October School District Newsletter

We are so appreciative of the work that our principals do in their buildings across our District.

In celebration of National Principals Month, students in Ms. Murphy's 3rd-grade classroom at Jefferson put together a surprise for their principal, Dr. Polk.

Happy National Principals Month to ALL of our leaders! You make us #WAWMproud!

Battle of the Dogs

Nathan Hale vs. West Allis Central Football Matchup

A longstanding crosstown rivalry returned to our high schools on Friday, September 15. This game dates back to 1940 and, due to conference alignment and the Covid-19 pandemic, had not been played since 2016 on the field. The all-time record has Central 41-31-5 and Hale 31-41-5. The Huskies took home the coveted Cwik Sobs traveling trophy this year with a 44-0 win over the Bulldogs.

Events like this bring our community together through competition and spirit and we are appreciative of our school board for sponsoring a cookout before the game for ticketholders.

You can see all of the scores and records by decade by clicking here - a snapshot of history to be celebrated!

Community Art Leader

Dottke student, Aidan Cawley-Hefter, had his first job over the summer working for a program sponsored by many organizations. Aidan was mentored by the mural artist Tia Richardson at Cosmic Butterfly. He was a community art leader studying the socioeconomic issues of the Clark St. Neighborhood area in Milwaukee. The group met with folks in the community and designed a mural that represented the problems in the neighborhood and the vision for the future.

They painted six hours a day on 17th and Greenfield Ave, working on a very busy and chaotic street, painting this mural.

Aidan painted the earth, the rocks, the dancing avocado, and many other parts of this mural. He was one of eight community art leaders who impacted this community.

Great work Aiden! You make us #WAWMproud!

Project Based Learning and Outside Experts in Our Schools

We are excited that so many of our schools are already working with community experts to plan to apply their academic skills to real-world problems. We have students working with the State Fair planning committee, Aurora Hospital, Scuba Divers, and local restaurants to plan to solve problems and expand opportunities within our local community. Keep an eye out for the amazing opportunities your child will experience this year and how they will be able to share what they are learning. Read more!

WAWM FACES: Meet Mary

Mary Wimmer, WAWM School Psychologist has a fiction novel for adults coming out in October. In her video, she expands on aligning your passions with your career. We are lucky to have Mary in our WAWM family!

An after-school activity bus is now available for students at Central and Hale who participate in clubs, after-school sports, or additional academic support after school.

The bus will pick up Hale students at 4:45 pm and then Central students at 4:55 pm. The bus will drop students off at the elementary school closest to their home and then return to the depot. Approximate times are listed.

Students will not need to sign up to ride. We are excited that First Student was able to add this bus for students and make it accessible for any student. We look forward to tracking its utilization.

November 2 is Plastic Free Lunch Day!

In our Elementary Schools on November 2, our Sodexo team will be providing a plastic-free lunch in acknowledgment of Plastic Free Lunch Day!

Some of the things in store for our schools on Plastic Free Lunch Day:

Instead of our washable plastic baskets, lunch will be in a 3-compartment tray made of bamboo and sugarcane.
Silverware provided is made from a plant-based plastic, which is compostable.
Condiments will be portioned out in small paper cups - no plastic packets.

Our Sodexo team will also be engaging classrooms around the topic of cafeteria waste and plastic! This is a great real-world project-based learning opportunity for some of our 4th and 5th graders!

More information on Plastic Free Lunch Day can be found here.

Upcoming School Board Meeting information can be found HERE.

Community members interested in receiving our meeting notices can be added to the list by emailing their contact information to Suzette Zimmerman.

WAWM Recreation and Community Services Department to lease and remodel Lane Intermediate School

On Monday, September 19, 2022 our West Allis-West Milwaukee school board heard the first formal proposal from our Recreation and Community Services Department to lease and remodel Lane Intermediate School to expand recreation and athletic opportunities in our community.

The proposal will be funded through an increase in the recreation portion of the tax levy but even with the recreation expansion, the total projected school district tax mill rate will go down from $7.55 to $6.44 on each $1000 dollars of value. The portion of the tax levy which funds Recreation and Community Services can only be used for recreation and may not be used for the operation of schools.

You can hear more about this proposal at the Community Information Session on Tuesday, October 18 at 6:00 pm in the Lane Intermediate School cafeteria. Can't attend in person? Join the live stream by clicking HERE at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, October 18.

Have questions or thoughts about this project? We want to hear them! Submit your questions here.

Our West Allis-West Milwaukee School Board will make a final decision regarding the proposal for its Recreation and Community Services Department to lease Lane Intermediate School at its meeting on October 24, 2022 when the final 2022-2023 school district budget is formally approved.

WAWM RCS Thriller Workshop

Did you know it has been 40 years since the release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller song and video? This 1982 song is a staple of the Halloween season. Have you always wanted to learn the ORIGINAL choreography?

Come join the Thriller Workshop with Dana Peck as she teaches the original choreography from “Thriller’”. Don’t let this title “scare” you as every step is broken down for you, so no dance experience is necessary!

Costumes are encouraged but not required. At the end of the workshop, “Thriller” will be performed from start to finish so you can picture yourself as part of the “Thriller” action video. If you LOVE dancing, and you LOVE Halloween, then this is the workshop for you. We are here “to save you from the beast” and we promise, “no grizzly ghouls” will prevent you from resisting the “Thriller” of this class.

If you have any questions about this workshop, please contact Linda Gritzmacher at gritz@wawmsd.org or call 414-604-4911.

Vote for the West Allis Athletic Complex for the Home Field Pride contest! Click here to vote! Voting runs from October 15-20 and you can vote up to once per day per device!

WAAC Update

If you haven’t made your way over to the West Allis Athletic Complex yet this fall, be sure to head over! When our district was looking at replacing our two sports fields, not only did we want the fields to look good but more importantly we needed the fields to be as safe as possible.

The safety of our student athletes and any visiting athletes is very important to us. 20% of all concussions are a result of head-to-surface impacts which was why the fields underwent extensive testing.

Turf Shock Pads were added under each field. The padding provides our participants and our district with the following advantages:

Critical Fall Height (CFH) Protection.
The Head Injury Criteria (HIC) on the West field dropped by nearly 50% from 1,081 HIC to 549 HIC with the improved padding.
The HIC on the East field fell by more than 1,000 points – from 1,605 HIC to 528 HIC - with the addition of the shock pad.
Durability of the field and weather resistance over time.
High Impact Protection - orthopedic specialists state that the risk of lower extremity injuries goes down the more consistent the field is from an impact standpoint.

The east stadium also now has lines for our soccer games and, additionally, has logos on the outdoor edge showcasing our Bulldog and Husky pride!

The west stadium had the old turf completely removed and the jump pits have been removed from the inside of the track. Over the fall months, work has been done to relocate the jump areas to the north of the west stadium.

We are so excited about these updates! Go Dogs!

For Bulldog and Husky athletics schedules, follow the links below:

Bulldog Athletics

Husky Athletics