High School Seniors: Sign up for the Embark Seminar!

Newsletter

School District of Wisconsin Dells

February 2023

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High school fire academy cadets on a fire truck ladder

A message from your District Administrator

Dear School District of Wisconsin Dells Community Members,

Please take a moment to review this month’s edition of our e-newsletter. District officials have put together a variety of articles to keep our district’s constituents up-to-date on a variety of topics at all levels of our schools. If you need additional information, please do not hesitate to reach out to acquire more details. Thank you!

MASTER PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

In February there will be some resumed discussion regarding planning for the future of the District’s buildings. This discussion is two-fold with focus on planning for the short-term completion of maintenance projects, some of these taking place in the summer of 2023 as well as some in the summer of 2024. These types of maintenance projects typically include repairing roofs, replacing aging ceiling tile, the removal of VCT tile, upgrading light fixtures, carpet replacement and painting. The second part of this discussion involves looking at the replacement or upgrade of HVAC systems, replacing windows and upgrading safety features like installing a secured entrance at the middle school.

The District will also resume discussion on the retirement of LDES. As a reminder, in June of 2021 Architectural Design Consultants Incorporated (ADCI) of Lake Delton presented the findings of its follow-up facility analysis that was previously completed in 2015. This is an on-going process identified as one of the District’s four strategic objectives of Facilities, Finances, and Operations. The purpose of this objective is to implement a long-term plan that ensures clean, healthy and safe facilities to deliver student-focused services while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter article, the District now sees more students living west of the Wisconsin River. If this school format had been in place, the student population of a new PK-5 elementary school west of the river would see approximately 478 students. This school format will also be a full-service school in that it will offer special education services that, other than Speech & Language services, are not offered in the current setting. This would also assist in balancing the enrollment disparities that now exist with Lake Delton Elementary School (LDES) having 217 students and Spring Hill Elementary School (SHES) having 606 students this past fall when the third Friday count was taken. In redrawing the attendance areas, this sees a shift of 260-plus students going to a more centrally located school for their elementary experience. ...READ MORE

WDHS Seniors: Sign up for Embark Seminar by Feb. 10

Dear WDHS Class of 2023 students and families,

I am the founder of Embark Seminar, a 4-week, school-based program to help seniors maximize their college experience. Wisconsin Dells High School is partnering with me to host an Embark Seminar session for the Class of 2023 from February 20-March 19. This program is provided free of charge and strongly encouraged for all college-bound seniors, whether planning to attend a 2 or 4-year institution. ...READ MORE

Two students working together on an assignment

Celebration of Learning coming March 21

By Casey Whitehurst, WDMS Principal

Dear WDMS Parents and Caregivers,

Collaboration and communication with our parents is a vital component of student success at Wisconsin Dells Middle School. In lieu of Parent-Teacher conferences this spring, Wisconsin Dells Middle School will once again be hosting a “Celebration of Learning.”...READ MORE

Benefits of Parent-Teacher Communication

By Felipe Armijo

LDES Principal

Effective and efficient communication between parents, teachers and students will help establish a sense of respect for everyone. ...READ MORE

Children's mental health

By Dawn Sine, Director of Pupil Services

There is a lot of rhetoric around the world these days about the mental health crisis, specifically the youth mental health crisis. As a society, we are often more astute at identifying societal issues than we are at understanding their causes and implementing change. ...READ MORE

4K Enrollment is coming!

Save the date!

Attention future 4K families: Mark your calendars for April 12, 2023. The SDWD will be accepting in-person enrollment for the 2023-24 school year for incoming 4K students as well as 5K students that did not attend 4K. Please click this link for more information.