Panther Digest

Dear Prairie View Families,

What a wonderful first week of school! I have worked in education since 2009, and I cannot remember another school year that began with a full five-day week. Our students and staff rose to the occasion! We learned so much about our new routines, built connections, and have already begun digging into our curriculum.

Today, we gathered for our first all-school assembly. Students reviewed our three Prairie View guidelines: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe. They were also introduced to this year’s theme, Growing Together, through a read-aloud of The Curious Garden by Peter Brown.

We discussed how, just as the character in the story helped his garden grow, every one of us has the ability to help Prairie View grow. We grow together when we care for one another and make respectful, responsible, and safe choices.

I hope your child had a fantastic first week! Enjoy the weekend, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday, August 31.

Sincerely,

Valerie Vos
Principal, Prairie View Elementary

Monday, August 31st

Tuesday, September 1st

Last Day to Order PVES Spirit Wear

Wednesday, September 2nd

Thursday, September 3rd

Friday, September 4th

Starting school is a big transition, especially for children and families who are new to school! A short, predictable goodbye routine can help your child feel safe and confident. Consider reading The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn together and creating your own “kissing hand” ritual—a kiss in your child’s palm that they can carry with them throughout the day.

You might also tuck a small family photo into your child’s backpack as a comforting reminder that you are always close at heart. At drop-off, offer a loving hug, share a confident goodbye, and remind your child that you will return at the end of the school day. Although tears are sometimes part of the transition, children typically settle quickly once they enter the building and begin their routine. Our Prairie View staff will be ready to welcome, comfort, and care for them!

Please see the following information for updated information about the change in our spelling practices.

MASD is offering parents and community members the opportunity to view curricular materials that are under consideration for adoption beginning in the 2027-28 school year for 5K-Grade 2 English Language Arts and 5K-Grade 5 at Eagleville.

During the 2026-27 school year, we will be piloting and reviewing new materials in some of our classrooms at the Kindergarten-2nd grade level, as well as grades 3-5 at Eagleville. The district has chosen two resources to pilot: Amplify CKLA and the revised version of Superkids (our current resource). Eagleville is also piloting Benchmark Advance in the upper grades.

The viewing session will be Thursday, September 10, 2026 from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. at the district office (385 E. Veterans Way). There will be a short presentation starting at 6:00 p.m. with viewing of materials following after. Registration is not required.

High Interest Day planning is underway, and we would love YOUR input! Please complete this brief form to share your student’s interests and vote for your favorite end-of-day all-school assembly option.

At Prairie View, we believe that every child thrives in a school community where they feel safe, valued, and supported. Throughout the year, we will continue to teach, model, and celebrate our three schoolwide behavior expectations:

🌱 Be Respectful
🌱 Be Responsible
🌱 Be Safe

These expectations guide our classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, playground, buses, and all school activities. During the first weeks of school, students will spend time learning and practicing what these expectations look and sound like in every area of our building.

We encourage you to reinforce these expectations at home by talking with your child about how they can show respect, responsibility, and safety each day. When school and home work together, we help every Panther grow into a confident, caring, and responsible member of our community.

Picture day is scheduled during the morning of Thursday, September 24th. Pictures will be taken by Network Photography. Picture packets can be ordered and paid for online only, directly to Network Photography.

Environmental club thanks you for your participation in the plastic recycling challenge last school year! It was a one year challenge and we are not collecting plastic as a school this year. We encourage you to still recycle plastic as a family and drop it off at a local grocery store. Several stores have collection bins near their entrances and exits.

Drivers are instructed to pick up students at assigned stops only. This prevents students from dangerously walking or running along town and subdivision roads to another location. Students have ample time to socialize with friends at scheduled recesses and after school hours. Thank you for following your assigned scheduled bus stop.

At Prairie View we encourage a strong partnership between the home, school, and community, and recognize a positive relationship between good school attendance and success in school. If student learning and growth are to take place, parents, students, and school personnel must recognize their responsibilities to assure regular attendance. We now have two methods available to report a student absence.

New Infinite Campus Parent Portal Feature - Absence Requests

Parents are now able to submit absence requests via the Infinite Campus Parent Portal or Mobile App. School staff can review and process requests to automatically update attendance. Save time and make your absence requests via the Infinite Campus Parent Portal!

School Attendance Line: 262-392-6310 (Then Press 1)

The Prairie View School Attendance Line offers 24 hour voice mail messaging. Please call the main office numbers 262-392-6310 and listen for the prompts. All absences and tardies should be called in by 8:30 a.m. on the day of the absence or tardy. The message should include the child’s name, the teacher’s name, and the reason for the absence. If your child will be late, please include their hot lunch choice (option #1 or #2) OR cold lunch.

The office will contact the parents/guardians of absent children when a student absence has not been received either via phone call or Infinite Campus entry by 9:00 a.m. on the day of absence.

Please note any pre-planned absence exceeding one day, a Planned Absence Form should be completed and turned in to the office PRIOR to the date of absence.

New this year, parents will receive an automatic notification via Infinite Campus Messenger when their child is in the health room at some point during the school day. Parents will not be notified if this is a scheduled medication or treatment.

However, parents will still be called, as normal, if your child receives a head bump, major injury, is too sick to remain in school, or has an urgent need. For reasons your child may be too sick to remain in school, please check out this Too Sick for School document from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Please contact your child’s school health room with any questions.

All birthday treats sent to school must be pre-packaged or packaged into easy to serve individual servings. All treats must be sensitive to any allergies within the classroom. Balloons and decorations should be kept at home to celebrate with your family.

Interested in volunteering in our schools? All volunteers must have an approved volunteer application on file before volunteering or signing up for school events.

Important reminders:

• Complete the online volunteer application at least five school days before your first volunteer assignment.
• A Social Security number and birth date are required for the background check process.
• Once approved, you may volunteer in any MASD building.
• Volunteer approval is valid for two years.
• When arriving at school, please check in at the kiosk and select VOLUNTEER (not Visitor) so the proper screening and admittance process can be completed.

To learn more or complete an application, visit the Mukwonago Area School District website under Families → Quick Links → Volunteering or go directly to the volunteer page www.masd.k12.wi.us .

Parents will need to put money into their child's lunch account through the Infinite Campus Portal. You may check the balance at anytime by accessing the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. You will receive an automatic low balance or negative balance phone call if your child needs money added to his/her account. Payments may be made online through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal, or paid by check made out to MASD and sent to the school office. The hot lunch price for this year is $3.45 and includes one milk. If a child takes a milk with a cold lunch, they will be charged $0.50

Students in 4th, 5th and 6th grade are eligible to join the orchestra and learn to play a stringed instrument (violin, viola, or cello)! Anyone is welcome to join, even if you do not have any playing experience. Orchestra days are Mondays (PM) and Wednesdays (AM). Ms. Kosier will be visiting classrooms during the first week of school with sign-up forms for students to take home, and more information about when large group classes and lesson groups will be meeting. For now, here is a timeline of dates to look out for:

Week of August 31st: 5th and 6th grade Orchestra will begin meeting for large group classes this week. No instruments are needed yet.

Week of September 7th: 5th and 6th graders begin small group lessons with instruments.

September 9th: Instrument Fitting Night at RHES 6:00pm for 4th graders and any other new Orchestra students.

September 10th: Instrument Fitting Night at CES 6:00pm (you do not need to attend both evenings, just pick which one works best for you)

September 14th: 4th grade begins meeting for Orchestra classes! We will not need instruments this week, to allow families time to secure their instrument rentals. 4th graders need to have instruments ready by the week of September 21st.

Please reach out at kosieja@masd.k12.wi.us if you have any questions. It's going to be a great school year!!!

♫ Ms. Kosier ♫

If your child plans to participate in 5th Grade Band this year, this is a reminder to obtain an instrument or complete the online rental form through White House of Music as soon as possible. Students will need to have their instruments by the second week of school, so if you have not yet secured an instrument or submitted the rental form, please do so at your earliest convenience.

I am looking forward to a fantastic year of making music together! As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at montare@masd.k12.wi.us.

Mr. Montanye

A great to learn more about Prairie View, connect with parents and get involved is to attend a PTO meeting. The goal of the PTO is to support students and teachers as well as build a strong "school-family-community" connection. Join us for the first PTO meeting on September 14th. Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. and is located in the Prairie View Library.

Click HERE to learn more about the PVES PTO, upcoming events, meetings and ways to get involved.

Please feel free to reach out to the office staff with any questions or concerns:

Mrs. Valerie Vos, Principal

262-392-6310, ext. 26500

vosva@masd.k12.wi.us

Mrs. Valerie Politoski, Administrative Assistant

262-392-6310, ext. 26501

politva@masd.k12.wi.us

Mrs. Tara Rice, Clerk

262-392-6310, ext. 26502

riceta@masd.k12.wi.us

Mrs. Danielle Jones, Health Assistant

262-392-6310, ext. 26503

jonesda@masd.k12.wi.us