Term 3 Final Exams:

Wednesday, March 5

• 07:50-8:55 Final Exam Preparation
• 09:00-10:30 Block 1 exam   
• 10:45-12:15 Block 2 exam  
• 12:15-3:30 make-up if necessary        

Friday, March 7

• 07:50-8:55 Final Exam Preparation
• 09:00-10:30 Block 3 exam   
• 10:45-12:15 Block 4 exam  
• 12:15-3:30 make-up if necessary       

Looking Ahead and Staying on Track…

Our students do great work here at Southwest High School. But one of the many challenges I see with them is the ability to keep their focus on their present academic work as they move through third term and begin to think ahead toward fourth term. Right now we are at mid-quarter with term three and have parent-teacher conferences on Tuesday, February 11, from 4 to 7 p.m. If your student is involved in any winter sports, music, auditions, Science Olympiads, speech and debate or other clubs or activities, these activities are also in full swing and have a demand on student time. How do we expect students to keep their academic focus during these very busy times?

It seems to me that part of the high school experience as a student is to learn and gauge how best to use my time and effort. I have to learn how best to allocate my time knowing time is a limited constant. I have to make decisions about which academic classes I must devote more time and effort to and which activities I can give my extra time to as a student. This type of decision making can stress students physically, emotionally, and developmentally as they make their way through this term or future terms. This is where you as a parent/guardian come in to play!

Parents know their students best. You see your student’s level of commitment, motivation, how he or she responds to the different kinds of daily pressures as each term progresses. You make efforts to give your best advice, your best information, knowing that in some instances, your student may choose to decide differently than to take your suggestions. As long as it is not a life-threatening kind of decision, sometimes we have to let students experience the consequences of their decisions even when they are not the best decisions and even when our experience has made it easy for us to see their choices may be flawed at times. This is all part of the high school and life experience of decision making and making choices and decisions based on what we think is our best information. Our high school students are learning more about becoming an adult and that’s a good thing. Add to all of this, the social pressures of friends and others who mean a great deal to them, who are also giving them advice, and you can easily see how students can lose the main focus of what we are about here at school, academics.

My hat’s off to you as parents/guardians as you continue to observe and be a part of this wonderful but sometimes frustrating aspect of high school---and beyond. Coming from a family of thirteen brothers and sisters, I often have wondered how my parents were able to guide and steer all of us through these high school years because I know, no two of us were the same as we meandered our way at times to the ultimate goal of graduation. What I do remember is that my parents were willing to talk and listen to each of us. So therefore, I strongly encourage you to keep the lines of communication open. Look for all those windows of opportunity to keep talking and listening to what your student is saying and doing. You are their main support and your influence is much greater than you may think at times.

Here at Southwest, the teaching staff and administration will do our best to engage your student in the classroom, create the many opportunities to participate in the extracurricular events and contests that go on every day here and beyond. We hope you will be able to make it to conferences on Feb. 11th to “touch base” with us and we look forward to working with you as part of the team for your student’s success.

Take Care,

Hugh McDermott, Principal

“Lincoln Southwest High School—A Place Where Safety and Learning are the Highest Priorities”

Please note: LSW recognizes latex precautions.  We do not accept latex balloons into the building due to individuals with allergies.