Rising from the Prairie

Oct. 16, 2025

Greetings, PPA Caregivers, Families, and Friends

My name is Mikki Smith, and I'm delighted to introduce myself as acting principal for the next six weeks.

My primary focus is to provide stability and support, ensuring the excellent work already underway continues seamlessly. Our dedicated teachers and staff are fully committed to delivering engaging, quality instruction and the necessary resources so that every student continues to progress in their learning.

It's been a true joy to see our students in action—their energy, curiosity, and kindness make PPA a truly special place. I am so happy to be here and look forward to partnering with all of you.

Warmly,

Mikki Smith

Acting Principal

Prairie Phoenix Academy & Alternative Programs

October 20th - Picture retake day

October 22nd - PSAT (Optional test for Juniors- pre-registration required)

October 23rd and 24th - Caregiver/Teacher conferences

October 24th - No school

Homecoming Dates -SPWH

• October 16th- SP West Homecoming Dance TICKET SALE closes- 12:00 pm (HARD DEADLINE- no exceptions)- NOON

• October 17th- Homecoming Game at 7:00 pm Bank of Sun Prairie Stadium

• October 18th- SP West Homecoming Dance 7:00-10:00 pm at West

As we all prepare for our fall schedules, starting the first day of school on September 2nd, our building hours are as follows:

• The building opens at 8:30. Students may enter the building at 8:35 and will remain in the Cafeteria from 9:00. Students may eat breakfast and socialize in the Cafe. At 8:45, students may begin to move to their classes.

• Suppose your transportation situation makes it impossible to drop off your students later than 8:30. In that case, they will be allowed to stand in the vestibule (between the glass doors) until 8:35, particularly on inclement weather days.

• Building Closes at 4:00 PM: The building closes daily at 4:00 PM. All students must be accompanied by an adult (coach, club/activity, 5th hour tutoring, etc.) or leave the building for safety, as we do not have supervision available after 4:00 pm.

Please plan rides and drop-off/pick-up accordingly.

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.

Parents & Caregivers, Thank you for supporting your scholar during the fall PreACT assessment. We are grateful for the way our students showed effort and focus during testing. Student Reports have been mailed home.

Results are also available online. To view your scholar’s report:

1. Go to https://nextpath.app/login.

2. Select “log in with email” under the Guardian option.

1. The first time you sign in, you will be asked to confirm some information for your child(ren).

2. Once logged in, select PreACT Local.

The Student Report includes:

• Subject and Composite Scores

• Readiness Benchmarks

• National Percentile Rank

• Predicted ACT Score

• STEM score (Science and Math)

• Progress Toward Career Readiness

You can learn more about these scores here: Using Your PreACT Results.

Because the PreACT is similar to the ACT, these resources can help students plan and prepare for spring testing: Test Prep, Kaplan Test Prep, & ACT practice test. Students also have free access to ACT and SAT prep through Methodize, which can be found under the Resources tab on Xello (available on school-issued devices).

The score report is only one piece of your scholar’s learning story. Their growth also shows up in the classroom—through teacher observations, daily work, and other assessments collected across the school year. We look forward to supporting and celebrating their growth throughout the year.

• We began by watching some videos of astronauts in space with zero gravity (like characters in the book are experiencing). Astronauts squeezed liquid into the air and watched the bubble float until they ate it. In another video, we watched an astronaut make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It isn't as easy as when we make one with gravity!
• We reviewed the study questions (#1-7) through the first three chapters (Your face is not an organ, Impact, Juice).
• A Dictionary of Slang - we found the futuristic vocab words in the text through the first 20 pages in the pdf. Based on the context of the text with the word, we determined the definition or similar word used in today's world. Finally, students wrote a sample sentence using the futuristic word.

Students researched careers to prepare themselves for a real world experience that will take place at PPA on November 19. Other learning will include researching and finding housing (buy or rent), transportation (used or new, or taxi), learning about taxes related to paychecks, and many more!

Students finish up their triangles and trig unit by building bridges out of toothpicks and elmers glue. Since triangles are the strongest shape, they were able to incorporate everything we learned to make strong bridges. And, they all survived holding the bucket of marbles!

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.

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!

Field trips to 911 Communications Call Center in Madison and Rock Climbing was for our Career Association Bootcamp.

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