DMPS Community Report - 2012-13 Year-in-Review

7/28/2019 DMPS Community Report - 2012-13 Year-in-Review

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Des Moines Public Schools

COMMUNITY REPORT2012-2013 YEAR IN REVIEW

DMPS


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For the second year in a row, I am pleased to provide you with a copy o this special edition o the DMPSCommunity Report, providing a look back at the many accomplishments rom this past school year.

With more than 32,000 students and nearly 5,000 employees there are countless stories o success in ourdistrict each and every day. Tis report simply scratches the surace o sharing the great work, both in and out

o the classroom, by our students, teachers, sta and volunteers.

Tis report also highlights some exciting and signicant trends at Des Moines Public Schools, including:

Our graduation rate increased by nearly 3.5%, one o the largest gains o any school district in Iowaand a sign that our work to help high school students earn the credit needed to earn a diploma ismaking a dierence;

For the second year in a row, enrollment at Des Moines Public Schools increased by more than 500students, making us one o the astest growing districts in Iowa and bucking the trend o decliningenrollment seen at most urban school districts;

We continue to be a leader in Advanced Placement courses, as this past year saw a record number o

AP scholars, a record number o AP exams, and or the rst time ever all ve o our comprehensivehigh schools listed as op 50 schools on the Iowa AP Index;

For the second year in a row, we have earned the triecta o awards or our work at energy eciencyand conservation, earning the EPAs Energy Star Partner o the Year, the U.S. Department oEducation Green Ribbon School award, and the Governors Iowa Environmental Excellence Award.

It is a great honor to serve as Superintendent o Des Moines Public Schools, and to have the opportunity towork with so many people dedicated to providing every student the best possible education. I look orward tocontinuing both this commitment and our success.

Best wishes,

Tomas AhartSuperintendent

Greetings:

Thomas Ahart was selected as the school districts new Superintendent in March, 2013.

Tom Ahart brings a commitment to our community, a wealth of experience, and a track record of success tothis position, said Murphy. We had three strong, experienced nalists for this position any one of whom

could have been a successful leader for our district but in the end the very best was right here at home.

During his time with DMPS, Ahart served as the districts interim superintendent, associate superintendent

and principal of Harding Middle School. He has also served as the Director of Human Resources at the

Ankeny Community School District, the Director of Instruction at the Marshalltown Community School

District, and as a school improvement consultant at the Heartland Area Education Agency. He has also been

a language arts teacher at high schools in Denison, IA and Glenwood Springs, CO.

Ahart is the 13th Superintendent in the 106-year history of Des Moines Public Schools.

Ahart Appointed Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools


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JULY

Des Moines Public Schools earnedrecognition in several categoriesor its communications eorts atthe 2012 National School PublicRelations Associations (NSPRA)annual national seminar, includingan Award o Excellence, the highesthonor awarded, or its use o socialmedia over the past year. DMPS

was one o only two school districtsin the nation to receive an Award oExcellence or social media.

NSPRA presented DMPS withthe Award o Merit or the schooldistricts new website, blog, humanresources brochure, and a DMPS-V video eaturing the HillisCookie Caucus. Te district was

cited in the Excellence in Writingcategory or a newspaper editorial.Additional awards includedHonorable Mention or the DMPSCommunity Report newsletter andDMPS-V News Brie.

DMPS Earns National

Communication Honors


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Thirty-ve Des Moines

elementary schools were awardedFuel Up to Play 60 grants fromthe Midwest Dairy Council forthe 2012-2013 school year. Themoney allowed each of theseschools to put more ofan emphasis on physicalactivity and helping studentsmake healthy choices.

Te grants totaled $41,000and were awarded to Brubaker,Capitol View, Carver, Cattell,Cowles, Downtown, Edmunds,Findley, Garton, Greenwood,Hanawalt, Hillis, Howe, Hubbell,Jackson, Jeerson, King, Madison,McKinley, Monroe, Morris,Moulton, Oak Park, Park Avenue,Perkins, Phillips, Pleasant Hill,

River Woods, South Union, StoweStudebaker, Walnut Street, WillardWindsor, and Wright.

More than 70,000 schoolsacross the United States areparticipating in Fuel Up toPlay 60, a program developed byNational Dairy Council, localDairy Councils and the NationalFootball League.

Over 150 volunteers pitched in to make the Jumpstart Back to School

Health Fair another successful event in support of students and their

families preparing for the start of a new school year.

This year the health fair provided a record number of services, including:

1,157 physicals;

693 dental screenings;

314 vaccines were given to 113 children;

Over 2,000 backpacks stocked with schools supplies were

distributed to children receiving health services.

35 Schools Presented with Fuel Up to Play 60 Grants

Back to School Health Fair

Supports Student Wellness

Governor Terry Branstad takes part in a Fuel Up To Play 60 event at

Capitol View Elementary School.


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The 2012-2013 school yearmarked a groundbreakingnew contract for teachers inDes Moines.

Te contract, currently availableonly to new teachers, is designed toproactively address anticipated state/ederal mandates; begin progress

towards a revised and enhancedstandard contract; encourage stacontinuity and teambuilding withinindividual schools; acilitate thetraining o teachers specicallyequipped to serve the needs ostudents in an urban, diverse district

such as DMPS; and attract andretain the brightest educationaltalent at both the teaching andadministrative levels.

Tose who opt into theinnovative plan will achieve aMasters Degree in Eectiveeaching ater six years o servicein the district and be incentivized

to stay or at least an additionaltwo and hopeully beyond. In itsrst year, 77 new teachers optedor this contract.

DMPS is the only district inIowa to oer such an agreementto teachers.

AUGUSTFirst-of-its-Kind Contract

Available for New Teachers

Middle school students who participate in the 21st Century CommunityLearning Centers (21CCLC) aterschool program learned how to managetheir money as well as educate their peers about nance thanks to a $51,430grant awarded by State Farm.

A nancial literacy curriculum was implemented this year at all seven middleschools where the 21CCLC aterschool program currently exists. IowaStudent Loan provided assistance to implement the program. Students in the21CCLC program incorporated what they learned about managing nancesby creating short videos to show to all seventh graders in Des Moines PublicSchools. In addition, students worked with teachers to translate the videosinto Spanish.

Grant Supports NewFinancial Literacy Program


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Des Moines Public School studentsbenetted rom a nutritiousmorning meal every day thanks to

the expansion o the Breakast in theClassroom program, unded by theWalmart Foundation. More than6,000 students at 15 local schoolsparticipated in the ree breakastprogram, allowing them to reap thenutritional and academic benetsassociated with a morning meal.

Thousands

Benet from

Breakfast in

the Classroom

The district completed renovations at 12 more schools in time for the 2012-2013 school year. Work also began in the summer

of 2012 on the new Edmunds Elementary School, which will open in August, 2013. Open Houses were held in the fall at Hiatt

Middle School, McCombs Middle School and Studebaker Elementary School to celebrate renovations at those buildings.

New Construction and Renovations Throughout the District

McCombs

Middle School

Studebaker

Elementary School

Studebaker

Elementary School

Hiatt

Middle School


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SEPTEMBER

One hundred and ninety studentswho took Advanced Placementclasses at Des Moines PublicSchools earned AP honors fromthe College Board in 2012, anincrease of nearly 50% comparedto last year.

And among the honorees were a

record number o 29 students whowere recognized as AP NationalScholars. o earn that prestigiousaward a student must take eight ormore AP exams and receive a nearperect score o our or higher (ona scale o 1-5) on each exam. Lastyear 19 DMPS students earned APNational Scholar recognition.

Tere were also two rsts thisyear or AP National Scholars whoattend DMPS: at least one studentrom each o Des Moines vehigh schools was recognized andone student earned the award as asophomore.

In addition, each year theCollege Board names one male

and one emale State AP Scholarto recognize the students with thehighest average score on AdvancedPlacement exams. Te winner othe emale State AP Scholar orIowa was Kayleigh Hauri, a 2012Roosevelt High School graduatenow attending GeorgetownUniversity. Since 1991, 34 o the

42 students receiving the State

AP Scholar or Iowa Award haveattended Des Moines PublicSchools.

A Record Number of

AP National Scholars

Lincoln High School was recognizedas the 2011-2012 High School othe Year by Science Bound, Iowa

State Universitys premier pre-collegprogram to increase the numbero ethnically diverse Iowa studentswho pursue degrees in agriculture,science, technology, engineering ormathematics.

LHS Science

Bound School

of the Year

Roosevelt graduate Kayleigh Hauri is th

2012 State of Iowa AP Scholar, the 34th

DMPS student to earn this honor.


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In order to better serve students and meet the needs of schools,Des Moines Public Schools created new attendance areas for secondaryschools in 2012. Several parent meetings were held in September todiscuss the changes.

The most signicant and positive result of this change was thatthe attendance areas of the high schools and middle schools will align,creating a more consistent feeder system throughout the district. Thiswill allow for better planning and coordination between high schoolsand middle schools in a variety of programs and services, as well as withthe neighborhoods they serve.

National Merit

Semi-Finalists

Nine Des Moines high schoolseniors were chosen as semi-nalists in the 2013 National

Merit Scholarship competition,placing them among the top youngscholars in the state and nation. Anadditional 12 seniors were namedCommended Students. Te DesMoines students were selected basedon their strong perormance on thePreliminary SA (PSA) test takenearlier this year.

Te National Merit Semi-

fnalists were:

Jillian Brown, Roosevelt Daniel Comito, Roosevelt Ashley De Haan, East Karina Foster-Middleton,

Roosevelt Crystal Hou, Roosevelt Nathan Leys, Roosevelt

James Luke Sheeley,Roosevelt

John Shumway, Roosevelt

Seth Van Helten, East

Te National Merit CommendedStudents were:

Kirsten Benson, Roosevelt Henry Fender, Roosevelt Rivkah Gardner-Frolick,

Roosevelt

Jennier Hugg, Roosevelt William Karr, Roosevelt Soa Kaut, Roosevelt

Matthew Lippold, Lincoln Alex Lopez, North Dmitri McDonald, Roosevel Samuel Norland, Roosevelt Benjamin Sides, Lincoln August Stangl III, East

All o the students also take classesat Central Academy.

Secondary Schools Have New

Attendance Areas


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OCTOBER

Both Lincoln and Hoover high schools received national certication or their Project Lead the Way (PLW)programs. PLW, a nonprot organization and the nations leading provider o SEM (science, technology,engineering, and mathematics) education programs, oers a rigorous world-class curriculum that allows students

to apply what they are learning in math and science to real-lie engineering and technology projects. PLWalso prides itsel on high-quality proessional development o its teachers and an engaged network o business,community and university partners to give students the ullest possible experience.

DMPS is Home to Iowas Top Teachers

Hoover, Lincoln are Project Lead the Way Leaders

Des Moines Public Schools waswell represented at the annualOutstanding Iowa TeachersRecognition event. Four DMPSeducators nominated forprestigious professional honorswere among those feted at anawards luncheon at the ScienceCenter of Iowa sponsored by theIowa Department of Education.

Heather Anderson o CowlesMontessori School was a nalist or

the Iowa eacher o the Year Award;Amber Davison, a U.S. and WorldHistory teacher at Hoover HighSchool, was a nalist or IowaPreserve America History eachero the Year; Josie Burg, a mathteacher at the Downtown School,and Zachry Christensen, amath teacher at Perkins Academywere both Iowa nalists or thePresidential Award orExcellence in Mathematicsand Science eaching.

Great DMPS teachers: Amber Davison,

Josie Burg, Heather Anderson, and

Zachry Christensen.


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District Goes Above-and-Beyond

with Expanded Radon Testing

Placing a high priority onthe importance o a qualityenvironment or students, sta,and community, Des Moines PublicSchools implemented a plan to testor radon in all district acilities.Te proactive approach by thedistrict goes above and beyondstate and ederal requirements.

Current state and ederalregulations require radontesting o school buildings withpreschool classrooms. Des MoinesPublic Schools is now doingradon tests, conducted byproessional and licensed testers,in each o its 67 schools andoce buildings. ests will be

perormed at all buildings on arevolving three year schedule.

Decision 2012: Students Learn

About Electoral Process

wenty-six students representingour Des Moines high schools wselected to participate in the 201All-State Music Festival held inAmes and re-broadcast over the

Tanksgiving holiday.For one Des Moines student

violinist Soa Kaut, a seniorat Roosevelt High School thismarked the ourth consecutive yshe was selected as a member o All-State Orchestra.

DMPS Musicians

Earn All-State

Honors

Several DMPS schools participated in mock presidential elections, usingthe 2012 election as a lesson in democracy or students.

More than 1,200 students at East, Lincoln and North high schoolsparticipated in the Polk County Auditors mock election.

Students also voted in mock elections at Garton Elementary School, MerrillMiddle School, Phillips Elementary School, and South Union Elementary.


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NOVEMBER

Seven high school students from Des

Moines Public Schools, representing

four of the districts high schools, were

selected to attend speeches by world

renowned leaders, present their own

research, and join in hunger relief efforts

during the World Food Prize Global Youth

Institute in Des Moines.

Participants were Rivkah Gardner-

Frolick, Paige Harper, Madison Holmes,

Patience Kpurukoo, Alexandra Lidgett,

Michelle Lopez, Liza Strueva.

Students Participate in

World Food Prize Institute

Filmmaker Jason Pollock made areturn visit to East High Schoolwhere hed eatured select studentsor his lm, Undroppable. Tis time,he produced a quasi-fash mob ostudents and sta dancing on thegym foor to the sensational beat oGangnam Style. It was all part othe Undroppable election tour, an

eort to empower students tohelp make education the nationstop priority.

Pollock, whose documentaryeatures East as one o sixschools rom across the nation,

is ocused on the goal o raisinggraduation rates and sharing storiesabout students who succeed inovercoming obstacles.

Cynthia Gallardo and KierraOsborn, two East studentseatured in the lm, joined Pollockand DMPS Superintendent omAhart in encouraging everyone

there not only to stay their owncourses to graduation but also totry and get at least one dropoutthey know back into school. Formore inormation about the project,visitwww.undroppable.com.

East High Featured in

Undroppable Documentary

Filmmaker Jason Pollock

East alum Cynthia Gallardo


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Ankita Chatterjee, a student fromDes Moines, was honored as oneof the brightest middle schoolstudents worldwide at a nationalmedal ceremony sponsored bythe Johns Hopkins UniversityCenter for Talented Youth (CTY).The Center honored Ankita,one of 40,800 participants inthe 2012 CTY Talent Search, for

her exceptional performance asa middle school student on thecollege SAT, ACT or similar test.

Ankita Chatterjee

Among Nations Top

Middle School Students

Te Commons at Lincoln HighSchool were jammed and jamminor a showcase eaturing six jazzbands rom our DMPS highschools. Te Jazzest is an annualevent thats been going on or 14years and brings ensembles romdierent schools together in anoncompetitive, celebratory spiri

The Annual

All-City Jazzfest

Des Moines Public Schools washonored by the U.S. CommunitiesGovernment Purchasing Alliance orthe school districts innovative andecient procurement practices.

Jennier Sulentic, regionalmanager or the Alliance, said:As a participating member oU.S. Communities GovernmentPurchasing Alliance, I am pleasedto inorm you that the Des Moines

Independent Community SchoolDistrict has been identied asa key enthusiast or innovativeprocurement practices, and hasshown this through continuallyutilizing several o the U.S.Communities contract oerings.

U.S. Communities is a nonprotgovernment purchasing cooperativethat reduces the cost o goods andservices or participating public

agencies by aggregating theirpurchasing power nationwide. Itis a cooperative purchasing program

ounded by the National Associationo Counties, the National Leagueo Cities, the Association oSchool Business Ocials, the

National Institute o GovernmentalPurchasing and the U.S. Conerenceo Mayors.

District

Recognized for

Purchasing

Practices

Jennifer Sulentic of U.S. Communities

presents DMPS purchasing manager

Mark Mattiussi an award for the

districts procurement practices.

Callanan and Central Academy student

Ankita Chatterjee


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DECEMBER

Kids make the best of blizzards.It doesnt get any better thansnowmen, sledding, hot chocolateand the ultimate wintry perk:SNOW DAYS! But, for many DMPSemployees, snow days are workdays if youre trying to keep thestates largest school district openfor business.

Tis past year was only the tenthtime in 40 years that classes werecancelled due to weather or twodays in a row.

According to Dave Silver,the districts Director o Facility

Management, it takes 15 employeesand trucks about 8-10 hours to plowthe many miles o DMPS parkinglots and sidewalks in order to beready or school.

I drive the streets between2:30 and 4:30 AM, and then callBill Good (the districts ChieOperations Ocer) with a streetcondition report, added Silver.

Beore I do that, I talk to theNational Weather Service at theDes Moines airport. Im also one-mail lists rom Polk CountyEmergency Management andSaeguard Iowa, and I talk to the

citys public works dispatcherto check on progress with streetplowing. Tere are instances whenwere ready or school, but streetsare impassable or our buses, sowe have to cancel.

Silver reports to Good, whothen coners with Superintendentom Ahart. Ahart also talks withother superintendents in the

metro area to get an update ontheir plans. Decisions arethen made as soon as possiblewhether to hold school as usual,delay the start o the day orcancel altogether.

Snow Days are Work Days at DMPS

Thirteen Central Academy studentswere selected as nalists in the Iowa

State Bar Associations Young LawyersDivision Know Your Constitutioncontest. The students participatingin the project were required

to familiarize themselves withconstitutional issues.

Finalists were Abby Callaghan(Hoover), Olin Carty (Roosevelt),Caroline Closson (Van Meter), MarkGee Jr. (Johnston), William Karr

(Roosevelt), Alex Lopez (North), WillPercival (Roosevelt), Prisma Ruacho(East), Luke Sheeley (Roosevelt),Benjamin Sides (Lincoln), Josh Swagler(North), Nathan Walton (Van Meter),and Demetrius Watson (Roosevelt).

Central Students Win Know Your Constitution Contest


15/31

Everything you always wanted toknow about th disease but werearaid to ask was just one portiono all the wellness inormation

that was served up at the WalnutStreet School Health Fair hostedby Wellmark Blue Cross andBlue Shield.

Te students presented on healthrelated topics o their choice, rangingrom oot ungus to liver disease.Each student created a display.For instance, Fiona Donnellysexhibit about Sudden Inant DeathSyndrome (SIDS) eatured a small

crib with a baby doll so Fiona coulddemonstrate the proper way to layan inant down or a nap.

Te health air is an annualevent, and the culmination o a

unit on how health systemscontribute to wellness. Te studentsspent several weeks researching theirtopics and developing their

presentations. Dr. William Jagiello,Wellmark Medical Director,provided guidance, and assistedthe students with their projects.

Te health air was held outsideWellmarks Blues Ca in theirbeautiul new headquarters justblocks away rom WSS duringthe lunch hour, but not even theinclusion o an exhibit on oodpoisoning drove any business away.

A steady stream o employees washappy to run the gamut o exhibitorsand listen to their presentations.Maybe some o them even madehealthier choices in the chow line.

Walnut Street Students Hold

Health Fair at Wellmark


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JANUARY

While most large urban schooldistricts across the nationhave seen a decline in studentenrollment in recent years,Des Moines Public Schools isgoing against that trend withthe second straight year of anenrollment increase of morethan 500 students.In act, or the rst time since1996, statewide student enrollmentincreased, according to guresreleased by the Iowa Departmento Education. And Des MoinesPublic Schools played a big role incontributing to that growth as one othe astest-growing districts in Iowa.

For the 2012-13 school year,

DMPS had the second largest

enrollment growth in the state with516 new students. Tis ollows asimilar trend during the 2011-12school year, when DMPS had 571new students, the largest increase inthe state.

Over the past ve years DesMoines Public Schools ranks third, outo nearly 350 Iowa school districts, orenrollment growth with an increase o1,279 students since 2008.

Certied enrollment isimportant because it is used inthe ormula that determines stateunding or public school districts.Certied enrollment is based onthe number o students in eachschool district and also includes theweighting, or additional unding

or students in certain programs,

such as students who are EnglishLanguage Learners. Te certiedenrollment count is taken by Iowaschool districts on the rst dayo October each school year andreported by the Department o

Education in January.

Bucking the National Trend,

DMPS Enrollment Continues to Rise

East High School was crownedDivision Champions in the

Get Schooled Foundations FallAttendance Challenge or the secondconsecutive year.

A total o 225 middle and highschools signed up to participate in theGet Schooled 2012 Fall AttendanceChallenge. East High Schools overallattendance increase was 2.68 percentduring the challenge period.

Te winning schools earneda stop on the Get Schooled

Victory our which eatures guestCelebrity Principals or the Dayat the school.

Get Schooled has ocused onattendance as a critical metric inschool and student perormancebecause it is one o the bestpredictors o high school graduationrates and college readiness.

East High School Repeat Division Champs

in Get Schooled Attendance Challenge


17/31

There is a map with a directline that runs through Booker T.Washington, George WashingtonCarver, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad andIowa State University PresidentDr. Steven Leath pointing the wayto buried treasure at inner cityschools. And X marks the spotat Moulton Extended LearningCenter where Dream Keeperswere recognized in a jointassembly involving Moulton andKing Elementary.

Students at those schools wereencouraged to use their day o inobservance o the MLK holiday onJanuary 21 to write essays on the

topic o Dr. Kings legacy and itsimpact on their personal dreams.A contest was arranged and thewinners were rewarded with laptopcomputers, courtesy o the McechAngels rom Corinthian BaptistChurch.

But in the big picture all o thestudents at Moulton and King standto be very big winners in the years tocome. In his keynote speech at theawards ceremony, Dr. Leath talkedin broad strokes about a programthats being developed to grant ulltuition scholarships in the utureto entire cohorts o Moulton andKing students who work hard tosucceed in school and want toenroll at Iowa State.

Moulton, King and ISU Celebrate

Student Success and Dreams

State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad

Moulton principal Craig Saddler


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FEBRUARY

The Iowa Department ofEducation released data on thefour-year graduation rate for theClass of 2012.

Te Class o 2012 at Des MoinesPublic Schools had a graduation rateo 79.15%, an increase o nearly 3.5%

over the previous year and the highestsince Iowa began using its currentgraduation rate ormula in 2009.

Statewide gures show anoverall increase in the percentageo Iowa high school students whocompleted high school in ouryears, with a graduation rate o89.26% or 2012 compared to88.3% or 2011. For Des MoinesPublic Schools, the graduation

rate or the Class o 2012 was79.15%, up rom 75.68% orthe Class o 2011.

DMPS Sees 3.5 Percent Increase in

Graduation Rate for Class of 2012


19/31

Everyone knows the image oa mad scientist: some brilliantbut misguided old guy in acastle laboratory plotting worlddomination, laughing diabolicallyall the way.

And then there are gladscientists. Tere were lots o them,in act, at the 5th annual DMPS

Middle School Science Fair, held atthe Science Center o Iowa.

Te event continues to growalong with the increasing emphasison SEM (science, technology,engineering and math) education.Year one drew about ty entrants.Tis year there were 134, up tenrom a year ago.

Te 21st Century CommunityLearning Center (21CCLC) aterschool program will expand to sixmore elementary schools, thanksto a grant awarded to Des Moines

Public Schools by the IowaDepartment o Education.

Te 21CCLC program iscurrently in place at seven DesMoines middle schools and ourelementary schools.

Tis new three-year grant totals$2.4 million and will spread the

21CCLC aterschool programto Garton, Hillis, Morris, RiverWoods, Samuelson, and Willardelementary schools serving anadditional 900 students.

Te grant money will beused to provide ater schooland summer programming orstudents including academicprogramming in reading,math, and science; and alsoenrichment programming in thearts, literacy, music and SEM

(Science, echnology, Engineering,and Math).

Te 21CCLC program beganin 2007 and was already servingBrody Middle School, Callanan

Middle School, Capitol ViewElementary, Goodrell MiddleSchool, Hoyt Middle School, KingElementary, McCombs MiddleSchool, McKinley Elementary,Meredith Middle School, MonroeElementary School, and WeeksMiddle School.

Glad Scientists: Middle School

Students Share Their Experiments

21st Century Community Learning Center

Grants Awarded to Six DMPS Elementary Schools


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MARCH

Youd gure if Forest Whitaker is in

town and hes at the Des MoinesCivic Center he must be centerstage, right? But not this time.

Perhaps mindul o the old theatricalaxiom about kids and animalsbeing renowned scene-stealers, theAcademy Award winner was content

to sit in the audience or most o

the program and watch the FindleyElementary Drama Club strutits stu in a ast-paced medley otableaus and mimed shortsthat served to demonstrate theheightened level o learningat Findley.

Whitaker was in town to playhis leading role in the urnaround

Arts Grant that was awarded by

the Presidents Council on the Artsand Humanity (PCAH) last spring.Findley is one o only eight schoolsnationwide selected to participate.

Te drama club at Findley issome 80 students strong. It metevery Tursday ater school. Tetheme o the Civic Center show wasthe same one Findley used all year:

Dream Big.

Forest Whitaker and Findley

Students Show the Value of Arts in School

Iowa Public elevisions program Bullying in Iowa Schools eatured thegreat work underway at Harding Middle School to change the climate thereand create a positive culture where all students can thrive. Congratulationsto Principal Maureen aylor and all o the students, teachers and sta atHarding or developing a model approach on this important issue.

Hardings Anti-Bullying EffortsFeatured on Iowa Public Television

Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker

at Findley Elementary School


21/31

While snow was melting outside,morning sunshine was streamingthrough the skylight o the JacobsonExhibition Center at the Iowa State

Fairgrounds as a feet o school busesbegan arriving rom all corners othe district to deliver an elite orce omiddle school musicians.

Tey came to rehearse or theAll-City Middle School Music

Festival. Te annual ne arts event isa generous git to Des Moines PublicSchool rom ormer school boardmember Marjorie Spevak that she

just keeps on giving.Te musicians were divvied into

a choir, a band and an orchestra.All told, nearly 400 kids rom

eleven schools were selected by theirmusic teachers to participate.

You shouldve heard the spirit singing

out at North High School as 350

choristers from ve schools across

all grade levels joined forces to give

voice to a resurrection of community

pride. They called it Northside Night

and said they plan to make it an annual

event. From the look and feel and

sound of things that night, once a year

may not be enough.

The crowd overowed the

auditoriums main oor and rose

into the balcony. Singers from Findley,

Madison, Oak Park, Harding and

North all participated to the delight of

the packed house.

Middle School Music Festival

Highlights Student-Artists

Northside Night + 350 Voices

Equals a Feast for the Ears

Des Moines Public Schools was recognized orhaving one o the most transparent governmentwebsites in America, according to the SunshineReviews ransparency Checklist. Te districts siteearned a grade o A-, along with the organizationsSunny Award, which places dmschools.org amongthe top one percent o the 7,000 state and localwebsites that were analyzed.

District Honored for Transparency

DMPS Repeats

as Energy

Star Partner

of the Year

The U.S. Environmental Protectio

Agency named Des Moines Publ

Schools as a 2013 ENERGY STA

Partner of the Year for strategicamanaging and improving the ene

efciency of its entire building

portfolio, which totals more than

5.5 million square feet at over 60

facilities throughout the city.

Through its partnership with

the ENERGY STAR program,

Des Moines Public Schools has

improved its energy performanc

saved money and helped to

protect the environment for futu

generations. This is the second

year in a row Iowas largest scho

district has earned the EPAs top

award for ENERGY STAR partne

Des Moines Public Schools is als

the only school district in the

nation to be a repeat recipient o

the award this year.


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APRIL

For the rst time ever, all ve Des

Moines high schools were listedamong the states top 50 highschools on the Iowa AP Index.

Te Iowa AP Index, compiled bythe Belin-Blank Center or GitedEducation at the University o

Iowa, ranks how well Iowa highschools provide students with theopportunity to take high-levelAdvanced Placement courses. Terankings are based on the numbero AP exams taken by studentscompared to the number ograduates rom the spring o 2012.

In addition, Central Academyhad the highest index score o any

school in Iowa. While magnetschools are not included in theop 50 list, Central Academy wasonce again singled out or specialmention by the Belin-Blank Centeras the states leader in providingAdvanced Placement opportunitiesor students.

Des Moines Public Schoolshas made a signicant eort inrecent years to expand AP courseoerings at all ve comprehensivehigh schools. Enrollment in APcourses has more than doubled,and the number o AP examstaken by DMPS studentsincreased nearly 80% between2011 and 2012.

A First: All Five DMPS High Schools

on Iowa AP Indexs Top 50 List

U.S. Secretary o Education

Arne Duncan announced thatDes Moines Public Schoolswas among 78 schools anddistricts recognized with theU.S. Department o EducationGreen Ribbon Schools Award.Des Moines Public Schools was

one o only 14 to be honored or

district-wide eorts.Te Green Ribbon Schools

Award is part o a ederal eort toidentiy and disseminate knowledgeabout practices that are provento result in improved studentengagement, higher academic

achievement and graduation rates,

and workorce preparedness, aswell as a government-wide goal oincreasing energy independence andeconomic security.

Last year, Central Campus wasone o the rst schools to earn aGreen Ribbon Schools Award.

Des Moines Public Schools Earns

U.S. Department of Education

Green Ribbon Award


23/31

Can doors slam open?At Hoyt Sherman Place a bold

bunch o DMPS students chargedout o their comort zones at the rstannual Des Moines een Poetry Slam,

the latest groundbreaking event underthe auspices o Run DSM/Movement515. Tose mold-shattering programsare the brainchildren o Hardingteachers Emily Lang and Kristopher

Rollins who will take the teamselected at this event to the BraveNew Voices Youth Poetry Festivalthis summer in Chicago.

Slams are competitions but its

hard to see any o the competitorswho took the stage at this one asrivals. Energetic Reciprocitydemands that everyone exhorteveryone else to do their best.

Tey take the jagged stu olie that might otherwise lead tocounselors oces and courtroomsand recycle it like broken glass madeinto windows that aord views o

bright utures. Tey make art out ougliness and turn tears into ovations.Listen closely and you hear a lot aboutscars, but baring them somehowmakes them more bearable.

Goodrell Middle School receiveda Gold Award in recognition of its

efforts in the HealthierUS SchoolChallenge, a campaign aimed atgetting kids to be more active andeat healthier.

How distinct is the honor?Considering that only sevenschools in Iowa out of more than1,400 that are eligible to go forit get the gold, its rare and noteasily achieved.

Doors slam open at Des Moines Teen Poetry Slam

Goodrell Earns

Healthier US School

Challenge Gold

Award


24/314

MAY

Records are meant to be broken:after Des Moines Public Schoolsstudents took an all-time high ofmore than 1,800 AP exams last

year, more than 2,000 were takenthis spring throughout Iowaslargest school district.

Tis year, students in Des Moineshave registered to take 2,036 APexams, an increase o 11% over lastyear and nearly double the numberrom two years ago.

Students may take AP examseach May at the end o Advanced

Placements courses. Many collegesand universities provide students withcollege credit or exam scores o threeor higher (on a scale o one to ve).

In 2011, students in Des Moinestook a total o 1,024 AP exams; two-

thirds o those were taken at CentralAcademy. In 2012, Des Moinesstudents took a total o 1,834 APexams; more than 60% o thosewere taken at the ve comprehensivehigh schools.

AP Exam

ParticipationIncreases 11% in

2013; Doubles in

Past Two Years

As the rst school district in Iowa

to provide the highly-regardedInternational Baccalaureate (IB)program, Des Moines Public Schoolscontinues to expand its IB ootprint.Brody Middle School was notiedby the International BaccalaureateOrganization that their applicationto become a candidate school or theMiddle Years program (MYP) has

been approved. Te MYP is the IB

program and curriculum or studentsin grades 6 10.

Brody joins nine other DesMoines public schools which areeither authorized or candidate IBschools. Seven schools in Des Moinesare currently authorized to oerone o three dierent InternationalBaccalaureate programs: Central

Academy, Goodrell Middle School,

Merrill Middle School, HubbellElementary School, Park AvenueElementary School, Stowe ElementarySchool, and Walnut Street ElementarySchool. In addition, Hoover HighSchool and Meredith Middle Schoolare both IB candidate schools. Morethan 5,000 students are enrolled atthese schools.

Brody Middle School Becomes

International Baccalaureate

Candidate School


25/31

Tese days a lot o emphasis is puton community service as a lineitem on the resumes o graduating

high school seniors. It looks goodto college recruiters and admissionsocers. But thats not what VernonPaul Young had on his mind whenhe let North High School in themiddle o his senior year.

On December 8, 1941, theday ater the date that will livein inamy, Mr. Young enlisted inthe United States Navy becausehis country had been attacked.

Tough he survived WWII henever made it back to North. UntilMay 24, when he received hishonorary diploma, 71 years later,at the age o 88, on Senior ClassDay at what he can now ociallycall his alma mater.

Also honored with a memorialplaque was Mr. Youngs olderbrother, Marion, a star athlete atNorth who graduated in 1939.

Marion, too, enlisted ater the attack

on Pearl Harbor and was killed inaction in 1944.

Paul Young never let his lack o

a high school diploma stand in hisway. Ater the war he was acceptedby the University o Wisconsin in1946 on the basis o equivalencycriteria, and he earned a bachelorsdegree in 1950 beore going on to acareer in the eld o water treatment.But a loose end dangled back in hishometown and in the back omy mind, he said. He mentionedit recently to a second cousin who

still lives in this area and isacquainted with members o theNorth administration. One thingnally led to another and Paul wasattached to Norths Class o 2013.When Major Sean Quinlan, theCommandant o Norths JuniorROC corps, introduced Mr.Young to the classmates he nevermet, an immediate and prolongedstanding ovation reverberated

through the gym.

North High Presents Honorary

Diploma to WWII Navy Veteran

Central Academy has some o thebest high-school mathematiciansin the country, as demonstrated by

their 1st place nish in the 2013Collaborative Problem-SolvingContest (CPSC), a nationalmathematics contest administeredby National Assessment & esting,based in Seattle, WA. Under theguidance o Central Academymath teacher Mike Marcketti,students worked together using

brainstorming, collaboration,research, and technology to solve theproblems, gaining experience with

skills that will be critical in collegeand their careers. Last year, CentralAcademy students nished 7th in thenation in this competition. CentralAcademy mathletes also nished5th in the nation in the Mandlebrotmathematics competition, bestingsome o the nations top-rankedhigh schools.

Central Academy Places 1st in

National Math Contest

Norths latest alum: Vernon Paul Youn


26/316

JUNE

We have liftoff!

8th grade students in Anson BontesScience Bound program at CallananMiddle School, a partnershipbetween DMPS and Iowa StateUniversity, worked throughout thespring semester on a weather balloon

project that was supposed to takeo beore the school year ended but,ironically, had to be scrubbed twicedue to bad weather.

But on June 6 all systems werego. Bonte lled the balloon withhelium like both a NASA techniciangassing up rocket boosters and a

champion rom the Iowa State Fairbubblegum blowing contest.

Finally, the countdown wason and, ater months o study andpreparation and a couple o alsestarts up, up and away it went!

Te high-fying boomerangreturned to earth several hours

later near Sigourney, a town about85 miles southeast o Des Moines.Its location was pinpointed withGPS tracking coordinates suppliedby onboard equipment. At thatpoint the whole crew piled intoan earthbound rover and retrievedthe thing like a member o the

amily returning rom an adventure.Trough the scientic devicesthat were its luggage, it hadplenty to tell.

Tanks to these curious, intrepidstudents and their teachers atCallanan, the whole district wasfying high.

3,2,1Callanan, Science Bound

Launch Weather Balloon

Plans for New

Casady Center

Come Off the

Drawing Board

One of the exciting projects enabled

by the recently school board-approvedsale of tax revenue bonds is the

replacement of the Casady schoolbuilding with a brand new facility.

Demolition is underway at the site,1801 16th Street. When its completedin 2014 the new building will house an

expanded Early Childhood EducationCenter, providing better access to early

childhood education in the core of DesMoines. In addition, the Middle School

Alternative Education Center currentlyhoused at the McKee Education Centerwill be located at the Casady site.


27/31

It was showtime at the Des MoinesCivic Center as Des MoinesPerorming Arts staged the rstannual Iowa High School Musical

Teater Awards. DMPS was well-represented and brought home lotso hardware and accolades at the endo the evening.

Roosevelt was honored or itsproduction o Chicago: A VaudevilleMusical and so was East, or itsproduction o A Little Shop oHorrors.

Roosevelt collected the ollowingonys or eens:

Outstanding MusicalProduction

Outstanding Ensemble Outstanding Student

Orchestra Outstanding Perormance

in a Leading Role: MadelinePalmer-Chase as VelmaKelly and Emma errell asRoxie Hart

Special Recognition or aPerormance in a LeadingRole: Dmitri McDonald asBilly Flynn (Dmitri wasinjured the week o the showlast November and, in thetrue spirit o the show mustgo on, he perormed in aboot cast with a classy canethat was right in character).

Outstanding Perormance inSupporting Role: HannahCarlson as Mary Sunshine

Easts awards included:

Outstanding StudentOrchestra

Outstanding Perormance ina Leading Role: Jake Bieggeras Seymour

Outstanding Perormance inSupporting Role: JonathonJames, John Fudge, andCody Worthington; Voice

and Puppeteers o AudreyII and Ryan Skow as OrinScrivello

Outstanding Achievementby a Student Choreographer:Sarah Bennett or Ya NeverKnow and SomewhereTats Green

In addition, Joe McDonald oRoosevelt and Emily Sherwood

o East were awarded scholarshipsto the Civic Centers SAGErightBroadway Experience, an intensiveweek-long summer camp or teenswith advanced skills in singing,dancing or acting taught by visitingBroadway perormers and RooseveltsMadeline Palmer Chase was namedrunner-up or Iowas emale ripleTreat award.

Roosevelt, East Honored at Iowa High

School Musical Theater Awards

Des Moines Public Schools was one of ve

Iowa organizations or businesses presented

with the Environmental Excellence

award by Governor Terry Branstad. The

award is sponsored by the Governors

Ofce, the Iowa Department of Natural

Resources, the Iowa Department of

Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Iowa

Partnership for Economic Progress, the

Iowa Department of Education, the Iowa

Department of Public Health, and the Iowa

Waste Reduction Center. This was the

districts third major honor for excellence

in environmental and energy efciency

practices in 2013.

Governor Presents Environmental Excellence Award


28/318

From academics to athletics to the arts and more, students at Des Moines Public Schools are

state and national leaders in a many ways. These are just some of the recognitions they earned

during the past school year:

DMPS RECOGNITIONS For the 2012-13 School Year

Sports

Te East High School sotball teamwas state runner-up in the Class 5-Astate sotball tournament in July.

North High School senior Katharine

Rosswon a state title and set anew Iowa record in the 100 yardbreaststroke at the 2012 StateSwimming & Diving Meet.

Her sister, North sophomoreMoriah Ross, placed third inthe same event.

Four high school wrestlers qualiedor the Iowa High School AthleticAssociations 2013 state tournament

held at Wells Fargo Arena inFebruary. From East High School,sophomoreJosh Davis placed7th at 145 pounds and junior

The East High School Lady Scarlets basketball team returned to state

tournament for the eighth time in the schools history. This year was also

the third time in four seasons that the team earned a chance to play at

state. The Scarlets nished the 2013 season with a 21-3 record, winning

the CIML Metro Conference. Team leaders Roichelle Marble and Shareece

Burrell were named to the second team All-State Squad.

Makreem Ibraheem qualied inthe 160-pound weight class. NateLuna, a junior at Lincoln HighSchool was a state qualier at152 pounds and Sawyer Kochel,Roosevelt High School senior,qualied at 195 pounds.

Te Roosevelt High School boysswim team won the CIML MetroConerence title on January 26.Seven swimmers advanced to thestate swim meet with junior MaxWardplacing second in the 100yard butterfy. Other Roosevelt statecompetitors were Connor Gillette,James McKee, Olin Carty, SamAu, Oliver Shrimp,Jackson

Murphy.

East High School seniorXavierJames accepted a scholarship toplay ootball or the University oNorthern Iowa Panthers.

Roosevelt High School girls trackteam brought home several awardsrom the Class 4A state track meet.Alexa Huntwas the champion shot

putter or the second year in a row;Agnes Sayeh placed rst in the100 meter dash and second in the200 meter dash. Te girls sprintmedley relay also placed rst andset a new state record.

Sydne Davis, Roosevelt HighSchool boys track athlete, placedrst in the 400 meter hurdles andsecond in the 110 meter hurdles.


29/31


30/310

Bridget Gervais, an 8th gradeFrench Horn student at GoodrellMiddle School was the only DMPSstudent selected to participate in theAll Iowa Honor Band in May.

Seven DMPS high school studentswere selected to attend the WorldFood Prize Global Youth Institute inOctober: Rivkah Gardner-Frolick(Roosevelt), Paige Harper (Lincoln),Madison Holmes (Roosevelt),Patience Kpurukoo (North),Alexandra Lidgett(Roosevelt),Michelle Lopez(Hoover), LizaStrueva(Roosevelt).

Sarah Majoros, school counselorat Madison Elementary School,received the Gary HendrichsMemorial Award rom the IowaSchool Counselor Association inNovember. Te $600 grant willbe used to purchase additionalcounseling curriculum.

Walnut Street School third-graderAjani Patton-Imaniwas one o

54 children invited to First LadyMichelle Obamas rst everKids State Dinner at the WhiteHouse in August or creating hiswinning healthy recipe or YummyCorn Wraps.

Six Central Campus Culinary

Arts students received gold medalsat the FCCLA State Star eventcompetitions in March and willcompete at nationals in Nashville,ennessee in July. Tey areAllison Ross, Colton Ruegsegger,Erica Lysinger, CharlesMachamer,Xavier Powers,and Ken Sayavong.

Roosevelt High School debate

team members, seniors Crystal andStephanie Hou and junior LilyNellanswere named Academic AllAmericans or 2013.

Lincoln High School seniorsAllisonRichter,Jessica Richter, and SamSides were selected to participate inthe Iowa All State Jazz Choir inJuly. Only 20 students are selectedstatewide.

Shana Liu, 8th grader at MerrillMiddle School and CentralAcademy, won 1st place in level Fo the Iowa State Pre-college PianoAudition in March.

Central Academy MathletesAccomplishments:

Zach Lin, a reshman,was 1st in the state onthe AMC (AmericanMathematics Competition)10A exam.

Patrick Hiatt, a junior,scored a perect score on allthree rounds o the USAMathematical alent Search

Senior Eric Chen is a

our time Math Olympiadqualier.

Max Pilcher, a junior, was1st in the state on the AMC12 A exam.

Eric Chen was 1st in thestate on the AMC 12 Bexam.

Central Academyhad thehighest scoring team in thestate on the AMC 12.

Continued from Page 29...

The Lincoln High School boys

bowling team won the 2013

CIML Metro Conference

championship on February 7.

The Lincoln girls nished second

in the CIML Metro.


31/31

More DMPS News and InformationAvailable Online and On Air

Des Moines Public Schools is the largest provider of public education in Iowa, whichmeans one newsletter alone cannot provide all of the information or share all ofthe stories about everything taking place in your school district. More news andinformation is always available online and on air.

ONLINEYou can nd information on schools, news stories, data, contacts, and more onthe DMPS web site at www.dmschools.org and at facebook.com/dmschools andtwitter.com/dmschools.

ON THE AIR

Tune in to DMPS-TV on Mediacom Cable channels 85 and 97-3 atany time to see stories about programs and events from throughout the schooldistrict. If you do not subscribe to cable television, you can still view stories online atwww.dmschools. org. And if youre in the mood for interesting talk and music, tune intoDes Moines Public Schools own radio station - KDPS 88.1 - where your hosts arestudents from Central Campus and Grand View University.

The Des Moines Independent Community School District does not discriminate on the basis of

race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, creed, age (for employment), marital status

(for programs), sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status (for programs)

The DMPS Community Report

JUNE 2013 | Vol. 5 No. 6

The DMPS Community Report is now

published every other month by the

ofce of Community Relations.

Editor/Writer: Sarah Taylor, Mike Wellm

Editor/Writer/Photographer: Phil Roed

Designer/Photographer: Adam Rohwer

Photographer: Kyle Knicley, Jon Lemons

Des Moines Public Schools

Community Relations

901 Walnut Street

Des Moines, IA 50309

(515) 242-8162www.dmschools.org

2012-2013 Board of Directors

Dick Murphy, Chair

Cindy Elsbernd, Vice Chair

Connie Boesen

Teree Caldwell-Johnson

Bill Howard

Joe Jongewaard

JULY

18 First day of school for Continuous

Calendar Schools

AUGUST15 First day of school Downtown

School

22 First day of school (adjusted early

dismissal) All other schools

SEPTEMBER

2 Holiday no classes, ofces closed

10 School Board Election

OCTOBER

25 Staff development no classes forstudents

NOVEMBER

27 No school for teachers or students

28-29 Holiday no classes, ofces closed

DECEMBER

24-30 Winter recess no classes

24-25 Holiday no classes, ofces closed


JANUARY


2 First day of school after winter

recess

16 First day of second semester

20 MLK Day In-service day; no

classes for students

MARCH

14-21 Spring Recess no classes

APRIL

22 No school for 9th, 10th and 12th

grade students. 11th graders attend

a.m. for ACT testing.

23 No school for 11th grade student

9th, 10th and 12th graders attend

a.m. only.

MAY

19-22 Senior Finals Week

23 Last day of school for 12th Grade

26 Memorial Day (no school)

29 Last day of school elementary/

middle schools

30 Last day of school high schools

JUNE

2-6 Reserved for inclement weather

make-up days

A LOOK AHEAD TO THE 2013-14 SCHOOL YEAR

We will have more details on whats new for the 2013-14 school year in our August newsletter, but below are some key dates for the

upcoming year. For more details on the calendar, especially for schools using an alternative calendar, please visit www.dmschools.org.
http://www.facebook.com/dmschoolshttp://www.twitter.com/dmschoolshttp://www.dmschools.org/http://www.dmschools.org/http://www.twitter.com/dmschoolshttp://www.facebook.com/dmschools

DMPS Community Report - 2012-13 Year-in-Review

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Transcript of DMPS Community Report - 2012-13 Year-in-Review