Dear Parents and Community Members, Last week I read Gover-nor Scott Walker's State of the State address. In his speech he said, ”One of the best ways to get people the skills they need to succeed is through a great educa-tion. Thankfully, we have some of the best schools in the country here in Wisconsin. The graduating class of 2015 had the 2nd high-est ACT scores in the country, 4th and 8th grade reading scores went up again in 2015. According to the most recent report, Wiscon-sin’s high school graduation rates are also up again—to third best in the coun-try" (Walker, State of the State address, 2016). So, how does the District of Plum City do? First and foremost, our students do well on state exams. While last year was the first year of the BADGER State test, our district dem-onstrated above state averages in both read-ing and math. In read-

ing at the elementary level 72.4% of grades 3, 4 an 5 were proficient compared to the State's average of 51.2 profi-cient . In math, 53.4 % of grades 3, 4 and 5 were proficient com-pared to the State's 43.7%. This being the first year of the BADGER State assess-ment, we do not have comparisons from pre-vious years, however, our 13-14 State assess-ment scores were the highest in all districts in the area at both ele-mentary and high school. While we cannot claim we have the best of the best in all things, we can claim we meet the intended mission of our school district where student learning and achievement is the number one priority. We can also claim the District has carefully spent taxpayer dollars. We have one of the lowest tax mill rates among the area schools. The School Board has done a good job managing the Dis-trict's budget and has maintained a healthy

fund balance that is fis-cally sound according to financial experts. Plum City has done an amazing job of focusing on a quality education for each and every stu-dent with no additional request for tax dollars from our community for the last nine years. If you look to other area schools, this has not been the case. Every school district surrounding the District of Plum City has gone to referendum in the last nine years, some more than once.

There is much to be proud of in this school district. Students are well behaved, respect-ful and supported by their parents and com-munity. The music pro-gram is one of the best among area schools and the attendance at concerts demonstrates the community's dedi-cation to the program. The turnout for sports events is the same, with the gym filled with all ages who come to-gether to support our youth.

Continued on page 2 . . . . . .

From the Desk of the Superintendent By: Mary Baier

Inside this issue:

Principal Update 3

D.A.R.E. 4

Lunch Menu 5-7

JJ Watt Grant 8

4th Grade News 9

Music Notes 10

Special points of interest:

Conferences—February 25

Third quarter ends on March 24

4K Screening—April 15

Spring Break is March 25-29

Middle School Spring Concert—Monday, April 25

High School Spring Concert—Wednesday, April 27

WINTER 2016

Plum City School District VOLUME 28, ISSUE 3

From the Superintendant’s Desk continued . . . .

It is evident the school is the hub of this community, bringing people together to celebrate what is good in our lives and in our community. Now it is time to look to the future. The School Board faces some diffi-cult decisions. The recent recom-mendations from the District Steer-ing Committee last October regard-ing the needs facing the school dis-trict was six months of careful study and discussion. The commit-tee members worked hard to un-derstand the facts, figures and op-tions facing the District. The first and most pressing need of the Dis-trict is to address the physical con-dition of the buildings. Unfortu-nately, during the last 10 years, the District's budget has been sadly inadequate for maintenance. There has been no one hired to maintain equipment for the last 8 of those years. Early in January, we had a serious boiler issue at the Elementary school and students had to be transported to the high school building because of the cold. The following day school was called off for elementary students due to no heat. The boilers at both buildings are in need of replace-ment, not just repair. Repairs on both boilers have already been done and are at the end of the life cycle of operations. Deferred maintenance costs have escalated the last two years. In all honesty, the old chewing gum and finger in the dike is not working any longer.

Transportation also tops the list of

needs. Years ago there was a two year recycling of buses to keep them updated and in good running condition. Again, due to budget reductions buses and school vehi-cles have not been replaced and the District now has vehicles with high mileage. This year's budget had the cost of a new bus planned. Now with the cost of the elemen-tary boiler repair and other unex-pected costs of maintenance, a new bus cannot be purchased. The technology needs of our stu-dents is also a priority need. Learn-ing is not the same as it was when we were in school. Students need to be prepared for the careers of the future, not the careers we pre-pared for in the past. The careers of the future will demand the use of technology as part of a global world. Many of our current com-puters are used ones from the De-partment of Agriculture when they bought new computers and do-nated the used ones to the district. To stay current with computer re-placement, we need to replace 45 computers each year at a cost of $45,000. The budget the past four years has not allowed for these re-placement needs.

Finally, the most important mis-sion as a district is to continue pro-viding a quality education for stu-dents. College and career readi-ness is at the forefront of this mis-sion. While we do a good job of preparing students for college, pre-paring students for careers upon graduation is an area in which we

need to improve. This was evident from the strategic planning com-pleted by community and board members in 2014. Coursework in manufacturing, engineering, weld-ing, construction and hands-on classes taught by what use to be called Industrial Arts, now Educa-tion Technology, was a budget cut made by the District within the last 8 years. What was a full time posi-tion in Education Technology is now a half-time position shared with another school district. Addi-tionally, our Science curriculum and equipment needs updating. Science tables at the high school are from the 1960's and are in bad condition, in some cases unsafe to do science experiments. As Gover-nor Walker said in his State of the State address, "We must value our students who choose to be highly skilled welders, IT technicians, or certified nursing assistants as much as we do those who choose to be doctors or lawyers. Each of these professions is vitally needed for a strong economy in Wisconsin. You see, we now compete in a global economy. Education will drive suc-cess, as will technology" (Walker, State of the State address, 2016).

If we lack the facilities, technology, safe transportation and curriculum updates to support the students, if the students fail to graduate not being prepared for college or their chosen career, we are not only fail-ing students, but ourselves as a community. The School Board faces some difficult decisions. The

Page 2 Plum City School District

Page 3 Volume 28, issue 3

From the Principal’s Desk By: Paul Churchill It is hard to believe that the school year is half over. January 21st was the end of the 1st semester and report cards will be sent home the first week of February. I hope you take time to review your child's report card and if you have any concerns, please call or email your child's teacher. You could also at-tend parent-teacher conferences which are scheduled for February 25th from 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Students who have parents that value education and take an active role in their child's education are more likely to be successful in school and develop life-long learn-ing skills. It was great to see so many parents attend Books and Breakfast last Thursday to spend time reading with their child. I'm impressed by how well our students can read at an early age. Much of the credit should go to our elementary and middle school teachers who have developed excellent reading pro-grams in their classrooms to help students master their reading skills. I believe literacy skills are the foun-dation upon which academic learn-

ing and successful student per-formance begins. If students are proficient in reading, then all other subject areas are easier to under-stand. On the last day before the holiday break, we had several alumni stu-dents and local colleges and techni-cal schools come in and talk to the high school students. This was a great chance for our students to gain valuable insight on post-secondary education and interact with our alumni students about their personal experiences. We also invited several students who went directly into the work force after high school and asked them to share their experiences about their career. The senior class is busy making plans for the class trip to Washington D.C. and New York City. The dates for the 2016 class trip are May 7 through May 14. This is a very small class and they have decided to open the trip up to

adults in the community. If you are interested in joining the students on their class trip this spring, please call Mr. Churchill for more information. Student attendance is very impor-tant to be a good student or even later in life, be a good employee. Starting with the 2nd semester, the school district will be sending let-ters to parents with children with poor attendance. If a student is absent for more than 10 days dur-ing the first semester, the parents will get a letter explaining the county attendance policy. Please remember that good attendance is a must! Thanks for being great parents!

School Board needs the community involved and to fully understand the State of the District. In upcoming months you will be invited to informational meetings regarding the financial future of your district. Please look for the dates of these meetings in the mail, newspaper and on the district website. The board will not be

making any decision regarding a possible referendum until June 2016. Up until that time, I hope you will attend these information meetings, ask questions and review the recommendations by the District Steering Committee. With your involvement and support the future of the District of Plum City is bright. You may reach me at 715-

647-2591. Thank you for supporting your school.

Mary S. Baier, District Administrator See more at: http://walker.wi.gov/

newsroom/press-release/governor-

scott-walkers-2016-state-state-

address#sthash.RBePocnN.dpuf

Important Upcoming Dates High School Track

begins on March 7th * * * * * * * * * * *

High School Softball

begins on March 14th High School Baseball

Page 4 Plum City School District

Plum City D.A.R.E. Graduation 2016 By: Angela Schultz

On Wednesday January 13, 2016 the fifth grade class from Plum City Elementary and the fifth graders from Ave Maria graduated from their D.A.R.E program. The students have had this pro-gram for many years as ele-mentary students. As fifth graders, they were to partici-

pate in the lessons and finish with an essay about what they have learned over the years. Students took this se-riously and even made a pledge to stay DRUG FREE!

Recognition goes out to Han-nah Steele for writing the best essay and Beau Holt for

being the

class leader. All the students did a wonderful job! We hope the students can take what they have learned and use the skills to stay safe and make responsible choices as they grow throughout the years to come!

Way to go 5th Graders! I am proud of you all!

1

Meat & cheese sub Tomato soup (hs) Veggies & dip Corn Mandarin oranges

2

Pizza (hs) Bosco sticks (elem) California medley Carrots & cucumbers Grapes

3

California burger (lettuce, tomato, onion) Whole grain bun Smile fries Orange wedges

4

Spaghetti Garlic bread Steamed broccoli Baby carrots Sliced pears

5

Breaded chicken Whole grain bun Baked beans Veggies & dip Diced peaches

8

Pizza burger Whole grain bun Roasted potatoes Green beans Applesauce

9

Mini corn dogs Steamed broccoli Baby carrots Strawberries

10

Bbq beef pattie Whole grain roll Romaine salad Calico beans Fruit cocktail

11

Ground beef Stroganoff Whole grain bread Cucumber slices Cooked carrots Apple wedges

12

Bosco stick Marinara sauce Cauliflower Banana

15

VACATION DAY

16

Meat & cheese subs Romaine salad & veggies Applesauce Cookie

17

Chicken alfredo Whole grain bread Steamed broccoli Baby carrots Pineapple tidbits

18

Chicken nuggets Sweet potato tots Bbq beans Sliced pears

19

Calzones Romaine salad Corn Mixed berries

22

Hamburger Whole grain bun Baby carrots Calico beans Mandarin oranges

23

Breaded chicken Whole grain bun Veggies & dip Cooked cauliflower Fruit cocktail

24

Pizza hotdish Whole grain bread Cucumbers & steamed broccoli Diced pears

25

Soft shell taco Romaine salad, onion & tomato Green beans Orange wedges

26

Meat balls & gravy Mashed potatoes Corn bread Cooked carrots Diced peaches

29

Hot dogs Whole grain bun Potato wedges Bbq beans Strawberries

All meals are served with 1% and skim milk choices along with 100% whole

grains.

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

February 2016 LUNCH MENU

1

Lasagna Garlic bread California medley Sliced peaches

2

Grilled chicken Whole grain bun Steamed broccoli Sliced cucumbers Diced pears

3

Shredded pork Whole grain bun Hashbrown potato BBQ beans Banana

4

Tater tot hotdish Whole grain roll & butter Roasted carrots Apple wedges

7

Meat & cheese sub Veggies & dip Corn Mandarin oranges

8

Pizza (hs) Bosco stick (elem) Marinara sauce (elem)

California medley Carrots & cucumbers Grapes

9

California burger (onion, lettuce, tomato) Whole grain bun Smile fries Orange wedges

10

Spaghetti & garlic bread Steamed broccoli Baby carrots Sliced pears

11

Breaded chicken Whole grain bun Baked beans Romaine salad Tropical fruit

14

Pizza burger Whole grain bun Roasted potatoes Green beans Applesauce

15

Corn dogs Steamed broccoli Baby carrots & dip Strawberries

16

BBQ beef rib pattie Whole grain bun Romaine salad Calico beans Fruit cocktail

17

Ground beef Stroganoff Buttermilk biscuit (hs) Cucumber slices Cooked carrots Apple wedges

18

Bosco stick Marinara sauce Cooked cauliflower Banana

21

Hot beef Whole grain bun Mashed potatoes Honey glazed car-rots

Grapes

22

Meat & cheese subs Romaine salad & Veggies Applesauce Jell-O cake

23

Chicken alfredo Whole grain bread & butter Steamed broccoli Carrots Pineapple tidbits

24

Chicken nuggets Sweet potato tots BBQ beans Sliced pears

25

VACATION DAY!

28

VACATION DAY! 29

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

NO SCHOOL!

30

Pizza hotdish Whole grain bread & butter Cucumber sticks Roasted broccoli Tropical fruit

31

Soft shell tacos Romaine salad,onion, Tomatoes, taco sauce Green beans Oranges

All meals are served with 1% and skim milk choices along with 100% whole

grains.

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

March 2016 LUNCH MENU

All meals are served with 1% and skim milk choices along with 100% whole

grains.

1

Meatballs & gravy Mashed potatoes Corn bread Cooked carrots Diced peaches

4

Mandarin orange chicken (ms/hs) Hotdogs/wg bun(ele) Fried rice & veggies Cooked carrots & cucumbers Strawberries

5

Lasagna Garlic bread California medley Diced peaches

6

Grilled chicken Whole grain bun Steamed broccoli Sliced cucumbers Sliced pears

7

Shredded pork Whole grain bun Hashbrown potato BBQ beans Banana

8

Tater tot hotdish Whole grain roll & butter Roasted carrots Apple wedges

11

Meat & cheese subs Veggies & dip Corn Mandarin oranges

12

Pizza (hs/ms) Bosco stick/marinara California medley Carrots/cucumbers Grapes

13

California burger (onion, lettuce, tomato) Whole grain bun Smile fries Orange wedges

14

Spaghetti sauce & garlic bread Steamed broccoli Baby carrots Sliced pears

15

Breaded chicken Whole grain bun Baked beans Romaine salad Tropical fruit

18

Pizza burger Whole grain bun Roasted potatoes Green beans Applesauce

19

Corn dogs Steamed broccoli Baby carrots & dip Strawberries

20

BBQ beef rib pattie Whole grain roll Romaine salad Calico beans Fruit cocktail

21

Ground beef Stroganoff Buttermilk biscuit (hs)

Cucumber slices Cooked carrots Apple wedges

22

NO SCHOOL

25

Hot beef Whole grain bun Mashed potatoes Honey glazed carrots

Grapes

26

Meat & cheese subs Romaine salad & veggies Applesauce Brownies

27

Chicken alfredo Whole grain bread & butter Steamed broccoli Carrots Pineapple tidbits

28

Chicken nuggets Sweet potato tots BBQ beans Sliced pears

29

3 cheese calzones Romaine salad & Veggies Corn Mixed berries

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

April 2016 LUNCH MENU

The Plum City Youth Sports Asso-ciation is working to raise funds for a new concession stand to be lo-cated at the MS/HS field. Our com-mon goal is to build a new conces-sion stand that can broaden our capacity for concessions at PC sporting events, offer sanitary rest-room facilities and include storage for much of the necessary sporting equipment used by the various sports teams in the Plum City School District. While the current concession stand is certainly functional, we know that we can better support the students, parents, grandpar-ents and all of our amazing PC sports fans if we can achieve our fundraising goals for this new building. An up-to-date conces-sions structure offering running water, full Men’s and Women’s handicapped accessible restroom facilities and secure storage will ensure that Plum City meets and exceeds the standards set by many

of our neighboring communities for years to come. Please note this is a donation driven fundraising event and will not be utilizing school dis-trict funds. Fundraising efforts have been well underway and have included a 5k Fun/Run, golf tournament. and sales of Blue Devil and EPC fan ap-parel. Upcoming fundraising events include a card tournament and meat raffle at the Plum City Legion Hall on Sat. Feb 6th and a Dodgeball Tournament with a Blue Devil quilt and pig raffle on Sat. March 12th. We are looking for teams for the Dodgeball tournament. Cur-rent opportunities include our Buy A Brick fund-raiser to be used in the construction of the concession stand patio area. Each brick can be engraved with options for adding text and graphics. Bricks can be purchased at $50 for 1 brick, $40 for each 2-3 bricks and $35 for

each 4+ bricks. Contact pcyouth-sportsfundraising@yahoo.com to order your brick. Keep up to date on fundraising events on our Facebook page Plum City Youth Sports Fundraiser. You can also see our progress and watch the thermometer rise on the sign located by the current conces-sion stand at the High School field. For information on purchasing fan apparel, registering your team and buying tickets to the Dodgeball tournament, or any other fundrais-ing events, please con-tact pcyouthsportsfundraising@yahoo.com. This community continues to thrive because of the people like you who continue to give back in many ways. We sincerely thank you for your

Plum City Youth Sports Concession Stand Committee Update Submitted by: Lisa DeLong

Page 8 Plum City School District

Justin J. Watt Foundation Grant Submitted by: Angie Laehn Our middle school athletes were given an early Christmas gift this past year. After applying for a Justin J. Watt Foundation Grant, we received a letter of congratula-tions, along with a check for $4,812.50 to purchase new volley-ball jerseys, 15 volleyballs, football padded pants, girls’ and boys’ bas-ketball uniforms, and girls’ and boys’ track uniforms. The mission of the Justin J. Watt Foundation is to provide after-school opportunities for middle-

school aged children in the com-munity to become involved in ath-letics, so that they may learn the character traits of accountability, teamwork, leadership, worth ethic, and perseverance, while in a safe and supervised environment with their peers. The JJ Watt Foundation has funded $1,500,000 to middle schools in Wisconsin and Texas. You can fol-low this incredible foundation on Facebook or visit its website at jjwfoundation.org.

Grant Team Members: Tonja Bin-

kowski, Paul Churchill, Dan Herzog

& Angie Laehn

Page 9 Volume 28, issue 3

4th Grade News Submitted by: Tanya Bechel 4th grade is awesome. We’ve been learning great things like, in math we learned all the multiplication and division methods. In RTI, we read very good books and then dis-cuss them. Science/Social Studies is my favorite because we get to do fun projects for example, we did a power point about plants and we learned about Native Ameri-cans. Right now we are learning about ex-plorers and fur trad-ers. We also have reading buddies every Monday with kindergarten. 4th grade is awe-some! By: Mallory Thomas

Have you been wondering what the

4th graders have been doing this

year? We’ve been working very

hard, like learning long division in

math. We also did up to three digit

multiplication. In Science, we did

Titanic reports. We also are work-

ing on the fur traders right now.

We did some very interesting plant

power points. In RTI we read

lots of books and do worksheets

about those books. We have

worked very hard on stuff this

year, but we did a lot of fun

stuff too. We learned about the

Texas Zoo, a Christmas Tree Ship

and an aquarium in an ITV class.

An ITV is a virtual field trip. We

went to the Legion Park to collect

leaves. We also went to Farm and

Rural Safety Day. We have reading

buddies every Monday and read to

a kindergartener. We are doing

lots of fun stuff in 4th grade!

By: Brett Lifto

What have the 4th graders been

up to? Well, let me tell you, we’ve been learning a lot! One thing is, we go on a lot of ITV field trips. Some examples are we went to the Texas Zoo, a fish mission and the Christmas Tree Ship. An ITV is when we take a virtual field trip all over the coun-try. Another thing is we have learned multiplication and long division in ways that our parents have never even learned! We have learned to do multiplication in 5 ways. We have reading bud-dies every Monday. We love reading to our kindergarten bud-dies. 4

th grade is amazing this

year! By: Trichelle Smaller

UPCOMING SPORTS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Girls Basketball

Parent's Night February 1st in Elmwood vs Clear Lake Senior Night February 18th in Plum City vs Elk Mound

Boys Basketball Parent's Night February 25th in Plum City vs Elk Mound

Senior Night February 11th in Elmwood vs Mondovi

Winter Dance Parent's Night February 25th

Regional Play starts on February 23rd for the girls basketball team

March 1st for the boys basketball team

2016-17 Incoming Four Year Old / Kindergarten

Screening

Any student entering 4K or new to the district family with a child entering kindergarten are encouraged to attend the

upcoming screening on Friday, April 15. Please call

Tabby at the elementary office to schedule your

appointment, 715-647-2911.

Page 10 Plum City School District NOTICE OF EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS-DISTRICT OF PLUM CITY

"The District’s primary educational pathway and instructional program for students involves a progression from 4­ year­ old kindergarten (Early Learning) through

12th grade, leading to a high school diploma. The full version of the District’s most recent school and school district accountability report, as issued by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction under sec-

tion 115.385 of the state statutes, can be accessed via the following page on the District’s website (if the report has been issued by DPI):

District of Plum City also offers a wide range of educational options. For more information you may access the following Wisconsin Department of Public Instruc-

tion link: http://dpi.wi.gov/ed-options

Education of Homeless Children and Youths Children of homeless individuals and unaccompanied homeless youth (youth not in physical custody of parent/guardian) residing in the District of Plum City shall

have equal access to the same free, appropriate public education as provided to other children and youths that reside in the District of Plum City. They shall be pro-vided services comparable to services offered other children attending Plum City Public Schools, including transportation services, educational services for which

the children/youths meet eligibility criteria (e.g., special education, Title I programming, gifted and talented programming), vocational and technical education

programs, and school nutrition programs. No homeless child or youth shall be required to attend a separate school or program for homeless children and shall not

be stigmatized by school personnel. Please contact District of Plum City Homeless Liaison at 715-647-2591.

District of Plum City School District Schools

Grades Served Link to DPI report card

Elementary K4-5 http://dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-

cards

Middle School 6-8 http://dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-

cards

High School 9-12 http://dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-

cards

CONGRATULATIONS MUSIC HONORS STUDENTS! Fourteen students have been selected by the Dunn St. Croix music directors as being “The best of the best”. Ra-chel Redding, Justin Nunez, Wyatt Holt, Carlos Lejia, Kaitlyn Ahlers, Adrianna Almsted, Jada Almsted,

Louisa Krischikowsky, Linkon Foley, Bethany Fenter, Joslin Helmueller, Emma Garay, Kassan-dra Heit and T.J Stauffer took part in the honors program this year. The guest instrumental clinician was Mr. Glenn Hayes from U.W. Whitewater. The honors concert

took place Saturday, January 30 at Pepin City High School at 1:30 p.m. These students were great representatives of the Plum City Music Department. Congratula-tions!

Solo & Ensemble Festival The Plum City Music Department will again participate in the Dunn St. Croix South Solo & Ensemble Festival. This year the host school is Spring Valley and the event will take place on Saturday, Feb-ruary 20 from 8 a.m. till 4 p.m. The students have the opportu-nity to sing or play a solo, duet, trio, or larger ensemble in front

of a judge. Most are then rated III, II, or I. Parents and friends are en-couraged to come and watch your favorite musicians perform. Trans-portation will be provided by the Plum City School District.

Plum City To Host Large Group Festival

The Plum city Music Department is proud to be hosting this year’s Dunn St. Croix South Large Group Music Festival. The festival will take place at the high school on Tues-day, April 5. This festival involves judging of large musical groups such as choirs, band, and even or-chestras. The festival will go from 1p.m. till 7p.m. The schools partici-pating in this festival so far are: Plum City High School, Plum City Middle School, Spring Valley High School, Spring Valley Middle School, and Assumption Catholic School. This festival is open to the public and is free of charge.

Music Notes Submitted by: Mike Bonn

COACHING VACANCY

Varsity Track If interested please compile the following information and turn it

into the High School office: Resume with References Letter of interest Detailed Practice plan for a 2

hour practice One page personal philoso-

phy of coaching

For more information contact Ms. Murray at 647-2591 or

nmurray@plumcity.k12.wi.us