out instruments and even singing, and discuss the students’ individual interests. It’s a very well done process!

Mayor Diaz visits Sugar Creek

On February 2nd, Mayor Luke Diaz visited Sugar Creek. He spoke about leadership, what it means to be a mayor of a busy and growing city, and gave students tips for how they can be good members of their community.

Black History Month

While the history and role of African Americans in our nation is interwoven throughout the year in what we do, February is a time that it is given even greater attention. This means that, in various learning spaces in our school, students learned about: Black leaders through history, quotes from famous African Americans, the great achievements of Black athletes in Physical Education class, read books by Black authors, had books written by Black authors read to them in Library class (see picture), checked out and read on their own books by Black authors, learned about slavery with a focus on the brilliance and resilience of African Americans, wrote biographies of African American leaders, wrote reading logs based on books by Black authors, enjoyed hallway and classroom displays, learned about and listened to the music of Black composers in Music class, learned about famous Black women in the arts / STEM, learned key terminology related to Civil Rights leaders and wrote whole-class biographies of them, watched a short video a day each day of the month about a different famous African American.

Apollo!

You may have seen or heard from your child about Apollo (see photo). Apollo’s owner is our Health Assistant, Ms. Heather Strang. Apollo is becoming a certified and licensed therapy dog through Pet Partners, and has now completed two of his three in-depth training sessions. We’ve supported his training by allowing him to visit our offices, and on occasion - when the teacher and families have advanced notice - some classrooms. The training period takes many months, and being in a school allows Apollo to learn and grow.