January 2024

Winter is HERE!!!

Please send your child to school with outdoor winter clothes.

Boots, snow pants, jacket, mittens/gloves, and a hat.

If you need assistance getting these items for your child, contact Marquette social worker, Ada Zhang at azhang@madison.k12.wi.us

Important Dates

Wednesday, 1/3 Madison Promise Virtual School (grades 4-11)

Registration for 2nd semester opens. See information below.


TONIGHT Thursday, 1/11 Fine Arts Night 6:30 - 7:30pm

This is event is still happening, School is closed Friday


Monday, 1/15 NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Day


Friday, 1/26 NO SCHOOL - Teacher Grading Day


Monday, 1/29 Beginning of Semester 2

ATTENDANCE

INFORMATION FROM MMSD ATTENDANCE OFFICE


Pre-Approved Absences should occur only for special circumstances. There is a maximum of 10 days allowed as excused Pre-Approved Planned Absences for the entire school year, unless excused with BOE approval. Absences past the allotted 10 will be marked unexcused and count towards habitual truancy. 


Habitual Truancy: A pupil who is absent without an acceptable excuse for part or all of 5 or more days of school (truancy process follows)


Chronic Absenteeism: Missing 10% (18 days) or more of school days due to absence for any reason included excused and unexcused


Thank you for your collaboration!!


For attendance questions, please contact Ada Zhang, azhang@madison.k12.wi.us or 608-204-3226.

Kick off the new year by being at school on time, every day!


Marquette’s Attendance Goal for 23-24: 

All student’s yearly attendance will be 90% or more. 


Why Attendance Matters

  • Build on academic skills/access to instruction
  • Sense of belonging & community
  • Strengthen attendance routine for college, career, and community readiness


MMSD Illness Guidelines can be found here.

Covid information and the Covid Health Screener can be found here

MMSD will discontinue using the online Web Attendance after the 2023-2024 school year, instead parents and families can enter absences online through the Parent Portal.  Starting January 29, 2024 you can use your Parent Portal to submit absences.  

To ensure the safety of all students, families should notify the school if their child will not arrive at school prior to the 7:35 am start time.


Safe arrival calls are done to notify parents that their child has not made it to school. These can be done in a timely manner if there are only 2 or 3, but if there are 20 calls to make, it slows the response time to let people know their child is absent.  


The best way to notify the school about absences:

Email marquette@madison.k12.wi.us and your child’s teacher in one email. 

Or call the Safe Arrival line at 608-204-3233.  


Late arrival or early pick up:

Teacher’s schedules do not always permit time to pass along attendance information to the office. 

Therefore, it is helpful for the office to know that your child will arrive late or get picked up early. Knowing attendance information ahead of time is less disruptive to the classroom.

Call the Marquette office at 608-204-3225 or email marquette@madison.k12.wi.us and your child’s teacher in the same email.

Garden Trees:

Upon the return from Winter Break last week, you may have noticed multiple trees missing from the landscape. To maintain the safety of our campuses, MMSD had all trees inventoried by a tree management company. The inventory resulted in several trees being identified as dead or hazardous. Before the removal, an arborist also reviewed the inventory.


The district will work with Urban Tree Alliance and Savatree to plant new trees in the spring. 

The Madison Promise Online Program will soon be taking applications for second semester, which starts on Monday, Jan. 29. The application window opens Wednesday, Jan. 3. We offer a flexible class schedule with live classes taught by our amazing MMSD staff and coursework is completed through Pearson Learning. 


Here is a quick overview of what to expect over the next couple of weeks:

  • Wednesday, Jan. 3 - Second Semester Application Opens
  • Thursday, Jan. 11 - Virtual Information Session from 6-7 p.m.
  • Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 15-16 - Round 1 of Interviews
  • Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 22-23 - Round 2 of Interviews
  • Wednesday, Jan. 24 - Mandatory Student/Caretaker Orientation 6-7 p.m.
  • Friday, Jan. 26 - Students/Caretakers Must Complete Online Orientation in Pearson Platform
  • Monday, Jan. 29 - New Student Only Orientation With Staff from 8:30-9:30 a.m. and first day of classes

If you have any questions or want to learn more, please see our website or reach out to our program counselor, Andrew Stendahl.

From the Nurse's Office

Respiratory illnesses (including covid) are increasing this winter.


If you or any family members test positive for covid, please make sure you complete the 

MMSD symptom screener. An MMSD contact tracer will be in touch with you to discuss isolation.


The Marquette school office is not notified when you fill out the screener, they are only notified if and when there is a isolation end date. Please call 608-204-3225 or email marquette@madison.k12.wi.us to let us know that your student will be out sick.


If you're interested in tracking respiratory illnesses in Dane County you can follow public health's dashboard here


If you would like covid home tests to be sent home, please let us know and we can send some with your student or arrange for a contactless pick up if needed. 


Jill Speer, School Nurse

Welcoming Schools 

Library, Media and Technology - Ms. Erickson

Coding Club



We are hoping to start a coding club back up in the spring. It will start Thursday, February 15th and end Thursday, May 2nd. The club will run weekly on Thursday from 2:45-3:45 in the Marquette makerspace. We are in need of a parent/family volunteer.

UW students come and teach students about scratch so that is not part of your volunteer responsibilities. Please reach out to the school LMTS, Shannon Erickson, if you’re interested in volunteering to help support this club. 


LMC Contact: Shannon Erickson slerickson@madison.k12.wi.us 608-205-3229

Music - Ms. Kazda and Art - Ms. Miran

Fine Arts Night

Thursday, January 11, 2024

6:30-7:30 p.m.

O'Keeffe Fieldhouse (attached to Marquette cafeteria)


All K-5 students will participate in a musical performance, then families will be invited to stroll the Marquette hallways and admire student artwork on a gallery walk. 


More details will be shared as the date nears. Questions? Reach out to us anytime. We love teaching your children!


Warmly,

Amy Kazda (Music) akazda@madison.k12.wi.us

&

Marnie Miran (Art) mhmiran@madison.k12.wi.us 

PBIS - Ms. Zhang and Ms. Hawthorne

PBIS - Golden Horseshoe Awards are back!!


In the month of January, Marquette will engage in reviewing community expectations and routines. Classrooms and grade levels will have opportunities to showcase their leadership skills and grow in community membership. 


Each week is dedicated to reviewing expectations in a shared space in our community. Each week there will be opportunities to earn a Golden Horseshoe and an end of week celebration. In the past, classrooms have showcased their Golden Horseshoe Awards on their doors. We are excited to see what this year brings!



Lapham-Marquette Parent Teacher Group (PTG)

Everyone in our school community is part of the Parent Teacher Group!


It was fun to see many Lapham-Marquette families at the East High Basketball game last week!


*The January regular monthly meeting was cancelled due to the Snow Day.

We are working to reschedule special guests, Board of Ed Members Nicki Vander Meulen and Maia Pearson for April!


*February Monthly Meeting Tuesday: 2/13/24 February @ 6:30pm over Zoom, https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88105135570.


And stay tuned for more details on the following events:

* February, Tuesday, February 27th , Lapham & Marquette dance at the O'Keefe Field House

* Tuesday, March 12th, Lapham-Marquette Science Night at the O'Keefe Field House


Looking for other ways to get involved? Check out our website. All of our families at Lapham-Marquette are part of the Parent Teacher Group and we welcome all of you.


Thank you for your partnership in enriching our students' school experiences and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Madison Unicyclists Class starts in February https://share.peachjar.com/flyers/2601795/districts/50179

FROM THE SCHOOL OFFICE

MMSD will launch ‘Peachjar’ on Jan. 10 to provide increased access to programs and resources. This new platform will enable us to send important district, school, and community flyers to parents/guardians digitally.


Marquette's PeachJar link is: https://app.peachjar.com/flyers/all/schools/214032/


Early Pick Up If you must pick your student up early, please follow the guidelines below: 
  • Pick up before 12:40 on Mondays/ 2:10 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.
SCHOOL CAFE AND FREE / REDUCED MEALS
We encourage every family to make a School Cafe account. 
You will need your child’s student ID number. Ask your student or call the Office 608-204-3225
In this account you can:
  • view menus, 
  • see when your child takes a meal, 
  • view your account balance, 
  • make payments 
  • Apply for Free and Reduced Meals (income based) DEADLINE is Oct 1, 2022.  

If you need assistance with the application for Free and Reduced Meals
call 608-204-3225
Volunteering at Marquette
All volunteers and field trip chaperones must have:
COVID-19 vaccination verification - performed as part of the Volunteer Tracker application
Background check - performed as part of the Volunteer Tracker application 
Required training - Building Security & Safety, Covid 19 Safety protocols, and Leaning Forward Together: training based on MMSD’s commitment to anti-racism, the importance of identity and relationships. These trainings are tracked for each individual person in Volunteer Tracker and are approximately 3 hours total.
You’ll receive an email when your volunteer application has been approved.
Once you’re approved to volunteer, please reach out to us to let us know your availability and interest.
MMSD Elementary School Policies

Many families have opted out of receiving a paper copy our our district policy guides and the behavior education plan during the online enrollment process. The links below are electronic versions that you can refer to. .



Marquette hours:
Office: 7:00am - 3:15
Breakfast: 7:15-7:30
School: 7:30-2:27
Monday Dismissal 12:55
Tuesday- Friday Dismissal 2:27

School: 204-3220
Main Office: 204-3225
Attendance/Safe Arrival: 204-3233
Fax: 204-0467 

Marquette Elementary
1501 Jenifer St Madison, WI 53703

Dr. Becky Peterson, Principal rlpeterson@madison.k12.wi.us

Monica Piper, Administrative Assistant