November 12th Weekly Blog

Veterans Day - I would like to thank all staff members, parents, community members, and alumni who are Veterans of our armed forces for your service to our country! This past Saturday Waukesha held it's 7th annual "Operation Honor" to honor our Veteran's in the Schuetze Recreation Center gymnasium. My family was honored to attend and we're proud to see Waukesha West students volunteering their time to serve our Veteran's for their meal and assisting with the programming. I encourage all community member to mark the date on their calendar for next year and come on out to thanks those who have served.

School Resource Office (SRO) - I am very fortunate to work with local law enforcement on a daily basis in an effort to keep our school and students safe. I would like to thank Officer Dave Gawrisch for his two-plus years of service to West High School as our SRO. We wish him well as he has been promoted within the Waukesha Police Department and will begin that new phase in his career in the upcoming weeks... there is not a better officer in the city and of course, he is an outstanding individual! With that, I would like to welcome SRO Jason Trimborn to West High School as he begins his four-year journey as our liaison officer. Jason is also an outstanding person and we look forward to implementing his vision for the SRO position at West High School!

Purpose Corner - This week on "Purpose Corner" I discuss our "FRAVID" group and their connection to our Pineapple Chart and how that positively impacts our classroom instruction.

Please click here to access  this 2:37 video 

Grades & Fees - Monday, November 5th marked the end of Quarter 1 and grades for first quarter have been posted.  This grade along with the grade from Quarter 2 will be used to ultimately determine a grade for Semester I which will be posted the end of January.  Please log in to your Infinite Campus Parent Portal to view your student's grades. While you are in your Infinite Campus Parent Portal, please review your student's fees.  All 2018 - 2019 fees were due October 1st.  Please use the online RevTrak Portal accessible through Infinite Campus to pay your student's fees as soon as possible.  Outstanding fees are subject to collections by our Business Office. Thank you!


" Welcome to West!" - We will be having our "Welcome to West Night" for all current Waukesha West families and prospective families on Monday, December 10th,  2018 from 6:00 - 8:00 P.M. The night will allow all in attendance to choose from a variety of break out sessions for acquiring information prior to scheduling for next year. Please check out the flyer below for an overview and click on this link to get a closer look at the information about the sessions that are available. Look forward to seeing you there!

School Report Card - As you may be aware, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has released the 2017-18 state School Report Cards for all public schools in Wisconsin as of today.  I’m sharing our score with you for this past school year as we are proud of the increase we have seen due to an enhancement in student skill levels that have occurred over time because of the investment of our staff, students, parents, and community members. The criteria of this Report Card does not take into account all of the outstanding things that happen at West High School on a daily basis, but it is a measure that we celebrate if we have an increase. To give you a context, our state Report Card score for the 2015-2016 school year was 65.9 which “Meets Expectations” and for the 2016-2017 was 74.2 which “Exceeded Expectations according to the state. You can access the Waukesha West School Report Card here.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any further questions.

Student Accomplishments - West High School has almost 900 out of our approximately 1,200 students involved in an extracurricular club, activity or sport. We also have students who are involved in different sport and activities that are not offered at our school and they achieve outstanding accomplishments. I want to recognize West High School Junior Avalynn Friedrichs in recently becoming a National Champion! Avalynn Friedrichs, was unanimously voted as the Senior Equitation Finals  National Champion for ages 14-17 at the National Academy Championship Horse Show in Murfreesboro, TN on Sunday, November 4th after 3 days of competition with competitors from across the country.  This prestigious award includes a $1,000 scholarship to William Woods University as well as other awards.  Avalynn's hard work and dedication to the sport she loves has been rewarded as a National honor, Congrats!!

One Act Play - Congratulations to the cast and crew of the One Act play "Numbers" for advancing out of a very tough sectional this past Saturday and qualifying for State. The State One Act contest will be held in LaCrosse on November 15-17. Congrats to all of the West End Players who are involved! Please enjoy the act below.

Please click here for this 36:02 video

Christmas Clearing Council - West High School clubs and activities have consistently partnered with the Christmas clearing council to support students and their families in our community during the holiday months. If you are interested in financially supporting local families please consider donating to the Council and continue to look for West students leading fundraising efforts for the CCC. A little more about the CCC... the Christmas Clearing Council of Waukesha County (CCC) promotes and coordinates giving to families in need during the Christmas season. They provide a clearinghouse that matches these families with area groups, families, businesses, and individuals who wish to help people less fortunate on a person-to-person basis. In 2017, the CCC coordinated giving to more than 1,900 families and nearly 4,400 children in Waukesha County.

Challenge Day Momentum - I will continue to update some of the things we will be doing to keep our momentum from Challenge Day! I encourage anyone to access the Challenge Day website to learn more about it. https://www.challengeday.org/

  

Principal Advisory Council - Below are the names of the individuals on the Principal Advisory Council for 2018-2019. We will be meeting this Wednesday, November 14th and will continue to meet monthly throughout the school year. Please access the minutes for more information about our discussions for this school year and connect with any of the listed representatives prior to our upcoming meeting with any questions you have or clarifications you need. The meeting minutes are linked here:

Cheryl Jeffers	cmjeffers@yahoo.com
Bret Reichert	br@wi.rr.com
Bridget Clementi	clementi101@wi.rr.com
Deanna Krell	dkrell@wi.rr.com
Deshondria Baggett	dbaggett@wi.rr.com
Gail Young-Lane	jlane1@wi.rr.com
Jon Eckmann	Jon@promarkpainters.com
Kim Keller	kim.keller@wecenergygroup.com
Krista Bitzan	smileyfish76@hotmail.com
Lawrence Oberbruner	loberbruner@gmail.com
Lee Ann Jaskolka	Ljaskolka@wi.rr.com
Lori Johnston	ljohnstongd@gmail.com
Marilyn Toshner	mtoshner71@gmail.com

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

Preview of this week: Please check the calendars here: West Main Page Calendar (Link)


No Blog Next Week! I will be back on November 26th!!

November 5th Weekly Blog

Purpose Corner - This week on purpose corner I recap the professional development our staff continues to participate in and where it supports our Theory of Action and our journey to implementing AVID schoolwide.

Please click here to access this 2:04 video

West is back on Twitter!! - Well, we have never had a huge footprint on social media but we are looking to use it for showcasing the outstanding things we experience at West High School by going public more often!! If you go to the West website and scroll down you will see our newly posted Twitter feed. I highly recommend the first two videos from the feed which show the send-off for our state bound girls volleyball team and the celebration of our students of the month coming to our main office to get their certificate. 

This is not a video link, please go to https://sdw.waukesha.k12.wi.us/WestHS to access this video through our Twitter feed!

Referendum Information - The School District of Waukesha has provided information regarding the proposed referendum in a variety of media throughout the past year or so. Feel free to access the video below for factual information regarding this referendum. Thank you.

Please click here for this 1:41 video

Girls Volleyball - The Girls Volleyball team ended their magical state tournament run this past weekend at the Resch Center in Green Bay after losing in the semi-finals to eventual repeat state champion Burlington. The girls knocked off #1 seeded and conference rival Mukwonago to earn the first-ever trip to state for a West girls volleyball team and then took down another conference rival and #1 seed Arrowhead 3-1 in an outstanding match. Congrats girls on a phenomenal season!

Varsity Football Team - The mighty Wolverine Football team fell to the #1 seeded Brookfield Central Lancers this Friday night. The Wolverines were the second lowest seeded team left in the entire state at #6 after upsetting two higher seeds on their way to being one of the final eight teams left in Division 2. Congrats on an outstanding season! 

Girls Swim - The Girls Swim team has one of the best Sectional performances in school history this past Saturday! State qualifying individuals include: Alivia Farber Sectional Champion in both the 100 and 200 Free; Claire Wright 3rd in the Breaststroke. State qualifying relays were: 200 Medley of Becca Beam, Claire Wright, Megan Beam and Alivia Farber (New School Record!) 400 Free Relay: Becca Beam, Megan Beam, Kayla Hauser and Alivia Farber (New School Record!) 200 Free Relay: Kayla Hauser, Ava Mueller, Maddie Richter and Boos. Congratulations and good luck next weekend at STATE!!

One Act Play - Congratulations to the cast and crew of the One Act play "Numbers" for advancing out of a very tough sectional this past Saturday and qualifying for State. The State One Act contest will be held in LaCrosse on November 15-17. Congrats to all of the West End Players who are involved! Please enjoy the act below.

Christmas Clearing Council - West High School clubs and activities have consistently partnered with the Christmas clearing council to support students and their families in our community during the holiday months. If you are interested in financially supporting local families please consider donating to the Council and continue to look for West students leading fundraising efforts for the CCC. A little more about the CCC... the Christmas Clearing Council of Waukesha County (CCC) promotes and coordinates giving to families in need during the Christmas season. They provide a clearinghouse that matches these families with area groups, families, businesses, and individuals who wish to help people less fortunate on a person-to-person basis. In 2017, the CCC coordinated giving to more than 1,900 families and nearly 4,400 children in Waukesha County.

Challenge Day Momentum - I will continue to update some of the things we will be doing to keep our momentum from Challenge Day! I encourage anyone to access the Challenge Day website to learn more about it. https://www.challengeday.org/

  

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

Preview of this week: Please check the calendars here: West Main Page Calendar (Link)

October 29th Weekly Blog

Purpose Corner - This week on purpose corner we discuss school data in regards to attendance and behavior as well as the implementation of AVID strategies within our classroom and what criteria are used for assessment.

Please click here for this 3:52 video

Perfect ACT Score of 36!! - Congratulations to West Junior Brady Chyla and Senior Naveen Albert for their perfect 36 on the ACT exam!! Just so you have an understanding of this accomplishment, approximately 2,000,000 people took the ACT exam in the last year and approximately 2,760 students or 0.136% received a 36 on the ACT. These students are hard working individuals and have earned their place among this rare company.

West Fall Athletics Celebration!!

Girls Cross Country - Congratulations to the Girls' Cross Country Team for another outstanding finish to the season in placing 5th in Division 1 at the state meet held in Wisconsin Rapids this past Saturday. Brook Lytle placed 12th overall in the state and paced the team to an outstanding finish. Seniors Brooke Lytle, Allyssa Reeves, Kaitlyn Smetana and Kaya Kuokkanen have been part of teams who have placed 8th, 4th, 5th and 5th in the state over their 4 years!! Outstanding work!

Girls Volleyball - The Girls Volleyball team became Sectional Champions this past weekend and are heading to the state tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay this week!!! The girls knocked off #1 seeded and conference rival Mukwonago to earn their trip! Their first-round match is this Thursday at 4:30 p.m. against another conference opponent Arrowhead. Congrats girls! Students remember to sign up for our fan buses to go and support the team!

Varsity Football Team - The mighty Wolverine Football team defeated Waterford this past Friday night to advance to Level 3 in the WIAA Football Playoffs meaning they are one of the final 8 teams in Division 2 in the state once again!! The team plays Brookfield Central this Friday night for a chance to advance to the final 4. Please come out and support them as they play at Brookfield Central. Also, they are up for the Air National Guard team of the week after their victory so please vote often for them by accessing this link!  

Christmas Clearing Council - West High School clubs and activities have consistently partnered with the Christmas clearing council to support students and their families in our community during the holiday months. If you are interested in financially supporting local families please consider donating to the Council and continue to look for West students leading fundraising efforts for the CCC. A little more about the CCC... the Christmas Clearing Council of Waukesha County (CCC) promotes and coordinates giving to families in need during the Christmas season. They provide a clearinghouse that matches these families with area groups, families, businesses, and individuals who wish to help people less fortunate on a person-to-person basis. In 2017, the CCC coordinated giving to more than 1,900 families and nearly 4,400 children in Waukesha County.

Challenge Day Momentum - I will continue to update some of the things we will be doing to keep our momentum from Challenge Day! I encourage anyone to access the Challenge Day website to learn more about it. https://www.challengeday.org/

  

Principal Advisory Council - Below are the names of the individuals on the Principal Advisory Council for 2018-2019. We met most recently on Wednesday, October 17th and will continue to meet monthly throughout the school year. Please access the minutes for more information about our discussions for this school year. The meeting minutes are linked here:

Cheryl Jeffers	cmjeffers@yahoo.com
Bret Reichert	br@wi.rr.com
Bridget Clementi	clementi101@wi.rr.com
Deanna Krell	dkrell@wi.rr.com
Deshondria Baggett	dbaggett@wi.rr.com
Gail Young-Lane	jlane1@wi.rr.com
Jon Eckmann	Jon@promarkpainters.com
Kim Keller	kim.keller@wecenergygroup.com
Krista Bitzan	smileyfish76@hotmail.com
Lawrence Oberbruner	loberbruner@gmail.com
Lee Ann Jaskolka	Ljaskolka@wi.rr.com
Lori Johnston	ljohnstongd@gmail.com
Marilyn Toshner	mtoshner71@gmail.com

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

Preview of this week: Please check the calendars here: West Main Page Calendar (Link)

October 22nd Weekly Blog

"Purpose Corner" - This week I discuss the professional development our teachers recently experienced this past month and how that compliments our Theory of Action.

Please click here for this 3:30 video

"Challenge Day" - What a week it was last week as 300 students and 75 adults volunteered to be part of three days of small group work for "Challenge Day" centered around being real about who we are as people with our celebrations and our struggles. On our fourth day, the entire school was allowed a glimpse into this same mindset, all for the purpose of knowing we all struggle and can relate, and that we must have each other's backs!! Last week has propelled us to do more to support one another and I will continue to showcase what that looks like throughout the course of this school year. For now, I will share with you our West logo (embedded is universal sign language for love) to support the work of "Challenge Day" and some pictures from our all-school assembly, with some great dancing among staff and students!! I encourage anyone to access the Challenge Day website to learn more about it. https://www.challengeday.org/

  

"State Marching Band" - Though I was out of town and not available to attend the marching band state competition, I had spies everywhere who confirmed what I knew all along, that the Cadets of Waukesha West worked their tails off all year to deliver a dynamite performance once again at Perkins Stadium on the UW-Whitewater college campus. Congratulations to the Cadets, band directors and all the parent/volunteer support for another outstanding season which resulted in multiple first-place finishes in various competitions and a second place finish at the state competition! Way to go Cadets!

"Circle of Friends" - Is one of the many clubs we have at West High School that invites all students to join in and be social together! they most recently went on their annual trip to Skateland for some fun and games! If any students are interested in joining in please contact Mrs. Montanye at bmontany@waukesha.k12.wi.us  All West students are welcome!

"Random Acts of Kindness (RAK)" - RAK continues to promote a positive and kind culture throughout the halls of West High School. You will see positive sayings posted on our walls and students lockers, as well as today members providing bracelets to students as a reminder to build a kind and positive school culture! Please enjoy the pictures of the bracelets many West students received today. What a great reminder to start off your day with a "kind" mindset!

"Principal Purpose" - For anyone who comes into West High School these days you will notice a portable chalkboard like you would see at a local cafe' that is used to advertise for the flavor of the day. This board is not for that purpose but to offer a visual to prompt students to get into a proper mindset. The "Principal Purpose" sign holds a statement or saying for the day, meant for any and all to read and apply as needed in their day. I utilize quotes I find, or possibly hear, and even makeup myself as some possible wisdom for anyone looking. It will be a fixture when I am in the building throughout the school year. Yes, I do keep track of the saying and the date it is shared. Below was my saying for 10/22 as we transition into the Fall season. let this also be a lesson to all students to practice good handwriting skills, as I clearly need better feedback and then practice application!!

Principal Advisory Council - Below are the names of the individuals on the Principal Advisory Council for 2018-2019. We met most recently on Wednesday, October 17th and will continue to meet monthly throughout the school year. Please access the minutes for more information about our discussions for this school year. The meeting minutes are linked here:

Cheryl Jeffers	cmjeffers@yahoo.com
Bret Reichert	br@wi.rr.com
Bridget Clementi	clementi101@wi.rr.com
Deanna Krell	dkrell@wi.rr.com
Deshondria Baggett	dbaggett@wi.rr.com
Gail Young-Lane	jlane1@wi.rr.com
Jon Eckmann	Jon@promarkpainters.com
Kim Keller	kim.keller@wecenergygroup.com
Krista Bitzan	smileyfish76@hotmail.com
Lawrence Oberbruner	loberbruner@gmail.com
Lee Ann Jaskolka	Ljaskolka@wi.rr.com
Lori Johnston	ljohnstongd@gmail.com
Marilyn Toshner	mtoshner71@gmail.com

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

Preview of this week: Please check the calendars here: West Main Page Calendar (Link)