October 10, 2025

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Friday Focus

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has had a wonderful week, and thank you for powering through Thursday!

A huge thank you to CIA for preparing another excellent professional development session and introducing more valuable tools for your toolbox. I genuinely appreciated the rich conversations that took place and seeing how you're already applying this year's learning in your classrooms. Your commitment to growth is inspiring!

The state has released this year's Iowa School Performance Profile, which can be found here: https://www.iaschoolperformance.gov/ECP/StateDistrictSchool/SchoolSummary?k=19332&y=2025

I'm excited to share some highlights and progress with you! Our students with disabilities subgroup made excellent growth this year, and we came incredibly close to removing our targeted designation—missing it by just .05 points! This tells me that the changes we've implemented in our special education programming are truly working. Let's celebrate this momentum! We'll continue focusing on our ELL students, who are showing solid performance as well.

There's so much to celebrate this year! For the second consecutive year, we would have achieved commendable school status, and as a whole, we exceeded the state average in most categories. That's a testament to your hard work and dedication!

As we look ahead, we have some clear opportunities to build on this success. By supporting student attendance and removing barriers for those facing challenges, we can make an even greater impact. Mr. Moss is proactively scheduling school engagement meetings earlier in the semester to support our students before absences become a pattern—a great example of our preventative approach in action.

I'll share more details about our scores at the November 12th inservice, and I'm looking forward to celebrating our progress together!

Looking Ahead

Western Iowa Tech Visit - October 29 Our counselors will be taking all Juniors to Western Iowa Tech for a campus visit. This is a required event, but students who miss the bus or choose not to participate will remain in their regular classes.

Reminders/Due Dates

  • Oct. 13 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:30 - 8:00 pm
  • Oct. 20 - End of Quarter 1
  • Oct. 21 - Grades due (comments in Q1)
  • Oct. 22 - Inservice
  • Nov. 5 - Shelter Drill 11:15 am
  • Nov. 14 - End of Trimester 1

Looking Way Ahead

For those of you that like to plan, homecoming will be October 2 next year. Coroanation will take place on Monday September 28 and the dance will be Saturday, October 3.

Have a great weekend!
Mark

Assistant Principal's Happenings


Things to Remember:
Please review the Bulldog Behavior chart linked here.  Remember that if Level 1 violations become excessive due to frequency, duration, or intensity, you are free to request the office become involved.  I want to assist you if you are having difficulties with students.  I appreciate that most of you want to take care of classroom management on your own.  I was the same.  But also know that it may be time to elevate consequences to get a student's attention if our current methods aren't working.  I enjoy conversations with teachers when we brainstorm together strategies to help your classroom operate more smoothly. I recently read that the "95% of our students are watching how we handle the 5% that cause issues".  It was a good reminder for me.  Let me know how I can support you.

Things You May Find Interesting:
Discipline update:  We have had 102 office referrals so far this year.  We had 133 referrals at this time last year.  This includes all detentions, suspensions, and verbal warnings thus far.  The majority of referrals are related to attendance.

Things I'm Thankful For:
THANK YOU to the Courtesy Committee for providing a wonderful meal on Thursday night during conferences -- Mary Westhoff, Emily Klingbeil, Tami Fisher, & Sarah Wonders.  THANK YOU for caring for our staff so well!

Things I'm Thinking About:
I receive James Clear's email newsletter.  He's the author of Atomic Habits, which I highly recommend.  Here is a quote from him that I thought fits nicely with both Science of Learning, Boys Town, and life (parenthetical comments are my own):

"Lessons are unlikely to stick unless they are repeated. (Sci of Learning)

Behaviors are unlikely to stick unless they are repeated. (Boys Town)

Love is unlikely to stick unless it is repeated. (Life)

The practice solidifies."  James Clear


Thankful to serve with you --


Moss


Upcoming Activities


Friday, Oct. 10
4:15 pm Freshman Football vs. SBL
7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. SBL

Saturday, Oct. 11
TBD - State Marching Band
8:00 am Varsity Volleyball @ Western Christian
9:45 am Dutchmen Field Championships - Northwestern

Monday, Oct. 13
4:30 pm JV and Freshman Volleyball Invite - Home
4:30 pm Parent/Teacher Conferences
6:00 pm JV Football @ SBL

Tuesday, Oct. 14
4:30 pm Freshman Volleyball @ Heelan
5:30 pm JV Volleyball @ Heelan
6:30 pm Girl Swimming @ Spencer
7:00 pm Varsity Volleyball @ Heelan

Thursday, Oct. 16
TBD - Heartland Honor Choir
4:00 pm Cross Country MRAC Conference Meet @ Brunsville
6:00 pm Freshman Football @ Fort Dodge

Friday, Oct. 17
7:00 pm Varsity Football @ Fort Dodge

Saturday, Oct. 18
TBD - Varsity Volleyball @ Heelan Classic
12:00 pm Girl Swimming @ Lewis Central Invite

Monday, Oct. 20
5:00 pm HS Speech Kickoff
6:00 pm Freshmen Football @ Humbolt
6:00 pm JV Football vs. Fort Dodge

Tuesday, Oct. 21
6:30 pm Girl Swimming @ Spencer

Thursday, Oct. 23
4:30 pm Girl Swimming vs. Lewis Central and Carroll

Friday, Oct. 24
4:15 pm Freshmen Football vs. Storm Lake
7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Storm Lake
Halftime - Mass Band Show

Saturday, Oct. 25
8:00 am All-State Music Auditions

Monday, Oct. 27
7:30 pm Vocal Concert

Thursday, Oct. 30
7:30 pm Orchestra Concert

Friday, Oct. 31
TBD - 1st round football playoffs

Tuesday, Nov. 18
4:00 pm Girl Wrestling @ Western Christian

Thursday, Nov. 20
TBD - All State Music Festival

Friday, Nov. 21
TBD - All State Music Festival

Saturday, Nov. 22
TBD - All State Music Festival
10:00 am Girl Wrestling @ West Monona

Monday, Nov. 24
3:00 pm Boy/Girl Bowling vs. Council Bluffs Abe Lincoln

Tuesday, Nov. 25
5:00 pm Boy Swimming vs. Spencer
5:30 pm JV Girl Basektball vs. Lewis Central
7:00 pm Varsity Girl Basketball vs. Lewis Central

Monday, Dec. 1
3:30 pm Bowling vs. Sioux City West

Tuesday, Dec. 2
4:00 pm JV Boy/Girl Basketball vs. Spirit Lake
5:30 pm Varsity Girl Basketball vs. Spirit Lake
7:00 pm Varsity Boy Basektball vs. Spirit Lake

Thursday, Dec. 3
5:30 pm Boy/Girl Wrestling vs. SC East & Council Bluffs Lincoln
6:30 pm Swimming @ Spencer

Friday, Dec. 5
4:00 pm JV Boy/Girl Basketball @ SBL
5:15 pm Freshman Boy Basketball @ SBL
5:30 pm Varsity Girl Basektball @ SBL
5:30 pm Varsity Girl Wrestling @ Viborg-Hurley (South Dakota)
7:00 pm Varsity Boy Basketball @ SBL
7:30 pm Madrigal Dinner

Saturday, Dec. 6
10:00 am Varsity Boy Wrestling @ Long Lines
10:00 am JV Boy/Girl Wrestling @ SC North
7:30 pm Madrigal Dinner

Monday, Dec. 8
5:00 pm JV Girl Wrestling @ Long Lines Sioux City
5:00 pm JV Boy Wrestling @ MOC

Tuesday, Dec. 9
4:00 pm JV Boy/Girl Basketball vs. SC East
5:30 pm Varsity Girl Basketball vs. SC East
7:00 pm Varsity Boy Basketball vs. SC East

Thursday, Dec. 11
3:30 pm JV/Varsity Boy/Girl Bowling vs OABCIG
6:30 pm JV/Varsity Boy/Girl Wrestling vs. Okoboji and Sioux Center

Friday, Dec. 12
11:00 am Varsity Boy/Girl Wrestling @ Mid-America Center, Council Bluffs
12:30 pm JV/Varsity Boy/Girl Bowling @ Bowlero Bowl, Council Bluffs
4:00 pm JV Boy/Girl Basketball vs. Heelan
5:30 pm Varsity Girl Basketball vs. Heelan
7:00 pm Varsity Boy Basketball vs. Heelan

Saturday, Dec. 13
9:30 am Varsity Boy/Girl Wrestling @ Mid-America Center, Council Bluffs

Monday, Dec. 15
1:30 pm JV/Varsity Boy/Girl Bowling vs. SBL
4:30 pm JV Boy Wrestling @ SBL
5:30 pm Swimmng vs. Carroll @ SC West
7:30 pm HS Holiday Concert

Tuesday, Dec. 16
4:00 pm JV Boy/Girl Basketball vs. CB Lincoln
5:30 pm Varsity Girl Basketball vs. CB Lincoln
7:00 pm Varsity Boy Basketball vs. CB Lincoln
5:30 pm JV/Varsity Boy Wrestling @ MVAOCOU

Thursday, Dec. 18
6:00 pm JV/Varsity Boy Wrestling vs. Heelan

Friday, Dec. 19
4:00 pm JV Boy/Girl Basketball @ SC North (Boys @ North Middle School)
5:00 pm JV Boy Wrestling @ Spencer
5:00 pm Varsity Girl Wrestling @ Fort Dodge
5:30 pm Freshman Boy Basketball @ SC North (North Middle School)
5:30 pm Varsity Girl Basketball @ SC North
7:00 pm Varsity Boy Basketball @ SC North

Saturday, Dec. 20
10:00 am Varsity Boy Wrestling @ Spencer
11:00 am Swimming @ Ames

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