Principal's Newsletter

Happy Friday! I hope that you had a fantastic spring break and you and your student/s were able to rest, relax, and rejuvenate.

W.I.N. Wednesday will start on April 3. Wednesday is NOT a late start and the doors will open at 7:30 AM with first period starting at 7:50 AM. Students who are earning a C or lower will need to attend W.I.N. Wednesday and come into school to get help in their classes. Students who are earning a C+ and above may work from home if they have their parent/guardian permission to work from home. You may always send your student to school (more information regarding W.I.N. Wednesday can be found in the newsletter).

In addition to the information regarding W.I.N. Wednesday, here are some of the topics you can read more about in this week's newsletter:

• Registration for the 2024-25 school year (videos about the registration process and dates/time to talk with SSP administrators about registration can be found below)

• Fundraiser event for SSP High School Boys Tennis (April 2),

• Fundraiser event for Kaposia Education Center (April 19),

• and many more topics. Make sure to check the newsletter out.

Thanks for all the support you give your student and the school! Have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing your student/s on Monday! Go PACKERS!

Sincerely,

Chuck

Mr. Chuck Ochocki

South St. Paul High School Principal

700 2nd Street North

South St. Paul, MN 55075

(651) 457-9402

cochocki@sspps.org

Packer Pride: Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

Registration for the 2024-25 school year will begin on April 2, during Connections. Each student will receive a course guide, registration worksheet, and a copy of their transcript. There will be a short video for each grade explaining several aspects of the registration process.

*Students should ask their current teachers for their input on what class they should take next year.

*We will have students register themselves during Connections on April 9.

Lastly, in the video, we introduce Phase 1 of our Packer Pathways (see below). This is super exciting as it has allowed us to focus what our students, families, and educators have said we need to do to better support our students.

Please make sure to ask your student/s about the course guide and what courses your student is thinking about taking.

• Current 11th graders entering 12th grade: Class of 2025- Registration

• Current 10th graders entering 11th grade: Class of 2026- Registration

• Current 9th graders entering 10th grade: Class of 2027- Registration

• Current 8th graders entering 9th grader: Class of 2028- Registration

Current 9th and 10th grade students:

• School Counselor-Ms. Maric , jmaric@sspps.org, (651) 306-3654

Current 11th and 12th grade students:

• School counselor- Ms Kvalheim, jkvalheim@sspps.org, (651) 457-9408

Assistant Principals:

• Angie Ryter, aryter@sspps.org, (651) 457-9435
• Brady Krueger, bkrueger@sspps.org, (651) 457-9415

Principal:

• Chuck Ochocki, cochocki@sspps.org, (651) 457-9402

We will be hosting three different drop-in times so that you can meet to talk about your student's registration. Please joining us at:

• Thursday, 4/4/2024, from 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM in the lecture hall
  
• Friday, 4/5/2024, from 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM in the lecture hall
  
• Friday, 4/5/2024, from 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM in the lecture hall
  

The high school Summer Strength and Speed program has a long tradition of fostering athletic excellence and healthy behaviors for grades 6-12. This program starts with safety, technique, and peer-to-peer support, and grows into highly competitive, intense summer workouts preparing student-athletes for physical fitness and varsity athletic success. See the attached flier to find the summer morning session that fits students’ goals and experience. Note the affordable cost ($90 for the whole summer): coaches are committed to ensuring access for the entire community. The teams and friend groups that work out together, find support AND excellence! Reach out to Tim Kennealy (tkennealy@sspps.org), Manuel Spreigl (mspreigl@sspps.org), or Tyler LaRose (tlarose@sspps.org) with questions.

The SSPPS School Board meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month, with the exception of July and December. The second Monday of the month is a work session (5:00 pm) and stakeholder comments to the board session (6:30 pm) held at the District Office. The fourth Monday is a work session (5:00 pm) followed by a regular business meeting (6:00 pm) held at City Hall. All meetings are open to the public. For more information on dates, times, and/or agendas for each meeting, visit the School Board section of our website at: https://www.sspps.org/about/school-board/meetings

One of the most important voices of our district is that of our South St. Paul Public Schools students. The School Board has made it a priority to bring their voice to the table through the Student School Board Representative opportunity. Student Board Representatives will serve as the liaison between the School Board and our students. They will work closely with the South St. Paul School Board to provide input and share their student perspectives. If your high school student will be in grade 11 or 12 next year and is interested in this opportunity visit the website for more information. This year’s application will be available there following spring break.

Three high school students are representing South St. Paul Public Schools (SSPPS) as Youth Equity Ambassadors. Youth Ambassadors is a collaboration between South St. Paul Public Schools, St. Paul Public Schools, and School District 197. One Saturday each month the student ambassadors from each school meet to build community and learn foundational equity leadership skills. Read more here.

The District Calendar Advisory Committee, comprised of both families and staff, engaged in collaborative dialogue over the last several months for the development of the 2024–25 academic calendar. To guide their efforts, the committee created a comprehensive Guide Change Document, to guide their work in ensuring the recommended calendar not only met state instructional requirements, but also the committee’s established priorities, including minimizing consecutive week disruptions for families and allocating ample time for staff professional development, particularly in meeting the Read Act training requirements, were seamlessly integrated into the calendar. View the Calendar.

South St. Paul Public Schools has summer learning opportunities for all ages. Whether your student is going into a new school or you want to keep their brain stimulated during the summer months, there’s a learning opportunity for your student. Click here to enroll your student or to learn more about any of the programs listed below.

• Kindergarten Camp, Incoming Kindergarteners

• Elementary Summer Learning Academy, Grades 1-5

• Packer Preview, Incoming 6th Graders

• Middle School Summer Learning Academy, Grades 7-8

W.I.N. Wednesday will start on April 3. Wednesday is NOT a late start. Doors will open at 7:30 AM and first period will starting at 7:50 AM.

Students who are earning a C or lower will need to attend W.I.N. Wednesday and come into school to get help in their classes. Students who are earning a C+ and above may work from home if they have their parent/guardian permission to work from home. You may always send your student to school.

9th and 10th grader students must come to school if they are earning a C or lower in any class. 9th and 10th grade students that are coming in for W.I.N. Wednesday must attend all their classes, no matter their grade in their classes.

11th/12th grader students must come in for the class/es that they are earning a C or lower in. Depending on their class schedule and the time of their classes, 11th/12th grader students that choose to come late or leave early must sign in and out of the high school attendance office if they choose not to attend the entire day (this is only for W.I.N. Wednesday).

Teachers will create 2 W.I.N. Wednesday folders for each week: C and lower (for Additional support), C+ and higher (extension) so your student will have work they need to complete both at home or in school.

Instilling healthy habits and routines (adequate sleep/nutrition) and consistent attendance ensures a student’s success in school even as early as kindergarten. We know that too many absences/tardies, for whatever reason, can cause children to fall behind both academically and socially.

To help ensure healthy habits consult with your health care provider regarding well-visits and immunizations, as well as maintain good personal hygiene. Also:

• Get the appropriate vaccines.
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Stay home if you are sick (so you do not spread the illness to other people) (do not return to school until fever free for 24hrs without use of medication or 24hrs after last time vomited).
• Use a tissue, or cough and sneeze into your arm, not your hand and turn away from other people.
• Use single-use tissues. Dispose of the tissue immediately.
• Wash your hands after coughing, sneezing, or using tissues.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands (viruses can enter your body from unwashed hands).
• Do not share cups, glasses, dishes, cutlery, or cellphones.

The school district will follow the guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health for recommended exclusion and notification for vaccine-preventable diseases including mumps, measles, rubella, pertussis, diphtheria, viral hepatitis, chickenpox, and meningitis. Families will not be notified, and students are not excluded for lice, mononucleosis, pink eye or strep throat.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me:

Rick Moore BSN, RN, PHN moorer@sspps.org

651-457-9449

Reminder - Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for at least 5 days from the onset of symptoms or test date (asymptomatic) and can return when fever free for 24 hours (without fever reducing medication). Following symptom improvement and return, individuals must wear a mask (not shield) for days 6-10 OR individuals may remove their mask sooner than day 10 with two sequential negative antigen tests 48 hours apart. See MN Department of Health Guidance for further details.

Please make sure to update your contact Information.

In order to receive important information regarding school closings and family messages, make sure your contact information is correct in our student information system, Infinite Campus- Parent Portal. To do so:

• Log into your Infinite Campus Parent Portal account

• Click on the user menu icon in the upper left hand side of the screen

• Click on Settings

• Click on Contact Preferences

• Check to make sure all information is correct and preferences are updated

ParentSquare Communications

South St. Paul Public Schools uses ParentSquare for school to home communications. When the need for an emergency school closing arises, this is the system that will alert you.

• One of the best ways to receive these alerts is by downloading the app from the Google Play Store or the iOS App Store

• Look in your ParentSquare account settings and be sure you HAVE NOT turned off notifications from your student’s school or the district, directions here

• Check your phone settings and be sure you are not blocking unknown calls, or you can add SSPPS as a contact in your phone 651-457-9400

• If you have not been receiving school texts, you many have accidentally opted out from receiving them, to start them back up send the word "START" to 66458 to opt back in

• April 3- W.I.N. (G.S.D.) WEDNESDAY begins
• April 4- Drop-in time to discuss registration from 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM in the lecture hall
  
• April 5- Drop-in time to discuss registration from 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM in the lecture hall
  
• April 5- Drop-in time to discuss registration from 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM in the lecture hall
• April 10- W.I.N. (G.S.D.) WEDNESDAY
• April 11- MCA Reading Test- Grade 10
• April 12- MCA Reading Test- Grade 10
• April 17- W.I.N. (G.S.D.) WEDNESDAY
• April 18- Math MCA Test- Grade 11
• April 19- Math MCA Test- Grade 11
• April 23- Science MCA Test-Bio
• April 24-W.I.N. (G.S.D.) WEDNESDAY
• April 25-Science MCA Test-Bio

Want to see our students and staff in action? Come watch them at a home event. Here is the link to this weeks schedule: Weekly Home Schedule

If your family is experiencing homelessness, such as staying in a shelter, hotel or temporarily with others, we can help make sure your child has stability in their education through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act. For help in accessing these services, please contact Candace Burckhardt, Special School District #6 Homeless Liaison/Local Coordinator.

For more information please look at the resources at the following link: https://www.sspps.org/departments/student-services/special-education

Additional resources can also be found at https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/HealthFamily/PublicAssistance/Housing/Pages/default.aspx or MDE's website: https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/ESEA/home/

Email: cochocki@sspps.org
Website: https://www.sspps.org
Location: 700 2nd Street North, South Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone: 651-457-9402