Greetings Valley students and families,
This week was identified as Welcoming Week by our district in an attempt to extend a friendly hand to our neighbors who happen to be from different countries. We have a number of students in our ESOL program (English Speakers of Other Languages) who have immigrated or are refugee students and have made West Des Moines and Valley High School their home. We are so grateful they are with us and to celebrate them, we are adding to our RISE mural at Valley with artist Jill Wells.
On Monday, September 18th, to commemorate Consititution and Citizenship Day (September 17th) and in doing our civic duty to register our seniors to be able to vote in the next election, Iowa's Secretary of State Paul Pate will visit Valley High School and speak to a few senior advisories to encourage them to be active participants in our democracy.
Just a reminder that next week is Homecoming!! We are still looking for a few volunteers to assist at the Carnival on Thursday, September 21st to help with grilling meat. Please sign up here if interested!
Lastly, I want to once again emphasize the importance of good attendance. There is a direct correlation between attendance and school achievement. If you are receiving attendance calls, please reach out for more information and support. Working together to support our students with attendance, our kids have a greater chance to experience success in school.
Mr. Maxwell
ARTS
For Vocal Music students interested in auditioning for All-State, pre-auditions are Thursday, September 21st.
The Show Choir Wingnuts are having a meet and greet at Smashpark WDM on September 27th from 6-8 PM. If you are interested in joining, please contact Rob at robert_morgan313@hotmail.com to join the WhatsApp group.
ValleyFest is just around the corner and we are recruiting volunteers. With over 400 shifts that need filled, we're looking for lots of people – here is the signup link: http://bit.ly/ValleyFest23
Please feel free to send this signup link to older siblings, extended family, friends and alumni of Valley. The jobs are not difficult – no experience is necessary.
Valley Orchestra Guild meeting is Monday, September 18th, at 6:30 pm in the orchestra room (1721). All are welcome!
ATHLETICS
Click here for Valley's sports page.
It's time for our Fall sports to start competing! Please take time to support our Spring athletes on the following teams:
Boys' and Girls' Cross-Country
Girls' Swimming
Boys' Golf
Volleyball
Football
ACADEMICS
Monday, 9/18 will be an ODD block day.
Congratulations to the following students for being awarded National Recognition from College Board!
• Anna Deschamps: NHRA
• Ari Blake: NAARA
• Ayden Murenzi: NAARA
• Jack Rogers: NHRA
• Logan Campbell: NAARA
Award Key:
National African American Recognition Award (NAARA)
National Hispanic Recognition Award (NHRA)
National Rural and Small Town Award (NRSTA)
National Indigenous Award (NIA)
Friday, September 22nd is Valley's annual Homecoming assembly!
Here is the assembly schedule for Friday, September 22nd.
If students wish to retake their school picture, Picture Retake Day is Thursday, October 5th.
For the 23-24 school year, Valley is taking a different approach to Encore. Encore is a 40 minute amount of time on Tuesday and Thursday intended to help students with, e.g., extension learning or reassessment opportunities. Here is the rationale for our Encore Wheel this year.
There have been questions around the Closed Campus/Study Hall policy for sophomores and juniors. Here are some FAQ's. For parents who wish to excuse their child from school through email, please use vhsattendance@wdmcs.org.
Sophomore drivers who park at the Shepherd of the Valley or Valley United Methodist Church parking lots, please make sure you are abiding by all traffic laws and respecting our neighbors' properties.
ACTIVITIES
Do you like show choir but don't want to be on stage? Well, Show Choir CREW is the place for you! Look for the flyers around school for the QR code if you're interested!
Chem Club is sponsoring a guest speaker from Iowa State University's department of Chemical Engineering on Tuesday, September 19th in room 3429 at 3:30 PM.
Join one of Valley's longest running clubs, World Cultures Club, a club for everyone to explore and share cultures. Meetings will occur every other Wednesday @ 2:45 PM in room 1321 beginning Wednesday, September 20th!
For students who like to share their faith, Valley Prayer Club will begin meeting in room 1607 on Friday's @ 7:20 AM.
For students interested in serving on Mr. Maxwell's Principal's Advisory Council, please fill out this application and return to his secretary, Mrs. Chavez-Chun. We meet the first Wednesday of each month from 7:00-7:45 AM in the Forum. The first meeting will be October 4th.
Do you like building things? Working with others to create impressive products? Learning new skills and having tons of fun while doing it? Join Tech Crew! Got questions? Email Tech Director Amanda Pichler at pichler@wdmcs.org; for Carpentry, email Jonathan Ruth at jr39976@wdmcs.org; for Electrics, email Jaden Ladd at jl40168@wdmcs.org; for Painting, email Kai Eilers at ke53957@wdmcs.org.
Join VHS Chess Club, Tuesdays in the Media Center after school (3:20-5:00 PM).
Principal
David Maxwell
Associate Principals
Shannon Campbell
Josh Griffith
Chris Novak
Megan Thomsen
Activities Director
Brad Rose