Spring Ahead—Daylight Savings Time—March 11th

Message from the Administrators,

“A goal without a plan is …….” the February theme in our Growth Mindset Coach book for chapter 7 which is titled “A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish”. So what does this mean? During February staff and students learned about “goals”. More importantly staff learned the difference between “learning goals” (a goal designed to help the student learn, regardless of performance) and performance goals” (a goal designed to make the student look smart and capable). According to the author of “Growth Mindset Coach” Carol Dweck, people set both types of goals, but learning goals lead to mastery. An example of a learning goal might be to learn a new game (chess). It’s something that should not be rushed, it is student initiated, and involves taking risks. Conversely, a performance goal might be something like getting a high grade in a class or scoring in an athletic contest. These performance goals are often time bound and recognition comes from results rather than effort. At Prairie, we are striv-ing to lead students to the realization and application that learning is our priority. This chapter also focused on the importance of being “gritty” as they pursue their goals. Being gritty means that with practice and perseverance, strong growth will happen. Malcom Gladwill writes about the “10,000 hour rule” in his book Outliers. He explains that according to his research for someone to be considered the best of the best in his/her ar-ea they must have 10,000 hours of dedicated practice. One way to sell “grit” is to talk about the training, practice, and determination that lead to someone’s success. Some well-known people who have worked really hard to be the top of their fields are Michael Jordan, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, and Oprah Winfrey. Some may believe they are natural-ly talented but their path to success was not easy. During the path of learning, students will need encouragement and guidance to under-stand the difference between learning and performance goals. As teachers and parents, we have the opportunity to model these types of goals and support them to be “gritty.” We look forward to partnering with you to continue on this journey to serving your child(ren) the best we can. Dean & Katie

The Prairie Express

MARCH, 2018

Prairie Lost and Found

We have many lost and found clothing items: sweat shirts, t-shirts, pants, jackets, snow pants, hats and mittens. Please check the lost and found table lo-cated between the Spanish and the Music Room The table will be located near the office during Con-ference Week. Over spring break all lost and found items left will be donated to a local charity.

Lamer’s Lost and Found

Please check the Lost and Found bin at Lamer’s Bus Lines for items that your child may have left on the bus. Lamer’s is located at 217 Raemisch Road in Wau-nakee’s Industrial Park. Tel: 608-850-5253 (ext. 2)

Read Across America

February 26 - March 2, 2018

Monday, February 26:

Read My Shirt/Sweatshirt Day

Tuesday, February 27:

Be GREEN Support the Lorax

Wednesday, February 28: Cats Hat STRIPES Day

Thursday, March 1:

Read Around the School, Author visit Go BLUE with Thing 1 & Thing 2

Friday, March 2nd (no school):

is Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss's Birthday

CURRENT EVENTS

Student Placement 2018-2019

Elementary school staff will begin this pro-cess for next school year soon. We strive to balance classrooms following certain criteria including but not limited to: Girl/Boy Ration, Class Size, Variety of Abilities, Special Placements, and Parental Input. Paper place-ment forms are available in the brochure rack in the hallway by the office and in the office . Placement forms are due to the of-fice by April 12, 2018.

Pat Zietlow Miller “Author Visit”

March 1st Pat Zietlow Miller, a children’s book author from Madison, Wiscon-sin, will be coming to Prairie School on Thursday, March 1 for this year’s “Author Visit.”

She has always known that she wanted to be a writer ever since she was in 7th grade. It began with a story about square-dancing skirts which led to a job as a newspaper reporter, where she wrote about everything from dartball to deer-hunting to diets and decoupage. After that, she joined an in-surance company where she edited its newspaper and magazine.

Pat currently writes insurance information by day and children’s books by night. She is married and has two delightful daughters and two pampered cats.

For more information about Pat, please refer to her website: https://www.patzietlowmiller.com/

Dress for the Weather Please have your children dress for the weather. Remind them to wear coats, snow pants, hats, mittens and boots when they go out for recess. Even when there is no snow, the fields are wet and muddy. Make sure that your child’s clothing is labeled for quick identification if lost.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Prairie Elementary School Parent/Teacher con-ferences (K-Gr. 4) are on: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 from 3:30-7:30 pm Friday, March 16, 2018 from 8:00 am -12:00

noon Conferences are 15 minutes. Please use your same date & time as your fall conference time. If you need additional time, please make ar-rangements with your child’s teacher for an-other date. There will be no childcare provided during conferences. Staff available on March 13th: Ms. Dahlie-PE Staff available on March 16th: Mrs. Keenan-Spanish

CURRENT EVENTS

No Invitations at School

It has long been our practice to not have parents or children hand out invitations at school. We respectfully ask parents to follow our practice to help avoid classroom disruptions. Thank you.

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER Mar 1 End second trimester

Mar 2 NO SCHOOL—Staff Dev Day

Mar 9 End PTO Box Top Challenge

Mar 12 Board of Education Mtg

Mar 13 Parent Teacher Conf 3:30-7:30

Mar 14 PTO Meeting 6:30 LMTC

Mar 16 Parent Teacher Conf 8:00-12:00

Mar 16 NO SCHOOL

Mar 19-23 Spring Break

Mar 27 Birthday Sundaes for March

Mar 30 NO SCHOOL

April 2 NO SCHOOL-Snow Make Up if needed

April 9 Board of Education Mtg

April 18 PTO Meeting 6:30 LMTC

April 24 Birthday Sundaes for April

MEMORY BOOKS Make sure you get your Memory Book ordered by March 12. We do not order extra. Go to:

YBPAY.LIFETOUCH.COM

Yearbook ID Code—11197918

NO SCHOOL DAYS

March 2—Staff Develop-ment Day

March 16—Parent Teacher Conference March 19-23—Spring Break March 30—No School April 2— No School, Snow Make up if needed

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - PTO UPCOMING EVENTS PTO Meeting—March 14, 6:30 LMTC

PTO Meeting—April 18, 6:30 LMTC

Basket Bonanza & Art Show — TBD

PTO Meeting—May 16, 6:30 LMTC

Ice Cream Social — May 17 (held at Prairie Elementary)

Have you ever wondered what the PTO all does??? Come join us for a meeting and check it out. The PTO helps purchase things like computer carts, playground equipment and so

much more for Prairie’s students.

Thank you PTO for all you do.

BIRTHDAY SUNDAES Who: Students with March birthdays What: March Birthday Sundaes Where: Cafeteria When: Tuesday, March 27 @ 1:40 p.m.

Parents are welcome to par-ticipate in birthday sundaes.

BOX Top Challenge January 29 thru March 9

Our goal this year is to collect 40,000 box tops points

Keep saving your box tops!!!

POSITIVELY PTO

BIRTHDAY BOOKS Student birthdays are included in morning announcements and the children are invit-ed to the office to pick out a book provided by the Prairie PTO. Thanks to the PTO for providing such a great gift!

Make it a great PUDO (Pick Up/Drop Off)! Below is a list of some reasonable expectations that will make things flow well and be safest for everyone involved. When dropping off/picking up your child(ren) in the PUDO area: Please pull ahead as far as possible in line. A few extra steps for your child is okay. Please do not stop on the cross walk area. Please have your child exit the vehicle on the passenger side. Please have your child out of the vehicle within a minute. If the process is going to take longer please pull into a

stall (not the fire lane) in the parking lot. Please be patient and take it easy. A few extra minutes now could save a life or potential accident. Please do not drop your child off in the bus loop. Mixing car traffic with buses is unsafe. Please park in designated stalls in our parking lots. Parking in crossed off areas or areas not designated as parking

(curbs) can cause an accident. They are crossed off for a reason. Please follow the white arrows to help monitor traffic flow and direction. Please park in a stall if you want to walk your child to the building, please walk your child across the lot. Please refrain from using your cell phone while in our PUDO area’s. They are a distraction and it is vitally im-

portant that full attention is on our student safety. Be careful not to cut off incoming traffic when pulling into a parking stall Thank You for keeping Prairie safe!

ONGOING INFORMATION

School Visitors Parents/legal guardians are encouraged to visit their children in our classrooms. Advance arrangements should be made with the teacher. When you come to school, please sign in and take a visitor’s badge from the office. If you are not wearing a visitor’s badge, please do not be offended if someone stops you and asks you to go back to the office and sign in. We are simply trying to keep your chil-dren safe.

Parents and family mem-bers are always welcome to come and have lunch with your student. If you plan to eat hot lunch with your child, please let the teacher know early in the day so he/she may notify the kitchento ensure there is enough food for all.

Health Office Clothing Reminder

When your child has borrowed clothing items from the health office, please be sure to wash them and return them promptly.

Our supply of “back-up” clothing is limited. Please check to see if you might still have any of these borrowed items at your home and return them as soon as possible.

If you have any gently used gloves or mittens you would like to donate, please drop them off at the health office. Thank you!

From the Health Room Vehicle Safety Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in school age children (2014 CDC study) (http://www.cdc.gov/injury/images/lc-charts/

leading_causes_of_injury_deaths_ unintention-al_injury_2014_1040w740h.gif). The good news is that we can do a lot to prevent it. Here are some important reminders: Buckle up your child on every trip, no matter

how short. Children should remain in a 5 point harness

until they are 4 years old and 40 pounds. Children should ride in the back seat until

they are at least 13 years old. Children should be in booster seats until they

can sit with their back against the seat back while their legs bend over the end of the seat. This typically occurs when the child is 4’9” tall and between 8 and 12 years old.

Set a good example and always wear your seat belt.

Check out www.cdc.gov (search “seat belts”) for more information. If you have questions, please call me at 209-5555. Thank you, Wendi Dorn, School Nurse

ONGOING INFORMATION

SCHOOL HOURS FOR STUDENTS

Arrival time: Students should not arrive at school before 7:15 a.m. as we do not have ade-quate supervision until that time. The first bell rings at 7:35 and school begins at 7:40 am. Dismissal time: is 2:40 p.m. Please be prompt in picking up your students. Getting to school on time is very important. Stu-dents who are late miss out on the morning an-nouncements and also miss important directions and instructions from the teacher. Students who arrive late on a consistent basis interrupt the classroom environment. Learning to be punctual and responsible are important lifelong skills. If your child is late for school he/she must stop in the office to get a pass before going to class.

Volunteer Approval for Field Trips Don’t miss your child’s field trip because you have not been approved to volunteer.

Please remember that it may take up to two weeks for a volunteer application to be processed. Please plan accordingly if you wish to be a field trip chaperone. This volunteer approval will last three years and is for all buildings. Volunteer application forms can be obtained on the school district website at:

http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/families/volunteering.cfm

School Board Recognition The Prairie Staff and students would like to ex-press our gratitude and thanks to all the mem-bers of the Waunakee Board of Education for their commitment and many hours of service to our schools and community. Thank-you !

Joan Ensign Gary Epping

Mark Hetzel Jack Heinemann

David Boetcher Julie Waner

Peggy Hill-Breunig

Waunakee Community School District 2018-2019 District Administrative and Maintenance Center

905 Bethel Circle · Waunakee, WI 53597

Open Enrollment Notice

To: Families who have moved, or are planning to move out of the Waunakee Community School District

boundary limits. Your student(s) may be eligible to continue attending the Waunakee Community School District under the State of Wisconsin's open enrollment program. Open enrollment applications may be com-pleted electronically through this link: http://dpi.wi.gov/open-enrollment between February 5th and April 30th, 2018.

Please call (608)849-2000 or e-mail Julie Gengler, Registrar at: jgengler@waunakee.k12.wi.us for more information.

Intra-District Transfer Notice

To: Families who wish to request a transfer of elementary aged students (K-4) outside of your assigned

attendance area or back into your assigned attendance area. Your student(s) may be eligible to transfer out-side of your assigned elementary (K-4) attendance area or back into your assigned attendance area. The transfer request form is available on our district website at this link: http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/district/registration-forms.cfm or by contacting the district registrar. Transfer requests must be returned to the district registrar by March 16th, 2018. Transfer requests must comply with Board of Education policy 432-Rule.

Please call (608) 849-2000 or e-mail Julie Gengler, Registrar, at jgengler@waunakee.k12.wi.us for more

information.

DISTRICT NEWS & INFO

Four-Year-Old-Kindergarten (4K) Enrollment

Do you have a child who will be four years old on or before September 1, 2018? The Waunakee Community School District is cur-rently accepting Interest Forms for the 2018-2019 school year. You may have already received this Form from us in the postal mail. Please see the information on our website: Waunakee 4K Enrollment Information or contact Diane Pursell at 849-2000 Ext. 8020 for more information on how to enroll, or if you have questions.

There will be a meeting for 4th grade parents and students interested in joining Orchestra in 5th grade on Tuesday, March 6th at 6:30 pm at the Intermediate School gym. Students will have the opportunity in 5th grade orchestra to play the violin, viola, or cello. Students who are interested in playing the bass in 6th grade orchestra are asked to start out on cello as a 5th grade orches-tra member.

At this meeting, Mr. Steen, the intermediate school orchestra teacher, will give a general over-view of the 5th grade orchestra program, the sign-up procedures for 5th grade orchestra, how to obtain an instrument (representatives from a local music store in Madison will be available to help with this), and summer school sign-up proce-dures. Mr. Steen will be coming to Prairie in the upcoming weeks to talk with 4th grade students about orchestra and demonstrate the different instruments available to play.

Mike Steen, Orchestra Teacher, michaelsteen@waunakee.k12.wi.us

Transportation Guidelines If you have questions or concerns about buses please call Lamers Bus Company at 850-5253 ext. 2 Please do not drive through or park in the bus lane. This area is set aside for

safe bus loading and unloading only. Please remind your child about proper behavior at bus stops or on the bus: if they are a busser stay back until the bus

stops before attempting to get on. stay seated in a seat, no jumping back and

forth between seats listen to the driver-they are trying to keep all

students safe while watching the road and driving.

be respectful of the driver, they have feel-ings too

DISTRICT NEWS & INFO Early Learner Screening

If you have a child born on or between March 1, 2014 and September 1, 2014, this makes your child eligible to attend the Early Learner Screening. Children who live in the Waunakee Community School District and meet the above age requirements, along with at least one parent/guardian, are invited to attend the Early Learner Screen-ing. Please note this is a child find screening and not a screening for the 4K program. Early Learner Screening is scheduled between 8:00 am and 1:45 pm on March 9, 2018 at Heritage Elementary School, using the North Gym Entrance. Appointment times include 8:00, 9:15, 10:30, 12:30, and 1:45. Registra-tion for a screening time will be made online at: : http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0A4BABAA28A02-early1. If you do not have internet access, please call Missy Wat-son at 608-849-2000 extension 8101. Attendance is not mandatory, but if you would like your child to attend the screening you must schedule an appointment. For more information regarding the Early Learner Screen-ing, please visit our website at: http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/district/studentservicesmain.cfm and click on "Early Learner Screening" to the left

Summer School 2018 June 18 – July 26 6 weeks, all remedial clas-ses & upcoming grades 5-12

June 18 – July 3 Session I, upcoming grades K—4 enrichment classes

July 9 – July 26 Session II, upcoming grades K—4 enrichment classes

Swim – 2 week day or 4 week night sessions, June through August

Classes are held Monday—Thursday mornings (except where noted in the catalog in class de-scriptions). No classes on Wednesday, July 4

th

or Thursday, July 5th

. Check out the summer school website at: www.waunakee.k12.wi.us. Look for the summer school link un-der the District – Programs & Services tab. This site will have frequent updates, so keep checking for new information now through April.

Look for the 2018 summer school catalog, both online and in the school’s office, in March.

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Read Across America Week

S P R I N G B R E A K—NO SCHOOL

, 2018

Report Cards go home

P/T Conference 8:00-12:00 NO SCHOOL

P/T Conference 3:30-7:30

NO SCHOOL

PTO Mtg 6:30 LMTC

Box Top Challenge ends

Birthday Sundaes 1:40 pm Cafe

Day Light Savings Time

Last day to order Memory books Board of Ed Mtg 7:00 pm

End 2nd Trimester

Go Blue for Thing1 & Thing 2 Author Visit

Cats Hat “STRIPES” day

Orchestra Meeting for 4th Grade @ Int. 6:30 pm

St. Patrick’s Day

NO SCHOOL

Be GREEN Support the Lorax

Read My Shirt/Sweatshirt Day