School News

Hurtado Pérez spent 13 years teaching at DSHA, during which time he cultivated connections, creativity, and kindness.

Athletic Director Peggy Seegers-Braun, CMAA, was just recognized as The Leadership Playbook National Private High School Administrator of the Year. This award acknowledges the successes of administrators who build strong athletics programs, promote strong cultures, and develop leaders in their schools.

Of the award, Seegers-Braun said, "I am humbled and honored to be recognized."

This recognition for the 2023-24 school year is a result of nominations from peers, coaches, students, community members, and more. Recipients of the award are recognized for their leadership, ability to develop other leaders, improve situations, and provide a positive example.

According to Jamy Bechler, founder of The Leadership Playbook, Seegers-Braun meets all those criteria: "Though dotting I’s and crossing T’s are important, it’s always exciting to see someone with a larger purpose than just administering and managing. The best leaders seek to make the people around them better and build a stronger, healthier culture."

The best way to build this positive culture: teammates. "Better teammates" is the first phrase on TheLeadershipPlaybook.com, and Seegers-Braun explained, "Bechler does such a great job helping student-athletes and coaches understand that great teams have great teammates and ... what that looks like."

Additional recent national honors for Seegers-Braun include the Bruce D. Whitehead Distinguished Service Award and the National Federation of State High School Associations Citation Award. She also recently received the InSideOut Leadership Award on behalf of the Green Bay Packers, along with 

Seegers-Braun's additional recent national honors include the Bruce D. Whitehead Distinguished Service Award, the National Federation of State High School Associations Citation, and many others recognizing her contribution to athletics at the state, local, and national levels.

Dashers brought another exciting spring athletics season to DSHA! With two regional championships, a national runner-up trophy, and several incredible performances from individual athletes, DSHA celebrated an accomplished sports season. 

On April 28, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel named DSHA as one of its Top Workplaces for 2024. This is the fifth time DSHA has received this honor.

"Being named a Top Workplace is a big deal," says President Katie Konieczny, DSHA '92. "Only 169 companies made this year's list.

To be eligible for this honor, companies must have 50 or more workers in southeastern Wisconsin, and at least 35% of the workforce fill out a voluntary satisfaction survey via Energage, an employee survey firm. Eric Rubino, Energage CEO, explains, “Top Workplaces embody the highest standards, and this award, rooted in authentic employee feedback, is a point of immense pride for company leaders.”

Konieczny echoes these sentiments: “DSHA has a reputation for providing our students with an excellent Catholic, college-prep, all-girls experience. This award indicates that our institution also has a reputation for providing our faculty and staff with a terrific workplace. I’m honored that DSHA has gained this recognition once again.”

Congratulations to the DSHA Class of 2024 on their myriad accomplishments. See additional awards and recognitions in the Class of 2024 Graduation Commemorative.

Congratulations to the DSHA Class of 2024 for earning a reported $26,892,310 in scholarships to accepted colleges and universities! Below are a handful of major scholarships to celebrate 

This May, Athletic Director Peggy Seegers-Braun, CMAA, earned the InSideOut Leadership Award in partnership with the Green Bay Packers and the NFL Foundation.

Seegers-Braun participated in InSideOut Initiative training sessions to further DSHA's strong athletic program. According to Joe Ehrmann, co-founder and former NFL player, the organization helps administrators create a purpose-focused athletic program that "connects students to transformational coaches who support and nurture a culture of belonging and advance the social, emotional, and character development of student-athletes."

This sentiment aligns closely with Seegers-Braun's own values and mission for DSHA Athletics: “I really wanted to be part of this learning series to help discover and zero in on our ‘why.’ Why we coach, how we coach, and how we want to continue coaching. It helped us pull everything together," she says. "Our goal is always to plan, prepare, and play to win every contest, but our purpose is much more important – we are looking to develop these student-athletes into resilient young women of character who are great teammates and form relationships that will last a lifetime. We are committed to this through our six core values of academic success, athletic excellence, teamwork, leadership, service, and sportsmanship.”

InSideOut Initiative is an organization founded and led by Joe Ehrmann and Jody Redman and empowered by the NFL Foundation. The organization aims to empower and equip schools to implement purpose-based athletic programs. InSideOut helps train athletic directors and coaches through leadership programs. The goal is to develop student-athletes' character and personal growth.

In addition to this latest accolade, Seegers-Braun has been awarded the Bruce D. Whitehead Distinguished Service Award, the National Federation of State High School Associations Citation, and many others recognizing her contribution to athletics at the state, local, and national levels.

The SMART (Students Modeling A Research Topic) Team co-curricular presented their research project at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) in San Antonio, TX from March 23 – 26.

This winter athletics season, Dasher athletes brought an exciting and successful sports season to DSHA! With a regional win, a state runner-up trophy, and several outstanding performances from individual athletes, DSHA experienced another accomplished sports season.

This scholarship was founded in 1994 by Beatrice Menne Haggerty, HA ’31, and her husband Patrick, who was one of the original founders of Texas Instruments. They held a deep passion for science and math education. This scholarship is given to one junior and one senior each year who have been nominated by the DSHA mathematics and science department faculty. The awarded students will have demonstrated outstanding achievement in math and science, displayed leadership skills, and been involved in co-curricular and community service activities.

Dr. Pienkos served as DSHA’s Chief Administrator for 21 years. She had a special interest in history and chose to devote her scholarship to a student with outstanding achievement and demonstrated interest in social studies. Established in 1998, the scholarship is given annually to a student for use during her senior year, and the awardee is chosen by the DSHA Social Studies Department faculty.

This fall was a banner year for Dasher athletics with each sport represented at its respective state competition—a first for a fall athletics season at DSHA according to long-time and nationally recognized Athletic Director Peggy Seegers-Braun. Additionally, each sport had multiple Dashers recognized at the conference level for success in the classroom. A remarkable 68 students were named Greater Metro Conference Scholar Athlete award winners. To receive this award, the student-athlete must be a junior or senior and a varsity award winner with a 3.5 or above unweighted cumulative GPA. The following students were recognized:

In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Madison Quest of Divine Savior Holy Angels High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Wisconsin Volleyball Player of the Year.