Note: This information will be mailed home to families in mid- to late-July.
Wisner-Pilger Jr/Sr High School Students and Families,
We hope this letter finds you well and that you are having an enjoyable summer. The Faculty and Staff at Wisner-Pilger Jr/Sr High School are looking forward to seeing students for the first day of school on Thursday, August 14!
The mailing being sent home includes individual class schedules for students in grades 8-12, and Mrs. Reese (School Counselor) will be available for students to make schedule changes on August 4th and 6th from 9:00-3:00 (please note that she will NOT be available for schedule changes on August 5th). Students that are new to Wisner-Pilger this year may also use these times to register for classes. Students in 7th Grade will receive their schedules at 7th Grade Orientation on Tuesday, August 12th at 4:00 PM, and there is an additional letter in this mailing regarding 7th Grade Orientation.
Please note that iGator Rollout (laptop/iPad checkout) will also occur over the course of three days on August 4th, 5th, and 6th from 9:00-3:00, allowing students and families to choose a time and date that is most convenient for them. Parents/guardians are welcome to come to iGator Rollout with their student(s) but may also choose to send students with their payment and completed paperwork. Students that are unable to attend iGator Rollout can still bring their forms and insurance deposit when school starts, but they are not guaranteed to receive their laptop immediately. Please note that any students with outstanding fines/fees, including outstanding lunch balances, from last school year will not be able to check out their laptop until these bills are paid.
We will continue to have Student Makeup Days on the first school-day Friday of each month. On these Fridays, we will be changing the school calendar to a 4:00 PM dismissal, instead of the normal 2:30 dismissal, for students in grades 7-12. However, students in Good Academic Standing, meaning those students with no missing/incomplete assignments in any classes, will be dismissed at 2:30 as usual. Students that are not in Good Academic Standing will be required to stay until 4:00 to work with teachers to complete their assignments. There will not be transportation provided by the school for these students that are required to stay until 4:00, which is why we are informing students and families now. The purpose of these changes to Student Makeup Days are 1) to send the message that missing/incomplete assignments are an unacceptable behavior, and 2) provide the time and support for students to correct academic deficiencies.
There are some notable changes to this year’s Student-Parent Handbook. The first change deals with personal communication devices, including cell phones and smart watches. At the direction of a new Nebraska state law, Wisner-Pilger will no longer allow the use of electronic communication devices during school hours, including lunch time and passing periods (unless directed by an individual student’s plan, such as IEP, ILP, SAT, 504, etc.) Students that are accessing their device during school hours will have the device confiscated, and parents/guardians will be required to come to school to retrieve the device. Students will be allowed to use their devices while attending extracurricular activities. As always, parents and guardians can communicate messages to students by calling or emailing the High School Office.
The second major change to the Student-Parent Handbook addresses attendance. Starting this year, all absences will be considered “not school excused” unless doctor notes are provided excusing students due to illness, in which case the absence will be changed to “school excused”. All “not school excused” absences will count toward excessive absenteeism limits. Excessive absenteeism is defined as more than 7 absences in a quarter and/or 20 absences in a school year. Parents/guardians will still need to call students in absent each time, as failure to attend school without a parent notification will be considered “truancy”, which may result in disciplinary action. Please note that these changes to attendance are largely just changes to the wording of the policy and are not a major departure from recent practice.
Finally, another new state law addresses parental involvement and parental rights. As part of this law, schools are required to notify families of standardized tests that students will be completing. To meet this requirement, a listing of standardized tests that are taken by Jr/Sr High School students, and their approximate dates of completion, has been included in the Student-Parent Handbook.
If you have not already done so, please take note of our school website which works in conjunction with the Wisner-Pilger, NE smartphone app. This app is a great source for news, announcements, calendar events, lunch menus, and other school-related information. To download the app, please visit www.wisnerpilger.org and select the icons on the bottom, right-hand side of the page for “Download on the App Store” or “Get It On Google Play”. This section of the website also includes links to our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube pages where we share news, events, highlights, and livestreams of events.
Enclosed with this letter you will find communication and forms from the Jr/Sr High School Office, Counselor’s Office, Sports Boosters, and Technology Coordinator. This information should give students and families everything needed to get the school year started. We hope you have a great finish to your summer, and we look forward to the 2025-2026 school year!
Enclosed Forms:
Student’s Schedule
iGators (Device) Signature Pages
Complete
Complete
School Lunch Information (One packet per family)
Forms Needed Prior to Sports Practice (Applies to all students in grades 7-12):
Important Start of the School Year Dates/Events:
Fall Sports Begin – Monday, August 11
Schedule Changes/New Student Registration – Monday, August 4 and Wednesday, August 6 - 9:00 AM-3:00 PM (Mrs. Reese is NOT available Tuesday, August 5)
iGator (Device) Rollout – Monday, August 4-Wednesday, August 6 – 9:00 AM-3:00 PM
All iGator Signature Pages must be signed OR a parent or legal guardian must be present
The $25 insurance fee must be paid before the laptop can be checked out
All outstanding fines/fees must be paid before a laptop can be checked out
7th Grade Orientation – Tuesday, August 12 – 4:00 PM
A letter has been sent home to families of all incoming 7th Graders
First Day of School – Thursday, August 14 - 8:15-2:30 (Early Dismissal)
Second Day of School – Friday, August 15 - 8:15-2:30 (Fridays are generally an Early/2:30 Dismissal for students to allow for Teacher In-Service)
Regular Schedule Begins - Monday, August 18 - 8:15-344