Arrowhead High School is proud to present the 

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 

Holiday Concert!

Presented by 

Tiffany Cooley 

&

WANTABLE

For the second straight year, AHS is fortunate to welcome the amazing musical talents of the 

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under the direction of 

Ken-David Masur, Music Director 

This is a unique opportunity for our community to experience a beautiful and 

intimate holiday performance right on our campus.  

As a special part of their holiday package, the MSO will also be offering a student performance for a portion of our students on the same day.  Students in our performing arts programs, student leaders, and students recognized throughout the year will be invited to attend the special student performance.  

If you or your company would be interested in sponsoring this special performance for our students, please contact Adam Kurth at kurth@arrowheadschools.org or 262-369-3611 (x4102).  

When:  December 6 at 7:00 pm

Where: AHS North Campus Theater

How: Tickets will go on sale early November

Hello Arrowhead Community,

On July 19th, members of the Arrowhead School Board joined members of the administration on a full-day tour of four area high schools: Cedarburg, Germantown, Hamilton and Oconomowoc. The goals for the day included:

• Learn how facilities in other schools affect the student learning experiences

• Evaluate comparable facilities - Entrances, Theater, Pool, Fieldhouse, Classrooms

• Determine value of dollar for facility impact

• Evaluate our competition for resident and open enrollment students

On September 22, the Arrowhead School Board was led on a comprehensive facility tour of Arrowhead High School. The primary goals for the morning: to understand the highlights and shortcomings of our school infrastructure and to learn how our facility "measures up" to those schools visited two months earlier.

I will not attempt to provide a specific, point-by-point compare and contrast of our school to others. Suffice it to say, however, contrast was the predominant theme of these experiences. Further, the contrast does not paint Arrowhead in a superior light - but rather, confirms the overdue and necessary investment that must be made in our aging and failing facilities.

Our experience at Cedarburg put perspective on what a $30 million referendum infusion can bring to a school facility: a new safe and efficient drop-off area into a new safety-enhanced entrance, approximately 20 new state-of-the-art and 18 updated classrooms (with all classrooms but 6 boasting natural light), a new 650 seat commons/cafeteria, a new/doubled STEAM area, and a new health room, office space and cafe/staff lounge. These changes were made to a school that proudly houses a top tier swimming pool, a 600 seat auditorium and a fieldhouse.

Our tour of Germantown illustrated the impact of an $84 million referendum: a new performing arts center, a new pool, a new Technology and Innovation Center and a new fieldhouse.

Tour participants were proudly led through Hamilton High School, where we took in the state-of-the-art school safety measures that had been installed, unique learning spaces and classroom design, and their beautiful pool and theater. The significance of four referendums since 2000, totaling nearly $80 million, was not lost on those visiting the school.

Lastly, our group toured Oconomowoc, where recent investments were visible in newly remodeled and unique learning spaces, a newly designed entrance and administrative office, a library, a theater and "branding" enhancements for school culture. These facility updates are evidence of the improvements made possible through four referendums since 2000, which added $153 million in funding to Oconomowoc High School.

The School Board tour of AHS was enlightening. In the months ahead, tours of AHS will be offered; every member of our community is encouraged to participate. Our incredible Tech-Ed Department, the "famous" basketball locker rooms, and the Mullett Ice Rink are top-notch - only made possible by the exceptional generosity of local philanthropists. The dichotomy could not be greater between these parts of our facilities and the antiquated science/chemistry labs, the many windowless and cramped classroom spaces, the outmoded and unaccommodating commons and cafeteria space, the inefficient and unsuitable roadway through campus/drop off areas, the obsolete technology throughout the school, the outdated and unaccommodating theater, the failing pool and the receptacle that has collected water from a leaky roof for nine years, amongst others. 

Our community has always placed a high value on academic and co-curricular achievement and is proud of the successful outcomes arising from our high school. Recently, US News and World Report released their 2023-24 rankings of the best high schools across the nation: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/wisconsin/districts/arrowhead-uhs-school-district/arrowhead-high-school-21619 Indeed, our ranking again suggests there is much for the Arrowhead community - and for our community at large - to be proud of! 

To retain its value, however, Arrowhead will require investment from the community.  Prudent investment must address the critical issues of our declining and outmoded facilities  - and must accompany a commitment to the community that funds will not be utilized extravagantly or inappropriately. 

Will the community be up to the ask?

Kim Schubert

School Board President