Wildcat Growl
October 31, 2021
Future Ready Wildcats
De Soto High School staff and students endeavor to model the following core values:
INTEGRITY, INQUIRY, COMMUNICATION, PERSEVERANCE, and REFLECTION.
Principal's Message
Wildcats and Families,
Congratulations to Sara Murphy and Mason Laney for being recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program as Commended Students. Their selection places them among the top 50,000 students entered into the 2020 PSAT/NMSQT program.
The De Soto high school cross country team competed in the KSHSAA 5A State Cross Country Championship in Wichita. Four Wildcats raced Saturday with three earning All-State honors.
Sophie Landrum (7) and Brooke Bundt (14) both finished in the top-20 in the girls’ race. Kyle Newberry (15) and Brady Huggins (25) raced for the boys. Landrum, Bundt, and Newberry landed on the All-State team with Huggins just missing the top-20. Great Job, Wildcats!
Congratulations to the Boys Varsity Soccer Team for winning the Regional Championship and qualifying for the Quarterfinals of the State Tournament. They will play the quarterfinal round at St. Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday, November 2nd. Good Luck, Wildcats!
Congratulations to Mike Murphy! Mr. Murphy is being recognized with a Making a Difference Award during the month of September. Nominations are currently accepted for the Making a Difference Award for the month of October with the award being presented in November. Anyone can submit a form for any USD 232 District Employee so nominate someone who has made a difference in your life!
Making a Difference Nomination Form
Starting Monday, November 1st, the senior shortened day application will be available in Student Services. Detailed information is below.
Our second Delayed Start this year will take place Wednesday, November 10th. The building opens to students at 9:30 AM, and the first block classes begin at 9:50 AM.
Semester final exams are scheduled to begin Monday, December 13th, and end Thursday, December 16th. Winter Break begins on December 17th. For the purpose of consistency, clarity, and the importance of finals, if students have to leave town prior to and/or during finals week, they will need to work with the teacher to make up the final within two weeks of their return (not before).
Thanks, and Go Wildcats!
Sam Ruff,
Principal
Attendance
Kansas Compulsory Attendance Statutes
Regular attendance is required of all pupils enrolled in elementary and secondary school under Kansas compulsory attendance statutes. It is a parental responsibility under Kansas statutes to require the regular school attendance “of any child who has reached the age of seven (7) years and is under the age of eighteen (18) years,” unless the child is exempted by statute.
The State of Kansas delegates to the Board of Education the responsibility of determining reasons for excusable absences.
The following are reasons for excusable absence:
1. Personal illness. A physician’s note will be required for chronic absenteeism.
2. Serious illness or death of a member of the family or close friend.
3. Obligatory religious observance of the student’s own faith.
4. Participation in a school-approved activity.
5. Physician or dentist appointments that can be verified by appointment card.
6. Court appearance that can be verified through court services’ officer.
7. Verifiable, emergency situations requiring immediate action at the request of the parent. Limit of five.
8. An absence that has been requested in writing and approved in advance by the building administrator.
Parents will be notified after five, and then again after ten absences making them aware of their student’s attendance record. A student who is absent from class or school without an excusable reason, as outlined above, will be considered unexcused. An unexcused absence for one or more classes will receive disciplinary consequences and credit may not be given for missed classes.
Procedure for reporting absences
1. Parents or legal guardians are requested to call the 24-hour attendance voice mail line (913- 667-6259) on the day of the absence. If a call is not received the day after the absence, the absence may be considered unexcused.
2. A telephone call will be required each day the student is absent unless prior arrangements have been made.
3. When reporting an absence, the parent or guardian should give the following information: • His or her name and relationship to student • student’s name and grade in school (please spell the name) • reason for absence • the date and hours of absence
4. Upon returning to school the day following an absence, the student should go directly to class. If there is a question about the absence, the Main Office will contact the student.
5. If a student leaves the school building during the school day, the student must sign out with the Main Office. Students must sign in at the Main Office upon returning to school that day or arriving at school after the school day begins, even if returning or leaving during a passing period. Failure to properly sign in or out could result in the student’s absence being marked as unexcused.
Paraprofessionals and Student Nutrition Positions Available Now
Note from the Counselors:
It has been great to see our students in the building the past couple of weeks! All students should have full schedules and the deadline to request any schedule changes has passed. We are excited to get to know all of the students in our alphabet this year! Contact information for counselors and our social worker is below.
Senior Meetings: Counselors are now meeting individually with seniors to discuss plans for after high school. Some of the topics included in the discussion are: Post-Secondary options, How to Apply to Colleges, FAFSA Information, Scholarships, Transferring Credit from JCCC, etc. We have included some helpful links below to resources we reference in our meetings.
Upcoming Deadlines for University Scholarships: Seniors who apply for these schools by the deadline listed will be considered for scholarships that are typically based on high school GPA and ACT scores:
· Kansas State University: December 1st
· University of Kansas: December 1st
· Wichita State University: Freshman Merit Scholarships – December 1st,
Scholarship Application – November 1st
Individual Plan of Study (IPS): Every DHS student will have a completed Individual Plan of Study upon graduating De Soto High School. Students complete different IPS lessons approximately twice each month during seminar. Xello is the platform for IPS and contains all kinds of important information, specific to each student including career matches, personality styles, skills, interests, saved colleges, saved careers, scholarships, etc. Students will review their IPS with their seminar teacher and their parents during spring conferences. This video gives a short summary of why IPS is important and gives students/parents an idea of what is to be expected.
Social Emotional Lessons (SEL): DHS seminars are now including SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) activities to help provide tools and resources for students. Upcoming topics include: analyzing emotions, goal setting, perseverance, and managing responses to emotions. The overall health and well-being of our students is important to us. If you are ever concerned about another student or your own, please don’t hesitate to reach out to their counselor or the social worker.
Resources from CollegeBoard:
Parent Action Plan for Seniors
FAFSA Resources:
Quick Video Instructions on how to fill out the FAFSA
Scholarships:
DHS Student Services Scholarship Page (updates frequently)
DHS Counselors and Social Worker
Crissy Johns (A-G): CJohns@usd232.org
Lindsay Hothan (H-N): LHothan@usd232.org
Kaitlin Britt (O-Z): KBritt@usd232.org
Joe Kordalski (Social Worker): Rkordalski@usd232.org
JCCC Academic Campus Visits
If you want to explore possible JCCC careers and imagine their future as a college student, then you should attend JCCC’s Academic Campus Visits. These visits allow students to take a deep dive into specific programs and experience what it’s like to be a Cavalier. At the visit they will hear from our admissions representatives and faculty, get answers to questions that matter to them, and tour our state-of-the-art facilities. To register for any of these events, go to JCCC Academic Campus Visits
K-State Engineering Nights
K-State Engineering is hosting events in our area for high school and community college students. Students can join us at 6:30 p.m. CT on —
- Thursday, Nov. 18 | Lenexa – Kiewit
Students will learn more about engineering degrees, scholarships, career opportunities and industry partners. We encourage all interested students to register at engg.k-state.edu/engineering-night.
Kansas Promise Scholarship
The state of Kansas is starting a new initiative called the Kansas Promise Scholarship.
Kansas Promise Scholarship is a “last dollar” scholarship that can pay for tuition, books and other Promise-eligible, course-related materials, not covered by other scholarships or grants. In exchange, students agree to work in Kansas for two years after completing their program.
Kansas Promise dollars subsidize middle or high-income students who might not qualify for federal and state aid to cover all college expenses.
For more information, visit Kansas Promise Scholarship.
Students and Staff dressed up on Friday
Sarah Cronkleton-Kidd as RUNDMC
Luis Rivera as a Penguin
Joel and DeAnn Thaemert as Ketchup and Mustard
Senior Shortened Day Application
Starting Monday, November 1st, the senior shortened day application will be available in Student Services. This application allows seniors to shorten their schedule for semester 2, dropping their classes that are not needed for graduation or KSHSAA eligibility. There are certain requirements in order to participate in shortened day second semester. Please read through all requirements on the application.
Once applications are submitted, counselors will call students in on an as needed basis to discuss any scheduling conflicts or issues. Students who turn in the application by the priority deadline of November 12th, can view their updated schedule in Skyward by December 1st. This worksheet is for planning purposes only. There is no guarantee of a student’s requested schedule.
Updates from our Missouri Colleges and Universities!
Missouri University of Science & Technology:
· #1 public engineering college in the US
· Awarding 50 $1000 scholarships to PLTW students
· Qualifying Kansas Students: out of state portion is waived (approximately $18,000)
· December 1st scholarship priority deadline
University of Missouri:
- Superscore ACT for Scholarships
- Journalism is direct admit program
- Esports: one of the top programs available
- December 1 scholarship priority deadline
University of Missouri-St. Louis:
- No application fee
- Criminology and Criminal Justice ranked #4
- International Business ranked in the top 25
- Nursing: guaranteed spot for incoming freshman with a 3.0 GPA and a 24 ACT
- January 1 scholarship priority deadline
UMKC:
- Race, Ethnic and Gender Studies
- Fall 2022: Bachelor of Media Arts and Design and Bachelors of Applied Sciences
- 40% students of color, Over 85 countries represented, multiple LGBTQIA scholarships
- Test Optional Admissions and Scholarships ($1500-2000)
- Kansas Residents pay nearly the same tuition as In-State residents
Last Chance for Yearbook Photos
If your student missed all three opportunities to have their school picture taken this year, there will be one final chance on Saturday, November 6. However, this will take place at the photographer’s studio in Lenexa.
You will need to call Inter-State Studio directly at 816-600-2454 to set up an appointment. This will be the last opportunity to have your student’s school picture taken for the yearbook and composite (seniors only).
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Michael Sullivan
DHS Journalism Teacher
Children's Mercy Hospitals Prepped and Ready Series
DHS families, Children’s Mercy Hospitals have graciously kept the Prepped and Ready: Experts Edition video series open for the community!
As a reminder, the series is a collection of 3-5 minute videos addressing difficult topics that pertain to raising teens. It takes less than an hour to watch the videos and complete the research surveys. The content touches on a variety of topics, but a major focus is empowering parents with tools to prevent suicides in our community.
Excerpts from the videos are below, and showcase a variety of speakers from CMH and our community:
Intro to Prepped and Ready Trailer - https://youtu.be/ECsW7XbsSqo
Prepped and Ready Impulsivity Trailer - https://youtu.be/TnJcmzcIGLc
Prepped and Ready Asking Tough Questions Trailer - https://youtu.be/O-uvmB8xlhg
Prepped and Ready Ingestions Trailer - https://youtu.be/D_sP7PyQZV8
Prepped and Ready Vaping Trailer - https://youtu.be/34r5_xOIKCg
Prepped and Ready Safe Storage Trailer - https://youtu.be/24SPNXfHAGE
Prepped and Ready Eating Disorders Trailer - https://youtu.be/6k6n_DYP0IA
Securly App
Parents can have peace of mind in knowing your student’s search history and time on their device. See your student’s online activity in real-time and catch up with weekly email snapshots by signing up with the Securly app. Follow the link for more information and directions.