Maple Grove Charter School - One Town. One Team. One Dream.

We have had the registration window only open a couple of days and already have over 15% of the familes register for next year! That is a great start! Let's keep that number growing. If you are having issues or lack a computer at home, you can go to your building office tomorrow during parent-teacher conferences from 3:30 to 7:30 for some help. No appointment need. Otherwise you can go to our registration website and sign up for next year. https://www.athens1.org/page/online-registration Remember the deadline is May 24th.

Our Open House / Family Night is Thursday, March 14th from 4:30-6:30. We are excited to see you and your family at our special school!

The online registration window is now open! You can begin registrating for the 24-25 school year to the School District of Athens. If you have any question please contact your school office or go to the registration website https://www.athens1.org/page/online-registration

Turtles, snakes, and salamanders... oh my! Last week, some of our Maple Grove foxes walked on the wild side with a visit from UWSP's Herpetology Society. Curricular connections included a study of adaptations of reptiles and amphibians and their ecosystems in third grade, animal defense mechanisms in fourth grade, and biodiversity and conservation in fifth grade.

Ms. Etten’s first graders are soaring in to the next Module of EL by becoming ornithologist. The next few months they will learn characteristics of birds, habitats of different birds, birds native to our area, and specifically how to care for birds! This is where the excitement came in on Friday when 6 different feeders were hung. Learners explored and researched what food was appropriate for each feeder and what birds would be attracted. One of the feeding stations housing 3 different feeders is perfectly located for bird viewing from our first grade classroom. Beginning next week, graphing by learners will monitor food consumption, common bird appearances, and environmental challenges/advantages. The Maple Grove CRISP traits were very prevalent in assembling, filling, and hanging the feeders as they will be over the next months. Thank you to the Kariger family for building our beautiful bird feeding stands!

We sure do have amazing families at Maple Grove Charter School! Thank you to the Flory family for these delicious treats for our staff crew tonight, they were beautiful and kind gesture!

We made it 100 days at school! Learners and staff celebrated our 100th day of school on Friday at MGCS. We celebrated by dressing like we were 100 years old or wearing something with 100 items. There was so much creativity! Learners also participated in a 100 fox 🦊 hunt with 100 foxes hidden throughout our school. It took learners until 2:57 to find the very last one but they pulled it off! Way to go!

Ms. Szutkowski's 5th grade class had an outstanding time exploring nature's classroom and staying the night at Merrill School Forest. From water ecology adventures to mastering survival skills and shelter-building with natural materials (topped off with a green pancake breakfast), it was a visit to remember!

Our 2024-2025 Enrollment Application is open NOW until April 30th, 2024 for Maple Grove Charter School! If you are a new family or have a child starting kindergarten please scan the QR code to fill out our application. We are a K-5 Public Charter School that focuses on environmental and agriscience, hands-on learning. We are part of the School District of Athens and also accepting open enrollment, just ask us how. Any questions or to schedule a tour please call us at 715-257-2199. We look forward to having you a part of our Maple Grove Family!

Kindergarten students at MGCS were tasked to create Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day cards for our heroes in Wisconsin Veterans Homes throughout the state. 🇺🇲 With help from Melanie Rodriguez- a member of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit #469- learners discussed the importance of sharing their love and gratitude any time of the year! ❤️

Third graders at Maple Grove Charter School were able to demonstrate and describe homesteading practices of European settlers at the Merrill School Forest through the help and guidance of Sandy Benton % Field Edventures, Ms. Barrick % 3rd grade and some wonderful Mom chaperones. The students did multiple rotations such as: fire collecting/building, water collection for laundering and dish washing, food preparation for stew and apple cobbler, removing kernel from Amish popcorn cobs for stove-top popcorn. Students also learned about waste-free lunches and brought their own reusable containers for the "delectable"meal. This experience was all connected to their upcoming EL curriculum which compares the literary classics: Little House in the Big Woods to Bright With Silver.

Today was a day filled with extra fresh air for those that met last months reading goals. Goals are set by learners with their classroom teachers. While the snow caused some changes to the plans, it was a wonderful morning filled with flag football, fort building, and ice skating on the frozen patches of pavement! The Hamburg fire department that comes to read with learners on Friday mornings provided book marks that were paired with a cookie treat. It is amazing to see so many learners meeting their goal each month! Keep up the reading and let’s aim for 100% one of these months😀

Thank you to our wonderful PTO who sponsored our movie night🍿 🎥 at MGCS! A shout out to our families and staff members who attended our family event. It was a great way to wind down the day!

I don’t think anyone is going to be able to wipe the smile off of the faces of Ms. Etten's 1st grade class at Maple Grove Charter School. Learners got an intergalactic experience that brought the science lesson to real life. Learners were actively engaged in studying the constellations within the StarLab. It was an absolutely outstanding learning experience that not only helped them understand the constellations, but also presented them with a new love and interest in exploring the night sky! Some of the key takeaways of the experience were regarding the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. Many tales are associated with the Little Dipper and being able to hear the tales while surrounded by the constellations was "unimaginably exciting" (to quote a first grader). The Little Dipper is located in the northern hemisphere There are seven stars that form the Little Dipper asterism, and they are Kochab, Urodelus, Yildun, Polaris, Pherkad, Ahfa al Farkadain and Anwar al Farkadain.

Thanks to Cindy Artus and her family, grades 3-5 at Maple Grove Charter School were able to attend the Call of the Wild performance at the Grand Theater. She also sponsored a reserved lunch space for us in the Great Hall. For some students, this was their very time at this building or their very first time seeing an out-of-district live show. Their takeaways were: "Wow, what comfy chairs." Or "Look at this luxurious bathroom." Or "How is that performer doing this show all by himself?"

Reminder: Monday, January 15th, is a Staff Inservice day, so it's a non student day. Stay warm.

The kindergarten class at MGCS has been engaging in a literacy unit titled "Weather Wonders". We learned how to prepare for various types of weather, what it's like around the world, and also how weather can affect people. To celebrate our new-found knowledge, we welcomed back meteorologist Justin Loew from WAOW to speak about his profession. We thank him for sharing his expertise! 🌤❄️

The School District of Athens will be closed tomorrow January 12, 2024 due to inclement weather. There will be no after school activities or athletic events.

Fifth grade learners at Maple Grove have been busy this winter! Before break, we celebrated the winter solstice by making ice luminaries with balloons and bowls, and learned why winter solstice occurs, as well as what is going on in the rest of the world during this time. We also learned the finer points of birdwatching by learning proper use of binoculars and bird field guides.

Maple Grove Charter School offers a once a month afterschool Artastic Club to our 3rd-5th graders, taught by Stephanie Kohli. Learners were challenged to create their own "Wearable Art." Please vote for your favorite. Voting ends Feb. 10!