Community Engagement

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS ONE OF THE STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR THE SPASD, EVEN IN THE MOST DIFFICULT

TIMES. In fact, our mission and vision were developed by our community.

Kindness Retreats were held at all nine elementary schools for all 4th graders. Kindness Retreats are made possible by donations of time and money from our community and area businesses, such as the Bank of Sun Prairie and more.

SPHS Automotive Program was recognized for being a top 100 school in the Nation for utilizing the Ford Ace program, a vehicle service training program used by Ford Motor Company to train its employees.

We partnered with Oakwood Fruit Farm from Richland Center to supply local apples for all 8,000 students to “crunch” for the Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch in October.

Eastside Elementary School has been adopted by WPPI and Sun Prairie Utilities as part of the GRIT program focusing on the soft skills at the 4th- and 5th-grade levels. GRIT = Giving it your all, Responsibility, Initiative, and Teamwork.

The Masonic Lodge donated $5,000 to our Hunger Hero Campaign. We are so thankful to this group and so many other community groups for donating money to help support student lunch balances in Sun Prairie. District Support Center staff raised money for the Sunshine Place by hosting a lemonade stand during the lunch hour.

engagement community

Thank you to a generous grant from the Sun Prairie Education Foundation for funding the ASAP wheelchair basketball learning opportunity for all Patrick Marsh and Prairie View students.

Thank you to the Madison Reading Project for the books and to Celebrate Smiles for the toothbrushes! Our Community Schools staff handed them out at our food distribution sites.

community engagement

Even during COVID, our team is reviewing recommendations from the Taskforce.

Taskforce on Student Behavior and Bullying

The Sun Prairie Area School District staff strive to maintain a learning environment that is safe and a culture that is respectful and conducive to effective learning. Recent District data related to expulsions; behavioral referrals; student mental health; staff, student, and parent satisfaction surveys; and parent feedback indicates that we have not yet achieved our goals and are not meeting the expectations we have for ourselves. To that end, we formed a District Taskforce on Student Behavior and Bullying. This group met throughout the school year and discussed continued work by the team and how the Board and public can monitor progress/results/success with the initiatives developed by the Taskforce. Please visit the District website for more information about our continued work: https://tinyurl.com/y2hf5xbm

Did You Know?

John Sheehan, a 1979 graduate of Sun Prairie High School, proudly added his plaque to the Wall of Success at our high school.

John is a healthcare executive, now serving as the Vice President of UnityPoint Health Operations. John credits his success to his family and holds Sun Prairie High School near and dear to his heart.

When John graduated in 1979, his class donated the cardinal mascot and named it Curt after John’s father, who was the SPHS principal. Congratulations, John, and thank you for your continued support of SPASD!

Cardinal Heights was named a Special Olympics Unified Champion School and has secured funding to promote inclusive and cooperative initiatives!

engagement community

Mayor Esser

Aaron Oppenheimer and Sandy Xiong, City of Sun Prairie

Christi Winchel, Sunny Nutrition

We had community members, over 20 youth hockey and soccer coaches, District staff, and City employees serve our students breakfast throughout National School Breakfast Week.

Students who eat breakfast before school begins—wherever that may be—are better prepared to learn in the classroom.

School Nutrition Director Kathy Walker says: “We do so much more than just serve safe and healthy food. We love what we do, and we love that so many others wanted to join us in our experience. Thank you to our guest servers for joining us.” Thank you to the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) for bringing Bucky Badger to Creekside and Westside Elementary schools in celebration of Read Across America Week. The staff and students were so excited to see him!