| DeForest Area School District |
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| For friends of the DeForest Area School District |
April 2010 |
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 Greetings!
Springtime in our schools is a busy time, filled with many activities. Stay informed by checking out the event calendars in this issue.
The 2010 12th Grade Reality Day is just around the corner. Please contact me if you would like to volunteer for this fun, educational activity. Thank you to the following volunteers who will be helping our 3rd graders learn more about saving money:
- Renee Olson, DMB Community Bank
- Steve Strobel, Town Planner
- Jeff Smith, Alliant Energy
- Brenda Homeister, Settlers bank
- Lisa Beck, Chamber of Commerce
- Trisha Rodekamp, Settlers bank
- Rosemary Denman, State Bank of Cross Plains
Thanks to these volunteers, all 3rd grade students will participate in a "Teach Children to Save Day" activity on April 27. The event is part of the Chamber of Commerce Education Committee's financial literacy initiatives.
As always, your thoughts and suggestions are welcome - feel free to email me at dbrewster@deforest.k12.wi.us.
Debbie |
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News from the school board
Olson and Hirsch recognized
School board members were recently honored by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) and recognized at the March 8 DASD board meeting.
Glenn Olson
 | Glenn Olson was recognized with a plaque from WASB in honor of his achievement in reaching Level 5 of the Member Recognition Program. Board members are awarded points for participating in WASB and NSBA (National School Boards Association) activities. These include: attending conventions, workshops, seminars and inservice sessions; serving on WASB committees; or serving as a delegate to the WASB Delegate Assembly. Olson has achieved the highest level attainable for Board members.
Mike Hirsch
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Mike Hirsch, clerk of the DASD school board, was also honored by WASB for serving 20 years on the local school board.
Election Results -- Congratulations to the following four candidates who were elected to the Board of Education on April 6.
Village of DeForest
Jan Berg (I) 805
Kate Lund 860
Town of Windsor
Steve Tenpas (I) 934
At-Large
Michael Hirsch 961
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As a district, we've been studying grading, assessment, and reporting and how to align them with the district's mission and vision statements developed through Framework for our Future in 1999 and Framework 2.0 in 2009. Developments over the past decade that make improvements necessary are:
- The growing emphasis on academic and college/career readiness standards makes current grading practices inadequate.
- Parents and community members are demanding more and better information about student learning, both for grade-level achievement and growth over time.
- Advances in technology allow for more effective tracking and reporting of student learning.
- Assessing, grading, and reporting are recognized as an important responsibility for educators.
- There is growing awareness of the gap between our knowledge base and common practice in assessing, grading, and reporting.
One change students and parents will notice are improvements to report cards over the next couple of years. More |
Bringing up financial savvy kids
Kids under age 18 today are learning financial lessons early. With credit card offers flowing in as they go off to college and financial pressures of all types growing for young people, it seems that most parents are doing their part to help their children make good financial decisions while they're still at home. Here are the responses from a Visa Inc. survey of parents who have children under age 18:
- 85% say they talk to their children regularly about money management.
- 34% talk to their kids daily on the subject.
- 31% talk to them once a week.
- 14% speak about once a month.
- 6% report that they talk about money issues with their children only a few times a year. Sixteen percent of the respondents, however, admit they never talk to their kids about the wise use of their funds.
Time will tell whether the children were listening. Other financial literacy news - click here (p. 2)
- Innovative Educator award
- 2010 Reality Day
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School counselors provide many services
A school counselor is a counselor and educator who works in elementary, middle, and high schools to provide academic, career, college readiness, and personal/social competencies to all students.
School counseling has evolved much in the past decade in part due to the new three-phase Wisconsin Comprehensive School Counseling Model (WCSCM). According to the WCSCM, components that make for a comprehensive school counseling program are: school counseling curriculum, individual student planning, responsive services, and system support services. Counselors seek to increase student performance in three areas: academic, personal/social and career. More (p. 3)
Meet your school counselors
In addition to helping students succeed academically, personally and socially, school counselors provide career awareness and planning services. Career Crusing is a new on-line tool counselors are using in the upper grades to assist students in exploring their interests and planning for a future career. We asked several of our counselors about their career exploration journey. Click here to read more (p. 3)
Career Cruising
Career Cruising is an on-line tool our District is using to assist students in interest exploration and career planning. It will be used primarily for high school students, but available and integrated into counseling services at all levels. More (p. 4) |
Chamber Education Committee honors local bank and educator
The DeForest Area Chamber of Commerce Education Committee recently named DMB Community Bank the 2010 Business Friend of Education Award winner. High school Family & Consumer Education teacher Kari Schraufnagel was also honored as the 2010 Educator Friend of Business Award winner.
 DMB Community Bank was  recognized for their cooperative efforts with DASD, helping to ensure that students are well prepared for the workplace and citizenship. More (p. 5)
This year the Education Committee also recognized Kari Schraufnagel as the 2010 Educator Friend of Business. Kari was chosen for this recognition as an educator who has partnered with businesses to provide quality educational experiences for students. More (p. 5) |
More news about our schools (pp. 6-9)
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New race and ethnicity reporting categories -- update your child's information by May 1
- Kindergarten Round-Up April 13 & 15
- Parent input for student placement
- Reality Day May 26
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What's happening in the schools in April, May and June? Calendar of Events for each school (pp. 7-9)
Click here to read more about these topics. | |
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Show Kids
You Care!
40 Assets
Tips of the Month
Young people need to experience support, care, and love from their families and many others. They need organizations and institutions that provide positive, supportive environments.
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Pictured above...
The high school Mock Trial team recently represented the Madison Region at the annual Wisconsin High School Mock Trial Tournament sponsored by the State Bar of Wisconsin. |
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Events Calendar
Kindergarten Round-Up
April 13 & 15
DAHS Spring Play
Arsenic & Old Lace
April 22-24
Wisconsin Singers
April 30
Back to School Lunches
April & May
Big Hill Work Day
May 1
Heroin and Opiate Abuse Awareness Presentation
May 3
2010 Summer Swim Lesson Registration
May 12
Community Mock Crash Presentation
May 27
DAHS Graduation
June 5
Summer Drama Camp
June 28-July 23
Village of DeForest Summer Programs information is available!
Upcoming Family Events
in the DeForest and Madison area
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Other News & Reminders
Upcoming events in the Madison area.
Events & news from the Village of DeForest, and the DeForest Chamber of Commerce.
Bus delays posted on website.
Flyers to Families
Emailed on the 15th and 30th of each month.
Click here to read more about these topics (pp. 10-11).
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| Thank you! |
Click here to download a PDF version of this DASD News issue (and previously versions). |
| Contact Information |
Please contact me if you have any questions or if I can assist you in any way . . .
Debbie Brewster, School/Community Relations Coordinator
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