Whitefish Bay Schools - February 11, 2021

Messages from Dr. Kasmarick

Mr. Nies and I enjoyed the opportunity to share a state-of-the-school update with the School Board and community last night, slide deck here. Many thanks to the staff and students featured in photos and videos!

Looking ahead to next year already, we are excited to have eighty-six 4-year old kindergarteners enrolled! Please help to spread the word that we are now enrolling new students in all grades for the 21-22 school year. Enrollment information and forms can be found here, please contact the office at 414-963-3951 with any questions. If, for any reason, your student will not be returning to Richards next year, please let us know.

Many of you have asked how you can help this school year, and one of our greatest needs is for noon/recess supervisors. This is a wonderful opportunity to be a part of our team on a part time basis, and because supervisors this year are typically with one class at a time, it's a great opportunity to really get to know kids! We're looking for help from 1-4 days/week as well as occasional subs, details below.

Mark your calendars with these upcoming February dates:

Week of February 15: Grades 4-5 phase into 4 days in-person
Wednesday, February 24: 4K-5th grade Asynchronous Learning Day
Thursday, February 25: 4K-5th grade No School
Friday, February 26: 4K-5th grade No School

Virtual Parent Teacher Conferences: The window to schedule a virtual parent teacher conference through your Family Access account is now open through February 19. Please see the attached instructions.

Conferences are Thursday, February 25th from 12:00-8:00pm 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 4th, helped you to verify students’ continued academic progress towards district standards. Please also note that families will have the opportunity to share thoughts on classroom placement for next school year using an input form sent via the Thursday Folder in April.

If you have trouble scheduling a conference, please contact the Office directly at 963-3951.

Student Item Drop Off: Families are reminded that they may drop off forgotten student items or materials (lunches, homework, winter gear, shoes, etc.) in the Drop Off Box on the table in the front vestibule. Please label the item with your child’s name and teacher. Items are delivered to classrooms throughout the school day.

Inclement Entry and Recess: Mother Nature has certainly brought the coldest temps of the season in recent days! When the actual temperature or wind chill is below zero and morning entry is inclement, signs will be posted on each entry door. Students should plan to arrive shortly before 7:55am (11:55am for afternoon 4K), enter at their grade level door and head right to their classroom. Temperatures are monitored throughout the day and if the temps stay below zero, inclement recess takes place in the classroom.

The Richards Clinic is not able to loan out clothing or winter gear while our district safety measures remain in place. Your efforts in making sure your child(ren) arrives at school with the winter gear he/she needs are appreciated! Boots and snowpants are required to play in the snow, students without that gear play on the blacktop only. Recess is held outside unless the actual temperature or wind chill dips below zero, in which case, indoor recess is held in the classroom.

Show Your School Spirit! The Richards Student Council School Spirit and Community Connectors Committees have exciting news to share! We have not one, but two spirit days to celebrate this coming week. Monday, February 15, is Wear Red Day. February is Heart Health month - and it’s the day after Valentines, so wear red (or pink or black) to celebrate our Heart Health AND Valentines.

Then Friday the 19th, we are showing our Tiger Pride and wearing our orange and black for Richards School Spirit.

Let’s flood the school and our Zoom screens from home with colors that support the Richards Way! We hope to see your colors shine through next week. Wear red or Valentines colors on Monday and then orange and black on Friday. Go Richards! Video message from our Spirit Committee may be found here!

Seeking Noon/Recess Supervisors at Richards Elementary School

Richards Elementary School is looking for noon/recess supervisors for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year. The positions are each two hour shifts Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday between 10:45am - 1:15pm. The hourly pay rate is $11.26.

Responsibilities include: Providing supervision during lunch and recess, maintaining milk inventory and selling milk during student lunch periods, and other duties as assigned by the building administration. A passion for working with children is a must. The ability to work with other adults as a member of the supervision team is also required.

Physical requirements: standing for up to 30 minutes at a time, bending and reaching into the milk cooler, some walking, and using stairs.

In order to be considered for the Noon/Recess Supervisor position, you will need to complete the WECAN application. Follow the steps below to create an account on WECAN and apply to vacancy ID #98095.

Open the WECAN website
Choose Support Staff
Find Vacancy # 98095 = Noon/Recess Supervisor
Complete WECAN application and submit

If you have any questions, please contact the HR Office at (414) 963-3960.

From the PTO

Annual Hunger Task Force Food Drive: The Richards PTO and 3rd graders invite you to “Give Love, Give Hope, Give Food” this February and participate in our annual food drive benefitting the Hunger Task Force. The virtual food drive will run from February 12 - March 12. Unfortunately, we cannot accept any in-person donations due to the pandemic, but the third graders will be tracking our school’s donations and announcing them each week. All families are encouraged to visit this link and donate if you CAN! The Hunger Task Force experiences fewer donations after the holidays, and this year, more than ever, Richards hopes to change that! Please give what you CAN and help support the Hunger Task Force! Check out this breaking news clip from one of our third graders with all the details about the Hunger Task Force food drive! Please reach out to Adrienne Grunau at agrunau@gmail.com or Abby Williams at acdwilliams@mac.com with any questions!

Nothing Bundt Cakes Fundraiser: Looking for a Valentine gift or sweet treat for the ones you love this Valentine's Day? This Saturday, February 13th, 20% of your purchase from Nothing Bundt Cakes will go to the Richards PTO! *The promotion includes total sales on all items sold on February 13th (even though the flyer just highlights the towers.)*

Share More Air Fundraiser: Beginning February 1, all Richards grade-level classrooms, the main office, and the Connects room received an air purifying unit purchased by the PTO. Our ultimate goal is to supply all rooms where more than one teacher and student are present with an air purifier. To make that a reality, we need your financial support. Each air purifier unit costs $288, with an additional cost of $36 per replacement air filter.

As more students return to their classrooms, we anticipate there will be other opportunities for the PTO to offer support and we want to be in a financial position to do so quickly and unreservedly. By donating to this fundraiser, you are making that possible. To donate, click on this link, or login to your Membership Toolkit account and click on PTO Store: https://richardspto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/135025

If you have family members or friends who would like to help keep our schools safe and healthy, please share the link with them. Anyone can donate, they don't need a Membership Toolkit account. Thank you for your generosity! Questions? Email richardsptowfb@gmail.com

Here’s to Hearts Like Yours Card Drive: Let's spread a little kindness and show the senior citizens in our community they are remembered and loved! The Richards Service Committee and Student Council Problem Solving Committee are inviting all Richards students to make cards that will be delivered to nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the Milwaukee area at the end of February. Students are encouraged to make as many cards as they would like, and the completed cards can be dropped off in the vestibule at the main school doors until February 26th. Cards should be made out to a "grand friend” and signed with first name only.

Virtual Illustrator Visit: The Richards PTO, Librarian Lisa Roberts, and Boswell Books are happy to bring Illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser to our school for a virtual visit on Friday, February 19th! Families are invited to use this Zoom Link to attend the virtual event on 2/19 at 2:10pm. In-person students will have the opportunity to attend this presentation during class and virtual students are encouraged to join via Zoom for this fun event for all!

After a long and hugely popular run as the illustrator of Jane O’Connor’s Fancy Nancy books, Robin collaborated with author and bookstore owner Ann Patchett on the title Lambslide. Robin is thrilled to introduce the new book in the series, Escape Goat, to young readers! During her presentation, Robin will talk to students about the creative process and what it’s like to work with an author to create a picture book. She’ll tell them all about how she switched careers from professional ballet dancer to children’s book illustrator.

For a 3-minute introduction to Escape Goat check out this YouTube video by Ann and Robin. You'll see how the main protagonist doubles as an energetic goat escapee and a scapegoat for all the other character’s mistakes! The title is a crafty and hilarious pun that lands perfectly for readers of all ages. Boswell Book Company is offering you a chance to order Robin Preiss Glasser’s new book, Escape Goat, at a 20% discount. More ordering details to follow in next week’s Thursday Folder, on the PTO website and on Facebook.

Yearbook Ordering: Yearbook ordering time is coming soon! This will be the first and only time this year to place a yearbook order (as you did not and could not have placed a yearbook order at registration.) The window for ordering your student's yearbook will open on February 15th. Ordering will be open through April 2nd. The link to order on Membership Toolkit will be provided in the Thursday Folder next week and the following weeks through the close date. The link will also be available on the PTO Facebook page, website or by going to the PTO Store in Membership Toolkit. Thank you to those who have sent in photos for the yearbook. We still have room for more photos! Please send photos of your student(s) and any questions to Kristin at richards.yearbook@gmail.com.

Spirit Wear Still Available: Are you looking for youth size short or long sleeve t-shirts with last year’s logo? There was a slight logo change for Richards, so we will be selling our on-hand inventory (last year’s logo) at a discounted rate [S/S tees: $5, L/S tees: $7.] Log into your Membership Toolkit account to purchase while supplies last.

Miltown Eats Offer Has Been Extended! The Richards PTO is partnering with Miltown Eats – a local home meal kit service. Richards families will receive 25% off the first delivery and the Richards PTO will receive $20 per family referral bonus for signups who receive a meal. Visit their website miltowneats.com to browse what you would like to order and enter the code RichardsPTO to get the 25% off. This is a great way to make life a little easier for our families during these unusual times and also raise money for the Richards PTO! Questions? Contact Kristen at lafond19@yahoo.com or Erin at erin.haan@gmail.com.

District Announcements

COVID-19 Data Metric Dashboard: In an effort of transparency and communication with our staff and families, the District has created a COVID-19 data metric dashboard and weekly District update letter. Each week the District will publish a status update of active cases and those in quarantine due to exposure or presentation of COVID-19 like symptoms. Please note that information relative to any individual’s health is HIPPA protected and private, so we are taking steps to secure the anonymity of individuals. Student numbers will be published at a school level and for the district as a whole. In any school in which the number is <5 we will post an ** to avoid the likelihood of exposing the identity of an individual. We will provide a summary number for the district as a whole.

The dashboard on the COVID-19 website page and the Weekly Metrics Reports show the current week's data. All letters will be located on the Communications to Families page. It is our goal to update the dashboard and letter at the beginning of each week.

From the Recreation Department

Connects is now providing the following care options:

4 day/week Connects before and after care for K4 thru 1st graders
Wednesday Virtual Learning Care for 2nd thru 5th graders
School's Out Care for all grades full-day care on No School Days

If you would like to register, please visit our website for enrollment packets and forms. If you have questions, please contact Megan Kuehn at (414) 963-6806.

Young Rembrandts: The spring session of Young Rembrandts Art is open to students in grades 5K – 5th grade. Classes begin in March and registration is required. Please see our flyer for more information.