From Mr. Brzinski's Desk - Geneva Joint 4

From Mr. Brzinski's Desk

Principal’s Corner February 2012

February brings several important milestones in the school year. For our eighth graders, we will begin registration for high school classes. The teachers and students have been working to prepare for this time. This month includes visits to Badger High School and visits by high school counselors to Woods to discuss high school classes for next year. For any students not attending Badger, parents please contact the high school of your choice to discuss your child’s registration with their counseling departments. If you have any questions, please contact us here at Woods and we will happily assist you in any way we can.

Also, here at Woods School, we begin our planning process for the coming school year. The board of education and I always welcome your ideas for Woods School. Many of the changes that have been made over the past 18 months have started as suggestions from members of our community. If you have any ideas to help improve Woods School for our children please stop in or call, we can take some time to discuss them.

As a reminder, February brings the beginning of Open Enrollment in the state of Wisconsin. We have already had many inquiries thanks to the positive comments about Woods School made by many of you in the community. If you know of any families that are looking for an academically rigorous, family-oriented school for their children, please encourage them to consider Woods School. I have added a link to our homepage (www.woodsschool.com) to the state website for open enrollment applications. Our new brochure is also on the page. Feel free to copy it for a friend or interested party. Again, please contact me with any questions.

Mr. Brzinski

Principal’s Corner December 2011

I want to take a moment to tell you about a new program here at Woods School. Our Green Club is beginning a composting program.. In the coming weeks, parent volunteers will be in the lunch room to help educate our students on items that can be composted. With the help of the WPTG, the Green Club has purchased a compost bin which will be placed in the reading garden. Our hope is to reduce our trash to one trash bin per lunch period. The Green Club will be sending home information about household composting as well. Please take the opportunity to discuss the importance of recycling and composting with your child. I would like to thank Laura Schanz, the Green Club and the WPTG for their energy and drive in this effort.

Here at Woods School, we are always looking for new ways to have a healthier, “greener” environment for the children. In the past year, we have switched to environmentally-friendly cleaners to reduce our children’s exposure to harsh chemicals. Recently, we also had our lighting evaluated. We replaced our gym and kitchen lights with lights that use less than half the energy of the previous lights and provide more light! Not only are the lights more friendly to the environment, but they will pay for themselves with reduced energy costs in less about three years.

All of these ideas began with suggestions from our community members, so I would like to thank all of you for your help in making Woods School a “greener” school.

Mr. Brzinski

Principal’s Corner November 2011

November 4^th marks the end of the first quarter of the school year. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time passes. We have enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and colors here at Woods. The children have been involved in so many diverse activities and have adjusted well to the new school year. With report cards and conferences around the corner this is a wonderful opportunity to talk with your children about their year and see how they have grown. We are looking forward to seeing all of you at conferences on the 11^th and the Pilgrim dinner on the 17^th.

Over the next 12 weeks we will be re-building our computer network and phone/messaging system. Please bear with us, at times we may have some delays in e-mail. For the most part the transition should be seamless for parents with a minimum of down time. However, in my experience, there are always unforeseen glitches. The new network will increase our ability to communicate and provide increased parent access. We will also create a wireless network that will allow increased educational options for our teachers and students.

I have posted a link on the website that includes my recent letter home about the upcoming Highway 50 project. If you have neighbors that might be interested in contacting the Department of Transportation with their concerns about the Snake Road and Highway 50 intersection, please direct them to the link on the Woods School home page.

Please check the school calendar so you are aware of upcoming event dates. There are four early dismissals in November, the 4^th, 10^th, 11^th, and 23^rd. The website has a complete calendar of events.

If you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to call.

Mr. Brzinski

Principal’s Corner September 2011

Welcome to the 2011-12 school year at Woods School! I hope you all had a wonderful summer. The staff has been working hard to have the building ready for the new year and the work has really paid off. We have re-arranged rooms, refinished the gym floor and replaced the plumbing in the middle school wing. Some of our new furniture was back-ordered, but we should have all in place soon.

We have a new middle school social studies teacher in Mr. Forrest Florczak, a new first grade teacher in Ms. Lauren Kallergis, a new 4-year old Kindergarten teacher in Ms. Katelyn Mabry and a new aide in Ms. Samantha Stickler. The elementary teachers will be implementing a new math series this year that will be consistent with our middle school materials. One new method of assessing students’ educational growth this year will be MAP assessments.

We are welcoming many new families as well this year and looking forward to getting to know all the new faces that are here!

The WPTG (Woods Parent Teacher Group) has some new faces as well. Please join them in supporting the school programs. Our school would not function nearly as well without all the wonderful help from our families.

We have some new projects planned for the school year that I will be sharing with you in the months to come. Many of these projects started as suggestions from concerned parents and community members. I truly appreciate all input that I have received from you. As always I am available to talk with you. Please contact me through email (ebrzinski@woodsschool.com), by telephone (262-248-3816) or in person. We have many new things to explore this year and I know together we will make this a successful year!

Mr. Brzinski

May 2011

It’s already May! We are all busy trying to fit in Spring activities. The staff has begun to plan for next year. One addition we are making is a new assessment system. This system is the MAP assessment by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). We will begin with an introductory examination later in May. Then throughout next year our students from 2^nd grade through 8^th grade will take the assessments. The purpose of the test is threefold. First, the assessment tells us what the students are ready to learn. Second, it will monitor the academic growth of our students. Lastly, the assessment will also help us to monitor our curriculum as we adopt the new core curriculum standards. Our goal is to have usable data to share with parents by the beginning of the 2012-13 school year. Parents of 2^nd through 8^th grade students will receive a letter informing you of the May 2011 test times within the next ten days.

As many of you know, we will be hiring new staff members though out the next several months. The process is quite lengthy and thorough. I will inform parents as soon as possible after a decision is made. Please make sure we have current email addresses as this will be the quickest method for communication. I will also post notices on the school website for all interested parties.

One final announcement- we do have a staff member who is interested in tutoring during the summer months. If there are any parents interested in having their child tutored, please contact Mrs. Smiley in the office with your name and number.

Have a great month!

April 2011

Three quarters have passed us by this school year. What an eventful year it has been! The end of the year is always very rushed and busy. Let’s make sure that we take time to enjoy this special time with our children. It is often a difficult time for children to be inside. I know as a parent I often overlook how exciting a warm spring day can be for a child. It’s time to run outside without a jacket on and soak up the sun. These days truly are priceless for a child, almost magical. Being outside at this time of year lends itself to many opportunities for both learning and relationship building with our children. Let’s take time to enjoy these times as well.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Ted Peters and the Environmental Education Foundation, INC., for their grant to the Outdoor Education program at Woods School. The grant of $285 will be used to purchase three Garmin GPS units to be used by the students in various outdoor activities. This grant will make it possible for the middle school students to learn new skills and enjoy the outdoors in new ways.

One of the outcomes of the current budget events in Wisconsin is that we will have several retirements this year. Several of our valued and long-time educators will be retiring at the end of this school year. Mrs. Hintz, Mrs. Swanson, Mr. McMahon, and Mrs. Gonzales will be moving on. These staff members take with them over one hundred years of combined educational experience. They will be greatly missed.

March 2011

It has been hard to escape the happenings in Madison over the past two weeks. As an educator for the past 22 years in Wisconsin, the future has never been more unclear. Circumstances are changing daily and we still do not know how the future budget will fully affect our students in Geneva Joint #4. I have met with lobbyists and lawyers to try to grasp the impact on our school. The situation certainly is a test of our patience and fortitude.

The staff at Woods School feels that it is important to let our community know that even in these uncertain times they remain committed to providing the quality educational experience you and your children have come to expect. I have never been more proud of a group of teachers and support staff. They have had to deal with wild rumors and uncertainty about their futures. They know that they are going to be asked to sacrifice in order to help the state with its financial burden and the difficulty for some will be great. Yet, they are willing to do so. Through all the turmoil, we are working together to plan for whatever situations may arise over the next several months. I will update you as soon as I am aware of any new information and changes, if any, for Woods School.

January 2011

Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. We are gearing up for the long Wisconsin winter. Our ski program will begin this week. I would like to thank everyone for their help and volunteering in advance, especially the WPTG and several individual donors that make the program possible. The ski program is one of the unique experiences that help to make Woods School what it is.

This month also brings the end of the semester. Report cards will be going home on January 24. Please contact your child’s teacher with any questions. For my part, I am beginning to plan for the coming school year. Please feel free to share any ideas you may have for our school.

February will bring the beginning of Open Enrollment in the state of Wisconsin. Word of mouth is powerful advertising. If you know of any families that are looking for an academic, family-oriented school for their children, please encourage them to consider Woods School. We are always happy to talk to families that may be interested in our school and we are available for tours. I have added a link to the state website for open enrollment applications to our homepage (www.woodsschool.com) and I have included some open enrollment information. Again, please contact me with any questions.

Mr. Brzinski