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Serving
Children and the Community Since 1922
2009
- 2010 Calendar · All About Randall · Assemblies &
Themes · Background
Check Form · Birthday Treats · Calendar · Conferences ·
Counselor Corner · Field
Trip Permission Slip · Food in Schools · Forms and Fees · Forms
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All About Randall Randall
School
is a historical school that has been fully updated with a large addition in
1992. Located at 114 S. Charles Street, the school is just south of
downtown Waukesha across the street from Carroll College. The school was
named for Wisconsin governor and esteemed Waukesha citizen Alexander Randall.
Originally built in 1922, the first addition was completed in 1929 with
another addition in 1985 and the latest in 1992. All existing
classrooms were renovated. The school's 60,000 square feet have been
beautifully designed and has been recognized by the city of Waukesha and the
Landmark Commission for "preserving and maintaining the historic
property". Randall has students from kindergarten through sixth
grade. Our sixth grade students move on to Central Middle
School for seventh and eighth grade and on to South for high
school. We also have
a formal partnership with Carroll University. Through this partnership, Carroll Professors and their
students help our students directly through our SSA and Math Club programs. We have
education students and work-study students helping our staff provide many
developmentally appropriate challenging and rewarding learning opportunities
to all students. The Wisconsin
State standards are integrated into the curriculum and our parents and
students know the grade level expectations. Our students perform well on
state testing - over 90% proficient or better on the third grade state
reading test (WRCT), as an example. Students
excel in academics and the arts as well as in individual and team
sports. With students, staff, and parents working as a team to provide
a positive, safe, caring and nurturing atmosphere where students learning
successes are celebrated. Students show
they care about their community. The Student Council visits "The Caring
Place" monthly to volunteer their services. The students take
pride in their community. The school
has an active and enthusiastic Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) which
encourages parents to be involved in their school and their child(ren)'s
education. Through fund-raisers, our PTA provides many enrichment
activities and supplemental equipment for the benefit of all students, staff
and parents. The School Site Council,
made up of parents and staff members, develops new visions to improve the
effectiveness of our community school. Because of one such vision, we
have "Teacher Listening Conferences" where parents introduce their
child(ren) to the teacher (s) in September. Presently, also through
our Site Council visions, we have extra staff development times for our staff
on seven different monthly Fridays when students are dismissed at 1:25
p.m. Parents who wish to use the Park Recreation Program for afternoon
day care on these Friday afternoons may do so at a nominal cost. Randall
Elementary School is a smaller school serving about 350 students from the
city of Waukesha's south central city.
The needs of students are given high priority by the 40-plus staff
members. A positive learning
environment is created for all the students by the dedicated staff. Many fine traditions of the school
are followed each year as an active P.T.A. group plans cooperatively with the
staff to provide excellent events for the educational benefit of the
students. We
welcome parents to our school and hope students feel comfortable learning at
their own pace in an appropriate learning environment. The staff is open and
willing to work with students and parents for the benefit of the
student. They are available to
help answer questions of parents and students and help create a positive
atmosphere for all students. We
must work together -- all students, staff, and parents -- to develop our most
important and valued resource -- our children. The future of our society depends on our children and how
well they are prepared to meet the challenges of our world. To
facilitate the "working together spirit", we have a "Site
Council". Our Site Council
consists of staff and community members that look at possible changes in
procedures at Randall that will directly benefit our students. Information about site council
initiatives will be published in our monthly school newsletter under the
heading "On Site At Randall....". Our
first change (initiated in 1995-96) was in the area of parent/teacher
conferences. We now have
September Teacher Listening Conferences at Randall because it was widely
supported by both parents and staff on numerous surveys. The idea has spread
to other schools and has resulted in changes in Board Policy and to the planning
of the district calendar.
Now such conference format changes can take place in any schools with
parent and staff support. The
focus of these “Listening”conferences is to learn from the parent(s) about
the child. The focus of these
conferences will be to gather information that will help the teacher know the
child better.
November and February
will have the opportunity to be scheduled for a conference with their child's
homeroom teacher. Our philosophy is communicating in a parent/teacher conference
format is an on-going process and should be done whenever the need arises. Parents should never wait for the
calendar dates of “Parent Teacher Conferences” if there is a question or
concern. Please note that
teachers will not wait either. New
and Continuing Site Council Initiatives: Through our Site Council, we offered an after school
"help" or "tutoring" program" to primary students
who are referred by their teachers for reading/language/writing assistance. The program is called SSA
(Strengthening Student Achievement). We will start again in late September
and will continue until the end of November. The program will have a second semester session beginning
in early February.
The tutors will be
Carroll College education students.
We will be working with Mrs. Roseanne Donovan, instructor at Carroll,
to secure these willing students.
The sessions will be held on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays from 3:30 -
4:15 p.m. in our media center. Some students may receive this tutoring before school
or during the school day. Each eligible student will come for 2
of the 3 days each week. During
the last few years, we researched and studied having a Randall Site Summer
School. We had our third site summer school
this year during the first two weeks of August. We have 80 plus students enrolled compared to 40 students
for our first year. About
7 years ago, we did the WEAC Great Schools Vision Meetings. About 100 community members were
invited to attend. Visions were
discussed of what would make us even a more effective community school. One of those visions is being
implemented again this coming school year by our Site Council. The plan is in its seventh year and
allows teachers time on seven different Fridays throughout the year to
collaborate. Our school day will
begin at 8:30 a.m. instead of 8:35 a.m. with dismissal at the usual 3:25 p.m. By adding this extra 6 minutes each
day, we will save or "bank" two hours of time each month that can
be used for staff development.
This will give our staff the opportunity to collaborate as they will
have a block of two hours to meet together. To gain this time, our students will be dismissed at 1:25
p.m. on one Friday each month beginning in September. In
planning for this increased staff development time, our Site Council studied
the research and discussed various plans for over a year. Some of this research said: Keys
to Effective Teams: "Collaboration
embedded in routine practices" and "Time for collaboration built in
school day and school calendar".
Also, we found "School staff teams that pursue specific and
measurable performance goals" increases effectiveness. Bob Eaker and
Richard DuFour say: "Effective elementary school
staff development increases administrators' and teachers' understanding of
how to provide school environments and instruction that are responsive to the
developmental needs of children in grades pre-kindergarten through
six". Effective school
staff development "provides adequate time during the work day for staff
members to learn and work together to accomplish the school's mission/goals. Dismissal
time on these 7 Fridays is: 1:25
p.m. September
11th October
9th December
11th January
15th February
5th March
12th May
7th. During
the early dismissal times, we will be offering special enrichment activities
for students so as to not inconvenience our parents with our early dismissals
on the seven Friday afternoons.
These activities are on a first come – first serve basis with
registration on August 13th and 18th (at “Forms and Fees”)
and throughout the school year.
The activities for this year include Waukesha Park Recreation crafts
and games, YMCA, and the Carroll University Chemistry Club Mrs.
Holly Podlewski,
Randall parent, will again be our leader/director for coordinating the Friday afternoon activities. Mrs. Podlewski will be sending
out the information as to students registered for each of the seven Fridays
and will be the liaison between school, parents and the public agency. We
also have a formal partnership with Carroll University. Through this partnership, Carroll
Professors and their students help our students directly through our SSA and
Math Club programs. Again,
the Randall Site Council is out there ready to put ideas to work! Classes
begin: 8:30
a.m. (Tardy bell at 8:35 a.m. This five minutes is for students to
unpack backpacks and hang up coats. Students are expected to be in
their seats by the 8:35 tardy bell.) Lunch Schedule Kindergarten - Second
Grades Third and Fourth Grades Fifth and Sixth Grades
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