Blue Valley Northwest

Principal's Newsletter - October 25, 2024

Dear Husky Families,

I hope you’ve had a great week!

We’ve seen such positive energy throughout our school lately, and I want to thank our students and staff for their continued hard work and dedication. It’s great to witness the passion our students bring to their learning and the support our teachers provide each day. Your commitment makes BVNW a special place.

A special thank you to our parents for partnering with us during parent/teacher conferences this week. Your involvement plays a key role in supporting our students’ growth and success. We appreciate the opportunity to connect with you and discuss ways to help your student thrive.

Please note the information below regarding wearing costumes to school on October 31st.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing everyone back next week, ready to finish October strong!

Go Huskies!

Sincerely,

Leah Vomhof

BVNW Principal

New Information:

Halloween Costumes & School - As we approach October 31st and Halloween, we know many of our students are excited about dressing up and celebrating. While we appreciate the festive spirit, we want to remind everyone that costumes are not permitted at school. Our focus remains on creating a positive and distraction-free learning environment, and we encourage students to save their costumes for after-school activities. We thank you for your understanding and support in maintaining a professional atmosphere that prioritizes learning.

Attendance Matters: The Importance of Timely Attendance

In high school, the pace of learning picks up, and missing even a single class can make catching up more difficult. Arriving on time and being present for each class helps students keep up with the instruction, ensuring they don’t fall behind. Missing the start of a class can disrupt the flow of learning and prevent students from fully understanding the material.

Encourage your high schooler to make timely attendance a priority. Being present from the start of class to the end gives them the best chance to excel.

Senior/Graduation Information - Looking for senior information in another spot besides Mrs. Bakalar’s monthly emails? It’s on our website! Click here to be taken to the “Senior Information” part of our website (under “School Information” menu option).

November Odd/Even/Traditional Calendar

Important Dates:

Nov. 1 - Registration due for AP Exams (see email from Nancy Hadley)
Nov. 11-17 - KSHSAA Athletics Buffer Week (no athletics practices)
Nov. 14-16 - Fall Musical: Mamma Mia!
Dec. 18-20 - Semester 1 Finals (schedule below)

Athletics/Activites:

Message From the AD

Regionals and Sub-State are HERE! Good luck to our Cross Country team as they compete on Saturday at JCCC for an opportunity to go to state @ Rim Rock next Saturday! Good luck to our Volleyball team at Sub-State. Winner goes to Salina for state volleyball next Friday/Saturday. Soccer and Football seeding will be released over the weekend. You can find all post season information at www. KSHSAA.org!

Potential game days next week:

Soccer could be on Monday OR Tuesday.
Football could be on Thursday OR Friday.
For both sports, please pay close attention to our schedule for specifics: https://www.easternkansasleague.org/public/genie/997/school/9/

Signing Day

We will celebrate individuals signing who are planning on participating in collegiate athletics on Wednesday, November 13th. This will be after school in the main gym @ 3:00. If your athlete is signing, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/oaGUYMKk2HXZvBVM8

More info will be sent to individuals participating. Additionally, we will have winter and spring signing day. Dates are TBD. With that, if a fall athlete commits after 11/13, they can join on one of the other signing days.

Eligibility

This is a reminder that this is a good time to check in with your student athletes on their grades! They MUST pass 5 classes in order to be eligible to participate in sports next semester.

Message from the Activities Department

Please encourage your student to get involved at Northwest! Research shows that students who get involved feel more connected at school and are therefore more successful academically! Check out all of our club options here! Here are just some of the the latest updates from the Activities Department:

We finished concert week with the Orchestra Spooktacular and Band had a successful Glow Show last weekend! It’s so fun to see the way our programs bring our community together, including our feeder school students.
The musical, Mama Mia, opens November 14th! You can purchase tickets via this link.
Our Debate program has shown huge growth since last year! Last week, we competed at St. James and had teams place 4th and 8th. We are excited to host a tournament at home November 15-16th.
Cheer and Dance head to state November 22nd and 23rd. More info to come!
Our next Husky Headlines comes out November 5th! Watch for that link to come!
We can’t wait for our Chess Team to host a home tournament on October 30th, when they will compete against other BV schools. Good luck, Chess Team!

Stay up to date with weekly athletic events and activities by viewing all schedules on the EKL Website: https://www.easternkansasleague.org/public/genie/997/school/9/

IMPORTANT ACTION ITEM “TO DO” FOR WINTER ATHLETES

FAQs:

If my child/athlete participated in fall sports, do I need to register again?

No. Once you register, you are done for the school year.

I can’t log in. How do I access my information?

Feel free to reach out to Mr. Richards or Mrs. Dubill and they can help

MRichards02@Bluevalleyk12.org or MJDubill02@Bluevalleyk12.org

Is this different from registering for school?

YES! This is NOT the same process. This is registering your student athlete for athletics/activities.

Do I need a physical for band?

Yes!

rSchool Registration Website:https://bluevalleysd-ar.rschooltoday.com/

KSHSAA Physical:https://www.kshsaa.org/Public/PDF/FORM-PPE.pdf

Helpful Instructions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GNYGOUOCf9QUCN893KOZJWKLh1mgDXYHDfVJxMfk22s/edit#heading=h.fy0q0hyrn6x

If your athlete is competing in fall sports, they are good to go: no action is needed.

Follow @BVNW_Athletics on “X” (formerly known as Twitter) and I also “tweet” athletic content from my account @richardsm620.

Upcoming Events: Click here to view all athletic/activity schedules

Once you click the link, you can select specific schedules under the “view schedules” tab on the right side of the screen.

Senior/Graduation Information

Looking for senior information in another spot besides Mrs. Bakalar’s monthly emails? It’s on our website! Click here to be taken to the “Senior Information” part of BVNW's website.

Repeating Information (already shared):

Graduation Update!

It has been announced that Commencement for the Class of 2025 will be held on May 18th at 1:00 PM. There is a change in venue this year. The ceremony will be held at Blue Valley Ant-DAC at 162nd Street and Antioch. If weather does not permit, the event will be moved inside to the gymnasium.

Student Pick Up

Please remember that school adjourns at 2:45. We ask that all students that are not involved with an athletic team, activity, club, tutoring, etc. be picked up by 3:15. Please use the circle drives for both drop off and pickup. Thank you!

Safe Schools Reporting

Blue Valley Schools is committed to promoting and fostering a safe environment in and around all our schools. We are continuously working to prevent, mitigate, respond to and recover from a wide range of situations. Please check out available ways to report safety concerns.

BVNW Daily Announcements

Our daily announcement format has changed this year. You can access our announcement document each day to see what’s going on at BVNW - click here.

College Financing Night

Tue. Nov. 19 | 4:30-7 p.m. | Regnier Center 101
Johnson County Community College
12345 College Blvd. | Overland Park, KS 66210

**Do not need to be attending JCCC 2025-26 to attend this event!
Campus map

The event will cover:

FAFSA® prep* (we’ll help students set up their Federal Student Aid ID)
Scholarship information
Community resources at JCCC
Other college funding options

*The 2025-26 FAFSA® form will be available December 2024.

Encourage students to RSVP today!

Questions? Please contact:

finaid@jccc.edu or 913-469-3840.

JCCC Financial Aid
jccc.edu/financialaid

Some November Celebrations & Observances

Community Celebrations and Observances - to promote awareness and appreciation of our Blue Valley families.

Native American Heritage Month - celebrates the rich and diverse cultures, traditions, histories, and ongoing contributions of Indigenous peoples.
National Veterans and Military Family Appreciation Month - honors the military family by recognizing their sacrifices and commitments.
All Saints Day - November 1 - celebrated by some of the Christian faith, this solemn, holy day honors the saints of the church.
Day of the Dead - November 1 - celebrated by some with Mexican heritage, a joyful time to remember and honor deceased loved ones.
Diwali - November 1 - the festival of lights celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and the human ability to overcome observed by some Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, and others. Some will decorate their homes with lights and rangoli art, exchange gifts, dress in colorful clothing, feast with family, and/or go to temple.

Students and parents are invited to attend a CAPS Presentation and Tour. This is a series of one-hour evening presentations at the CAPS building, which is located on Blue Valley School District’s main campus. There will be information presented by CAPS Administrators and Instructors, a question and answer session and a tour.

Students who plan to enroll in a CAPS strand for the 25-26 school year are highly encouraged to attend an open house to confirm their interest before enrollment. Due to the district’s new schedule repair policy, please ensure your student is confident in their enrollment selection of CAPS.

The Center for Advanced Professional Studies is a profession-based, immersive program with a college credit-bearing curriculum designed to provide junior and senior level students the skills they need to succeed both in the competitive college environment and in the twenty-first century global workforce. For more information, please visit our website http://www.bvcaps.org.

Where: Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS)

7501 W. 149th Terrace

Overland Park, KS 66223

913-239-5900

Dates:

Wednesday, November 20

Tuesday, December 3

Time: 6:00 – 7:00 PM

NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED

College Board AP Exam Registration

Students who are taking a fall or yearlong AP course and plan to take the AP exam must register and pay for exams by November 1, 2024.
Students and parents/guardians recently received an email with steps to register and pay for AP exams.
Students register through their College Board account and AP Classroom (see email or Counseling Canvas page)
AP exam fees need to be paid through BVNW Total Registration website.
Exams will be administered according to College Board’s AP exam calendar.
Registration for spring semester AP courses will be in January/February with a registration deadline in early March 2024.
See Counseling Canvas page for more detailed information on the registration process.

The Femineer Program

The Femineer Program was created to empower K-12 female students to develop the skills and confidence needed to pursue majors and careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields. It has since expanded to include other under-represented individuals in these fields.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the program, please fill out the application linked below, scan it and return it to the Femineer Program advisor Karen Stohlmann at khenderson@bluevalleyk12.org.

Femineer Program Application 25.docx

TICKETS NOW ONSALE FOR BVNW THEATRE'S PRODUCTION OF MAMMA MIA!

BVNW Theatre is excited to bring the global hit 'Mamma Mia!' to its audiences this November. With the toe tapping songs of ABBA making up the soundtrack, the cast, crew, and pit are eager to perform this musical comedy for their community! Get your tickets today!