Westside students at the Marquette game.

As a PBIS reward, some of our students went to a Marquette University basketball game. They had a blast!

Dear MPS Families,

Here we are, at the holiday time, and our winter break is only days away.

If I could give you a holiday present, it would be a large, beautifully wrapped box full of time. Time is a precious gift, now and all through the year.

The time I would give you would allow you to take a breath during your hectic day, and read a book with your child, and of course, to watch a Packers game or two. There are few things better than watching football together. After all, green and gold are holiday colors! You may wish to use your time to get outside and visit Milwaukee’s Cathedral Square to see the trees decorated by students in many of our schools.

These 2nd grade students from Humboldt Park were selected to take part in the Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival. They made all of the ornaments and then went to Cathedral Square in November to decorate their tree. All of this was done under the supervision of art teacher Dolly Klar.

I would give you time to visit your child’s classroom during the school day and have a chat with the teacher. I would give you time for holiday concerts and basketball games and forensic competitions. There would be more time to sit quietly and talk with your boy or girl about what happened each day in school.

I plan some quiet time, too, and a little exploration of technology, thanks to my 8-year-old granddaughter. She has an electronic reader, so the books we will read together will be digital books. She may be a little old for “Astrojammies” by Demibooks, but I hear that’s a popular interactive story this year.

In my big, beautiful gift box of unlimited time, I would give you all the extra minutes you need to make the most of your parenting years. Boys and girls become teenagers and then adults before you know it. Thank you for sharing your children’s precious time with us!

Happy Holidays,

Gregory E. Thornton, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

[Download this letter in Spanish ] [Download this letter in Hmong]

Check out some of our GOLD Honor Roll members at Westside II! We’ll have more photos soon!

Our GOLD Honor Roll students at Westside 2.