Messages from Dr. Kasmarick
Staying healthy is on all of our minds. Dr. Thomsen's 2/28 communication to families included the CDC's recommendations for limiting the spread of respiratory viruses:
- avoid close contact with people who are sick
- avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
- cover nose and mouth when coughing/sneezing and wash hands afterwards
- clean/disinfect all frequently touched objects and surfaces
Frequent handwashing is most definitely something we ALL need to encourage with kids. Here at school, students are encouraged and given the opportunity to wash hands throughout the day, and especially before eating snacks and lunch. Each classroom is equipped with a sink, and our cafeteria and library are equipped with hand sanitizer pumps in addition to the restroom sinks. We are reminding students of the importance and "how to's" of handwashing via daily morning announcements, posters in the hallways, and via teachers in the classroom. Students are welcome to bring in personal bottles of sanitizer for desks and/or lunch bags. Is there time for handwashing? Yes, there is always time for this!
We also ask that you are mindful of our guidelines for keeping students home due to illness. As stated in our handbook, students are excluded from school when a fever reaches or exceeds 99.6 or when vomiting. Students may not return to school until they are fever and vomit free for at least 24 hours. Considering our preventative efforts related to respiratory virus, please consider excessive coughing as another reason to keep a child home.
Thank you for your partnership in keeping our school community healthy!
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Our planning for the 2020-21 school year has begun! With that in mind, please note the following:
- Students who are currently enrolled at Richards do not need to re-enroll for the upcoming year, however each family participates in the annual registration process in August. More information to come this spring.
- If, for any reason, your student(s) will not be returning to Richards for the upcoming year, please contact the office at 963-3951 as soon as possible.
- If you know of any students who are eligible for 4-year old kindergarten (4 years old by September 1 and residing in our attendance area), please encourage them to contact us if they haven't already.
- 5K-5th grade new student enrollment is also in progress. Please visit our website for enrollment forms or call our office for more information.
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Spring Break: School is not in session from Monday, March 23 through Friday, March 27 during Spring Break. School resumes Monday, March 30. The Connects Before and After School Program offers School's Out Care for ALL Richards students when school is not in session due to Early Release or No School. Interested families must to complete a School's Out Care registration form and return with payment to the Whitefish Bay Recreation Department one week prior to the date(s) requested.
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Birthday Lunch: The March Birthday Lunch will take place next Monday, March 9. Students celebrating March birthdays are invited to eat lunch on the Great Hall Stage with Dr. Kasmarick. Milk will be provided & students can choose a trinket from the Birthday Treasure Box!
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4th Grade General Music Concert: Richards 4th graders have been hard at work preparing for their upcoming music concert. We hope to see you there!
- What: Concert for all 4th grade students
- When: Friday, March 13 at 2:30pm
- Where: Richards Great Hall
- Dress: Students should dress nicely for the performance
Questions? Please contact Mrs. King Driscoll (lauren.kingdriscoll@wfbschools.com)
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4th & 5th Grade Richards Learning Fair - Important Dates! We are thrilled to have over 60 presentations prepared by 100+ students for the Richards Learning Fair on March 11, 2020. Some amazing projects will be on display this year from Quokkas (I had to Google this one!) to Goats to Light Sabers and Revolutionary War......from Global Warming to Record Players to NBA Teams and Women Who Changed the World. NO slime this year.....but the exploding Mentos will make another appearance.
Participants are encouraged to follow the provided checklist and confirm that your projects are on track for the final presentation during the school day on Wednesday, March 11th. The checklist is for your use, only. It will not be collected. Participant posters and display items should be brought to school on the morning of March 11th! Set up will take place from 8:00-8:15am. Questions? Please contact Mrs. Jones at susan.jones@wfbschools.com.
The Learning Fair - filled with new knowledge about Science, History or Math topics - will be open to the Richards Community, family members and friends on Wednesday, March 11 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Students should plan to take their presentations home with them at the end of the evening.
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Fostering Resilience In Our Children: April 1st Presentation: Our hope as parents is that our children are healthy, strong and happy. We know that resilience, or the capacity to bounce back quickly from adversity, is key for fostering mental health. Our School Counselor, Jared Daigle, and Whitefish Bay Psychologist, Michael Mazius, will discuss practical ways in which we can develop this essential skill in our children. They’ll highlight important and interesting evidence-based techniques, such as building a constructive self-narrative. Please join them after morning drop off on Wednesday, April 1 from 8:15-9:15am in the Richards Great Hall for an hour of important information and discussion.
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From the PTO
Last Call for Hunger Task Force Taco Ball Dinner Orders! Place your Hunger Task Force dinner orders by Monday, March 9th. Visit richardspto.org or login to your Membership Toolkit account and click on PTO Store. Can’t make it to the Taco Ball? Show your support by purchasing Virtual Dinners. All proceeds from the event benefit the Milwaukee Hunger Task Force.
Join the Richards PTO for the Hunger Task Force Taco Ball Dinner on Wednesday, March 18th from 5-7pm at Richards School. Enjoy a taco dinner in the Great Hall and then head over to the Gym for dancing and fun. There will be a DJ, glow sticks, and some funky, funky moves. Dessert available for purchase for $1 in the Great Hall, glow sticks and other dance party accessories available for purchase in the Gym. Questions? Ask Mary Kathryn Malaney: marykathryn.malaney@gmail.com or Allison Wagner: allisonwagner1@gmail.com. Thank you for your support!
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Save the Date for the 1st Annual Richards Golf Outing: Join us Friday, June 26th at the Brown Deer Golf Course for fantastic afternoon of golf benefitting the Richards Encore Curriculum: Art, Library, Music, PE, and Spanish. More information about the event, including individual and corporate sponsorship opportunities will be available soon.
High Interest Day Needs You! You’re fun. You have a job you can tell the kids about, or a hobby, right? Please sign up to present a High Interest Day, recruit your friends, recruit your family. Are we begging? Kind of. We need 16 more presenters. It’s such a great opportunity for the students to see how much fun being an adult can be, that doing all this school work now means when they grow up they get to do fun stuff (shhhhh, just go with it). To sign up, visit https://www.richardspto.org/high-interest-day-2020
Author Visit: Derrick Barnes! Derrick Barnes, author of the award-winning book Crown is paying a visit to 3rd-5th graders on Monday, April 6th at Richards. Boswell Book Company is offering you a chance to purchase Barnes’s new book, Who Got Game?: Baseball: Amazing But True Stories!, at a 20% discount in advance of his visit. Order forms will be sent home in Thursday Folders the week of March 9th.
Yearbook Orders: Order your 2019-2020 Richards Yearbook online through the PTO Store in Membership Toolkit. This is the first time this year yearbooks have been available for purchase this year, so no, you didn’t order one at registration. To place your order, login to your Membership Toolkit account and click on PTO store, or visit richardspto.org. All yearbook orders must be placed online. Yearbooks are $15.50 each. The deadline to place your order is April 30th. This year parents will order one yearbook per child (multiple yearbooks will not be delivered to one child). Yearbooks are scheduled to come home with your child sometime between May 28 and June 4. If purchasing a yearbook presents a financial hardship for your family, a copy will be made available to your child free of charge on behalf of the Richards PTO by contacting Stephanie Haupt in the Richards Main Office. Any other questions, contact Kristin at richards.yearbook@gmail.com.
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District Announcements
School Board Meeting: March 11, 2020: 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 of each Board meeting.
Meeting agendas are posted within BoardDocs two days preceding each meeting. Click here for the meeting dates & agenda link.
- Annual Meeting dates located under featured tab/documents
- Agendas located under featured or meeting tabs
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