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EAGLE EYE
Glenn W. Stephens Elementary School
120 South Rosa Road
Madison WI 53705-4441
(608) 204-1900
Dates to Know
May 4
¨ Teacher Appreciation Week
May 2015
Issue 9
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK
(Disponible en español en la página 2)
May 12
¨ PTO Meeting – 6:30 pm
May 15
¨ Talent Show – 6:30 pm – Gym
May 24
¨ Eagle Eye Submission Deadline
Dear Parents and Families,
May 25
¨ No School – Memorial Day holiday
April and May are months when we are wrapping up
2014-15 and starting to plan for the next school year.
June 10
¨ Kindergarten Graduation – 1:00 pm - Gym
June 11
¨ 5th Grade Graduation – 8:00 am - Gym
June 11
¨ Last Day of School – Early Release – 9:20 am
The Eagle Eye
Dawn Tuescher, editor
The Eagle Eye is published monthly during the school
year. E-mail your Eagle Eye submissions to
[email protected]. The deadline for
submissions is posted each month in the “Dates to
Know” above.
We have spent a good amount of time as a staff looking
at our School Improvement Plan and how we have
addressed the action steps we set out at the beginning of
the year. We feel we covered all of our main steps but
are still hoping to be able to go a little deeper in the
year to come. We will continue our work around
teaming and planning together and focus in on the area
of writing. The district is providing some new writing
curriculum for fall 2015-16. We are also going to
continue to work on the gradual release of
responsibility (GRR). The GRR is modeling lessons
and thinking for students, sharing the responsibility
with the students for the learning, having students work
collaboratively together, and then having students work
independently. We have been studying new ways to
have students work together collaboratively while using
academic language. We hope to continue to learn more
strategies in this area and to consider what it looks like
during math.
(Principal’s Desk continues on p. 2)
Eagle Eye Page 1
Principal’s Desk (continued from p. 1)
In addition we hope to continue to get to know new
strategies in the Behavior Education Plan. In the area of
mindfulness we have done a lot of exciting work this year.
All of our 4k and 5th grade teachers were trained in
mindfulness work and then have been working with the
Center for Investigating Healthy Minds on practices for
the children. The staff shared some of what they had
learned on our last professional development day and
many teachers have already tried it out in their
classrooms. We will be getting in touch with you
regarding the family and community engagement part of
our SIP and how we can improve our two-way
communication.
We have some more information about next year, but
there is always the potential for change. For now we have
been allocated 2 classrooms of 4K, ( 2 in the a.m. and 2 in
the p.m,) 5 Kindergartens (including 2 bilingual), 6 firsts
(including 2 bilingual), 4 second grades (1 bilingual), 4
third grades (1 bilingual), and 4 fourth grades (1
bilingual) and 4 fifth grades.
We still have a number of weeks left of school. Please let
me know if you need anything or have any questions.
Thanks,
Sarah Galanter-Guziewski
204-1902
[email protected]
del escritorio de la directora
Continuaremos con nuestro trabajo en todo lo que se
refiere a trabajo en equipo, planificación en conjunto y
nos vamos a centrar en el área de la escritura. El distrito
está proporcionando un nuevo plan de estudios de
escritura para el otoño del año escolar 2015-16.
También vamos a seguir trabajando en la liberación
gradual de la responsabilidad (GRR). El GRR es modelar
lecciones y hacer pensar a los estudiantes, compartiendo
la responsabilidad con los estudiantes en el aprendizaje,
que los estudiantes trabajen en colaboración entre ellos y
luego hacer que los estudiantes trabajen de manera
independiente. Hemos estado estudiando nuevas maneras
de tener a los estudiantes trabajando juntos en
colaboración durante el uso del lenguaje académico.
Esperamos seguir aprendiendo más estrategias en esta
materia y considerar posibilidades para matemáticas.
Además esperamos seguir aprendiendo nuevas
estrategias en el Plan Educativo de Conducta. En el área
de las ‘Mentes en Acción’ hemos hecho un trabajo
emocionante este año. Todos los maestros/as de nuestros
salones de 4k y quinto grado fueron capacitados en
‘Mentes en Acción’ y han estado trabajando con el
Centro para la Investigación de las Mentes Saludables en
las prácticas para los niños. El personal compartió
algunas de las cosas que aprendieron en nuestro último
día de desarrollo profesional y muchos profesores/as ya
las han probado en sus salones. Nos pondremos en
contacto con ustedes en relación con la parte de la
participación familiar y comunitaria de nuestro programa
SIP y para ver cómo podemos mejorar nuestra
comunicación bilateral.
Tenemos algo más de información sobre el año que
viene, pero siempre existe la posibilidad de cambios. Por
ahora nos fueron asignados 2 salones de 4K, (2 en la
mañana y las 2 de la tarde,) 5 salones de Kindergarten
(incluyendo
2
bilingües),
6
salones
de
primero(incluyendo 2 bilingües), 4 salones de segundo (1
bilingüe), 4 salones de tercero (1 bilingüe), 4 salones de
cuarto (1 bilingüe) y 4 salones de quinto.
Estimados Padres y Familias,
Abril y mayo son los meses cuando estamos
terminando el año escolar 2014-15 y comenzando a
planear para el año escolar 2015-16. Hemos pasado
una buena cantidad de tiempo revisando nuestro Plan
de Mejoramiento Escolar y la forma cómo abordamos
las medidas de acción que figuraron al comienzo del
año. Sentimos que cubrimos todos los puntos
principales, pero todavía estamos esperando poder
profundizar un poco más el año que viene.
Todavía quedan unas pocas semanas para que la escuela
se termine. Por favor, déjenme saber si necesitan algo o
tienen alguna pregunta.
Gracias,
Sarah Galanter-Guziewski
204-1902
Eagle Eye Page 2
PTO BOARD
2014-2015
Our Retiring Teachers
Two teachers are retiring from Stephens this year. The PTO and the
whole Stephens community wants to thank them for their years of
service. We wish them all the best!
I have been involved with Madison schools since I was a kindergartner
at Crestwood which lead me to graduating with the first class at
Memorial. My children attended Midvale Lincoln, Hamilton and
graduated from West. My first career was as a vocational counselor for
Sauk County. I returned to school after obtaining a teacher license,
graduating in 1995. Since then I have spent my entire teaching career
here at Stephens. I have taught every grade except kindergarten but
have settled in 3rd as most of the students are shorter than me! My
retirement goals are very simple - I don't want to use an alarm clock
every day! I would like to camp and bike in the fall and spend time
with my children and grandchildren. I plan to return as a substitute to
keep in contact with the students and staff here at Stephens as this
school has played such a large part in my life for a long time. I would
like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the families that have helped,
both directly and indirectly, make my 20 years here at Stephens a very
rewarding time.
Co-Presidents
Kristy Schneider
Phone: 563-580-6486
Email:
[email protected]
Co-Vice Presidents
Lisa Ratta Shoshan
Phone: 202-277-5987
Email: [email protected]
Cecilia Sayago
Phone: 314-489-5603
Email: [email protected]
Treasurer
Alyssa Sellwood
Phone: 608-234-8001
E-mail: [email protected]
Secretary
Laura Schroeder
Phone: 407-399-8270
Email: [email protected]
- Nancy Bach
I have been teaching for 40 years. The past 30 years have been here at
Stephens, which is my neighborhood school and where my children
(now grown up with kids of their own) went to school. I taught
kindergarten and first grade here for many years before becoming our
school's Instructional Resource Teacher and Reading Interventionist. It
will be odd not coming here every day after retirement, so likely I will
be back as a volunteer at some point. I am also a writer. I write
mystery novels for adults ( On the Road to Death's Door & On the
Road to Where the Bells Toll ), screenplays (still waiting to see one up
on the big screen), magazine articles, a blog ( Musings of a
MadCityWriter), and I have several children's books that I am working
on and hope to get published. I am also a grandmother. I have two
grandsons (one in Boston and one in Seattle) and a granddaughter on
the way! I will be spending a good part of my summer in Boston
helping with that growing family. But I love to travel and especially to
spend time with my grandkids. So I expect to be very busy in my
retirement.
- Peggy Williams
SAFE ARRIVAL
204-1908
If your child will be late to or
absent from school, please
contact the school’s Safe
Arrival line at 204-1908 by
9 a.m.
Please speak clearly and
slowly, and spell the last name
of your child.
Don’t forget to tell us the
name of your child’s teacher
or the room number. If your
child will be arriving late, be
sure to indicate if he or she
will need a hot lunch.
Eagle Eye Page 3
TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK
“Teachers who LOVE teaching, teach children to love LEARNING”.
We would like to take the week to thank our Glen Stephens Teachers and Staff for all the amazing
work they do with our children. During the week of May 4th – 8th we would like to provide some fun
snacks and lunch to the staff here at Stephens. Each day we will have a theme that will coordinate with what
will be served on the menu. We need our families to help out by signing up to bring in items on those days.
The sign up will be done thru Sign up Genius, and can be found thru this web address:
www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0845AFA72EAAFD0-teacher
Monday: Muffins, Bagels, and Coffee
Tuesday: Taco Bar
Wednesday: Fruit and Veggie w/ dips
Thursday: Drinks and Salty Snacks
Friday: Sweet Treats
We are very excited and look forward to seeing all of the wonderful things brought in. We also encourage
your child to make cards for their teacher at home, and bring them in that week. If you need any extra art
supplies please let me know.
If you have any questions, or need help with sign up please let me know
Amanda Divine
608-628-8370
[email protected]
Glenn Stephens Talent Show
Friday, May 15
6:30 p.m.
Stephens Gym
Join us for a fun night of singing, dancing, magic, and lots of other fun and
unique acts! This year will also feature three songs sung by chorus. Hope to
see you there!
Eagle Eye Page 4
Student Council News
Student Council End of the Year Trip Highlights
On April 24th, Glenn Stephens Student Council took an awesome field trip to the Henry Vilas Zoo and
MMSD Central Office! Earlier this year, the Student Council voted to donate some of the money earned from
our bake sale to the Henry Vilas Zoo. On our visit to the zoo, we dropped off our donation and got to go on a
behind the scenes tour with Alison Prange, Executive Director of the Friends of the Zoo. On our tour we
learned many interesting facts about how the zoo is run and the history of the zoo. We also got to take a tour
of the new Arctic Adventure exhibit opening in late May. It was SO cool!
We then headed over for a visit with Dr. Mike Hertting, Chief of Schools, Operations for MMSD. We got to
learn all about how decisions are made in our district and we also went on a tour of Central Office. It was
really cool to see MMSD’s TV Station and to ask questions of Dr. Hertting in the auditorium where they hold
their monthly board meetings. After a delicious Ian’s Pizza lunch we headed back to school. We learned a
lot and had fun representing Stephens.
Pajama Dance Party Thanks
Thanks to everyone who helped with the Pajama Dance party! Special thanks to Corey Gresen who did a
great job with the music as well as McDonald's on Odana Road for the donation of orange drink and those
parents who brought baked goods/snacks to enjoy. Thanks also to our great custodial staff who got the gym
set-up and back in order when all done. And thanks to all of the families who were able to attend as it's
because of you that we were able to have a successful dance! Thanks again for making the dance a fun
and enjoyable event!
Melanie Rademacher
Dance Chair
Eagle Eye Page 5
INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH KIDS?
Need a little extra cash?
Then, we want you!
Are you or someone you know, looking for a part-time
10-15 hour per week job? As a Crossing Guard, you will
be providing a great service to your community as well as
earning $15.35 per hour. Limited benefits may be
available. The City of Madison is looking for interested,
responsible individuals who enjoy working outdoors to
provide safety for our school children for the 2015-2016
school year.
Most shifts are 1-1 ¼ hours and fall between the hours of
7:00 – 8:45 am and 2:30 – 4:00 pm with an earlier shift
Monday afternoons. Work is scheduled Monday through
Friday with no weekend, evening or holiday work. Some
flexibility is required due to early release dates. This is a
great job for the retiree, grandparent, or stay-at-home
parent re-entering the job market.
A job description and application will be available online at
http://www.cityofmadison.com beginning in late June/early July; (select “jobs”, then
“job openings”; scroll down until you see the link for crossing guards under
“hourly/seasonal” positions). Please be sure to list on your application any experience
you have directing/controlling children (including your own children or
grandchildren). Interviews will be scheduled beginning Monday, August 17, 2015;
employment begins approximately August 24, 2015. For more information, please
contact the City of Madison Police Dept. Crossing Guard Supervisors at 266-4703
(Patti Knoche or Bob Olson).
Eagle Eye Page 6