This Week at GHS: October 7

Good Friday Afternoon, Parents:

Another quick week has come and gone at Greendale High School. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate our school, staff, students and families on a very well-run, fun and spirited Homecoming week and weekend. All of the events were enjoyable, full of student leadership and well attended. A few of the highlights include:

• Spirit days during the week that had great participation and showcased the creativity and spirit of all of our students.
• A wet and cold Powderpuff football game that was a lot of fun.
• Probably the best pep assembly in my six years here at GHS. I saw a great deal of school unity -- outside of the requisite Spirit Stick teasing by the seniors. What I felt and saw in our gym last Friday was four grade levels come together as Panthers. The students should all be proud of the way they represented their school last week.
• This year’s parade was by far the finest parade we have ever had. I want to thank the families, the staff and especially the students, who in marching in the parade and helping make floats, made our Homecoming look wonderful in front of the community Friday afternoon.
• The game on Friday night was great. Undefeated in conference, our varsity football team completely dismantled Whitnall. I can honestly say that I thought our student section was the most spirited and loud it has ever been. There was some great senior spirit and leadership in the first couple of rows that reached all the way to the back of the very last row.
• The return of the bonfire was an event not to be missed. About 150 people waited as the King and Queen lit the fire and then watched a brilliant, if somewhat scary at times, bonfire light up the night. We learned some lessons, but I think that we can count on having a bonfire next year, too.
• Saturday night’s dance went very well. We appreciate the obvious efforts that our students made with dancing. Everybody said they had a great time. Thank you to the students and staff who transformed our gym into an awesome venue for our Haunted Homecoming.
  

For the past month, I’ve been talking to anyone who will listen about the special group of 900+ students that we have in this building this year. I see student leadership and active participation from all grade levels. I have a feeling that this is going to be a productive, fun and spirited school year - punctuated by great student contributions in school and at their events.

With Homecoming festivities over and the first round of progress reports completed (see below for more information), academics have officially taken over. Classrooms and programs are running full-tilt. It’s a pleasure walking around the building each day, seeing engaged students working with creative, quality teachers. Our fall sports, activities and Marching Band are in full swing, heading into the home stretches of their competitive seasons.

Congratulations to the Marching Band for hosting an entertaining Preview of Champions last Sunday afternoon. This event let us see other talented marching bands from around Wisconsin, including the UW-Eau Claire Marching Band, and gave us a great glimpse of where our band’s show stands with less than two weeks until State Championships in Whitewater.

At the start of the school year, my weekly updates have centered on events, but now I’d like to focus on the many academic initiatives aimed at improving the educational experience at Greendale High School. For those interested, you can learn more about these initiatives by taking a look at recent Board of Education reports: Greendale HS Graduate Report and Greendale Schools Achievement Report. They can be found by clicking here.

To our families: thank you for your continued collaboration, your support, and your high expectations. Have a great weekend.

Now, in no particular order…

Student Progress
Be sure to keep checking your student’s progress through PowerSchool and communicating with their teachers. By using the information on PowerSchool, you can work more effectively with your student and their teachers to solve any questions/concerns you may have. Guidance counselors are another great resource. To visit PowerSchool, please click here.

Grades were completely updated (and comments posted if necessary) this week Wednesday at 5:00 p.m.

District Parent Information Night
All Greendale parents are encouraged to attend the first of 3 District Parent Information Nights (PIN) to be held on October 12 at GMS. The district-level information portion of the evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the MPR. All 5 schools will also be holding a school-level meeting on the same night at the middle school, either directly preceding or following the district presentation. The evening’s schedule is as follows:

• 5:45-6:30 p.m. GMS PTO - Library
• 6:30-7:10 p.m. District Presentation - Rethinking Education in Greendale, Dr. William Hughes
• 7:15-8:00 p.m. CA Parent Engagement Meeting - RM 174
• CP PTO Meeting- RM 175
• HV PTO Meeting - RM 177
• 7:15-8:15 p.m. GHS Financial Aid Workshop - Multi Purpose Room
  

The collaborative format of these nights allows parents to learn about important district initiatives as well as keep informed about ways to be involved in their child’s educational experience at the school level. Childcare will be provided for children who are potty trained. Dates for future district PIN are January 11 and April 18.

Financial Aid Information Night
As part of the K-12 District Parent Information Night to be held at Greendale Middle School on October 12 at 6:30 p.m., the high school break-out session (7:15 p.m. in GMS MPR) will feature Trisha Springstead, Financial Aid Advisor, Department of Financial Aid at UW-Milwaukee.

The Financial Aid Workshop is primarily a senior parent meeting that is intended to answer those pressing questions that parents have about the process of completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is something that all families should do after January 1 of their child's senior year, and many that have never done it before enter this process with a lot of questions. This workshop is designed to answer the questions they may have and go over those items they may not have thought of.

Parents of non-senior students are still encouraged to attend if interested, but you will also want to attend whenever your student is in their final year (as the “rules” of this process change yearly). This is mainly a parents-only event and usually lasts an hour. More specific information will be provided closer to the event.

ALSO NOTE: We ask that families call Linda Odya, the guidance secretary, at (414) 423-0105 to RSVP their attendance. We base the compilation of handout packets on the amount of RSVP’s we get.

Greendale HS Students Recognized for National Merit Scholarship
The Greendale School District is proud to announce that Greendale High School seniors Glenna Gransee and Samantha Kosarzycki have been named Semifinalists and Lauren Attewell, Kelly Korek, Joshua Moran, Tyler Shimek, Haley Unger and Austin Wellens have been named Commended Students in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program.

About 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program, a nationwide competition for recognition and awards, by taking the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Of the 50,000 highest scorers, 34,000 (top 5%) are designated as Commended Students and from that pool 16,000 students are designated Semifinalists who have the opportunity to continue in the 57th annual competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million.

Check Out Our Talented Journalists
Greendale High School is lucky to have a great publications program – producing an exemplary yearbook, an entertaining monthly magazine and a timely current events weekly newspaper. The monthly and weekly publications can be found online by clicking here.

YEARBOOK: Senior Ad Information
The yearbook staff is presently working on the 2011-2012 edition of the yearbook. As a part of the design and organization of the edition, we are offering you the opportunity to send a surprise message to your son/daughter that will be printed within the yearbook. This is a great way to congratulate your graduate! Letters with information and pricing were sent out at the beginning of October and also available on Kate Wagner's web site. The deadline for pictures and messages will be Friday, October 21st. Please contact Kate Wagner at kate.wagner@greendale.k12.wi.us with any questions or if you need more details.

• Please note that senior headshot photos are due Friday, January 13th. If you have any questions, please contact Kate Wagner at kate.wagner@greendale.k12.wi.us.
• Photos for Yearbook Needed, Parents: The yearbook staff needs your photos from summer and September. Please email your photos to Kate Wagner at kate.wagner@greendale.k12.wi.us.
  

Class T-shirts
If students would still like to order a class t-shirt, we will be putting in another order. Shirts are $10 and are perfect for the color spirit days throughout the year. Order forms and money drop-off are in Room 111. Orders are due next Tuesday, October 11th, and we need 12 orders per class to reorder.

Winter Sports Meeting Scheduled
The Winter Sports Meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, November 3, at 6:00 p.m. in the Greendale High School Multi-purpose Room. Parents/Guardians of all students who are interested in participating in winter sports are required to attend this meeting. It will cover athletic eligibility topics, transportation information, athletic physical requirements and other pertinent information. After the general portion of the meeting, each sport will break off into their own meeting where the coaches will discuss the upcoming season and the expectations associated with being a part of their program. The coaches will also be available to answer any general program or specific individual questions that there may be.

GHS Scholarships on Facebook
Did you know that you can now find GHS scholarship information on Facebook? To “like” the GHS Scholarship page on Facebook, please click here. Seniors that are planning to attend college in the fall of 2012 should can also use the GHS scholarship webpage. There will be new scholarships added approximately every two weeks. It is hard to know if you qualify if you don't apply. For more information, please click here.

Clean & Green
Seventh graders from Team Integrity at Greendale Middle School have organized a service-learning project in the community called Clean & Green. On Thursday, October 13, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., students will provide services such as the following to Greendale senior citizens or those in need: lawn raking, garage cleaning, furniture moving, window screen removal, and sidewalk sweeping. To request services, please call middle school teacher Lee Burish or Clint Weishaar at (414) 423-2800 ext. 3278 or ext. 3277.

Nurse’s Room
Parents when your child doesn’t feel well and wants to go home, they should not be texting you to pick them up. The first thing they need to do is ask their teacher for a pass to the nurse’s room, then Mrs. McFaul or a nurse’s room volunteer will call you to come and pick them up. If your child calls or texts you about a health issue, please confirm with them that they have gone to the nurse’s room. In order for us to support your child when they don’t feel well, we need to be aware of the problem.

Greendale Open Market
The Greendale Park and Recreation Department will host the last Greendale Open Market of the season on Saturday, October 15 from 8:00 a.m. – noon in the Greendale Municipal Parking Lot. Vendors will be offering homegrown produce, flowers, ethnic food and more.

Scholarship Pumpkins
Pumpkins are on sale for $5.00 at the Greendale Park and Recreation Department, located at the District Office/Highland View building. Proceeds will benefit the Greendale Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Fund. Earlier this year, the Greendale Chamber of Commerce established a scholarship program with the intent of annually awarding a $500 scholarship to a Greendale resident who is a senior in high school and who will be pursuing a degree in business at a four-year college.

This Week's Links and Downloads:
• Upcoming Events
• Guidance Newsletter