Wolverines News- October Newsletter

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It was wonderful to see all of the families that joined us for parent teacher conferences this past week. There are many things I choose to make a priority in my role as principal of West High, and communication with families is at the top of my list. We absolutely need to be partners in a child's path to success at school. Please contact me anytime regarding a question, concern, or to share feedback. I will always try to remain humble in the reality that I will not have all the answers, but will commit to working together with you, and our school district, to come to the best possible solution, no matter what the circumstances may be. I'm a mom myself. I understand the trust that our families need in us to keep all students on the right path, to keep them safe, and to help them achieve the highest levels of success.

Sincerely,

-Ms. Rebecca Rieken

#WeAreWEST

Mr. Gullikson is starting his first year of teaching with us at West High School. He is special education co-teacher in Biology with Mr. Martin. Mr. Gullikson is a natural teacher, and already knows the knack of making learning engaging, but fun! West High is lucky to have him on the team!

Sioux City West High senior Kenny Lam has been named the October 2021 Rotary Club Student of the Month. He will be honored during the Rotary Club meeting on October 11, 12 p.m. at the Sioux City Convention Center.

Kenny Lam ranks first in his class at West, with a 4.4 GPA. He was a National Merit Scholar semifinalist, a Boys State attendee, and received first place in the Math event at the SMART competition. He is active in Student Council, National Honor Society, tennis, soccer and Quiz Bowl. Lam is the son of Mai-Trang Doan Nguyen and Tien Kim Lam of Sioux City.

Congratulations to our very on Mr. Noah Towns on being selected for one of the 2021-22 California Casualty Music and Arts Grants! His application was one of hundreds we received across the country.

The California Casualty Music & Arts Grant was established to provide support for K-12 public schools negatively impacted by reduced budgets. Partnering with education associations for nearly 70 years, we understand the importance of music and arts education for children.

Annual West High Madrigal Dinners

Fri/Sat. Dec. 10-11, 2021

@ Masonic Shrine Temple Auditorium

(corner of 9th and Nebraska St.)

This is a ticketed event and must be purchased before the shows. Tickets will not be available at the door. We will also be having a Silent Auction where you can bid on items so don’t forget your cash/check book! All proceeds will go to West High Choirs. If you have items you would like to donate to the silent auction please email hodnefb@live.siouxcityschools.com

Ticket price will be $25. Thursday, October 14th, order forms and additional information will be sent home with students in their respective choirs and they will also be available in the West High Main Office or in this West High Choir Room (245) at West High School.

Choirs performing: Chamber, Concert Bass, Varsity Treble and Chorale Treble/Bass Choirs

If your contact information has changed since registration, please call West High School, 712-279-6772, with an update of the information. Emergency contact information is also highly recommended. Being able to successfully communicate with our families is very important to us!

The West High School Food Pantry & Clothing Closet is available to meet the needs the West side community. We can assist families with meals, clothing, toiletries, and some household goods. We are limiting building access at this time, but would be happy to prepare a pick-up order to meet your needs. Please call West High School with any requests, 712-279-6772, or email Mr. Van Buren: vanburm1@live.siouxcityschools.com

This school year students will be not allowed to turn in past missing work after the assessment of that unit of work has passed. If a student has been absent due to illness, or another excused reason, they will have additional make-up time for completing assignments. Students will be allowed to re-take district common assessments, or unit assessment to improve their grade. Teachers will communicate these updates to students, and will be continuously informing students of the next assessment date by posting the date in the classroom, on CANVAS, and in-person.

During the school day, any WHS student with a study hall in their schedule will have opportunity for academic intervention with WHS teachers. Students who are failing a course will be expected to work with a designated teacher during study hall until their grades are passing.

After school tutoring will be available for any WHS student from 3:00-4:00 Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in the WHS Media Center. Busing home will be available to students leaving WHS at 4:15 and dropping off at the nearest feeder elementary school.

Night School is available to any student working on credit recovery/acquisition via Edgenuity. Night School will be 3-7pm Tuesdays & Thursdays, and 3-5pm on Wednesdays in the SWS/AEC classroom, Room 265.

Saturday School will be available to any WHS student on the following dates from 9am-12pm in the WHS Media Center:

• 10/23
• 11/6
• 11/20
• 12/4
• 12/18
• 1/8
• 1/29
• 2/5
• 2/19
• 3/5
• 3/19
• 4/9
• 4/23
• 5/7
• 5/14
• 5/21

We continue to focus on increasing positive attendance at school. As parents and guardians are anticipating an absence for that school day, please call the school to report that absence, 712-279-6772.

In an attempt to find resolutions for unresolved absences, parents and students will be contacted within 24 hours to determine the reason behind the unresolved absence.

If a student is absence for more than 20 minutes of a scheduled block, and that absence is unexcused, it will be considered a truancy.

Students are expected to have a pass at all times during the instructional block if they are outside of their scheduled class.

West High School is a closed campus. Students are not allowed to leave at anytime, including during the lunch block, unless they are traveling to/from an excused absence, or to/from another school campus.

Students may not bring outside food into the school building, or have food delivered to the school for pick up.

As parents/guardians are waiting to pick up students after school, please do not parking in the driving lanes. When this happens, it disrupts the flow of traffic, and prevents those that are parked and attempting to leave, exit their parked location. Please find an empty parking space to park in while you are waiting for your student to come to your vehicle, thank you.

Following dismissal, we have many students traveling towards the corner of W. 19th and Casselman who are jay walking, and doing so in front of moving traffic. This presents a serious safety concern for both the pedestrian student, and the driver and their passengers. Parents and guardians, if your child is traveling this course after school, please encourage them to follow safety expectations. Students who are observed jaywalking may be cited by our resource officers on duty.

We want to thank our WHS students for their cooperating in starting the year strong with following our district and school expectations regarding not wearing hats, or having hoods on once they enter the school building.We will continue with these expectations as the school year continues.

If other concerns regarding dress appearance arise, WHS administration will address those with students individually and contact parents and guardians.

Our team invites parents and guardians to connect with them anytime throughout the school year so we can partner with you as we guide our students to success. All are welcome to call West High School to schedule an appointment, or email the grade level administrator directly:

West High School, 712-279-6772

12th grade, Rebecca Rieken, Head Principal- riekenr@live.siouxcityschools.com

11th grade, Steve Green, Assistant Principal & Activities Director- greens@live.siouxcityschools.com

10th grade, Brant Bemus, Assistant Principal- bemusb@live.siouxcityschools.com

9th grade, Pam Husk, Assistant Principal- huskp@live.siouxcityschools.com

As students and families have questions about student schedules or regarding other questions/concerns, please contact the counselor for that student's grade level, or the TAG counselor, either by email, or by leaving a voicemail for that counselor.

To order transcripts:

Students need to go into the Clever account

Click on the Kuder account

On the left column, go to "order transcript" and enter college (s) for submission.

Transcripts are processed within 48 hours

FAFSA Application:

Opens up October 1st

Boys & Girls Cross Country

• Oct. 14th @ Missouri River Valley Conference Championship @ 4:00 pm @ LeMars Municipal Golf Course.

• Oct. 20th @ Districts @ 4:30 pm @ TBD

Girls Swimming

• Oct. 11th Triangular JV/V @ Spencer 6:30 pm @ Spencer Family YMCA

• Oct. 12th Dual JV/V @ Carroll 5:30 pm @ Carroll High School

• Oct. 16th Lewis Central Inv. @ 12:00 pm @ Lewis Central High School

• Oct. 19th Spencer Meet @ 6:30 pm @ Spencer Family YMCA

• Oct. 28th Missouri River Valley Conference Meet @ 5:30 pm @ Sioux City West High School

Boys Golf

Season Is Completed Just Finished Competing on 10/05/21 at Districts at Whispering Creek Golf Club

Football

• Oct. 8th Varsity vs. Urbandale @ 7:00 pm @ Olsen Stadium @ Morningside College

• Oct. 11th JV vs. SC North @ 7:00 pm @ Leeds Field

• Oct. 15th Varsity vs. SC North @ 7:00 pm @ Olsen Stadium @ Morningside College

• Oct. 18th JV vs. SC North @ 6:00 pm @ Riverside Stadium

• Oct. 22nd 9th grade vs. SC East @ 4:00 pm @ East Middle School

• Oct. 22nd Varsity vs. SC East @ 7:00 pm @ Olsen Stadium @ Morningside College

Volleyball

• Oct. 9th Varsity Tournament at West Monona @ 9:00 am. Will be played at West Monona High School in Onawa, Iowa.

• Oct. 12th Triangular Match at SC East 9th at 4:30 pm/JV at 6:00 pm/Varsity at 7:00 pm @ SC East High School.

• Oct. 16th 9th @ LeMars @ 8:30 am @ LeMars High School.

• Oct. 19th Varsity Regionals TBD

• Oct. 21st Varsity Regionals TBD

• Oct. 26th Varsity Regionals TBD

Marching Band

• Friday, October 8th, Football at Morningside Senior Night

• Saturday, October 9th, Competitions at Sheldon High School and MOC-Floyd Valley High School/Northwestern College.

• Saturday, October 16th, Competition at University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.

Make sure to follow Twitter https://twitter.com/WHS_Activities and the West High Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SiouxCityWestHighSchool/ with important announcements that we provide to our West High School students and families.

Instructions on accessing ISASP scores are available on our website at https://www.siouxcityschools.org/parents/isasp-scores/. Families can translate the instructions in Spanish, Vietnamese, and Somali on our website through Google Translate.

Every student in our building has given a rapid COVID-19 testing form to take home to their parents/guardians. A student must have a signed consent form on record as well as verbal consent from their parent/guardian prior to the administration of a rapid test. Rapid tests should be available to students who start displaying COVID symptoms during the school day, around the second week of October.

Have you filled out a free and reduced meal application for the 2021-2022 school year? If you haven’t, please take a few moments to fill out the application today. While meals are free to all students due to the pandemic, the information collected on the free and reduced meal application is needed for program funding within the District. Families who qualify for free or reduced meals may also qualify for P-EBT benefits. P-EBT benefits carry over for 30 days in the school year or until a new application is filled out for the new school year. The free and reduced meal application is available on the SCCSD website. (Graphic for use with the free and reduced meal application reminder is attached.)

The Sioux City Community School District is proud to offer many ways for students and families to stay involved and connected in our community. Virtual Backpack provides families with a convenient way to receive the latest news and information from local non-profits and community partners on events and activities that may be of interest to District families. From camps and sports leagues to family services and resources, the SCCSD Virtual Backpack is a one-stop resource for community information. Sign up to receive the weekly e-newsletter today!

The District’s Return-to-Learn Plan including our health and safety protocols and our weekly report for positive COVID-19 tests reported by parents and staff is available on the District’s website. The weekly positive COVID-19 data is updated every Friday as part of the District’s commitment to maintaining transparent communication with our families.

Convenience at your fingertips! Download our new mobile app for easy access to the school calendar, events, and all the information you need about the Sioux City Community School District. The app is available to download now in the app store on your mobile device.

An engaged community makes our District stronger. That is why we have made it easy for you to connect with us whenever it is convenient for you. We encourage you to take advantage of Let’s Talk!, our 24/7 online submission site. Reach out with your ideas, questions, concerns, and praise. To make a submission, please visit http://www.siouxcityschools.org/lets-talk/.

The Sioux City Community School District offers career and technical programs in the following areas: Business & Marketing, Family & Consumer Science, Health Science, and Industrial Arts, Technology, & PLTW.

The Sioux City Community School District is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information (for employment), national origin, religion, age (for employment), disability, socioeconomic status (for programs), marital status (for programs), or veteran status (for employment) in its educational programs and its employment practices. The District is required by Title IX and 34 CFR Part 106 not to discriminate on the basis of sex in its programs, activities, or employment.

Inquiries or grievances under Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act may be directed to Dr. Dora Jung, Director of Student Services & Equity Education/Title IX Coordinator at 627 4th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101, (712) 279-6075, jungd@live.siouxcityschools.com. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations to the District may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, or both. Please see District Board policies 103 and 504.4 for additional information on available grievance procedures.

Contact us!

Principal: Rebecca Rieken

Website: https://www.siouxcityschools.org/west-high-school/
Location: 2001 Casselman Street, Sioux City, IA, USA
Phone: 712-279-6772
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SiouxCityWestHighSchool/
Twitter: @WHS_Activities