News from Southwest High School

2024-2025

Welcome to Southwest 2024-25!

Key Upcoming Dates

Monday, August 12:

Fall sports began. Still want to play? Register here:

https://mplscity-ar.rschooltoday.com/viewmyaccount

Wednesday, August 28: Open House/Curriculum Night 5:00-8:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 3: First Day of School

Grade 9: Freshmen Orientation 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Grades 10-12: Late start at 12:30 p.m.

All students dismissed at 3:10.

Commencement 2025:

Commencement dates and times have not been announced. When we receive them from the district, we will let you know.

Leadership Update

We are proud to welcome two new assistant principals to Southwest High School: Amy Engler and Chandra Hanke. Here are messages from them.

Amy Engler

Hello Southwest staff and families. My name is Amy Engler and I’m excited to accept the position of Assistant Principal for the upcoming school year. I’ve worn many hats as an educator including being a teacher, a behavior dean, an academic dean of students and most recently at Southwest High School I’ve had the honor as being an Administrative Teacher on Special Assignment. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work in partnership with the amazing team of educators at Southwest High School and alongside our families as we make Southwest High School the best school it can be our students and staff. I encourage you to come introduce yourself at our open house on August 28th as I can’t wait to meet you. I’m beyond excited for this opportunity and look forward to a great year. Go Lakers!

Chandra Hanke

Hello Lakers! I’m Chandra Hanke, and I’m excited to join Southwest this year as an assistant principal. Last year, I was an associate principal at White Bear Lake Area High School. Before that, I was a long-time teacher of Multilingual Learners (EL) and German as well as an instructional coach and dean at Fridley High School. I am a fan of travel, reading, the Lynx, and of course the Lakers. I consider myself lucky to join the Southwest High School community, anchored in excellence!

Educational Benefits

MPS asks all families to complete the Educational Benefits Form regardless of family income. Thank you!

New Procedures and Routines

This year, our staff will be working to maximize instructional time by

Not allowing passes out of class for the first and last 10 minutes of class.
Implementing a color-coded hallway pass system to support students and teachers.
Implementing a new cell phone policy. More on that soon.

New Bell Schedule for 2024-25

Clothes Bin- New at SWHS

Southwest is partnering with Clothes Bin to keep unwanted clothes and shoes out of landfills. A bin has been installed in the north parking lot in the circle drive near Door 15. 100% of the clothes collected will be reused or recycled, and Southwest earns money for every pound of clothes collected. Here’s what can go in our bin:

Clothing | Footwear | Undergarments

Hats | Belts | Ties | Scarves | Headbands

Learn more here: https://fillthebins.com/

Communication Survey Results

The results from last year’s communication survey to families yielded the following results:

-Most families prefer communication via email.

-Most families prefer fewer attachments to download with more information included in the email.

-Most families would prefer fewer emails with more information in each one.

We will work to honor these requests this year. Thanks for your input!

Environmental Health and Safety

Documents required for distribution to families have now been posted on our website under Family and Community Notices linked here: https://southwest.mpschools.org/families-community

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