Wauwatosa West Updates

Are you ready to let it go? Join us for The Wisconsin High School Premiere of Disney’s Frozen: The Broadway Musical. We are proud to partner with the Educational Theatre Association, Music Theatre International and Disney Theatrical Group to produce this pilot production. We are grateful to have received this honor, thanks to our talented students and dedicated staff. Click here to get your tickets! We’re ready to take Wauwatosa by (snow)storm! See you in Arendelle! #tosawesttheatre #varsitytheatre #tosawest #tosaproud #UsofFrozen #loveisanopendoor

The Tosa West Art Department is proud to announce that seven students have been selected as winners in the Harley Davidson Brick Bay Contest! Harley will be building a new community structure in downtown Milwaukee before the 120th celebration next summer (see slideshow for a mock-up of the final construction). Students were asked to create brick bay designs (the size of a motorcycle parking space) using four colors of brick.

A total of 24 designs were chosen from local high school students, 7 of those from West! You can see them here.

Please congratulate these students when you see them and look for their work during the 120th anniversary celebration!

Brianna Alarcon- 12th grade

Valeria Cruz- 10th grade

Carter Gifford- 12th grade

Alexis Rogness- 12th grade

Madelynn Sanchez- 11th grade

Ava Sproul- 12th grade

Sawyer Vespalec- 12th grade

This week the District launched both our parent and our student surveys across the district. At West we watch the results of our stakeholder surveys closely to drive improvement. Last year we successfully improved the number of student responding positively to the "I feel safe at school" prompt by more than 5% and our employee engagement scores improved dramatically. Please take a moment to share your experience with West and the School District in the survey sent out by the School District.

Students were also sent their link directly.

If you would like to opt your child out of participation, please reach out to the main office.

West does not have the capacity to accept food deliveries for individual lunches. This is not a new rule but one that could use some emphasis at home. We regularly have students place orders to be delivered through Uber Eats, Doordash, and other services. Our entry and exit is monitored by one person, Ms. Looker. She does not have the capacity to manage food orders while also keeping our building safe and holding students accountable to the open campus parameters. Thank you for supporting this with a conversation at home.

We will be hosting two open sessions for our parent and teacher conferences this year as we have in the past. On the morning of October 27th we will be hosting virtual conferences. Parents who prefer that format will be able to schedule conferences with the teachers they select. On the evening of November 2 we will host an in-person, live format. Those conferences will not be scheduled. Details for those options will be coming out soon.

We also have time on the calendar for conferences on October 19th. That is not presently an open session. We will be scheduling group conferences for families during those slots. Those families will be receiving an invitation soon. We will work to open additional slots on those days for teachers that are not needed in the group conferences. This is a new format that we piloting with that session this year.

We look forward to welcoming families to West in the coming weeks. Please hold October 27th and November 2nd on your calendar.

Overall we continue to be pleased with the reduction of cell phone distractions in our classrooms. Generally speaking students are complying with our expectations that phones are stored during class. This message is for those that continue to struggle.

We ask teachers to document phone violations in the classroom and more importantly communicate with students and families when students do not follow the policy. For most that is enough to improve the behavior. Students that violate the policy a 3rd time will be expected to lock their phones in a lock box in the main office during the day.

They will be allowed to check their phones during lunch and at passing times.

Students that have open campus privileges will be allowed to take their phone out during the time they are out of the building.

Our goal with this policy and the consequences described is to help students learn to manage the distraction of their phones. The disciplinary actions get progressively more significant as students fail to adjust their behavior. Please support us by making your expectations clear at home that phones use is not allowed in the classroom.

The Division of Academic Performance will be reviewing K-12 Social Studies programming to help us to realize progress toward Strategic Objective 1.1- Review curriculum, instructional resources, programming, and assessments to ensure alignment with the academic goal statement. A formal audit will be conducted to help us understand and elevate the current state of the Social Studies curriculum in the Wauwatosa School District. This audit is being conducted by Melissa Gibson, Ph.D. and you can view her biography here.

As an auditor, Dr. Gibson is charged with reviewing responses to our Social Studies curriculum survey and student data, conducting research and observations, and providing the District with an unbiased analysis of our current Social Studies curriculum in relation to state standards, and where gaps currently exist. In her role as auditor, Dr. Gibson will not write or shape our Social Studies curriculum, but will simply provide an evaluation and analysis of our existing curriculum’s current state.

To deepen Dr. Gibson’s understanding, it is important for her to hear from our families.

Please complete the linked survey below by Wednesday, October 25, to provide your perspective. Your feedback will be confidential and synthesized only by Dr. Gibson.

Social Studies Survey for Families

Thank you again for your time and voice in this review process. You can find additional information on the Wauwatosa School District 7-Year Curriculum Cycle here.

The Division of Pupil + Family Supports is pleased to provide Monthly Parent Professional Learning opportunities through the Wauwatosa School District Parent University. Please join the October session titled Building Inclusive Communities: Empowering Parents for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility. This workshop will provide families of students with a transformative experience designed to provide the knowledge, skills, and tools to champion diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within their communities and beyond. Please join us on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 from 6-7 p.m. at the Fisher Administration Building (12121 W. North Avenue, Conference Room B), where you can engage in a hands-on workshop that will enhance your ability to support your child’s educational journey. Please RSVP by completing this form.

Beginning the week of September 25, 2023 and on the dates indicated below, families of middle and high school students will be able to view their child’s in-progress grade via the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. For more information on how to view the in-progress grade report, please view these instructions. This will continue on a monthly basis. If parents/guardians have questions regarding in-progress grades, please contact the child’s teacher.

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Students at West are fortunate to have a wide range of opportunities to take a college level course in high school. Many see this all the way through to the exam at the end of the term. As seen in the table below we see more students accepting that challenge every year. By choosing to take an AP exam at the conclusion of a course, students could potentially earn college credit depending on the score they receive and their university of choice. If a student elects not to take an AP exam, this will have no bearing on their final grade for their AP class. AP (Advanced Placement) exams are completely voluntary and are not required. That said, students are encouraged to embrace the challenge of the exam to better prepare them for college if they choose to pursue that route.

Wauwatosa is one of only a few districts that require an AP experience. All sophomores are required to take AP Human Geography. While we don't expect all students to proceed to college after graduation it is our goal to make that option available by engaging and supporting all students in rigorous coursework. New this year, the Wauwatosa School District will pay for the exam for any student in AP Human Geography that chooses to register for the exam. I am proud to work in a school that committed to removing barriers to success.

The deadline for registering for the AP exams is approaching. Brand new this year, the Wauwatosa School District has decided to use Total Registration for all AP exam registration and payments. By using this site, schools will no longer require a paper registration form to be collected.

Exam registration will be completed online and will begin today, September 27, 2023. Friday November 3, 2023 is the deadline to make either the $40 per exam deposit payment or full payment. All final AP payments will be due by the Friday, March 1, 2024 deadline. More detailed information has been sent directly to students that are presently enrolled in AP courses.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Mr. Bret Harttert at hartterbr@wauwatosa.k12.wi.us after October 9, 2023

You can see all district updates here.