Greetings West Wolves and Parent/Caregivers,

It's hard to believe that we are already in mid-March, although the weather is reminding us that we do in fact live in Wisconsin, Spring break is right around the corner. We look forward to having a fantastic week setting ourselves up well to enter into break to return rested, renewed and ready for the push to the end of the year. Please note the Howl will take a week off for Spring break and will return by 3/29 to give our staff that prepare the Howl a chance to disconnect and enjoy Spring Break.

Jen Ploeger- Principal- jrploeg@sunprairieschools.org

Chai Lee- Associate Principal- cmlee1@sunprairieschools.org

Chad Whalley- Associate Principal- ctwhall@sunprairieschools.org

As we look forward to the next couple of months a couple important dates to put on your calendar.

• Monday, March 20th- Friday, March 24th- SPRING BREAK! No classes.

• Wednesday, March 29th- FRESHMAN AND SOPHOMORE ONLY DAY. Our 9th and 10th graders will be taking the ACT Secure the new state assessment for 9th and 10th graders that also prepares them for the ACT. 11th and 12th graders will NOT come to school that day. 11th and 12th grades students will engage in asynchronous learning in their Google classrooms AT HOME. All asynchronous work is due at 3:00pm.
  

• Friday, April 7th- All students will engage in asynchronous learning in their Google classrooms AT HOME. All asynchronous work is due at 3:00pm.

• Friday, May 26th- This date was originally scheduled as a professional development day. With the snow day last week it is now a student attendance day. Please mark your calendars and plan for students to be AT school this day!

We are excited to share some recent staffing updates/adjustments.

On Friday, we welcomed Ms. Jamie Beam as our new Welcome Center admin assistant. Jamie is the friendly face that you will see when you come into the building and most likely the person you will chat with if you call with a question. Jamie lives with her husband, her 9 year old daughter, and her cat, Guinness. In 2022, Jamie and her family moved into their newly constructed Sun Prairie home. During her free time, she likes to spend time with her family, travel, and cook.

Ms. Kinsey Detert will now be able to be our full-time Financial Admin Assistant! A HUGE shoutout to Ms. Detert who has been working as both our Financial Admin Assistant and still supporting the Welcome Center desk since January. As well as a cast of other incredible staff that have supported in this transition.

Mr. Robert Gilkey-Meisegeier will be serving as our second dean for the rest of the year supporting Ms. Nee in athletics and Mr. G, Coach Chris and Ms. Erin on the "floor".

Coach Harper will be transitioning from a Special Education Assistant to a Youth Advocate joining our "floor team" supporting students and building bridges between students, teachers and problem solving.

If Seniors have not ordered a cap and gown yet, they should contact Midwest Scholastic immediately. The website for Midwest Scholastic is www.mwscholastic.com. If you have a question about caps and gowns please email them to questions@mwscholastic.com.

Seniors! Scholarship Information

Attention Seniors! Please remember to check our Scholarship Website regularly. Click on “List of Available Scholarships” to see listings of various local and regional scholarship opportunities.

Scholars of Promise (Madison College Tuition Assistance)

The Spring Semester is here, and the Scholars of Promise (SoP) Application deadline of Saturday, April 1 is quickly approaching! SoP is a needs-based program designed to support low-income students. “Low-income” is defined as students who are Pell Grant eligible on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The upcoming Scholars of Promise Apply Day event is scheduled for Wednesday, March 1, from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Madison College Goodman South Campus (2429 Perry Street; Madison, WI 53713), located off the beltline.

Prospective students will receive assistance with submission of all materials needed to become a Madison College Scholars of Promise student.

Visit the SoP webpage here to learn more about the application process, eligibility requirements, and SoP Apply Day registration.

With the spring approaching, Counselors wanted to send the Junior presentation to all Junior families as a refresher one more time:

If any junior student would like to meet regarding their future planning, students are welcomed to make an appointment with their assigned counselor between March 26 and April 28, 2023. Please use the scheduling links below:

Ms. Saldana (Last names A-G): cmsalda.youcanbook.me

Mr. Medema (Last names H-O): https://keithmedema.youcanbook.me/

Ms. Wagner (Last names P-Z): https://wagner-counseling.youcanbook.me/

Summer School

Summer school registration is now open. To be eligible for summer school transportation, you must register by May 16. We have numerous summer opportunities for students:

• Initial Credit classes (meaning it is the first time the student is taking a credit-earning class)

• Credit Recovery options (students who have previously failed a class may have the option to retake it in the summer)

• Enrichment classes (no credit offered; students take these classes for personal enrichment)

Registration is in Infinite Campus. See here for more info: High School Summer School Information

Mock Trial! Mr. Quale has done an excellent job with a brand-new team (to SPASD not just new because of West) of mostly freshmen. They won the regional tournament, and went 3-1 at state to finish 6th overall, which is really an impressive achievement. Congratulations. The future looks bright!

Check-out the announcements that are currently running on our TVs in school and that were sent to your students last week of upcoming events/opportunities.

Check out this link with all of the start dates for the upcoming sports season.

Please consider taking a moment to celebrate a staff member that has had a positive impact you so far this year! This may be someone that you have connected well with, you have seen working hard, has tried something new or you just want to pause and recognize for all of their work as we launch SP West. You can fill out the form as many times as you would like to recognize different staff. They will receive an email with your note and, if public, will be included in our staff Newsletter next week! https://tinyurl.com/SPWestStaffShoutOut

SP United's gymnastics team competed this past weekend at State! Our very own Martha Guelker competed on Vault. We are proud of Coach Maly and the entire team for their awesome season!

Our Wolf scholars put on an incredible run of our Spring Play this past weekend performing to an entirely sold out run, including an added performance on Sunday evening. Incredible job to our cast and crew!

Vapes are unsafe whether a nicotine vape or THC vape and all are prohibited from school property (including adults attending events). The possession, consumption and distribution of vapes on school property or at school events comes with a consequence up to and including: in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension and recommendation for expulsion.

In Sun Prairie and in surrounding areas young people have been sent to the ER for reactions to vape cartridges. This may be due to physical reactions from smoking THC and nicotine (ie. heart rate), nicotine overdose or otherwise called “nic sick”, or cartridges that have unknown substances.

Is your student interested in confidential support around vaping? Reach out to your social worker Ms. Sirianni or Ms. Fahey. HERE is our Student Services contact information. Your student can work with West Student Services staff on a quitplan, for more education, and other community resource referrals. You can also call the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT NOW or text "READY" to 200-400.

Over 80 percent of young people ages 10–18 say their parents are the leading influence

on their decision whether to drink or not. Don’t assume they know - Send a clear and strong message that you disapprove of the use or misuse of drugs, including the harms of vaping..

Read more about Nicotine and The Brain HERE

Brought to you by our Social Workers.

A few reminders as we continue 2nd semester:

• Parents/Caregivers be sure to use the pick-up/drop-off lane for dropping off and picking up your scholar. DO NOT pull into the student lot or the staff/visitor lot as this causes congestion and potential accidents.

• Handicap stalls are ALWAYS reserved for vehicles with a license plate or placard. Never pull into a handicap stall to wait for someone you are picking up or dropping off. We have had several instances where our scholars are unable to be picked up by their accessible vehicle because other vehicles were in those spaces.

• Students: make sure you have your parking pass and parking in the student lot.

• As we continue 2nd semester we will be rebooting parking lot enforcement including tickets. Please reach out with what questions you have.

As we prepare to start the year we are in need of awesome subs to help take care of our students when staff are out. Are you looking for a new opportunity? Do you know someone looking? Can you help spread the word? Please help us get the word out so that we can ensure that our students have the very best people supporting them even on days staff (teachers or support staff) need to be out. Having an ample supply of fantastic subs is also a great way to support our staff by allowing them peace of mind when they are out. Contact mtiseli@sunprairieschools.org with any interest/questions or contacts.

• Support Staff Substitutes

• Substitute Teachers