June 2018 401 Maple Avenue, Madison, WI 53704 204-6600

Backpack News from Principal John Burkholder

As the 2017-2018 school year winds down, we participate

as a school and at times as individuals in end of year rituals

that serve to transition us from the end of the school year to

the beginning of summer. By the time you will have read

this note, school-wide end of year events such as our

annual Fun Run and Hat and Hot Dog Day will have been completed.

For me, at this time of year I neatly label a file folder with the title,

“Summer To Dos” and fill it with articles that I meant to read during the

school year, schedules that need completing, a tentative plan for our

Welcome Back days in August, along with all the good intentions of

finishing this work well before the sun sets on July. Past history,

however, tells me that I will have to offer myself a bit of deference when

August rolls around and the file isn’t any lighter than it is now! Before

summer officially arrives, let’s dwell for a moment on the many

members of our community that came our way this school year, whether

student or community member and give thanks to having had the

opportunity to spend some time learning together. Let’s especially

congratulate our fifth grade students on a job well done and wish them well in the years ahead

in middle school. As the year began, our teachers breathed a bit easier knowing that we would not be

introducing any new curricula, but instead forging ahead with the important work of year two

implementation of both our Bridges and Welcoming Schools curricula. While the heavy lift of

the first year of work implementing these two new programs was behind us, the ever so

important second year of reflecting and adjusting was just as critical as the first, and our

Lowell teachers rose to the challenge! This year we also took a closer look at our literacy

practices, moving toward a five-day instructional cycle in language arts and centering a great

deal of classroom instruction around “I can” statements. Our Essential Arts teachers looked at

some intentional ways to incorporate strategically reading and writing into their instructional

programs with some exciting results. Across the year we reconfigured our protocol for looking

at student data, moving away from our Data Days Away, and instead incorporating this work

across several Monday meetings and professional development sessions. While it’s never easy

to apply a cause and effect relationship to the social sciences, I like to think that the good

work of our entire Lowell staff implementing curricula and identifying the individual needs of

all students through in depth reviews of data helped us to increase significantly our scores on

both the State assessment and the district’s MAP assessment in Reading and Math!

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

In this issue

Principal’s Letter

Important Dates

Garden News

Thank You Note

Parent Shout-Outs

Art Creations

Library News

The Essential Arts

Health Office News

LCO News

Goodbyes

Summer Meals

Happy Summer!

PRINCIPAL NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1...

Our LCO and community at large persisted in their work to marshal resources to make

possible our dreams for our exterior campus. This work continued to make its way around the

circumference of our campus, adding natural accoutrements to our Front Yard, creating a

green and mostly shady place for our students to learn and play. Upgrades to our school’s

interior, while perhaps not as dramatic as in years past, still resulted in some important

changes. We began a process to spruce up our hallways, decluttering our walls of age-old

student displays and written sentiments that no longer seemed to convey a current message to

our community. In addition, while seemingly small, a new drinking fountain with fully

filtered bottle filler was added that now cuts the fill time on the average water bottle from well

over a minute to under 10 seconds! Looking ahead to the 2018-2019 school year, our Lowell Elementary School Improvement

Plan will continue to guide our work. Our new and improved SIP is being built in part on

identified successes from the school year now ending. In literacy we will continue our work to

incorporate a cycle for teaching literacy, again considering a 5-day rotation of instruction

built around “I can” statements. In math, we will move into our third year of Bridges

implementation, using this area of study as a platform for investigating what it means to be a

“warm demander” when considering expectations for our students. We will work toward fully

embedding Welcoming Schools into our curriculum in our continued work to ensure a

welcoming school for all. In the area of family engagement, we will use our G5 technology

planning year to gain an understanding of Google applications to improve communication

with parents, families, and school and community groups. Perhaps this end of year summary can be added to the list of annual rituals that signal the

transition from the school year into summer. If so, I hope your transition to long days of

sunshine, outdoor grilling, and the somewhat lazy and less structured season of summer is

going smoothly! Thank you for all you do in support of Lowell Elementary! I hope you have

a great summer!

IMPORTANT DATES

June 04 Teacher Appreciation Luncheon, 1:10 pm

June 05 Kindergarten End of Year Picnic, 12:15—1:15 pm

June 05 Lowell End of Year Ice Cream Social 6:00—7:00 pm, Worthington Park

June 06 4-K End of Year Celebration, 9:00 am and 1:00 pm

June 07 5th Grade End of Year Celebration, 1:00 pm

June 08 Last Day of 2017-2018 School Year

June 18 First Day of Summer School

A NOTE FROM PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL UCC

Dear Girls and Boys at Lowell,

Your friends at Plymouth United Church of Christ want to send a big

THANK YOU to you for sharing your artwork during Gallery Night. We

were so delighted to be able to show our neighbors and your families

your creative talent. Your imagination and use of color made our

hearts sing! So, to each of you and your wonderful teachers, we send

our sincerest appreciation. We look forward to next year.

Your friends on Atwood Avenue, Plymouth Congregational UCC

HELP WATER THE LOWELL GARDEN THIS SUMMER!

The Lowell School Garden is divided into a few sections to make the watering more manageable: the vegetable garden in front, the perennial beds, and the playground planter boxes. Sign up to water for 1 week (or more!) and choose to water just a section or the whole thing. Watering will take 15 - 60 minutes depending on the number of sections you selected and you will need to water 2 to 3 times/week depending on the weather. If you sign up, you will find more instructions and receive an email reminder.

You can sign up at https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/2328556/false#/invitation (you might need to cut and paste this url into your browser).

Please keep in mind that everyone in the Lowell Community is welcome to visit the school garden during summer to see how things are progressing and har-vest some snacks.

If you have questions about watering, feel free to email Susan Nelson at nelson.nafrana@gmail.com.

Emily Greenall, parent of Finn and Violet Thank you for coming in each week to help with library checkout and shelving!

Liz Brinnehl,

parent of Allie

Thank you for your support

throughout the year and for helping

out class of talented writers.

Parent Shout-Outs

Families of Mrs. Vitale’s Class Thank you to all of our parents and family members this year. Our learning experience was enhanced by all you had to offer!

Tracy and Tristan Kysely,

parents of Henry

Thank you for always providing

yummy snacks for our class!

Joy Zotalis,

parent of Stella

Thank you for coming in to

help with Library Checkout! Jeremy Holiday, parent of Sam

Thank you for helping out in our classroom every Friday during literacy time, and he is always willing to read, do projects, or otherwise help our kindergarteners with anything they need!

Melissa Hayes,

parent of Olivia

Thank you for volunteering your

time to read with our third

graders!

Lara Miller, parent of Lincoln Room 208 appreciates you for

coming along on our Terrace Town Field trip. Loved having you with us!

Kim Kreitinger,

parent of Anders

Thank you for coming in to help

with Library checkout and

shelving!

Parent Shout-Outs

Nicole Weathers, parent of Eloise Thank you for coming in to help with Library checkout and shelving!

Zoe Rickenbach,

parent of Ada

Thank you so much for sharing your time

and talents with us in the library! From

creating the amazing new Lowell Library

sign to providing snacks, videotaping

promotional skits, and working at the

circulation desk, your commitment to the

library is unsurpassed! We will miss you

next year:)

Carrie Hinterthuer,

parent of Brynn

Thank you for volunteering your

time to assist our third grade

students during our literacy

block this year!

Nick Miller, parent of Gus Room 208 appreciates you

for coming along on our Terrace Town Field trip. Loved having you with us!

Renee Bauer, Parent of Eliana

Thank you for volunteering your time to read with our third graders during literacy!

Erin DeVos,

parent of Tenley

Erin is a patient and kind volunteer in

our classroom every week during

literacy time!

Parent Shout-Outs

Cindy and Rob Zaleski, grandparents of Zale Thank you for volunteering every Tuesday and Thursday in our classroom.

Christy Charles,

parent of Ben and Calvin

Thank you so much for your

exceptional work to beautify and

enhance our learning in the

Lowell front yard!

Mandy Groves,

parent of Novana

Thank you for taking time to

read with our third graders!

Erin DeVos and Jason Waller, parents of Aidan

Room 208 appreciates you for coming along on our Terrace Town Field trip and for filming the set up from start to finish! Loved having you with us!

Zoe Rickenbach,

parent of Ada

We appreciate all your hard work

and dedication to supporting the

Arts at Lowell!

Creations from the Art Room

June 2018

Library News - June  

Lowell Library Book Swap

Please send a gently used book with your child (if you have one to send) for us to include in a book swap.

Students will choose books from the swap to KEEP when they come in for classes in June instead of

choosing library books to borrow. Feel free to send more than one book if you have some you would like

to donate. Don’t worry about sending any books if you don’t have any available to give to the swap.

Please send books for swapping ASAP.

Read like a Badger -- Libraries Rock!

Come to any Madison Public Library or sign-up online starting June 1st to join the

Summer Reading Club for Kids. Every book or hour read (or read to) counts. Earn

great prizes, including free event tickets, free food tickets and a free book!

https://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/kids/summer-reading-club

Avoid the Summer Slide – use the Lowell Library Portal - Online resources for summer!

The Library Portal has many online resources students have been using for reading, research, and learning during the

school year. These include: OverDrive, eBooks, story videos, online magazines, keyboarding resources, and much more.

Most resources are available to students without a login as long as they access the website through the Library Portal. If

a login is requested, use: username: lowell019, password: qwerty

MMSD Lost/Damaged Library Fee: 2017-18

If your child has lost library materials during the 2017-18 school year, you will receive a notice either in

backpack mail or via email indicating the name of the item and the cost. Paying for these materials helps us

to replace them and keep our library full of the books kids want to read. However, if you are not able to pay

the replacement cost at this time, PLEASE CONTACT ME so that I can remove the item from your child’s

account. Items that are not paid for, or removed, by the end of the school year will show up in Infinite

Campus as an added fee at registration.

Thank you to all of my volunteers this year. I hope to see you again next year!

Happy summer reading everyone!

Ms. Pipson

FYI: All Lowell Library materials were due on May 29th!

The Essential Arts

June/ 2018

MusicThe month of May brought us

classroom ensembles. It was fun

watching students synthesize the

various skills and instruments they

learned over the course of the year in a

creative rhythm project. During the last

weeks of school, it is exciting to look

back and enjoy all of the great music

we learned over the course of our

school year together. Students are

confidently singing songs they know

and love, and enjoying the

supplemental games and activities they

learned in class (without the added

hassle of the associated lessons, of

course).

All in all, it has been a very successful

year of learning and making music

together. Have a great summer!

REACH/TechnologyKindergarten students read the story Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and created their own version of a rainbow garden in KidPix. First and Second grade students created poetry for their final REACH projects. Students used Google Drawings to type their poems and add pictures.

3rd graders have been working on their typing skills and are now using those skills to type research projects.

They will practice using Google Docs, formatting text, and adding images to their projects before sharing them.

4th graders have just finished creating List Poem projects using Google Drawings. They wrote their own poems

with added images before sharing in class. They will finish the year with a keyboarding assessment.

5th graders have completed a Google Slides project involving combining an animal with another object to create

something completely new. They wrote poems about their creations and then drew them in KidPix. Their poems

and drawings were exported and edited and placed in their slideshows for sharing. They too will finish the year

with a keyboarding assessment.

Physical EducationHello from the gym!

This last week of school will involve a lot of outside activities including kickball, foursquare, lightening basketball, and

more! But don’t worry, if the rain comes we’ll be bringing the parachute out in the gym and doing parachute activities like

the dome, igloo, and mountain. Have a great summer and remember to wear sunblock!

ArtThank you to all who made it out on

Gallery Night! It was a huge success and

the Artwork was AWESOME!

May was a busy month and it’s hard to

believe we are at the end of school. All

student artwork should be going home or

has gone home at the end of May. If your

child didn’t want their work, they probably

recycled it… Or, sometimes I save it and

have it around until next year..?

May 18th was Africa Night, the drumming

and dancing were fantastic! Leading up to

African Night, students were able to make

Cord wrapped bracelets, keychains,

bracelets with beads, and other cool

accessories. We used traditional Kente

cloth fabrics and beautiful batiks. Lowell

students really enjoyed using the beautiful

fabrics and they were all lookin’ Good!

Keep your kids creating this summer - it’s

good for the soul.

From the Lowell Health Office

Immunization Requirements for School

As you prepare for next school year, please keep in mind that your child may be in need of a physical exam and immunizations. The State of Wisconsin requires all students entering kindergarten to have received a booster dose of DTaP, Polio, Measles, and Varicella vaccines. These can be obtained any time after your child turns 4 years of age. All students entering sixth grade are required to receive a Tdap booster that can be received after they turn 11 years old. The Center for Disease Control recommends additional vaccines beyond our school entrance requirements. Here is a link to the CDC Vaccine Schedules: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/easy-to-read/child.html

Your health care provider will review all vaccine recommendations with you. Now is the time to start scheduling those physicals for school entrance, sports physicals, and summer camps.

Ticks

According to Public Health Madison & Dane County, the number of deer ticks in our area has increased significantly over the past few years. And we all know that these ticks can transmit Lyme Disease and other diseases.

The following precautions will help your child avoid a tick bite:

Wear long sleeved shirt and pants with the pant cuffs tucked into high socks

Wear light colored clothing. It is easier to see ticks.

Walk in the center of trails and away from tall grass, plants and leaf litter.

Consider applying insect repellent to shoes, clothing, and exposed skin. Always follow product

instructions, and never apply repellent to hands, or close to eyes and mouth. Note: If you wish to

have your child wear repellent, it must be applied at home. Do not send it to school.

If also using sunscreen, apply the sunscreen first and then the insect repellent.

When your child gets home:

Have your child bathe or shower as soon as possible. Carefully check your child’s skin for ticks

including around the neck, under arms, in and around ears, inside the belly button, behind knees,

between legs, around waist, and especially in the hair.

Tumble the clothing and coat worn on high heat in a dryer for at least 10 minutes to kill any ticks

on clothing.

Carefully check for ticks on your child’s backpack and on any other carried items.

If a tick is found, follow these steps to remove it:

1. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.

2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure.

3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area with soap and water.

4. Dispose of a live tick by submersing it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it

tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.

5. If your child develops a rash or fever within several weeks of removing a tick, contact their health

care provider. Be sure to tell them about the recent tick bite.

As always, feel free to contact us in the health office with any questions! Deena and Sara

Have a relaxing, safe, and healthy summer!

LOWELL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONLOWELL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION

Welcome to the newly elected 2018-2019 LCO Board!

Pictured (l-r): (top) Jordon Bricco, Sam McDaniel, Carrie Hinterthuer, Amy Muir (bottom) Kaitlin McDonough, Sunny McDaniel, Kerry Martin Not Pictured: Geoffrey Cushman

Thanks for your hard work, 2017-2018 LCO Board!

Pictured (l-r): Kerry Martin, Sunny McDaniel, Lara Miller, Amber Corbit, Sam McDaniel

Not Pictured: Karen Hinz

Lowell Centennial Campaign (LCC) Update The LCC’s goal of transforming our campus is nearly finished. Since launching in January 2016 we have completed the following:

Outdoor Learning Circles

Safety-enhancing fence along Atwood Avenue

Nature-based playscape in the front yard

Raised garden beds for each grade level

Preliminary design for a new playground

We are now entering our final year of fundraising! We are focusing on raising the funds needed to transform our playground and part of the asphalt blacktop into a vibrant green space with lots of places to sit and watch our children enjoy a brand new ADA-accessible play structure. For more information on how to get involved and contribute, including buying a personalized family brick for our new Reunion Circle Plaza, look for the brochure sent home with your child's backpack mail.

Thank you, JoAnn Kraus!

As the end of the school year arrives,

Lowell and the LCO wanted to acknowledge a

Lowell parent who has had an outsized

impact on our school community. For the

past 6 years, Jo Ann Kraus has done anything

and everything that a parent can do to make

our school and community better, and has

done it with uncommon positivity, grace and

humility. Among her many contributions are

introducing the idea and organizing the

Lowell Family Dance, organizing and leading

Spring After School Clubs, volunteering in the lunch room weekly, and organizing the games at the

annual Carnival. She has been a constant presence at school and at every event related to Lowell

and the LCO. She has welcomed and mentored both students and their parents, and has been the

patient institutional memory for our very enthusiastic but not always proactive community

organization. There is no way to replace a person who has contributed as much as JoAnn, but we

can honor her efforts by trying to live up to her example every day. Thank you for all you do

JoAnn, and good luck Cooper at O’Keeffe!

Happy Retirement, Mrs. Hetzel!

Beloved Lowell teacher Drena Hetzel is

retiring after this school year. Drena has

been at Lowell since 2009 and taught

second and third grades. With a counseling

background, Drena has always been

dedicated to the academic and social and

emotional learning of her students. She

has been a leader of the staff community,

by hosting holiday staff gatherings and

coordinating union membership. Drena

has always gone out of her way to make

personal connections with every Lowell staff member, as well as with families and her

students. We will miss her warmth, sense of humor, and expertise at Lowell. Although Drena is

retiring from her teaching profession at Lowell, (Hello, empty room…), we know we will see her

around the neighborhood.

Salvation Army Community Center: 3030 Darbo Dr. 6/18-8/10; M-F; Breakfast 9-9:30; Lunch 12-12:30

Goodman Community Center: 149 Waubesa St. 6/11-8/18; M-F; Lunch 11:30-1:00; Supper 4:30-5:30 Lowell Elementary: 401 Maple Ave 6/18-8/10; M-F; Lunch 12:15-1:15; Snack 3:15-3:45

HAVE A GREAT

SUMMER!

LOWELL OUT!