Climbing Together - 9/3

Hello again and welcome to another edition of the Climbing Together newsletter. I am pleased to say we had an excellent first week of school. Thank you all so much for preparing and supporting your students these last few weeks. Ever since I started here in July, I've continuously heard about how Onalaska is known for their family engagement, involvement, and collaboration. Now I get to see it on display. We are so fortunate to have such a strong community and I couldn't be more proud of our start to the school year. Let's continue CLIMBING together!

Sincerely,

Superintendent Ben Barton

👋 A first day of school video you CAN'T MISS

🌟 Celebrating high school academic success

⛹🏻 Athletic event information

The first days of school are always special, filled with excitement, new beginnings, and plenty of smiles. We have spent the summer preparing and are so excited to see all the buzz back in our halls. We look forward to another successful year ahead! I've been in and out of our schools quite a bit over the last week - which included a coloring session with our newest learners at Irving Pertzsch - and I've noticed our students and teachers are already getting back into the swing of things.

With a new school year comes a new crop of learners. We understand this big transition can sometimes be an emotional journey for students as well as their families. Understanding that, we made a fun video of kindergarteners telling their parents all their favorite activities on their first day of school. Take a look at the video below to see their answers.

We are excited to share the latest numbers for Advanced Placement (AP) coursework at Onalaska High School. Here's a look at the numbers for the 2024-25 school year:

• 282 OHS students took an Advanced Placement course. This is mostly juniors and seniors, along with a few sophomores, which means nearly 42% of 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students took an AP test last spring.

• 647 AP exams were taken by OHS students.

• 84% of students had AP exam scores of 3 or above. AP exams are scored on a 1-to-5 scale. Scores of 3 or higher are often eligible for college credit or advanced placement at accepting institutions.

We have an incredible team of staff members at OHS who work tirelessly to prepare our students for life after school. We are very grateful for all their work and the results we continue to see year in and out inside the classroom. Great work, Hilltoppers!

What is Advanced Placement (AP)?
Advanced Placement courses offer students the ability to pursue college-level studies while still in high school. Based on their performance during the AP exams, students can earn college credits, advanced placement, or both at an accepting institution. In addition, completed AP coursework is oftentimes viewed favorably during the college admissions process.

A quick reminder for Hilltopper sports fans! All tickets for high school athletic events are now cashless and can be purchased ahead of time online through GoFan. Tickets can still be purchased in-person via card. All-Sports Passes are also available, which give you access to every home regular season game in any sport at a discounted price compared to paying for games individually.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Seniors (60+) receive free admission to all regular season Mississippi Valley Conference events. Many folks still don't know about this so please help us spread the word if you can!

Click the link to get your tickets. Looking for a specific game or team? You can find a full schedule of Onalaska athletic events on the MVC calendar. We’ll see you at the game!

A reminder for this upcoming event where families and community members will have the chance to stop by and have a conversation with district leadership! There's no structured agenda as these events are meant to be open and casual. Our first Coffee & Conversation will be held at our district offices. Coffee will be supplied. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I hope to see you there!