Fall 2016 Quarterly Newsletter

Fall 2016 Qu art erl y New s l et t er

pride

New Beginning s

We’re going up from here!

Fall 2016 - Q1

A Me s s age from our

SUPERINTENDENT AND BOARD PRESIDENT Josh Schoemann School Board President josh.schoemann@huhs.org

Dr. Attila J. Weninger

Interim Superintendent 262.670.3200 x209 attila.weninger@huhs.org

We welcome you – our most valuable investors and stakeholders – to the 2016 – 2017 school year. We thank you for your continued support, providing necessary and valued resources. We also thank you for entrusting us with our community’s most valuable assets: our students. Together, we provide and deliver the essential opportunities for student growth and learning.

This year marks a set of New Beginnings! We have two new District leaders, several changes in key leadership positions, ten new teaching staff, several new support staff, and a new set of freshmen students who were energized and ready to go, day one. We have also witnessed a renewed Oriole Pride within the student body, a re-energized spirit among faculty and staff, an athletic program that is on the rise, and an co-curricular program that continues to offer opportunities for success, led this fall by our band and orchestra invitation to perform in London on New Year’s Day 2018.

This newsletter also marks a new beginning: you will receive it four times, once each quarter. In them you will find celebrations of student and staff achievements, District financial information, introductions of our staff, goals and initiatives, information and updates on joint efforts with our Associate Districts/Schools, areas in need of and are working to improve, and much more. One unique section will be devoted to recognizing community partners, whose generosity of resources and spirit brings us together and makes us stronger. This issue’s community partners are on p. 8.

In this issue, on p. 10, you will find information about the annual WI Department of Public Instruction (DPI) School and District Report Card. In our case, because we are a Union High School, they are one and the same. The Report Card is a snapshot of some of the previous school year’s data points (2015 – 2016). It is intended to inform, and to a limited degree, to measure progress. It gives us – and you – information about how well we are doing in meeting benchmarks that the DPI sets. We have provided you with the basic, and not all, of the Report Card information in the newsletter. In addition, we provided you with what we are doing to improve. The entire Report Card can be found on our website: www.huhs.org.

It’s been a great start to the school year! We are proud of our high school. Thank you for being our partners. We count you among our very best.

Admini strat ive

LEADERSHIP Dan Dobner

Jon Duhr

Principal 262.670.3200 x206 dan.dobner@huhs.org

Director of Teaching & Learning 262.670.3200 x299 jon.duhr@huhs.org

Karen Dvornik

Interim Director of Business Services 262.670.3200 x717 karen.dvornik@huhs.org

Chad Ellefson

District Assessment Coordinator 262.670.3200 x373 chad.ellefson@huhs.org

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Scott Helms

Athletic & Activites Director 262.670.3200 x228 scott.helms@huhs.org

T.C. Motzkus

Director of Teaching & Learning 262.670.3200 x227 tc.motzkus@huhs.org

Teresa Redmond

Director of Special Education 262.670.3200 x222 teresa.redmond@huhs.org

Nathan Mielke

Director of Technology Services 262.670.3200 x236 nathan.mielke@huhs.org

Summer 2016

HAPPENINGS

Skill sUSA Place s at Nat ional s

Competing at the National SkillsUSA competition in June were Garett Buchholz in Criminal Justice, Jacob Stamm in Cabinetmaking, and Raphael Roxas in Sheetmetal.

Each of them took first place at the state competition to make it to the national competition. At nationals, students moved through a series of activities for each of their individual competitive events.

Raphael Roxas placed 3rd in the nation in Sheetmetal; along with the title, Raphael was awarded over $300 in tools and goods from companies such as DeWalt and Lowe’s. HUHS SkillsUSA Advisers are Carmen DeBack and Corey McCauley. Congratulations to Raphael!

FBLA Compet e s at Nat ional s

Competing at the National FBLA Leadership conference in Atlanta in June were Lauren Omen and Brianna Weiss. The girls competed in the Publication Design event, in which they were required to design a logo and several promotional items for a fictional business.

While at nationals, the girls had the opportunity to network with other students, attend workshops, tour businesses, such as CNN and explore the city, as well as compete in their event. While Lauren and Brianna did not place at the national level, they worked very hard to prepare and practice for their presentation. The HUHS FBLA Adviser is Sara Sturm.

Student s Int ern at NM

Hartford Union High School had three students that were afforded the opportunity to take part in an internship program at Northwestern Mutual Insurance company. Alex Richards and Adam Opichka took part in a program that was focused on job shadowing for three weeks. Brad Wannow, who completed the three week job shadow internship last summer, completed a full-time internship this summer. After the three week program ended, Alex Richards interviewed and also completed the rest of the summer in a fulltime internship. Northwestern Mutual, listed 100 in the Fortune 500, has given them experiences that many high school students would only dream of and will set them apart from their peers!

Student Travel t o Nicaragua

In June, 39 students embarked on a trip of a lifetime to Granada, Nicaragua. This ten day trip was sponsored by the Spanish Department and the focus was to immerse students in the language and culture of Nicaragua. Students first stayed with local families and attended language school.

After the home stays, there were two humanitarian outings for the group at two schools in need. They helped to paint desks and provide school suppplies.

The group also visited some of the splendor and beauty of Nicaragua even seeing a live volcano, and then spent their final two days at the Montelimar Resort on the Pacific Ocean.

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2016-2017

DISTRICT GOALS

The HUHS Board set two goals for the Interim Superintendent, which he is working to achieve during this school year. They are broad goals with specific objectives for each one. Visit our website, www.huhs.org, to see the objectives.

INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT 1. Create and implement an effective and efficient administrative leadership organizational structure.

2. Build constructive and productive partnerships with the community.

2016-2017

DISTRICT LEADERSHIP TEAM INITIATIVES

HUHS is also pursuing other initiatives as part of our work to continuously improve. These initiatives are the responsibility of the HUHS District Leadership Team. Four are given below, with more to come in future newsletters.

PRINCIPAL/ DEAN OF STUDENTS

DIRECTORS OF TEACHING & LEARNING

• Develop Fall Parent Open House replacement event for 2017 – 2018

• Implement new bundle classes - STEM Bundle and Humanities Bundle

• Review, modify, and adjust Safety Plan to reflect current best practices

• Implement new Integrated Physics & Chemistry (IPC) course.

ATHLETIC & ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR

• Implement new course combining AP Biology with AP Psychology • Schoolwide SLO/PPG based on ACT accountability areas

• Raise pride and school spirit among students and staff • Develop and administer parent and student-athlete surveys • Develop and implement an Athlete of the Month Recognition

Hart ford Area Cons ort ium

DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EDUCATION • Close Special Education student graduation outcomes gap; develop non-traditional options/ pathways to an HUHS diploma

ASSOCIATE DISTRICT/SCHOOL ARTICULATION

HUHS is proud to have as partners five public school districts (Erin School District, Friess Lake School District, Hartford Joint 1 School District, HNR School District, Richfield School District) and three parochial schools (Peace Lutheran School, St. Gabriel’s School, St. Kilian’s School). Together, we are the Hartford Area Consortium. Our districts and schools work together in a variety of ways to ensure a quality education for our students, a smooth and effective transition from elementary/ middle school to high school, and to increase our efficiencies through shared services. We are stronger together, and our mutual students are better for it.

Articulation – the term used to describe our work together – builds a strong, effective, and sustainable partnership. For the purposes of our collaborative work, we define articulation as 1. connecting different schools/districts through leadership sharing and shared services; and 2. connecting districts, schools, teachers, and staff through sharing and collaboration.

In this and future newsletters, we intend to highlight that articulation, and the accomplishments of our students who come from our Associate District partners.

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Fall 2016

FALL RECAP Fall 2016 Final Sports Standings in the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference

Girls Cross Country - 6th Place

Boys Cross Country - 8th Place

Football - 3rd Place

Girls Golf - 2nd Place

Boys Soccer - 2nd Place Girls Volleyball - 4th Place Girls Swim - 3rd Place Girls Tennis - 6th Place

Individual Recognition: Cross Country:

●Boys and Girls, All Conference Honorable Mention: John Binns and Courtney Kind

Girls Golf: ●All Conference: 1st Team: Andrea O’Bryon; 2nd Team: Kaitlyn Kerrigan and Sophie Werner;

Honorable Mention: Maddie Davis.

●Academic All State: Andrea O’Bryon, Kaitlyn Kerrigan, Katherine VanLare, Maddie Davis, Olivia

McElhatton Girls Tennis:

●All Conference: 2nd Team: Ava Schaefer (Singles); Honorable Mention: Megan Kellicut and Melanie Rigden (Doubles)

Football: ●All Conference: 1st team: Ryan Zuern (RB), Quinn Meinerz (OL & DL), Brett Feucht (DE);

2nd Team: Jacob Katzenberger (WR), Cordell Hron (OL) and Cody Guetzke (DB); Honorable

Mention: Jared Baizley (K) , Ethan Chivas (LB) and Seth Kuchinski (LB)

●Ryan Zuern WLT Offensive Player of the Year, Level 1 Player of the Week

●All Region: Ryan Zuern and Quinn Meinerz Girls Swim:

●State Qualifiers: 200 Free Relay-Cora Meinberg, Laura Kregel, Olivia Meinberg and Carlie DeBack; 200 Individual Medley-Olivia Meinberg; 100 Backstroke-Olivia Meinberg; 50 FreestyleCarlie DeBack ●All Conference: 1st Team: Olivia Meinberg 200 Yard Individual Medley, 100 Yard Backstroke (WLT RECORD) 1st Team Relay: Olivia Meinberg, Laura Kregel, Cora Meinberg and Carlie DeBack 200 Yard Freestyle Relay; 2nd Team: Carle DeBack 50 Yard Freestyle; Honorable Mention: Cora Meinberg, Olivia Meinberg, Malorie Smits, and Carlie DeBack 200 Yard Medley Relay ●Olivia Meinberg named WLT Swimmer of the Year

Boys Soccer:

●All Conference: 1st Team: Christian Trypak and Ethan Hanisko; 2nd Team: Quinn Kennedy and Nathan Seibold; Honorable Mention: AJ Dreissen

Girls Volleyball:

●All Conference: 1st Team: Abby Hamilton; Honorable Mention: Alivia Marks and Taylor Weyer

Athlete of the Month

Abby Hamilton

Girls Swimming

Quinn Meinerz

Oct ober

Augu st

Sept ember

Olivia Meinberg

Volleyball

Football

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HUHS Scholars hip

CLASS

ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Sara Witt

Aurora Medical Center Washington County Volunteers $700

Hannah Wheaton Hartford Community Services, Inc. Terror on Rural Street Scholarship $700

Connor Koch

Brian J. Janzer Memorial Scholarship $2,000

Elisha Jaeke

Mary Roemer Thomas Scholarship $1,400

Amanda Lenser

Melissa Clement

Grace & Glenn Broker Family Scholarship $700

Donna & Dennis A. Carroll Family Scholarship $700

Garett Buchholz

Taylor Kieckhefer

Hartford & Kettle Moraine Lions Clubs Endowment Fund-Jack Bell Memorial $700

Hartford & Kettle Moraine Lions Clubs Endowment Fund-Jack Bell Memorial $700

Lauren Bujak

Bruno G. & Catherine Jordan Scholarship $700

Amy Holzer

Jack & Gerry Russell Scholarship $700

Vincent Christensen The Koch Family Scholarship $1,000

Austin Matthies Jack & Gerry Russell Scholarship $700

Spencer Stingl First National Bank of Hartford Scholarship $1,000

John Michalak

Hartford Players Fine Arts Scholarship $700

Adam Opichka Luis & Iris Garcia Scholarship $700

Aubrie Faust

Hartford Rotary Club Scholarship $1,000

Lorrigan

Alexis Gramling

Martha Daley

Hannah Vincent

Bradley

Jim Kreuser Woodworking Memorial $1,000

Mr. & Mrs. F.W. Schauer Scholarship $700

Betty and Carl Labuwi Scholarship $700

Dave’s Job Shop Scholarship $700

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING GENERAL SCHOLARSHIP DONORS

General Scholarship Donations of any size from corporations, civic and charitable groups, and individuals can be made annually.

Donors will be recognized as follows: Platinum - $5000 and above, Gold - $1000 - $4999, Silver - $500 - $999, and Bronze – Up to $499.

Hartford Rotary Club...............................................................................Platinum Hartford Area Foundation.......................................................................Gold Courtney-Carr-Milner Post 19 American Legion.....................................Gold Wayne Heidel and Jennifer Semmann Foundation.................................Gold Steve Dalton Memorial...........................................................................Gold 5 Linda Christian-Smith and Kenneth Smith..............................................Bronze

Foundat ion, Inc

OF 2016 Bryce Patin

Amanda Lenser

Jacob Larson

Elisha Jaeke

General Scholarship $700

Hartford Savings Bank Scholarship $700

General Scholarship $700

Adam Opichka

John M. Grandine UW-Madison Scholarship

$1,000

Abigail Kratz

HUHS District Scholarship $700

HUHS Faculty & Staff Scholarship $700

Alyssa Higley

Bryce Patin

Ashley Woltmann

Austin Burg

Alexandra Guyette

Abigail Kastner

E.A. Laubenstein Trust Scholarship $700

David & Susan Schulteis Scholarship $700

Florence Place Scholarship $1,000

Thomas H. & Lori L. Seeboth Scholarship $700

Florence Place Scholarship $1,000

Erin Barrie

Claire Koszewski

Jacob Much

Andrea Vander Pas

Hartford Community Services, Inc. Terror on Rural Street Scholarship $700

HUHS Faculty & Staff Scholarship $700

Alyssa Higley

Kenneth & Anita Reed Scholarship $700

Hartford Community Services, Inc. Terror on Rural Street Scholarship $700

HUHS Faculty & Staff Scholarship $700

Meredith Huber Del & Ellie Renzaglia Scholarship $700

Team Summyr-Suumyr Aulenbacher Zuern Scholarship $700

The following HUHS Alumni have been awarded an additional year of their specific scholarship: Emma Piechura................Jim and Jean Bell Endowed Scholorship - $700 Audra Boettge..................Ruth A. Knoll Music Endowed Scholarship - $1,000 Caitlyn Josten ..................Jim & Doreen Mohr Arts Endowed Scholarship - $700 Echo Borges ....................Jack & Gerry Russell Endowed Scholarship - $700 6

Annual Meet ing

BUSINESS SERVICES RECAP OVERALL LEVY AMOUNT At the annual meeting in September, HUHS projected a tax levy of $11,956,972 which was within the revenue limits imposed by the state; however, student membership was less of a decline than projected, and state aid came in greater than our estimates. After adjustments from the state, we were able to lower our final levy to $11,732,151. This is roughly $436,000 less than last year’s levy of $12,168,344. We were pleased to lower the mill rate for the third straight year!

State Aid Vs Mill Rate 4.20

6,200,000

4.10 6,000,000 4.00 5,800,000 3.90

5,600,000

3.80

3.70

5,400,000

3.60 5,200,000 3.50 5,000,000 3.40

4,800,000

3.30 10-11

11-12

12-13

13-14 State Aid

14-15

15-16

16-17 Est.

Mill Rate

MILL RATE At the annual meeting, we also projected a mill rate of $3.80, which would have been a 1.8% decrease in property taxes on a home assessed at the same value over the past year. This was due to a large increase in our state aid projection; however, property values increased by approximately 4.5% which caused the mill rate to drop to $3.57. This represents a $0.30 drop from the prior year.

For a home that was assessed at $200,000, this produced a savings of $60 on your Hartford Union High School District portion of the tax bill.

Mill Rate vs. Property Valuation 4.20

3,350,000,000 3,300,000,000

4.10

3,250,000,000 4.00 3,200,000,000

Property Valuation

3,100,000,000

3.80

3,050,000,000

3.70

3,000,000,000

Mill Rate

3.90

3,150,000,000

3.60

2,950,000,000 3.50 2,900,000,000 3.40

2,850,000,000 2,800,000,000

3.30 10-11

11-12

12-13

13-14

HUHS Property Valuation

FINANCIAL HEALTH

14-15

15-16

16-17

Mill Rate History

The District continues to strengthen its financial health. The District has set aside nearly $3 million in its capital expansion fund as it will continue to update the 1959 portion of the buildings and make safety and program improvements.

Our fund balance is large enough that even though from mid-June to mid-January we don’t have signficant funding, we are able to avoid short-term borrowing and still meet our financial obligations. The District will continue its progress of searching out safe investment options to maximize interest revenue in a low-interest rate environment.

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Our Community

PARTNERS

Each quarter, we recognize our community partners who have in a significant way assisted the District in reaching its mission: We engage and support all learners to discover their passions, achieve high academic goals, and contribute to a global society. They are alumni, Associate Districts, businesses, citizens, companies/corporations, higher education, government, police and fire, profit/non-profit, etc. The support they so generously provide may be monetary/non-monetary, time and energy, volunteer, services, student internships/apprenticeships/job shadowing, teacher externships, etc. We value and appreciate their contributions! Thank you!

-Provides School Resource Officer (SRO) in HUHS – 15+ years running -Develops productive student – law enforcement relationships -Presentations to classes (Law and Order; Auto; Minorities and Prejudice; Health) -Ongoing host/partner for summer teacher externships -Provides regular manufacturing tours for classes and students

-Assists with Safety and Security plans and drills -Provides safety and coordination of major events, ex, Homecoming Parade

-Regular participant in annual College and Career Fair -Host for manufacturing field trips -Annual sponsor/employer for HUHS Youth Apprenticeships

-Sponsors annual HUHS Coaches v. Cancer football game v. Slinger High School – 5 years running -Provides trucks for our annual Homecoming Parade -Ongoing provider for athletic training services to HUHS – 11 years running -Provides volunteers for “Mock Interviews” for our Juniors -Provides our students with Healthcare Career Academy opportunity

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Fall

CELEBRATIONS Band & Orche stra Invit ed t o London

In September, our HUHS Band and Orchestra were formally invited, by the Lord Mayor of Westminster, to play and participate in the 2018 London New Year’s Day Parade and Festival. This is a great honor for our students and directors, and we look forward to the opportunity that it provides our students. If you would like to contribute to their fundraising efforts, please visit this website: www.huhs.org/activities/london.cfm.

French Exchange Program

In October, our French Exchange Program brought 30 students and 2 teachers from Lycee Jean-Henri Fabre in Carpentras, France (in the south, in Provence, about an hour from the Mediterranean Sea) to HUHS. Our largest exchange yet, these students and teachers were welcomed

by HUHS host families and experienced many American traditions while sharing their own cultural experiences with our students and families. The learning and friendships that were made during the 10-day stay are experiences they will not forget!

Student Council’s Powder Puff for the Food Pantry

Student Council held its annual Powder Puff Games during Homecoming week this year.

During the games, they collect over 900 canned goods and raised $2,125.35 for the Hartford Food Pantry. The Sophomore girls beat the Freshmen and the Senior girls beat the Juniors. A great time for a good cause!

WSMA State Honors Ensemble Participants Students were selected by audition from thousands of top music students throughout Wisconsin to participate in these honors ensembles. We are proud of Ella Justman - Orchestra; Brendan Anderson - Band; Andrew Stowe - Band; Josie DeRosa - Treble Choir; Madeline Hoxworth - Treble Choir; Robert Capps - Mixed Choir; and Ethan Nieskes - Mixed Choir.

Hart ford Rot ary Student s of t he Mont h

The Hartford Rotary is pleased to announce the senior Students of the Month for September to November. This honor is based on academics, character, leadership, co-curricular, and volunteer work. Congratulations to these students for their outstanding accomplishments!

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Hanna Bertucci September

Josie DeRosa September

Morgan Lentz October

Andrew Stowe October

Hailey Klink November

Hannah Weibel November

Wi s cons in

SCHOOL REPORT CARD

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released School Report Cards for the 2015-16 school year. They provide snapshots of 3 key areas: Student Achievement, “Closing Gaps,” and On-Track and Postsecondary Readiness. It is important to remember that the Report Card is not a rating of how “good” a school/district is; instead, it shows areas of strength, growth, and needs improvement. We are disappointed with the 2015 – 2016 results; however, there are areas of strength and growth. In addition, we know what areas need improvement, and we have already begun to make those changes.

The boxes below provide information about how scores are calculated and what factors matter most. We also provide you with actions we have, are, and will take to raise and strengthen our overall score. HUHS is an excellent high school in many ways that are not reflected in the School Report Card: providing academic, activity, and athletic opportunities for student growth; preparing students to make informed choices for their futures; and challenging our students to be what they are capable of becoming. We have work to do, and we assure you, our community, that we are actively and intentionally making improvements.

HUHS OVERALL SCORE

• 40% = Student Achievement • 40% = “Closing Gaps”

• 20% = On-Track/Postsecondary Readiness • Deduction for not meeting required student test participation benchmark (95%)

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT • 100% = ACT Test: English, Reading, Writing, and Mathematics • Based on how well students perform on the ACT • HUHS scores are above state average in all areas tested

CLOSING GAPS • 50% = ACT Scores • 50% = Graduation Rate • “Closing Gaps” defined as: based on test scores, are students with disabilities/economic disadvantages improving at a faster rate than students statewide without disabilities/economic disadvantages?

ON-TRACK AND POSTSECONDARY READINESS • 100% = Graduation Rates

ACTION STEPS TO IMPROVE SUCCESS

   

Re-evaluate curriculum in key subject areas, ensuring that learning targets are aligned to standards assessed on the ACT (2016 – 2017) Set teacher goals focused on raising student achievement in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics (2016 – 2017) Offer a new, proven, ACT test prep program (January 2017) Create A School Report Card Improvement Team to research strategies, resources; and make recommendations schoolwide that lead to improved student achievement in the classroom and on state standardized tests



Ensure required student test participation for all groups 10

HARTFORD UNION HIGH SCHOOL 805 Cedar Street Hartford, WI 53027

NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 1 MILWAUKEE WI

262.670.3200 www.huhs.org

ECRWSS POSTAL CUSTOMER

Hartford Union High School

Save t h e Dat e Dec

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Oriole Chat t er

Dec

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Feb

1

ACT Prep Cours e HUHS Showcas e Regi strat ion Deadline

Feb

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Oriole Chat t er

Apr

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Oriole Chat t er

Jun

2

Oriole Chat t er

To learn more about the above events and to keep up with the daily happenings and news at HUHS, follow our website at: www.huhs.org. We can also be found at:

www.huhs.org

Di strict

COMMUNICATIONS Facebook: Hartford Union High School District

Twitter: @HartfordUnionHS

CONGRATULATIONS! C HLO E CH R I S T I A A N S E N

DAR

GOOD CITIZEN

Nondiscrimination Statement:It is the policy of the Hartford Union High School District, pursuant to s. 118.13, WI Stats., and PI 9 that no person, on the basis of race, color, age, national origin, ancestry, religion, creed, sex (including transgender status, change of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity), pregnancy, marital or parental status, military status, genetic information, or physical, mental, emotional, learning disability or handicap, may be denied participation, be denied admission to any school in this District or be denied participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be discriminated against in any co-curricular, pupil service, recreation, or other program. This policy also prohibits discrimination as defined by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (sex), Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (race and national origin), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Hartford Union High School District has adopted a policy of nondiscrimination. In addition, the District has adopted procedures regarding the processing of discrimination complaints. Copies of the policy, procedures and complaint forms are available, upon request from any administrator. It is the policy of the Hartford Union High School District, pursuant to PI 41.04(1)(a), to provide for the reasonable accommodation of a student’s sincerely held religious beliefs with regard to examinations and other academic requirements. Requests for accommodations may be directed to any administrator. Questions or concerns regarding the District’s nondiscrimination policy and procedures should be directed to the Coordinator of Discrimination Complaints, Chad Ellefson, Hartford Union High School, 805 Cedar Street, Hartford, WI 53027, (262) 670-3200. Partnership image: designed by liravega / Freepik. Icon images designed by Freepik.