October Family Newsletter 2017

From the Desktop of Mr. Joseph

In mid September, we gathered the students in Gym A to hear about the Cherrydale fundraiser for our Parent Advisory Committee(PAC). This fundraiser is the one big event we host each year to generate funds to support the many activities of the PAC. Last year our fabulous PAC helped support or fund the following student events at River View:

1. Donate money to get our School Store up and running, but also to maintain the store which has helped support the school’s work with advancing our PBIS efforts.
2. The 8th grade Farewell at the end of the year was given a generous donation from the PAC. This helped significantly reduce the cost to students and by all accounts the kids had a great time.
3. The PAC approved requests from staff to fund our annual Community Service day which is a great way for the students to give back to the Kaukauna community.
4. They donated a $1,000 to the One Book, One School event and
5. They also donated several thousands dollars to make different field trips more affordable for students.

Many of the activities listed above would not be possible if it were not for our PAC and this fundraising event. The PAC is very conscientious about not hosting multiple fundraising events as they understand they are one of many schools and organizations that look to raise funds each year. Truly this is their major fundraiser for the year so they/we appreciate the support you will give to this event in the form of encouraging your child(ren) to be involved in selling.

Thank you for your continued support for River View and our fabulous PAC.

Dan Joseph

Principal

Online Scheduling for Parent Teacher Conferences

River View will be holding Parent Teacher Conferences on November 9th and 15th from 4:00-7:30 pm and November 17th from 12:30-4:00 pm. Conferences are an excellent opportunity for us to share the many wonderful things your child(ren) are doing and also gives us a chance to address any concerns that may be impeding your child’s progress. As you place the conference dates on your calendar, please know all  conferences will be scheduled online using Signup Genius starting October 16th.  Mid October an email will be sent to all families with the link and directions to on how to sign up.    

Student of the Month

Each month we recognize one student from each grade level that is a true model of the River View way. All students that are chosen constantly demonstrate how to be respectful, responsible and productive.

For the month of September:

5th Grade: Aiden Kamenick

6th Grade: Ben Nytes

7th Grade: Karleigh Kluever

8th Grade: Alanna Anderson

and Staff of the Month of September

Mrs. Kara Schmidt

Xander Biese won the Echo Dot which was part of the PBIS drawing.

Reminder for Parents of 8th Graders

Sign Up for your Child’s Eighth Grade Academic and Career Planning Conferences

A message from Mrs. Hinz, School Counselor (grade 8)

In the September newsletter I shared the rationale for why Kaukauna Area School District, specifically, River View’s school counselors are meeting with all eighth grade students for an ACP (Academic and Career Planning) conference.  These conferences  have been occurring since 2009 at River View Middle School.  Additionally, the Academic and Career Planning conferences are an opportunity allowing parents/guardians and student to meet with their school counselor in a private meeting to gain insight into the student’s current academic and career interests/goals.  In addition we will discuss important and relevant high school information to help create a successful transition to the high school.

Please plan to attend your son/daughter's ACP conference by making an appointment by November 30th.  To sign up click on this link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0944a4a62aa7f85-academic

to sign up for a conference time.

If you are unable to attend your child’s conference, please contact me at 766-6111 ext. 4211 or by email (hinza@kaukaunasd.org) that you are unable to attend and I will meet with your son/daughter individually.  Additionally, if you do not have an email in Infinite Campus please call me to set up your conference.

Absence Procedures

Each student has the responsibility to attend school regularly and to report to school and scheduled classes on time. Students who attend class regularly not only do better in class but also reinforce lifelong work skills by arriving each day on time. Wisconsin Statutes 118.15 and 118.16 establish the ultimate responsibility for regular school attendance with each student’s parents. The parent of a student is responsible for reporting any absences, the cause, and if required, for sending information upon the student’s return.

It is the parent's responsibility to call the attendance office by 8:30 a.m. to report the absence and state the reason. Call the attendance line at 759-6159, and then press 6. Messages can be left 24 hours a day. Prompt notification to the school is necessary. Students who are not called in my 8:30 will be marked as unexcused. Prearranged absences can be made by calling the attendance office at 75-6159 (press 6) for the attendance recorder. Prearranged makeup of missed class work may be arranged by notifying the attendance office of any anticipated absences. Students appearing as unexcused from class or study hall will be ineligible to practice, perform, attend, or compete in any co-curricular activity on the day of the unexcused absence. Students who miss class or study hall due to illness, will be ineligible to practice, perform, attend, or compete in any co-curricular activity on the day of the illness.

Protocol for Tardiness

1.   If a student arrives tardy without a pass during the first 5 minutes of class, the student will be marked tardy.

• a.   The teacher will inform students of his/her attendance procedures including responses to tardiness on the first day of each semester.
• Three to four tardies and student will receive warning and opportunity to correct
• b.   Five tardies and student will receive a detention and opportunity to correct
• c.  Repeat step b for additional tardies

Protocol for Excused Absence

Parents are authorized to excuse their child from school for up to a maximum of 10 days in a school year, provided they notify the school. Excused absences may include, but are not limited to personal illness, severe illness or death in the family, court appearances, necessary health appointments, school sponsored activities, and other reasons which have been approved by the school administration in advance of the absence.

• a. Between 7-10 excused days, not including Medical Excuse or Funeral days, a letter of concern and medical excuse reminder sent
• b. More than 10 day- medical letter and meeting between parents and school
• c. Additional absences after 10 days will require a Medical Excuse required letter  to be considered excused

Protocol for Unexcused Absence

1.  If a student arrives without a pass after the first five minutes of class, the student will be marked unexcused.

• a. Each one period to a whole day unexcused absence- detention and opportunity to correct
• b. Three to four days with one period to whole day unexcused- detention, letter of concern and opportunity to correct
• c. Five or more days with one period to whole day unexcused(same semester)
• Detention, first truancy letter and meeting if no social worker
• If student has a social worker, detention, letter of concern, truancy court and sanctions from social worker.

Truancy

Truancy means a student is absent from school without an acceptable excuse. "Habitual Truant" is defined by Wisconsin State Statute, section 118.16(1) (a) and (c) as a pupil who is absent without an acceptable excuse for part or all of five or more days on which school is held during a trimester. Once a student is habitually truant, a letter will be sent for a parent(s) meeting to be held regarding the truancy, prior to referring the student to the Municipal Court of the City of Kaukauna or the Juvenile Intake of the county in which the student resides. A municipal citation may be issued to any student who is truant subject to Municipal Statute 9.27. Truancy Court is held on campus monthly.

Extended Absences/Vacation Guidelines:

We understand that time spent together as a family and that vacations can be an important part of family life. However, the instructional process does not stop when students are not at school, and lost instructional time cannot be recovered or recreated. Therefore, we strongly encourage families to schedule vacations around the existing school vacation days. If you must schedule a trip or other extended absence that will occur during scheduled school days, please follow these guidelines:

• The student must have a pre-arranged absence form signed by his/her teachers and parent(s) and returned to the office secretary before the absence occurs. Pre-arranged absence forms are available in the school office and on our website. This will allow us to excuse your child from school and keep accurate attendance records.
• Homework often cannot be prepared in advance, because the purpose of homework is to provide practice and review of skills taught in the classroom. Your child’s teacher may be able to prepare some work in advance with ample advance notice of the absence. However, additional work may be assigned when your child returns. (See Make-Up Work During or Following an Absence below for more information.)
• Try to minimize the pre-vacation excitement for your child to reduce the instructional time lost due to distraction and excitement.

Make-Up Work During or Following an Absence:

If parents anticipate their child will be out of school more than two days, they are encouraged to phone the school office (766-6111) and request homework which may be picked up at the end of the day or brought home by a family member. Students should make up work missed as a result of an absence and will be responsible to arrange for make-up work. The amount of make-up work will be reasonable and commensurate with the situation, with emphasis on quality rather than quantity. Consideration for make-up work will be made for students absent from classes as a result of field trips or special in-school arrangements since they are involved in an educational experience.

Study Smarts

Your child attends school every day, is well behaved in class, and completes their homework. Why aren’t their grades better? Middle Years, a publication newsletter designed for parents with children in middle school, offers the following suggestions to guide your child toward developing excellent study skills.

Be Active. Explain the difference between studying and “active studying”. Reading their textbook is studying; writing an outline as they read the material is active studying. Other ideas include: jotting down facts and dates, highlighting important information, and reciting vocabulary definitions, names, and formulas on tape and playing them back. The more senses (hearing, touching, and seeing) your child uses,

the more they will remember.

Make choices. Help your child decide where, when, and how to study – depending on how they learn best (seeing it, hearing it, or working with it). Do they focus better with the door open or closed? Can they concentrate more after school or after dinner? Are they more productive studying alone or with a buddy?

Helping them figure out what study habits work best for them will help them achieve their best.

Stay on Course. Have your child write out a weekly study schedule. They can block out times for each subject, quiz, or test. Encourage them to monitor their schedule and revise it as needed. Explain to your child, “A schedule is a plan, not a contract”. They will see that having a plan will keep them on track.

Keys to Success

You can set your child up for success this school year with some basic pointers. Show your child this checklist, and you’ll help him/her get off on the right foot:

· I attend school every day unless I’m sick, and I get there on time.

· I get 8 – 10 hours of sleep each night.

· I eat a healthy breakfast in the morning.

· I pay attention in class.

· I write down my assignments for each subject.

· I start my projects when I get them.

· I complete my homework on time.

· I read for pleasure each day.

 

7th & 8th Grade Math Study Tips

Frequently as math teachers, we hear, "I don't study for math tests because you can't."  As you may know, this is false.  Here are a few tips to help students study for math tests and quizzes.

1.  Students can review their notes and quiz themselves on key vocabulary and the steps for solving problems.

2.  Practice problems.  Students can review by completing the odd problems from the sections covered and checking their answers in the "selected answers" part of their book.  If they are getting problems incorrect, they can ask a teacher or parent for help in correcting their mistakes.

3.  On the "Big Ideas" website, students can find practices, quizzes, and test.  Again, they should seek out help if they are not doing well on these.  The website also has many skill builders and review games.

​4.  Many teachers have websites linked to "Google Classroom."  Utilize these sites, practice videos and other resources to help you study.​

**As always if you have having difficulties check in with your math teacher for extra assistance.  Do not wait until the quiz or test to ask for help.

Red Ribbon Week

October is Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Month.  Various prevention activities will be taking place in Kaukauna Schools throughout the month.  We will celebrate Red Ribbon Week during the week of October 23-25 to promote prevention and encourage healthy decisions relating to this issue both in the schools and in the community.  The red ribbon has come to symbolize a commitment to healthy, drug-free lifestyles.  Raising children in a drug-free community is everybody’s responsibility!

River View will have the following dress up days:

Monday, October 23— "Teaming up Against Drugs is NO Sweat":  Wear your favorite sweats/team apparel.

Tuesday, October 24—“My Future is BRIGHT DRUG FREE":  Wear Neon or Bright colors.

Wednesday, October 25— “Unite Against Drugs:” Everyone Wear Red !

As a parent or guardian, here are other things you can do to promote and encourage healthy decisions during Red Ribbon Week and throughout your child’s life:

• Be a positive role model by maintaining healthy habits in your everyday life in regards to alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.
• Encourage your child to participate in drug prevention activities at school or in your community.  These may be during Red Ribbon Week in October or at other times of the year
• Have dinner together.
• Educate yourself on the latest information on tobacco, alcohol, and other illicit drugs and how they can destroy your family and community. Visit the website for this information.
• Explain to your child that the most important choices you can make are those that keep you healthy and safe.
• Encourage your child to take responsibility for saying “NO” to drugs and “YES” to healthy and fun activities.
• Keep communication open.  Create an atmosphere where your child feels free to talk to you when he or she has a problem.
• Build your child’s self-esteem.   Spend time together and let your child know that your love is constant.  Praise your child’s achievements as well as efforts to do his or her best.  The stronger your child’s self-esteem, the more likely he or she will be to choose healthy activities and refuse to use drugs!
• Talk to your children about the dangerous effects of alcohol, tobacco and other drug

6th Grade Camp

As an enhancement of our environmental education curriculum, sixth grade students attend Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya each spring.  We will stay at the YMCA facility located near Mountain for three days and two nights.  Camp information went home the last week of September. If you would like a sneak peak of camp, go to http://campunahliya.org and select Environmental Education.

From the School Nurse

The River View Health Office provides many valuable services to our students and families.  As we begin our new school year, we want to share with families a brief description of how we support student learning on a daily basis. These support include:

Health and Wellness

• Assess and treat (as needed) for minor injuries. We will call you with injury concerns that may need medical care.  If we cannot reach you by phone, then we call adults you provided as emergency contacts.  Please plan for an emergency in advance so your child can get needed help.
• We ask you to complete a yearly health update form on each of your children including your permission use for Tylenol, ibuprofen, Tums, Benadryl along with cough and cold medicine for minor illnesses and aches.  Should your child need some specific over the counter medicine, please provide it along with written guidance for your child.
• Administer daily prescription medication (we need medical orders from the MD along with medicine in a prescription labeled bottle). We also administer emergency medication for students when required by their health condition.
• Some students need specific nursing support to attend school, a few examples are: nutrition tube feedings, suctioning, seizure interventions, diabetes management (insulin administration, carb counting, illness care).
• If your child sustains an injury significant enough to need school accommodations (concussion, broken bones), we do rely on written guidance from the physician who provided care.

Communicable Disease

• Immunization compliance and referral to local resources.  The State of Wisconsin requires specific shots for students. Students in 6th grade need them.
• Consult with local medical providers and local health departments on disease outbreaks and contact involved families.

Pupil Services

• Staff training (medication and student health) for field trip safety.
• Assessments/interventions for students who may face challenges in school or attendance concerns.

Community Resources

• Share community resources with families who may benefit from them, for example vision or hearing referrals.

The Health Office is bustling with an average of sixty to eighty students daily. As shared above we provide many quality services to our students, but we do not provide the following services:

• *  Extra clothing, we do not have any for wet playground clothes.
• *  Minor slivers, loose teeth children come to school with.
• *  We do not diagnosis medical issues and do not provide throat cultures or other tests.
• *  We do not distribute crutches and do not exempt students from curriculum classes like physical education.

Thank-you for your understanding as we start another successful school year!

     

Emily Jansen, RN

School Nurse  

River View Middle School / Kaukauna High School

7th grade students are exploring the behaviors of earthworms
and getting a close look at other invertebrates as they participate in their Investigating Invertebrates PIE class.  

Travel Releases

For the purpose of building strong team connections it is the school’s preference all students participating in co-curricular activities ride the bus to and from games. With that said we understand there are times families have other obligations after co-curricular events.  If you plan to have your child ride home with you from any co-curricular event, please be sure to complete and submit a travel release form at least 24 hours prior to the event.  This will provide us with ample time to get the information to our coaches so they can make sure everyone is accounted for on the return trip.

Boys Basketball and Wrestling Sign Up

Boys’ basketball practice begins mid-October and wrestling starts early November.  If you wish to sign-up you may do so in the office. Please make sure that your physical/alternate card, medical treatment consent form, co-curricular handbook signature page, concussion handbook signature page and the activity fee of $20.00 is paid.   Students cannot practice until all this important information is handed in.  

Getting Involved at River View

Calling all seventh and eighth grade students, here is your opportunity to get involved.  REACH, which stands for Realizing Everyone’s Aspirations Can Happen, is looking for new members. This group is designed for River View Middle School who are seventh or eighth graders and are committed to remaining tobacco, drug and alcohol free.  REACH has monthly trips outside the school day to places like Badger Sports Park, bowling, corn maze, a Blizzard hockey game to name a few. The goal of REACH is to encourage students to take positive steps towards building strong values while having fun. It is a great way to meet new people and get involved.

If you are interested in signing up for REACH, please stop by and pick up a form from Mrs. Hinz, room 213 or Mrs. Knick, room 101.  We are planning on having our first event in October so sign up soon. Students need to have a signed contract prior to going on any of the field trips.  We hope to see you there.

PE Force

Our school year has gotten off to a great start in Physical Education class. Students have been actively engaged in a variety of activities including; cooperative games, soccer, tennis, football, inline skating and field games.  We have taken advantage of the nice weather and been able to be outdoors for most of our activities.  

Looking ahead, students will be participating in a variety of cardiovascular endurance activities including the Pacer Test and Mile Run.  We hope to have these tests completed by mid-October to ensure adequate time to improve scores.

In physical education class our Career of the month is Personal Trainer.  We are talking to the students about career paths within our field.  A bulletin board has been created in the gymnasium to showcase our many PE related career paths.

Thank you for continuing to encourage your child to give their best effort and dress for the Wisconsin weather!

Stay Active!

The RV Phy Ed Department

Veterans Day

To honor our veterans, the eighth graders will be having a Veteran’s Day Ceremony on Friday, November 10, at 1:15 PM in the auditorium, which is wheelchair accessible.  Any family members who are veterans are invited to attend.   If you have questions, please call Beth Knick at 766-6111, ext. 4101.

Green Recycling Box

We have a green/brown cardboard box in the lobby near the auditorium.  You may drop off any old toners, printer cartridges, old cell phones, old printers, etc.  We have partnered with a Funding Factory that will give us money for playground equipment for these old items.

The Salvation Army—Fox Cities2017 Christmas Sign-up

For food and Toys, Adopt-A-Family & Coats for Kids

Registration on These Dates Only—

Wednesday, November 8th -  8:00am—4:00pm

Thursday, November 9th - 11:00am-7:00pm

Friday, November 10th - 8:00am-12:00pm

at 1200 W. Kimberly Ave., Kimberly

Connected to Fox Valley Christian Fellowship Church

*Information you MUST bring:

1) Picture identification (driver’s license, etc.)

2) Proof of income (most recent check stubs)

3) Social Security numbers for all family members

4) Proof of residency* (electric/phone bill, lease, etc)

Must reside in Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, Little Chute, Kimberly, Kaukauna, Combined Locks, Greenville,  Grand Chute, Larsen or Darboy.

Questions Call—734-3324

www.safoxcities.org

Eagle Outlet

Eagle Outlet is now open! Eagle Outlet is a place where River View students in need may come to get gently used clothing, winter wear and even school supplies free. Clothing and school supplies have been donated by staff members and other community members. Interested parents or students may contact Karen Wirth at 766-6111 Ext. #4206 for more information. All student and parent inquiries will be dealt with discreetly.

Parent Portal

Would you like to see daily announcements, attendance, grades, missing assignments, make phone number/address changes, pay for lunch/school fees,  etc., you may log on to Parent Portal.  If you don’t have access yet, go to the District website—http://www.kaukauna.k12.wi.us and go to the Family Resources > Need A Parent Portal Account and click on the “Click here to complete the request form”.

Grades 5-8 Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
November 9, 15, and 17

Community Flyers

Click Here to access information about the following programs  for this month.

• Boys Hoops Club - Grades 2 - 8

• The Great Pumpkin Train - Grades 4K - 8
• Kaukauna Baby Sitting Clinic - Grade 5
• Kaukauna Dance Team Clinic - Grades 4K - 8
• Kaukauna Dance Team Registration

Anyone requesting flyer distribution at the elementary/secondary level should submit an electronic copy to district office, attention Erin Kape, at kapee@kaukaunasd.org for consideration two weeks prior to the first of each month.