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Dear Parents and Community Members,
THE YEAR IN REVIEW The 2013-14 school year has been one marked
by growth and success. Systematic efforts to improve student
academic performance and build students’ character have been
combined under a common, continuous and community-wide initiative
called Antigo Pride. We are proud of our students and staff and the
efforts they are making to create systematic improvement in our
district! We want our community to be proud of them, as well; and
we want our students to take pride in their accomplishments and
value the learning that will prepare them to thrive and be
contributing citizens throughout their lives. These things are the
essence of what we mean by “Antigo Pride,” and we invite you to
join us in this collaborative effort. I’ve addressed the need for
dramatic change in how we conduct public education on numerous
occasions, acknowledging that change does not come easily to most
of us. But change we must; and seeing the results of that change
takes time. It can take as much as seven years for system changes
to become fully effective, so patience is a critical element! That
said, the changes are underway in earnest in USDA. We have adopted
and begun teaching the common core standards adopted by the state
in language arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening) and
mathematics. Come September, we will have new math curriculum from
kindergarten through high school; and we will have new approaches
to literacy in the elementary grades. A new, three-year plan for
professional development for teachers will begin with teachers
learning collaboration techniques to address the following critical
questions about student performance:
Are students “getting it?” (i.e., are they learning what we’re
teaching?)
How do we know?
Who’s not getting it, and how do we know?
What will we do about it?
Who already knew it, and how do we know?
What will we do about that? The answers to these questions will
allow us to build a scaffold of support that will increase the
learning of every student. That may mean that different students’
school days will look very different from one another. Strategies
such as “double-dosing” – giving students the regular instruction,
and then providing small-group or individualized assistance – will
help struggling learners increase their mastery of skills and
content. That means that, within the context of the traditional
school day, school schedules may look very different for different
students and teachers. Both the high school and the middle school
will have modified block schedules to extend learning time within
the school day. Another strategy is to extend learning time outside
of school. Every freshman will receive a tablet computer for
her/his own use, and can access teacher-directed materials and ask
questions from home or library and at almost any time. For families
without internet access, our middle school instructional resource
center will be open later hours during the week for students and
parents to use. Meanwhile, what has happened this year? Teachers in
some schools have successfully piloted methods of intervention with
students with learning disabilities, and have seen the growth of
those students exceed the learning targets they were expected to
achieve! In several of our elementary schools, reading proficiency
improved by as much as 30% from fall to spring. Attendance improved
across the board, while disciplinary referrals declined. And our
varsity boys’ basketball team achieved the highest cumulative
grade-point average of any high school basketball team in the State
of Wisconsin! Antigo Pride has us well on our way to becoming the
school district we want to be! We wish you a very fulfilling
summer, and we invite you to join our efforts to make Antigo Pride
the brand of the Unified School District of Antigo!
Sincerely,
Donald B. Childs, Ph.D.
Interim Superintendent
June 2014 Volume 5, Issue 2
RED ROBIN NEWS
The Unified School District of Antigo does not discriminate on
the basis of age, sex, race, religion, national origin, ancestry,
creed, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital and parental status,
or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability.
District Administrator Board of Education
Donald B. Childs, Ph.D. Mike Bolding, President Tim Fuller
School District of Antigo Tara Guelzow Gary Jaje
120 South Dorr Street Scott Jensema, Vice-President Jeanne Long
Antigo, WI 54409 Patrick McKenna, Treasurer Jessica Meade,
Clerk
(715) 627-4355 James Schulz JaCey Yonke, Student
Representative
Unified School District Of Antigo
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Page 2
Volume 5, Issue 2 RED ROBIN NEWS
Antigo Pride - High School Mural - Anita Mattek, High School
Associate Principal
Antigo High School presents…
Our mural!
Antigo High School worked together to complete a beautiful
mural. Connie and Tim Friesen from Wabeno, Wisconsin were the
brains behind the creation. The Friesen’s helped create murals for
many different organizations, schools, and clubs. Ms. Cain, our
high school art teacher, played a large role in making the contact
with the Friesen’s, gathering students, and making this happen.
How the process worked…
All students and staff were invited to participate in the
different steps in creating our mural. Connie and Tim visited our
school only three different times during the process and during
that time we created this beautiful piece. Students, staff, and the
Friensen’s met during a 46 minute class period to discuss ideas and
images to display that represent our school. The challenge for most
of us was turning our words into images. This is where Tim and
Connie really shined; they drew many images to represent Antigo
High School on three large mural boards for us to paint. The
Friesen’s arrived on the painting day with all of our words and
images in one place. It was amazing!
Our next step was the painting process. Our students and staff
signed up to help whenever they could. Some students helped all day
while others visited during their study hall. Af-ter an entire day
of painting our mural was complete!
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Volume 5, Issue 2 RED ROBIN NEWS
Antigo Pride - High School Mural cont’d
All students and staff involved in the ideation and painting
process really showed creativity, responsibility, and character.
Thank you to all that were involved.
In addition, a poem was written in honor of our mural by Wes
Fick, a senior at Antigo High School…
On a single day
the spirit of the school joined together
in an inspired way
to create a self portrait
that is sure to stay.
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Page 4
Volume 5, Issue 2 RED ROBIN NEWS
The 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program (21st CLC)
at Antigo Middle School offers a safe environment for students to
complete homework, receive academic help, interact with their
peers, and participate in new and exciting activities.
The program is divided into AM and PM offerings. The AM program
allows students to start their day in a friendly and relaxed
environment. Computers are available for school work, projects, and
Accelerated Reader testing. Crafts, community service
opportunities, and activities are offered throughout the week.
Students may also play Chess, Checkers, Apples-to-Apples, cards and
other board games. Special morning activities are offered once a
month as part of our Morning Glory Café presentations. Recent
offerings of Morning Glory Café include a pottery demonstration,
jazz and blues guitar guest artist, Open Mic / Poetry Slam,
karaoke, bingo, and surprise pancake breakfasts.
The afternoon portion of the program is housed mainly on the
second floor of the middle school and focuses on academics. The
program is modeled after guidelines set forth by the DPI. We aim to
provide a variety of “high-quality services to support student
learning and development.” This includes tutoring and small group
instruction, homework help, academic enrichment, community service
and volunteerism opportunities, arts, and physical recreation
activities. In addition, we utilize the computer-based program,
REFLEX Math. REFLEX Math allows students to develop and maintain
automaticity of basic math facts. The program takes 15-20 minutes
and uses games and puzzles to increase math fact fluency. Students
may also access this program from home at any time for additional
practice using their unique log-in and password.
Antigo Middle School 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Program Brian Misfeldt, Middle School Principal
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Page 5
Volume 5, Issue 2 RED ROBIN NEWS
21st Century Community Learning Center - continued
All students start out the afternoon with a nutritious snack and
then proceed to homework help, REFLEX, or “Cleared Club” for the
first half of the program. “Cleared Club” is an extra dose of
academic enrichment for students who are in good academic standing,
with no missing or late work. Using our district-wide school
information system, Infinite Campus, we are able to monitor missing
work. In addition, teachers provide information and assignments for
students who attend the program.
The second portion of our program consists of enrichment
activities, REFLEX for those who did not have a chance to do it
during homework time, and a quiet area for students who would like
to read, journal, or continue with their homework.
The Boys and Girls Club of Langlade County (B&GC) is one of
our enrichment partners, providing an activity four days a week.
The topics for these activities range from physical fitness and
healthy lifestyles, to leadership and community building
opportunities. We supplement this with 2-3 additional offerings
each day such as “Read, Write, Draw”, Mancala, Technology Lab, KAAD
(Kids All About Drawing) club, quilling, knitting, art projects,
cooking, and open gym to name a few. Students who register for the
after school program also receive a free one-year membership to the
B&GC and are included in activities hosted at the club outside
our normal program hours such as Teen Night and summer
programs.
Recently the Middle School 21st CLC program was evaluated by the
Wisconsin Department of Instruction (DPI). The DPI report stated,
“The department is extremely pleased with the program quality and
impact the program is having on students and their families,” and
no corrective action was recommended. During the 2014-2015 school
year, we look forward to expanding our community partnerships while
also developing adult education and family programs in order to
continue to build strong partnerships in the education of all
students.
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Page 6
Volume 5, Issue 2 RED ROBIN NEWS
Chromebook Pilot for Incoming Freshmen It is our pleasure to
announce that next year our incoming freshmen will be given a
Chromebook as a resource for their schooling as they enter Antigo
High School. This opportunity was approved by our School Board this
year, with implementation the fall of 2014. We are hopeful that
this pilot will continue into future years. In preparation for
this, visits have been made to the schools with a short
presentation and some basic information. This summer, at Freshman
Survival, another informational session will be held, as well as
before school starts during registration time. There will be a
Chromebook Handbook provided at registration, which has much more
detail. If you would like to visit this, please use this web
address:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uaRy6qyTtt6HWAtwAo2e0bV6vtlT5N1-YEBhev3iJYw/edit?usp=sharing
We look forward to implementing these devices in the classroom and
hope that our students’ educational experience will be enhanced by
it. Schools Need YOUR Help for Technology Survey Antigo School
District has enlisted the help of a company, Clarity, to assess the
technology needs of our parents, students and staff. Parents and
students, please visit the Antigo School District website at:
http://www.antigo.k12.wi.us/ and click on the blue Clarity link.
The survey will take about 5-8 minutes to complete and will give us
an idea of what we need to do to help our parents, students and
staff better use technology for student learning. If you have more
than one child, please fill out the survey for the school your
oldest child attends. If you have other questions regarding this
company, please visit this link for a short explanation:
http://www.antigo.k12.wi.us/clarity/about.html. Thank you for
helping us as we move forward with bettering our technological
needs.
Chromebook Pilot Pleasant View “Character Counts” Amy Dahms,
Instructional Technology Director Scott Farmer, Principal
Pleasant View classroom "character counts" winners. Throughout
the year the teachers at Pleasant View Elementary pick a classroom
"character counts" winner. This is based on behavior displayed by
the student throughout the school day in all activities. Each
winner has their certificate and picture displayed in the school
throughout the duration of their time as the winner. Each quarter
the winners are entered into a drawing for a lunch with building
principal, Mr. Farmer. Throughout the year there were 76 students
in the building winning the award.
“Congratulations to all the award winners and continue to
display your
great character.”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uaRy6qyTtt6HWAtwAo2e0bV6vtlT5N1-YEBhev3iJYw/edit?usp=sharinghttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1uaRy6qyTtt6HWAtwAo2e0bV6vtlT5N1-YEBhev3iJYw/edit?usp=sharinghttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1uaRy6qyTtt6HWAtwAo2e0bV6vtlT5N1-YEBhev3iJYw/edit?usp=sharinghttp://www.antigo.k12.wi.us/http://www.antigo.k12.wi.us/clarity/about.htmlhttp://www.antigo.k12.wi.us/clarity/about.html
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Volume 5, Issue 2 RED ROBIN NEWS
Crestwood, North and West Elementary Sharon Kind and Scott
Farmer, Principals
Walk a Thon Pledges
Students at North and Crestwood Elementary Schools raised money
through student pledges to walk.
Monday, May 12th
North Elementary students walked in the
afternoon for the pledges they earned. Students earned tokens
for every $5.00 they received pledges. Red
sports bags were given to students with pledges of $25.00 and a
T-shirt for $50.00. Over $2,000.00 was
raised to help pay for the cost of spring field trips.
Friday, May 16, 2014 Crestwood students walked for the pledges
they raised. The top 15 pledge earners
received Packer Sportswear for their efforts. Crestwood
students totaled the number of laps they walked to discover it
added up to 224 miles! Numbers of laps
each class walked ranged from 85 laps by kindergarten students
to 251 laps by 5th grade students.
Students took pride in the opportunity to raise money
themselves to help pay for their spring field trips.
BIG thank you to PTO’s for sponsoring and supporting
the walks.
District 3rd and 4th grade Battle of the Books Winners
Austin Helms, Abbigail LaQue, and Olivia Braun
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Page 8
Volume 5, Issue 2 RED ROBIN NEWS
Unified School District of Antigo School Calendar of Events
2014-2015
August 21, 22, 25 New Teacher Inservice
August 26, 27 Teacher Professional Development
August 28 Teacher Record Day
August 29 Teacher Welcome Back Day
September 1 Labor Day
September 2 First Day of School for Students
September 29 Teacher Inservice Full Day - No School for
Students
October 23, 24 Vacation Days - No School for Students
October 27 Teacher Inservice Full Day - No School for
Students
November 5 End of First Quarter
November 26 Teacher Compensation Day - No School for
Students
November 27 Thanksgiving
November 28 Vacation Day - No School for Students
December 24 - January 2 Winter Break
January 22 End of Second Quarter
January 23 Teacher Record Day - No School for Students
February 26 Teacher Inservice Full Day - No School for
Students
February 27 Parent/Teacher Conferences (AM) - No School for
Students All Day
March 27 End of Third Quarter
April 1 Teacher Inservice Full Day - No School for Students
April 2 - 6 Vacation Days - No School for Students
May 4 Teacher Inservice Full Day - No School for Students
May 25 Memorial Day
May 31 High School Graduation
June 4 Last Day of School for Students
June 5 Teacher Record Day