Greetings West Wolves and Parent/Caregivers,

Welcome to second semester. It is incredible to think we are already half way through our inaugural year of Sun Prairie West High School. Wednesday marks the first day of second semester. As we end the semester we celebrate all we have accomplished and built together in the classroom, on the court, in the pool, on the field, on the stage, in the community, etc and continue to build grow and improve. During second semester we are focused on co-creation increasing our school-parent/caregiver partnerships and elevating student voice as we reflect, build and grow. Here's to a fantastic 2nd semester.

Jen Ploeger- Principal- jrploeg@sunprairieschools.org

Chai Lee- Associate Principal- cmlee1@sunprairieschools.org

Chad Whalley- Associate Principal- ctwhall@sunprairieschools.org

TODAY course selection for the 2023-2024 school year (aka Schedule Fest) will begin for our 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students at Sun Prairie West. This will run through Thursday, February 2, 2023. During Schedule Fest, students will be given lessons and materials in their SP30 classes to guide them through the scheduling process. Additionally school counselors will be available in the SP West Commons during SP30 for added support on January 30 - February 1.

As a reminder, Thursday, February 2nd is the deadline for students to submit schedule requests in Xello.

The Schedule Fest Slides will be part of the SP30 lessons. This is a fantastic resource for caregivers/parents to review with their students. Please make sure to check in with your student(s) regarding their scheduling choices.

How to select your courses using Xello

Cómo seleccionar tus cursos usando Xello (Español)

Vaping was a concern in secondary schools before the pandemic and coming back from the pandemic secondary schools have seen an increase in the use of vaping products in and around schools, especially in bathrooms. We need your help to partner together to create SP West as a vape free environment for everyone's safety.

Over the next several weeks we will be including different vaping education resources here in our Newsletter to help educate students, parents/caregivers, staff and the community on the dangers of vaping. 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.

See something. Say something. Students- if you see other students vaping in the bathroom let an adult know. Give the location, clothing description and timestamp. Together we can create an environment where everyone feels safe going to the bathroom.

Vapes include hazardous chemicals that you do not realize are in them and can be unknowingly laced with other drugs. In Sun Prairie and in surrounding areas young people have been sent to the ER for reactions to vape cartridges. If you need help stopping vaping please reach out to your social worker Ms. Sirianni or Ms. Fahey. Parents/caregivers check out this "Talk with Your Teen About E-Cig" Tip Sheet.

Fighting Heart Disease, Together.

Join your friends, your family, our community members and the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness – in-person or virtually** – for our 12th Annual National Wear Red Day celebration! This is a FREE event!

Wear Red Day is a day of awareness and education; a time spent together learning how to identify, live-with, and survive heart disease. As Black women, cardiovascular ailments represent the number one threat to our healthy lives. On February 18th, from 11am - 2:30pm, our community will come together to get more informed, more empowered, and more inspired to refuse to let heart disease make a deep-impact on our lives.

Register yourself and the other important Black women in your life! After a 2-year in-person hiatus, reunite with our community of Black women at the Goodman Community Center; remember to come dressed in your red best! When we come together, we create and sustain a communal sisterhood where Black women and girls can live healthy, happy and thriving lives.

We are incredibly grateful to our community for this magnificent building and opportunity to create a new educational community. As we launch SP West, Create the Future and build a Culture of Care please check in with your student on a few things:

• Class Bell to Bell: We are continuing to work to create a culture in which ALL students are in class from bell to bell. This includes: Having a pass every time you are out of class; using the 2 minute warning "ding dong" sound to move quickly to your next class; staying in class until the bell rings; working with your teacher if you need a break within the 85 minute block, taking a break in the den area and then returning to class.

• Taking Care of the Building: We have a state of the art, amazing building. We are also short staffed on our custodial team and working with the District Support Center (DSC) to problem solve ways to support this team and increase the amount of custodians on our team. We ALL play a part in taking care of the building including: cleaning up after yourself, particularly at lunch; picking up trash even if it's not yours; talking to your friends/the people around you to clean up after themselves. It truly takes each and every one of us to take care of this beautiful space.

• See Something, Say Something If you see something that shouldn't be happening... SAY SOMETHING to any adult in the building and they will get it to the right place. Go to a trusted teacher, trusted office staff, youth advocate, dean, AP, Principal JP, anyone. This includes any vandalism in bathrooms or other locations. Together we can take care of this beautiful facility and leave a legacy for the generations to come.

Bus Delays and Emergencies

Please remember that buses may be slightly delayed when we are experiencing snow and icy conditions. Anything within 5 minutes of the scheduled arrival time is considered “on time.”

If your child’s bus is delayed and/or evacuated for any reason (bus breakdown, emergency, etc.) students must stay with the driver and wait for further instructions. If another bus is dispatched, students are to ride that bus and only get off at their assigned stop.

Bus Tags- Every day.

A reminder that students need to show their bus tags to drivers every day to get on the bus. If you need a new bus tag please see Ms. Detert in the front office. You can also pull up your transportation tab in IC.

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

The main entrance door closes at 4:00pm. Athletes that may leave and come back please enter through door 24. Also a reminder that the building closes at 4:00pm. At that time all students need to exit the building or be with an adult.

Esports is a gaming league that allows students to play video games as a sport and compete with other Wisconsin high schools. Sun Prairie High school is considering starting an Esports program as part of the athletic department. Students would practice after school and attend evening online competitions weekly, in three separate seasons throughout the school year. Students could earn an athletic letter in Esports, and even receive college scholarship opportunities. The purpose of this survey is to get a feel for the level of interest from the Sun Prairie school district student body, so a proposal for approval can be taken to the District Leadership. Students: please fill out this survey!

Reminder if you are visiting us at West please travel around the turf field to our staff/visitor parking lot. You are welcome to park anywhere in that lot in front of the main entrance/athletics entrance. Please do not park in the student parking lot (has numbered stalls and green on this map) to leave that for our students. Students, a reminder if someone is in your spot to please park in the staff/visitor parking and see Ms. Kinsey to fill out the form in the front office to report someone in your spot and Mr. Whalley and Officer Sessums will follow up.

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