High School Newsletter - October 2013

SPHS 1st Quarter Newsletter

2013-14 School Year

Administrative and Front Office Support Staff

Chad Harnisch Principal 608-643-5620 chad.harnisch@saukprairieschools.org	Marcia Colby Administrative Assistant to Principal 608-643-5904 FAX: 608-643-5419 marcia.colby@saukprairieschools.org	Shari Diehl Receptionist 608-643-5900 FAX: 608-643-5419 shari.diehl@saukprairieschools.org
Shane Been Assistant Principal 608-643-5911 shane.been@saukprairieschools.org	Rita Henn Administrative Assistant to A.P. 608-643-5997 rita.henn@saukprairieschools.org	Aaron Braund Athletic Director 608-643-5906 aaron.braund@saukprairieschools.org
Laurie Genthe Assistant Principal/Counselor 608-643-5912 laurie.genthe@saukprairieschools.org	Joleen Lins Attendance 608-643-5902 joleen.lins@saukprairieschools.org	Julie Lamberty Administrative Assistant to A.D. 608-643-5903 julia.lamberty@saukprairieschools.org
Martha Allan School Nurse 608-643-5628 martha.allan@saukprairieschools.org	Katy Carter Police Liaison Officer 608-643-5913 katy.carter@saukprairieschools.org	Shar Staadt-Scherschel School Psychologist 608-643-5909 shar.staadt@saukprairieschools.org

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL:

Hello, as many of you already know, I am Chad Harnisch and I am the new principal of SPHS. I can’t tell you how excited I am for the opportunity to work in a school with such talented students and staff. I am confident that we are on the cusp of moving from being a really good school to a great school. That is mainly a result of the hard work of our faculty, our students, and in many cases by you, their parents, over the last five decades. I have seven years experience in secondary leadership, fifteen years working in Wisconsin high schools, and twenty years of working with youth; I am confident I can bring a few new ideas to our school, working with the staff already here, and by engaging your children in their learning, we will create a high school that is the envy of the state!!

One of the things I believe has to happen as we journey towards that model is an increased transparency in how we do business. To that end, we will be producing a newsletter, at least once per quarter, to send to parents and guardians in an attempt to keep you all better informed about the activities at SPHS. We will try hard to have this newsletter be of value to you, both in communicating simple information, but also to give you a preview about some of the things we are thinking about doing differently as a school.

Additionally, I maintain a SPHS Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SaukPrairieHighSchool), a Twitter feed (@principal_sphs) and a blog (www.sphseaglesview.blogspot.com). Daily, I use each of these venues to publish information about what is happening in our school, to share links to things I am reading and thinking about with regard to the future of education, and to share my own thoughts about our school, our faculty, and our students. I encourage you to check out one or more of these social media options to increase your awareness of the work being done at SPHS.

Thanks for listening and for entrusting in me the awesome responsibility of leading this high school. I promise we won’t let you down and that we will provide the best possible learning experience for every child you send to us. If at anytime you have concerns you need addressed or successes you want to share, don’t hesitate to contact me at the high school.

ARP - ACADEMIC RESOURCE PERIOD

ARP is an opportunity for all students at SPHS to have a common resource period (study hall) where every teacher in the building is available to them.  ARP was implemented at SPHS in the 2012-13 school year. ARP was successfully used by some students, but many more did not use it to its full potential. In an attempt to rectify this, we began the fall with a much different look to ARP. We assigned everyone to an academic study hall, eliminated much of the movement around the building in an attempt to create a quieter, more professional atmosphere, and to limit access to distractions like music players and electronic devices.

Over the last five weeks, after listening to feedback from staff, students, and parents, we have had a committee working on a second revision to ARP.   The most common student complaints heard were: 1. “quietly listening to music helps me focus on my work” and 2. “I need to be able to get help from more than 1 teacher.”  The most frequent staff issue was: “I need to be able to have access to those students who are struggling in my class and require them to see me.”

So we are implementing the changes below beginning October 7, 2014; we will continue to review how ARP is working for students and staff, and we will be responsive and make any changes that make sense and allow us to continue to meet the goals of ARP. We encourage you to share your opinion on how ARP is working with your student’s ARP teacher or with Mr. Harnisch

ARP Study Hall

All students, 9-12th, will be assigned to a required ARP Study Hall, grouped by grade level.

          

  Expectations of students

• Come prepared to work silently
• Get any passes needed for travel during the 10-minute passing period prior to ARP.
• Get permission of teacher to use any personal electronic device. (Device can only be used for academic use, or for non-disruptive personal music listening.)

  Expectations of Staff

• Maintain a quiet, professional environment.
• Allow group work at your discretion for legitimate academic reasons
• Allow use of electronic devices for academic use, that is not disruptive to other students. (Personal music listening may be considered as long as it is not disruptive.)
• Students may only travel with a pass from a teacher. It is the student’s responsibility to bring a pass to ARP. Students may use up to two passes during ARP, moving to the second option only on the mid-period passing bell.
• Because of extended passing time immediately before ARP, there is no need for a student to travel for ANY reason other than a pre-arranged pass.
• Weekly check-in with every student, with academic monitoring.
• Interact with kids. This period is designed to focus on the immediate needs of students.

Required Resource

• Purpose = Giving teachers autonomy and authority to see those students in need of immediate, course-specific assistance

• Any teacher can assign any student to a "required resource"

• May be for specific “Current” course specific concerns or to address earning credit from a previously failed course.
• Required resource is for teachers to have additional time working with any student who is missing work, struggling in class, failing the class
• Any student failing to attend a "required resource" will automatically sacrifice all privileges to travel during ARP except for a “required resource”, for a period of two weeks.  

ACT SUITE of TESTS - OCTOBER 16th, 2013

We recently shared that in preparation for the full, statewide implementation of the ACT Suite of assessments in 2014-15, Sauk Prairie High School would run a trial of the EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT this fall. The most common question we received back was, “Is this ACT one my junior can use as an official score to report to colleges?” Unfortunately, that answer is no. We are using a practice test because the ACT administration is rigidly controlled and can only be given at a certified testing site on specific testing days. We are partnering with Kaplan, a test prep provider, to use an expired version of the ACT. The score we get back from Kaplan will be a good estimate of how your junior would do if they took the assessment soon, but it is not official.

Below is a rough draft of the schedule for each class on the day of testing. Please note that the day is an optional attendance day for seniors. We have worked with a number of post-secondary options to plan a menu of choices for seniors. All seniors will be getting an email in their school account with a Google Form to sign up for the options of their choice.

Freshmen

8:00 - 11:35 AM          Explore - with ARP teacher   

11:40 - 12:25 PM        Lunch

12:30 -  1:00 PM         School Satisfaction Survey

1:05 -  1:50 PM           Assembly - Words of Wisdom and Raffle - in south gym
1:55 pm                       Early Dismissal - PLC Day

Sophomores

8:00 - 11:35 AM          Plan - with ARP teacher

11:40 - 12:25  PM       Lunch

12:30 -  1:00 PM         School Satisfaction Survey

1:05 -  1:50 PM           Assembly - Words of Wisdom and Raffle - in south gym

1:55 PM                      Early Dismissal - PLC Day

Juniors

8:00 - 11:35 AM          ACT - with ARP teacher

11:40 - 12:25 PM        Lunch

12:30 -  1:00 PM         School Satisfaction Survey

1:05 -  1:50 PM           Assembly - Words of Wisdom and Raffle - in south gym

1:55 PM                      Early Dismissal - PLC Day

Seniors (Optional attendance day)

8:35 - 11:35 AM          College and Career Fair

11:40 - 12:25  PM       Lunch

12:30 - 1:00 PM          School Crisis  

1:05 - 1:50 PM            Assembly - Words of Wisdom and Raffle - in south gym

1:55 PM                      Early Dismissal - PLC Day

ATTENDANCE REMINDERS:

Parents should call 643-5902 (24 hour line) by 9:00 a.m. on the day of the absence to report the absence and the reason for the absence. Requests to excuse an absence without stating the reason for the absence may be considered unexcused.

Please note: Decisions about excused or unexcused are made by the school attendance officer, not by parents or guardians.

COUNSELING DEPARTMENT

Stacy Chrisler Counseling Secretary 608-643-5910 Fax:608-643-5419 stacy.chrisler@saukprairieschools.org	Tonya Lassanske Counseling Department Chair Last Names N-Z 608-643-5998 tonya.lassanske@saukprairieschools.org
Owen Murphy Counselor Last Names A-H 608-643-5649 owen.murphy@saukprairieschools.org	Laurie Genthe Counselor / AP Last Names I-M 608-643-5912 laurie.genthe@saukprairieschools.org

COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESS

TRANSCRIPTS - An official transcript of the complete high school record (beginning with grade 9) is required as a part of the application process for both the UW System and the Wisconsin Technical College System.

Transcript requests will now be submitted online through a new service called Parchment.  This service will allow students and graduates the ability to send transcripts electronically 24/7/365 eliminating the need to contact the counseling office or to wait for school hours.  Transcripts will also arrive faster and the chance of them being misfiled will be greatly reduced.  Cost for this service will be $2.55 for each electronic transcript and $4.25 for each transcript if they need to be mailed.  Transcripts can be requested at www.parchment.com

If an applicant completed any course work through a college or university while enrolled in high school, contact the college or university to request that an official transcript be sent directly to each UW System campus to which the individual is applying.

UW SYSTEM / PRIVATE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS - Applications for admission are processed by UW System campuses beginning September 15 for the following fall semester. New freshman applicants should meet priority or deadline dates to ensure full consideration for admission. All new freshman applicants are required to submit a nonrefundable $44 application fee with each application for admission. All applications can be done online at www.apply.wisc.edu

TEST SCORES - The UW System requires new freshman applicants to submit the results of the ACT or SAT. We recommend that high school students complete the ACT or SAT in the spring of their junior year and have the results sent to the appropriate UW System campus(es).Both the SAT and ACT include a Writing Test; however, the ACT Writing Test is optional while the SAT Writing Test is a part of the SAT assessment and is not optional. UW-Madison is the only UW System campus that requires the ACT with the Writing Test and/or the SAT. Test scores can be requested for the ACT at  www.actstudent.org  or the SAT at www.sat.collegeboard.org

MADISON COLLEGE ADMISSIONS - Application dates at Madison College are variable depending on the program.  Some high demand programs close admissions the third Monday in October. Check the availability and admission requirements for the program or certificate you are interested in to make sure that the program or certificate is accepting applications and that you are qualified to apply. High-demand programs may have a wait list. To apply for program admission or for additional program information please visit the Madison College website at www.madisoncollege.edu

COMPASS TESTING - The Compass is an admissions/placement test that is required prior to application for many Madison College programs. To access the compass testing schedule please visit the Madison College website http://madisoncollege.edu/compass-information

ACT 2013-2014 TEST DATES

Test Date                              Registration Deadline         (Late Fee Required)

October 26, 2013                 September 27, 2013            September 28–October 11, 2013

December 14, 2013             November 8, 2013               November 9–22, 2013

February 8, 2014*               January 10, 2014                  January 11–24, 2014

April 12, 2014                      March 7, 2014                       March 8–21, 2014

June 14, 2014                       May 9, 2014                          May 10–23, 2014

JUNIOR/SENIOR PARENT NIGHT - This yearly post-secondary planning workshop for parents of juniors/seniors was held on Monday September 16th. If you were unable to attend, please check out the resource link from our web-page and feel free to call us with questions. http://www.saukpr.k12.wi.us/high/resources.cfm

PSAT - The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholastic Qualifying Test (PSAT/MNSQT) will be offered at Sauk Prairie High School on Wednesday, October 16^th, 2013.  Juniors generally take this test as a practice test for college entrance exams and to qualify for National Merit Scholarships.  Students should consider taking this test if they are in the top 10% of their class, test well, are planning to take the SAT (most Midwestern colleges and the UW System prefer the ACT for admission), or are taking advanced course work in the core academic areas.

Parents often ask if their son or daughter would benefit from taking this test.  A couple of reasons why a student would take the test would be to qualify for a National Merit Scholarship or as a preparation for the SAT test, which is a college entrance exam.   Very few students at Sauk Prairie take the SAT college entrance exam; the majority elect to take the ACT test.

National Merit Scholarship recognition is another reason to take the PSAT/NMSQT.  Students who are awarded the scholarship must qualify at or close to the 99^th percentile of college-bound students. Students who qualify for the scholarship typically are avid readers and good writers who take advanced math classes and have scored very highly on previous standardized tests.

Cost for taking the test is $15 (Check payable to: Sauk Prairie High School).  Registration will be limited to 35 students on a first-come, first-served basis.  Registration will begin toward the end of September.   If you have any questions about the test, feel free to contact the counseling department at 643-5910.     
WKCE - WKCE tests are Tuesday, November 12th and Wednesday, November 13th. Only Sophomores need to attend the mornings of those two days. All students will attend in the afternoons. We will send out more information in a few weeks.

YOUTH OPTIONS - The Youth Options program allows all public high school juniors and seniors who meet certain requirements to take postsecondary courses at institutions of higher education.  Students may take classes that are beyond the scope and sequence offered at the high school. The program opens the door to greater learning opportunities for students who are considering a technical career, wishing to begin college early or wanting to prepare to enter the workforce immediately after high school graduation. The application deadline for the Spring semester is October 1st.  Please see Mr. Murphy in the counseling office if you would like more information.

CAREER INFORMATION - Please visit the following website for information on accessing Career Cruising and other important career information: http://www.saukpr.k12.wi.us/high/career.cfm

SCHOLARSHIPS - Many scholarship applications are already available.  Please see our website for more information.

PLEASE VISIT THE COUNSELING DEPARTMENT WEBSITE AT:

http://www.saukpr.k12.wi.us/high/counseling.cfm

WINTER SPORTS -

Are you interested in participating in a winter sport?

Monday, November 4th, the Sauk Prairie High School Athletic Department will be holding a MANDATORY ONE NIGHT registration sign-up for anyone interested in participating in winter sports (this meeting is for students and parents). Beginning at 6:30 we will be collecting forms and payments in the high school commons; individual team meetings will follow.

Required forms can be found on our website to fill out ahead of time; and will also be available registration night. If your student has necessary paperwork turned into the athletic office for a fall 2013 sport; the following forms can be carried over to a winter sport if you do not have any updates.

• Medical history/consent for emergency treatment
• WIAA physical form
• Athletic Code/WIAA eligibility
• Payments and concussion agreement forms must be completed for each season.
• Fees are as follows:
• Basketball, girls/boys- $70
• Wrestling- $70
• Hockey- girls $400, boys $450
• Swimming- $70
• Gymnastics- $70
• Dance- TBD

If you have any questions, please contact Julie in the athletic office at :

E: julia.lamberty@saukprairieschools.org
P: 643-5903