Roughrider News

As we conclude our first full month of the 2024-2025 school year, we are pleased to share some

important updates with our Southwest Public Schools community. All students should now

have several grades recorded in Infinite Campus, and we encourage parents to regularly

monitor their child's academic progress, attendance records, and lunch account balance

through this system. For families facing challenges with lunch expenses, it's not too late to

apply for free and reduced meals; applications are available at both school offices, and we

strongly urge eligible families to take advantage of this program to ensure all students have

access to nutritious meals.

The high school down list has been active for the past two weeks, and parents of students on

this list should have received a letter indicating that their child is underperforming in two or

more classes. We encourage parents to review any missing or upcoming assignments and tests,

communicate with teachers about strategies for improvement, and collaborate with their child

to develop a plan for academic success. Education remains our top priority, and we are here to

support your child's journey.

Additionally, we are currently conducting MAPS testing, our district assessment that takes place

in both the fall and spring. Please encourage your child to perform their best on these tests, as

they provide valuable data for teachers to assess whether your child is progressing

appropriately or meeting grade-level benchmarks. The results will be shared with parents

during parent-teacher conferences at the elementary level and mailed home for junior/senior

high school students.

We are also excited to announce our monthly Teacher of the Month recognition program,

which celebrates the dedication and excellence of our educators. We invite local businesses to

participate in this initiative by donating gift cards for our honored teachers; if you're interested

in contributing, please contact the school office for more information.

Looking ahead, please mark your calendars for important upcoming events: Picture retakes will

take place on October 4th, the end of the first quarter is on October 18th, Parent-Teacher

Conferences will be held on October 24th, and Fall Break is scheduled for October 25th. As we

transition into October, let's continue working together to ensure the best possible educational

experience for our students. Your involvement and support are crucial to their success. Go

Roughriders!

The month of October is a busy one at Southwest Elementary! October is Fire Prevention Month. The Indianola Fire Department will be visiting the students to educate them about fire safety procedures. The students always enjoy visits from the fire department, and we appreciate them taking the time to help our children learn more about fire safety. We also recognize Bullying Prevention Month in October. Mrs. Smith, the elementary guidance counselor, has lessons and activities planned throughout the month to help educate students on what bullying is and what bullying isn’t. She will help students understand ways they can help prevent bullying from happening in our school.

Parent-teacher conferences will be held on October 24th from 1:00 to 6:00 PM. The elementary school students will not have school at all on that day. We will be using Sign-up Genius again this year. On October 1st you will receive a text message with the sign-up link, or you can visit the school webpage, www.swpschools.org, to sign up for a time that works for you. We will also have our annual Title I meeting on October 24th during parent-teacher conferences. Please stop in and learn more about Title I at our school. At this meeting, we will review our Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policies and answer any Title I questions our families may have.

There will be no school on October 25th for Fall Break.

The classroom teachers will be sending out letters about their Halloween plans. We also plan to have a parade outside on Friday. More information will follow with the details!

A reminder that on Monday, October 16th, we will have a 10:00 AM late start for teachers to work in their PLC teams.

Thank you for your support in making Southwest Schools great!

The school year is now in full swing with students going in every direction. We

have successfully started the MAPS testing for the fall. These are very intense test with

four parts. (Reading, Language, Science, and Math) The test is used to evaluate our

student growth each year. These test also show us areas that we may need to expand on.

The scores from those tests can be evaluated by subcategories in each subject area. The

data is available to the classroom teacher to us as a tool for improving our student’s

educational needs.

We have also implemented a reward system for kids who have shown growth in at

least 3 of the four areas or have meet benchmark. Last year we had 119 kids meet the

required improvements. Those kids were rewarded with a trip to JUMP CITY in Grand

Island.. This year we are hoping to improving on that number and will be scheduling a

reward for those that reached their goals.

With the fall sports seasons winding down we are starting to see the fall weather change

and even some cold mornings. This is when it is very important to make sure to call the

school if your child is ill or going to be late. I would hate to have a student be stranded in

bad weather. We usually start calling parents around 8:15 if we have kids missing from

class.

Please take a second and look at our web site to see all of the upcoming events. The most

accurate dates and times are found on the web site activities calendar. Reminder we post

school closings on the NTV site as well as send out messages from our blackboard

account and we have added the school web page along with twitter. If you are not

receiving these messages or would like to be added, please call Sydney @ 308 692 3223

and she can add your information.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Students will be learning what a bully is

and what a bully isn't, the difference between conflict and bullying, and how to solve a

bullying issue. A great resource for families can be found at:

https://www.pacer.org/bullying/info/info-facts.asp

October 23rd - 31st is also Red Ribbon Week. This year's theme is Life is a Movie: File

Drug Free. The elementary students will be spending time during that week learning

about drug prevention and awareness. The following resource can help families start

these conversations at home:

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/talk-about-drugs.html

Counselor’s Corner – Mr. Schake

Seniors

Scholarships:

Seniors can access scholarship applications on their “Class of 2025” Canvas Site. A list of available

scholarships will soon be found at www.swpschools.org

1. Hover over the Jr. Sr. High School tab at the top
2. Go to the bottom of the selection and choose “Senior Scholarships”
3. Click the google link.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tUvMVTpzKq3umttYJmzwmBM64aNEs60AOFPMJARU_jQ/edit?gid=0#gid=0

*The spreadsheet is organized by monthly due dates so be sure to look at the months in advance, so you have time to fill the applications out before the due date. This is updated as I receive scholarships throughout the year.

*The scholarships highlighted in red are not updated and the scholarships highlighted in green are

always open and have differing due dates so be sure to look back on these frequently.

Sophomores:

*We will be attending Connect the Dots Career event in McCook on September 25 th

ACT

Register for the ACT at: actstudent.org

Southwest School Code: 280151

MCC Test Site Code: 024600

We’re excited to share the vibrant and inspiring experiences our art classes had while celebrating International Dot Day! This year, our students embraced the spirit of this global event, turning simple dots into extraordinary expressions of creativity and imagination.

International Dot Day, celebrated on September 15th-ish, is all about inspiring creativity and celebrating the artistic process, just as Peter H. Reynolds’ beloved book "The Dot" encourages.

The Dot Mural: This collaborative effort resulted in a vibrant mural displayed in our main entrance. Each student contributed their own dot-inspired artwork, creating a stunning, unified piece that celebrates our collective creativity. 5th grade students created dot weaves. 4th grade students created dot scratch art. 3rd grade students created pattern dots. 2nd grade students created tie-dye dots. 1st grade students create a dot by NOT painting a dot. Kindergarten students created their own unique designs on their dots. All students had a great time creating bravely! The best part is seeing how unique each dot is, even when multiple students were given the same project prompt, furthermore emphasizing the meaning behind International Dot Day: “A celebration of impact, self-discovery, self-expression, and a time to think of how we all can make our mark!”

-Mrs. Rice

Head Lice:

The start of school always brings new joy as we reconnect with old and new friends, it also brings about a subject that we don't like to think about. LICE. Head lice is common and can be found all across the nation's elementary, junior high, and high schools. While it is more common in elementary students, our older students are not immune. As a reminder, having a lice infestation is NOT a sign of being dirty, or having an unclean house. Head lice do not care what type of housing you live in, what kind of car you drive, or where you buy your groceries. Lice love all humans with hair equally.

It can take two weeks for a head lice infestation to become apparent, and spread can happen without our knowledge or intent. Although head lice do not jump, they can spread from one person to another through close head-to-head contact. Hugs, selfies, and sleepovers are just a few ways we get close enough to share head lice with friends, even though we may not know we have them!! It can also be spread when we share our earbuds, hair tools, baretts, scrunchies, hair ties, hats, scarfs, etc. We do try to remind students and athletes not to not share these items, but it's also good to have these conversations at home. Please ensure your students have the items that they need, so they do not need to ask to borrow from another student. Another way you can help prevent your child from getting head lice while at school, is to make sure that any long hair is pulled back, in a braid or pony tail. Lice have to have something to grab onto with quick hair contact, and if there is no hair to grab, they are not going anywhere.

To do your part, and help minimize chances of spread, you should check your child's hair periodically, even if they are not complaining of itching. Live lice are hard to find in new infestations. They don't like light, and move pretty fast. So, unless you are sectioning your hair and combing with a special comb, you are very unlikely to find the one or two live lice that start the new infestation. These new infestations are most easily found by checking for lice eggs, aka nits. Nits, which typically look like tiny whitish ovals (but can look black on blonde hair), are firmly glued to the hair shaft, close to the scalp. The way to tell a nit from dandruff, dirt or sand, is that nits do NOT move from the hair shaft and dandruff (and other non-lice things) can be easily picked out with your fingers or moved with a light brushing. The most common spots to find nits are behind the ears and at the back of the head and neck.

If you do find lice, please notify the school nurse. We can discreetly check for further lice spread in the class or team, and help contain the situation without ever identifying who and where it came from. If you find lice, your student must be treated with an FDA approved medication treatment before returning to school. Once treated, your student is welcome back!! Your student does not have to tell their peers that they were treated for lice if they do not want to. If you found it after a sleepover, it is recommended that you contact the other parents and notify them, so they have the choice whether to treat it right away. Same with your child's close friends. If you need any help with how to eliminate lice, how to find lice, or any other further questions, please email me: janette.nelms@swpschools.org.

Some other great resources are: https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/lice and https://www.cdc.gov/lice/caring-head/index.html

how to looks for nits: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/resources/pdf/HeadLiceFlyer.pdf

Flu Clinic:

We would like to invite the communities of Southwest Public Schools to our yearly flu vaccination clinic. This will occur on October 3, 2024. Friends, families and students grades 6-12 are welcome to receive the yearly flu vaccination provided by Red Willow County Health Department at the Southwest High School on October 3. Please see the flyer for additional information.

If you would like your student to receive a flu vaccination on October 3, but the parent/guardian is not going to be able to attend, the parent/guardian will need to fill out and sign the proxy form (dated on or after 9/19/24). Your student must have the proxy form turned into the office, or present with them the day of the flu vaccination clinic in order for them to receive their flu vaccination.