Hello KMMS families,

Happy Friday! We hope you are set to have a nice fall weekend. You’ve most likely picked out a common theme if you’ve been reading my weekly posts. We are working with our students to ensure proper treatment of one another. This morning’s announcements for students ended with a much more direct message discussing “harassment.” This is a timely message with October being “Anti-Bullying” month and with a variety of student behaviors happening in our school community. 

We shared with our students the definition of harassment, outlined by KMORR 2303: Discrimination and Harassment. Harassment is defined as “behavior towards students or staff members that interferes with student’s school performance, staff member’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive school or work environment.”

A common theme from our students is that “it was a joke,” it was “meant to be funny,” or “I didn’t mean it like that.” Our staff is working diligently with our student population to learn through consequences, school counseling, and meaningful conversations with teachers and other staff members. 

We appreciate our families’ support as we work together to help our students be engaged citizens who make ethical and responsible decisions while interacting with their peers. Your conversations at home can help students navigate these times appropriately. Please reach out, send me an email, with how conversations have gone at home or what your family may be wrestling with. Our partnership matters. 

Thank you for all you do,

Matt Kitzerow

KMMS Principal

Welcome Mr. Bakkum

KMMS & KMSD's

New Mental Health Navigator

Hi KMMS Families!

My name is Scott Bakkum and I am the new Mental Health Navigator for the Kettle Moraine School District. I received my Bachelors Degree from UW-La Crosse and my Masters Degree in Counseling from UW-Oshkosh. After spending the last 24 years in the Oconomowoc Area School District as a school counselor, I retired this past June. I am now entering my 35th year overall in the field of education and I am very excited to join the Kettle Moraine team. I see this new role as an excellent opportunity to continue my mission of building positive relationships with families while helping students overcome challenges in their personal and academic lives. Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my family, especially my four precious grandchildren. I also enjoy traveling in the U.S. and abroad, attending Wisconsin summer festivals, golfing at local courses, and watching the Green Bay Packers! I am thrilled to begin this next phase of my career supporting students, staff and families in the Kettle Moraine School District. 

Secure Your Belongings

Every KMMS student has been assigned a padlock and a locker. Parents, please remind your students to use and lock their locker with the padlock in order to secure their personal belongings. The middle school cannot be responsible for items that have disappeared from unlocked lockers.

Learning Lab - Mon-Wed @ KMMS

Learning Lab meets in the library right after school until 4:00 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. The purpose of Learning Lab is to give students a chance to get their homework done in a quiet, safe, supervised place after school. You do not need to sign up ahead of time - just show up! If you are still in the building after school, it is expected that you are in an activity like Learning Lab, and that you are participating and getting work done! 

PTO Parent Listening Sessions: Next Week

Have you been wondering what the PTO has been up to this past month? We hosted a delicious breakfast and restocked the coffee for our amazing staff (thank you Staff Appreciation Committee and parents). We have been seeking input to shape our purpose and vision going forward. This will lead to a more robust and engaging plan of action that will ultimately focus on raising funding and investing in initiatives for our KMMS community. As we undertake this task, one thing is for certain--it is not a community organization if it does not have input from the full KMMS community of staff, parents and students.

We met with staff earlier this month to get their input and teachers assisted us in gathering student input by asking brief questions of students from every house during Laser Hour.

Now it is your turn. 

We will be hosting two listening sessions to try and accommodate as many people as possible (you need only attend one). 

• The first will be the morning of Monday, October 10th from 9:00-10:00 (in the cafeteria near the windows). Please check in at the front office to receive a nametag.
• Session 2 will be from 6:00-7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 13th (location will be posted at the main entrance) 

Please rsvp to [email protected] if you are able to join us. Another parent touchpoint has been a brief survey, which is still open if you have not had a chance to complete it. 

After these sessions, we will be meeting as a board and with Mr. Kitzerow to look for common themes and articulate a mission and purpose statement for our PTO organization. From there, the real fun begins and this statement will be the lens through which we look to prioritize efforts, increase engagement and ultimately, benefit the KMMS community for all our kids.  

The current plan is to have our first PTO meeting of the school year in November (date and agenda TBD) so be on the lookout for more info on that. In the meantime, if you ever have any questions, you can contact Carrie Foss (PTO President) at [email protected]

Dine for Dollars

PTO Fundraiser @ Panera

There will be a Dine for Dollars event at the Delafield Panera on October 13th from 4-8pm. Bring this flyer or show a digital copy to your cashier. Use code FUND4U at the online checkout, app or kiosk. Twenty percent of sales will be donated to the KMMS PTO.

LYBA Basketball

Online registration is now open for recreational basketball at KM for boys and girls grades 3-8 at KM Middle School. Season begins in December and concludes in February. Grades 3-8 will practice one night per week with Saturday games and will be followed by a season ending tournament.

Grades 1-2 will meet on Saturday mornings. Our emphasis will be on knowledge and execution of basketball skills, rules, sportsmanship, fair play and attitude. Practices and games will be held Saturday mornings for 90 minutes. Eight foot baskets will be used. 

Sign up today

Youth Wrestling Club

The KM Youth Wrestling Club for students in grades K-8 will have an informational meeting on Wednesday, October 19 in the high school library at 7pm.  We hope to see you there.  Information regarding our annual fundraiser will be discussed so it’s important that you attend.  Registration is now open online at www.kettlemorainewrestlingclub.com