New Prague High School

Curriculum .......More than one hundred courses in fourteen different curriculum areas are offered to high school students. A variety of course options to meet student interest and ability levels, plus accelerated and advanced classes. Independent studies, mentorship, youth service, and extended day programs, are provided for students as well.

Special Services .......Counselors, school nurse, social worker, and special education instructors provide services for students and their parents. Small group and individual support counseling is available as well.

Co-Curricular Activities .......National Honor Society; Student Council; Yearbook; Speech Team; Drama; Music; and other clubs and activities are offered at the high school. A strong sports program features football, softball, adaptive softball, baseball, volleyball, cross country, track, golf, gymnastics, wrestling, tennis, swimming, hockey,and adaptive floor hockey. New Prague competes in the Missota Conference.

The New Prague SuperMileage Club just completed its second annual competition at Brainerd International Raceway. The club designed, built, and tested a one-person vehicle to maximize fuel economy. The 25 th Annual MTEEA High Mileage Competition requires that each car complete 12 laps of the 3.1 mile road course at BIR. The NPHS SuperMileage club completed the mandatory 12 laps with a best 2-lap average of 397 MPG . The club has been working on the car since September and has thousands of man hours into it. Members of the club are Brian Prchal, Nick Scaramuzza, Katelynn Malecha, Nathan Warnemunde, and Garett Giles. The club advisor is Mr. Baer.

Mr Baer is one of nine teachers winning Fox 9 Top Teacher Award for 2013. Mr Baer is an Automotive/Industrial Tech teacher at New Prague High School. Fox9 news surprised him during his class to present him with a Fox9 Top Teacher Award, a SUBWAY party sub for 100 people, and a $900.00 check for New Prague High School. Mr Baer has been described as a person whose life is devoted to serving others. Mr Baer served in the Army 3 years ago in Iraq and will be deployed to Afghanistan. Congraulations, on your award, Mr Baer!!!!!

On Friday, May 17, all seniors will be attending a senior retreat at St. Wenceslaus School in New Prague. This retreat is facilitated by Youth Frontiers, a group from Minneapolis. Last year's seniors highly recommended that we continue this event. Seniors will be required to ride the school bus to and from this activity. All seniors including PSEO students are required to attend.

The last day of classes for seniors is Tuesday, May 28. Seniors who miss the Senior Retreat on May 17 or choose to skip another day in April or May will be required to attend detention on May 29, 30, 31, or as directed. Failure to attend detention will jeopardize their participation in the graduation ceremony.

All seniors are required to attend graduation rehearsal on Wednesday, May 29, from 9:00-11:00 am. When graduation is complete, local law enforcement and New Prague High School Administration will be providing a BBQ lunch for all seniors at 11:00 am in the New Prague Community Center parking lot.

The School Board approved a $30.00 fee to help with the cost of the graduation ceremony. Graduation costs approximately $10,000.00 to hold, and this fee will partially cover the cost. The $30.00 fee was due March 28 and will need to be paid before any student will be granted the privilege to participate in the graduation ceremony.

Graduation will be held on Friday, May 31, at 7:00 pm in the high school gymnasium.

Senior Send-Off will be held after commencement ceremonies at the New Prague Middle School. Check in is by 10:00 pm. if seniors have not paid their $65.00 registration fee, they may still do so. Fee can be dropped in the box provided in the high school office.

There are many school-sponsored activities planned to make the student's senior year special. The staff and administration at New Prague High School recognize the excitement that accompanies these events, but also recognizes the student's mixed emotions as they end this chapter of their lives and begin the next.Our hope is that together we can encourage students to make responsible choices and have a safe ending to the school year.

Rena Weis a 12th grader at New Prague High School, prepares vials at thee University of Minnesota in November 2012 for collecting greenhouses gas samples from soil as part of a science project that qualified her for the National BioGENEius Challenge taking place in Chicago from April 19-23. 10 winners will be selected to advance to the International BioGENEius Challenge and automatically qualify for a cash prize.

Sydney Tupy is in the Serious Prose category. State will be held this year at Blaine High School, tomorrow, Friday for AA schools. In order to get to state you need to be third place or higher in your category at your section tournament. This can be

extremely difficult when you up against approximately 30 people. Sydney Tupy's piece is from the memoir My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor. This memoir chronicles Jill's recovery after a stroke and how her mother was integral in this process. What makes this memoir memorable is that Jill herself is a brain surgeon and after recovering is able to be an inspiration to those who have suffered a stroke.

In group photo : Front Row: Julianne Pankow, Trina Blaschko, Stacy Erickson. Back Row: Vicky Erickson, Anna Prchal, Jodi Prchal (Advisor), Rena Weis, Brian Prchal, Katie Morris

Congratulations to the NPMS and HS State Science Fair Participants Students were busy with many science activities from the Bakken Museum, Mad Scientists, 3M Science Wizards, swimming, dancing, Keynote Speakers from MN Pollution Control and Don Shelby on Sustainability.

Research Paper Award: Stacy Erickson (Outstanding scientific writing by a young woman"presented by Graduate Women In Science with $25), Anna Prchal 6th Grade Honorable Mention for 6th Grade Paper, Julianne Pankow Best 6th Grade Paper Presentation Trophy.

Project Awards: GM Food based social change with $75-Stacy Erickson , Association for Women Geoscientist Excellence Award-Anna Prchal and Rena Weis, MN Academy of Science Grand Awards: Silver - Katie Morris, Gold - Rena Weis, Ecolab Green Award $700-Rena Weis, Wolfram Research: Mathematical Software Award High School - Rena Weis, Katie Morris, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science): Female - Katie Morris, Air Force Certificate of Achievement Gift Bag-Brian Prchal.

At the School Board meeting on Monday, April 8th, the board approved Supertintendent Larry Kauzlarich's recommendation to have school on Friday, May 10th. This decision was based on our students missing three days, due to weather and the shooting hoax.

New Prague Knowledge bowl team competed at Regions on March 20th. Team Sirius Black finished in 12th place out of 29 teams. New Prague also won the Team Spirit Award.

From left to right:
Simon Germscheid, Nathan (Maxwell) Millette, Dan Richter, Cam Lindquist, Ryan Cunningham, Jeremy Karlen, Jordan Smith, Zach Jones, Audrey Maday, Claire Kelso, Brad Hennes, Rochelle Widmer, and Nolan Minar.

Communication class has a new set design. Very colorful and a nice additional to the

Congratulations to the Adaptive Floor Hockey team for beating Wayzata in the Section tournament and advancing to the Adaptive Floor Hockey State Tournament. They will play Maple Grove on Friday, March 15 th at 8:00 p.m. at Bloomington Jefferson High School. They will play again on Saturday, March 16 th .

Pepfest- There will be a pepfest for the Adaptive Floor Hockey team on Friday, March 15 th . Varsity Adaptive floor hockey members and band members should be released at 2:05. The remainder of the students will be released by announcement at 2:10 and the pepfest will start at 2:15 p.m.

Congratulations to the Girls Basketball team on winning the Section 2AAA Championship Thursday night with a win over Mankato East. The girls' basketball team will play Red Wing on Wednesday at 12:00 at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota Campus. Advance sale tickets (Adults $14.00, Students $9.00) will be available in the activities office until 2:45 Tuesday afternoon. Students planning on attending must purchase a ticket from the activities office and bring the ticket and a parent note to the attendance window by the end of the day Tuesday. If advance tickets are sold out, students need to bring a parent note to the attendance window, purchase a ticket at the site, and bring the ticket stub back to school the next day. A fan bus is available to anyone interested in riding. The cost is $8.00 and you must sign up and pay in the activities office by 2:45p.m. on Tuesday. Students riding the fan bus must ride both ways to and from the game. Students that have followed the proper procedure will be released at the end of second period (10:17). Any parent notes brought in on Wednesday will not be accepted until 10:20. PLAN AHEAD. If the girls win their quarterfinal game on Wednesday they will play at 12:00 on Thursday at the Target Center. We will again offer fan buses to students at a cost of $8.00. Students would be released at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday.

Congratulations to the wrestling team on their fourth place finish at the Class AA State Tournament. Griffin Parriot, 9 grade, placed 3rd at 120 lb. and Nathan Preston, 11th grade, placed 4th at 220 lb. in dividual competition, Good job guys!!!

Congratulations to the Girls Gymnastics team on winning the Class A State Championship Friday afternoon!!!!! Jessica Niedemayer placed 4th on the uneven bars in dividual competition on Saturday.

The Project Read A Lot fundraising event at Barnes and Noble on Thursday, December 13th was a success. More than $500. was raised for Project Read A Lot. Our studetns made an impressive showing at a table in front of the store, discussing their favorite books with the public.

After learning the story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, a group of young men who came to America as refugees from Sudan in the late 1990s, students asked what they could do to help the cause. The week before MEA we held a Spare Change Drive where students were to go home and collect spare change around their house or in their vehicles. Money that they wouldn't even miss. In 5 days, the three classes raised $270.57. One hour raised $88.00 in coins alone! The money raised will be donated to the John Dau Foundation. John Dau was one of the Lost Boys the students learned about in the documentary titled "God Grew Tired of Us". He began a medical clinic in southern Sudan and his foundation helps to fund that clinic.

The New Prague Area Educational Foundation Scholarship Drive will take place on November 8, 11,and 13. National Honor Society students will be phoning residents of the district asking for pledges. The NPAEF is interested in providing local students with financial assistance to pursue higher education. Your donation is tax deductible.

The future goal is to present scholarships to all who apply for one. Your donation can help the foundation reach that goal.

If you are not contacted during the drive and would like to make a contribution, you can contact Tom Doig at 952-758-1201 or visit the website at www.therootstogrow.org .

Over the weekend the Upper Midwest Regional Emmy's were held in Minneapolis. The Fox 9 Commercial featuring Emotion was nominated and won!!! Congratulations to the members of Emotion!!!!!

Ramith Jayatillika, senior, has been selected as a National Merit Semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program. The release date for finalists will be September 26th. Ramith is a PSEO student this year at the University of Minnesota.

Amanda A Schoenbauer, senior, was recognized by the National Merit with a Letter of Commendation. 34,000 students nationally receive this award for their academic achievement on the PSAT. 1.5 million took the test, Amanda scored in the top 5%.

The 3rd annual New Prague Area Education Foundation Brain Power Walk-Run took place on Saturday September 22, 2012 at the NPHS Track/Football Field.
The NPAEF has funded over $23,000. to teachers in New Prague Area Schools since its inception in 2008. Grants have included everything from technology to math enrichment, reading enhancements, science labs, physical education, busines, and art!

New Prague Area Schools is implementing a new student information system called Infinite Campus. How does this affect you? Students and parents will no longer use Skyward Family Access to review student information such as assignments, attendance, grades, class schedule, lunch account balance, etc. Instead, the Campus Portal will provide families access to this information. The Campus Portal is scheduled to go online by mid-October. You will receive login information and directions prior to this implementation. Thank you for your cooperation during this transition period.

The high school will start collecting the "Labels for Learning" points that are part of your Coborn's receipt tape. We have a collection jar set up on the counter in the main office. Thank you for your contribution.

The New Prague Area Education Foundation held its annual Scholarship Drive on Oct 30, Nov 1 and Nov 3. Thank you for your pledges. If you were not contacted and would like to contritribute or for more information, visit the website at www.therootstogrow.org .

New Prague High School does not provide a school supply list to parents. Each teacher will provide students with a supply list on the first day of school. A good starter supply list would include a flashdrive, folders, notebooks, pens, and pencils.

New Prague High School's mission is to engage and support everyone in high levels of learning. With that focus, New Prague High School will be implementing a ninth grade RTI intervention program beginning with the 2011-2012 school year. The program is created to provide a better experience for incoming ninth graders and help with transition from middle to high school. Students will be provided remediation in math and language arts to increase skills and support their efforts in other subject areas. Student selection will be made using data-driven decision making to place students in the remedial program. There will be three possible interventions used for remediation. One intervention provides students with a low teacher to student ratio. Another intervention allow students to receive additional support outside of the classroom during boost-up time for twenty minutes, twice a week. The third intervention will be made in the classroom. Students selected for this intervention program will be required to complete the remediation during the course of the year and won't have the opportunity to opt in or out. Our overall goal is to decrease the number of incoming ninth grade students who fail a ninth grade class and to bring their skills up to grade level.

NEW PRAGUE HIGH SCHOOL GOALS
2012-2013

High Student Achievement

Develop Foundational Elements to Support Professional Learning Communities
     Seven PLC Dates During the School Year

Establish Collaborative Teaming
     Increase Use of Google Docs to Increase 21st Century                 Learning Skills – 4 C’s: Collaboration, Communication,                Creativity, and Critical Thinking Skills, and Bring Your Own               Device (B.Y.O.D.).

Identify Essential Outcomes
     Establish Essential Outcomes for the Courses in each Department

Implement Continuous Improvement
     Implement New Grading Practice

Improve Instructional Practices in Math
     Improve Math MCA Scores

Character Education

Respect Honesty

Kindness Citizenship Integrity

Responsibility Fairness

Do the right thing!

NPHS student leaders in Student Council and NHS, along with guidance from NPHS Administration and Advisors, worked together to make positive changes at our school dances. The creation of this set of guidelines comes from student body input and will better promote a positive, fun and appropriate atmosphere at NPHS Sponsored Dances (Homecoming, Student Council, Snowball and Prom). We look forward to working with our students to create memorable and positive NPHS dances.

• Clothing/Attire: Students need to follow the student handbook guidelines and regulations for appropriate clothing. Have fun with the theme, but you must be appropriate

• Appropriate Dancing: Students need to follow appropriate behavior during the dance and may not partake in inappropriate dancing including, but not limited to: grinding, moshing, riding on shoulders, actions determined inappropriate by chaperones or activity that may injure you or others.

• If it continues, an announcement will be made and more lights will be turned on.

• If it continues again, participants will be asked to leave and all lights will be turned on.

• If it still continues, the dance will be stopped with no refund of money.

• Alcohol/Chemical Use: Students found using chemicals/alcohol will be subject to all consequences stated in the NPHS Student Handbook, by the MSHSL and by local law enforcement.

• First Violation: You will miss the next scheduled dance and parent meeting will be held

• Second Violation: You will miss the next 2 scheduled dances and parent meeting will be held

2012-13 Report Cards and Mid-Terms
During the course of each school year, New Prague High School holds mid-term conferences where parents pick up their student's report card in the high school office. Parents that do not attend conferences receive a mailing from the high school with the mid-term report card. At the end of the trimester, New Prague High School mails the report card home to each family with student(s) in our school.

During the 2011-12 school year, we will continue this practice. Beginning with the 2012-13 school year, New Prague High School will not print out mid-terms or mail out report cards. Parents will be able to access and print out mid-terms and country have moved to digital mid-term and report cards successfully.

Parents can access and make a copy of their child(s) mid-term or report card using the following directions:

Parents who do not know their family access code can contact Cheryl Turek by phone at 952-758-1211 or at cturek@np.k12.mn.us in the guidance office, and she can provide the password for your family. Parents can also contact the high school office at 952-758-1200 with any questions.

We believe this new format will benefit our school and the families we serve. By giving our parents a one year notification regarding this change, we believe it will provide for a smooth transition into online report cards.

1. Click the email/SMS Notification button under NPHS links(upper left this page)2. Fill in the information under the "set up new account link"

3. Continue on and select whether you would like to receive email and/or text messages

4. Select from the list which school or schools you would like to receive messages from.

Family Access
Family Access to grades is available. Parents/Guardians now have access to their student's progress in their classes. If parents of High School students do not have their username/password information, they can call Cheryl Turek at (952) 758-1211.

Please Note Change in Yearbook Senior Picture Policy
The high school administration reserves the right to approve or not approve senior pictures placed in the yearbook. 09/04/2009

Photographers and families: you may email senior pictures for the yearbook to the following address: nphsyb@gmail.com
If submitting a senior picture digitally, it must be sent from the photographer directly, in JPG format, and 300 ppi If submitting a wallet size photo, head and shoulders only, full color, with no visible studio inprints or signatures

If you have specific questions about submitting senior photos, email nphsyb@gmail.com You may also reach Mrs Hengel, yearbook advisor at (952) 758-1221

Senior Retreat Information
Seniors planning to receive a New Prague High diploma are required to attend the Senior Retreat. PSEO students are also required to attend the Senior Retreat-only those PSEO students whose colleges are in session on that day are excused from attending. 09/04/2009

Notice to Parents from the Transportation Department
There is a growing problem involving parents requesting their students to ride on any bus other than their assigned bus. The only way the transportation department will approve any requests is if it is in fact, an emergency. Parents on vacation, or out of town does not constitute an emergency whereas a death in the family or serious illness may. Requests will not be approved unless in fact it is a true emergency situation. We simply do not have the room on our buses to accommodate students in non-emergency situations. Thanks for your cooperation.

School Within a School Program Description
New Prague High School's School Within a School is a program that provides remediation for struggling learners in a small classroom setting with a low student to teacher ratio. Support from core teachers is provided to meet credit requirements, state graduation requirements, and individual student needs. MCA Test prep and remediation is also provided within the program. Students are offered the opportunity to be fully engaged in a comprehensive high school setting.

Seniors Will Pay A Graduation Fee
During the 2006-2007 school year, the New Prague School Board approved charging all seniors taking part in the commencement exercises a fee of $30.00 to cover the costs of flowers, custodian setup and takedown, stoles, and tassels.

Schools are required to pay for the diploma, cap, and gown under Minnesota state law. Students will not receive their stole or be able to participate in the graduation practice or ceremony if the fee is not paid.

The fee may be paid to the high school office at any time before April 1, 2011. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact Tom Doig, New Prague High School Principal, at 952-758-1200.

NPHS student leaders in Student Council and NHS, along with guidance from NPHS Administration and Advisors, worked together to make positive changes at our school dances. The creation of this set of guidelines comes from student body input and will better promote a positive, fun and appropriate atmosphere at NPHS Sponsored Dances (Homecoming, Student Council, Snowball and Prom).We look forward to working with our students to create memorable and positive NPHS dances.

• Clothing/Attire: Students need to follow the student handbook guidelines and regulations for appropriate clothing. Have fun with the theme, but you must be appropriate

• If it continues, an announcement will be made and more lights will be turned on.

• If it continues again, participants will be asked to leave and all lights will be turned on.

• If it still continues, the dance will be stopped with no refund of money.

• Alcohol/Chemical Use: Students found using chemicals/alcohol will be subject to all consequences stated in the NPHS Student Handbook, by the MSHSL and by local law enforcement.

• First Violation: You will miss the next scheduled dance and parent meeting will be held

• Second Violation: You will miss the next 2 scheduled dances and parent meeting will be held

At the September 27, 2010 School Board meeting the School Board approved changes to the requirements regarding Grade Point Averages required for the National Honor Society, recognition of high honors for graduation, and academic letters. Starting with the graduating class of 2014 (current 9th grade students) the following are the new requirements:

There will be only one Welcome Home gathering for individuals and teams that participate in State Tournaments. This will be held at the conclusion of the winter sports season. As soon as there are more details, they will be posted here for your information. Thank-you!

This is a reminder that parents/guardians are requested to notify the OFFICE by 8:00 a.m. on the day their child will be absent for any reason. The attendance voicemail. line is available 24 hours per day. That number is 952-758-1205. Failure to notify us may result in an unexcused absence. Thank you.

With winter weather conditions facing us for the next few months, a primary concern will be safe driving conditions for transporting students. with respect and appreciation for the dilemma parents have when weather impacts school attendance times, we must on some occasions make difficult decisions based on the imperfect science of predicting and judging weather.

Our process for morning snow/ice decisions starts at 4:00 AM with transportation personnel driving the roads from all the borders of our school district. Our experienced drivers report their findings to the transportation office, which then connects with the superintendent. The decision is then called to the media outlets which families can access by phone, by listening, or by computer. We ask that, except in an emergency, families please not call the school district office because e will need our phone lines open for administrative use.

Lost and found items are in the main office on a low table. Students and parents are asked to check in this locations for lost items. Lost jewelry, keys, and glasses are kept on the secretary's desk. Items are donated twice a year.

In the 2006-2007 school year New Prague High School adopted a new communication policy. All electronic devices including, but not limited to, cell phones, headphones, earphones, and headsets must be placed ton your backpack, book bag, or pocket before entering the building. These devices MUST remain in the student locker until the end of the day. The use of these devices has caused much disruption to the learning environment and your son/daughter's cooperation will be expected. Please refer to the student handbook for consequences.

Beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, New Prague High School changed the procedure dealing with student messages and student deliveries. In an effort to be efficient, please refrain from calling to leave messages during the school day unless it is urgent or an emergency. Students will be delivered a message during class for emergency messages only. No messages from employers or students will be delivered.

New Prague High School staff expects students to dress in a school appropriate manner. Clothing that displays inappropriate graphics or words is not allowed. There is special concern about excessively revealing clothing-no backless shirts, low cut tops, clothing that exposes shoulders or midriffs or short shorts/skirts are allowed. Please help by monitoring your student's choice of clothing.