Wisconsin Heights School District

Last Friday, 4k friends made art after the rain! #VanguardPride

7th grade math celebrated the end of the first week of school by doing a cups challenge. In teams, students had to move cups into different formations using only a rubber band and four feet of string. The first challenge, which was actually the least complicated, seemed to take students the longest because students had to learn how to communicate with each other, work in unison, and persevere even when the cups continued to fall over. It was so fun to watch the students collaborate together. These pictures come from a class that really got into the cups challenge. Every time they completed a challenge, they would yell, "We did it!" That's #VanguardPride!

Dear Wisconsin Heights Families and Staff, Thank you again for a great start to the school year. It was wonderful to see so much excitement and enthusiasm as we welcomed our students back on campus for the 2024-25 school year. We have incredible optimism for the journey ahead. We are also thrilled to share that our school recently had the honor of hosting Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona from the U.S. Department of Education on September 3rd. Each year, Dr. Cardona selects a handful of schools across the country to highlight the innovative strategies and community efforts that are accelerating student achievement and supporting students of all backgrounds. This year, Wisconsin Heights MS/HS was chosen as a school of distinction for this tour. This visit is a significant milestone for our school community and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students, staff, and families. Secretary Cardona's visit underscores the importance of the educational journey we are all part of and highlights the remarkable achievements of our school. We were so fortunate to have so many students, staff, and community members involved in the planning and facilitation of the visit. It was a celebration of all that it means to be a VANGUARD. To commemorate this special event, we have created a dedicated landing page on our website featuring photos, videos, and highlights from Secretary Cardona's visit. We invite you to explore this page and relive the memorable moments of the day and find the highlight videos taken prior to the visit showcasing our students, vibrant CTE programs, dedicated staff and the community that supports and celebrates all of them. You can access it by visiting https://www.wisheights.k12.wi.us/page/secretary-cardona-visit. Thank you for your continued support and for being a crucial part of our school's success. Proud to be a Vanguard, Michelle McGrath, Ed. D District Administrator

This month's District Newsletter is now ready to view! Click on the link below. https://bit.ly/WHSDNewsletter #VanguardPride

7th grade math played Jenga to get to know each other! Each Jenga tile pulled from the tower had a question on it that students had to answer about themselves before they could stack the tower higher. Each hour, the towers grew in height as students worked as a team to answer as many questions as possible. This section of math was able to create 17 layers high before they toppled over! #VanguardPride

Today's #VanguardPride new staff highlight is on Cathy Yasick! Cathy is from Mazomanie and is a new Early Childhood Educational Assistant. She's been with the district for 20 years and is back this year with this new title. She started at Wisconsin Heights as the Athletic Secretary and then became the Middle/High School Attendance Secretary for 9 years. Since then she's served as a substitute Educational Assistant all over the district, most recently at the Elementary School. She enjoys quilting and working as the costume seamstress for the High School Drama Club. The Mazo pool is her favorite summer hang out. She and her husband Mel have been married for almost 43 years. They have 3 sons who all went through the Wisconsin Heights schools and now have 5 grandchildren who light up their days! Welcome back, Cathy!

You don't need Peacock to enjoy your Vanguards on LiveStream!!! Check us out directly from your computer or phone at https://fan.hudl.com/usa/wi/mazomanie/organization/5248/wisconsin-heights-high-school . From here, you never have to miss your favorite teams in action!! Please keep in mind that Hudl, our livestream service, no longer allows us to link to our YouTube channel, so you will need to catch it directly on the Hudl site!

Wisconsin Heights Elementary had their first school assembly today! A video will be posted later with the school song that they are learning. The tune will be familiar to some of you. Thanks to Mrs. Sternberg and Mr. Fehlen for working together to create it! #VanguardPride

Attention WHHS Band Alumni! We have a great opportunity for you to show your school spirit!!!! We're looking for WHHS band alumni to play with the HS Band in the Homecoming parade and/or pep band on Friday, September 27th. The parade is at 4 p.m. in Black Earth and pep band is at 6 p.m. If interested, please RSVP to Nick Lane and we'll have what you need to play! nlane@wisheights.k12.wi.us or 608-767-2586 ext. 3414 #VanguardPride

Today is National Read a Book Day! Take some time for yourself or to read to someone else. Enjoy the moment and the story. #VanguardPride

Today's new staff highlight is on Melissa Winters! Melissa is our new Athletics and Activities Director as well as our Transportation Director. She grew up in Reedsburg but now lives in Middleton. Her hobbies and interests include golf, tennis, hiking, knitting and crocheting, and spending time with her kids. She's really looking forward to getting to know the students and families. Melissa would also like to share this message: "I want every student to find the place where they belong in our school community. Sports, clubs, and activities are so important for that, and I want to ensure students are finding ways to connect!" Welcome, Melissa! We're excited to add you to the #VanguardPride team!

No practice for MS Volleyball today! #VanguardPride

Please see the link below for the Board of Education agenda on Monday, September 9, 2024. The meeting will start at 6:00 PM in the MS Step Room. This meeting has a virtual attendance option. The link will take you to the main page of the agenda with the Zoom meeting link information. https://go.boarddocs.com/wi/whsd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=D79S6R713153

Mrs. Johnson's 6th grade Science classes were tasked with conquering the Marshmallow Challenge. Students worked in groups to build the tallest freestanding structure only using spaghetti, masking tape, and a yard of string. The winning structure stood almost 18 inches tall. 6th grade students really showed a lot of #VanguardPride!

The A&P classes completed an activity designed to test prior knowledge. Students had to trace their body onto the paper and put in as many organs as they could remember. They reviewed the major organs at the end, their actual locations, and pointed out some common misconceptions. Be on the lookout for these masterpieces in the #VanguardPride halls!

This week, Principal Kman came to 4K to read a story and introduce herself. 💚 #VanguardPride

What a fun ice-breaker! Water bottles were flipping to kick off the first day of school in 7th grade language arts! Students took turns flipping bottles to get to know each other. For each successful flip, earned 2 points. For each unsuccessful flip, students had to answer a question about themselves to earn 1 point. The students even managed to teach Mrs. Meinholz how to flip a bottle successfully! #VanguardPride

Please join us in welcoming new staff members of Wisconsin Heights! Today's new staff member highlight is on Lynette Sutcliffe! Lynette is from Mazomanie and is a new educational assistant at the elementary school. She likes spending time with her family and being out on the lake. When asked about her new role in the district she said she's most excited to assist students in learning and growing while learning and growing herself. Welcome to the team, Lynette! We're happy you're here! #VanguardPride

Welcome Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona! #VanguardPride

It's the first day of the #VanguardPride 2024-2025 school year! We are so excited to see the students back in school!!!!