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Dear Southwestern CSD Students, Parents, and Community Members,

I hope this message finds you well and enjoying a wonderful summer. As we reflect on the past school year, I am filled with pride and gratitude for the incredible progress we have made together. Our focused, aligned, and intentional work through collaborative planning has laid a strong foundation for our continued journey towards excellence. This collective effort, which we proudly call our "Blueprint for Excellence," will be the backbone of all our endeavors moving forward.

The cornerstones for our work are designed by our abilities to demonstrate Integrity, Kindness, Connections, and Excellence. As we look ahead to the 2024-2025 school year, I am excited to share our focused areas that will guide our efforts and ensure we continue to provide the best possible education for our students:

  1. The Student Experience: We are committed to enhancing every aspect of our students' educational journey. This includes providing engaging and challenging academic programs, as well as extracurricular activities that foster personal growth and development.
  2. Community Connections: Strengthening our ties with the community is essential. We will increase opportunities for parents and community members to be involved in school activities ensuring a collaborative approach to education.
  3. The Staff Experience: Our dedicated staff is the heart of our school. We will focus on professional development, support, and recognition to ensure our teachers and staff have the resources and encouragement they need to excel in their roles.
  4. A Safe and Welcoming Environment: The safety and well-being of our students and staff are paramount. We will continue to implement and enhance measures that ensure our school is a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for everyone.

Additional priorities for the school year include the following:

  • Academic Rigor: We offer a wide array of curriculum choices for students to challenge themselves academically while also pursuing elective courses to balance a rigorous and robust high school experience. Students can pursue coursework in the following academic areas: English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and World Languages. Elective courses include: Art, Business, Health/Physical Education, Technology, Band, Choir, and Orchestra. We have additionally made a commitment to offer S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) enhanced offerings to prepare students for continued education or the world of work. We also share a dedicated commitment to provide academic support for students who have an Individualized Education Plan or receive 504 accommodations. We offer many AP courses through the College Board as well as College Connection Courses available through Jamestown Community College. Additionally, many students also choose to pursue a Career & Technical Education endorsed diploma via BOCES at the Hewes Center.
  • Alternative Learning Program: The high school offers programming for “at-risk” students in the building. We are seeing an increasing number of students who are at-risk of meeting graduation requirements, making poor decisions, disenchanted with school, make school a low priority, and/or exhibit “out of the norm” behavior. Our Alternative Learning Program (ALP) is designed to support students across all learning domains.
  • Attendance: Student attendance improved last year, but we continue to have too many students missing valuable instructional time due to absenteeism. Students are missing school or arriving late to school without an excuse. School tardiness was the most frequent behavior resulting in disciplinary consequences for the previous school year. Students need to be in attendance daily and arrive to school promptly. New York State Department of Education requires students to attend school minimally 85% of the scheduled time. Students who fail to regularly attend school may lose the ability to earn course credit for excessive absences. Please contact the attendance office on the day your child is unable to attend and when your child returns to school provide our attendance office with an excuse documenting your child’s absence.
  • Cell Phones: We continue to see a percentage of our students who have a difficult time knowing where to draw the line on their cell phone use. Many students are too dependent on their cell phones and are not engaged as active learners in our classrooms. Cell phones are prohibited to be used in bathrooms, locker rooms, Structured Learning Center, and during emergency drills. Upon entering a classroom, all high school students are required to store their cell phone in a designated “cell phone garage.” Cell phones will be kept in the cell phone garage for the duration of class time.
  • Academic Support: It is our responsibility to close achievement gaps in student performance. Current research shows that small group targeted instruction will help us close achievements gaps. Academic Intervention Services, Study Skills, and after-school academic support is available to students to seek additional help. After-school academic support is provided Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 2:45-3:25 pm. We also run an Academic Eligibility Report every 2 weeks to determine if a student needs additional remediation if they are at-risk of failing any enrolled course in the high school.
  • Dress Code: Last year we amended SWCS Dress Code policy, and it is our belief that the student and their parent/guardian hold the primary responsibility in determining the student’s personal attire, hairstyle, jewelry, and personal items (e.g. backpacks, book bags). Our schools are responsible for assuring the student attire, hairstyle, jewelry, and personal items do not interfere with the health or safety.

Students must wear:

  • Top (shirt, blouse, sweater, sweatshirt, tank).
  • Bottom (pants, shorts, skirt, dress, etc.); and
  • Footwear.

Students may not wear clothing, jewelry, or personal items that:

  • Are pornographic, contain threats, or that promote illegal or violent conduct such as the unlawful use of weapons, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or drug paraphernalia.
  • Illustrate hate group association/affiliation and/ or use hate speech targeting groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, or other protected groups.
  • Intentionally show private parts. Clothing must cover private parts in opaque (not able to be seen through) material.
  • Cover the student’s face to the extent that the student is not identifiable except clothing/headgear worn for an ethnic, religious, or medical purpose.
  • Include hats, visors, or hoods during the school day. These articles of clothing are prohibited except for ethnic, religious, or medical purposes.
  • Demonstrate gang association/affiliation.
  • Involvement: Students additionally benefit from the best educational experience through an active involvement in our many different available opportunities. We encourage all students to participate in one or more of the following extracurricular and co-curricular activities: Athletics, School Musical, eSports, Student Council, Envirothon, Allies for Diversity, Impact, Spanish Club, French Club, School Newspaper, Key Club, Ski Club, and National Honor Society to mention a few possibilities.
  • Trojan Pride: As a school we must continually commit to the development of the whole child and provide various levels of support for all students across academic, social, and emotional domains. When our students experience satisfaction derived from their own achievements, the achievements of team or a group of individuals with a shared vision our students will have a rewarding experience that we like to call “Trojan Pride.”
  • Building Project: This summer has been a flurry of activity in the high school. New heating units are being installed in classrooms, additional HVAC duct work is being completed, a new elevator, as well as a completely remodeled cafeteria. We are hopeful this work will be completed when the students return in September.

I am confident, with your continued support and collaboration, we'll achieve great things this year. Together, we will build on our "Blueprint for Excellence" and ensure our students are well-prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Our faculty and staff members are excited for our students’ return on September 3. We look forward to your continued partnership as we strive to make Southwestern CSD the best place to educate children!

Warm regards,
Scott Cooper
High School Principal