Rising from the Prairie

Dec. 4, 2025

Greetings, PPA Caregivers, Families, and Friends

We appreciate everyone who was able to attend the Town Hall Luncheon just before the fall break. It was a great gathering with good food, with an opportunity to engage with one another. Thank you for your continued engagement with PPA.

It’s hard to believe we are now just a little more than two short weeks away from winter break. As the holidays approach, our collective focus is on keeping our students engaged and moving forward.

This week, we kicked off Round 3 of our six-week workshops. On the first day of new workshops, we reminded students of our core school expectations, particularly around attendance: Students must be in class on time and remain in class for the duration. Please reference the expectations email sent home on November 25th and join us in reminding your child about these expectations.

Progress reports from Round 2 workshops will be sent home by Friday, December 12th. If, after reviewing these reports, you have any questions or concerns, please reach out directly to your child's advisor.

During my walk-arounds this week, I was energized by the creative energy filling our halls. Seeing the students’ projects and art are visual reminders of their learning displayed is a powerful testament to the inspiring work happening in every classroom. Check out some of the work below.

Thank you for your continued support and vital partnership as we finish this first semester strong.

In Partnership,

Mikki Smith

Acting Principal

December 8 - No school (PD Day for staff)

December 22 - January 2 No school Winter break

Attendance line: 608-834-6900 Line 1

Please use this number when calling in a student for an absence, illness or an appointment.

You can call the office at 608-834-6900 ext. 5507 for any reason that your student will be absent. Please call the attendance line or the office at 608-834-6931 if your student needs to leave early. Calls will be made home when students leave grounds without a guardian's permission.

School day is from 9:00am - 3:20pm.

Follow PPA on Facebook! See our events, photos of activities, and other important updates and information. https://www.facebook.com/PPASunPrairie/

Scholars should be prepared to learn everyday! Chromebooks should be with students daily. To reduce students transporting their wonderful Chromebooks they have the opportunity to leave the CB’s at PPA to be charged. Those that turned in Chromebooks will be able to pick them up from the main office. We will not issue a Chromebook to students if they have one or more already checked out to them. Please have your scholar return any damaged Chromebooks to the main office. We have a limited number of Chromebooks that students may use as loaners but that is on a first come basis.

As we wrapped up last week with our thankful community meal and gratitude, students also completed the first third of the school year. This week began Round 3 with new classes and the chance to review and reset our school and classroom norms and expectations. Ask your student what were some common themes they came up with to ensure they have safe and welcoming classrooms for learning.

Short Stories - Students are reviewing guidelines on close reading, annotating text, literary elements and finding text evidence so we can use these skills as we dive into some short stories in the upcoming weeks.

Algebra - Expressions, Equations and Exponents - Oh my!

We are refreshing our brains with the start of algebra concepts beginning with expressions and combining like terms. Do you know how expressions differ from equations?

We just wrapped up our “Creating My Career” PBL. Students developed their own business plans and brought everything together on a tri-fold board.They presented their projects to me and a few students (photos attached). It was amazing to hear the creative ideas they came up with. A few students even shared that the project made them think differently about their future career paths.

I’m also working closely with several students on Driver’s Ed. Some are completing their 30-hour online course, some have started their behind-the-wheel lessons, and a few still need to take their permit test.

We also took a field trip to a Miron Construction site in Beloit, WI. Students were able to observe many different trades in action and participate in hands-on activities. They also learned about a variety of opportunities available through Miron, including job shadowing, youth apprenticeships, and registered apprenticeships.

This week, our PPA students had the opportunity to engage with representatives from the U.S. Army.

Direct Admit

Direct Admit season is upon us. If you are not interested in your Junior (11th grade) scholar being a part of the Direct Admission process, please fill out the Opt- Out Form linked below.

SPASD Direct Admit Opt-Out form

Linked below is the district website about Direct Admission information:

Direct Admission district website information

Xello Reminder

XELLO is the SPASD Academic and Career Planning software tool used to help students plan for their future. Students can access XELLO by logging in to MySP and clicking on the Xello icon, or by clicking the link provided. Each year and grade level, lessons are released in XELLO that need to be completed. You do not have to go back to complete lessons from prior grades, only the grade you are currently in.

ATTENTION SENIORS! The Sun Prairie area Local Scholarships have now been posted and are available on this website:

https://sites.google.com/sunprairieschools.org/localscholarships2026

The absolute deadline for these is January 31st. Many require a letter of recommendation and some require an essay or essays. Get started now!

An infinite amount of scholarships are available outside of Sun Prairie.

Check out Mrs.Yang's scholarship website for many resources!

FREE Websites for Scholarship Searches

• Unigo
• 50+ Scholarships for Minority Students
• Fastweb
• BIG Future by College Board
• ScholarshipPoints
• StudentScholarships.org
• WEOP (Wisconsin Education Opportunity Programs)
• ScholarsApp

Please visit the SPASD Local and Support Resources website for more information about community resources.

Picture Packet Vouchers- If you would like to order a printed picture packet of school pictures, we have vouchers available to cover the cost of a small packet! Please email Ellie Donaldson at ehdonal@sunprairieschools.org!

Reaching Out for Resources - In light of the potential of some federal benefits pausing soon, I would like to remind our families that they are always welcome to reach out to discuss resources they may need. As our social worker, my job is to help address barriers to education, including economic, social, and cultural hardships that many of us are feeling. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at (608) 501-1506 or ehdonal@sunprairieschools.org. Also, a reminder that we do have a food pantry and clothing closet on campus. Please reach out to me or Ayanna Hale at ashale@sunprairieschools.org to shop.

Other resources:

https://sunshineplace.org/

https://energyandhousing.wi.gov/Pages/AgencyResources/energy-assistance.aspx

https://danebhrc.org/

https://publichealthmdc.com/documents/food_resource_guide_eng.pdf

Preliminary transportation information is viewable in Infinite Campus by logging into Campus Parent, clicking on ‘More’, then choosing the Transportation tab. If the bus stop does not look accurate, please contact Kobussen. Pickup and drop-off times are continually changing as new students enroll and other students move out of the district.

This year, High School students will NOT receive bus tags. Students will need to be able to show their bus assignment through Infinite Campus when asked. Once the bus information is available, take a picture of it and add it to your favorites for easy access.

Please contact Brinda Thompson at brinda.thompson@kobussen.com or (608) 825-8700 ext. 5509 if you have questions or concerns about your child’s bus route or stop. If you have any other questions related to busing, please contact either Lisa Sprindis at lasprin@sunprairieschools.org or Rhonda Page at rspage@sunprairieschools.org. If your child is NOT going to ride the bus but is eligible, please stop by the bus table at Registration or reach out to one of the people above.

At PPA, we have a pantry with household grocery options, including fridge/freezer selections! Families are welcome to access the pantry.

We also have a clothing closet that is OVERFLOWING! Come shop for clothing for the warmer seasons.

Please reach out to Ayanna Hale, ashale@sunprairieschools.org, or call (608) 834-6900 to ask about shopping.

Email: ntbarre@sunprairieschools.org
Website: https://www.sunprairieschools.org/prairie-phoenix-academy-home
Location: 220 Kroncke Drive, Suite 13 Sun Prairie, WI 53590, USA
Phone:608-834-6900 ext. 5210