Over the past week we have been navigating a complex situation together as a community. On Friday some of our students participated in a form of civil engagement to have their voices heard. We look forward to continuing to listen to, partner with and empower our students and community to build One West, including the launch of Student Senate this week.

We also celebrated the end of the first semester with students finishing strong. We are eager to begin second semester and excited for all of the opportunities that it will bring. Please be sure that students are checking IC for their up to date schedule Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Please take a look at all the important information of upcoming events and important dates in this week's Howl:

• Upcoming Events- Including NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!
  
• Daily Announcements
• Second Semester Launch
• SchedFest Starting This Week!
• TEDx at SP West
• ATTENTION SENIORS- Local Scholarship Opportunity (link fixed)
• ATTENTION SOPHOMORES- Early College STEM Academy
• Westoplogy- Begins THIS WEEK!
• Lost and Found- Check out pictures of what we've found! Pick up your lost items THIS WEEK
• February Frost 5K
• Online School Store (deadline approaching)!
• Classroom and Student Spotlights!
• In Case You Missed It!

• Monday, January 22nd- No School- Professional Development Day

• Tuesday, January 23rd- Frist A day of 2nd Semester

• Wednesday, January 24th- First B day of 2nd Semester

• February 1st- Course Requests for 2024-2025 DUE in Xello

• February 13th- Dane County Youth Assessment during school- Modified schedule- no SP30
• February 18th- February Frost 5K
• March 12th- Juniors (11th Grade) ONLY- ACT Testing
• April 9th- Freshman and Sophomores (9th and 10th Grade) ONLY- Pre-ACT Secure Testing

Have you ever walked by the screens while in the building at West and thought, I want to make sure my student knows about that? Here are our student announcements so that parents/caregivers can have the same information to remind and encourage student involvement.

TUESDAY begins 2nd Semester! Please make sure your student is checking their schedule TUESDAY morning and WEDNESDAY morning:

• All schedules are subject to change based on staffing, room assignment and balancing of courses. We always try to keep students with the same teacher but that may not always be possible. We recommend that your student checks their schedule the day before the semester starts one more time in the event of slight changes.
• If your child sees a course that they do not remember signing up for, please know that we work very diligently to ensure students get as many of their requested courses as possible. Sometimes, however, there are conflicts that require us to default to a student's alternate courses, which is likely the course your student does not remember requesting.
• If your child is wanting to request a schedule change, please review the Schedule Change Policy for eligibility first. If the request meets the eligibility requirements, please see the Student Services Website to request a schedule change.

If you have specific questions regarding your students schedule, please feel free to reach out to your students school counselors at the contact information below:

• Students last Names A-G:
• Chelsea Saldana
• cmsalda@sunprairieschools.org

• Students last names H-O:
• Keith Medema
• kamedem@sunprairieschools.org

• Students last names P-Z:
• Monica Wagner
• mmwagne@sunprairieschools.org

On Tuesday we will launch into our 4th Semester of SP West High School. As we head into this year's second semester we continue to be focused on Supporting Students Learning from Bell to Bell and Creating ONE WEST.

We will continue to focus on: Adult Accountability, Student Accountability and Root Cause Analysis and Problem Solving with the centering of student voice in our Student Senate (launching this week). This semester's goal: Bs or better and 90% attendance. Providing supports, scaffolds and problem solving to support ALL students THRIVING on THEIR road to THEIR future.

As we start 2nd Semester we are also full speed planning for next year. Over the next two weeks students will be in SP30/Advisory (NO WIN TIME) so that we can focus on ensuring that students are selecting the courses that will best serve them (and that they will love and thrive in) toward their post-secondary plans.

Thank you to everyone that came out to our Course Expo last week. Please take time as a family to check out our: Virtual Course Expo available HERE

Important Scheduling Dates:

• Now - February 1: Students and families should explore the many classes offered at Sun Prairie High Schools by using the 2024-25 Course Guide (Spanish version).

• January 12-Feb 1: Students are encouraged to schedule a time with their counselor for assistance with scheduling and course selection if desired. Please visit the virtual course expo website for more information on our courses and contact information for our student services staff.

• January 23-February 1: Students will have dedicated time in SP30 to work on schedules and ask questions

• February 1: Schedules are due! Students will submit their schedules in Xello during SP30.

Here's a preview for "Schedfest" happening in SP30 with students starting in 2 weeks:

Next week we will be hosting our very own TEDx Event at SP West, led and organized by our very own student leader, Quinton Maddox. Sing up to attend TODAY! All students, parents/caregivers, staff and community welcome.

Inspired by the classic game of Monopoly, this unique challenge is designed to spark your imagination and reward you with awesome prizes. Westopoly will begin January 22nd and run until March 22nd. Westopoly is designed to challenge students with tasks related to the library, the school, and the community. Students who wish to participate should register here or by scanning the QR code.

How to Play: Roll the dice daily and move around the board. Complete the task you land on and gain (or lose!) tickets.

Once the program is complete students will have the opportunity to enter their tickets into a drawing for prizes from:

• Kwik Trip

• I’m Board

• Beans n Cream

• Timbers’

• and more!

Stop by the library or email Ms. Dahl at bedahl@sunprairieschools.org for more information.

Our lost and found has been growing over the last few weeks! Do you recognize any of these gems? Please have your student stop by to claim their items before 1/29/24 when they will be donated.

On Wednesday night last week we welcomed hundreds of students and their families to our SP West Course Expo. An opportunity learn about courses available to request for next school year. Thanks everyone for coming. If you couldn't make it check out the Virtual Course Expo here.

Yesterday our Sun Prairie Forensics teams had a fantastic day at the Rock River Forensics tournament today! East won first place in small schools and West won first place in large schools! Congratulations to Nicole, Amelia, Ceylon, Suhani, and Pragnya on their spotlight speeches. Special shout out to our teammates who joined today for their first ever tournament, too! We’re so glad you’re part of our team

Our very own West swim team won the East/West swim meet and brought home the golden kickboard! Both teams celebrate together despite the competition.

Shout out to our West Girls Basketball team, their energy and effort on the court so far this season. Come out and watch them play for electric moments like this.

SP United Cheer won 2nd place at the Baraboo competition on Saturday, Jan 5th! Congratulations!!

If you don't already, please follow SP West on Facebook!

STATEMENT OF NONDISCRIMINATION

No student may be unlawfully discriminated against in any school programs, activities or in facilities usage because of the student’s sex (gender identity, gender expressions, and non-conformity to gender role stereotypes), color, religion, profession, or demonstration of belief or non-belief, race, national origin (including limited English proficiency), ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, homelessness status, sexual orientation, age, or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability. Harassment is a form of discrimination and shall not be tolerated in the District. It is the responsibility of administrators, staff members and all students to ensure that student discrimination or harassment does not occur.

(SPASD District Policy JB)

If a student or parent/guardian would prefer to have this information translated into Spanish, please contact us at 608-834-6620. Si un estudiante, padre ó guardian prefiere tener esta información traducida en Español, por favor contactenos en el 608-834-6620.

If a student or parent/guardian would prefer to have this information translated into Hmong, please contact us at 608-834-6630. Yog tus me nyuam lub xiv los yog niam thiab txiv/tus neeg muaj cai saib xyuas tus me nyuam xav tau qhov ntawv ntawm no ua lus Hmoob, thov hais rau peb paub rau ntawm 608-834-6630.

Information from previous Howls that's too important to miss!

Our annual state wide exams are approaching. Mark your calendars:

• March 12th is our ACT testing day which is a JUNIORS (11th grade) only day. No school for 9th, 10th and 12th graders that day.
• We will follow that up with our Pre-ACT Secure Testing on April 9th for Freshman (9th) and Sophomores (10th) graders ONLY. April 9th is a no school day for 11th and 12th graders.

Once a month the library partners up with Melissa from the Sun Prairie Public Library to offer Creativity Time! Creativity Time allows students to participate in a library led craft, so far we have done: magazine strip art, TikTok ghost painting, luminaries, jar animals, and book hedgehogs.

On January 11th during WIN time we will be making yarn crafts. Sign up in Flexi under Ms. Dahl. You don’t want to miss out on this craftastic time!

Is your student looking for ways to get ahead in studying for the ACT? Here are a couple resources:

FREE - all students have access to Methodize in their Xello accounts. Methodize offers free study guides and practice tests

For Cost - ACT Prep Plus. Offered by CESA 5, students can register for prep sessions throughout the year.

As we reach the halfway point in the year a few parking lot reminders:

• When dropping off or picking up students use the designated drop-off/pick-up lane OUT SIDE of the student parking lot. We have had many parents/caregivers waiting for students IN the student parking lot, this blocks students in causing students to be late to work, etc. Additionally, student drop-off/pick-up should not take place in the visitor/staff parking lot at the front of the school, this additionally causes congestion.
• While waiting to pick up a student DO NOT pull into handicap parking lots if you do not have handicap plates or placard. We have had many instances of families picking up students that need access to these spaces to load the student and their wheelchair and they cannot access them because others are using the space for waiting.

We know that with a student population of ~1400 students drop-off/pick-up can be a very busy time and waiting can cause frustration. However, if we all work together and follow the system everyone's needs will be met. Thank you!

Since 1980, every three years over 20,000 Dane County youth in grades 7-12 are surveyed regarding their opinions, concerns, attitudes, behaviors and experiences to provide educators, community agencies, parents, policy-makers and funding bodies the data needed to inform grant writing, program development and public policy. The last survey was administered in 2021.

Dane County school districts, including SPW, will be administering the Dane County Youth Assessment to all students on 2/13/2024. Please review the links below for more details on the survey, participation options and who to contact for questions.

Parent consent HERE

Consentimiento de los padres AQUI

In the last few weeks we have gotten a few questions concerning a $40 fee that you may have received a bill for in the mail if it has yet to be paid in Infinite Campus. This $40 fee is to cover consumable costs for all of your students classes. In the past students were charged separate fees for many classes, examples include: foods, art, some science classes, etc. This meant that some families were paying hundreds of dollars in additional fees based on their students' interests, course load, etc. The business office at a district level did an analysis last year and revised our fee structure. Now students are charged one blanket $40 fee for all courses. This money goes to funding consumable items by students, things that they consume and/or take home. Please reach out to Principal JP if you have further questions.