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

Thank you to the families and community members that came out to enjoy some great food and great people! We are truly grateful for such amazing families, staff, learners, and community! A big thank you to all of the people that participated in our mystery contestants chili contest! Congratulations to our very own cook at MGCS, Tari Williams, for being the 23-24 Golden Ladle winner this year with her delicious chili!

Hungry??? We have supper for you! Come join us at Maple Grove Charter School from 5-7 tonight! ALL are WELCOME!

Not feeling like cooking tomorrow night? Just looking for something to do? Come to our annual Chili Supper at Maple Grove Charter School tomorrow night,Nov 16, from 5-7. Delicious chili, hot dogs, cheese curds, and desserts from Polka Dotted Pie! No charge, free will donations accepted. What more could you ask for?!!! See you there!

The Brook Trout have arrived at Maple Grove Charter School! We have been awaiting the delivery from the St. Croix Fish Hatchery since late August; lo and behold 250 eggs came today. They are now safely stored within a fish net breeder inside the tank until they hatch into alevins which is their 2nd life cycle stage. Water temperature, chemical levels and life cycle stages will continue to be monitored on a daily basis. Ongoing education will continue to be shared with others during this exciting opportunity that we "get" to do because of the following: Trout Unlimited Chapter Members (Allen, Perry & Kirk), St. Croix Fish Hatchery (Dave), Field Edventures (Miss Sandy), Maple Grove's Grandparent (Bob) and Ms. Barrick's 3rd graders.

We were honored to have our Veterans with us at MGCS on Friday 🇺🇸 Learners prepared poems, essays, artwork, thank-yous, and music to show their appreciation to our past and present men and women who have and are serving our country. We learned about what everything on the "Missing Man's Table" represented and witnessed the Three Volleys and playing of Taps. Thank you to all who made this possible!

We are streaming all of the Veteran's Day programs today. Maple Grove at 9 am, Athens Elementary at 9:30, and Athens Middle/High School at 10. You can watch us honor our Veterans on our YouTube Channel https://youtube.com/@schooldistrictofathenswisc604?si=s2BF4TRAPgMrwJEJ

Fat Bear Week was a favorite topic during the month of October for Mrs. Zamzow's 4th grade Outdoor Labs class. Fat Bear Week is an annual tournament celebrating the success of brown bears in preparing for winter in Katmai National Park in Alaska. We were excited to vote for our favorites and were excited when Grazer was declared the winner! Students also learned about salmon and their importance to both bears and humans in Alaska. October also found the 4th graders marking their maple trees for spring tapping, learning about the importance of beavers in Wisconsin, and making beautiful leaf mobiles. On our Fridays with Mrs. Benton we checked out where our future pollinator garden will be and then with Mrs. Bunkelman we explored pumpkins and their seeds. We can't wait to see what November brings!

We can't wait to see you there!

Kindergarten students at MGCS enjoyed an agriculture-based lab lesson led by Mrs. Bunkelman and her student, Kaydin. We compared the texture, colors, and the amount of seeds in different pumpkin varieties. Afterwards, we brought our learning back into the classroom for a fun craft! 🎃

October is Fire Safety month and our wonderful Hamburg Fire Department came in today to educate our learners about fire safety, show them how to stop, drop, and roll, talk about all the equipment the firefighters wear to stay safe, and answered all the learners questions! Thank you again Hamburg Fire Department, we appreciate your time and sharing all your knowledge with us!

Ms. Etten's first graders have been busy at Maple Grove Charter School. During EL Module, learners were proposed the question, “Why do we need tools?” The overall consensus of learners was that tools make our lives easier by helping us to do work. Tools help us create things! Learners were to use habits of character such as perseverance and collaboration to work throughout module. The end goal of the students learning was to create a magnificent thing that would fulfill a need within the classroom. Learners worked through the process with making drafts, reading books such as The Little Red Pen and The Most Magnificent Thing, and lab opportunities with different tools, inclined planes, wagons, levers, pulleys, and various recycled materials to create their magnificent thing. Creations included a book buddy shelf, classroom mailbox, bird house, prize box, tic-tac-toe, book shelf, candy dispenser, and more. The learning opportunity was extended on a field trip to the Merrill School Forest where Mrs. Benton worked with learners to operate many different pulleys, create levers out of broken down trees, and overall be creative thinkers of how perseverance and collaboration is possible in the outdoor environment!

After-school pick up kids at Maple Grove Charter School once again met their goal of receiving over 95 Fox Tails for displaying their CRISP traits while they wait for their families. They celebrated with a Drop Everything and Draw or Color activity. Thanks to a wonderful donation, we had plenty of Crayola crayon boxes for this creative experience and also for Art class.

Enjoying the beautiful fall weather at MGCS in a variety of ways at recess🍁🦊

Third grade students from Maple Grove Charter School recently went on a field trip to the George W. Mead Wildlife Area. Thanks to Miss Sam and Mr. Ryan, students learned about the balance or imbalance of a trophic cascade, about the 21 WI snake species; two of which are venomous and about birds and macro invertebrates of a pond wetland habitat. They are looking forward to going back soon with their own families.

Hope to see all our MGCS Families at our PTO sponsored Fall Festival!

Each month Maple Grove Foxes choose a monthly reading goal that is just right for them through a conversation with their teacher. This is a goal that they work to achieve at home with nightly reading. Learners who meet their goal at the end of each month are rewarded with some type of whole school reading incentive! This month we celebrated with painting pumpkins that were donated by the Nicklaus Family founders of Incredible Bank! We were thrilled to hear that 100% of our 4th and 5th graders meet their monthly goal! Way to be great role models and CRISP leaders!

Our littlest foxes at MGCS worked together to create a nature loom during labs! They sorted items found in the trail and garden by the following attributes: color, shape, texture, and size. After discussing and testing what could be easily weaved within, their masterpiece was complete! 🍂

Please feel free to hang out after you pick up your child/children for our PTO meeting in the gym! We would love to have you!

Grades 1-3 at Maple Grove Charter School enjoyed some wonderful learning opportunities on their field trips to Rock Ridge Orchard and to Red Door Family Farm. It's really great to have community partners that help extend our outdoor lab learning to real life. Plus, did you know that the owner of Rock Ridge (Mrs. Knetter) is a past Maple Grove alumni? #fullcircle

Ms. Etten’s 1st grade class dressed for a special occasion on Thursday. They hosted a wedding for the letters of Q and U. Attendees included 1st grade learners, staff, and cards delivered from other classrooms congratulating the letter couple! During EL skills block learners are working on Qu which is taught as a type of digraph or blend in that the Q is always followed by the vowel U. This is often a very challenging concept for students to remember and produce in their writing. The special learning experience was just what was needed. The reception included juice, cake, and QU activities. Craftsmanship was applied to make a wedding quilt gift. All quilt squares began with Qu vocabulary and pictures💕