Parent Resources

Handbooks

Preschool Family Handbook

Co-curricular Handbook

K-8 Family Handbook

Faith Formation

Formed

Franciscan at Home

Teaching the Way of Love: https://twl4parents.com/twl-newsletter/

Volunteer and Chaperone Guidelines

St. Mary School participates in the Diocese of La Crosse Safe Environment Program to insure that our children are safe from all forms of sexual misconduct. All clergy, teachers, staff, employees, and volunteers of the parish and school are subject to the requirements of this program. All of the aforementioned shall acknowledge in writing that as a condition of service in St. Mary Parish or School, they shall receive, understand, and abide by the policy and procedures contained in the documents below.

• Basic Criminal Background Check - Complete every 5 years. (paid employees and volunteers)

• Confidential Questionnaire - Complete every year. (paid employees and volunteers)

• Annual Verification of Safe Environment Training - Complete every year. (paid employees and volunteers)

• Safe Environment Online Training: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/safe-environment

Sycamore

Sycamore School management system helps St. Mary School to manage student data, streamline processes and enhance our communication and reporting with parents. It is keeps the information flowing between school administrators, teachers, parents, and students.

Financial Assistance

If you are in need of financial assistance for tuition, please reach out to Mrs. Kohlstedt at stacia.kohlstedt@stmarysrc.com or 608-647-2422.

Tuition Tax Deduction

Parents with a child in a private school can receive a tax deduction for private school tuition. Under the program, parents statewide will be able to deduct up to $4,000 per student in grades K-8, and up to $10,000 per high school student. The tax deduction began in tax year 2014. Please see the Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools for more information.

Local Wellness Policy Triennial Assessment Report Card - St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic School

Completed: 2025-2026 School Year

A local wellness policy guides efforts to create a healthier school environment. Effective wellness policies support a culture of well-being by establishing healthful practices and procedures for students, staff, and families. Schools/districts participating in the federal Child Nutrition Programs are required to complete an assessment of their local wellness policy, at minimum, once every three years. This report summarizes policy objectives and details the results of the most recent evalution. For questions regarding the results, contact Erin Jelinek (erin.jelinek@stmarysrc.com) or Stacia Kohlstedt (stacia.kohlstedt@stmarysrc.com).

Section 1: Policy Assessment

Overall Rating: 52

Ratings are based on a four-point scale to measure success in meeting/complying with each policy objective.

0 = objective not met/no activities completed

1 = objective partially met/some activities completed

2 = objective mostly met/multiple activities completed

3 = objective met/all activities completed

Nutrition Standards for All Foods in School	Rating
Market only products that comply with the Smart Snacks guidelines.	3
Prohibit the sales of foods and beverages not meeting Smart Snacks standards during the school day.	2
Provide a variety of fresh produce daily from the school garden and/or local growers when available.	3
Promote healthy meals as part of the school culture; promote fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products, and healthy foods using taste testing, signage, and bulletin boards.	3

Nutrition Promotion	Rating
Promote healthy meals as part of the school culture; promote fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products, and healthy foods using taste testing, signage, and bulletin boards.	3
Provide access to drinking water to all students and staff throughout the day.	3
Encourage all snacks and food brought for classroom celebrations meet the Smart Snacks nutrition standards.	3
Utilize non-food celebrations i.e. extra recess, homework pass, movie time, casual days, etc.	2

Nutrition Education	Rating
Educate students as to the nutritional value of produce from the garden and involve them in the gardening process, including planting, harvesting, etc.	2
Teach health class in which we: educate students to develop the knowledge, attitudes, skills and behavior for lifelong healthy eating habits and physical activity; cover topics including: eating habits, nutrients, dietary guidelines, food guide pyramid, serving sizes, labeling, weight problems, eating disorders, dieting, food safety, food allergies, and food sensitivities.	2

Physical Activity and Education	Rating
Require PE for all students, K-8, 3 days/week; health class for 8th grade students.	3
Teach students the importance of physical exercise and promote the benefits of a physically active lifestyle.	3
Instruct students in the five health-related components of fitness (cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition). Body composition instruction includes proper diet and healthy eating habits.	2
Teach health class in which we: educate students to develop the knowledge, attitudes, skills and behavior for lifelong healthy eating habits and physical activity; cover topics including: eating habits, nutrients, dietary guidelines, food guide pyramid, serving sizes, labeling, weight problems, eating disorders, dieting, food safety, food allergies, and food sensitivities.	2
Incorporate regular movement (“Brain Breaks”) into the daily schedule.	2

Other School-Based Wellness Activities	Rating
The nutrition program will implement a quarterly fruit or vegetable tasting for all students in school.	2
Each student will, at least twice a year, participate in the garden to table process, which may include the planting, harvesting, processing, and/or preparing crops in experiential hands-on nutritional learning.	3
The school will plan semi-annual healthy lifestyle events to target each age range of students (ex. biking, hiking, pickleball, snowshoeing, etc.) to promote the enjoyment of lifelong wellness activities.	3
Each classroom will incorporate 10-15 minutes of active movement (in addition to scheduled recesses and physical education classes) each day.	2

Policy Monitoring and Implementation	Rating
Progress will be reviewed by administration, the food service director, and the PE/Health teacher 2x/year.	2
Feedback will be collected from students post taste-testing and garden activities at least 2x/year.	2

Section 2: Progress Update

St. Mary School has made good progress in their wellness policy implementation. Our regenerative agriculture school garden is at the center of much of what we do; students learn the principles of regenerative agriculture and are heavily involved in the planting, tending, and harvesting of produce, some of which is used in our lunch program. St. Mary lunch staff is creative in their preparation of fruits and vegetables, offering taste testing and fun information about new foods for students to try.

We’re also an active school, not only through exceeding Physical Education requirements, but through movement breaks within classrooms during the day. Students also regularly are out of the building and engaged in the community. This means a great deal of walking field trips and experiencing local parks, trails, frisbee golf courses, etc.

Non-food related rewards are implemented most of the time; true casual days are a great motivator at St. Mary School (students do not have to follow dress codes on such days). Other non-food related rewards include extra recess, game time in the gym, an outing to the park, etc. For celebratory parties, teachers give a sign up, asking for specific snacks, including meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables and only 100% juice (or students simply have water). We do allow 1-2 sweet treats for such celebrations.

Section 3: Model Policy Comparison

A required component of the triennial assessment is to utilize the Rudd Center’s Wellness School Assessment Tool (WellSAT) for comparison of the Local Wellness Policy to a Model Wellness Policy. The WellSAT includes 67 best practice policy items related to nutrition education; nutrition standards for foods; physical education and activity; wellness promotion and marketing; and implementation, evaluation, and communication. The comparison identified policy strengths and areas for improvement.

Local Wellness Policy Strengths

St. Mary School’s Wellness Policy scores relatively well on the WellSAT comprehensiveness evaluation. Our score is actually better than it appears because 11 of the policy items evaluated do not apply to our school (i.e. School Breakfast Program, ala carte food sales) and did not receive a score. Our Wellness Policy addresses items in every category of the WellSAT except Employee Wellness. Our highest scoring area of the evaluation is Federal Requirements.

Areas for Local Wellness Policy Improvement

Our Wellness Policy is weakest in the Physical Activity and Employee Wellness, with several zero scores in each section. Future versions of our policy need to address these areas. In addition, though our policy comprehensiveness is acceptable, we need to strengthen the statements within our policy to increase our Strength Score.

WellSAT Scores

WellSAT scores are calculated for comprehensiveness and strength. The comprehensiveness score reflects the extent to which recommended best practices are included in the policy. The strength score reflects how strongly the policy items are stated. Scores range from 0 to 100, with lower scores indicating less content and weaker language and higher scores indicating higher content and the use of specific and directive language.

Comprehensiveness Score: 59

Strength Score: 32

Parental Choice Program

St. Mary School participates in Wisconsin's statewide Parental Choice Program, a private school voucher program that was enacted and launched in 2013. The program offers school vouchers to students whose families meet certain income qualifications and are not assigned to the Milwaukee Public Schools or Racine Unified school districts. For detailed information, please refer to the Department of Instruction website.

Informational Meeting Dates: October 22, 2025 & March 4, 2026

Education Committee

The Education Committee is a consultative body that advises the pastor and school principal on matters concerning the fostering of Catholic education, curriculum, funding, and the operation of St. Mary of the Assumption School.

Education Committee Constitution and ByLaws

Education Committee Members:

• Father Nate Kuhn

• Deacon Donald Tully

• Stacia Kohlstedt

• Maggie Frawley

• Angela Larse

• George (G4) Laubmeier

• Paul Peckham

• Lindsay Perna

• Mark Stoltz

• Alisa Weiss