November
Wed, 26 - NO SCHOOL
Thurs, 27 - NO SCHOOL: Happy Thanksgiving!
Fri, 28 - NO SCHOOL

December
Mon, 1 - Santa in a Shoebox Donations Due
Thurs, 4 - Last Day to Contribute to Staff Gift Giving Program
Thurs, 4 - FIELD TRIP: 2nd Grade - Milwaukee Domes
Sat, 6 - Breakfast with Santa & Craft Fair @ KMHS, 8:30-1:00
Mon, 15 - Holiday Spirit Day: 100% That Grinch
Tues, 16 - Holiday Spirit Day: Festive Socks
Wed, 17 - Holiday Spirit Day: Holiday Hair
Wed, 17 - Winter Concert: 1st & 2nd Grades, 5:00
Thurs, 18 - Holiday Spirit Day: Wear Velvet, Plaid or Flannel
Fri, 19 - Holiday Spirit Day: Candy Cane Lane
Mon, 22 - Holiday Spirit Day: Winter PJs
Tues, 23 - Holiday Spirit Day: Holiday Sweater
Tues, 23 - FIELD TRIP: 1st Grade - Milwaukee Zoo
Wed, 24 - Winter Break Begins

January
Mon, 5 - Classes Resume

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! As we head into the long weekend, our staff and I want to share our gratitude for our Cushing community. We’re thankful for the strong connections we have with our students and families,your support helps our Stars shine brightly!

Looking ahead, we hope you’ll join us at the annual Breakfast with Santa & Craft Fair on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 8:30 AM–1:00 PM at KMHS. Enjoy a pancake breakfast, visit the free craft fair with nearly 50 crafters, listen to holiday music, take photos with Santa, and check out the kids’ activities and t-shirt decorating station. It’s a great way to connect with Cushing and KM families and find unique holiday gifts!

Wishing you a safe, happy, and restful Thanksgiving break. We look forward to seeing everyone back soon, ready to end 2025 strong!

Go Stars!

Mrs. Rach

Santa in a Shoebox

The Cushing Elementary Fifth Grade Star Council is partnering with the “Santa in a Shoebox” organization.  We are collecting gift items in shoeboxes for our local communities.  The greatest areas of need are 8-10 year old boys and girls and elderly men and women.

Your family can help by donating a shoebox filled with some of the following items:

Things to Wear

Things for Fun

All items must be NEW and fit in a shoebox.  Please no food.

We invite families to provide shoeboxes geared toward a few different groups:

Please send your filled shoebox labeled with the corresponding group above to Cushing Elementary School by December 1.  

Our Star Council will wrap the shoebox. You can drop them off in the front office.

Thanks for supporting our efforts to help those in need!

Holiday Spirit Days!
Monday, December 15 - 100% THAT Grinch
Wear as much green as you can and rock the Grinch look

Tuesday, December 16 - Rocking Around the Christmas Tree
Wear your festive socks

Wednesday, December 17 - Holiday Hair, Don’t Care
Antlers, Santa Hats, Elf ears…

Thursday, December 18 - Smooth as Velvet, Mad About Plaid
Wear your winter velvet, favorite plaid, or flannel

Friday, December 19 - Candy Cane Lane
Wear red & white

Monday, December 22 - Long Winter Naps
Wear your holiday PJs

Tuesday, December 23 - Sweater Weather
Wear your craziest holiday sweater/shirt

Bike Rack
There have been a few bikes hanging out at the bike rack since the beginning of the school year.  If any belong to your family, please pick up before the snow starts falling. 

Lost & Found
We have a lot of Lost items waiting to be Found.  If your student is missing something, there’s a real good chance it’s in our Lost & Found.  The next time you’re at Cushing, swing by to see if anything belongs to your family. Parents seem to have the magic touch with finding lost items.

**Anything left by the time we head out on Winter Break will be donated.

Dousman Elementary Arts Night - December 3

Students from UW-Whitewater's Early Childhood Education program will be at Dousman Elementary to offer art projects for students to do. This is their final exam for their Art Methods class. Students will have opportunities to choose from over 18 different projects. They can make as many as they can during this event. Students in the past have often gifted their projects to friends and families for the holidays. We hope to see you there.

Arts Night will be Wednesday evening, December 3 from 5:30-7:00pm in the Dousman Elementary Gym.

Magee Bucks Day - January 23
All KM Elementary students & families are invited to join in the fun for the Magee Bucks game on January 23.  The first 80 to purchase tickets from THIS LINK will be able to participate in a post-game free throw experience.

We are excited to kick off our Bullying Prevention unit for all students in grades 5K through 5th grade in Student Services next week! During this unit, students will learn to recognize bullying, report to a trusted adult, refuse to participate, and use their bystander power to be upstanders. Being an upstander means speaking up when someone is being mistreated, inviting a child who was treated unfairly to join a game or sit with them at lunch, or helping by telling a trusted adult.

Check out your child’s grade level Home Link to learn more and continue the conversation at home! Home Links: K5  1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th

Students will participate in a special Bullying Prevention Assembly, where they will watch a play performed by KM High School students and sing an anti-bullying song they will learn in music class. 

To reinforce this learning at home, all families are asked to review and sign an Anti-Bullying Pledge with their child, which will be printed and sent home for every student. Together, we can keep Cushing a safe, welcoming, and inclusive school where every child feels respected, valued, and supported.

If you’d like to connect about your child or learn more about our school counseling supports, please reach out to Ms. Walker at  walkerd@kmsd.edu.

The PTO coordinates an optional Holiday Gift Card Program to say "Thank You & Happy Holidays" to all of our Cushing teachers, staff and bus drivers. The program is meant to help simplify your gift giving should you choose to participate. This is not a fundraiser.

Here’s how the program works:

You make a monetary contribution to the teacher/staff members and bus driver of your choice. Your child’s gift is then combined with all other contributions for that particular staff member and the staff member will be presented with one BIG gift card to the stores of their choosing. The gift cards will be presented in a Thank You card that contains the names (NOT the amounts!) of all the families who contributed to the gift.

THIS IS A 2 STEP PROCESS - THIS AMOUNT SHOULD MATCH WHAT YOU ENTERED ON THE GOOGLE FORM!

STEP 1:  Fill the Google Doc Staff Giving Form 2025 and  please make sure to complete your child/children's first and last name (EXAMPLE: JANE SMITH) then select the teachers you'd like to give to and list the dollar amount (MUST be WHOLE dollar increments - no change please, $1, $3, $5, $10, $20, etc.).

Then total up your order.

STEP 2: Copy this GIVE BUTTER LINK (https://givebutter.com/CushingHoliday2025 ) to pay your total. Click "Donate" and select/enter the amount that matches your google form. These orders will be compiled, and gift cards will be distributed to each individual.

Any amount is appreciated!

*Program runs through Thursday, December 4th, 2025*

If you have any questions, please email elizabethschoene@gmail.com or borrus45@gmail.com

If you are shopping at Sentry Delafield this holiday season, please save your receipts and drop them in the drawer at the school entrance. Cushing earns 1% of all receipts turned in within 6 months of purchase.  

Shopping at Walmart instead? Download the Box Tops for Education App and connect it with your Walmart account to help us earn additional support for Cushing. 

Tuesday, December 16 - Thursday, December 18 during lunch/recess!

We are hosting our second annual Season’s Greetings Workshop! Let’s spread some Cushing Stars holiday cheer!

We will be converting the Design Lab into a festive Season’s Greetings Workshop. During lunch recess, students will have the opportunity to make handmade greeting cards for our community and their loved ones.

We’d love your help in creating some holiday magic! We’re collecting craft supplies to bring our workshop to life! If you’re able to donate, we’d really appreciate items like cardstock, envelopes, stickers, ribbon and washi tape. Bonus if they’re winter or holiday-themed! Here’s a wish list with some craft supply ideas.

Donations can come to school with your child any time during the week of the workshop. Every little bit helps. Thank you so much!

We are also looking for some helpers during the workshop. If you can lend a hand (or just cheer on the kids), here is the SignUpGenius link. We’d love to have you as a helper elf!

Questions? Please feel free to email leticia.daley@gmail.com. 

December 6  |  8:30am-1:00pm  |  KMHS
The pancake breakfast will be held in the cafeteria from 8:30-11:30am.  The craft fair is free and runs from 8:30am-1pm with about 50 crafters participating. This is a great opportunity to get unique, quality, homemade gifts and decorations for the holiday season! KMSD music groups will play holiday music throughout the morning and the KMHS band plans activities for kids. Santa and his elves will also be there for photos! The district will also be hosting a t-shirt decorating station, so stop by to visit. 

Tuesday, Dec. 2  |  Noon – 4:00pm

Thursday, Dec. 4  |  Noon – 4:00pm

Friday, Dec. 5  |  Noon – 6:00pm (LASER LOCKER LATE DAY SHOPPING!)

Saturday, Dec. 6  |  8:00am – 1:00pm (BREAKFAST WITH SANTA & CRAFT FAIR!)

***CLOSED WEEK OF DECEMBER 8th - 12th***

Tuesday, Dec. 16  |  Noon – 4:00pm

Wednesday, Dec. 17  |  10:00am – 2:00pm (LASER LOCKER EARLY HOURS!)

Thursday, Dec. 18  |  2:00pm – 4:00pm (LASER LOCKER SANTA SAVINGS!)

Friday, Dec. 19  |  Noon – 4:00pm

Tuesday, Dec. 23  |  Noon – 3:00pm

Please be sure to visit the website often for updates and new programs. For program information and registration forms, visit www.kmsd.edu/communityed.

We also rent space and are happy to facilitate your events, courses, or activities.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE!

Fastpitch Softball Camps Offered
Join Varsity Softball Coach Graf and members of the high school softball team, for off season work in December.  There are many clinic opportunities for U8-U14.  Sign up today at https://kmsd.revtrak.net/rwcommunityeducation/

Support Jr Laser Baseball - Culvers Cares Night 12/1/25
Join us for dinner or drive through on December 1 from 4-7pm to help support the Jr Lasers U12 gold baseball team at Culvers of Wales.

Events/opportunities listed on our Community Flyers page are not endorsed by the Kettle Moraine School District. They have been approved for electronic sharing. Visit https://www.kmsd.edu/page/km-community  to see the full list of current flyers.