It's not looking much like March begins this week! Good luck with the never-ending shoveling!! Here are some Leopold updates for your fireside reading pleasure:

Snow Day Make-Up
I have been asked to let families know that we will have a full day of school on the last day, June13. This will allow us to make up the 277 minutes we are short due to snow days. 

T-shirt design contest
Our first-ever Timber Wolf Trample t-shirt design contest is in full swing! Entires are due next Tuesday, March 5. For an entry form and more information, please visit the Timber Wolf Trample page here on our website.

Please plan on attending the PFO meeting with your students on Tuesday, March 12, to participate in judging the contest entries and helping to pick the official Trample t-shirt design!!

Yearbooks
Yearbook order forms have been sent home with all students. Please remember to return your orders in the next few weeks so your student can have their yearbook for the end of the school year.

Yearbooks from past years are available in limited quantity. Please visit the PFO website yearbook page here to see if you are missing any past yearbooks that you would like to add to your collection, and find instructions on how to order. You can also find information on submitting your photos from field trips, activities and other school functions to the yearbook on this page. 

Parents of 5th graders: If you would like to include a congrats / good luck / tribute ad for your 5th grader in the yearbook, information and a form will be sent home soon on how to do that. The deadline for those ads will be March 18th.

Fresh Fruits and Veggies program
The Fresh Fruits and Veggies calendar for March will be posted on the blog this week. Help your student find and their favorite goodies on the calendar!

PFO Movie Night
Due to low attendance at this year's PFO movie nights, the PFO has decided not to renew the license we purchased last year that allowed us to show the movies. The final movie night will be April 16 at Open Schoolhouse. Many thanks to Kristina and Tyler Kosiorek for all the work they've done over the past two years to organize movie night.

Little Cesars Night
Leopold had increased attendance at our February 19, Little Cesars fundraising night. While only 15 Leopold families came out to Little Cesars in November, 34 families stopped in for pizza this month. As a result, we made $125 for our effort. Thanks to Little Cesars for their continued support of Leopold.

Plastic bags for the Trample
The PFO uses plastic shopping bags (like the ones you get from Target... while shopping with your RedCard... thus giving back to Leopold...) for sorting registration materials for our Timber Wolf trample entrants. If you have plastic bags at home that you would like to get rid of, please send them to school with a note marked PFO and we will put them to good use.

A Note from Mr. Burkholder regarding WKCE Score Reports
New WKCE Cut Points: Early in March, parents will be mailed their children's WKCE score reports.  As many of you already know, the WKCE is an annual state assessment required of virtually all public school students in grades 3-10.  As you review your child's score report, please keep in mind that the WKCE is now using the much more rigorous cut scores of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.  As such, it is now much more difficult to obtain scores of Proficient and Advanced on the WKCE assessment.  In general, the majority of Wisconsin students who scored Advanced on the WKCE last year will now score at the Proficient level absent any increase in their scores.  In addition, without a significant increase in their test scores, students who last year scored at the proficient level will now likely score at the basic level.  These new norms are not unique to Leopold, but are new to all students throughout the State of Wisconsin.  Please know that the percentages of students scoring Proficient and Advanced on the WKCE at schools throughout the state has dropped significantly this year as compared to prior years.  Finally, the WKCE is a single measure of a student's academic performance.  To understand a student's true achievement and his or her instructional needs, teachers use a variety of assessments.  Because the WKCE is no longer well aligned to the needs of students and schools, the State is phasing it out, with next year being the last year it will be used prior to it being replaced.

Thanks everyone!
Kris

Hello Leopold Families. It's a short but busy week at school. Enjoy some news from the PFO!

School Report Cards
The State of Wisconsin has released School Report Cards for all public schools in our state. Please see below for a detailed explanation of Leopold's report card from principal John Burkholder. You can view the report here. 

PFO Movie Night at Open Schoolhouse
As always, Open Schoolhouse is happening Tuesday night from 6-8 p.m. This Tuesday at Open Schoolhouse, the PFO is sponsoring Movie Night! The Muppets will be showing. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the movie will begin at 6:15. All kids need to be supervised by an adult and everyone is expected to keep noise to a minimum so all can hear the show. Popcorn will be served between 6:10 and 6:45. Check in at the front table when you arrive at Open Schoolhouse.

Unity Fall Festival
The Unity Fall Festival will be held Wednesday night in the cafeteria.

No School
There is no school this Thursday and Friday due to staff professional development. 

Election Day Bake Sale
Tuesday, November 6, is election day.  Leopold is a polling place and we will have many neighborhood visitors coming to vote at our school.  The PFO will be holding an Election Day Bake Sale in the lobby. Baked goods of all kinds can be taken to school on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.  Individual and small quantity items are the best sellers – early voters can grab a muffin or donut on their way to work and noon-time voters take sweet treats back to their co-workers.  Homemade (or bakery) baked goods are appreciated. A Sign-Up Genius email will soon go out to those who expressed interest in helping with the bake sale.

Raise Money for Leopold When You Shop
If you are ordering anything from Amazon in the days and weeks ahead, be sure to enter amazon.com by going to the "Activities and Fundraisers" page on the PFO website (http://www.leopoldpfo.org/activities-and-fundraisers.html) and clicking on the Amazon banner. Leopold earns money for each purchase made when shoppers enter Amazon through the link on our page (no other action needed!).

In addition, on that same page of the PFO website, you will also find a link to the eBoxTops marketplace where there are links to hundreds of popular stores. Entering those online stores through the eBoxTops website will automatically earn Leopold BoxTops for each purchase made. You can bookmark the site here http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/marketplace/BrowseStores.aspx?WT.ac=Mktplce_HC_SeeAllStores.

Just think - you can shop at Target by entering through the BoxTops Marketplace, then using your Target RedCard to make your purchases, thus earning eBox Tops and Target RedCard points for our school!

Message from Principal John Burkholder regarding School Report Cards
Today, the State of Wisconsin released School Report Cards for all public schools in the state.  I suspect that these scores will result in a great deal of conversation in our community and in our State.  This new ranking system, like many measures over the past several years, is but a single measure used to gauge the success of all schools.  The ranking is required as the State complies with requirements within its waiver request for relief under the No Child Left Behind law.  So how does the new School Report Card look for Leopold?

Our Overall Score on the report card is 70.0, a score that places us in the Meets Expectations range. When considering the scores of all 47 MMSD schools, the score of 70.0 places Leopold 21st, or in the upper half of all district schools.  Beyond the overall score, several sub scores are also given.  In the area of Student Achievement, our school score is 53, and is the area where we appear to lag other district schools the most.  Our Student Achievement ranking is 33rd out of 47 schools.  Nevertheless, our achievement appears to be headed in the right direction as I am pleased to report that our Student Growth Score was 78, or 7th when compared to 40 other district schools (seven schools aren't scored in this area).  To me, the Student Growth score gives credit to all the outstanding work that is and has been going on in classrooms and with our students!

In addition, two other sub scores were given on the report card: Closing Gaps and Post Secondary Readiness.  On the Closing Gaps measure, Leopold scored 63.6, or 19th out of 44 MMSD schools.  While I know we can do better to close existing achievement gaps, I am pleased that our first score puts us above the mid-point in MMSD.  Our Post Secondary Readiness score placed us at 34th among the 47 MMSD schools, a ranking that I suspect was influenced by our Student Achievement score.  There are some other factors that can negatively impact our overall score and pertain to attendance, test participation rates, and drop outs, but Leopold, like the vast majority of schools in MMSD did not lose any points on these factors.

I think that overall these new School Report Card scores are positive for Leopold.  We still have much work to do, but we are clearly making progress.  Please know that the entire Leopold staff is working extremely hard to meet the needs of all students.  We are constantly evolving as a school, working to identify ways to increase the learning of all students, including those we have identified as being behind, those we see as on the expected course to success, and those who are achieving at a level beyond what is projected at any given grade level.  We thank you for your support of your child, our students, and our school.  If you have questions about Leopold Elementary, please feel free to contact our main office.


Sincerely,

John Burkholder
Principal


Thanks everyone. Have a great week!