Climbing Together - 9/18

Hello, Hilltoppers! Welcome to another edition of the Climbing Together newsletter. We've had an incredible start to the school year. Our classrooms are buzzing, our team members are rolling, and our students are already accomplishing great things. As we settle into fall, I am grateful for the cooler temperatures and changing colors. A refreshing shift after a long, hot summer! I'm excited to see what this season of learning and growth will bring. Let's get to it!

In this edition:

🔒 Our approach to safety in our schools

🏆 National recognition for OHS

📖 A new section providing resources and tips to parents

The safety of students, staff, and visitors in our schools continues to be a top priority for our district. Over the last year, we have invested much time, energy, and resources into planning, procedures, and building modifications. We are proud to share a few of those updates below.

Please note: For safety reasons, this information does not include overly specific details.

This month, the School District of Onalaska and the City of Onalaska Police and Fire Departments will start holding monthly meetings to continually review and update safety plans and procedures. These touch points will include discussions on protocols, policy reviews, and tabletop exercises. Our district has also collaborated with first responders to hold drills in our buildings to simulate crisis events so we, as a community, are as prepared as possible if an emergent situation were to arise. We greatly value and appreciate these community partnerships!

As we communicated last year, the district implemented a brand new plan throughout our schools called the Standard Response Protocol (SRP). SRP is an approach that looks at any and all types of emergent situations in our buildings and categorizes them as one of five actions. The actions dictate how our staff respond internally and how we communicate externally. Along with SRP, we also implemented a new method for events that would require parents to pick up their students at a different location than their school. Titled the Standard Reunification Method, this could be necessary due to severe weather, a power outage, a hazmat situation, or a different crisis event at the school. Click on the images below for more information on the Standard Response Protocol, The Standard Reunification Method, and how we might use them in our schools.

Along with planning, policies, and procedures, our district has also made a number of significant building upgrades to increase safety and security. These updates include:

• New windows in each elementary school building
• Privacy frosting on internal classroom windows
• New entry software and visitor check-in protocols
• New fencing around Northern Hills Elementary

As I've met with you during my first few months as superintendent, including at our latest Coffee & Conversation event, I've heard a number of requests to provide more tips and resources for parents to help support their students. With that, I'm happy to introduce a new section in our Climbing Together newsletters that will do just that! This first iteration will include some fun activities to help parents get involved with their children's early reading skills with help from our fantastic District Literacy Specialist Kim Thole!

Literacy practice at home helps children build the foundation they need to become strong, confident readers. Simple activities like reading together, talking about stories, and exploring new words boost vocabulary, comprehension, and an overall love for learning. When families support literacy early, children are more prepared for success in school and beyond. Below you will find some quick and fun activities - organized into three categories based on reading progression and development - that you can do at home to support your child's reading.

• Playdough Parade: Make colorful playdough and have everyone create letters. Sing the alphabet song while forming the letters together.
• I Spy: Take turns being the clue giver in "I Spy." Instead of using colors, describe an object using its beginning sound. For example, "I spy something that starts with the /b/ sound like ball!"

Silly Sound Sort

• Materials needed: Index cards, markers, a container (basket, hat, etc.)

• Preparation: Write different vowel team words (like "eat," "rain," "boat") and r-controlled words (like "car," "bird," "horse") on separate index cards. You can also include some simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words for comparison.

• Activity: Make two piles, one labeled "Silly Sounds" (complex vowels) and another labeled "Regular Sounds" (CVC words). Take turns drawing a card and saying the word out loud. Decide together if the word makes a "silly sound" (complex vowel) or a "regular sound" (CVC) and place it in the corresponding pile.

• Act it Out: Turn reading into a mini-play! Have your child act out scenes from the story or use puppets to represent characters. This keeps them engaged and reinforces comprehension.
• Story Sleuths: Ask questions after finishing a story together such as who was their favorite character, or what was the problem they had to overcome?

Onalaska High School has earned national recognition as one of the Best High Schools in the country, according to the 2025–26 rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.

OHS placed in the top 10% of nearly 18,000 ranked high schools nationwide and was named the 48th best high school in Wisconsin.

About the rankings:
The U.S. News rankings include data on more than 24,000 public schools across 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. Nearly 18,000 public high schools schools nationwide, including 464 from Wisconsin, are ranked. U.S. News uses six key indicators in their rankings to identify overall school quality:

• College readiness

• Curriculum breadth

• State assessment performance in reading, math, and science

• Performance among underserved students

• Graduation rates

To view Onalaska High School’s full U.S. News & World Report profile, visit: U.S. News Onalaska High School Profile

We had an absolutely fantastic and engaging first Coffee & Conversation event! Thank you to all who attended! We covered many topics, including:

• Eye development and reading
• Staff training for children that have significant behavior challenges
• Advanced academics in elementary and middle school
• Student cell phone use
• Parent training and resources
• Partnerships with local universities
• School safety
• Science fair opportunities for students
• Volunteer opportunities for parents

We're already looking into a few of these and will continue to keep a running list on all the topics we cover at these events. That said, let's make it longer! Our next two Coffee & Conversations are already scheduled for October and November! Block your calendars and stop by! I hope to see you there!