There is a confirmed case of whooping cough at South Milwaukee Middle School.
Check out the alert to middle school families from the South Milwaukee School District here.
Here is a WTMJ radio story, and here is a WISN story about how widespread whooping cough has become in recent weeks across the area. I’ll keep you posted.
The controlled burn around the South Milwaukee Middle and High School campuses is over, and it’s being called a success.
The photos below are “examples of what took place … with well-trained, experienced and equipped crews controlling the spread of fire under carefully controlled conditions,” according to Acting Fire Chief Joe Knitter.
Thanks for everyone’s patience during the burn. And click here for even more information and photos from the South Milwaukee School District website.
Update: Day two (Thursday) will have burning concentrated east of 15th Avenue around the football field, according to the fire department. I’ll keep you posted.
The controlled burn around the South Milwaukee High School and Middle School campuses is underway, and the fire department reports things seem to be going smoothly.
The burn will continue on Thursday, and no complaints have been received so far.
I’ll keep you posted as the burn continues.
And, of course, post your comments below.
On Wisconsin!
The University of Wisconsin marching band is coming to the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 14.
Learn more about the show presented by the South Milwaukee Music Parents here.
Also, check out items on “A Beautiful Mess” coming to the SMPAC.
And don’t forget to subscribe to Jim Shelenske’s monthly events newsletter for the latest on local happenings. Learn more at SouthMilwaukee.org.
Call me crazy, but I kind of like the prairie feel around the South Milwaukee high school and middle school campuses. I think it gives the properties a unique and more natural look.
Well, sometimes prairies demand controlled burns to rejuvenate and sustain healthy regrowth.
Such a burn is planned for April 7-15 — Spring Break week in South Milwaukee.
Learn more in this notice from the firm doing the burn … and be prepared for some smoke around the 4th District during that week.
Also note that our fire, police and health departments have been closely involved in the planning and execution of this. So I am confident it will be executed safely … with the end result being a better-looking school campus for the long term.
Filed under Schools
Three people are vying for two seats on the South Milwaukee School Board on Tuesday: incumbents David Maass and Kathleen Molus and challenger Sophia Williams.
Not sure who to support? I asked all three candidates for some information about themselves, their reasons for running and their thoughts on the some of the key issues. So far, Kathee Molus and Sophia Williams have responded.
Click on their names below to learn more …
I will post Maass’ information as soon as I get it.
Also, I’m interested to see who will receive your vote. Check out the new poll!
Also, Molus has a campaign website here.
Filed under 2012 Elections, Schools
The South Shore’s Connects Learning Center — operated out of a building owned by the South Milwaukee School District but located in Cudahy — is being held up as an example of shared services that work.
Check out the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story on the Public Policy Forum study here. From it:
The South Milwaukee School District owns the building that houses Connects Learning Center, but it’s located in Cudahy. And it’s paid for and operated jointly by the South Milwaukee, Cudahy and Oak Creek-Franklin school districts for the benefit of students struggling to make the grade.
A fourth school district, Franklin, pays for the right to seats in the school.
“We needed some place that we could have students that were having a difficult time adjusting to the routine and structure of a regular school day go and do some credit recovery and still stay connected to their high school,” said Jim Heiden, superintendent of the Cudahy School District.
Connects Learning is an example of sharing resources that the Public Policy Forum highlights in a new report that says suburban school districts in Milwaukee County are missing out on many such opportunities to band together to offer some services more efficiently, particularly for such noninstructional support services as nursing, guidance, payroll, accounting, curriculum development and staff training.
“We’re just hoping the report will raise the visibility (of sharing support services) and districts can learn from other districts that have been doing this for a while and have done so successfully, so they’re not having to reinvent the wheel to start a successful agreement,” said Anneliese Dickman, research director of the Public Policy Forum.
Learn more about Connects here.
Former Bucyrus CEO Tim Sullivan has long championed worker training as a key issue for growing Wisconsin’s economy.
Now, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he is “drafting set of recommendations that will change how Wisconsin allocates hundreds of millions of dollars each year in federal job training funds and simultaneously reform the state’s education system.”
“It’s a big task with a lot of moving parts,” he told the newspaper.
Is it ever.
One key part of Sullivan’s work is taking a fresh look at high school curriculum, better matching student skills with companies’ needs — something that I know the South Milwaukee School District is already focused on as part of its long-range planning process. From the newspaper:
He cited a study by Georgetown University that found that Wisconsin will need an estimated 925,000 skilled workers by 2018 just to replace those on the verge of retiring or meet the creation of new jobs. At least 588,000 of those jobs will require a minimum of a two-year technical training degree.
But the state’s schools don’t produce those numbers – which is all the more troublesome in a state that leads the nation in per-capita manufacturing employment, Sullivan said. Starting in the 1980s, many high schools discontinued shop classes, industrial arts, and trade and technical schools. Educators, parents and students focused on curriculum that prepared students for four-year college degrees, even though a degree in the humanities will not land anyone a job on a production line, he said.
That will require a new approach to the way high schools structure their curriculum. It also means a renewed educational push in grade school to supply high schools with students that have basic math and reading skills.
Filed under Local Business, Schools
Don’t forget about the joint meeting of the South Milwaukee City Council and School District on Tuesday at City Hall.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m.
See my previous post here. See you there!
Filed under City Council, Schools
I’ve written a number of times about how impressed I am with South Milwaukee schools, and that belief is stronger than ever.
It starts with passing the “eye test” — what you see first-hand and every day in how they educate kids and prepare them for future. It’s a difficult test to pass, but what I see from my Rawson Elementary first-grader shows me a lot of what I need to know about our local schools.
Add in the district’s commitment to long-range planning — devising solutions to some of the major problems all area schools face — and my dealings with what I view as a first-class leadership team, and they pass the “eye test” with ease.
But that’s one person’s opinion. It’s nice to see it validated by a (somewhat) scientific report in a respected local publication.
Milwaukee Magazine rated the area’s 33 K-12 school districts in its most recent edition. You can see the story here.
Admittedly, the overall ranking of the South Milwaukee district — based on factors like test scores, spending per pupil and student-teacher ratio — is a bit disappointing. The magazine ranks the district 28th out of the 33.
Then you read more of the article … and see the strongly positive results for our local schools.
So, I give South Milwaukee’s showing in the magazine article a solid B. Let’s hope that others read it and recognize that our schools are strong — and a real reason to love living here. They’re certainly at the top of my list.
Of course, I’d like to know what you think about this. Read the article, and check out more on MilwaukeeMagazine.com, and then post your comments below!
Filed under Schools
Update: Here is a lot more detail on Saturday’s game.
The season is over for the South Milwaukee girls’ basketball team.
The Rockets fell to Oak Creek, 42-28, in a WIAA regional final Saturday night at Oak Creek.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
An 18-6 fourth quarter was the difference for Oak Creek. It was a slow first half for both teams, as the Knights held a 12-9 lead at the break.
Abby Styczynski and Morgan Kotka each finished with 14 points. Only four girls scored for the Rockets.
The Rockets finish the season 17-8.
The South Milwaukee City Council and South Milwaukee School Board have planned a joint meeting for Tuesday, March 13.
There is just one item on the agenda: a discussion “regarding strengthening school and community partnerships.”
I’m excited for the meeting and look forward to the dialog. I was proud to be a part of district’s long-range visioning and planning process in 2010, and stepping up this type of community collaboration is one of the goals that came out of this work.
Learn more about the district’s “four CEs” — including “community engagement” — in this informative two-pager, which summarizes the district, its students, its vision for the future and its plan to get there.
It tells a great story — a story that only gets better as the city finds new and innovative ways to partner with its first-class schools.
Check out the meeting agenda here. The meeting starts at 6 p.m.
Filed under City Council, Schools
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a nice story on the legacy of former South Milwaukee football Coach Bill Spaltholz, who passed away Friday at the age of 86.
Check it out here. From it:
Like most coaches, Bill Spaltholz never completely got the game out of his system.
Years after the hall of fame football coach from South Milwaukee retired, he was still a regular at games.
“He always did enjoy football and he was always concerned with how the Rockets were doing,” said South Milwaukee football coach John Galewski, a former player and assistant coach of Spaltholz’s. …
Galewski, a 1975 South Milwaukee graduate, played running back and was a member of the Suburban Conference championship team in 1973.
Spaltholz would later hire Galewski as a junior varsity assistant coach, and Galewski spent four seasons working on Spaltholz’s staff before he retired.
“He was a great mentor,” Galewski said. “He was always willing to take time and teach things. It was just a great experience for me.”
Spaltholz’s visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m. tonight at Molthen Bell & Sons in South Milwaukee. An additional visitation begins at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Grace Lutheran Church in Oak Creek, followed by the funeral.
Please continue to keep the Spaltholz family and all who knew the popular coach in your prayers.
Update: I found this old Milwaukee Journal story on South Milwaukee’s undefeated season in 1961. Check it out here.
Did you know Coach Bill Spaltholz? Did you play for him? Were you taught by him?
What will you remember most about him? What is his legacy?
Post your comments below … and let me know if you’d be interested in doing a “guest blog” about this South Milwaukee legend.
South Milwaukee Blog 