We are down to the last three weeks of the first quarter and our first round of parent-teacher conferences is next week!  As we hit the last week of September, some of our fall sports are hitting the home stretch of their regular season while golf and tennis start their postseason competition, our band and chorus students are rehearsing for their first concerts, and our drama department is hard at work rehearsing for their fall production.

Please see below for some important information and updates.

Homecoming
Homecoming Week wraps up tonight with the Homecoming Game versus Campbell County.  Kickoff is at 7:00 PM and the Homecoming Court will be crowned at halftime.  The student section theme is College Game Day.

After the game until 11:30, Harrison High School students ONLY are invited to attend the After Homecoming Hangout. Student Council will have an inflatable obstacle course, bounce house, music, and games. Admission is FREE for our high school students. Pop, water, and snacks will be on sale.

Students at Football Games
A reminder to all students that are attending Friday night’s game – at NO time are you permitted to be on the visitor side of the stadium.  This includes the visitor bleachers and open areas around the visitor bleachers.  After the game, students needing rides must be picked up in front of the Activity Center, not behind the high school. 

Tutoring is Available
The National Honor Society has started their weekly tutoring sessions.  Every Tuesday and Thursday starting at 7:15 AM, the National Honor Society students will be available for free tutoring for anyone who needs help.  There’s no need to sign up in advance, just show up to Room 104 (Mrs. Siemer’s room), and let the NHS students help you with any subject you need.  Please reach out to Mrs. Siemer if you have any questions.

Conference Night – Thurs 9/28
Our first parent-teacher conference night will be Thursday, September 28 from 3:30 – 8:30 PM.  The link to sign up was sent on Wednesday, September 20 and can be found here.  Registration closes at 11:00 PM on Wednesday, September 27. 

Final Town Hall Meeting – Tues 10/10 at William Henry Harrison High School
Last school year, we kicked off an organized districtwide engagement campaign with the purpose of listening to the community. Listening to YOU. We collected hundreds of survey responses and hosted three unique Town Hall events at our elementary schools that had excellent turnout from the community. We talked about important topics for our kids, staff, and district, such as school safety, academic excellence, school finance, and mental health resources. Reports and recaps of all these events can be found on our website, southwestschools.org/community.

We are excited to continue our focus on engaging with our entire community, to ensure the future of our school district reflects what our community wants.  Please click HERE to view a short video from Superintendent John Hamstra, recapping what we've accomplished so far and looking ahead to what we have on deck in the weeks to come.

This fall, we are going to continue our process of listening to the community - we can’t move forward as a district and provide the level of service your kids deserve without your input and involvement.  We encourage you to do a few things. First, if you haven’t already, click HERE to take our survey to make sure your voice is heard.  Second, click HERE to RSVP to our final Town Hall event, to be held at Harrison High School at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, October 10th. We want to pack the buildings for these events, so make sure you RSVP ASAP.

We are fortunate to live in a community that cares so much about our schools and our students, and we want to hear from you on how we can continue to improve.

We look forward to seeing you at our final Town Hall. Thank you.

Ordering/Delivery of Outside Food
The Southwest Local School District participates in the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for our qualifying students.  As part of the provision of the agreement, we do not allow vending machines to be used or outside food service to the building during lunchtime.  Food from an outside restaurant, pizza service, etc. may not be delivered until after 2:55.  Food cannot be delivered or brought into the building without administrative approval within program compliance.  A parent/guardian may bring in a homemade lunch and drop it off for their student.  This information is in our Student Handbook and we stressed it in our grade level assemblies on the first day of school, yet we are still seeing this each week; we greatly appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

School Fees
School fees are now posted to our students’ accounts.  Directions for how to log on and pay student fees are attached to this email.  Thank you for your attention to this information!

Junior/Senior College Visits
Any junior or senior interested in meeting with college representatives can sign up on Naviance. This is a great way to learn about colleges and if they are a good fit. We will have a variety of colleges visit Harrison High School throughout the school year.

Seniors received instruction on how to complete transcript requests in Naviance on Thursday, August 31^st during Advisory.  The slide show is available for viewing on both the Guidance page of the school’s website and on the Class of 2024 Teams page. Students at Diamond Oaks/Scarlet Oaks will be receiving the same instruction during their individual meetings when their Harrison counselor visits the Oaks buildings over the next few weeks.

PTO/Booster Organizations
We would like to invite you to join the Harrison Junior/Senior High PTO as well as our Booster organizations.  You can visit https://harrisonjrsrpto.membershiptoolkit.com/home to join the PTO, https://harrisonwildcats.membershiptoolkit.com/Home to join the Athletic Boosters, https://www.harrisonmusicboosters.com/ to join the Music Boosters and the Harrison CAT Boosters’ page to support the Vocal and Drama programs.  

UPCOMING DATES
THURS 9/28: Parent-Teacher Conference Night 3:30 – 8:30 PM
WEDS 10/4: Chorus Concert 7:00 PM
SUN 10/8: Harrison Cheer Classic
TUES 10/10: Town Hall Meeting @ WHHHS 6:00 – 8:00 PM
WEDS 10/11: Band Concert 7:00 PM
FRI 10/13: END OF FIRST QUARTER/NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
SAT 10/14: PTO Craft Show 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Please feel free to contact us with questions.  Thank you and have a great weekend!

Go Wildcats!

Joe Pollitt
Principal
William Henry Harrison High School
Paying Fees Online