It's here!!! Opening day of Year 3: The 2024-2025 School Year. Your staff has been diligently preparing for this moment and are ready to welcome you into the school year. Please take a look at this week's Howl very carefully as there is A LOT of important information for the week. We also noticed that the readership for last week dipped considerably. We apologize if you did not receive the Howl due to technical difficulties. Important information that was included in last week's Howl can be found in the "In Case you Missed It!" section. In this week's Howl we also honor and remember Coach Chris Davis, founding member of SP West who died over the weekend. We will have additional supports for students available as we start the school year tomorrow, details enclosed.

In this week's Howl:

• Greetings Wolf Pack!
• Upcoming Events
• Remembering Coach Chris
• One West as a PACK- Universal Expectations
• This Week's Bell Schedule
• Starting Strong- Attendance
• Building Hours
• Important Parking Information
• PSAT
• Adapted Sports League
• Welcome New Staff
• Student Celebrations and Summer Highlights
• Your Ideas in the Howl
• In Case you Missed It!

September 3rd- First Day of School!

September 4th and 5th- Musical Auditions- Seussical the Musical! ALL students welcome

September 5th- 6:00-7:30pm- Hmong Family Back-to-School Welcome Back Night- Sun Prairie East High School

September 17th- Picture Retakes/Make-Up (if picture not taken during registration)

September 18th- 7:00-8:00pm- Post-Secondary Planning for High School Athletes- Sun Prairie West PAC - Open to ALL Sun Prairie Athletes 8th-12th grade that are considering playing NCAA sports after high school

October 10th- 5:00-7:00pm- Hispanic and Latino Family Night- Westside Elementary

As we enter this school year we remember Coach Chris who passed away on Saturday morning. Coach Chris was a founding staff member at SP West as both the Varsity Boys Basketball Coach and Youth Advocate. He was loved by many and greatly impacted our community and beyond. We know that everyone experiences grief differently and that everyone has different needs. As we come back together tomorrow as a West community to launch the 24-25 school year, we also want to provide support for students and staff to process this tragic loss.

Sharing Memories: There will be a table placed by the competition gym in the commons with paper, markers and tape for students to share their favorite memories of Coach Davis Sr. and place them on the glass of the competition gym. These will then be collected and shared with Chris Jr. and family in days to come.

Processing Space: While we are prioritizing that the best place for students to learn is in their assigned class, we also know that there will be some students that need a space to process, grieve and share stories in community.

• We will have a processing space available to students who need to process in community with trusted adults. Please ask any staff member for the location.

• It will be staffed by Mr. Harper, Ms. Johnson, and Ms. Velasquez.

• This space will be available the first half of 1st block and then the 2nd half of other blocks once teachers check in with the adults in the space to ensure someone is there and able to help.

• It will also be available at lunch for students that had often eaten lunch with Coach Chris.

Please remember Little Chris and the Davis family in your thoughts and prayers.

As we begin Year 3 as a Wolf community we continue to run together as a PACK. Our universal expectations are that we approach everything we do in our community with Pride, Accountability, Collaboration and Kindness.

Grounding ourselves in the concept of One West and PACK is the foundation of all that we do. It takes each and every one of us doing our part to make this community the incredible place that it is and it is growing into being. Everything that we do as individuals and a community is to bring our West Equity Vision to life:

Here are some reminders of universal expectations as we start the year strong:

We had an incredible 4th quarter last school year and ended the school year with great momentum. We also had a wonderful Welcome Back Week with staff and are excited to enter Year 3 as a full One West community!

Staff have been working hard and playing hard in the anticipation of students returning. Last week staff played a 2 day game of Capture the Flag while preparing for students.

Staff engaged in instructional practices they also use in the classroom. This is an example of a collaborative activity in which staff were processing the importance of Rigorous and Coherent Teaching and working together as Professional Learning Teams to provide high quality instruction to students. We are ready. Can't wait to see you tomorrow for Day 1.

All this week both SP East and SP West will be on a modified schedule to allow us to have a longer time with students in SP30 Advisory. Throughout the week we will be focused on building strong foundation of community in these spaces as well as training students in restorative practices we will be using universally this year.

Over the last several weeks counselors have been hard at work ensuring that every Wolf has their very best schedule which may have included a schedule adjustment to your schedule even if one was not requested. We avoid this whenever possible and it is necessary to balance class sizes, etc. Please check your schedule TONIGHT or TOMORROW morning for your accurate schedule. Please do not use a printed copy or screenshot from last week.

If you are requesting a schedule change, please FOLLOW YOUR CURRENT SCHEDULE and complete THIS FORM. The only students that should be going to Student Services for a schedule change are students that do not have a schedule or have no scheduled class at all for a block.

As we enter Day 1 of the school year we are focused on each and every student being 90+, meaning that they are maintaining a 90% or better attendance rate. Review the importance of attendance one more time as we head into the first day tomorrow.

Did you know that your Wolf has a team of professionals here to support them holistically to eliminate barriers and ensure they can focus on their academic success? Take a picture and save this to your phone so you always have it at your finger tips. Together, partnering with your Wolf team, we can make our goal of 90%+ attendance for every student a reality!

As we all prepare for our fall schedules, starting the first day of school on September 3rd our building hours are as follows:

• Building opens at 8:05: Students may enter the building at 8:05 and will remain in the commons 8:20. Between 8:05-8:20 students may eat breakfast and socialize in the commons. At 8:20 students may begin to move to their classes.
• If your transportation situation makes it impossible to drop off your students later than 8:05 they will be allowed to stand in the vestibule (between the glass doors) until 8:05, particularly on inclement weather days
• Building Closes at 4:00: At 4:00pm the building closes daily. All students must be with an adult (coach, club/activity, 5th hour tutoring, etc) or leave the building for safety as we do not have supervision available after 4:00pm.

Please plan rides, drop off/pick up accordingly.

As we launch Year 3 we are focused on parking lot safety, specifically a few areas that have become a significant safety concern over the last 2 years. Please read the following carefully and give yourself plenty of time for drop off/pick up, especially at the beginning of the school year when everything takes a little longer. If we all do our part we will have a safe and efficient parking lot.

• Drop Off and Pick Up: It is ESSENTIAL that you use the designated parent/caregiver drop off/pick up lane that is on the OUTSIDE of the student parking lot

• Bus Lane and Student Parking Lot: Over the past two years we have had wellbeing parents/caregivers dropping students off both in the student parking lot and in the bus lane to try to avoid the line of drop off. This causes SIGNIFICANT safety concerns and we will be monitoring this closely. Please ensure that you are giving yourself plenty of time for drop off so that you are not rushed and looking for alternatives to the drop off lane.
  

• Respecting Disabled Parking: We have had significant issues with people pulling into parking spaces that are reserved for individuals with disabilities or waiting behind them so that our students, parents/caregivers with disabilities cannot leave. These spots must be respected 24/7, ticketing will be enforced.

• Student Parking: All students must have a current student parking registration to park on campus and must park in the student lot. Students who park in the staff lot in front of the building, the side of the building by athletics or in visitor or staff spaces will be ticketed.

• Fire Lane: The fire lane behind the school is for emergency use only and is not to be used as a short cut around the building/parking lots. Starting August 26th the gates will be closed on school days from 7:00am-4:00pm.

• Circle Drive on the Side of the Building: Please note that the circle drive on the West side of the building is RESERVED for specialized transportation. When other parents/caregivers pick-up or drop off here it creates a significant safety hazard for our students with disabilities who are being picked up by their transportation.

We look forward to a safe parking lot this year.

The PSAT is a standardized test co-sponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation. This test gives students practice for taking the SAT and is the first step in entering scholarship programs conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The test consists of three sections: reading, math, and writing/language. 11th-grade students can register to take the optional exam in the fall. Please fill out this form (https://tinyurl.com/SPWestPSAT24) if your student is interested, or reach out to your student's counselor for more details.

Introducing the Sun Prairie West High School Adapted Soccer coaches for the season! This coaching duo comes with years of experience playing and coaching soccer. We are excited to have Nicolle's experience with the ASL athletes and knowledge of the league and welcome Brianna's fresh perspective for her team.

Registration for athletes is open, season starts September 23rd!

Over the next several weeks we will be welcoming our new Wolf staff here! Please take a moment to get to know these new members of our community and to send them a quick Wolf Welcome!!!

Check out the news for our Cross Country team shining in Year 3.

Sun Prairie Jazz Combo Members brought beautiful music to the Capital lawn.

Tuesday Morning, West High School staff attended Convocation which included a historical land acknowledgment; performances by our high school drama club (Shout out to our very own Ms. O'Toole!), Hmong dance group Ntxhais Tsheej Haj, and the Penguin Project; and a keynote address by Kate Erickson, a history professor and member of the Oneida Nation. Thank you to all the presenters and staff members who showed up in the heat with a positive attitude and excitement to start the new school year!

We need YOUR input too! Do you have an idea of something that should be included in the Howl? Your ideas are always welcome. Email our Admin Associate to the Principal, Jordain Blank at jnblank@sunprairieschools.org.

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.

September is Suicide Prevention Month and while we aren't in September yet we know that transitions, such as the start of the school year, can cause additional stress for our young people. Here are resources as we work as a community to destigmatize talking about mental health and suicide prevention.. Please remember you are not alone in supporting your child/children and they are not alone. We have student support staff available yet this summer and as we start the school year to support your student, please don't hesitate to reach out and we will get them connected.

We strive to keep The Howl as streamlined as possible with all of the important information for our community. To the end once something has appeared in The Howl, it will move here to the "In Case you Missed It!" section. Take a moment to peruse and make sure you have not missed important info!

Direct Admit Wisconsin offers early and proactive admission to participating UW System Schools for rising seniors at participating Wisconsin high schools. The UW System Schools will collaborate with participating high schools to review student academic records at the end of their junior year and make offers of admission to participating UW System Schools without the need to submit a traditional admission application.

Link to Direct Admit Important Information

• Our initial goal was to deliver letters to families over the summer. This has been delayed.

• Counselors are still in the process of finalizing senior credit checks, and changes to courses are underway.

• Once all of the changes are completed, families can expect to receive their letter in late September.

• Further communication will be forthcoming as the time approaches. If you have any questions, reach out to your students counselor (A-G- Ms. Saldana, H-M- Mr. Medema, N-Z- Ms. Wagner) or Principal JP (Jen Ploeger).

Senior Photo Upload: All portraits will need to be uploaded directly to Jostens at the following link: https://images.jostens.com/ImageShare/upload All portraits must be submitted by Friday, November 1st 2024.

Senior Recognition Ads: All senior grad ads will need to be completed directly through Jostens by Friday, November 1st 2024 at the following link: https://www.jostens.com/apps/jcom/router.mvc?affiliateId=3151854 An account will need to be created to submit your student’s ad.

We are so excited to have our fall sports in full swing. Many home events have already happened and we have our first home football game THIS THURSDAY night. Please review the SPASD event guidelines. We are beyond excited to take the field, stage, pool, court, pitch, course and so much more this school year. Together we will continue to make these fantastic, safe and enjoyable events for all.

All West students will need their student ID or if they have not yet received their 24/25 student ID, they will need to look up their Infinite Campus profile. This can be done in advance and screenshotted for quick access.

Are you looking for leadership opportunities and want to be a leader within the West community? Do you want to help shape our story? Sign up to be a Leader of the Pack TODAY! We are looking for more Leaders to volunteer for beginning of year events including Keys to Success, Registration and Wolf Welcome Night.

Leaders of the Pack is open to any West Wolf that strives to embody PACK each and every day and is ready to step up as a leader for our community. Activities for leaders of the pack include: serving on Student Senate, volunteering at school wide events, giving school tours, being a buddy for new students and being a guide for our incoming 9th graders. Sign up today!

If your student is planning to take PreCalculus, AP Calc, and/or AP Stats, they will benefit from having a graphing calculator, which can also be used for the ACT and in Algebra 2 math classes and beyond. The TI84+ or TI84+ CE are what most students use, but there are other types of graphing calculators as well. The school does have a limited number of graphing calculators available to be checked out, and priority is given to students in AP math classes. For students in other classes who wish to have a calculator, a scientific calculator such as the TI-30 is sufficient. Students will have access to online graphing calculators through their Chromebooks.

Over the summer we have taken a deep dive into our data to analyze the first 2 years of West. There is so much to celebrate! There are many metrics by which our School Board and our community evaluate our success. One of them is a Student Perceptions survey. This survey is a chance for students to have their voice heard on how things are going.

From the Spring of 2023 to the Spring of 2024 we experienced growth in all domains of the the student perceptions survey with accelerated growth happening for our students who have been historically marginalized by our school system.

All of our students are growing in their understanding of the Instructional Framework in, a sense of belonging and safety and security but it is growing exponentially for students who have not always experienced that in our school system. (Please note that our Asian student growth is the smallest and also had the smallest room to grow.) Nearly all of our indicators for nearly EVERY group is not only meeting expectations but is far exceeding expectations.

As we enter year 3 of West we also enter year 3 of focusing on disrupting inequities and creating a culture of care. We also enter year 2 of a focus on rigorous and coherent teaching. Our data shows that we have an incredible foundation in our first two areas of focus and are now perfectly positioned to dig deeper and strive higher into rigorous and coherent teaching with a focus on attendance.

Each of our West scholars is brilliant and we need their excellence as a part of the learning community bell to bell each and every day. Our teachers cannot facilitate learning if all of our scholars are not there to learn and contribute to the learning community. As we enter this school year we are focused on: high expectations with high support and attendance specifically for our Black student scholars as these are the scholars we have not served well yet in this area.

From year 1 to year 2, all but one of our subgroups of students increased the percentage of students with above 90% attendance (our and state expectation). This year we level up again, ensuring that our students are receiving their education from bell to bell each and every day to be prepared for today, tomorrow and beyond!

Next week we will take a deeper look into why attendance matters and the goal for attendance for each and every Wolf.

Student schedules will be available in Infinite Campus TOMORROW, AUGUST 19th at 8:00am. Sorry for the delay, we had originally hoped to have them available on August 15th, however, our counselors have been working diligently to finalize schedules and work through all of the details related to Act 95 and Direct Admit which are new this year and have added new wrinkles to the process.

Important Notes:

• Schedules are still being finalized! Did you know that over the last few weeks we have welcomed 93 new Wolves to the Pack? As we enter the school year we will continue to balance classes and make adjustments to ensure every Wolf has their very best schedule. This means you will need to check Infinite Campus September 2nd for your finalized schedule before class starts on the 3rd. Please DO NOT take a screenshot now and use that for the first day of school.
• SP30s, Study Halls and 3rd Hour Lunch designation have been diligently entered over the last several days and it is possible there are some that are still being finalized.

Schedule Change Requests: 2024-2025 SP West Schedule Change Request Form (schedule changes will not be made at registration)

Did you know that the entire High School master schedule is based on student course requests? We invest a great deal of time and energy in January to ensure that students are able to make their very best course selection as many systems are based on those choices including: which class are running, how many sections will run and staffing, etc in an attempt to limit the need for schedule changes at this time of the year. Types of schedule changes:

• Technical Changes: Technical changes are changes that are necessary for graduation requirements. This includes: a current hole with no class in the schedule, missing a graduation requirement, being in a class that has already been passed, being in a class in which you are missing prerequisites or being in class that was recovered over summer school. This requests will be honored to the very best of our ability and the graduation requirement miss will be fixed. These requests can be made between now and the first 10 school days of the semester.

• Non-Technical Changes: Non-technical change requests are are schedule adjustments that students request that would be nice if they could happen but do not impact graduation. This includes changing the requested elective, which will be honored if there is room and/or it helps balance out class sizes, however, this will not always be the case and some will be denied. The following will NOT be considered for schedule change: requesting a different teacher, a request in order to have a different lunch assignment, concerns about other students in the class (we will work through this with our Restorative Practices Coach), request in order to join a friend in a class, wanting a specific class a specific hour.

• Level Change: Level changes are adjusting the level of a class (typically AP to non-AP or vice vs). They will be considered within 20 days of the beginning of the course for students enrolled in higher level (ie., Advanced Placement) courses. Students who request a course change to alter the level of the enrolled course will meet with the Equitable MultiLevel Systems of Support Coordinator to discuss the request. If approved, students would be exempt from grading for work missed. Students will be given access to course material taught during the time period missed.

Student Scheduling Requirements

• All students are required by Wisconsin Statute 118.33 to be in school for the full day unless a student is in an accredited work program or has an IEP designating otherwise. A full day of school for Sun Prairie High School students is defined by the Sun Prairie School Board in Policy IKF and Procedure IKF-R, Graduation Requirements; and in Policy JDA, Full-Time Student.

Did you know?

• Students who participate in extracurricular activities are 15% more likely to have a higher GPA than those who do not.
  
• 95% of hiring managers believe that students who participate in extracurricular activities have valuable skills that are transferrable to the workplace.
  
• Participation in extracurricular activities is linked to a 25% decrease in feelings of anxiety and depression among students.
  

You in 2! We are committed to each and every Wolf finding TWO extra/co-curriculars to be involved in throughout the year. That could be two sports, a sport and a club, two clubs, the musical and Leaders of the Pack, the possibilities go on and on. Over the next several weeks we will continue to highlight the opportunities available. What will be YOUR TWO?

As we move into year 3 of an SPASD community with 3 High Schools in Sun Prairie (Sun Prairie East, Sun Prairie West and Prairie Phoenix Academy) we are united in our high expectations and high levels of support for students. Please grab a cup of coffee, refill your water or your favorite beverage and carefully read through our Student Handbook. This includes LOTS of important information from academics to student/parent/caregiver support to school nutrition and student fees.

Preliminary transportation information is viewable in Infinite Campus by logging into Campus Parent, click on ‘More’ then choose the Transportation tab. If the bus stop does not look accurate, please contact Kobussen. Pickup and drop off times are continually changing as new students enroll and other students move out of the district.

Your child will receive a bus tag either at their back to school event the first day of school. All students are required to have their bus tag with them to ride the bus to/from school with the exception of the first day.

Please contact Brinda Thompson at brinda.thompson@kobussen.com or (608) 825-8700 ext. 5509, if you have questions or concerns about your child’s bus route or stop. If you have any other questions related to busing, please contact either Lisa Sprindis at lasprin@sunprairieschools.org or Rhonda Page at rspage@sunprairieschools.org. If your child is NOT going to ride the bus but is eligible please stop by the bus table at Registration or reach out to one of the people above.

At the High School level we do not have a standard school supply list. Many teachers will let your teachers know any specific materials they will need for class during the first couple of days. To start the year please have your student bring a notebook/s, pens/pencils and their Chromebook (more information on Chromebooks to come). Especially over the last couple of years Chromebooks have become our students most important school supply. Many students also benefit from having a binder/s

We know that students who are involved in 2 or more activities outside of the classroom have in increased: sense of belonging, academic success and social-emotional well being. We are fortunate at West to offer MANY opportunities for ALL students. Don't see something that you are excited about? Connect with Mr. Nee (eanee@sunprairieschools.org) to work on creating something new. Fall sports have begun or are beginning very soon. It's not to late to sign up! Reach out to Mindy Ripp (mjripp@sunprairieschools.org) and/or Amber Beaver (albeave@sunprairieschools.org). Join TODAY!!!

Did you know that the A/B day schedule does NOT changes throughout the course of the year even if we have snow, cold days or close for another reason? Please note that Semester 1 starts and ends on an A Day and Semester 2 starts and ends on a B day.