Wildcat Growl
August 13, 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,
This week, we welcomed 1000 students to start the 2021-2022 academic school year. It was great seeing everyone back in the building and meeting all of our new students.
We will primarily use five different avenues to communicate important activities and events; the USD232/DHS website, Skyward emails – including our weekly newsletter (The Growl), Twitter(@DeSotoWildcats), De Soto High School Facebook page, and dhswildcatnation.com website.
We want to thank the 65+ Ambassador and Mentor Crew members for assisting us with Wildcat Kick-off. Their leadership and willingness to serve DHS are appreciated.
We want to welcome Mr. Ken Gandy to our team. Mr. Gandy will be teaching Residential Carpentry in our Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department. We also want to welcome Mrs. Abby Huggins to DHS! Mrs. Huggins transitioned from a district-wide role to the School Improvement Specialist position at DHS. We are glad to have both join our Wildcat family.
Monday, August 16th is the first day for fall activities, with many try-outs and practices taking place at various times around campus. We encourage students to contact the coach for specific information about getting involved. Good Luck, Wildcats!
All Sports Information Night will take place at 7:00 PM in the Main Gymnasium on Wednesday, August 18th.
We look forward to hosting all of our families for Parent Information Night on Thursday, August 19th. The details can be found on our website.
As a friendly reminder, masks are required for events taking place inside DHS. All visitors to a school building are required to wear a mask unless they have a medical mask exemption. To be most prepared for our event, if you, as a parent/guardian, have a medical mask exemption, please email me directly at sruff@usd232.org. I want our staff to be prepared to welcome all our visitors.
The DHS traffic pattern can be viewed on our website, here. We need your assistance with a couple of items.
Maximizing student drop-off line capacity
As you pull up to the south main entrance, pull forward as far as possible before letting children exit the vehicle. Many vehicles are stopping directly in front of the sidewalk that leads to the main entrance to let their children out. As a result, there is a considerable amount of space left open between that point and the end of the sidewalk.
Picking students up in the afternoon
When you arrive at DHS in the afternoon to pick up your student, if you arrive before dismissal please pull as far forward along the sidewalk as possible. If a line is already established along the curb toward the student parking lot, please pull around the east side of the building in order to line up along the curb.
Thanks to Great American Bank who will be sponsoring the Making a Difference Award again for the 2021-22 school year! The USD 232 Education Foundation is currently accepting nominations for the next Making a Difference Award! Nominations will be received through the end of September 2021 with the next award being presented at the beginning of October.
Making a Difference Nomination Form
Kind Regards,
Sam Ruff
Principal
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.
A&M Crew
This week our Ambassador and Mentor students (A&M Crew) met for their orientation. A&M Crew Members are leaders selected to help bridge communication between school leadership and the DHS Student Body. Members represent each of the DHS Core Values and are champions of our school. A&M members did an outstanding job supporting our Freshman Kick – Off day and Open House for student who are either new to the district or were Optional Remote last year. There will be numerous opportunities for members to support school wide activities and facilitate small group activities during selected Seminar dates throughout the year. We greatly appreciate their involvement and commitment to academic and extracurricular success at DHS!
Notes from the Nurse
VACCINATIONS
The State of Kansas requires incoming 11th graders to have one Meningococcal vaccine on or after their 16th birthday. Your shot record might say MCV, MCV4, MCV40, MCV4P, Menveo or Menactra or just meningococcal. All of these meet the requirement.
If your student has already had these vaccinations, please email Anne Lightcap, BSN, RN the shot record (mfarverlightcap@usd232.org). If you have already submitted a shot record containing this vaccine, you do not need to send it again. How can you check? From your desktop (it will NOT work on your phone), go to Skyward, then choose:
Health Info (tab on the left side) Display Options Show Vaccinations
UPDATED Immunizations
If your child has received any UPDATED immunizations since last Spring- please send these to the nurse at mfarverlightcap@usd232.org
If no changes to your current immunizations, I do not need another copy unless you are a new student or have been contacted by me about state required immunizations.
Medications to be given by the nurse
For students that take a medication to be given by the nurse at lunch or during the school day. Please remember I must have a signed doctor's order. A link to medication form on the USD 232 district Health services website can be found here. Or you can print the form below.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Anne Lightcap BSN, RN
De Soto High School Nurse
fax-913-667-6251