Lowell Newsletter Fall 2023

Dear Lowell Families,

It has been a joy to have your children with us these last few weeks! We have been working hard building classroom communities and teaching our systems and routines. These first two weeks are focused on making sure we have everything in place so that we are ready to do some great learning in the months ahead!!

We have been thrilled to see so many of our Lions here at school and on time! We want to really encourage families to take school attendance seriously; the goal for all students is to have 94% attendance. This means students do not miss more than 10 days, for any reason, during the school year. It is important to note that we have returned to pre-Covid guidelines for when students should stay home from school. These are:

• A fever of 100.4 degrees or more within 24 hours

• Vomiting or Diarrhea within 24 hours

• If your child tests positive for COVID-19 (on rapid testing or PCR)

• When advised by Public Health or your medical provider to stay home.

At Lowell, we are nurturing gifts and inspiring learning in a joyful community! It was wonderful seeing many of you at our Back to School Night on September 19th!

Warmly,

Ellen

October 12: Lowell Picture Day

October 13: Movie Night, 6:30pm

October 17: Lowell Community Organization Meeting, 7:00pm

October 20: No School - Staff Only Day

October 31: Dismissal at 10:40am for Conference Planning

Please note:

If you are DRIVING your student to school, please park in the neighborhood and walk your child up to school OR drop them off on Center St. or Maple Ave. Please note that there is NO parking along Center (school side) or Maple (school side) - if you are dropping off or picking up on these streets, please do not leave your vehicle unattended.

Reference this document for more information and the arrival/dismissal map.

In the next few weeks, classroom teachers will share brief video lessons from Ms. Franzone on what to do in case of emergency situations at school. MMSD developed the lessons specifically for our elementary students. At these young ages, we approach the topic of safety in much the same way as we do our Second Step lessons on social-emotional learning. We want students to feel secure, safe, and confident at school.

Emergency drills help students practice what they learn and are mandated by the state of Wisconsin. These include nine fire drills, two tornado drills, two school safety incident drills (such as Evacuate, Hold, or Secure), and two “school violence event” drills (Lockdown). Families will receive communication before and after a Lockdown Drill takes place.

Please see below about the different safety lessons we will share with your child in the next few weeks. Our goal is to make sure that our young students understand the importance of following adult directions in an emergency. Please contact Ms. Franzone and/or your child’s classroom teacher if your child has special circumstances that should be considered when teaching the Standard Response Protocols.

Lesson 1: Shelter We’ll talk about different reasons we might need to seek shelter, such as a thunderstorm or tornado warning. We’ll talk about where their class will go in case there is a tornado warning and teachers will show students that space.

Lesson 2: Hold Students will be taught what happens during Hold. Hold is the word that is used when students and staff need to stay in their classroom (or gymnasium, library, music room, and so on) in order to keep the halls clear of people. This might be due to a spill in the hallway or if EMT's need to help a student who broke their arm.

Lesson 3: Evacuate We will discuss evacuations that students may be familiar with, like fire drills. Students will practice lining up with their class and following directions on where they should go in case of this type of emergency.

Lesson 4: Secure We’ll teach students the importance of quickly getting inside the school building in the event of a Secure. We will talk in general about some reasons that we would do this; like if there was a stinky skunk on the playground.

Lesson 5: Lockdown We will talk in very general terms about using this action when someone is being unsafe inside the school. Teachers will talk with students about having an area of their classroom where they will go to be very quiet like a bunny.

For more information about the Standard Response Protocol and MMSD emergency procedures, please visit mmsd.org/safety.

Welcoming Schools is a nationwide program being used in MMSD to create more respectful and supportive schools for all students, staff and families. Professional development, lesson plans, books and inclusive language are provided around family diversity, preventing bias-based bullying, gender and LGTBTQ+ inclusion, and anti-racism. Classroom teachers teach one or more lessons from Welcoming Schools each month. Lessons often use children’s books as starting points for activities and discussion. We know that in order for students to do their best learning, they and their families need to feel safe, valued and respected. Welcoming Schools provides resources and a framework for schools to help us achieve that goal.

If you would like more information about Welcoming Schools:

• The National Welcoming Schools site,

• Or contact Mindy Trudell, Lowell School Social Worker at 204-6634 or mtrudell@madison.k12.wi.us

Hello and welcome to the 2023/2024 school year. My name is Vicki Ashenbrenner and I am the Speech Language Pathologist at Lowell Elementary School.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s speech and/or language development. Email is generally the quickest way to contact me during the school day. My email address is vashenbrenne@madison.k12.wi.us or you can reach me by phone/text at (608) 709-8921. I am looking forward to a wonderful year!

The Madison Metropolitan School District’s Healthy Classroom Snack guide was developed to help parents and school staff select healthy and nut-free snack options when bringing in snacks for the entire class for events such as birthdays, holidays, rewards, etc.

We take great care in making sure all students feel welcomed and safe within the classroom. Certain foods may trigger life threatening allergic reactions.

Requirements

• Snacks have to be pre-packaged boxes or bags for each student (Individual packaging )
• Snacks containing peanuts or nuts are not allowed. This includes snacks containing almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts and/or sesame seeds.
• Teachers are unable to microwave snack items.
• There is NO refrigeration available for snacks.

Listed below are some examples

• Fruit cups in water or 100% fruit juice
• Dried fruit with no added sugar
• Applesauce, fruits and vegetables pouch
• Whole grain crackers (Wheat Thins*, plain Triscuits*, Goldfish*)
• Graham crackers. ( Nabisco*, Teddy grahams* )
• Rice cakes
• Pretzels (Newman’s Own*, Rold Gold*, Pepperidge Farm* Pretzel Goldfish*)
• Popped popcorn ( Skinny POP* popcorn and mini cakes )
• Whole grain cereal bars (88 Acres*, Don’t Go Nuts*, Enjoy Life*, Libre Naturals*, Made Good*, LibreNaturals* )
• Fig Bars (Newton*, Nature’s Bakery )
• Bagel Chips (free2be*)
• Vegetables chips (potato chips, sweet potato chips)
• Lentils, chickpea,sweet beet and corn chips.
• Fruit snacks (Annie’s*, Welch’s*)
• Cookies ( ginger snaps Nabisco*, Oreos*)

As we settle into a new school year, we want to remind you of resources to access and maintain your student’s meal balances. MMSD utilizes School Café to connect families with all Foods and Nutrition related information, including access to school menus, payment options and the free and reduced lunch application.

In addition to paying previous meal balances, School Cafe also allows families to proactively deposit funds into your student’s account. As a reminder, costs are published on the Foods and Nutrition website annually:

• Breakfast: $1.60 in elementary schools, $1.85 in middle and high schools.

• Lunch: $2.95 in elementary schools, $3.35 in middle schools, and $4.15 high schools

• Reduced price is $0.40 for lunch in all grade levels. Your child may qualify for free or reduced-price meals if your household income falls within the limits on the Federal Income Chart.

Once you have created or logged into your School Cafe account, click “make a payment” to pay fees or deposit funds via credit card or bank account information. Alternatively, you can send a check or cash ($50 limit) with your student to school, where they can add funds to their account with the food service staff. Students can take the check or cash to the point-of-sale station in the cafeteria and it can be deposited on their account when they purchase a meal or they can just take cash or check to the point-of-sale station to deposit the funds.

Please note, we serve meals to students at school regardless of their balance, in order to support equitable access to full, nutritious meals for all scholars. A la carte purchases, including milk, are only allowable with a positive fund balance or cash.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or MMSD Foods and Nutrition staff at studentfees@madison.k12.wi.us.

Dear Families,

We hope your school year is off to a great start and we appreciate collaborating with you and your students in advanced learning development and opportunities. The Madison Metropolitan School District’s Advanced Learning (AL) Department recognizes the necessity of supporting and developing strengths and talents in our students. In this regard, the AL Department wants to ensure you are aware of the identification process of AL students and the assurance that once a student is identified, they continue to have student needs met as needed in our K-8 setting. We are equally focused on our equity goals and truly hope to continue to focus on talent development and potential in all learners.

Advanced Learning includes the domains of specific academics which includes Literacy, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science, and also Leadership, Creativity and the Visual and Performing Arts. Advanced Learning provides learning opportunities that broaden, deepen, and stretch beyond grade level expectations when students are ready for additional challenges through push in services, pull out services or support in the core content classroom.Students identified to receive these supports show high capabilities or the potential for high performance. In addition, due to the size of some schools and the split allocation of AL Specialists, some services may be offered across schools via Zoom or in non-traditional ways.

Continue reading here.

Dear Madison Metropolitan School District Families,

Thank you for trusting us with your child’s journey to and from school. We are proud to be the new transportation partner for the district.

At First Student, we are committed to providing unmatched care on our buses, so when children arrive, they are ready to start their day with an exceptional experience and are ready to achieve their full potential.

As part of this commitment, we are excited to share the improvements you and your family will experience this school year.

• A pledge to foster an environment of trust and respect on the bus. We take the threat of bullying seriously, and our drivers undergo regular training on behavior management methods.

• Highly trained drivers who provide the industry’s safest ride to and from school. We are the only student transportation company awarded the National Safety Council Green Cross for Safety medal.

• A special education training program, FirstServes, that utilizes research-backed interventions and proven methods to ensure that we provide the best possible service to children with unique needs.

As we work to serve your family, we invite you and your neighbors to join OUR family. We continue to actively hire drivers who are committed to safety and customer service and who have genuine, caring attitudes toward children. Interested candidates can apply online at workatfirst.com.

We look forward to becoming an integral part of the Madison Metropolitan School District community and having a safe and successful year!

Sincerely,

Ladel Cass

Area General Manager

First Student

Michael Comstock

Senior Location Manager

First Student

Madison East Area Resources: Food, Housing, Mental Health, Utilities, Internet

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