Welcome to Caddie's monthly newsletter. We hope you enjoy our paperless format, and will continue to use the newsletter as a reference for looking up days off, lunch menus, and much more. This newsletter will be updated throughout the month. Please feel free to let us know if there is anything else you would like to see!

• May 1- 3rd grade visit to Weisenbeck Farm
• May 2- Fifth Grade Law Day: 9am
• May 3- Kdg field trip to the Children's Museum
• May 6- M/W JK field trip to Alex's and Memorial Park
• May 6- Positivitee Day
• May 8- Mrs. Unser & Mrs. Berger's classes to Crystal Cave
• May 9- Mrs. Brenner & Mrs. Erickson's classes to Crystal Cave
• May 9- T/Th field trip to Alex's and Memorial Park
• May 10- Track & Field Day, grades 3 thru 5
  
• May 15- Spring Literacy meeting @ the Public Library (see flyer in this newsletter for details)
• May 16- 3rd Grade Wax Museum presentation at Caddie
• May 17- Bike Rodeo (grades 2 & 3), details below
• May 20- 2nd Grade Community Library visit (8:30-10:45)
• May 21- 5th Grade Spring Conservation Days
• May 22- 1st Grade trip to Eau Claire Sport Center/Carson Park
• May 22- 3rd Grade Community Day 11:00-3:00
• May 22- 2nd Grade field trip to MN Zoo
• May 22- 4th Grade field trip to WI Logging Museum
• May 24- 5th Grade Graduation at 8:30 am
• May 24- Last day of school!
  
• July 22-Aug 8- Summer School

As we approach the end of the 2023-24 school year, it's a time for reflection on our children’s learning and growth and anticipation for the upcoming year. I wanted to take a moment to share our approach to student classroom placements. We are committed to creating balanced and positive classrooms that provide the best environment for each child's academic and social development. Before the school year concludes, our teachers collaborate to carefully consider the academic, social, and behavioral needs of each child.

Grade-level educators, Title teachers, special education, instructional coach, school psychologist, and others, collaborate to develop draft classroom placements for the upcoming grade level. Your child’s relationship with their current classroom teacher has allowed them to get to know your child well, enabling them to make informed recommendations about classroom placement. Throughout this process, we consider each student's academic performance, behavioral skills, and social interactions. We identify students who may benefit from additional support or interventions and strive to create classrooms that accommodate diverse learning styles and foster social growth.

We appreciate your trust in our school team to construct classroom communities that best serve each child. As you can imagine, balancing the needs of one child and the needs of all is challenging work. Please remember that the relationship between the teacher and student is important; but, the collective dynamic between all students is critical. As such, we do not take requests for next year’s classroom placements. Our priority is to create balanced classrooms that provide the best possible learning environment for all students.

By sharing our placement process, we hope to provide insight into the informed decisions guiding our classroom arrangements. We do not take this task lightly. In my twelve years as the elementary principal, I am continuously impressed and humbled to work with professional staff who take the honor and privilege of working with your children so seriously. We are dedicated to creating vibrant, excellent classrooms that meet the needs of all children and prepare them for success in the coming year.

Have you “HERD”? The kindergarten started their end of year alphabet countdown with zebra day!

Juniors and Seniors visited Caddie Woodlawn on Wednesday morning for their fourth and final classroom read aloud of the year. High School students read and participated in classroom activities with grades K-2.

The Eastern Bluebirds are back! 4th grade students have been busy learning all about these beautiful birds and monitoring the nestboxes at school. The Durand Sportsmen's club made and gave each 4th grade student a nestbox to set up at home and monitor.

On April 19th, five 5th grade students were chosen to represent Caddie Woodlawn at the Math Masters competition in St. Croix Central. As pictured in the first photo from left to right: Carter Maxwell, Gavin Klevgard, Maddux Rosemeyer, Jonah Larson, and Adeline Rieland.

These students took a five minute fact drill test, four individual tests, and three group tests.

This group placed 8th out of 16 teams! Carter Maxwell also placed 2nd overall for his fact drill score and 4th overall for his individual tests scores.

We are so proud of these students for their hard work!

Caddie Families,

Thank you for another fantastic year in the Caddie Library! Please be on the lookout for any Caddie Library books that may be at home/in the car/at Grandma's etc. All Caddie Library books will be due on Thursday, May 16. Have a wonderful summer, and please check out the fantastic summer programs that are offered by the Durand Community Library.

Report Cards can be viewed in Skyward Family Access

Instructions: Log in to Skyward Family Access and select “Portfolio”. Select Quarter 3, 2023-2024 from the list.

https://skyward.iscorp.com/scripts/wsisa.dll/WService=wsedudurandarkansawwi/seplog01.w

Please reach out to the office if you need assistance.

At morning drop off, you may walk your child(ren) to the front door, but access beyond that point is not granted. We understand this is a change from when you could walk your child into the commons, in collaboration with Durand Police Department, this is another step forward in creating the safest school environment. It is best if you drop your child off in the loop, exiting on the passenger side only, and let them walk inside on their own, as we will have staff on duty to help. Signs for bus and parent entrances are marked. Breakfast and drop off begin at 7:45am, please do not drop off any earlier than 7:45am as our doors are locked until then, and staff begin their supervising duties. Our school day starts at 8:10am.

Please feel free to drop off snacks and birthday treats in the office, and we will bring them to the classrooms.

We keep a supply of clothing in the Health Room for students that need a change of clothes. Currently we could use donations of new or gently used boys sweatpants, size S & M.

Do you recognize these items? Please email the office at cwsoffice@durand.k12.wi.us, and we will send it home with your child.

We always have tables full of things found out on the playground, the bus, or forgotten after breakfast. Please feel free to call/email the office or stop in after dismissal to take a look.

Instructions: Log in to Skyward Family Access and select “Food Service" from the menu.

• Make a Payment
• Update Payment Amount
• Pay with Vendor

https://skyward.iscorp.com/scripts/wsisa.dll/WService=wsedudurandarkansawwi/seplog01.w

All members of a family share a lunch account.

Breakfast 4K-12 - $1.50/meal
Lunch 4K-5 - $2.05/meal
Extra milk: .40

On the first Monday of every month, we welcome

and encourage you to have your child wear a T-shirt with a positive

message. Note: the next PositiviTEE day will be Monday, May 6th.

Here are just a couple examples of positive messages: “Choose

Kind,” “Be the Nice Kid,” “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Any phrase or

picture on a shirt that sends a positive thought and puts a smile on

someone’s face is welcomed!

This is completely optional of course, but we hope you consider

having your child participate on the first Monday of every month!

Thank you for being such a positive part of our school community!

ABOUT US

Bridging Brighter Smiles, Inc. is a school-based preventative dental care program. Founded in Wisconsin in 2012, we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization bringing essential dental services to students in the comfort of their school. Our mission is to bridge the gap in dental care by offering access to services, building wellness relationships within communities, and educating students to instill life-long healthy habits.

Professional Dental Services Provided Right at School Include:

• Oral Screening
• Dental Cleaning
• Fluoride Varnish Application
• Dental Sealant Placement
• Silver Diamine Fluoride Application
• Oral Health Education
• Referral Assistance

Enroll now!

https://bridgingbrightersmiles.org/

All districts in Wisconsin are currently reviewing their policies and practices around pupil nondiscrimination. If you would like to provide input in this process, please contact Michelle Zagozen, Director of Pupil Services, at 715-672-8921 or mzagozen@durand.k12.wi.us.

School safety continues to be a top priority for our school district. At morning drop off, you may walk your child into the commons to say goodbye, but access beyond the commons will not be granted at any time during the day. It is best if you drop your child off in the loop, exiting on the passenger side only, and let them walk inside on their own, as we will have staff on duty to help. Signs for bus and parent entrances are marked. Breakfast and drop off begin at 7:45am, please do not drop off any earlier than 7:45am as our doors are locked until then, and staff begin their supervising duties. Our school day starts at 8:10am.

Dismissal Times for bussing & parent pick-up will be as follows:

Students will be brought outside for parent pick-up

• 3:05pm: JK, Kdg, 1st grade, and all older siblings to these parent pick-up students
• 3:10pm: JK, Kdg, 1st grade are dismissed to the bus
  

• 3:15pm: 2nd Grade thru 5th Grade dismissed for bus and parent pick up

Walkers will be dismissed after the buses have departed

End of the day pick-up is incredibly busy and requires patience. We will bring all parent pick-up students outside the main doors at their scheduled dismissal time. Please do not come before your child/ren’s scheduled dismissal time, we need to keep the flow of the line/loop moving. We strongly encourage those who are able to ride the bus, to please do so. We need everyone to be patient and follow these safety guidelines at pick-up to ensure a smooth process for everyone.

• We do not dismiss students by themselves to the parking lot, you must park in a spot and come and get them from their line.

• Please drive with caution in the parking lot. Drive slow, stay off your cell phone, eyes on the road, & music turned down.

• Please do not park in the street, the buses need to get through.

• Reminder we are a tobacco free zone, this includes the parking lot.

• We will have staff on duty the entire time, if you aren’t able to get your child at 3:05pm- no worries, we will still have them with us at 3:15pm

It is important that your child/children know how they are getting home each day. It is incredibly challenging for us to be pulling students off the bus, from the parent pick-up line, making calls, etc. during dismissal time. If there are any changes to the way your child will be getting home please send a note or call the office before 2:30pm so we can plan accordingly.

At the recent School Board Meeting, the School Board approved the calendar for the 2024-2025 school year. Families will notice two differences in the calendar from previous years. The first is that after the survey of the families there will not be a Spring Break. The survey data was overwhelmingly in favor of ending school earlier without a Spring Break. The second change is that we will be starting school closer to September 1st this year. The state is no longer granting waivers allowing us to start as early as we have the past couple of years.

As in years past we will have three "Orientation Days" the end of August that will look and feel like the first three days of school. In the past we have found great value in these days for all students and staff.

Email: ejohnson@durand.k12.wi.us
Website: durand.k12.wi.us
Location: 650 Auth Street, Durand, WI, USA
Phone: 715-672-8977
Facebook: facebook.com/durandschool
Twitter: @durandschool