Memorial Day - Is coming up and unofficially marks the end of the school year and begins the anticipation of the start of summer. I wish all West families a wonderful summer! Please remember this holiday is about remembering those throughout the almost 248-year history of our nation who made the ultimate sacrifice to give their lives in defense of it for the freedoms we enjoy every day!
Teacher Appreciation Week Follow-Up- I did send a thank you email to families for showing your support of our staff with your donations for Teacher Appreciation Week last week. Just wanted to say it again!! Thank you for your support!
Locker Clean Out - Just a reminder that the first date of lockercleanout will be Monday, May 20th during Homeroom. Students during the first part of Homeroom will quietly and swiftly start lockercleanout. There will be large garbage cans in the hallways and staff will help supervise to keep this moving fast, the noise level to a minimum and so students do not leave a mess behind. Students are the responsible after this to get things they missed cleaned out by June 3rd as we will be cleaning out everything left behind to donate what we can or discard items as needed.
Early Release Schedule for Friday, May 24th - This is your friendly reminder that we have an early release Friday schedule for all students on Friday, May 24th. The schedule for that day is below.
Final Exam Schedule - The Semester II Final Exam schedule is below and also linked here.
Graduation 2024 - Graduation day for all three Waukesha Legacy high schools will be Saturday, June 8th, 2024. Waukesha West High School will be holding graduation ceremonies in the West Fieldhouse on this date beginning at 11:00 A.M. As we are one community divided into three high schools, graduation times among all three high schools are staggered to enable friends and family to attend multiple ceremonies if they so choose. South High School ceremonies will begin at 9:00 A.M. and North High School ceremonies will begin at 1:00 P.M. on this date. Please begin informing friends and family who will be attending! Access this link to see all things our Graduates must do to prepare for graduation!
By earning a national ranking in the top 40%, West High School achieved status as a U.S. News Best High School and gained eligibility to display a U.S. News-trademarked 2023-2024 Best High Schools award “badge” (logo). Waukesha West High School was ranked as number 2,285 out of 17,660 high schools nationally and number 68 out of 569 high schools statewide based on U.S. News criteria. That puts West High School in the top 13% of schools in our nation and the top 12% in our state!!
West Scholarship & Awards Night - On Wednesday, May 29th we will have the honor to recognize West Senior students who will be attending colleges and universities and the scholarship/awards they earned for attending. West students collectively will be receiving over 1 million dollars for their post-secondary education!! I want to recognize this event and all of the hard work that has been put in by the students who will be recognized!
Seal of Biliteracy & Global Scholars - On Wednesday evening May 29th, we will celebrate West's Seal of Biliteracy recipients and Global Scholars. We commend these students for their hard work, academic achievement, and commitment to multilingualism. Students who achieve this honor will receive a cord of distinction for our graduation ceremonies. Félicitations! Félicidades! Congratulations!
What are these awards:
Seal of Biliteracy: Awarded to seniors by school districts, as approved by the State of Wisconsin, in 49 States who are able to demonstrate achievement:
a Level 4 or above on the AP Spanish or French Assessment, or a Level IH on all indicators of the AAPPL Assessment (for languages other than these, contact D)
A score of 18 or higher on the ACT ELA or Reading Sections, or if an English Learner of Former English Learner, am Access Score of 4 or above.
An essay in English and an essay in the partner language following specific prompt guidelines.
The Distinguished Seal of Biliteracy, in addition:
Requires a Level 5 on the AP test or levels IH and Superior on the AAPPL test.
Global Scholars Award:Awarded to seniors by the State of Wisconsin who are able to demonstrate completion and participation:
Course Completion which includes:
4 years of the equivalent of one World Language
Meet graduation course requirements
Submits 8 independent reviews (4 media/community reviews, and 4 text reviews)
Completes 20 hrs of service learning in Waukesha dedicated to advancing issues impacting our global community (must be approved)
2024 - 2025 Board-Approved School Calendar - Below is the board-approved calendar for the 24-25 school year and you can access it through this link or through the West website.
Principal Advisory Committee - The Principal Advisory Council for 2023-2024 met most recently on Wednesday, May 18th. The meeting minutes for our April 17th meeting are linked here. I will share the May meeting minutes when they are complete. This was our final meeting of the year and I want to thank the members of the council who gave up their time on Wednesday nights to represent our parent community who are listed below!! Thank you!!
Purpose Corner - With Spring upon us, I want to remind students and families about our dress code policy. Our school has a dress code under the same premise that any business or workplace etc. will have a dress code. Below is the partial narrative from our "Student Handbook" on Dress & Grooming expectations. Here isthe link to our handbookand alink to School Board Policy 5511on Dress & Grooming for anyone to reference.
Students are prohibited from the wearing of hats, hoods, or other headwear (including hoodies) and coats or jackets in school on regular school days. The Principal of any school may allow exceptions to this policy for any legitimate reason (religious, medical, or otherwise) or in the celebration of a specified pep rally, spirit day, or hat day.
Any clothing, jewelry, body art, or any accessory advertising alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs are at a counter purpose with district AODA programs and therefore deemed inappropriate. Students should dress appropriately for school and must refrain from wearing items that display excessive midriffs, low-cut tops, and undergarments.Students who violate the above rules/guidance will not be admitted to class and may be suspended from school.
Teacher Appreciation Week! - I have sent a couple of emails to West families about this week, so please check your inbox and calendar this week if you would like to show some appreciation!!
Graduation 2024 - Graduation day for all three Waukesha Legacy high schools will be Saturday, June 8th, 2024. Waukesha West High School will be holding graduation ceremonies in the West Fieldhouse on this date beginning at 11:00 A.M. As we are one community divided into three high schools, graduation times among all three high schools are staggered to enable friends and family to attend multiple ceremonies if they so choose. South High School ceremonies will begin at 9:00 A.M. and North High School ceremonies will begin at 1:00 P.M. on this date. Please begin informing friends and family who will be attending! Access this link to see all things our Graduates must do to prepare for graduation!
Senior Vs. Staff Basketball Game- This game was played on Friday, April 5th and The West High staff wins again!!!! Not sure what the final score was, but I will say the students put up a good fight and stayed around longer than any teams have in the past!!In previous blog posts in years prior, I have shared a picture of me after our championship games holding the trophy! I am 81% sure this is me again with our newest championship trophy, though I do not really even resemble my school picture! Way to go West staff!!
Scholarship Blog is active!! - This scholarship blog site is linked here and is accessible through our school website. Students can search for all the different scholarships available such as West only, Local, WEF (Waukesha Educational Foundation), State, and National scholarships. Pay close attention to deadlines as some applications will not be available until the New Year. You can also sign up to receive email alerts each time a new scholarship is uploaded. Please see Mrs. Brown in Student Services with any questions or email her at jbrown@waukesha.k12.wi.us
MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) is coming for students! - Starting this month we are rolling out Multifactor Authentication (MFA) to high school student accounts. West students start this through their homerooms. What is MFA you ask? Think of it as having a second key to your school account. Right now, you have one key or factor to your account; your password. But passwords can get leaked or guessed and that is where your second factor is going to come in. In the form of a device notification with your district iPad. You can read about it more here: What is Multifactor Authentication
Why:
Many of you probably already use MFA for Xbox accounts, college courses from other schools or maybe even online banking. Many places already require this to keep your information safe and we are following suit. Your school and personal information is very important to guard so this is why we are taking this safeguard step. Staff here at SDW already have to use MFA to access the same resources as you. In the modern world with the increase of cyber crime, this is no longer a general precaution but a must.
Dates: Each Grade level will have a different date in which MFA will be enabled for their account.
What will I use to set up MFA?
You will use the Microsoft Authenticator app. It is already installed on your district iPad.
How do I set up MFA? We have directions to set up MFA for whichever device you want to use. Directions are here We find it easier to use two different devices to set up MFA. One device that will be used to authenticate (your iPad) and another to try to log into which will prompt you with the directions.
¿Qué usaré para configurar la autenticación multifactor (MFA)?
Utilizará la aplicación Microsoft Authenticator. Ya está instalado en el iPad de su distrito.
¿Cómo debe configurar la autenticación multifactor (MFA)? Tenemos las instrucciones para configurar la autenticación multifactor (MFA) para cualquier dispositivo que desees utilizar. Las instrucciones están aquí. Hemos determinado que es más fácil utilizar dos dispositivos diferentes para configurar la autenticación multifactor (MFA). Un dispositivo que se utilizará para autenticarse (puede ser tu iPad) y otro dispositivo para intentar iniciar una sesión y te indicará las instrucciones. Tendremos un Chromebook designado en la biblioteca para ayudar con esto.
¿Cuándo se me pedirá que me autentique?
Solamente se requerirá la autenticación multifactor (MFA) cuando intentes tener acceso a tus cuentas escolares cuando estés fuera de la escuela. Esto le proporcionará a tu cuenta una protección adicional contra intrusos externos, pero no ocasionará ningún retraso mientras estás en la escuela. ¿Cuándo tengo que hacer esto?
Desde el día de inicio mencionado anteriormente, tendrás dos semanas para configurarlo antes de que te obligue a configurarlo antes de poder ingresar. Tendrás la opción de omitir esto por un momento, pero ¡te recomendamos que lo hagas lo más pronto posible!
Más preguntas: Puede visitar a la Sra. Lucey en la Biblioteca para obtener ayuda o si tienes cualquier otra pregunta.
2024 - 2025 Board-Approved School Calendar - Below is the board-approved calendar for the 24-25 school year and you can access it through this link or through the West website.
Principal Advisory Committee - The Principal Advisory Council for 2023-2024 met last on Wednesday, February 21st, 2024, and did not meet in March due to my being ill on our scheduled meeting day. We are meeting this Wednesday, April 17th.Please contact any one of the representatives (below) to bring up topics or questions you have to bring forward for the meeting in April.
"Mock Block Schedule" for the week of March 18th, 2024 - The schedule below is what is referenced in the video and transcript as to what schedule we will follow the week of March 18th, 2024.
Girls Cheer - State Runner-Up!! - Congratulations to our Varsity Cheerleaders for taking 2nd place in the "Game Day" division at the WACPC State Cheer Championship this past weekend! Also a big shout-out to Kaitlyn Krause for being selected for the WACPC All-State Team!
eSports at State!! - Congratulations to the Waukesha West Esports team for placing 12th in the State eSports tournament! Go Wolverines!!
Individual West Wrestlers to State!! - Congratulations to our 9 West wrestlers who punched their ticket to the WIAA individual State wrestling tournament this past weekend held at the Kohl Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. West had the most individuals represent any one school in Division 1 at the tournament! Congratulations on a great season!
State Send-Offs - If you were not aware, we get to send off any of our competitive club or athletic teams to their State competitions. We have parents and family come in to see it as well and it is a great moment for students to be recognized for their hard work and accomplishments. Below is a video I took today as members of our FBLA headed out to their State competition, for you to have a glimpse into the send-off celebration!
West End Players - "Miss Holmes" - "Miss Holmes" is a captivating play that puts a fresh twist on the classic Sherlock Holmes stories. Follow the brilliant detective duo, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson, as they solve a mysterious case involving a string of murders. With its clever storytelling, strong female leads, and suspenseful plot, Miss Holmes is a thrilling and empowering theatrical experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Tickets are on sale for the performances on March 8th,9th, and 10th!
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Waukesha West was one of only 29 schools nationwide to be allowed to perform this play! This reflects the quality drama program we have here at Waukesha West High School. It will be performed in the fall of 2024. Below are the links for three articles about it by local media:
ACT Day - Junior Information! - The ACT test continues to be a piece of the puzzle when it comes to college admissions. Though some colleges have moved to put little or no emphasis on it, many colleges still have a minimum ACT score they require for admission. The State of Wisconsin mandates that all high school Juniors in the state take this test annually. The nice thing is that they fund this mandated test and also allow students to take the ACT again on a national test date immediately after the State test date. This year our Juniors will take the test on Tuesday, April 9th, 2024 here at West. The information has been sent to Junior students in preparation for the test on this day. More info will be sent out to 9th and 10th-grade students and families who will also be participating in school-wide testing on this day.
Graduation 2024 - Graduation day for all three Waukesha Legacy high schools will be Saturday, June 8th, 2024. Waukesha West High School will be holding graduation ceremonies in the West Fieldhouse on this date beginning at 11:00 A.M. As we are one community divided into three high schools, graduation times among all three high schools are staggered to enable friends and family to attend multiple ceremonies if they so choose. South High School ceremonies will begin at 9:00 A.M. and North High School ceremonies will begin at 1:00 P.M. on this date. Please begin informing friends and family who will be attending!
Scholarship Blog is active!! - This scholarship blog site is linked here and is accessible through our school website. Students can search for all the different scholarships available such as West only, Local, WEF (Waukesha Educational Foundation), State, and National scholarships. Pay close attention to deadlines as some applications will not be available until the New Year. You can also sign up to receive email alerts each time a new scholarship is uploaded. Please see Mrs. Brown in Student Services with any questions or email her at jbrown@waukesha.k12.wi.us
2024 - 2025 Board-Approved School Calendar - Below is the board-approved calendar for the 24-25 school year and you can access it through this link or through the West website.
Principal Advisory Committee - The Principal Advisory Council for 2023-2024 met last week on Wednesday, February 21st, 2024. Please reach out to one of your reps with any specific questions, as we do not have minutes for the meeting. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 20th, 2024. Please contact any one of the representatives (below) to bring up topics or questions you have to bring forward for the meeting in March.
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