Announcements

As we prepare for the beginning of a new school year, we want to keep you updated on events and information you need to know related to activities at AHS.

Activity Registration

Activity registration is now open for the 2021-22 school year.  If your student will participate in a 2021-2022 sport, cheer, dance, marching band or show choir, we ask you to complete this online registration by Tuesday, August 3. Please note that registrations must be updated yearly; 2020-21 registrations are not valid for the 2021-22 school year even if the physical is not expired.  Complete information regarding activity registration can be found by clicking here.

Activity Passes

We are pleased to be able to offer activity passes once again.  Passes may be purchased online using your student’s TouchBase account through Sunday, August 8.  After that time, activity passes must be purchased in-person at your student’s school.

For more information on passes and event pricing, please visit our activities ticket webpage.

Save the date!

Click here to view the calendar for a full listing of AHS events and activities.

The Activities Office is Moving!

The activities office is being relocated to the north end of the building near the gyms and new weight room.  Students and parents will be able to find us at the end of the activities hallway in room 1607.

We’re looking forward to a fun and successful 2021-22 school year.  Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you or your student may have.  

Andy Umthun
Activities Director
andy.umthun@ankenyschools.org

Tom Day
Event Coordinator
tom.day@ankenyschools.org

Sarah Murphy
Activities Secretary
sarah.murphy@ankenyschools.org

We have been working diligently on our preparations for the 2021-22 school year at Ankeny High School and wanted to share some important information with the entire Hawk Family.

Student Orientation Days:  All students should plan on attending orientation days on either August 16 or August 17 between 7:30 am and 2:30 pm.  These days are designed for students to complete various tasks before the start of the school year including …

• Receiving Student IDs and Bus Pass
• Register for Parking Pass (complete form and pay) if not done online prior to Orientation
• Pay textbook fees or SAT pass if not done online prior to Orientation
• Pick up Prepaid Parking Passes and SAT Passes
• 10th Grade Chromebook Exchange in the Media Center
• Pick up textbooks used for classes in the Media Center
• Talk to a counselor about any errors found in your class schedule.  (See below for more information.)
• Take a tour of the building and the 2 new additions to AHS that are scheduled to be completed at the beginning of August.
• Note: Student photos will not be taken during orientation this year, but scheduled in the Fall during school.

New Students to Ankeny Community School District:  Any student who is new to Ankeny Community Schools is requested to set up an appointment on August 12 or 13 to complete course selection and get individualized support as we welcome them to our Hawk Family.  Please contact Tina Christman (tina.christman@ankenyschools.org) to schedule the meeting with the student’s specific counselor.

Student Class Schedules for the 2021-22 SY:  Student schedules will be available for viewing in Infinite Campus after August 1.  If you find an error in your schedule, a link to a google form will be available in the Infinite Campus Announcements, in Google Classroom, and on our website.  Please remember that our counselors are not available until after August 9 so your best option to address schedule errors is to utilize the google form.

Counselors:

Audrey Bell (Last Name A-E) Audrey.Bell@ankenyschools.org

Mici Vos (Last Names F-L) Mici.Vos@ankenyschools.org

David Patterson (Last Names M-R) David.Patterson@ankenyschools.org

Kelly Andrews (Last Names S-Z) Kelly.Andrews@ankenyschools.org

First Day of School Schedule: The first day of the school year is Monday, August 23!  All Sophomores will report to school at 8:25 am and will report to the AHS Commons. Lunch will be served for all Sophomores starting at 11:00 am with Junior/Senior Lunch being available from 11:15 am to 11:45 am.   Juniors and Seniors will report at 11:45 am for Period 1 classes starting at 11:50 am for all grades.  Students who are taking courses at other buildings (SV or ACHS) will not travel to those classes for Monday and Tuesday.  Travel will begin on Wednesday, August 25, for these courses.

There will be additional information coming as we get closer to the start of the school year.  Information will also be updated on our AHS Webpage and Twitter as it becomes available.  (https://ahs.ankenyschools.org/ or @Ankeny_Hawks) Have a wonderful rest of your summer and we look forward to seeing each and every one of you back at AHS on August 23.

The Ankeny Community School District (ACSD) is committed to keeping our students, staff, and community safe while we continue to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to respect current social distancing requirements and to protect the health and safety of our staff and community, the procedures communicated below may be different compared to past practices.

Ankeny Community Schools is accepting the annual textbook rental fees, purchases of CIML (Central Iowa Metro League) student activity tickets, K-8 activity passes, eight-punch pass activity tickets, parking passes, and meal account deposits for the 2021-2022 school year. Fees are accepted by:

• Credit/debit card online at TouchBase. This is the preferred method of payment.
• NEW/CHANGE – PLEASE READ CAREFULLY – Credit/debit card at a building.
  • School building: An appointment must be made by calling that building’s main office. Please know that office hours may be limited.
  • District Office building: An appointment must be made by calling 515-965-9600. Please know that office hours may be limited. Checking the website would be beneficial.
  • Credit/debit card numbers CANNOT be taken over the phone.
  • Mail check to 306 SW School Street, PO box 189, Ankeny 50021-0189 using this payment form.

For information on making online payments, please refer to the online fees and meal payments. You may view an instructional video on using TouchBase.

You can learn more about how to use TouchBase by reading this new user guide.

Important points regarding online payments:

• Meal account deposits may be made throughout the school year. Try the recurring purchases feature on TouchBase!
• NEW/CHANGE to staying online all school year: League student activity tickets (9-12 only) and the K-8 grade activity tickets may be purchased online all school year.
• Eight-punch activity tickets can be purchased online until Sunday, August 8. Beginning August 9, payments for the eight-punch activity tickets/passes may be purchased from your feeder system’s high school Activity Office or at a home event.
• TouchBase can be found under Online Payments, which is located in the Quick Links at the top right and bottom of the page. Please note, when accessing TouchBase, you will be leaving the Ankeny Schools website and entering a secured environment hosted by InTouch Receipting.

What is the annual Textbook Rental?

The Textbook Rental is an Iowa Department of Education state-wide term used that covers not only textbooks, but electronic textbooks and any supplementary instructional materials used that conveys information to the student or otherwise contributes to the learning process. This is referenced and authorized in Iowa Code 301.1.

If you have already paid the textbook rental fee for this year, you do not need to do so again.

Free/Reduced Priced Meals and Other Fees

To be eligible for free/reduced price meals and textbook rental fees, you must submit an application and the fee waiver form EACH SCHOOL YEAR. This can be done online late July on the nutrition services free and reduced meals webpage.

Please contact LeeAnna Vigor before completing an application, if:

• You are enrolling a kindergarten student and another student in your household was eligible for free or reduced meals the previous school year.
• You have a student who is transferring from another school in Iowa and was eligible for free or reduced meals at that school.  Eligibility does NOT automatically transfer – you need to notify LeeAnna Vigor.
• The state has placed a foster student in your care.

To be eligible for Free/Reduced Text book Rental, a free/reduced priced meal application and the fee waiver form must be completed and approved on October 4, 2021 or before. If not, unless a student is a new enrollee, full priced Textbook Rental Fees will be applicable for students in your household. PLEASE NOTE: if a fee waiver is applicable, it is only valid if completed and submitted within that eligible school year.

Contact Information:

• For questions about fee and/or fine balances, fee and/or fine payments, please email studentfees@ankenyschools.org
• For questions about meal balances and/or meal payments or School Cafe, please email leeanna.vigor@ankenyschools.org or scott.litchfield@ankenyschools.org.
• For questions about the Free and Reduced Meal Program, please email leeanna.vigor@ankenyschools.org.
• For questions about the Before and After School Program and/or about the payment structure, please email nikki.logsdon@ankenyschools.org.

Congratulations to the following students that are receiving the Soaring Hawk award. Soaring Hawk recipients are nominated by staff members for demonstrating characteristics of the Hawk Way. Hawk Way students are Honorable, Accountable, Willing and Knowledgeable. View the presentation link below to read the nominations.

Soaring Hawk Award Presentation

Emily Allen – 12th Grade
Claire Berg – 10th Grade
Raj Bete – 11th Grade
Paris Bolinger – 10th Grade
Cael Boyd – 12th Grade
Kayla Brummer – 12th Grade
Raylin Capdevila – 12th Grade
Brock Chiodo – 12th Grade
Cael Cox – 12th Grade
Olivia DeGroote – 11th Grade
Emma Dunlavey – 12th Grade (nominated three times)
Peter Ferrell – 12th Grade
Anja Gjullin – 12th Grade
Josalyn Gomez – 12th Grade
Nicholas Guyette – 10th Grade
Mya Hall – 12th Grade
Zoe Hardenbrook – 10th Grade
Miranda Hatch – 11th Grade
Anthony Hawkins – 11th Grade
Keyla Herrera – 10th Grade
Diego Jackson – 10th Grade
Price Jacobson – 12th Grade
Lindsey Johnson – 11th Grade
Will  Johnson – 12th Grade
Chase Jordan – 10th Grade
Abrym Kajewski – 10th Grade
Joey Killen – 10th Grade (nominated two times)
Madison Krapfl – 12th Grade
Alex Larkins – 11th Grade
Tyler Lewis – 12th Grade
Aryana Lewis – 10th Grade
Sydney Madetzke – 10th Grade
Torrie Marchant – 10th Grade
Mytika Mayberry – 12th Grade
Chloe McGrath – 10th Grade
Megan Meyer – 12th Grade
Kate Moir – 11th Grade
Dorian Packard – 11th Grade
Sophia Parker – 12th Grade
Madison Parker – 12th Grade
Zach Parsons – 10th Grade
Caleb Rathjen – 12th Grade
Dylan Rauser – 12th Grade
Isabella Rector – 11th Grade
Jocelyn Riley – 11th Grade
Lauren Rolling – 10th Grade
Emily Ryherd – 10th Grade
Claire Sammons – 12th Grade
McKenna Scheib – 12th Grade (nominated two times)
Sophia Schoolen – 12th Grade (nominated two times)
Phyona Schrader – 12th Grade
Carter Smith – 12th Grade
Kade Somers – 12th Grade
Sydney Stover – 11th Grade
Akira Thongsouk – 12th Grade
Kwaku Tuah-Kwarteng – 10th Grade
Irie Vincent – 12th Grade
Gabe Wagner – 10th Grade
Cole Watson – 12th Grade
Karson Wetzel – 12th Grade

An important step in planning to go to college is filing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Grants, scholarships and other forms of financial aid from colleges can be dependent on filing the FAFSA. If you have a senior and have not filed the FAFSA there is support.

A FAFSA Step-by-Step event will be hosted virtually and lead by an Iowa College Access Network (ICAN) team member. Additional team members and FAFSA certified volunteers will be available in the chat or in breakout rooms to answer questions as families follow along and complete the FAFSA form.

The first five statewide events have been scheduled for:

• May 19 – 6 pm – Register
• June 9 – 3 pm – Register
• July 21 10 am – Register
• August 11 – Noon – Register

If you have questions about paying for college, or would like free help filing your FAFSA, ICAN offers free resources for college planning and financial aid. You can visit their website, www.ICANsucceed.org, to schedule an appointment, or call their toll free number, 877-272-4692 to talk to an advisor.

All Twelve Ankeny Schools Students Named 2021 National Merit® Scholarship Finalists

Ankeny Community Schools is proud to announce that all 12 students that were recognized as Semifinalists in September have now been named as Finalists in the 66th annual National Merit® Scholarship Program. This is a record number of NMSC Finalists for the Ankeny Community School District.

The honored students include Ankeny High School seniors Lucy Brooner, Corinne Bovee, Zane Eason, and Wyatt Eason.

The academically talented high school seniors who are selected for this honor have an opportunity to compete for about 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million that will be offered this spring. More than half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship and earn the Merit Scholar® title.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

Steps in the 2021 Competition

Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and write an essay.

From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 advanced to the Finalist level. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

National Merit Scholarships

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 240 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 200 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2021 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 353,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

Kindergarten registration for the 2021-2022 school year begins Friday, February 5. To enroll, your child must be five years old on or before September 15, 2021.

Online Registration

Beginning Friday, February 5 at 8:00 a.m., parents will be able to enroll their incoming kindergartener via online registration. More detailed information is available on the Enroll/Registration page.

Per Board Policy 501.15, applications will be considered late if they are received after June 1. Late registrations will not be considered until all other placements have been made.

What is Needed for Registration?

Please follow the kindergarten registration checklist, as a guide detailing the required documents. Most of the documents can be uploaded into your online application. However, if you do not have the capability to upload documents or if you need copies made, please submit documents starting February 5 to your neighborhood elementary or the registrar at the district office, 306 SW School St. The required documents are:

• Home Language Survey
• Proof of Residency
• Proof of Child’s Birth Date

Medical documentation will be collected at a later date.

Informational Meeting – Updates to Come

This year, the kindergarten parent informational meeting will be conducted virtually. This meeting will be held on April 22 at 6:30 p.m. More information regarding how to join will be shared at a later date.

Due to increased elementary enrollment and limited space, parents are encouraged to enroll their upcoming kindergartener based on the process set forth by the district.

Important Dates to Remember

Visit this document to review important dates for kindergarten families for the 2021-2022 school year.

PRESCHOOL Registration opens on Monday, January 25, 2021.

KINDERGARTEN Registration opens on Friday, February 5, 2021.

2020-21 Before & After School Program Registration opens April 8 to incoming Kindergarteners.  Click here to learn more!

Ankeny,

We.Need.You.

It will take our whole community pulling together to slow the spread and help keep our students in school. We’ve been hearing it for months, but now is the time to go back to mitigation basics.

1. Wear Your Mask
2. When Sick, Stay Home
3. Wash Your Hands
4. Watch Your Distance

This week, we’re launching a #MaskupforAnkeny campaign alongside the @CityofAnkeny. Partner with us by downloading an email signature and social media graphic at the link below and answer the question “What do you mask up for?” #MaskUpforAnkeny #MaskUpforAnkenySchools #SlowtheSpread

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19Dic2GIwS5PD5Q5-go4_mUJFdd8xwaxS?usp=sharing

SOS (Supporting Our Students) is now open, after school Monday through Thursday from 3:50-4:50 in the Career Center room 2101. The purpose of SOS is to provide a faculty-supervised quiet space after school for homework completion, test and quiz make-ups, and tutoring.