The Howl

Greetings West Wolves and Parent/Caregivers,

Welcome to December! We hope that you had a fantastic fall/Thanksgiving break and a great first week back. Wow, what a week it has been. This past week we hosted our first ever Boys and Girls home basketball games- both teams brought home a victory! Our inaugural home gymnastics meet and big band dance on Saturday night. The list goes on and on of the incredible things happening at West. As we look forward to finishing the semester and December strong we continue to focus on our systems, structures and expectations around attendance and behavior including being in class from bell to bell, vandalism and vaping. Here's to a great week.

Jen Ploeger- Principal- jrploeg@sunprairieschools.org

Chai Lee- Associate Principal- cmlee1@sunprairieschools.org

Chad Whalley- Associate Principal- ctwhall@sunprairieschools.org

We continue to increase to develop and increase our supports around student attendance. Student attendance is one of the biggest indicators of academic success and graduation rate!

If you are arriving after 8:35am you must show school ID or screen shot of IC profile. A reminder that we are a CLOSED campus and students should not be leaving the school building during the day without a purple pass from Ms. Johnson that they have an appointment out of the building. Expect to speak to a dean or administrator if arriving late or leaving campus and returning without proper paperwork/sign out procedure.

We are thrilled to announce our first annual Hmong New Year celebration at Sun Prairie West High School. Mark your calendars now for December 21st from 6:00-7:00pm in our very own SP West PAC.

Our winter sports and activities are in full swing! Come join us to support our West Wolves as we Create the Future to Leave a Legacy. Mark your calendars for these great events this week.

• Monday, December 5th- Girls Varsity Ice Hockey vs Baraboo High School: 7:00pm
• Tuesday, December 6th- Boys JV2 Basketball @ Madison West Blue: 5:00pm
• Tuesday, December 6th- Boys JV Basketball @ Madison West: 5:45pm
• Tuesday, December 6th- Boys Varsity Basketball at Madison West High School: 7:15pm
• Tuesday, December 6th- Boys JV Ice Hockey vs Waunakee High School: 5:30pm
• Tuesday, December 6th- Boys Varsity High School vs Beloit Memorial at 7:30pm
• Thursday, December 8th- Boys JV Hockey vs Middleton at 5:30pm
• Thursday, December 8th- Boys Varsity Hockey vs Middleton: 7:30pm
• Thursday, December 8th- Varsity and JV Wrestling at Sun Prairie East High School: 5:30pm
• Thursday, December 8th- Girls JV and JV2 Basketball vs Madison Memorial: 5:45pm
• Thursday, December 8th- Girls Varsity Basketball vs Madison Memorial: 7:15pm
• Friday, December 9th- Boys JV and Varsity Swimming vs Janesville Parker and Madison Memorial: 5:30pm
• Friday, December 9th- Boys JV2 Basketball at Verona: 5:30pm
• Friday, December 9th- Boys JV Basketball at Verona: 5:45pm
• Friday, December 9th- Boys Varsity Basketball at Verona: 7:15pm
• Friday, December 9th- JV Wrestling at SP East: 5:30pm
• Friday, December 9th- Girls Varsity Hockey at Viroqua
• Saturday, December 10th- Varsity Wrestling at SP East: 9:15am
• Saturday, December 10th- Boys Varsity Swimming at Brookfield Central
• Saturday, December 10th- Girls JV Hockey at Omni Center: 12:00pm
• Saturday, December 10th- Girls Varsity Hockey at Omni Center: 2:00pm
• Saturday, December 10th- Boys JV Hockey at Verona Ice Arena: 5:00pm
• Saturday, December 10th- Boys Varsity Hockey at Verona Ice Arena: 7:00pm
• Saturday, December 10th- Girls JV and JV2 Basketball vs SP East: 5:45pm
• Saturday, December 10th- Girls Varsity Basketball vs SP East: 7:15pm

This past week NBC15 joined our amazing choir students to record Sounds of the Season.

NBC 15 will air their performance along with other music groups at 10:00 PM on Dec. 24th and 6:00 AM on the 25th.

As cold and snowy weather is upon us, here are a few reminders for students riding the bus in the mornings:

• Arrive at the bus stop at least 5 minutes before the scheduled pick up time.

• Wait on the sidewalk or close to the curb if there aren’t sidewalks. Stay out of the road and others’ yards.

• Don’t cross the road until the driver signals and the bus comes to a complete stop before attempting to board.

Students must have their bus tag with them when riding the bus. Replacement bus tags can be picked up at the school. A photo of the bus tag on their cell phone is acceptable. Students may be denied if they don’t have a bus tag and the driver doesn’t recognize them.

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.

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

Our very own SP West Staff are behind the scenes dusting off their hidden, or not so hidden talents. Save the date for our inaugural SP West Staff talent show: The Inaugural Thursday, January 26th from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. All proceeds will benefit a local charity. MORE TO COME!

The Green Bay Packers are hosting a Girls Flag Football Open in Green Bay, WI on Saturday, April 1st, and your Sun Prairie West Wolves have been invited to participate!

Girls' flag football is being sanctioned as a high school sport in numerous states across the country. Several NAIA colleges now offer scholarships for girls to play flag football at the college level. The Green Bay Packers want to see those same opportunities provided to the high school girls of Wisconsin! Our goal is to have girls' flag football sanctioned as a WIAA sport in the coming years.

Girls competing in the event will be treated to a welcoming speaker at Lambeau Field. From there they will receive a stadium tour and get to go through the Packers Hall of Fame. Following a complimentary lunch, we will head across the street to the team’s indoor turf practice facility, the Don Hutson Center to really get things started. The girls will compete in several individuals and team skills challenges that will test their speed, agility, and athleticism. Each team will then play 3 games in a jamboree-style format. Roster sizes will consist of a minimum of 14 girls and a maximum of 25. Several NAIA College Coaches will be in attendance which will give you an opportunity to get more information on scholarship opportunities.

You might also be wondering, what will we wear? Each team that competes in the Packers Girls Flag Open will work directly with Nike to design their own school uniforms that Nike will then produce and provide completely free!

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!

NO COST TO YOU!

If you are currently playing another sport, committing to play in this event will NOT interfere!

If you are interested, please fill out the google form.

If you have any questions please reach out to Coach Chelsea Alt at ckalt@sunprairieschools.org

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.

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 10, 2023 from 5-7pm

• Virtual Course Expo - January 11, 2023 - Available on the website

• SP West - January 12, 2023 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.

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 Tags

Students must have their bus tag with them when riding the bus and may be denied if the driver doesn’t recognize the student or if they don’t have a bus tag. Replacement bus tags can be picked up at the school. Students can keep a picture of their bus tag on their cell phones.

Bus Stops

Students should be waiting at the bus stop at least 5 minutes prior to the scheduled pick-up time.

If you drive your child to the bus stop in the morning, please park at least 50 feet away from the stop to give the bus room and to ensure good visibility. Students should wait until the bus comes to a complete stop before approaching the bus to board.

Riding an Unassigned Bus

Students are only allowed to ride their assigned bus and may not ride home with friends, even with a note from a parent. Please make alternative arrangements for these special circumstances.

As we are preparing for our mid-semester progress update and you are diving into your student's grades you will notice that grades are broken into two categories: formative and summative assessments.

Formative Assessments (10% of the grade in most classes): These are assessments for learning during the learning process, practice on the way to the goal! These could include: homework, in class assignments, discussions, etc.

Summative Assessments (90% of the grade in most classes): These are assessment of learning at the end of that particular learning cycle, "game day". These could include: tests, projects, essays, presentations, etc.

Students have the opportunity to redo formative and summative assessments until 2 weeks before the end of the semester to demonstrate further mastery of learning and improve their grade.

As we launched West we have provided student an opportunity to order in lunch, however, we have seen an uptick in incidents related to food ordering recently. A reminder the expectation is that food is ordered during the first 15 minutes of lunch and students are eating in assigned locations and NOT missing class for food. Additionally, we need every student to be honest and not take others food. We do not have the staff to manage food deliveries and if we do not see an improvement in food delivery related behavior this week we will need to change our policy and no longer allow deliveries.

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