Weekly Wauna Connect

September 9- Cross Country Invitational Spring Green 11am

September 11 A5

September 11 - Football 8th Grade Purple @ Middleton HS 7pm

September 12 - B6

September 12 - Football 7th Grade Purple vs. Lodi @ Waunakee 5pm

September 12 - Football 7th Grade White vs. @ Waunakee 6:30pm

September 12- Football 8th Grade White vs. @ Middleton 7pm

September 13 - A1

September 13 - School Picture Day

September 14 - B2

September 15 - A3

October 17 - Picture Retake Day

Photos of all students will be taken during Homeroom period in the LMTC on September 13th. Each student will be given one order form. Please fill out the order form and have your student bring it with them at the time they get their photo taken.

These photos are used on lunch cards and in the Yearbook. Optional picture packages may be purchased at Lifetouch.com using Picture Day ID: EVT2BFKN3 or scan the QR code.

Picture retake day is currently scheduled for Tuesday, October 17th.

Note: All students MUST get their photo taken, but you are not required to purchase a package

A royal shipwreck begets royal mayhem in our 2023 production of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy Twelfth Night. After washing ashore a hostile island, Princess Viola disguises herself in hopes of finding her missing twin brother, Sebastian. Mistaken identities and mischief soon follow. Our adaptation of The Bard’s classic has everything from death by volcano to love at first sight. But first and foremost, Twelfth Night has sibling love. Telling a tale of the measures we’ll take for our weird, vexing, and most-definitely-unrelated-to-us-no-matter-what-Mom-says brothers and sisters who deep down inside we just can’t live without. Be part of Twelfth Night’s chaotic hilarity, all interested seventh and eighth grade students can participate.

• Auditions are Monday, September 18th and Tuesday, September 19th from 3:45 p.m. - 5 p.m. in Waunakee Middle School’s Art Room. Students interested in acting should see Ms. Wagner-Marx with any questions and to pick up an audition packet.

• Students interested in signing up for stage crew should sign up with Ms. Wagner-Marx by September 19th.

Please click on the link for the Middle School Morning Drop off and Afternoon Pick up times for the 2023-2024 School Year: https://wms.waunakee.k12.wi.us/about-us/student-schedule

If your student will be arriving prior to the 8:05am bell, they will proceed to the back of school. 7th Grade will enter in Door 6 and 8th Grade will enter in Door 7 when the 8:05am bell rings. On inclement weather or cold weather days, the students will come inside and proceed to their designated location (Gym or Cafeteria).

For your convenience, you can submit your attendance request via three convenient options:

Infinite Campus- click here to view instructions on how to submit a new absence request in the Parent Portal, view absence requests, and how to delete a request. For questions or help creating a Campus Parent account, please reach out to Julie Gengler, District Registrar, via email. You can also visit our school websites under the Family Tab/Attendance for more information.

Attendance Line has a 24/7 voicemail that you may use anytime. You may call the attendance line at (608)849-2065 press 1. Please clearly state/spell your child's name, reason for absence, your name and phone number.

Email at wms_attendance@waunakee.k12.wi.us to leave a message with your child's name, reason for absence and your name & phone number in case we need to reach you..

If you'll be seeing a medical provider, please obtain a note and forward it to the attendance email and we'll be happy to code the absence as medically excused.

Please pay your 2023-2024 School Fees by logging into your parent portal in Infinite Campus.

Registration fees and school store items for students in grades K-12 are available now. .We have been transitioning to a more accurate and efficient fee structure, and in the process we are learning some new processes. As part of the transition, we inadvertently assigned exempt status to fees to all of our students, instead of just the one student we were trying to make exempt. As a result, you will see two extra lines on your fee bill for each incorrectly assigned fee - one where it was assigned, and one that voids it out. We apologize for the mistake and the confusion, and appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this transition that will make our fee process more user friendly moving forward. These fees will be due by September 29, 2023. Families will begin receiving fee statements for any outstanding fees beginning October 2, 2023.

• Class specific fee's such as art 7/8, TE-8,Gateway to Tech 8, and F/CS 8 will be added when classes are live.

If you think your family may qualify for Free or Reduced fees, please see the application for 2023-2024 (English/Spanish). If you have questions or need help with the paperwork, please contact Ms. Biddick at rebeccabiddick@waunakee.k12.wi.us

We are excited to launch a back to school online Warrior Corner School Store option for you! As the district launched a new brand for both the school district and the high school/spirit last school year, we want you to be able to sport the newest gear. There are many options for men, women, youth, spirit, and accessories.

Click here to access our online store: https://waunakeespiritapparel23.itemorder.com/shop/home/

All items can be shipped directly to your home (shipping rates apply) or picked up at Trending Now Promotions (1120 Uniek Drive, Waunakee) at no extra cost to you. The deadline to order is Monday, September 11, at which time all orders will be processed.

Thank you for your support of our Warrior Corner Store and the Marketing Education program by shopping locally.

Dear Families of incoming 7th Graders:

We are working hard to prepare your child for seventh grade and we wanted to inform you of the Wisconsin Student Immunization Law (Wis. Stat. §§ 252.04) that states there is a vaccine requirement before the start of 7th grade. The vaccination requirement is: 1 dose of Tdap. This is an adolescent booster for Tetanus, Diphtheria and acellular Pertussis (whooping cough). Please note: this is NOT the 5 shot series that children receive prior to kindergarten.

The Tdap vaccine is typically offered at sports physicals or at age 11 year well child check up visits. The Tdap vaccination may be obtained through your child’s primary care provider (PCP) or at a number of local pharmacies. Madison Dane County Public Health offers immunizations at no charge to those who are uninsured, underinsured, eligible for Medicaid/BadgerCare, and those who are American Indian or Alaska Natives. Call 608-266-4821 to schedule an appointment with them, if needed.

If your child has received the Tdap vaccine prior to receiving this notification, we can access the information from the Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR). If your child received this vaccine out of state or has a paper record of the vaccination, please submit it to the Middle School health office prior to the first day of the 2023-24 school year.

Vaccine requirements may be waived for health, religious, or personal conviction reasons. If you choose to waive the Tdap vaccine for your student, please complete and sign the waiver section of the Student Immunization Record form and return it to the Middle School Health Office prior to the first day of the 2023-24 school year.

Linked here is more information about the Tdap vaccine. Although the meningococcal vaccine is not a school requirement, keeping our 11 and 12 year olds up-to-date with recommended immunizations is the best defense against meningococcal disease. Commonly known as bacterial meningitis, a rare, but potentially fatal infection can occur among teenagers and college students. While meningococcal disease is difficult to contract, it is serious, and there are vaccines that may prevent this infection.

We feel it is important to put this notification out to you early. Our local medical clinics get busy during summer and schedules often fill up quickly.

Wishing you a safe and fun summer,

Jenny Sydow, RN, School Nurse jennifersydow@waunakee.k12.wi.us 608-209-9950

Does your student need updated immunizations for school? Click here for more details about free back to school vaccine clinics. Contact the health office staff at (608) 849-2060, press 2, if you have specific immunization questions regarding your student.

Urgent NEED for School Bus Drivers

Do you enjoy working with kids? Would you like a flexible schedule and better work-life balance? Does great pay with extra earning opportunities appeal to you? The Waunakee Community School District and Lamers Bus Company are in urgent need of new school bus drivers.

Even if you can’t drive, you can still help!

The school district is offering a $500 referral bonus and a $500 new hire bonus for all new school bus drivers (Contingent upon 90 days of service). Lamers is also offering an opportunity to earn up to $2,400 in additional incentive payments. Please note, if these positions are not filled, transportation service for the district will be impacted.

Interested in applying? Please call Lamers at (608) 850-5253 and ask to speak with Jeremy or Tom.

The Waunakee Community School District Board of Education (BOE) has initiated a search for its next Superintendent. It is important that the successful candidate be someone who has the combination of credentials, experiences, leadership skills, and personal traits that students, staff, families, and our community expect and value.

As part of the process, we are seeking input from you to help build a leadership profile outlining the professional and personal characteristics required to be successful in this role. This profile will be published as part of the job posting and used by the Board of Education to evaluate candidates.

There are two ways that you can participate to help us build this leadership profile - stakeholder focus groups and a feedback survey.

Survey

A stakeholder engagement survey will open on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. All responses are anonymous. The link to the survey will be shared on our district website, as well as shared to our students, staff, families, and community. We appreciate your participation in completing this survey and assisting us with this very important task.

Stakeholder In-Person and Virtual Engagement Meetings

BWP, Superintendent Search Consultant, will be in our school district on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. We invite our students, staff, families, and community members to participate in our stakeholder in-person or virtual engagement meetings. Mark your calendars! More information will be shared in September.

Please visit our district website (Board of Education/Superintendent Search) for more information. If you have questions, we encourage you to reach out via email at wcsd_communications@waunakee.k12.wi.us.

New Visitor Management System in School Buildings

Waunakee Community School District will be implementing a new Visitor Management System, Visitor Aware, in our K-12 school buildings to help streamline the check-in process for visitors and ensure the safety of students, staff, and families. This system replaces the one that we currently use, Raptor Visitor Management. For our current and returning families, this system will be very similar in nature to what you’ve experienced. For our new families, our school building offices will help you the first time you visit our school buildings.

The new Visitor Management System required you to scan a state ID (driver’s license, passport, etc.) the first time visiting a building. The system scans the sexual offenders database for all 50 states, the FBI watch list, and legally filed custodial documents for any visitors to our schools.

Once an individual is in the system, you will be able to check-in and check-out taking your picture at the kiosk in the school front office. The facial recognition will be utilized to identify you as a registered individual in the management system.

We appreciate your support in helping to keep our schools safe!

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Nuevo sistema de gestión de visitantes en los edificios escolares

El Distrito Escolar de la Comunidad de Waunakee implementará un nuevo Sistema de Gestión de Visitantes que se llama Visitor Aware, en nuestros edificios escolares de los grados K-12 para ayudar a agilizar el proceso de registro para los visitantes y garantizar la seguridad de los estudiantes, el personal y las familias. Este sistema sustituye al que utilizamos actualmente, Raptor Visitor Management. Para nuestras familias actuales y aquellas que están de regreso, este sistema será muy similar a lo que ya conocen. Para nuestras nuevas familias, nuestro personal en las escuelas les ayudará la primera vez que visiten nuestros edificios escolares.

El nuevo Sistema de Gestión de Visitantes requería que se escanee una identificación estatal (licencia de conducir, pasaporte, etc.) la primera vez que se visite un edificio. El sistema revisará la base de datos de agresores sexuales en los 50 estados del país, la lista de vigilancia del FBI y los documentos de custodia legalmente presentados de cualquier visitante a nuestras escuelas.

Una vez que una persona esté en el sistema, podrá entrar y salir tomando su foto en el quiosco en la oficina principal de la escuela. El reconocimiento facial se utilizará para identificarlo como individuo registrado en el sistema de gestión.

¡Agradecemos su apoyo para ayudar a mantener nuestras escuelas seguras!

Welcome Back to the 2023-2024 School Year from Taher!

Apply for free and reduced price meals or milk in the Campus Parent portal. This is the preferred method. The 2023-2024 school year application is available now in Campus Parent. Applications will be reviewed beginning in August.

Paper copies of the application may be completed using form links below, using acrobat reader. We cannot approve an application that is not complete, so be sure to fill out all required information.

Free and Reduced Meal Application 2023-24 (English/Spanish)

Return the completed application to Jessica Dargenio, Taher Food Service, 101 School Drive, Waunakee, WI 53597.

Jeffrey Kenas, Principal,

jeffreykenas@waunakee.k12.wi.us

Michael Zibell, Associate Principal,

michaelzibell@waunakee.k12.wi.us

Patricia Coffren, Administrative Assistant,

patriciacoffren@waunakee.k12.wi.us

Lynn Miller Administrative Assistant Attendance,

lynnmiller@waunakee.k12.wi.us

Attendance 608-849-2065, Select language, then press1 for wms_attendance@waunakee.k12.wi.us

Tammy Willborn, Health Assistant, tammywillborn@waunakee.k12.wi.us