This past week we launched Black History Month with two presentations in the PAC with hundreds of students learning about the 50 years of Hip Hop and participating in a Hip Hop performance with Marcus Porter and Juciee Monroe. We also celebrated Wolf scholars for academic and attendance excellence from 1st semester.

This week we are looking forward to Spring Parent/Caregiver/Teacher conferences (no school on Friday), as well as, our SP30 Advisories continuing their Den Decorating for our Black History month competition culminating in judging and prizes on Feb 27th.

• Upcoming Events
  
• Daily Announcements
• February- Black History Month
• Conferences
• Dane County Youth Assessment
• Parent Partnership Meeting
• Celebrating Excellence
• Sophomores- Apply for the Early College STEM Academy TODAY!
• Classroom and Student Spotlights- AWESOME things happening!
• In Case You Missed It!

• February 1st-29th- Black History Month

• February 13th- Dane County Youth Assessment during school- Modified schedule- no SP30

• February 15th- Parent Teacher Conferences 4:15pm-8:00pm (more info to come)

• February 16th- Parent Teacher Conferences 7:30am-11:30am (more info to come)

• February 18th- February Frost 5K
• February 21st- Parent/Caregiver Partnership Meeting
• March 12th- Juniors (11th Grade) ONLY- ACT Testing
• April 9th- Freshman and Sophomores (9th and 10th Grade) ONLY- Pre-ACT Secure Testing
• May 18th- Junior and Senior Prom

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.

This past week we hosted two guest performances in our PAC. Chris "Godxilla" Taylor presented in front of ~400 students a multimedia presentation on the 50 years of Hip Hop. He brought the history to life engaging the youth in the history, culture and influence that Hip Hop has and continues to have.

On Thursday our very own Marcus Porter, who runs the studio program at all three SPASD High Schools gave a Hip Hop performance to nearly 500 students in the PAC. He was joined by his sister Juicee Monroe from 93.1 Jamz. Sharing their story and music that local youth just like our students can make it on the Hip Hop scene too. The PAC was alive with energy, connection and possibility. Any SP West student is eligible to work with Marcus in the studio and learn about the Hip Hop industry. Email Marcus at miporte@sunprairieschools.org.

Checkout this awesome upcoming opportunities to celebrate 50 Years of Hip Hop and Black History Month

This week we look forward to welcoming in parents/caregivers for our 2nd conferences of the year. Did you know that we approach parent/teacher conferences from an equity lens ensuring that our families with the most barriers have access during these set aside times? We begin with contacting our multilingual families in need of interpretation who have the greatest barriers reaching out to the school on a daily basis, then we focus on parents/caregivers with students that have not experienced success in one or more of their classes and tomorrow open it up to all of our families. Conferences this week can take place in person, on Google Meet or through a quick email check-in. A reminder that parent/teacher conferences can happen all year long and not just during designated times. Feel free to reach out to your child's teacher at any time.

If you are attending in person please help support our Asian Club at their annual Eggroll Fundraiser.

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

We will have a modified schedule on Tuesday with no SP30 and a longer 2nd Block. This will allow students to complete the Dane County Youth Assessment at the beginning of 2nd Block.

Traveling Students- You will continue with your normal schedule and be welcomed into 2nd Block when you arrive from East. If possible you will still complete the Dane County Youth Assessment at this time, if not possible we will arrange for another time for your voice to be heard through this assessment.

Due to Parent/Caregiver/Teacher conferences as well as Valentine's Day this week we are moving this month's Parent Partnership meeting to next week on February 21st. This is an opportunity to share what is going well for your student at West, areas of growth and we will be digging into our SP West 100 Day plan for feedback.

On Friday we celebrated students with an email to the student and their parent/caregiver for 1st semester excellence:

• 3.0+ GPA: 890 students were recognized for earning a 3.0 or higher GPA 1st semester
• Improved GPA: 531 10th-12th grade Wolves were recognized for improving their culminative GPA based their 1st semester grades
• 90% Attendance: 422 students were recognized for having a full day attendance of 90% or better for all of 1st semester
• Improved Attendance: 192 students were recognized for improving their attendance by at least 5% from 1st to 2nd quarter.

Tomorrow these Wolves will receive a small snack during SP30 as a celebration.

In Dramatic Arts class, students performed an improv game called Lines from a Hat. All of the students write down a random sentence, then two actors each pick one and incorporate the random sentences into the scene.

Our students are hard at work preparing for the spring musical: Beauty and the Beast. Check out some behind the scenes glimpses at rehearsal.

Tickets now on sale!

Our boys basketball team had an exciting week with three games including 2 marquee games against SP East and Madison East. Our students, parents, players showed up and showed out with SP West pride.

Our Forensics team continues to have an OUTSTANDING season, bringing home ALL the hardware! Checkout pictures from yesterday's 1st place victory at Madison West and last weekend's tournament hosted here at SP West!

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!

See the links below to register for Strength & Conditioning and Traffic Safety

The Traffic Safety and Behind the Wheel are ONLY open to students who are CURRENTLY (Spring 2024) in grades 9-12. Although the law allows students who are 14.5 to be involved in Drivers Ed, we limit registration/participation to students currently in grades 9-12 due to the demand.

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 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