Principal News from Mr. Kortens
Hello Park School Family,Unfortunately the news is filled again with details of the tragic school shooting in Florida. When these events happen I am asked what are the schools doing to protect our students? While I do support improving our school safety with cameras, locking doors and evacuation drills. The best action we can take is to build a loving school family where everyone feels safe, secure and welcome in our school.
At Park Community we have an excellent behavior program in place called Conscious Discipline. This program is research based and focuses on helping students manage their emotions and to solve conflicts in a peaceful way without adult intervention. We have spent a great deal of money and staff development time training our staff in the program. It is not just having a Brain Smart Start each day that matters but helping staff know how to talk to kids in a way the builds self confidence and belonging. Saying "you did it" instead of "thank you" helps kids realize they are doing the right thing for themselves and not for a person. We constantly talk about how doing the right thing helps our whole school family and that it is "our job to keep it safe" in our school.
Here is an award winning video from Conscious Discipline called How to Make a Bully from Scratch. It shows how bullying and school violence develops and how Conscious Discipline is designed to help prevent it.
Another thing we should all be practicing is See Something, Say Something. This is the message that came out of New York City after the 911 tragedy and is still effective in preventing violence in our community. It is important for all of us to be vigilant to unusual behavior in our community. If you have a concern report it. It is much better to say something and find out that it was not a concern than to stay quiet and witness a tragedy.
We are fortunate to live in the Fox Cities. This is a great place to raise children, work and live our lives. This is a safe place too but it does not mean we can ignore signs and pretend that something like this could never happen here. If you do see something unusual please report it. Call the Kaukauna Police or talk to a school official like myself. For more information on See Something Say Something Click HERE
Wisconsin Forward Spring State Assessment
The Wisconsin Forward Exam will be given in schools between March 19 and May 4, 2018. Park Community parents of students in 3rd and 4th grade will be receiving a schedule soon. Our current timeline is to start after the Easter break.The Forward Exam is a state mandated summative assessment which provides information about what students know and can do in relation to the Wisconsin Academic Standards. Students receive a score based on their performance in each content area.
There are sample or practice test questions available for students. An Online Tools Training (OTT) is available for students at http://dpi.wi.gov/assessment/forward/sample-items. The OTT is intended to give students the opportunity to practice with tools available on the Forward Exam, as well as allow them to familiarize themselves with the testing platform. The OTT is not scored, nor is it intended to provide practice on the test content. Students will be exploring these tools and training at school prior to testing.
The Forward Exam will be administered online and be given to:
Grades 3-8 in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics,
Grades 4 and 8 in Science and,
Grades 4, 8, and 10 in Social Studies
The Forward Exam includes several question types:
- Multiple-Choice (MC): Question that has four answer choices, including three distractors and one correct answer.
- Enhanced Selected Response (ESR): Question which may contain combinations of MC, short-answer, and technology-enhanced
- Evidence-Based Selected Response (ESBR): Question which has two parts. The student answers Part A, then provides evidence in Part B to support answer in Part A.
- Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA): Question used on the ELA test. The TDA is a text-based analysis, based on a passage that is read by the student during the assessment. Students must draw on basic writing skills while inferring and synthesizing information from the passage in order to develop a comprehensive, holistic essay response. Students have up to 5000 characters to formulate their response.
- Technology-Enhanced (TE): TE questions allow for a more engaging, interactive assessment.
Accommodations and supports for students with disabilities and/or English language learners are built into the system so that the progress of students can be accurately measured. Some students may take the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) assessment instead of the WI Forward. The DLM assessment is intended for students with significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-11 and is designed to compare a student’s strengths and needs to clearly defined standards, skill levels, or areas of knowledge. It is aligned with the Wisconsin Essential Elements and measures how students perform in relation to those standards.
The estimated time for the test administration in each grade is approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes for ELA, 1 hour and 45 minutes for Mathematics, 1 hour and 40 minutes for Science, and 1 hour and 30 minutes for Social Studies. These are estimated times, as the WI Forward Exam is not a timed test so students work at their own pace.
If you have any questions or concerns about the new assessment, please contact the office.
Use Amazon Smile and Help Our School
If you are planning to make an online purchase through Amazon now you can earn 3 times the normal amount for our school with your purchase! From March 12-31, Amazon is tripling the donation rate on your first smile.amazon.com purchase! There is no additional fee for you to do your normal Amazon shopping through this program. Go to smile.amazon.com/ch/27-4613381 and Amazon donates to Park Community Charter School Inc.Park Community Building is 120 Years Old!
Here is the link to the state historical record for the Park building.https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI16494
PE News from Mr. Rykal
The students will be finishing up their floor hockey units in early March. When this is complete we will start our rollerblading unit in grades 2-4. Students are encouraged to bring their own helmets. If they do not have helmets, we have some to use but they will be required to wear a hair net as a barrier. This will be an exciting unit because rollerblading is a healthy activity they can do their whole lives.Jump Rope for Heart update: The totals are in and we have raised just over $4100 as a school. This is an amazing amount of money raised and will definitely be going to a great cause. Any students who have earned prizes for raising money will be receiving them in around 3 weeks because they had to be ordered. Thank you for your help in raising the money!!!
We have also decided to use the Dash for Cash money that I raised to purchase two new basketball hoops for the gym. These will be put on the side of the gym where the older wooden backboards are now. This will be a great addition to the gym for students to use during school and during other events that take place here. They are currently scheduled to be installed the week of March 5th.
Lots of good things happening in the gym!!!
January Library News from Mrs. Lemke
Overall, students are learning about strategies from a famous author/illustrator, posting comments in Seesaw, accessing the library ebooks(even while at home), and creating videos on the iPad app Chatterpix Kids.This might sound familiar to families who attended Books and Badges Family Night. Read below for specifics on each grade level. Also visit the library website to access Seesaw to see Virtual Valentines and the “Creation Tools” to see 1st grade Flipgrid Valentines.Kindergarten
Students explored terms like author and illustrator. They learned about the famous author, Lois Ehlert. Students loved watching the collage, watercolor, and rub techniques Ehlert uses for her books. We finished the unit being illustrators and making collage hearts.
1st Grade
practiced library vocabulary by playing a visual library matching game, labeling a 3D book, and writing their own call numbers. They also created virtual valentine’s for family members or teachers as an introduction to Chatterpix Kids App that they will soon be using in their classrooms. They are noisy with excitement, but these can be found on the “Creation Tools” tab of the library website.
2nd Grade
Students began an introduction to Seesaw. They loaded a snow research video last month. This month their video skills were fine-tuned when reading their opinion writing. Students also learned how to make helpful peer comments to one another. Besides this, your second grader did Virtual Valentine’s either to you or their teacher using the Chatterpix Kids app. If you haven’t linked to Seesaw, please do so. These video are so entertaining!
3rd grade
Students increased their knowledge of Seesaw by learning how to post videos live and from the camera roll when using an iPad. They also practiced posting helpful comments to peers. Lastly, they experimented with the Chatterpix Kids app and uploaded it Seesaw. As a family member, if you haven’t linked to Seesaw, please do. The kids sent Valentine’s wishes to family member or their teachers.
4th Grade
Students continued practicing their Seesaw skills. They learned about purpose and audience, and they perfected social media skills by posting helpful comments to others. Plus, they enhanced their qualities of a good video. To practice this, students created Virtual Valentines for either their teacher, or a family member using an iPad app. Soon, they will use this with their art, legend monsters and legend writings. If you haven’t seen a Seesaw parent invite, ask me or your child’s teacher for a new one.
Art with Mr. Theder
Kindergarten Artists
Are in the process of finishing their clay birds. kindergarteners learned how to construct a bird out of a slab of clay. They got a chance to learn how to use slip and scoring to attach clay pieces together. Lastly we will paint and add the pipe cleaner legs and hanger. |
| Brianna Lammers Mrs. Roehrig - Kindergarten |
First Grade Artists
Are in the process of finishing up their flower clay bowls. They learned about how to construct a bowl out of a slab of clay. They got a chance to add leaves to them by using slip and scoring. First grade will soon be painting/glazing them to make them to their liking. |
| Trevor Bruegge 1st Grade Cunniff |
Second Grade Artists
Just finished up their native american weaving project. They will soon be printmaking with their printing plate they made of a cityscape. Second grade also had a chance to learn about radial symmetry by making a design with their name.
Abby Kempen
2nd Grade - Gardner
Third Grade Artists
Are currently working on their printmaking project. They got to learn about different types of printmaking, they got a chance to make their own printing plate of a cityscape that they will layer into three pieces to make a large city out of their prints. Third grade will lastly finish it up by painting in their sky and background. Third grade also had a chance to learn about radial symmetry by making a design with their name. |
| Baxton Benson 3rd Grade Hinkens |
Fourth Grade Artists
Are currently working on their mythological creature story. They got to learn about different types of ancient greek designs. They got a chance to pick out their own outline of a clay piece. They then made their own designs and drew their creature on their paper cutout of the clay piece. Later in the library they will take the picture of their artwork, and use technology to make it appear that their creature is talking while they read a part of their story. |
| Stella Krnecin 4th Grade - Serwe |
Music Notes from Mrs. Nimmer
The birthday composer for the month of February was Rossini. He was an Italian composer, most famous for his operas. We had fun following a listening map to the famous “William Tell” opera finale. We realized we have heard this famous piece of music many other places before!Kindergarten
We integrated literature and songs of winter holidays, including Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. We sang a song that taught us which presidents are featured on the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter. The students enjoyed playing a hand-clapping circle game called “Circle Round the Zero.”First Grade
We had fun singing “You’re a Grand Old Flag” for President’s Day, and “Wouldja Be My Valentine” for Valentine’s Day. We also learned a new action song called “Skateboard Rider.” We continue to use these songs to improve our pitch-matching skills. We practiced drawing quarter notes, eighth notes, and rests on our dry erase boards as well. We will be practicing patterns with these notes in the upcoming months. One of our favorite stories this month was “Peter and the Wolf.” In this story, each character is represented by a particular instrument of the orchestra. We got to hear the story, learn about the instruments, and then hear the music and story together.Second Grade
We continue to prepare for their upcoming concert. Please make sure your calendars are marked, as all 2nd grade students are required to attend. The students will be performing at 6:30 pm on Thursday, April 5th. Students will be asked to arrive at 6:10. The performance will be approximately 30 minutes long. We look forward to sharing a night of music with you!Third Grade
We continue to study the pieces we will be hearing at the orchestra concert on March 6th as part of the Artistic Adventures program with the Fox Valley Symphony. This year's theme is "Celebrations Around the World." We will be hearing songs by composers from Russia, Germany, Mexico, and the United States. We are very excited for this great opportunity! This month the 3rd graders also learned a new song called "One Bottle of Pop" from England. We can sing this song in a round, which is a new skill we are working on! We learned about the harp this month as we continue to explore the String Family of instruments.Fourth Grade
We continued with "Recorder Karate" this month. Many of the students have mastered the first two belts and beyond. This program allows students to move at their own pace through multiple recorder pieces that increase in difficulty as the students progress. We also finished our study of the Woodwind Family, and have moved on to the percussion family as we learn about instruments we can play next year in middle school.
News from the School Nurse
Wood Ticks and Deer Ticks are commonly found in Wisconsin during the spring and summer months; mostly in wooded or brushy areas with tall vegetation. During their lifetime, ticks will go through four stages, from egg to adult. Each stage requires an increasingly larger blood host to ensure survival. Humans are at most risk during the months from April through September.Most tick bites are harmless, however, ticks can cause diseases such as Lyme or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. So it is important to remove the tick properly and disinfect the area.
How do you remove a tick? Remove a tick as soon as possible by following these steps:
- Use tweezers to grasp the tick firmly at its head (point of entry into the skin).
- Pull gently but firmly straight back until the tick lets go of the skin. Do not twist or rock the tick from side to side as this may cause the body of the tick to separate from the head; leaving the head in the skin. If this should happen, contact your healthcare provider.
- Once the tick releases from the skin drop it in a ziplock bag. The bag can either be the storage container to seek further identification of the tick if needed or to simply dispose of it in the trash.
- Wash the skin site where the tick was embedded with soap and water; apply antibacterial ointment.
- Monitor the skin site where the tick was embedded for red ringed rash which looks like a bull’s-eye or other redness that is hot to the touch and seems to be getting bigger around the area. Other symptoms to look for and report to your healthcare provider: fever, headache, fatigue, muscle or joint aches.
As always prevention is the best way to manage ticks and the diseases they may carry. To minimize tick exposure, wear clothing that is light in color along with a chemical repellent when walking in or near woody or brushy areas with tall vegetation. Tuck pant legs into socks or boots and stay on trails if possible.
Remember to check your skin for ticks soon after any excursion where ticks may be living.
SCHOOL COUNSELING NEWS!! From Mr. Zamost
March Classroom Guidance
During the month of March, I will be visiting all of the K- 4 classrooms and talking with students about Communication Skills! In each grade level we will discuss the definition and importance of effective communication. Now more than ever, due to greater use of technology, students’ personal communication skills must be practiced and taught. Grades K- 2 will be emphasizing good listening skills (using EYES, EARS and BRAINS), while grades 3 and 4 will focus on developing good communication skills through effective verbal and nonverbal communication techniques. Throughout all grades, we will be emphasizing the importance of showing good character.
K-Kids Update!
Our next meeting is on Thursday, March 8th! At this meeting we will be working on getting a supply drive ready as we would like to donate supplies to the children's hospital. The students are thinking of making blankets and getting donations of gently used toys to donate to bring up the spirits of children who are ill. Stay tuned as more details will come after the March 8th meeting.
News from our Reading Specialist Mrs. Keehan
What is a Thoughtful Log?
Students write about their reading through the use of thoughtful logs. The goal of the thoughtful log is to provide students' with a tool that organizes their thinking and records their learning. Students in grades k-4 all have thoughtful logs and the logs are tabbed to reflect the thinking and learning that occurs throughout the literacy block. There are 3 different tabs: My Thinking, Powerful Words and Phrases, and My Strategies.My Thinking:
Students write about their thinking by recording their thoughts about what they are reading. They can respond personally to the text during independent reading by sharing connections, asking questions, making predictions and inferences, offering opinions, and responding to the theme. The most important part of the thoughtful log is the My Thinking section that contains students' thoughtful entries (their thinking while reading or after discussion). This helps make thinking visible for sharing with others.Powerful Words and Phrases:
Students record examples of powerful words and phrases that they see in texts and make various word lists. These powerful words and phrases allow us as readers to visualize and help as us writers to improve our word choice.My Strategies:
Students record information about the strategies they learn about as readers, writers, and spellers. When students need prompts or reminders as to how to be strategic, they can refer to this section of the log as they work toward self-regulation.
Additional News from Our Math Coaches
Save the Date for our Upcoming Math & Munchie Morning Event! It will be Wednesday, March 28th, from 10:30-11:30 in your child’s classroom. This is a great opportunity to learn how a common card game can be used to build the math skills that your child is currently working on. We hope to see you there!
Updates from Mrs. Tennessen
Summer School 2018
Location:
Kaukauna High School
1701 County Road CE
Dates:
Tuesday, June 12 - Friday, June 29 (Monday - Friday)
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (some classes may run past this time, but no transportation will be available)
NOTE: Classes will also be on Fridays
PAYMENT INFORMATION:
- Payment is due at the time of registration.
- The Summer School Software requires payment in order to complete the registration. Therefore, your child will not be registered in a course if payment is not made online via debit/credit card.
- If you need to pay with cash or check please come to the district office to register.
- If you have a financial hardship and are unable to pay the full fee, please contact Erin Kape at the District Office at: 920-766-6100 ext. 2002 or kapee@kaukaunasd.org prior to registering.
- Refunds will be issued until Friday, May 18. After the closing of the window on May 18, no fees will be refunded.
Open House:
We will be hosting an Open House on Monday June 11, from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. The Summer School Leadership Team and Student Volunteers will be available to assist students and parents in locating classrooms and answer questions. Please note that teachers will not be present during the Open House.Registration Dates:
Sunday, March 18: Summer School Registration begins at 2:00 p.m.Friday, May 18: Summer School Registration closes at 12:00 p.m.
Link to register: This summer, we will be using a new Registration Software. Please watch for more information in the next couple of weeks surrounding the registration process.
Course Catalog: It is located on the Kaukauna Area School District Summer School website at:
http://www.kaukauna.k12.wi.us/district/summerschool.cfm
For any questions please contact:
Erin Kape
Phone: 920-766-6100 Ext. 2002
kapee@kaukaunasd.org
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR 2018-2019 SCHOOL YEAR
4K Screening and Registration
This spring, the Kaukauna Area School District will again initiate a voluntary 4K screening on June 1st, June 4th and June 5th. Registration packets have been sent home to eligible 4K (those who will be 4 on or before September 1, 2018) students. In order to plan for classroom and staffing needs, it is crucial that we receive this information as soon
as possible. Children not yet school age that may have delays or other difficulties are also eligible to be screened at this time to help determine if development testing/special services might be needed. Parents with specific developmental concerns may contact Lisa Sheppard anytime at 766-6150.
PLEASE IF YOU HAVE UPDATED ANY INFORMATION; PHONE NUMBERS, WORK PLACE, ADDRESS, PLEASE CHANGE ON YOUR PARENT PORTAL ACCOUNT OR PHONE THE OFFICE WITH NEW INFO.
March Community Flyers from District Office
2018 Kaukauna Softball Flyer
Champs Camp 2018
2018 Electric City Soccer Flyer
Park Breakfast in the Classroom
Link for Community Flyers and Events:
http://www.kaukauna.k12.wi.us/community/communityevents.cfm
Pac Update
