Mid- September 2023

Important Dates

9/19 Tuesday PTG Ice Cream Social 5:30-7pm Marquette Playground.

9/22 6:00 - 8:30pm East YMCA Free Movie Night (See flyer below)

9/26 Picture Day with Lifetouch

10/27 Re-take Picture Day with Lifetouch

FROM LIBRARY AND MEDIA

Community Read

This October we will be doing our annual community read at Marquette. This year’s community read is the book, Stuntboy, In the Meantime, by Jason Reynolds and illustrated by Raul the Third. More information about this will come soon.

REACH 

During the month of September all students are getting to know the different areas of the library, learning how to find books independently and how to take care of the books we check out. Students are doing this through scavenger hunts, books tasting and read alouds. Students are allowed to take checked out books home. Books are checked out to a student for two weeks and they can renew a book once. Please help students remember to get books returned so they can check out a new one during the next library time. 

Another big part of REACH is technology and the makerspace. We are also taking time during the month of September to get to know the makerspace and our chromebooks. We will be completing activities and challenges with each grade level in order to get to know the Google apps, seesaw and the makerspace items better. 

WELCOMING SCHOOLS

Welcoming Schools 

Marquette is a Welcoming School. This year’s welcoming school theme is Preventing Bias-Based Bullying. This means your student will get specific lessons around this topic. Students will learn about the following, understanding bullying behavior, fostering ally behaviors and understanding bystander behavior. Marquette has been a welcoming school for 3 years! Our past themes were Embracing All Families and Creating Gender-Inclusive Schools. 

During the first week of school all students worked on a welcoming hands display in order to make our school more welcoming. This display will be up all year. Check it out the next time you’re in the building. During the month of September, students will complete bio poems about themselves in order to explore their own personal identities more. These poems will be posted on student’s lockers and students will have the opportunity to share their poems during lunch. 

FROM POSITIVE BEHAVIOR

INSTRUCTIONAL TEAM

Greetings, Marquette Learning Community!

Ms. Ada and Mrs. Hawthorne, the Student Support Team are dedicated to supporting your child's academic, social, and emotional development. Our weekly newsletter is designed to strengthen parent-child relationships and improve home-school communication through the provision of resources and updates that empower you to participate actively in your student's education. Please don't hesitate to suggest any specific topics you'd like us to cover!

Model Mustangs 

Classrooms dedicated the first week of school learning the Marquette expectations & routines. These routines are grounded in PBIS (positive behavioral interventions and supports) and restorative practices. Our school will engage in these practices throughout the school year to ensure a safe, responsible, kind, and caring community. In conjunction with the Marquette expectations & routines, our school will engage in Marquette Mustangs. Students will receive Marquette Mustangs in recognition for following school-wide expectations and routines. At the end of months September-April (Fridays), students will be able to trade in their Marquette Mustangs for items in the school store.

First school store day - September 29th (Model Mustangs only)

Ten Questions to Connect With Your Scholar When They Come Home from School!

1. What is something you heard that surprised you?
2. What is something you saw that made you think?
3. Tell me something you know today that you didn’t know yesterday.
4. What is something that challenged you?
5. How did someone fill your bucket today? Whose bucket did you fill?
6. How were you brave today?
7. What questions did you ask at school today ?
8. Teach me something I don’t know.
9. Did you learn any new words today?
10. If you switched places with your teacher tomorrow, what would you teach the class?

Contact Student Support Team

Clare Hawthorne: cahawthorne@madison.k12.wi.us

Ada Zhang: azhang@madison.k12.wi.us

FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE

Clothing Donations needed

It's the change of seasons and time to switch gears into the colder season! As your household sorts through clothing please consider donating outgrown clothing to Marquette Elementary.

We could especially use the following items:

Girls/Boys/Gender Neutral Items

Shirts,short and long sleeved ~Medium/Large/XL, 8/10/12/14/16

Shorts ~Medium/Large/XL, 8/10/12/14/16

Pants,jeans/sweats/leggings 

~Medium/Large/XL, 8/10/12/14/16

Sweatshirts ~

Small/Medium/Large/XL, 8/10/12/14/16

If any families wish to donate new socks and underwear that would be much appreciated as well!

Underwear ~Small/Medium/Large/XL (we need these most, as we have 0 supplies left from last year)

Socks ~Small/Medium/Large/XL

(we are also completely out of socks)

Health Guidelines, and Attendance

We encourage families to send students to school each day if injury or illness does not significantly compromise the student’s health and there is no risk of transmission to the school community.

MMSD Policy:

• A student should not return to school until they are fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication.  
• If a student vomits, they should remain out of school for 24 hours after vomiting stops. 
• Students with diarrhea should wait 24 hours after their last incident to return to school. 
• Students will be sent home if diarrhea causes soiled clothing. 
• If your student has been on antibiotics for 24 hours with diagnosed strep throat, we encourage them to be at school.

MMSD Health and Safety Guidance

Student Health Screener

FROM ADVANCED LEARNING

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.

Services your student may receive:

Tier I-Differentiated Instruction in Core Setting (co-planning, co-teaching, and collaboration with AL staff and teachers)

• Differentiation: tailoring classroom instruction to meet a student’s learning needs by adjusting what is learned and how it is learned (e.g. more challenging topics for similar tasks; more challenging tasks for same topic). This occurs when ALS collaborate and plan with core teachers in planning or push into classroom instruction to share.
• Talent development: differentiation provided with support to nurture more intense motivation and higher achievement or activities like competitions or Center for Advanced Academics.

Tier II-Small Group Intervention- push into the classroom 

Tier III- Subject or Whole Grade Acceleration- student is grade accelerated for instructional services

What is new in Advanced Learning?

• The Advanced Learning strategic plan focuses on Equity, Talent Development, and monitoring Achievement goals. 
• Advanced Learning Specialists review school data regularly. This is the first step in identifying students who may benefit from Advanced Learning support. Your school’s Advanced Learning Specialist will reach out to gather more information about your student if school data sources indicate that Advanced Learning services and supports might be a good fit.
• New Naglieri Non-Verbal Intelligence Assessments at grade 2
• New Creativity focus through the P.E.T.S (Primary Education Thinking Skills) curriculum

Join the Advanced Learning Advisory Committee (ALAC)

Our committee is open to all parents/guardians and staff. We value your support and feedback on the current plan, as well as future Advanced Learning plan development and programming. Meetings will be held quarterly during the 2023-24 school year. Dates and locations will be posted on our website: https://www.madison.k12.wi.us/curriculum-instruction/advanced-learning. Applications for the AL Task Force will be shared in the Fall to assist in the development of the AL 3 year plan.

Want to learn more?

If I can be of any assistance, please email: syalexander@madison.k12.wi.us We hope to have systemic processes in place that make those contacts something you can expect and anticipate.

Your Advanced Learning Specialist should always be your initial contact for questions and concerns, but we hope this letter continues to share what you should be expecting and seeing for your student learner.

Have a fantastic school year! 

Respectfully,

Dr. Sharon Y. Alexander

Advanced Learning Director

Madison Metropolitan School District

Your schools ALS:

Kari Augustine

Advanced Learning Specialist

kaaugustine@madison.k12.wi.us 

Lapham-Marquette Parent Teacher Group (PTG)

* Mark your calendars!

PTG Meeting via Zoom Second Tuesday of the Month.

LINK for Meeting. Next meeting: October 10th

* To learn more about the Lapham & Marquette Parent Teacher Group, families can visit our website and/or Facebook.

* Lapham & Marquette Spirit Wear: Here is the link to order t-shirts, sweatshirts, and other spirit wear for the whole family! https://laphammarquette.threadless.com/

Clarification on Tardy and Excused Absences

NEW TARDY TIME

School starts at 7:40am. Your child is tardy after 7:40, Please have your child at school between 7:25 and 7:35.

Reasons that your child can be excused from school.

When you call to excuse your child from school please let us know what the reason is.

• Appointments- medical and legal
• Illness -see guidelines above
• Observance of Religious Holiday
• Bereavement of close family member
• Inclement weather - wind chill advisories, snow and ice warnings, heat warnings.
• 10 days of Pre-approved absence - vacation, special day off with parent, etc.
• Family Emergency - a major incident that effects a family's ability to bring/send a student to school or pick up at regular release time/ bus stop.

You must report your child’s absence on the day your child will remain at home.

To report an absence:

Call 608-204-3233 

Online https://www.madison.k12.wi.us/reporting-absence

Google text 608- 616-5106‬

Email: marquette@madison.k12.wi.us.and your child's teacher.

Late Arrival 

If your child will be late for school: 

Call 608-204-3233 to excuse the tardy. If you leave a message, include whether your child will need school lunch.

When your child gets to school, they can ring the buzzer on the far right side door of the Door 5 entrance. Staff will buzz your child in and sign them into school.



Early Pick Up 

If you must pick your student up early, please follow the guidelines below: 

• Pick up before 12:55 on Mondays/

2:20 Tuesday thru Friday.

• Call 608-204-3225 and tell us what time you will be picking your child up.
• Use the buzzer at Door 5. The buzzer is at the far right door.
• There is a Sign Out binder on the cart. Please sign your child out.
• Parents/guardians should wait by the door. Students will come to the office, and staff will bring the students to the door.
• If you pick up your child for an appointment and plan to return them to school, tell the staff an approximate return time.

Playground After School

Red Caboose childcare uses the play structure and four-square as part of their program. Please follow their rules and respect their space.

There is no supervision after school unless your child is enrolled in Red Caboose. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome to play during Red Caboose hours.