SMMS Rockets News

The middle school years of a student’s life are full of change and growth. Dr. Megan Butler, who will be the new principal of South Milwaukee Middle School starting July 1st, loves it. 

“Middle schoolers are fun because when they start as sixth graders, they’re still so young to me. I enjoy watching them grow and blossom as they become eighth graders and discover themselves before moving on to high school,” she said. “It’s great to see them grow and mature.” 

Butler has served as assistant superintendent of the Oak Creek Franklin School District since 2024, but has decided she wants to be back in the hallways of a middle school. 

“I just missed being around middle schoolers and the chaos of everyday middle school life,” she said with a chuckle. 

What drew her to South Milwaukee, and the middle school specifically, is the space and attention given to ensuring students get the support they need when they need it. In educational parlance, that’s called Multi-Level Systems of Support or MLSSI. 

“It’s meeting every student where they are at with their academic needs,” Butler said. “It might be phonics or fluency, or numeracy. Students get specific interventions.” 

To earn her PhD in educational leadership and policy analysis at UW-Madison, Butler wrote her dissertation on MLSS, and saw strong results when she implemented it in her roles  in Oak Creek Franklin School District – first as principal of West Middle School, and then as assistant superintendent. 

“I attribute a lot of our growth to that system,” she said. 

Butler, a mother of three children under 10, is originally from Kewaskum. In addition to her work in Oak Creek, she has also held administrative positions in Chicago Public Schools and has classroom experience from her time in St. Charles, Illinois, and Cambridge, Wisconsin. 

Her path to those classrooms wasn’t immediately clear, she said. 

Originally, she went to UW-Madison to be a medical doctor. 

“When I decided not to do that, I thought maybe being a teacher would be the next route,” she said. 

She decided to specialize in Family and Consumer Science for her teaching degree. That specialization prepares students exploring fields such as nursing, hospitality, or child development. 

Butler focused on child development, specifically on teaching students to become teachers. She spent a lot of time with students, observing classrooms and watching veteran teachers work. 

“That, in a way, set me up to be a school principal,” she said. 

 Butler plans to spend July and August becoming acclimated to the middle school community. “I need to spend a lot of time getting a lay of the land,” she said, to understand how the middle school works. 

The first day of school in September will be her first day of school, too. 

“You’re everywhere on day one,” she said. “I won’t exactly know all of the routines yet, and I’ll be doing my best to figure out where everyone is supposed to go,” she laughed. 

She said she has hope, though, that students, parents, caregivers, and teachers will return to a warm and welcoming school. 

“We’re going to spend a lot of time together. I hope this is a happy place for everyone. I want to make sure we can have a lot of fun together while we’re doing this work.”

Complete the Form

Sibling Pick-Up Policy - Rawson Elementary

The ability to pick up a younger sibling at Rawson Elementary is a privilege and a big help to families. It also builds memories and helps a family to function in an increasingly busy world. Below are some rules that will help ensure the safety of our students and their older siblings when they stop by and pick up their younger sibling.

New This Year: Consistent Pick-Up Location

All sibling pick-ups will now take place in the Rawson main lobby. Older siblings will no longer go to the sides of the building as they have done in the past. Instead, they must:

1. Enter through the main entrance

2. Check in with the supervising staff member

3. Wait to be provided with their student

**Only students on the approved pick-up list will be permitted to enter the building for sibling pick-up**

Pick-Up Requirements

High School or Middle School students who need to pick up a Rawson student must:

• Show their current school ID

• Be on the Rawson Pick-Up List

If a student doesn't have their ID or is not on the list, they will be asked to leave the property. Failure to do so may result in consequences for the student, including removal from the sibling pickup list.

Behavioral Expectations

Students on the Pick-Up list are expected to comply with all school/district expectations while at Rawson. Failure to meet these expectations may result in consequences for the student, including removal from the sibling pickup list.

Your cooperation and support is essential for ensuring our schools remain safe environments.

Rawson, Middle School, & High School Administration

Complete the Form

The Middle School Track and Field team has completed its 2025 season at the Southeast Conference Championship at Greenfield. The South Milwaukee team is the smallest team in the Conference this year, and South Milwaukee is one of the few schools that have 6th-grade athletes compete against the other schools’ 7th-grade athletes.

The 6^th/7^th Grade Boys team took 7^th place.  Adam Klamik led the team by finishing 3^rd in the High Jump.  Scoring points for the team was in 4^th place in the 100 meter dash was Nolan Rolhoff, 5^th in the 4 X 200 meter relay was the 6^th grade team of TJ Adyniec, Major Pearson, Asher Genduso, and Sergio Duran, 5^th place in the 4 X 400 meter relay was Tommy Franecki, Van Peterson, Adam Klamik, and Nolan Rolhoff, in 6^th was Sergio Duran in the Triple Jump, 6^th place in the Long Jump was Nolan Rolhoff, and in 6^th place in the 800 meter run was Van Peterson.

The 6^th/7^th Grade Girls team took 8^th place.  Scoring points for the team were Quorra Molina, Paige Ehlers, Grace Talley, and Gloria Swanson, 6^th place in the  4 X 400 meter relay, Paige Ehlers 6^th place in the Triple Jump, and Paige Ehlers 5^th place in the Long Jump. The 6^th/7^th grade team had some close finishers just on the outside of scoring points.  Gloria Swanson 7^th in the 1600 meter run and Quorra Molina in the 200 meter dash.

The 8^th Grade Boys team also took 7^th place with a team of only 9 boys,  scoring points for the team were, Milo Hibbs 6^th in the 200 meter dash, Chayse Molina  5^th place 200 meter dash, Otto Richardson 5^th place shot put, Chayse Molina 2^nd place in the Long Jump, Milo Hibbs 2^nd place in the Triple Jump, Ben Guenette 2^nd place in the 800 meter run, and the Conference Championship team in the 4 X 400 meter relay team of Ryu Kramer, Thomas Abundis, Milo Hibbs, and Ben Guenette.  

The 8^th Grade Girls team took 2^nd place in the Conference meet with a team of 10 girls.  Scoring points for the team were Grace Kehoe 6^th place in the High Jump, Maddie Behnke 4^th place in the High Jump, Leah Torres 4^th place in the Triple Jump, Lila Wucherer 3^rd place in the Long Jump, Leah Torres 3^rd place in the 100 meter dash, Maddie Behnke 2^nd place in the 400 meter run, Conference Champion Lila Wucherer in the Hurdles setting a school record,  repeat Conference Champion Mia Torres in the 800 meter run, Conference Champion Lila Wucherer in the 200 meter dash setting her second school record, and the Conference Champion 4 X 400 meter relay team of Leah Torres, Grace Kehoe, Mia Torres and Maddie Behnke.

Congratulations to all the Track and Field Athletes.