News

On Thanksgiving Day, Gobble Wobble 2022, a 5K run/walk fundraiser hosted by Level Up Fitness, brought out nearly 200 participants to support the Stoughton Area School District. 

The Make48 team was in Stoughton this past weekend to take over the Stoughton FabLab center for a 48-hour collaborative inventory and maker challenge!

At the Stoughton Area School District, the safety of our students and staff is our highest priority. That’s why we emphasize emergency preparedness by practicing safety drills throughout the school year. Conducting safety drills not only allows us to become more prepared for emergency situations, but it also aligns with annual State of Wisconsin requirements.

Stoughton High School's Fab Lab was selected to host 2022's Make48 competition! The celebrated docuseries is once again bringing its 48-hour collaborative inventor and maker challenge to Madison after a successful run in 2021. The Fab Lab in Stoughton will host the event, scheduled for August 12-14, 2022. Team applications are open now nationwide.

_____

Summer is an exciting time as students and families relax into a different rhythm. It can also be a time for your children to learn and explore new areas of interest.

As the county mask mandate expires at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow, face coverings will be strongly recommended (not required) in all SASD school buildings, during school activities, AND on school buses for students and staff.

Public Health Madison & Dane County’s mask mandate will expire at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 1 in light of steadily decreasing COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations. The expiration prompts the question of what next steps make sense for our district.

We want our students to thrive in the best learning environment possible, with learning and belonging at the center. That’s why we continue to seek new opportunities to support education through facilities planning.

As we renew our focus on safety protocols, we want to inform you of an important update to our layered risk mitigation strategy. This update comes after close consultation with our district nurse and medical advisor, and after consideration of revised guidelines for schools from Public Health Madison Dane County (PHMDC), Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In this ever-changing environment, we continue to review and revise our COVID-19 protocols as necessary. On December 27, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated isolation and quarantine guidelines that apply to K-12 schools.

As planned, we will return from winter break on Monday, January 3, 2022 with in-person instruction. Remember that all students and staff are required to mask per Dane County’s newest order.

On Monday, December 20, Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) issued face covering order #6 that requires face coverings through February 1, 2022. As a result, we have adjusted COVID-19 unwinding measures that we communicated to you before winter break.

The Stoughton Area School District Board of Education unanimously approved Dr. Kate Ahlgren as the interim District Administrator. Dr. Ahlgren has been the district’s Director of Curriculum & Instruction for three years.

It has been brought to our attention that there is a TikTok challenge circulating nationwide promoting school violence on Friday, December 17th. The original post appears to be part of a national TikTok trend and did not originate in our school district.

As we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, county mask mandates, and school COVID data, we continue in our efforts to “unwind” our mitigation strategies.

Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC)’s mask mandate is set to expire on January 3, the day we return from winter break. We do not know if the mandate will be extended.

Following are our next steps for SASD.

We are always looking to improve the learning and belonging experience for students at the Stoughton Area School District and find ways to measure our growth.

Before the end of the calendar year, we’d like to reflect on some of the results of our growth and share those with you.

This afternoon Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) announced an extension of its mask mandate through January 3, 2022. This means we have to make a few changes to the COVID-19 unwinding measures that we communicated to you yesterday evening and hoped to have in place in November, December and January.

Our goal remains: Consistent, in-person learning for all students.

On behalf of the Stoughton Area School District, we’d like to thank you for the support and grace you’ve shown us and each other for the past three school years. 

Once again we ask for your continued collaboration, patience and support as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic together and begin to take steps to “unwind” our mitigation strategies.

Just in time for winter weather, our Transportation Team is excited to announce a new parent communication-based application called Stopfinder.

We are always looking for ways to improve the educational experience and academic outcomes for our students, as well as feelings of belonging for students and families. Beginning on Monday, October 18 we will be conducting a Fall Family Survey.

At the Stoughton Area School District, the safety of our students and staff is our highest priority. That’s why we emphasize emergency preparedness by practicing safety drills and discussing emergency situations with students and staff throughout the school year.

SASD is excited to announce its partnership with Fitchburg Family Pharmacy to offer COVID-19 testing in our district. This is part of an initiative by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

More than ever the Stoughton Area School District and Board of Education are committed to equity, learning, and belonging for all students. I want to start the school year by emphasizing our equity work and introducing this year’s theme: Learning & Belonging.

On Wednesday we begin a fresh school year. This school year will be unique and impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic yet again. As public health research and guidance evolves, we make sure our district practices align.

Today we want to inform and remind you of what things look like this year:

We want to remind you of important back-to-school events starting this week. For more information, visit our Back to School webpage or our COVID-19 Health & Safety webpage.

On behalf of the Stoughton Area School District, we are excited for the start of the school year. We need your continued collaboration, patience and support as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic together.

Our work preparing for the new school year has been grounded in serving the needs of all of our students. A significant part of this work is revisiting and revising our COVID-19 Health & Safety practices.