The Howl
Thank you to everyone who helped us have an incredible Prom last night. We welcomed ~650 students who had a wonderful evening. This week we are excited to celebrate our seniors on Wednesday night during our Senior Celebration night. We are also focused on ending the year strong with celebrating our incredible attendance gains so far this year and keeping them strong all the way through June 12th. Check all that out and more in this week's Howl.
May 1st-May 30th- May-ttendance Competition- students in winning SP30s will receive coupons for food truck food on June 6th.
May 5th- 16th- AP Testing
May 11th- Last day to order from the GSA fundraiser: https://sppride2025.itemorder.com/shop/home/
May 14th- Senior Celebration Night 6:00-8:00pm, West PAC, Free SP West Senior Yard Signs given out that night
May 16th- Senior Meeting during SP30. We will discuss the logistics of the ceremony and frequently asked questions. The slideshow will be shared out in the HOWL following the event for students who cannot attend.
May 20th- STEM Academy Graduation Celebration- Mitby Theater- 4:30-7:00pm- 1701 Wright St. Madison
May 22nd- NHS Induction Ceremony- West PAC- 6:00pm- CORRECT DAY AND TIME (sorry about the confusion)
May 27th- AVID Senior Night Class of 2025- West PAC 6:00-8:00pm
June 6th- May-ttendance Celebration- Food trucks during lunch
June 10th- Senior Walks- Details to come
June 11th- Summer Celebration- 2:30-3:45 for all students
June 12th- PPA Graduation
June 12th- Last day of school- 12:15pm release
June 13th- Graduation!
Attendance is the bedrock of building our One West community and academic success. Being present in class and a part of the community has been our hyperfocus yearlong as we strive as a community to be 90%+ for every student. This has included:
- Restorative practices both to build community and repair harm or discomfort between students and teachers
- Building relationships and welcoming classroom environments
- Clear and consistent high expectations with high support that the best place for every student is in their assigned classroom.
This past week our Student Senate scholars compared our current attendance rates with the attendance rates at the end of last school year.
ALL of our Biology classes will be going on our field trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo May 19th. Students will be out of school for 1st - 3rd blocks and returning for 4th block. Students will need a cold lunch for this trip and have had an opportunity to order a school provided lunch if that is their preferred choice. It is highly recommended that students DON’T plan on buying lunch at the zoo as they aren’t staffed for feeding our volume of students in a reasonable time.
Important Note:
The expectation is that students will be in class leading up to the trip. This helps them know what the expectations are while at the zoo AND allows them to fully engage in the learning. Students that don’t meet the expectation having greater than 15 minutes of unexcused absence (Tardy C or B) will not be able to go on the trip!
Congratulations to all of our scholars who took their AP tests last week and good luck to all of our students who will be taking their exams this week. You've got this and we've got you! You have prepared. You are ready. All of our other scholars please remember there are students testing throughout the week throughout the school including the front office, conference rooms, the Small Theater and the South Gym.
Dear Sun Prairie High School Senior Parents and Caregivers,
This letter is to provide information about your student’s chromebook as we approach the end of the year. Students in grades 9, 10 and 11 will keep their school-issued device over the summer unless they are leaving the district, in which case the device should be returned by June 9th, 2025. Students can still access school applications and use their device over the summer. Filtering software will still be active throughout the summer. Students are expected to care for their device over the summer just as they would during the school year.
Seniors must return their devices on or before our last day of school on June 12th, 2025.
Device Collection for Seniors will begin on June 9, 2025 in the LMC. Students will be called to the library by the first initial of their last name. If you no longer need your device, feel free to turn it in earlier. Devices and chargers and any Kajeet Hotspots or Smartspots will be collected. If you have lost your charger, there will be a fee of $15 added to your Infinite Campus account. Lost or damaged device fees will also be added to your account in Infinite Campus. This fee will vary based on the age of the device and type of damage.
Google Takeout Instructions (transferring student account data to a personal account) will be posted in the senior class Google Classroom and are linked below. Seniors will lose access to their district accounts on July 1, 2025, and should begin transferring their data as soon as possible to avoid loss of files. Since your personal Google account is not considered the “owner” of your school account’s data, you may lose access to those files once your student account is deactivated, unless you go in from your personal account and “MAKE A COPY”.
Fines for overdue library materials, missing Chromebooks and chargers will be assessed on June 12th or earlier. Any materials needing to be returned after this date should be brought to the District Service Center at 501 S. Bird St.
Link Here for One Pager Instructions for Google Takeout
Have a wonderful summer!
-The Library Team
Senior Celebration Night
This Wednesday night is Senior Celebration Night. ALL Seniors and their parents/caregivers and loved ones are invited. If you will be recognized specifically for an academic award, department award or receiving a scholarship you should have received an individualized email a week ago. If you have any questions please let us know. Free senior yard signs will also be available that evening.
Dear Sun Prairie Parents, Caregivers and Students,
We want to alert you to a troubling trend circulating on TikTok that encourages students to intentionally short-circuit or damage their school-issued Chromebooks. This behavior poses significant safety hazards, not only to the students involved, but also to those around them as these actions have the potential to cause a school-issued device to start on fire. Such actions undermine and disrupt our learning environments. We take this matter very seriously and are committed to ensuring our schools remain safe and focused on learning.
Students found intentionally damaging their Chromebook - whether to follow this trend or for any other reason - will be held fully accountable. This includes being charged the full replacement cost of the device, which will exceed two-hundred dollars. Any additional damage to other school property from these actions will also result in fines. Beyond the financial consequences, such actions may also result in disciplinary measures according to district policy.
Our technology is a tax-payer provided resource that is a vital part of students’ learning, and its intentional destruction not only violates district expectations but also impacts the broader school community. We ask all caregivers to please speak with their children about the dangers and consequences of participating in harmful social media challenges. As always, we appreciate your partnership in helping us maintain a positive, safe, and respectful learning environment. Resources for parents and caregivers to reference for discussing social media and digital citizenship with their children can be found at https://www.commonsensemedia.org/.
If you have questions or concerns, we encourage you to contact your school principal directly. Thank you for your continued support in putting students’ learning and safety first.
Regards,
Curt Mould
Director of Digital Media, Innovation and Strategy
Our sincerest apologies for the confusion around the upcoming National Honor Society Induction Ceremony. Please adjust and mark your calendars for May 22nd at 6pm to honor our newly inducted students into the National Honor Society. Please reach out to Kimberly Bindl at ksbindl@sunprairieschools.org with any questions you might have.
Some students will also wear stoles at the ceremony. Graduation stoles are fabrics that drape on the shoulders and can represent many different things. Sometimes stoles are referred to as sashes--these are the same product.
Stoles that are acceptable to wear at graduation include:
Perfect 4.0 Achievement
National Honors Society
Approved Sun Prairie Educational Programs (AVID, STEM Academy, Madison College programs)
Representations of cultural identity (BSU, kente stoles, serape stoles, paj ntaub, etc.)
Stoles that are not acceptable to wear at graduation include:
Images/messages that are not school appropriate
Stoles that do not follow the approved guidelines.
Other celebrations can be shown on cap decorations.
Yard Signs
Sun Prairie West High School will be giving every graduate a yard sign at the Senior Awards Night in May. If students cannot attend this event, they can pick one up in the front office at a later time. This yard sign is FREE and is NOT the same yard sign sold by Midwest Scholastic seen in their email last week.
Buckle Up, Phone Down
We are teaming up with the @Wisconsin Department of Transportation to encourage students, staff, and families to take the Buckle Up Phone Down pledge! Over 9,000 crashes a year in Wisconsin involve distracted driving, and cell phones are one of the biggest distractions.
The challenge is on! Pledge to always wear your seat belt and put your phone down while driving at: wisconsindot.gov/bupd/spsd. Choose your high school so we can see which school gets the highest percentage of pledges!
We all have a role in keeping our roads and communities safe!
#BUPD #BuckleUpPhoneDown
Senior Celebration Night- Save the Date!
Senior Celebration is on Wednesday, May 14th from 6:00pm-8:00pm. ALL Seniors and their Parents/Caregivers are welcome! Students who are being recognized at the event will receive an individualized invitation via email closer to the date. We will be celebrating the Class of 2025 through: Academic Awards, Local Scholarship Announcements, Department Awards with refreshments provided by our ProStart students. Excited to see you there!
Caps and Gowns
Midwest Scholastic will be delivering caps, gowns, cords, and other supplies to Sun Prairie West on Thursday, April 17th during lunches (12:11-1:30pm) in the PAC Lobby. This is the only time Midwest will be at our school.
Unpaid orders will NOT be left at school. This will be delivered after payment and will incur special handling costs. If you would like to pay prior to delivery day, you may do so with a credit card by visiting mwscholastic.com and click on ‘Pay Invoice’ at the top of the page.
Paid orders will be left at school and can be picked up in the front office.
Any questions regarding your payment? Please email Midwest Scholastic at payments@mwscholastic.com.
Any questions regarding the graduation ceremony? Please see the FAQ sheet on the Sun Prairie West Graduation website.