The 2019-20 school year in the Hamilton School District will bring significant changes for students, including opening of a new school, realignment of grade levels, introduction of Great Start Conferences and a change in school hours for most students.
New school, grade configuration – Silver Spring Intermediate School will open its doors this year to the district’s fifth- and sixth-graders. Enrollment growth throughout the district caused the need for the first new school in the district since 1999. Fifth-graders previously attended elementary schools and sixth-graders went to Templeton Middle School. Beginning this fall the grade configuration will be: 4K – Willow Springs Learning Center; 5K-grade 4 – elementary schools; grades 5-6 – intermediate school; grades 7-8 – middle school; and grades 9-12 – high school.
Great Start conferences – Great Start conferences will be held for students in 4K – grade 6 to allow students, parents and teachers to meet face-to-face before students’ first day of school. The conferences will allow for teachers to gather information through a parent questionnaire and collect initial student literacy data. Willow Springs will conduct conferences Sept. 3-6, and elementary and intermediate schools will have them Sept. 3-4.
First day of classes – The first day of classes for students will be Sept. 3 for middle and high school students, Sept. 5 for elementary and intermediate school students and Sept. 9 for Willow Springs students.
New bus patterns, modified school hours – With the opening of Silver Spring Intermediate School, new bus patterns will be established. Students in grades 7-12 will be on the early bus run and grades 4K-6 will be on the later one. Except at Hamilton, school start and dismissal times will be adjusted as well. School hours will be:
- Hamilton High School, 7:20 a.m. – 2:25 p.m. (unchanged)
- Templeton Middle School, 7:30 a.m. – 2:45 p.m.
- Silver Spring Intermediate School, 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
- Willow Springs (am/pm sessions), 8:45 -11:30 a.m., 12:45 – 3:30 p.m.
- Elementary schools, 8:50 a.m. – 3:50 p.m.
Registration – Parents are able to log in Aug. 1-11 with their Infinite Campus portals to verify and update information, pay school fees online and sign off on school forms. If you do not have an Infinite Campus parent portal, contact campushelp@hamilton.k12.wi.us. School phone numbers are:
- Willow Springs Learning Center (4-year-old kindergarten), (262) 255-6190;
- Lannon Elementary, (262) 255-6106;
- Maple Avenue Elementary, (262) 246-4220;
- Marcy Elementary, (262) 781-8283;
- Woodside Elementary, (262) 820-1530;
- Silver Spring Intermediate, (262) 820-2080;
- Templeton Middle, (262) 246-6477 and
- Hamilton High, (262) 246-6471.
If you are unsure of your school attendance area, call the district’s Public Information Office at (262) 246-1973 x1100.
Kindergarten — The district offers kindergarten programs for students who are four and five years old. The program for 4-year-olds is at Willow Springs Learning Center, and the program for 5-year-olds is at neighborhood elementary schools. To be eligible for the optional 4-year-old kindergarten (4K) program, a child must be four years old on or before Sept. 1. The program runs a half day — an 8:45-11:30 a.m. morning session and 12:45-3:30 p.m. afternoon session. Willow Springs Learning Center will have a brief 4K bus orientation Aug. 22 to familiarize students with riding the bus. School buses will pick up 4K morning students and a parent at Silver Spring Intermediate School, and 4K afternoon students and a parent at their neighborhood elementary school (Lannon, Maple Avenue, Marcy or Woodside) and travel to Willow Springs. Great Start Conferences for Willow Springs students and parents will be Sept. 3-6 with students beginning classes Sept. 9. Parent-teacher conferences for Willow Springs will be Nov. 16 and March 15; Willow Springs students will not have classes these days. Each elementary school offers a full-day kindergarten program for children who turn five years old on or before Sept. 1. The 5K program follows the elementary school schedule.
Transportation — The bus company sends yellow postcards notifying bus riders of their routes. Postcards will be mailed the week of Aug. 19.
Breaks and last school day — Students will not have classes: teacher in-services – Oct. 4, Nov. 8; break – Oct. 25; Thanksgiving break – Nov. 27-29; winter break – Dec. 23-Jan. 1; teacher in-services – Jan. 24, Feb. 28; spring break – March 23-27; teacher in-service – April 3; breaks – April 10, 13, May 22 and Memorial Day – May 25. Their last day of school is June 11.
Immunization — Wisconsin law requires parents to provide updated records on their children’s immunizations including polio, hepatitis B, MMR and varicella. Students entering grade 6 are also required to have had one dose of Tdap. Students must be in compliance with the required immunizations as of the first day of school. Parents should make their child’s school aware of any recently received immunizations. The schedule for required immunizations can be found at http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p44021.pdf. Questions about the immunization schedule should be directed to the child’s physician or the Waukesha County Public Health Department.
School lunch program — Hamilton food service staff members are committed to producing quality meals that are nutritious and appealing to children. Lunches consist of five food items — protein, whole grain, fruit, vegetable and milk. To reduce waste, children are offered an entire lunch but are only required to take three, one of which must be a fruit or vegetable. The price for lunch remains the same whether a child takes the entire lunch or refuses an item.
Lunch menus will be listed on the district website. Parents are asked to go over the lunch menu with their children to help them decide what to eat each day. Children should be encouraged to take at least a portion of an unfamiliar or unpopular food item.
Lunch prices for 2019-20 are: $2.60 for elementary students; $2.95 – intermediate, middle and high school students; $3.60 – adults; and 35 cents for milk.
District website — The district website is at www.hamilton.k12.wi.us and is updated often with supply lists, newsletters, calendar, lunch menus, news releases and other information.
For more information about the Hamilton School District, contact the individual schools or the district’s Public Information Office at (262) 246-1973 x1100.