Friday, May 28, 2021

Final, Final blog post for 2021!!!!

 I decided to do one more post for the year as we had some things to celebrate that I did not get to in my previous post, enjoy and have a great summer!!


Graduation Information (Updated) - Graduation ceremonies for all three Waukesha legacy high schools will be on Saturday, June 12th, with West High School starting at 9:00 A.M., South High School at 10:30 A.M., and North High School starting at 12:00 P.M. All ceremonies are initially scheduled to be outside and have an unlimited capacity for guests attending. Below is the letter that has been updated based on the recent mitigation policy change and was sent to all graduates and their families with details and is also linked here. This letter is also currently accessible through our school's website.




Semester II Exam Schedule - This schedule is also available through the West website by clicking on the "Calendars/Schedules" heading.




Seal of Bi-Literacy - On Wednesday, May 19th, West High School recognized and honored an elite group of 16 students who earned the Seal of Biliteracy. This prestigious award was earned by students who have proven to be proficient in more than one language.  These students demonstrated their proficiency in the 4 areas of language- reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and expressed their ideas about bilingualism through essays in both English and their language of study.  Finally, they created and implemented a service project which focused on language or global citizenship.  They were awarded a certificate from the Department of Public Instruction, a Seal of Biliteracy medal, a yard sign, as well as a cord to wear at graduation. Congratulations!

4 Students - French - Maddie Krall, Natalie Smith, Kylie Homar,
Josie Holmstrom

10 Students - Spanish - Alia Cameron, Faith Gabel, Abby Klem,
                 Anika Patidar, Gabby Partida, Araceli
Rodriguez, Emma Ernst, Sofia Frank,
Jordan Kreisler, Avina Elangovan

1 Student - Tri-literate Spanish, French - Miranda Dorantes

1 Student - Tri-literate Spanish, Italian - Anna Hobbins



West Band Concert - On Sunday, May 23rd, 2021, the Waukesha West Bands held their end-of-year concert. Though the event had to be moved indoors due to weather, the trade-off was undoubtedly a better experience for those in attendance as being inside enhanced the robustness of the talented sound our bands produced. Enjoy some pictures of the concert below and you can access the performances on YouTube through this link!





West Choirs - On Saturday, May 22nd, 2021 the West Choirs performed their end-of-year concert in the West Fieldhouse. Please enjoy a picture and short video clip of the performance:





Ignition Mentor Program - On Friday, May 21st, 2021 our Ignition mentors were trained up to be top-notch mentors and leaders for our incoming Freshmen for this next school year. We partner up with FOCUS training for the benefit of growing leadership within our students. A shout out to the advisor, Mrs. Sue Purpi for all of her work and dedication to this great program, and a thank you to all staff and students who helped out to make this day a success. Enjoy the pics below:





Archived Announcements (Link) Please access this link to find all of the information in our daily announcements from previous weeks. 


GO WOLVERINES...WHOOP!!

Thursday, May 20, 2021

May 17th Weekly Blog (Thursday Edition)(FINAL POST of 20-21)

 Purpose Corner - This week I provide my messaging around the recent school board decision to make masks optional for staff & students. Here is a link to the transcript of this video.




Graduation Information - Graduation ceremonies for all three Waukesha legacy high schools will be on Saturday, June 12th, with West High School starting at 9:00 A.M., South High School at 10:30 A.M., and North High School starting at 12:00 P.M. All ceremonies are initially scheduled to be outside and have an unlimited capacity for guests attending. Below is the letter that has been updated based on the recent mitigation policy change and was sent to all graduates and their families with details and is also linked here. This letter is also currently accessible through our school's website.






Schedule for the Week of May 24th - Friday, May 28th is a half-day for students. Because of this, we will have an alternate schedule for this half-day. All other days of the week will run per usual but Friday, May 28th will have shortened periods. Please see below. This schedule is also available through the West website by clicking on the "Calendars/Schedules" heading. 




Semester II Exam Schedule - This schedule is also available through the West website by clicking on the "Calendars/Schedules" heading.

 


AP Pacesetter Recognition - The Wisconsin Advanced Placement Advisory Council (WAPAC) recently announced the 2020 Advanced Placement Pacesetter Awards. WAPAC is comprised of Wisconsin secondary and collegiate educators that are dedicated to expanding access to Advanced Placement (AP) coursework and rigorous learning for all students. The Pacesetter Awards are unique to Wisconsin. They recognize schools for promoting both access to and excellence in AP courses. Schools are acknowledged for their efforts at three different levels. West High School was recognized at level 1 which is the highest level! Approximately 150 schools meet the criteria for recognition at one of the levels. West was 1 of 20 schools to receive level 1 distinction which puts us in the top 13% of all schools that qualify. This is a community celebration!!






U.S. News High School Rankings - Today U.S. News & World Report published their rankings for nearly 18,000 public high schools, accompanied by school-specific data on enrollment, graduation rates, student body demographics, free and reduced-price lunch, location, school type, and state assessment results. Waukesha West High School was ranked as number 1,579 out of 17,857 high schools nationally and number 38 out of 540 high schools statewide based on U.S. News criteria. That puts West High School in the top 9% of schools in our nation and the top 7% in our state!! This is a celebration of the entire West community!




Prom 2021!! - A big shout out to our students who continued a tradition of excellence and represented themselves well at our Prom this past weekend!!! A huge thank you to prom advisor Mrs. Bonnie Barkelar who coordinated the event here at West which was a change compared to previous years! Below are pictures of our Junior and Senior prom courts:




Senior Scholarship Night - We are so thankful to have been able to hand out awards and provide recognition to our Seniors last night during our Scholarship, Honors & Awards Night here at West!! The financial amount the students in attendance collectively earned for college total approximately 1 million dollars!! Please enjoy the pics below:






Speech Team - Congratulations to our Speech Team for their excellent performance at the Wisconsin State Speech Festival where they secured 3 gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 8 bronze medals!



Principal Advisory Committee - The Principal Advisory Council for 2020-2021 met for the final time Wednesday, May 19th, 2021. Please contact any one of the representatives (below) if you are interested in joining the committee for the next school year as they can provide insight into their experience. I will be sending out the sign up in late August. Please access the updated meeting minutes linked here:

Angela Schaaf
Cheryl Jeffers
cherylmjeffers@gmail.com
David Clark
superdavefive@gmail.com
Deshondria Baggett
deshondriabaggett@gmail.com
Karen Anderson
Kathleen Phelan
Talldoc@wi.rr.com
Michelle Kuokkanen
mkuokkanen@yahoo.com
Carri Marlow
carrimarlow@yahoo.com
Mercedes Rawson
Rawson96@wi.rr.com
Patti Bloom
pbloom27@wi.rr.com
Rebecca Flaherty
Becflaherty@gmail.com
Susan Fogelstrom

Archived Announcements (Link) Please access this link to find all of the information in our daily announcements from previous weeks. 


GO WOLVERINES...WHOOP!!

Monday, May 10, 2021

May 10th Weekly Blog


Graduation Information - Graduation ceremonies for all three Waukesha legacy high schools will be on Saturday, June 12th, with West High School starting at 9:00 A.M., South High School at 10:30 A.M., and North High School starting at 12:00 P.M. All ceremonies are initially scheduled to be outside and have an unlimited capacity for guests attending. Below is the letter that was sent to all graduates and their families with details and is also linked here:




Schedule for the Week of May 24th - Friday, May 28th is a half-day for students. Because of this, we will have an alternate schedule for this half-day. All other days of the week will run per usual but Friday, May 28th will have shortened periods. Please see below:




Semester II Exam Schedule - This schedule is available for all families and students through the West website:



Vendor Fair - Thank you to all staff, students, and community members who participated in our inaugural vendor fair this past weekend on our campus. The event was a fundraising event for our music department and was a success! Of course, there was a tent for choir, band, and orchestra students to perform! Please enjoy some pics from the event below:










U.S. News High School Rankings - Today U.S. News & World Report published their rankings for nearly 18,000 public high schools, accompanied by school-specific data on enrollment, graduation rates, student body demographics, free and reduced-price lunch, location, school type, and state assessment results. Waukesha West High School was ranked as number 1,579 out of 17,857 high schools nationally and number 38 out of 540 high schools statewide based on U.S. News criteria. That puts West High School in the top 9% of schools in our nation and the top 7% in our state!! This is a celebration of the entire West community!


Student & Family Support - This year is so very different from the effects of COVID on students and families in multiple ways. Please see the information below if you or anyone you know are in need of support:




COVID Process -  Here is the district  FAQ document that may help families understand that all the processes that West High School follow, come from our district and are not individually created by West. My role is to consistently follow these processes along with every other school in our district. 




School District COVID Dashboard - Our school district COVID dashboard is public for anyone to follow:

 

Please click here to access this link


Principal Advisory Committee - The Principal Advisory Council for 2020-2021 met on April 21st, 2021. Please contact any one of the representatives (below) with feedback and/or questions about anything West-related. Please access the updated meeting minutes linked here:

Angela Schaaf
Cheryl Jeffers
cherylmjeffers@gmail.com
David Clark
superdavefive@gmail.com
Deshondria Baggett
deshondriabaggett@gmail.com
Karen Anderson
Kathleen Phelan
Talldoc@wi.rr.com
Michelle Kuokkanen
mkuokkanen@yahoo.com
Carri Marlow
carrimarlow@yahoo.com
Mercedes Rawson
Rawson96@wi.rr.com
Patti Bloom
pbloom27@wi.rr.com
Rebecca Flaherty
Becflaherty@gmail.com
Susan Fogelstrom

Archived Announcements (Link) Please access this link to find all of the information in our daily announcements from previous weeks. 


GO WOLVERINES...WHOOP!!

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

May 3rd Weekly Blog (Tuesday Edition)

 Purpose Corner - This week once again I provide reminders of our mask-wearing expectations as we move into the final month of this school year. Here is a link to the transcript of this video.



Graduation Ceremony Information - Graduation ceremonies for all three Waukesha legacy high schools will be on Saturday, June 12th, with West High School starting at 9:00 A.M., South High School at 10:30 A.M., and North High School starting at 12:00 P.M. All ceremonies are initially scheduled to be outside and have an unlimited capacity for guests attending. A decision will be made in the days prior to move the ceremonies inside if the weather will be an issue. If that occurs, seating capacity will be limited. More information on these specifics will be provided in the near future. 



Graduation Practice - The graduation practice will be held for all 2021 graduates on Friday, June 4th from 10:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M. Graduates will meet in the Wolverine Stadium for the rehearsal, awards ceremony, and Senior/Graduate picnic. The festivities will go through about 2:00 P.M. All graduates are expected to participate in final exams the following week.


Semester II Exam Schedule - This schedule is available for all families and students through the West website:


The Play That Goes Wrong!! - Congratulations to the cast & crew of "The Play That Goes Wrong" which was our spring drama production that was shown the weekend of April 16th. This wild spring comedy was hilarious and the comedic guile of the casts (there were two casts) was on display, thank you for making me laugh so much!! Please enjoy some pictures from the show below:







U.S. News High School Rankings - Today U.S. News & World Report published their rankings for nearly 18,000 public high schools, accompanied by school-specific data on enrollment, graduation rates, student body demographics, free and reduced-price lunch, location, school type, and state assessment results. Waukesha West High School was ranked as number 1,579 out of 17,857 high schools nationally and number 38 out of 540 high schools statewide based on U.S. News criteria. That puts West High School in the top 9% of schools in our nation and the top 7% in our state!! This is a celebration of the entire West community!


Student & Family Support - This year is so very different from the effects of COVID on students and families in multiple ways. Please see the information below if you or anyone you know are in need of support:




COVID Process -  Here is the district  FAQ document that may help families understand that all the processes that West High School follow, come from our district and are not individually created by West. My role is to consistently follow these processes along with every other school in our district. 




School District COVID Dashboard - Our school district COVID dashboard is public for anyone to follow:

 

Please click here to access this link


Principal Advisory Committee - The Principal Advisory Council for 2020-2021 met on April 21st, 2021. Please contact any one of the representatives (below) with feedback and/or questions about anything West-related. Please access the updated meeting minutes linked here:

Angela Schaaf
Cheryl Jeffers
cherylmjeffers@gmail.com
David Clark
superdavefive@gmail.com
Deshondria Baggett
deshondriabaggett@gmail.com
Karen Anderson
Kathleen Phelan
Talldoc@wi.rr.com
Michelle Kuokkanen
mkuokkanen@yahoo.com
Carri Marlow
carrimarlow@yahoo.com
Mercedes Rawson
Rawson96@wi.rr.com
Patti Bloom
pbloom27@wi.rr.com
Rebecca Flaherty
Becflaherty@gmail.com
Susan Fogelstrom

Archived Announcements (Link) Please access this link to find all of the information in our daily announcements from previous weeks. 


GO WOLVERINES...WHOOP!!