As we continue through second quarter and December there are so many emotions swirling about. This time of year can be one of joy, excitement, family and friends. It can also be a time of hurriedness, loneliness, loss and stress. Please know that we are here to support you and your student. Our Student Services team is available on the third floor of the building to support students talking through any needs they may have.

Please take a look at all the important information of upcoming events and important dates in this week's Howl:

• December Planning for Joy: Winter Celebrations from within our Community and Around the World
• Upcoming Events- NO SCHOOL TOMORROW
• Daily Announcements
• Online School Store
• Three-Sided Approach: Students Learning Bell-to-Bell: Week 2- Staying 'til the Bell
• Progress Grades and End of the Semester
• $40 Fee
• Staff Appreciation Breakfast
• Welcoming Schools
• Early College STEM Academy- IMPORTANT for SOPHOMORES and their families
• Food Drive for Sunshine Place
• Classroom, Staff and Student Spotlights
• Reality Rocks
• Water Polo
• Staff Wellness
• Coach Spotlight- Jay Swanson
• Music

In Case you Missed It:

• Three-Sided Approach: 1st 10/Last 10 and Lunch
• Bucky Book
• Yearbook Info
• Course Request Season is Approaching
• Academic and Career Planning
• Cap and Gown Donations
• 5th Hour Tutoring
• ASVAB Testing
• Parent Partnership Meetings
• Senior Caps and Gowns

• December 11th- No School- Professional Development Day
• December 13th- 6:00pm- Parent Partnership Meeting
• December 13th- 6:00pm-8:00pm- Early College STEM Academy Meeting- Sophomore Families
• Monday December 25th-Monday, January 1st- Winter Break

Our next Parent/Caregiver Partnership meeting is THIS week, Wednesday from 6:00-7:00pm here at West. ALL parent/caregivers are invited and welcome to attend. We will be discussing what is going well and next steps for growth for our SP West Community. SEE YOU THEN!

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.

New merch link is open now! Order your Wolf Wear Today!

Last week we launched our three-sided approach to supporting students learning bell-to-bell (referred to as the three-sided approach). If you missed the launch last week please find it in the In Case You Missed It! section. A few highlights from last week:

• Student Accountability/Parent/Caregiver-Partnership:
• Our awesome associate principals, social workers, as well as other trusted adults and team members continue to support individual students and partner with parent/caregivers through attendance/truancy meetings. Attendance/truancy meetings are designed to provide accountability and support to students that have yet to experience success consistently being in class learning from bell-to-bell. These meetings include root cause problem solving, identifying supports needed, individual attendance contracts with consequences and next steps.

• Adult Accountability:
• Last week we focused on staff not providing students with pass during lunch (specifically split-lunch) and students not having passes for the 1st 10 minutes of class or the last 10 minutes of class. We engaged with staff in email or face-to-face dialog to identify the situation and what support is needed. We appreciate all that staff are doing in their classes each block of each day and setting high expectations for all students.

• Root Cause/Parent/Caregiver-Partnership:
• An important element of attendance/truancy meetings is creating a deepening partnership with parents/caregivers and hearing student voice to identify the root cause of the attendance concern. Additionally, we are in the process of identifying students to participate in a prototype initiative of focused support and problem solving with our restorative justice coach. Restorative justice is rooted in building community and creating connections between across the community. The goal of this work is to help connect our students who are currently struggling with attendance to their learning community.

This week in addition to staying in class during lunch (specifically split lunch without passes as you just had lunch), and not using passes during the 1st 10 minutes of class or the last 10 minutes of class this week we are focusing on staying in class 'til the bell rings. It may seem like the last 3 minutes of class are not essential, or its only the last 30 seconds but for safety, supervision and ensuring that you are using all of the time available to learn ALL students MUST be in class all the way until the bell rings. Teachers will support this be providing closing activities, exit slips, formative assessments, etc. as well as teaching from the doorway as needed to reset the habit.

Progress Grades: Our last progress grades of the semester are due this week! Grades will be posted in infinite campus at the end of the week. If you see an INCOMPLETE for your student's grade that means they are missing a summative assessment. What is a summative assessment? In the gradebook we have two categories: formative and summative assessments. Formatives are the practice leading up to the "big game" the summative assessment. Summative are the change for students to show what they know and are able to do at the end of the unit or the end of developing a skill. If your student is missing a summative please have them work with their teacher THIS WEEK to get it made up. If a student has failing grades or incompletes they will be placed on academic probation for clubs and activities and need to work with their teachers to get to a passing grade ASAP, timeline provided by coaches.

Ending the Semester: Once we return from Winter Break the end of the semester will be quickly upon us. Reminder that semester grades are the grades that count for your transcript, credits, GPA and colleges! Semester grades also have immediate athletic consequences for Fs and Incompletes. Please work NOW so that you are thriving by the end of the semester.

• Late Work Deadline: The last day for students to turn in late work is Friday, January 5th.

• Last New Summative Date: The last day for new summatives to be presented in class is Friday, January 12th.

• Week of January 14th: The last week of the semester is used for reflection of learning, summarizing learning or additional opportunities to show growth, skills and knowledge, community building and closing out of learning communities in preparation for schedule changes.

In the last few weeks we have gotten a few questions concerning a $40 fee that you may have received a bill for in the mail if it has yet to be paid in Infinite Campus. This $40 fee is to cover consumable costs for all of your students classes. In the past students were charged separate fees for many classes, examples include: foods, art, some science classes, etc. This meant that some families were paying hundreds of dollars in additional fees based on their students' interests, course load, etc. The business office at a district level did an analysis last year and revised our fee structure. Now students are charged one blanket $40 fee for all courses. This money goes to funding consumable items by students, things that they consume and/or take home. Please reach out to Principal JP if you have further questions.

Amazing members of our community are putting together a staff appreciation breakfast on Tuesday, December 19th. Below is the sign up sheet if you would like to help donate food or assist with the breakfast. Thank you!

As we continue to bring our equity vision at SP West and the District's equity statement to life we wanted to share information regarding Human Right's Campaign's Welcoming Schools. HRC Foundation's Welcoming Schools is the nation's premier professional development program providing training and resources to elementary school educators to: Embrace All Families, Create LGBTQ+ and Gender Inclusive School, Prevent Bias-Based Bullying, Support Transgender and Non-Binary Students. HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools is the most comprehensive bias-based bullying prevention program in the nation to provide LGBTQ+ and gender inclusive professional development training, lesson plans, booklists and resources specifically designed for educators and youth-serving professionals. The program uses an intersectional, anti-racist lens dedicated to actionable policies and practices. It is designed to uplift school communities with critical tools to embrace family diversity, create LGBTQ+ and gender inclusive schools, prevent bias-based bullying, and support transgender and non-binary students. This week we are re-elevating Welcoming Schools resources to our staff and community. Learn more about Welcoming Schools here.

Did you know that Sun Prairie students have an opportunity to graduate with their 2-year Associates degree and their High School diploma at the same time, FOR FREE? Is your student interested in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math? Are they looking for more challenge with wrap around support? Learn more about our Early Collège STEM Academy opportunity THIS WEEK, Wednesday December 13th from 6:00pm-8:00pm.

During the Early College STEM Program students are full time Madison College students while also being Sun Prairie West students and having access to clubs, activities, etc. Students also receive academic and social/emotional support through advisors, study table, etc.

This is open to ALL SPASD current SOPHOMORES. Learn more THIS WEEK! Questions: connect with Mr. Craig Smith.

This morning at SP West High School the Business Education Foundation hosted Reality Rocks. 100 community partners and 550 students participated in this game of life type simulation. It was amazing to watch our community work with our students as they moved around the stations making fiscal decisions based on a career and salary. #SPMovesTogether

This week student's in Ms. Ortiz's PE class had a friendly competition in the pool of WATER POLO! Check it out!

Check-out your SP West staff back in August at the beginning of the school year kick off with convocation, now promoting staff wellness across the district.

We are proud to Spotlight JV Girl's Basketball and Assistant Varsity Golf Coach Jay Swanson

December is always a busy month for our music department! On Saturday December 2nd Sun Prairie Jazz students held their Big Band Dance. On Sunday December 3rd Sun Prairie West Orchestra students played for the Optimist Club’s Annual Pancake Breakfast. On Thursday December 7th Sun Prairie West Choir students went caroling. Pictures to come!

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!

This past week I (Principal JP) had the opportunity to collaborate with other educators from around the country at the AVID National Convention. Throughout the week we collaborated in strategies to support teachers and students in teaching and learning through instructional strategies, systems, supports, etc. The challenges faced by High Schools across the country are REMARKABLY similar and aligned to the challenges we face at SP West. One of the areas of focus universally is: supporting students to be engaged in their learning community (classroom) from bell-to-bell, particularly as we continue to come out of the pandemic. Here at SP West we are developing a three-sided approach to supporting students bell-to-bell.

As we continue to focus on creating One West it will take ALL of us to support our students, EVERY student to be thrive in their classroom from bell-to-bell. The three-sided approach includes:

• Adult Accountability: We will be focusing on following up with staff regarding expectations that have been laid out throughout the year. Each week we will have a specific focus that we are reteaching for students and staff. We will then follow-up with individual staff to identify additional support needed if the expectation is not yet being followed, examples: no passes first 10 and last 10 minutes of class, using den passes when students are in the den, supporting students not leaving class early and not issuing passes during lunch time. T

• Root Cause: We will be talking to students who are currently not in class from bell-to-bell to understand what they need to be in class and taking steps to meet those needs. We will also be intentionally partnering with the parents/caregivers of these students to support their student thriving in class.

• Student Accountability: In addition to adult accountability and working to solve root causes, we will also be focused on student accountability. Supporting students to reach high expectations while strengthening systems and structures to eliminate barriers that currently exist.

This week we will be getting additional feedback from staff, parents/caregivers and students on details on the strategy and specific next steps and will be sharing more details next week in the Howl.

This week our focus is students being in and engaged in class for the FIRST 10 and LAST 10 minutes of class. This means that no student should be out on a pass of any kind (den pass, bathroom pass or blue pass) during the 1st 10 or Last 10 minutes of class. These two moments are the most beneficial learning moments of the classroom as the learning goal for class is established, community is connected and then the learning from the day is reviewed, summarized and reflected on at the end of class.

ONE WEST:

• Parents/caregivers: please talk to your student about the importance of arriving to class ON TIME and staying IN CLASS for the first 10 minutes. Please also check-in on the importance of being in class for the LAST 10 minutes, not leaving on a pass or leaving the classroom early.
• Students: Challenge yourself to be IN CLASS during the FIRST 10 and LAST 10 of EACH block this week (no passes during that time, arriving on time and not leaving early).
• Staff: Empower students to be in class for the FIRST 10 and LAST 10 by not issuing ANY passes during this time. Being prepared with a strong opening and closing slide/activity. Teaching from the door at the end of class.
• Floor Team/Admin: Support students being in class for the FIRST 10 and LAST 10 by walking students back to class.

Need a gift for you or someone else this holiday season? DECA is selling Bucky Books for $35. Each purchase comes with extra coupons to Kwik Trip and HyVee as well as a $10 certificate to Chick-fil-A or Nitty Gritty. If you are interested, please reach out to Jason Benisch via email, jcbenis@sunprairieschools.org. Purchase your Bucky Book today!

Yearbooks must be ordered by February 23rd, 2024 to be guaranteed a copy of the 2024 Yearbook. Go to www.jostens.com. Type in “Sun Prairie” and make sure you click Sun Prairie West. The yearbooks for East and West are different from each other, so it is very important that you purchase the correct yearbook. You may also visit the following link directly: https://tinyurl.com/spwest24yrbk

It is hard to believe that it is almost December! This means that course selection is coming up! Now is the time to start to review your student’s transcript and graduation requirements. In preparation, here is what you need to know:

• NEW Sun Prairie Course Guide will be available before Winter Break

• Course Expo

• SP East - January 11, 2024 from 5-7pm

• SP West - January 9, 2024 from 5-7pm

• Students will receive support in choosing courses from teachers in January

• Students can schedule individual appointments with their counselor at any time, if they need support

• Students will submit course selections in Xello early February

Please continue to look for more detailed information in December.

A newly developed, statewide, user-friendly website and toll-free number, 877-WiscWay (877-947-2929), provides families with convenient, direct access to compassionate and knowledgeable children’s resource guides. Click here to access the Wisconsin Wayfinder webpage.

Dear Sophomore Students and Families,

During SP30 on Monday all Sophomore students heard a presentation about how to reach their academic and personal goals while in High School. The presentation included topics such as:

• Credits

• Graduation Requirements

• Academic Help

• Transcripts (What is it? How to read it.)

• Standardized Testing and Scheduling

• Academic and Career Opportunities

You can find the presentation HERE or on our Student Services website.

Do you have a Sun Prairie West graduation cap and gown in good shape, lying around and you are looking to get rid of it? Please consider donating for our new senior students who are unable to purchase a cap and gown. If so, drop off at our main office and thanks for considering. Any questions, please contact student services school social worker, Susi Sirianni, sesiria@sunprairieschools.org

Sun Prairie Area School District is required to locate, identify, and evaluate all children, with disabilities, including children with disabilities attending private schools in the school district, and homeless children. The process of locating, identifying, and evaluating children with disabilities is known as child find. This agency conducts the following child find activities each year: The school district has a special education screening program to locate and screen all children with suspected disabilities who are residents of the district and who have not graduated from high school. Upon request the school district will screen any resident child who has not graduated high school to determine whether a special education referral is appropriate. A request may be made by contacting Jennifer Apodaca, Director of Student Services, Sun Prairie Area School District, at 608-834-6520, or by writing her at 501 S. Bird Street, Sun Prairie, WI 53590. Read our Annual Child Find Notice here.

This year we are offering the ASVAB Career Exploration Test on Friday, December 15. It is a no-cost career planning tool. The ASVAB offers information about all options after high school for college-bound students and those interested in other pathways. It is a great opportunity for those who are not sure about what they want to do after they finish high school. This test will be available to any sophomore, junior or senior. The test will be administered by Education Service Specialists and school personnel. The test takes about 2 hours to complete and scores will be provided after. Student scores will NOT be released to the military unless requested .

The ASVAB is designed to help students:

• Learn more about themselves and the world of work.

• Explore occupations in line with their interests and skills.

• Discover all the ways to enter the career fields they are best suited for

• Develop an effective strategy to achieve their career goals.

If you have any questions please reach out to Ms. Saldana (cmsalda@sunprairieschools.org), school counselor.

Please use the QR code or this LINK to sign up by December 5, 2023 or sign up in Student Services

We are excited to bring back our Parent/Caregiver Partnership Monthly Meetings every SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH 6:00pm-7:00pm at West. This opportunity is open to ALL West Wolf Parents/Caregivers and is an open dialog about what is going well, what we can improve on and how we can partner together. Accomplishments of last year's Parent/Caregiver Partnership include:

• Providing dinners for teachers at Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Creation of our SP West Equity Vision (in partnership with staff and students)
• Improvements to the Howl
• The development of this year's Cell Phone Policy
• Implementation of Dine-In Only
• Problem solving of current issues

See you Wednesday night!

If Seniors did not turn in a paper order form for caps/gowns on Oct 17th, they can still order online at mwscholastic.com. Paper order forms will no longer be accepted. Please see our Graduation FAQ with more questions.