January has been a month full of fresh beginnings and renewed determination at school!  Our students, teachers, and staff members are committed to making second semester a success story.  There are several updates below that will help MWE families keep the momentum rolling:

Winter Conferences - MWE will host winter parent-teacher conferences on Feb. 6 & 8.  Please click the link below to reserve your meeting time online:

Group Link (all teachers & staff): https://signup.com/go/FtrkCNg

Kindergarten links:

• Mrs. Ar
• Mrs. Beasley
• Mrs. Kober (meeting all day Feb. 7 in addition to the nights of Feb. 6 & 8)
• Mrs. Mumfrey

1^st Grade:

• Mrs. Houpe
• Mrs. Linde
• Mrs. Midei
• Mrs. Pfeffer/Miss Burke 
• Mrs. Vandeventer

2^nd Grade:

• Mrs. Ange
• Mr. Borcher
• Mrs. Jackson
• Mrs. Horning
• Mrs. Weber

3^rd Grade:

• Mrs. Blankenship
• Mrs. Deller
• Mrs. Heinrich
• Mrs. Hollmann
• Mrs. Payne

4^th Grade:

• Ms. Hollstegge
• Mrs. Osterhage
• Miss Rack
• Mr. Williams

5^th Grade:

• Miss Cole
• Mrs. Guilfoyle
• Mrs. Stafford
• Mrs. Schaber & Miss Ventre

Intervention Specialists, Special Area Teachers, & Counselor

• Ms. Niesen
• Mrs. Peters
• Mrs. Mangione
• Mrs. Ferguson
• Mr. Frye
• Mr. Sims
• Mrs. Gieringer

5th grade to 6th grade Transition Meetings - On February 6, 2024 there are meetings scheduled for students heading into 6th grade next school year.   Harrison Junior School has split the group alphabetically to mitigate crowd size, parking, etc.  Last names A-L should arrive at 6:00.  Last names M-Z will start at 7:00.  The meetings will be in the HJS Commons/Cafeteria area.  Parents & Guardians can park on either side of HJS (main east lot, or the west lot between the JS and MWE), but please park in a marked parking spaces and not on the grass.  This is also parent-teacher conference night at MWE, so please schedule your conference with our 5th grade teachers at a time that does not conflict with the transition meetings at HJS.

Cafeteria Snacks & Juice - Our food service staff members are selling snacks and juice on Mondays & Thursdays in addition to daily breakfast and lunch.  Snacks and chips are available for students to purchase for $0.80 and juice is $0.50.  Please let your child know if he/she is allowed to use money you add to the lunch account online for these extra purchases.  You can also log in to your family's LunchTime school payment portal to block snack purchases or view your child's purchase history: https://schoolpaymentportal.com/Default.aspx 

SLSD Kindergarten Registration -  The Southwest Local School District will begin kindergarten registration for 2024-2025 school year on February 1, 2024, at 6:00 a.m. Kindergarten registration will only be available online. Detailed instructions regarding the online application will be available on our website under the New Student Registration Tab. When your online form is complete, and all required documents have been uploaded, please call the District Registrar at District Office (513) 728-8401 to make sure the documents have been received and are acceptable to complete your registration. We will be offering Optional Full Day Kindergarten for 2024-2025 school year there will be a limited number of tuition-based spots available. The cost is $3,825.00 (9 payments of $425.00). These registrations will be processed on a first come first served basis. All required forms must be completed, and all acceptable documents uploaded in Final Forms. Each Registration will be time stamped based on the time they were completed, and the last required document was uploaded. Students will be placed into open spots based on the order in which registration is completed. The registration will not be considered complete until all forms have been completed and all required (acceptable) documents based on the Southwest School District Board Policy have been uploaded. All Forms must be completed online, no exceptions.  If you start your registration before 6:00 AM on February 1st, it will not be acknowledged and will be deleted, and you will need to start over.

State Law and the Southwest Local School District requires the following immunizations:
A series of 5 Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus (also known as DtaP) (4 if the 4th is given after the 4th birthday)

A series of 4 Polio
A series of 3 Hepatitis B
2 MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)
2 Chicken Pox Vaccine (Varicella)
According to State Law, children who do not meet immunization requirements by the 15th day of school cannot be permitted to attend school and will be excluded upon the 16th day of school.

Valentine’s Day Parties – Our Valentine’s Day parties are scheduled for Wednesday, February 14.  

1. Time – Full day Kindergarten, PM Kindergarten, & grades 1-5 will start at 2:30.  All parties will end by 3:30 so volunteers can get their things out safely and clear the lot before dismissal begins.  AM Kindergarten parties will start at 10:45 & end at 11:45am. 
2. Parking - All staff and teachers will be parking in the Junior School or Green Barn parking lot on Feb. 14.  This will open more spaces out front for our parents & guardians volunteering at parties.  If you are a party volunteer, you are welcome to park in our front lot or in the green barn lot by our playground.  All volunteers need to enter through the front doors, as we cannot allow visitors to enter through the back doors if you park in the green barn lot.  Please do not park in the grass, along Wildcat Way loop road, or in the landscaping.  There will be no parking on the blacktop between MWE and the JS due to dismissal at the JS falling during party time.
3. Volunteers – Each classroom can have 5 volunteers.  ALL volunteers need to have a quick background check done by Lisa Schille or Kelsey Dwenger in the office prior to Feb. 2.   Volunteers can enter the building at 2:15, need a photo ID, and will be allowed to come to your classrooms around 2:20. 
4. Snacks & Treats – All snacks, desserts, & treats need to be store bought and individually wrapped.  This will help keep our students healthy and aligns with our SLSD wellness policy.

SLSD Building Tours – SLSD will be conducting building tours this spring, starting at the HS, as we transition from the “listening” portion of our community engagement effort to “educating the public”. The Townhall themes / takeaways from last spring overlapped a great deal with our district strategic plan. The themes were nearly identical – in terms of what people thought we were doing well, where we were close, and where SLSD may be missing the mark completely.

We will be offering tours of Harrison High School on February 22, 2024 at 6:00pm.  If any families or community members who tour the HS would like to tour HJS or MWE on 2.22.2024, we will provide the opportunity after the high school tour.

Spelling Bee - Our annual spelling bee was held on January 18th.  Congratulations to our Spelling Bee Champion, Miss Lilia Lee!  There was a tight battle at the end between Lilia and our runner-up, Miss Alaina Payne.  All of our participants and alternates are very deserving of high praise & recognition!

UPDATES REGARDING OHIO'S NEW LAW FOR DYSLEXIA SCREENING 

All students in grades K-3 at Southwest Local School District will undergo dyslexia screening as part of Ohio law requirements. This non-intrusive process aims to identify early signs of dyslexia, and if your child is flagged, they may be given a Tier 2 Screener for further assessment and tailored support. This is not a comprehensive dyslexia assessment designed to diagnose your child with dyslexia. The screener is designed to identify areas of concern in specific components of reading that identify your child as being below or well below grade level expectations. 

Students in SLSD received an initial screening through Aimsweb Plus based on the timeline below. K-3 students are already taking this assessment three times a year (fall, winter, spring).  Students who score in the 25th percentile or below on the winter administration of Aimsweb Plus, will then be given an additional assessment called the RAN. If your child scores in an at-risk range on the RAN, they will be given the PAST assessment to target areas for intervention. We will notify you if your child will be receiving interventions based on these screenings.

Timeline for Dyslexia Assessments 2023-2024

• Week of December 11: 1st-3rd AIMSWEB Benchmark 
• Week of January 8: Kindergarten AIMSWEB Benchmark
• Week of January 29: RAN administered to any K-3rd grade student who scored in the 25th percentile or below on AIMSWEB
• February 20-29: PAST assessment administered for any K-3rd grade student who took the RAN and scored at-risk
• Week of March 4: Data Analysis (ID Areas of Concern and Interventions that Align)
• Week of March 11: Begin Intervention
• March 11-April 26: 6-8 Week Intervention Window
• Week of April 29: Re-administer PAST to this target group of students
• During May data meetings, all students will be placed in MTSS groups for the following fall (2024-2025 school year) based on areas of need

Harrison Athletic Boosters 2024 Sports Stag - Join us for the annual Harrison Athletic Boosters Sports Stag on February 22nd and support Harrison Wildcat athletes (must be 21 to attend)! You'll love hearing stories from special guests Marty Brennaman and Thom Brennaman and our event emcee Sean Kelly.  Admission includes catered dinner, adult beverages, soft drinks, bourbon raffle, split the pot, gift, and meet & greet.  Tickets and sponsorship can be found at: www.harrisonathleticboosters.com

Having issues with the Parent Portal? - If you are having a difficult time accessing ProgressBook or the Parent Portal via Abre, please email parentaccess@southwestschools.org .  This address is checked regularly by our tech team and they will answer promptly!

2024 Summer Camps - As summer opportunities are announced, we will continue to pass registration information along to MWE families via email.  

1. BGSU - Bowling Green State University and philanthropic partners are offering completely FREE, virtual summer academic enrichment camps taught by College of Education and Human Development teaching professionals.  More information can be found at https://www.bgsu.edu/academicenrichmentcamp. This camp will help students in grades 2-7 stay academically engaged in the summer months. This program is offered at no cost due to a large philanthropic gift which covers all the materials, shipping, and other costs. If you are interested, would like more information, please contact Kati Solymosi via email, ksolymo@bgsu.edu, or call Dr. Gabriel Matney on 419-372-7357. 

2. Great Parks of Hamilton County - Click here:  Day Camps | Great Parks of Hamilton County  or HERE  for a guide to summer day camps through Great Parks of Hamilton County.

Important Dates

January

Jan. 31 Student Banking 

February 

Feb. 1 - SLSD Kindergarten Registration 

Feb. 5-9 - National School Counselors week

Feb. 6 - HJS Guidance Counselors visit 5th grade 9:45am

Feb. 6 - Parent Teacher Conferences from 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Feb. 6 - Fifth to Sixth grade transition meetings at HJS (6:00 & 7:00 by last name)

Feb. 8 - Parent Teacher Conferences from 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM 

Feb. 14 - Student Banking 

Feb. 14 - Valentine’s Day parties 

Feb. 15 - PTO Skatin’ Place event 5:30-8:30

Feb. 16 - Conference Release Day - No School 

Feb. 19 - Presidents’ Day - No School 

Feb. 22 - 4th & 5th grade to HJS drama performance of “Seussical” (10:00am)

Feb. 22 - Harrison High School building tour 6:00pm

Feb. 28 - Student Banking 

March 

March 3 - SLSD Preschool Registration 

March 5 - PTO Meeting @ 6:30 PM 

March 5 - PBIS Assembly 2:00pm

March 6 - CAT Store

March 8 - End of 3rd Quarter - No School 

March 13 - Student Banking 

March 18-22 - NWEA MAP Spring Benchmark assessment week

March 19 - Talent Show dress rehearsal 4:00-6:30pm 

March 20 - Talent Show 7:00 at Activity Center

March 25-29 - Spring Break - No School 

APRIL 

April 1 - Easter Monday - No School 

April 2 - PTO Meeting @ 6:30 PM 

April 2-19 - OST ELA Assessment window

April 3 - Student Banking 

April 4 - National School Librarian Appreciation Day - Thanks, Mrs. Meckstroth!

April 12 - First Grade grandparent’s Day 9:30am

April 17 - Student Banking 

April 19 - SLSD Daddy-Daughter Dance (7:00-9:00)

April 20 - SLSD Mom Prom (7:00-9:00)

April 22 - May 10- OST Mathematics & Science Assessment window

April 24 - Administrative Professionals Day - Thanks, Miss Lisa & Miss Kelsey!

May 

May 1 -  Student Banking 

May 1 - PBIS Assembly 10:00am

May 6-10 - Teacher Appreciation Week 

May 6-10  - AIMSWeb Plus fluency Spring benchmark (grades K-3)

May 8 - School Nurse Appreciation Day - Thanks, Nurse Simpson!

May 8 - 4th grade field trip to Gov. Bebb Pioneer Village

May 10 - Wildcat Walk 2:30pm

May 7 - PTO Meeting @ 6:30 PM 

May 8 - CAT Store

May 10 - First Grade field trip to Cincinnati Museum Center

May 14 - MWE Enrichment Day

May 15 - Student Banking + Bike Giveaway 

May 16 - Field Day & PTO Walk-a-Thon 

May 17 - Teacher In Service Day - No School 

May 20 - Field Day & PTO Walk-A-Thon - Rain Date 

May 21 - High School Graduation 

May 22 - Last Day of School for students

May 22  - 5th Grade Graduation 

May 23 - End of Second Semester - No School 

May 24 - Teacher Records Day 

May 27 Memorial Day - School Closed