April 7, 2022

Messages from Dr. Kasmarick and Mrs. Petersen

Please begin here with a message from Dr. K about this year's High Interest Day!

2022-23 Richards School Day: For many years, Richards and Cumberland Elementary Schools had staggered start and end times to accommodate shared bussing. Because our students who participate in the Chapter 220 program have moved on to the middle and high schools, beginning in the 22-23 school year, start and end times will be aligned across the two schools. Both schools will run from 7:50-3:00 each day, with 4K sessions running from 7:55-10:55 and 11:55-2:55. Thank you for planning accordingly!
 

Upcoming No School Days:  Mark your calendars for the following days that school is not in session:

• April 13: Early Release, 5K-5^th grade dismissal at 11:35am.  No school 4K.  
• April 14: No School 4K-5^th grade
• April 15: No School 4K-5^th grade
• April 18: No School 4K-5^th grade

Click here to view the current school year calendar.

Wisconsin Forward Exam: Students in grades 3-5 are participating in the Wisconsin Forward Exam testing this month. More detailed information can be found in this brochure. All testing will take place in the morning. Your help in not making appointments on these dates is much appreciated! In addition, please ensure that fifth grade students come to school with their fully charged Chromebook.  Please note the remaining testing dates:

• Fourth Grade: April 19-20
• Fifth Grade: April 8 & 11

Virtual & In-Person Parent Teacher Conferences: Spring conferences are scheduled based on teacher and/or parent request.  The window to schedule a parent teacher conference through your Family Access account is now open through April 11. Please see the attached instructions.

Conferences are Wednesday, April 13th (12:00-4:00pm in-person and 4:00-8:00pm virtually) for grades 4K through 5th grade. Conference slots are 15 minutes each. To maintain confidentiality and privacy, the names of families or students will not be visible on the filled or closed time slots. Two household families are asked to schedule a single conference time when both parents/guardians can attend. We hope that report cards, posted February 3rd, helped you to verify students’ continued academic progress towards district standards. If you have trouble scheduling a conference, please contact the Office at 963-3951.

North Santa Monica Blvd.: The only available parking on N. Santa Monica Blvd. is in front of the red playground. We have asked the WFBPD to more closely monitor our block of N. Santa Monica Blvd. due to concern about the ability of authorized emergency vehicles being able to access the building if needed. Day Ave. and Belle Ave. will also be monitored, please abide by all parking signage and plan accordingly with your vehicle.

Planning for 2022-23: An important element for our spring work is to create tentative class groupings for next year. Our goal when creating class groupings is to put together classes in each grade that are representative of our school population as a whole. This means classes balanced in numbers of students, gender, learning and social emotional needs, supports, and with academic peers for students. The initial work is done at each grade level with significant input and review by the counselor, school psychologist, literacy/math coaches, encore teachers, and administrators. The tentative groupings change throughout the summer as students depart and enroll.

This link takes you to the Optional Input Form. This form can be used to provide us with any information that you feel will be helpful in the class placement process for your student for the 2022-23 school year. Please note that requests for specific teachers will not be honored. All classroom placements are carefully considered whether this form is submitted or not. The form will be available online through April 15, 2022.

Another important part of our planning for next year is to project as accurately as possible our student enrollments. Please notify the Richards office if your child will not be returning to Richards next year. (Stephanie.Haupt@wfbschools.com) Thank you!

2022-23 New Student Enrollment: Looking ahead to next year, we are excited to have seventy two 4-year old kindergarteners enrolled! New student enrollment for all grades for the 2022-23 school year is now open. Enrollment information and forms can be found in this link. Current students do not need to re-enroll, families of current students will complete online registration in August for the upcoming school year. 

The 2022-2023 School Year Calendar is now available and can be viewed in this link.  You'll note that Thursday, 9/1, Friday, 9/2, and Tuesday, 9/7 are designated as Roaring Start days for the 2022-23 school year. The purpose of Roaring Start days for our Cumberland Cougars and Richards Tigers is to provide an opportunity for elementary students and teachers to meet in a small group/individual setting prior to regular daily attendance. For our 4-year old kindergarten students, the time will be used to begin building rapport and positive relationships and to support both students and families in learning school routines. For our 5K-5th grade students, the time allows us to begin building rapport and positive relationships and also to gather initial, individual literacy and math information in support of a strong start to the school year. At these grade levels, gathering assessment information within three days, instead of within five weeks through the use of substitute teachers, greatly increases our ability to provide responsive and targeted instruction at the start of the year.

Childcare for school aged children will be available through Connects. Information can be found on our district website here or by calling 414-963-3947.

More information about Roaring Start days can be found here. Appointment scheduling information will be sent during August registration.

From the PTO

Fun Lunch Tomorrow! The Richards PTO is excited to host Fun Lunch tomorrow!  For participating families, don’t pack your student’s lunch tomorrow and let California Pizza Kitchen do the work!  As a reminder, the PTO cannot accommodate Fun Lunch picks-ups for students not in the building.  Questions? Contact Fun Lunch chairs Deb Grayeski or Lynn Lange. 

Life is Batter with Cake! The Richards PTO is partnering with Nothing Bundt Cakes Fox Point for a Spring treat! Stop in (or shop online) on Wednesday, April 13th and mention the Richards PTO and Nothing Bundt Cakes will donate 20% of the proceeds to the PTO! Questions? Contact Kristin George at kristincerbins@hotmail.com

We are WILD about our staff! Staff Appreciation Week is May 2nd-May 6th and we need your children’s help transforming the main entrance bulletin board into a special display for the Richards staff.  In this week’s Thursday folder, your child will find a leaf to decorate or to write a special message of appreciation to our teachers and staff.  The leaf will be used to help display how “wild” we are about our teachers and staff!  Please return the leaf in your child’s folder by Friday, April 21st.  The students will be so excited to find their leaf in the display and the staff will appreciate the special thoughts!  Thank you so much for helping celebrate the awesome teachers and staff of Richards School!  Questions? Email Hannah Ruck.

Staff Appreciation Week 2022! Attention Richards Families! Each year there is one week we celebrate our Richards teachers, staff, and crossing guards and show them how much we appreciate all they do for our children. This year, Staff Appreciation Week will be May 2-6, and the Richards PTO has exciting plans! Each day, the PTO plans a special activity, including catered lunches, gifts and sweet treats. Everyone gets excited for the daily raffle as well, and this is where we can use your help! We are looking for donations from our Richards Community to help make the raffle a success. Please consider making a monetary or gift card donation.  Donations may be made through Membership Toolkit by clicking here, or in the envelopes that came home in your child’s Thursday Folder.  Questions?  Email Staff Appreciation Week Chairs Angela Burke or  Chrissy Tigrani.

High Interest Day!  Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up to participate in High Interest Day!  We need 12 more presenters to make High Interest Day a success.  Please consider signing up, or reaching out to people you know who would be willing to participate. We have extended the sign up deadline by a week, please let us know if you can participate by Friday, April 15th. Here’s how:

• Visit richardspto.org and click on High Interest Day in the main menu. Fill out the form, it’s that simple. Someone from the High Interest Day will follow up with you with more information.
• Think you might want to participate but you’re not sure if your job/talent/hobby is something the kids want to hear about? Go fill out the form, the High Interest Day committee can help you tailor your presentation for the elementary school crowd.
• High Interest Day is Wednesday, June 1st. Please let us know if you would like to participate by April 15th. More information about the event is available at richardspto.org. Questions? Email Sarah sarahzirbelnowak@gmail.com and Susan susan.stadt@gmail.com.

Congrats First Lego League!  Congratulations to the 24 second, third, and fourth graders who completed their twelve-week season of the FIRST Lego League Explore! Led by a group of dedicated coaches, the kids explored and built Lego models (complete with motorized programmable components!) relating to the theme of Cargo Connect - how cargo moves around the world and within our community. The four teams presented their projects this past Saturday at the WI Regional FIRST Expo in Wauwatosa, along with other Explore teams from around the Milwaukee area. The Richards teams won the following awards:

• Core Values Award - Team "Lego Bros"
• Coding Award - Team "Build It, Fix It”
• Challenge Solution Award - Team “Richards Rangers”
• Coding Award - Team “Lego Building Game Bros”

A special thank you to the coaches who devoted hours of their time and patience since late December, working with their teams to prepare for the Expo!  And an extra special shout out to Mariya Lazebnik, the First Lego League Chair!

• Jennifer Aiken
• Alanna Koritzinsky
• Mariya Lazebnik
• Allison Roth
• Leah Shepard
• Susan Stadtmueller
• Angela Tonozzi
• Grant Werner

Yearbooks on Sale Now!  Yearbooks are on sale now through April 24th.  The cost for each yearbook is $16.50 and will be delivered to your child at school in May.  Yearbooks may be ordered through Membership Toolkit by clicking here.  Questions?  Contact Yearbook Chair Allison Roth.

Attention 5th Graders — WFB Middle School Spirit Wear Sale! Whitefish Bay Middle School’s Spring Spirit Wear sale is LIVE! What better way for our rising 6th graders to show their [new] school spirit! The store will be open through Wednesday, April 27th, with delivery expected by Memorial Day. We will deliver to the Richards School office for student pickup, or you may contact Amy Goldstein to arrange pickup (i.e. if your order is a surprise for your student!). ONLINE STORE: https://wfbmspto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/180700. Questions? Contact Amy Goldstein agoldstein1124@gmail.com

District Announcements 

COVID Testing Site: Diagnostic testing by ACL is available in the Whitefish Bay High School Health Office, 1200 E. Fairmount Ave., Whitefish Bay, WI 53217. Testing entry is at Door 2, west of the main entrance with ADA access available at Door 1. More information available in this link.  

School Board Meeting: April 13, 2022: The community is welcome to attend School Board meetings to gain a better understanding of School District business and the role of the School Board. The public is also invited to address the Board during the public comment portion as indicated in Board meetings. Meeting agendas are posted within BoardDocs two days preceding each meeting.

• Meeting dates located under featured tab/documents
• Agendas located under featured or meeting tabs

Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation's Run the Bay REGISTRATION IS OPEN! Run the Bay is the foundation's main event to fund innovation in the WFB Schools. The run, as well as all Bay Day activities, are returning as an IN-PERSON event on Saturday, May 7th! You can register for the run HERE! Visit us on Facebook for more information on the run along with the other Bay Day activities. Please email educatethebay@gmail.com for sponsorship opportunities.