Thank you to all of the parents/caregivers, students and staff that participated in our conferences this week. Thursday evening the school was bustling with playoff volleyball and conference excitement. Many teachers reported that this was the best turn out that they have ever had for conferences. Thank you for your partnership!

This week we continue to dive into National Bullying/Harassment Prevention month with more specifics on how Bullying/Harassment affects our community at West, including an SP30 lesson this week that includes a focus on bullying.

As we continue through 1st quarter and conferences please remember that there are incredible resources for your student to achieve academic success including WIN time and 5th hour tutoring (more details below).

Here's what's in this week's Howl:

• Active Threat DRILL This Week
• Upcoming Events
  
• Athletic Events this Week
  
• Daily Announcements
  
• Bullying Prevention Information
  
• HBCU Festival Information
• WIN Information
• Lunch Advisory
• Game of Tiaras Advertisement
• Parking Enforcement
• Student Spotlight- BSU on HBCU Tour
• Classroom Corner- Sociology
• Student Spotlight- More Homecoming Highlights
• Follow us on Facebook!

Senior Corner:

• Attention Seniors- Caps/Gowns in Case you Missed it
• College Visits this week- JUNIORS THIS IS FOR YOU TOO!
• Free Financial Aid Resources
• Virtual College Visits
• UW Systems College Information Sessions
• Doctor of Pharmacy Info Sessions

In Case you Missed It:

• 5th Hour Tutoring
• Wolf Wear
• Yearbook Information- with updated links
• ACT Prep Information
• Music Studio Information
• Door 24- Morning Practices and Clubs
• Adapted Sports Season Information

Jen Ploeger- Principal- jrploeg@sunprairieschools.org

Chai Lee- Associate Principal- cmlee1@sunprairieschools.org

Ed Ford- Associate Principal- ebford@sunprairieschools.org

The safety of students, staff, and visitors is a top priority at Sun Prairie West High School. We hold a variety of drills throughout the year which not only enable us to practice our response to emergencies, but teaches our students life long skills to respond to situations that could happen at college, the workplace, and beyond. In addition to monthly fire and evacuation drills, we hold two active threat drills each year. This communication is to inform you that we will hold our second active threat drill on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. Because of our partnership with the Sun Prairie Police Department in this drill, there will be a large police presence on our campus for part of the day. Know that we will clearly identify the drill as a practice drill to accompany some pre-teaching that our first hour teachers will do. Please accept this notice as we do not wish to cause alarm or concern.

When practicing active threat response, we empower our staff and students to make decisions based on the situation and environment (we use the ALICE model). While a first thought may be barricading and hiding, we emphasize the importance of knowing ALL options: Counter, Evacuate, Barricade, Hide.

Based on where the threat is identified as it relates to your location:

Evacuate: Find the closest exit and get out of the building. In a real event, run to a space where you can no longer see the building. Neighborhood, business, wooded area, etc are all options. Getting to safety is the number one priority….information on where to reunify will come via email, police announcements, phone calls, etc. For a drill, get out of the building and gather as a class/group to discuss where you would go and what you would do should it be a real event.

Counter: Whether you barricade and hide or evacuate, having something in your hand to throw as a distraction is best practice should you encounter the threat. Something as simple as wadded up paper can disrupt the focus and through process of the threat enabling you with the time needed to get away.

Hide and Barricade: While some classrooms have more glass than we are traditionally accustomed to, note the spaces near you that still offer barricade and hide options. Science rooms, science storage rooms, bathrooms, and teacher work rooms offer spaces to hide and/or barricade.

Our focus for this drill will center on barricading with feedback provided to staff and students from our SP police officers and school officials. We are happy to answer questions and provide support should your child have questions or concerns.

Although it is a drill, we expect our students and staff to treat this drill seriously. We appreciate your support by making sure our students participate in the drill as directed by school officials.

Thank you for your continued support,

SPWHS Administration

• October 24th- Band Concert 7:30pm- SP West PAC
• October 25th- Active Threat Drill during the day
• October 26th- Choir Concert 7:00pm- SP West PAC
• November 7th- End of 1st Quarter
• November 9th- Grades due by teachers
• November 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th- Game of Tiaras Performance- SP West PAC
• November 10th- Progress Reports Posted
• November 22nd, 23rd, 24th- No School- Thanksgiving Break

Have you ever walked by the screens while in the building at West and thought, I want to make sure my student knows about that? Thank you to for the reminder to include our student announcements here every week so that parents/caregivers can have the same information to remind and encourage student involvement.

As we continue to work together as a community in our Bullying and Harassment Prevention, what experiences of bullying and harassment have we experienced as a community at SP West? The most common occurrences of both bullying and harassment that we have experienced at SP West are in group chats mostly on Snapchat. In many incidents this has started as "friendly banter" and then has crossed lines to either begin to target one individual and a power imbalance has occurred as it continues or discriminatory harassment language has begun to be used. What can we do to prevent this from happening in the future?

Students:

• Be mindful in group chats that the conversations are positive and no one is being singled out
• If you see something start to cross boundaries step up and ask the person to stop (we've seen many incidents of this working to prevent a situation from escalating)
• If someone is starting to be hurtful to others, block them and report it to an adult
• If a group chat situation is starting to be unhealthy, leave the group and report to an adult
• Remember that social media/group chats, etc that effect a students ability to feel comfortable and learn at school are under the jurisdiction of our SPASD behavior matrix

Parents/Caregivers:

• Talk to your child about their group chats and language being used with friends on social media and texting
• Have frequent conversations around the difference between "friendly teenage banter", bullying and harassment
• Talk to your child about power dynamics and being mindful of how they are feeling and how others may be feeling
• Check-in with your student on their mental health and social dynamics: how are they really doing?
• Partner with your student services team for support

Registration is now open for the annual HBCU Festival hosted by Alfred Street Baptist Church out of Springfield, VA:

Register HERE

Friday, November 17th from 4pm-8pm

Saturday, November 18th from 9am-4pm

Festival benefits include:

• All accredited HBCUs invited to participate

• On-the-spot admissions decisions (virtual and onsite)

• Instrumental and vocal music auditions (virtual and onsite)

• Seminars on preparing for the college admissions process, financial aid and scholarships, and student life

• Essay/personal statement writing assistance and interview coaching

• Student prizes and giveaways

Since 2003, this one-of-a-kind college fair has connected more than 60,000 attendees to academic institutions. In 2022, nearly $4M in scholarships were awarded to the high school seniors in attendance; many of whom were first generation college students.

SP30 is held from 10:08-10:38 on Mondays and Fridays throughout the school year. Students are expected to use that time to complete any lessons that are assigned in Xello and also to check their email for the daily announcements. Students can always check the Google Classroom for more information.

WIN Time is typically held during the SP30 time block (10:08-10:38) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is different than SP30 as students have a choice in where they can go on those days. WIN Time stands for What I Need Time and is meant to help students do the following:

• make up formative and summative assessments
• make up missed labs
• ask a teacher for help with an academic topic
• be in a quiet space for extra study time
• have review sessions before summative assessments
• use the recording studio for course projects
• and more

Students may also sign up for WIN Time and can expect to find opportunities for extracurricular club meetings, spaces where teachers facilitate games or competitions, or sometimes a place where staff will teach students skills that may be fun and unrelated to their content area (example: learning to play ukulele).

No matter what a student might want to do during WIN Time, they MUST sign up in FlexiSched. The expectation is that each student should go directly to the classroom that they signed up for in FlexiSched. On those days, students MUST report to that specific classroom to be counted towards attendance.

Please understand we want all of our students to be successful at Sun Prairie West and that the SP30/advisory and WIN Time are important pieces to help them achieve that goal.

Lastly, if a student does not go to the SP30/advisory (typically on Monday and Friday) or the WIN Time (typically Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) classroom (this will vary) they signed up for, they will be marked absent, even if they are in the building. Building procedures and district policy state that students' whereabouts must be accounted for at all times. If students are not where they should be, they will be marked absent to reflect this as record.

I appreciate your time in reading this. Caregivers/parents/guardians - please speak with your student about the importance of SP30 and WIN Time. Students - please adhere to these procedures to ensure you have a successful year at SPWHS!

As always, please reach out with questions or concerns if needed. Have a great day!

Students! Would you like to join the discussion of what is going well on our food options at SP West and what we could do better? Fill out this quick survey (students only) to be a part of our new Lunch (and Breakfast) Advisory. First meeting will be next week.

A reminder to ensure that students are parking in their correct spots each day. If someone else is parked in your spot please stop up to the front office to fill out the form. No students should be parking in the front lot or near door 24. Parking will be enforced throughout the week with warnings and/or tickets being issued.

This morning 50 High School Scholars from East, West and PPA set off for a weeklong HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) tour on the East Coast. Our very own Mr. G is one of the chaperones for our scholars on this incredible opportunity. The students will be visiting colleges, museums and dreaming/planning for their post secondary future! Wish these scholars well on their journey and we can't wait to share highlights next week of their adventure. A shout out to American Family and the planning and leadership of Ms. Coleman (East High Principal) that makes this experience possible.

Last week, Ms. Anna-Lisa Dahlgren's Sociology Class visited Meadowview Kindergarten Class! Their purpose was to scrutinize and analyze the interactions, behavioral patterns, and socialization dynamics exhibited by kindergarteners. In addition, the older students engaged with the kindergarteners by helping them with their jack-o-lantern craft and reading with them.

Checkout a few more awesome highlights from our Homecoming Celebration a few weeks ago.

If you don't already, please follow SP West on Facebook!

STATEMENT OF NONDISCRIMINATION

No student may be unlawfully discriminated against in any school programs, activities or in facilities usage because of the student’s sex (gender identity, gender expressions, and non-conformity to gender role stereotypes), color, religion, profession, or demonstration of belief or non-belief, race, national origin (including limited English proficiency), ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, homelessness status, sexual orientation, age, or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability. Harassment is a form of discrimination and shall not be tolerated in the District. It is the responsibility of administrators, staff members and all students to ensure that student discrimination or harassment does not occur.

(SPASD District Policy JB)

If a student or parent/guardian would prefer to have this information translated into Spanish, please contact us at 608-834-6620. Si un estudiante, padre ó guardian prefiere tener esta información traducida en Español, por favor contactenos en el 608-834-6620.

If a student or parent/guardian would prefer to have this information translated into Hmong, please contact us at 608-834-6630. Yog tus me nyuam lub xiv los yog niam thiab txiv/tus neeg muaj cai saib xyuas tus me nyuam xav tau qhov ntawv ntawm no ua lus Hmoob, thov hais rau peb paub rau ntawm 608-834-6630.

If Seniors did not turn in a paper order form for caps/gowns on Oct 17th, they can still order online at mwscholastic.com. Paper order forms will no longer be accepted. Please see our Graduation FAQ with more questions.

Attention Juniors and Seniors! Representatives from the following colleges/universities will be here during SP30 to give information and answer questions you may have:

Madison College - 10/23

Hamline University - 10/24

Edgewood College - 10/25

UW La Crosse - 10/26

American University - 10/27

Please stop into Student Services prior to these dates to get your college visit pass!

Boys and Girls Club of Dane County is offering FREE financial aid support sessions to help students and families complete the first step in filling out the FAFSA. Click HERE for more information and registration

Each student is unique: help them find their individual pathway.

Specialty virtual fairs offer a convenient way to explore post-secondary options. Encourage your students to join recruiters at one or all of these upcoming events:

Live fair hours are 12:00pm - 2:00pm and 6:30pm - 9:30pm (ET) each date for the following fairs:

• First-Generation Virtual College Fair - Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Learn more here or Register now!

Students and Families:

• Use this platform to explore options and services that are available to you at the participating institutions.

• Expert-led educational sessions will guide you on maximizing the benefits of higher education.

• Visit institution booths and chat live with admissions representatives

• Participating students have a chance to win a $50 Starbucks gift card through a TikTok contest. Details will be emailed to registered students.

• This experience will be ADA and WCAG-compliant.

Hear from UW campus representatives about admission, campus updates, upcoming special campus events and more. Campus representatives will be available to answer any questions students may have regarding admission to these campuses. Students and families are encouraged to attend. Registration is required.

• UW-Eau Claire, UW-Green Bay, UW-River Falls, and UW-Stout Panel:

Tuesday, October 24 at 4:30 PM - Register Here

Zoom Link:

https://wisconsin-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rHxTD-NBR4mKqcPKzPQWW

Doctor of Pharmacy Information Session (Virtual)

Wednesday, October 25 | 5:00 – 6:00 pm CST
Zoom

Join us for an insightful 1-hour virtual info session about the UW–Madison PharmD program.

• Learn about one of the best PharmD programs in the nation and our innovative curriculum
  

• Explore the hundreds of career paths a PharmD degree can unlock
  

• Hear about pharmacy student life and the extracurricular activities available
  

• Gain a better understanding of the PharmD application process and admissions requirements

Register HERE

Preview Day (In-Person)

Saturday, November 4 | 8:30 am – 12:30 pm CST
Rennebohm Hall on UW–Madison campus

Experience the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy firsthand at this in-person event. Preview Day is the perfect opportunity for aspiring pharmacists to engage in small-group tours led by current PharmD students, meet pharmacy leaders, and get questions answered by our Admissions team. You will also be able to connect with current PharmD students for valuable perspectives and more!

• PharmD admissions overview

• College students: How to develop a competitive PharmD application

• High school students: What you can do now to prepare for Pharmacy School

• Financial aid and scholarship opportunities

• Experience a cool lab simulation led by current students

• Connect with our students for an insightful Q&A session

• Hear from pharmacists about their unique field of pharmacy

• Tour our cutting-edge research facilities

Register HERE

Are you looking to get some Wolf gear before the holidays? Check out the online school store: https://tinyurl.com/wolf-wear

Thank you to those of you who reached out and let us know that the links in the Howl for Senior Ads and all things Yearbook weren't working. Here you go:

• Upload your Senior Picture: https://tinyurl.com/SPWestSeniorPhoto
  
  • Due date: November 1st, 2023
• Senior Grad Ads for the Yearbook: https://tinyurl.com/SPWestGradAds
  • Due date: November 17th, 2023
• Buy a Yearbook: https://tinyurl.com/spwest24yrbk
  
  • Due date: February 23rd, 2023

Is your student looking for ways to get ahead in studying for the ACT? Here are a couple resources:

• FREE - all students have access to Methodize in their Xello accounts. Methodize offers free study guides and practice tests

• For Cost - ACT Prep Plus. Offered by CESA 5, students can register for prep sessions throughout the year.

As we continue to build ONE WEST it is our goal that EVERY student is involved in at least one sport, club or activity. If you are curious about what options are available check out our current list of clubs and advisors. We will update this as things change throughout the year. If you have an idea that's not on here yet, please reach out to Ms. Beaver, Ms. Ripp and/or Mr. Nee in Athletics and Activities.

Do you have a morning practice or a club that is meeting in the morning before 8:05am? Please ensure that you are using DOOR 24. It is on the side of the building in the athletics wing. The front office does not open until 8:05am and is unable to have students enter before that time. If entering through door 24 you should be proceeding straight to a supervised activity/club/sport.