DMPS Community Report - June 2012

7/28/2019 DMPS Community Report - June 2012

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Des Moines Public Schools

COMMUNITY REPORT2011-2012 YEAR IN REVIEW

DMPS


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One o the great strengths o Des Moines Public Schools, in my opinion, is its diversity: the people, theprograms, and most o all the opportunities or our students.

Te strengths and benefts which result rom this diversity are reected in this special edition o ourDMPS Community Report newsletter, taking a look back at the 2011-12 school year.

Troughout the year, our students and sta succeeded in a wide variety o areas. For example, studentsearned state and national recognition in everything rom academics to athletics to the arts. Our graduationrate, assessment, and enrollment trends are all moving in the right direction. Te district was honoredor its operations in areas ranging rom fnancial management to communications to environmentalpractices. Participation in our top-ranked Advanced Placement program increased 80% while at the sametime we expanded access to Iowas only International Baccalaureate schools. And rom laptop computersto Learjets, student access to technology increased.

Tese accomplishments are possible thanks to the hard work and dedication o more than 31,000 studentsand nearly 5,000 employees, along with the support o amilies and community partners who recognize thatboth the hope or our uture and the strength o our community rests in our schools.

I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as interim Superintendent during the 2012-13 school year,and look orward to supporting and continuing the success stories big and small that take place eachand every day at Des Moines Public Schools.

Best wishes,

om AhartInterim Superintendent

Welcome to the June Edition of the

DMPS Community Report

Best wishes,

On May 15, the Des Moines School Board voted unanimously to appoint Tom Ahart as the

interim Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools. He will serve in this role while a

search is conducted for a permanent successor to Dr. Nancy Sebring.

Most recently Tom was the Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning for the

school district and prior to that served as principal of Warren G. Harding Middle School

in Des Moines. 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. Tom has also been a language arts teacher at high schools in Denison, IA and

Glenwood Springs, CO.

Tom received a BA in speech and mass communications from the University of Denver as well as a

Masters of Public Administration and Ed.S from Drake University. He is completing his Doctorate in

Education Leadership at Drake University this summer, with a disser tation on student achievement

factors in Iowa schools.

Meet Tom Ahart: DMPS Interim Superintendent


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CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2012!Between May 26 and June 3, Des Moines Public Schools held eight commencement ceremonies to celebrate the graduation of more than1,700 students at our five comprehensive high schools and our alternative programs. We congratulate these students as well as theirteachers, parents, family and friends who supported them throughout their education. Best wishes to the Class of 2012 for success in thenext stage of their lives.


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JULY

U.S. Secretary o Education ArneDuncan was joined by Senatorom Harkin and CongressmanLeonard Boswell on a visit to CarverCommunity School in order todiscuss the importance o providing

students with access to quality earlychildhood education programs.Te three o cials observed anearly reading lesson by teachers andstudents, and held a roundtablediscussion with educators andpolicy makers rom Des Moinesand across the state.

On July 14, more than 1,500students began the new schoolyear at Capitol View, Moulton andRiver Woods, three o the districtscontinuous calendar schools. Inact, more students attendcontinuous calendar schools in

Des Moines than 287 Iowa schooldistricts have students in total.Tese schools represent just threeo the unique educational choicesavailable in Des Moines.

Secretary of

Education Visits

Carver Community

School

1,500+ Students

Attend ContinuousCalendar Schools

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan makes a point about early childhood

education as Senator Tom Harkin listens during a meeting at Carver

Community School on July 24.


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Te Roosevelt Riders baseball team ended a successul season with a 29-13 record, a conerence title, and the schools 3rd appearance in the statetournament. Te Riders lost to #2 Mason City by a score o 6-1 in the frstround o the tournament, held at Principal Park.

Roughriders Qualify for State Tourney

Te East High Scarlets won the Class 4A Iowa State High School Sotballchampionship, deeating Ankeny 6-3 in the fnal game at the tournamentin Fort Dodge. Te Scarlets earned a record o 39-5 on their way to the topspot in the state.

Scarlets are State Softball Champs


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The new school year began withthe completed renovations ofmore district schools, improvingthe appearance and functionalityof school facilities, and more.

Operational costs are beingreduced with the use o newwindows and mechanical systemsto provide greater energy e ciency.

In addition, student and sta saety

was greatly enhanced with theinclusion o items such assecurity systems, fre sprinklers,and tra c drop-os. Buildingswhich reopened or the start othe 2011-2012 school year withmajor improvements: CentralCampus, Hoover High School,North High School, RooseveltHigh School, and Woodlawn

Education Center.

AUGUSTRenovations at Central Campus, Hoover,

North, Roosevelt and Woodlawn? Check!

Families without adequate healthinsurance or access to health carewere invited to East High Schoolon August 3 or ree physicals,health screenings, and schoolsupplies. Te program wasmade possible thanks to thePolk County Health Departmentand several area health providers.Te health air assists nearly2,000 students.

We want to make sure everystudent has a healthy start to thenew school year, and are grateulor everyone who is making thisopportunity possible again thisyear, said Jean Phillips, HealthServices Supervisor or Des MoinesPublic Schools. Health issuesthat go unchecked impact notonly a students ability to learn buteveryone around them.

Back-to-School Health Fair Provides

Free Services, Supplies to Kids


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Five Des Moines Public Schoolstudents achieved a perfect score of36 on the ACT test joining an elitegroup of less than one-tenth of onepercent of all students nationallywho take the test each year.

Te fve students who allattended Roosevelt High Schooland Central Academy were JackBequeaith, senior, the son o MarkBequeaith and Suzanne Stewart;Corey Grie, senior, the son oMark Grie and Mary Kelly-Grie;Matthew MacKay, senior, the sono Robert MacKay and MarinaGabourel; Megan Mansfeld, senior,

the daughter o Edward Mansfeld

and Cathy Mansfeld; and LukeSheeley, junior, the son o JohnSheeley and Cynthia James.

Anyone who thinks DesMoines does not oer the besteducational opportunities to

students does not know DesMoines, said Crista Carlile, thesupervisor o Central Academy.Our studentsare not onlypreparing to compete in the worldbut to help lead the world. It isexciting to watch them learn, growand succeed as they get ready ortheir next steps in lie.

Nearly 23,000 Iowa studentsin the Class o 2011 took the

AC exam.

Four new administrators started their

first year on the job for Des Moines

Public Schools. They were: Tom Ahart,

Associate Superintendent of Teaching& Learning; Thomas Harper, Chief

Financial Officer; Scott Mikesh, Director

of Human Resources; Phil Roeder,

Director of Community Relations.

New principals for the 2011-

2012 year included Crista Carlile, High

School Extended Programs Supervisor

at Central Academy; Brian Crook,

Studebaker Elementary School; Nancy

Croy, McCombs Middle School; Steve

Johns, East High School; Dan Koss,

Perkins Elementary School; Peter

LeBlanc, King Elementary School; Mary

Minard, Jefferson Elementary School;

Tara Owen, Findley Elementary School;

David Perrigo, Edmunds Elementary

School; Audrey Rieken, Weeks Middle

School; Maureen Taylor, Harding

Middle School; Paul Williamson,

Lincoln High School.

A Quintet of Perfection

New Leadership

Takes the Helm

First-Ever Summer Graduation Ceremony

Thirty students, representing all five comprehensive high schools and

Scavo Alternative High School, took part in the first-ever summer

graduation ceremony on August 3. The commencement is another sign o

the districts commitment to help all students earn the credit necessary

to receive their high school diploma.

Graduates prepare to receive their diplomas during the school districts

first summer commencement ceremony.


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Te entire student body atNorth High, led by theirclassmates in the schoolsROC program, held a ag-raising ceremony in honor

o Patriot Day and the 10thanniversary o the 9-11 attacks.Principal Matt Smith deliveredremarks noting the many Northalumni who serve our nation,and led students and sta in amoment o silence to markthe occasion.

SEPTEMBER

The third annual Reach Out toDropouts event was held onSaturday, September 24, 2011. Asa result, 16 students walked backinto Des Moines high schools andre-enrolled after 281 communityand school volunteers walkeddoor-to-door to encourage themto come back.

A total o 399 homes werevisited. Seventeen students hadalready re-enrolled, 13 had enrolledelsewhere, 18 had earned a GED,28 are pursuing a GED, and 51

requested ollow-up inormationor contact.

wo years ago volunteersknocked on almost 500 doorsduring the inaugural RO2DOevent. Since then the districtsongoing, year-round strategies orre-engagement and developmento multiple pathways to graduationsuch as academic support labs

at each o the fve comprehensivehigh schools. Tis eort hasreduced the number o studentswho are dropping out in thefrst place.

District Reaches Out to Dropouts Again

North ROTC

Commemorates

9-11 Anniversary


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Des Moines Public Schools was once again recognized by two national

organizations the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)

and the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) for excellence

in financial reporting and governmental accounting. Both organizations

recognized the school district for the fourth year in a row.

Accounting Awards: The Beat Goes On

Tree new school board members

were elected on September 12,2011 to serve 4-year terms andone incumbent, Dick Murphy,was elected to fll a vacant boardseat or the remaining two yearso that term. New members areCindy Elsbernd, Bill Howard, andPat Sweeney. Incumbents GinnyStrong and Jeanette Woods did notrun or reelection. Both served sixyears (two terms) on the board.

Also approved by voters was ameasure to change the way the schoolboard directors are elected. Beginningin 2013, three members will beelected at large and our memberswill be elected rom director districts.

New Members

Elected to

School Board

Bill Howard Cindy Elsbernd

Dick Murphy Pat Sweeney

One hundred and twenty-nineDes Moines Public Schoolsstudents, representing all fveo the districts high schools,were identifed in September

as Advanced Placement (AP)Scholars or 2011. Among thehonorees are 19 National APScholars as well as this yearsmale State AP Scholar orIowa Joel Schneider. Otherawards include AP Scholars, APScholars with Honors, and APScholars with Distinction.

129 DMPS

Students Named

AP Scholars


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OCTOBER

North High School becamethe largest school in Iowa toimplement a 1:1 laptop programin October. In conjunction withparent/teacher conferences,every student was issued a laptopcomputer for use both in and outof school.

Its just the latest in a series o

energizing developments at thecorner o 6th and Holcomb andwill make a ftting capstone orthe extreme makeover there, thebricks- and-mortar aspect o whichwas completed when the studentsreturned in August.

Principal Matt Smith reportedthat the laptops have become amuch-used learning tool, as well asa communication tool - providing

greater communication betweenstudents and sta both during andoutside o the school day.

Norths IED scores were upnine percent in math last year. Asimpressive as those results were,they were doubled by 19 percentgains in both science and reading.And the schools 98.5 percentparticipation rate was an all-time high.

Tough the biggest, Northwas only one o about 80 Iowa

schools with a 1:1 laptop programthis year and as many as 200may be involved next year.

Te laptops were purchasedusing a School ImprovementGrant, which will sustain theprogram or our years. Bythen its expected thatcommunity groundworkalready happening coupledwith documented benefts will

galvanize enough undraisingto sustain the program goingorward.

North Takes the Lead in Laptops


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Teaching science and technologyreached a new height in October

as the Des Moines Public SchoolsAviation Engineering TechnologyProgram took possession of aLearjet Model 35. The aircraft isbased at the programs lab, locatedat the Des Moines InternationalAirport, and used as a teachingtool for high school studentsstudying aviation technology andmaintenance.

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassleyhelped the school district obtainthe surplus military Learjet.

Des Moines Public SchoolsAviation Engineering echnologyProgram is one o only three highschool programs in the nationcertifed by the Federal AviationAdministration to teach aircratmaintenance. In act, the programin Des Moines is the only one

o its kind among the nearly4,000 school districts in theMidwestern states.

Aviation Program

Flies High With

Learjet

The Iowa

Energy andSustainability

Academy

(IESA) at

Central

Campus has been awarded a

$10,000 grant from Vernier

Software & Technology to purchase

equipment and software that will

enable students to do intricateweather, air, soil, and water

quality testing.

Vernier awarded 10 U.S. high

schools and 30 schools in total with a

Vernier 30th Anniversary Technology

Grant. A total of two thousand

schools applied for the grant.

Vernier had this to say

about IESA:To reverse the troubling

trend of fewer and fewer students

pursuing majors in STEM disciplines

at the college level, the Iowa Energy

and Sustainability Academy (IESA)

cross-curricular class provides

rigorous STEM education offerings.

Central Program Receives Elite Grant

The aviation program welcomes its newest teaching tool, a Learjet, to

its facility at the Des Moines International Airport.


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NOVEMBER

In many ways, a website is the frontdoor to an organization. It invitesyou in, welcomes you, and helpsyou find what you are looking foronce inside.

For many years, Des MoinesPublic Schools has had a website, butit wasnt always the best ront dooror the largest provider o public

education in Iowa.On November 30, the district

launched a new and much improvedwebsite. Since the new websitewas launched, the number oonline visitors has increased byfteen percent.

In addition to a new, cleanerdesign, the website now includesseveral eatures that make it a moreuseul resource, such as:

A shorter address:www.dmschools.org. Fewerdots and numbers than ourold address, but i you go towww.dmps.k12.ia.us, dontworry; youll be automaticallydirected to the new website.

For the frst time, a districtwide calendar o events isnow available. From orchestraconcerts to ootball games tohundreds o other activities,you can now make one stopto fnd out whats happeningacross the district.

A better organized QuickLinks section with the linksand resources most requentlyused by parents, students,sta and the community.

A more prominent DistrictNews section, so rom anemergency announcement torecognition o a student tonew programs in our schools,it will be ront-and-center.

A more inormative schooldirectory, including not onlycontact inormation but also aphoto and brie description o

each school in Des Moines. A Google map noting the

location o each school anddistrict o ce.

Easier access to DMPS-Vprogramming, which nowis available not only onMediacom Channel 85 or97.3, but their most recentstories can be viewed right onthe home page.

Better descriptions and contactinormation about curriculumareas, departments and o cesthroughout the district.

More integration with oursocial media sites, includinga eed rom our witter andFlickr pages embedded at thebottom o the home page.

Several school websites havealready been revamped this yearas well. Online visitors can viewnew websites or Findley, Hubbell,Gateway, Goodrell, Park Avenue,Stowe, and Walnut Street School.

New websites or the remainingDMPS schools will be launchedthroughout the next several months,along with ongoing improvments tothe district site.

DMPS Lays Out Welcome

Mat with New Website

facebook.com/dmschools

twitter.com/dmschools

flickr.com/dmps

dmschools.tumblr.com

youtube.com/dmpstv

pinterest.com/dmschools/


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Central Academys math team mad

an impressive showing at the 39th

Annual High School MathematicsContest held at the University of

Wisconsin-Platteville on Novembe

2, 2011, placing first out of 49

participating teams from Illinois,

Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Central Academys team, made

up of 101 students, won 36 of the

68 All-Academic team honors to b

Iowa City West, who had won firs

place in the contest for 17 years in

row. Five Central Academy studen

earned rare perfect scores at thisyears competition. They were Ede

Aron, Eric Chen, Max Pilcher, Luke

Sheeley, and Ryan Utke.

U.S. Senator om Harkin, Chairman o the Senate Committee on Health,Education, Labor & Pensions, visited the Downtown School at their

new home in Central Campus on November 11. Senator Harkin visitedclassrooms, and then spoke about legislation recently approved by hiscommittee to make signifcant changes and improvements to the Elementaryand Secondary Education Act.

Senator Harkin Visits Downtown School

Harding Middle School students participate in Meals rom the Heartland onNovember 18. Approximately 5,000 meals were assembled and packaged by160 student members o the schools leadership group called Wol Pack.

Meals From The Heartland at Harding Central Academy

Takes First Place

Math Competitio

Cowles Montessori School receiveda $4,000 Fuel Up to Play 60 grantto help the school jumpstart andsustain nutrition and physical activityimprovements. This program offersschools help to increase healthy fooand physical activity for students.Cowles used the funds to create anannual 5K run, which was held in Mto promote a healthy, active lifestylethe school and surrounding commu

More than 70,000 schools acrthe U.S. are participating in FuelUp to Play 60, now in its third yearLaunched by National Dairy Counlocal dairy councils and the NationFootball League, in collaborationwith the United States Departmenof Agriculture. DMPS schools thatreceived Fuel Up to Play 60 grantsin the past include Brody, CallananCentral Campus, East, and Goodre

Cowles Gets

Funding for

Wellness Initiativ

Senator Tom Harkin talks aboutfederal education reform during astop at the Downtown School.


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DECEMBER

As their reward for placing firstin the central region of the GetSchooled Attendance Challenge,East students walked the redcarpet prior to loading onto afleet of 30+ buses, chartered atMTVs expense, and caravanningto Wynnsong Cinema wherethey packed theaters, courtesyof Paramount Pictures, for the

local premiere of the latestMission Impossible blockbuster,Ghost Protocol.

Troughout the seven-weekchallenge online registrants receivedwake-up calls rom celebrities likeyra Banks. Tat was just one o theincentives to get more kids up andrunning to school in the morning.Local businesses got on board byproviding git cards which werepassed out by random drawingsamong classes where everyone

showed up on time.Sharayah Devick, Stacie Post

and Summer Weinman have been

through three principals in their ouryears at East and they see changesthis year that will last beyond thehoopla o winning the attendancechallenge. Daily announcementsrom Principal Steve Johns aboutthe importance o getting to classand hallways that are more closelymonitored will continue to make adierence in changing kids attitudes

according to the three seniors. Teysay kids are getting out o bad habitsand into good ones.

East High Rises to Top of Attendance Challenge


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Sixth graders at Merrill MiddleSchool were each given onesolitary dollar bill by the schoolsPTA and the assignment to pay itas far forward as they could within

the community.

Science teachers at Merrill one o the districts InternationalBaccalaureate World Schools challenged each sixth gradestudent to do as much good in thecommunity as possible with theirsingle dollar o seed money.

Community Youth Conceptsprovided training to help the

students identiy areas o need in thecommunity and methods to executea community service project.

Last year, this project generatedover $8,000 in cash donations,1,700+ items, and over 200 hourso community service. Tis year,the project generated $8,356 in

donations and more than 2,600items, and worked with morethan 40 charitable organizationsthroughout Des Moines.

On December 20 the studentsshared in their science classeswhat they accomplished and asixth grade celebration o theimportance o communityservice was also held whichincluded making holiday cards

or amilies in need in DesMoines and or militarypersonnel serving overseas.

Dollar Doing Good at Merrill

Governor Holds Town Hall Forum

at Central Campus

Governor erry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds presided at atown hall meeting about their blueprint or education reorm on December10 in the multi-purpose room at Central Campus. A standing-room-onlycrowd o concerned teachers, administrators, parents and communitymembers was in attendance.

DMPS Enrollmen

Increase Leads

StateFigures released by the Iowa

Department of Education

(DE) show that Des Moines

Public Schools had the largest

increase in student enrollment

in the state for the 2011-12

school year. The DE released

the certified enrollment repor

which is used in the formula

that determines state funding

for public school districts. Whi

overall K-12 enrollment in

Iowa saw a very slight decline

compared to 2010-11, Des

Moines Public Schools saw an

increase in enrollment of 571

students.

Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds hold atown hall meeting at Central Campus.


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In President Barack Obamas State o the Union address, he reminded

Americans that the easiest way to save money is to waste less energy.So its no coincidence that he dispatched the chair o his White HouseCouncil on Environmental Quality to visit Des Moines Public Schools.

Nancy Sutley spent the morning o January 26 touring the newly retooledand rejuvenated North High School and then sat down with a portion o theschools rapidly growing number o Advanced Placement students or awide-ranging discussion o everything rom renewed school spirit torenewable sources o energy.

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JANUARY

To paraphrase H.L. Mencken,democracy is based on thepremise that the people knowwhat they want and deserve toget it good and fresh!

Iowas frst-in-the-nationpresidential caucuses are dog-eat-dog but a more appetizing versionwas held at Hillis Elementary onJanuary 3. Te schools traditionalcookie caucuses eatured chocolatechip, M&M and sugar cookiesvying or students votes in an eventthats best described as spirited. Andseldom was heard a cynical word.

No sooner had the Pledge oAllegiance, National Anthem andHillis Pledge been recited thanPrincipal Beth Sloan yielded theintercom to cookie campaigners.

Reiterating messages that wereplastered on posters lining thehallways, representatives o each

candidate issued last-minute appealsor support. Sugar cookies weretouted as the avorites o JustinBieber and LeBron James. M&Mswere hailed or being so colorulthey make rainbows jealous. Andthe early rontrunner, chocolatechip, was billed as ooey-gooey andoh-so chewy.

At that point the polls openedin the 5th grade classrooms/precincts o Kellie u, ammyFastenau and Heidi Slinker.Teir students were studying thepresidential election process andthey all had assigned roles suchas precinct captain, recorder,delegate, ballot box o cer orcookie distributor.

Some o the national mediaswarming the city or the main

event took notice o the elementaryversion going on at Hillis, includingNBCs oday Show.

National Spotlight on Hillis Cookie Caucus

White House Official

Impressed by Visit to North


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Iowa Governor erry

Branstad visited Capitol ViewElementary to announcehis legislative proposal oreducation reorm in the state.Te governor was joined byLt. Governor Kim Reynoldsand Iowa Department oEducation Director Jason Glasson his visit to Capitol View,where they also watched a brieperormance by the 3rd grade

readers theater.

Governor Unveils

Legislative

Proposal at

Capitol View

When Jamie Vollmer graduatedfrom high school in 1967 hewas offered $3.83 an hour towork in a factory. Nobody even

asked if he had so much as a highschool diploma. It was an offer hecouldnt refuse, with wages higherthan what career teachers werethen earning in his Philadelphiaschool district.

Since then a lot has undamentallychanged. Just about everything, inact, except our system o publiceducation according to Vollmer, who

spoke to public school stakeholderson January 24 in the crowdedBoardroom at Central Campus andencouraged them to an out in thecommunity to launch what he callsTe Great Conversation.

Vollmers perspective now is thato a ormer lawyer and CEO whowas a harsh detractor o educatorsuntil a Road to Damascus epiphanyconverted him into a passionate

advocate or schools, noted educationconsultant and author o the book,Schools Cannot Do It Alone.

Three times throughout the school year students participate in Share

the Mic: Community Voices Creating Change, an event organized by

Harding Middle School teachers Emily Lang and Kristofer Rollins thatcalls on kids to write their own poetry and perform it in front of the

community, while simultaneously raising money to donate to local non-

profit businesses and organizations. One of those events took place on

January 27 at the State of Iowa Historical Building with proceeds being

donated to the Fort Des Moines Museum and Education Center. Lang

and Rollins will accompany six DMPS students to the Brave New Voices

International Teen Poetry Festival in San Francisco in July.

The Great

Conversation Begins

Harding Students Share the Mic


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FEBRUARY

Among all of the interscholasticsports, wrestling may make thebest metaphor for life. Afterall, everybody wrestles withsomeone or something at onetime or another. But few of usmake it through every encounterundefeated. Thats what makesRoosevelt senior John Meeks highschool career so remarkable.

I you ran a highlight reelshowing one o Johns wrestlingtriumphs every hour it would takean entire week. Ater all, 24 x 7= 168, and 168-0 was his recordas a high school wrestler. Tenumbers are so overwhelming theyoverwhelm even John himsel, whopreers to take olks on one at atime, not in packs the way reportersand photographers and ans were

coming at him in the days ollowinghis fnal high school match.

On February 21 they onlyshowed a video o that one match in

a celebratory assembly at RooseveltHigh School because, in a way, withJohn Meeks its almost true thati youve seen one o his matchesyouve seen em all.

His coach, Jay Groth, recalledtwo that stood out as Johns closestcalls. Both came in his reshmanyear. He ell behind in one 5-0beore rallying to win. In the other,he trailed until scoring a takedown

with 10 seconds let to pull out a3-2 win.

Coach Groth told the packedauditorium that day during theassembly that upwards o hal amillion kids have wrestled in Iowahigh schools over the last 92 years.Until John Meeks came along, agrand total o fve o them hadachieved our state titles withoutdropping a single match.

Ironically, there was a momentduring the assembly which fnallygot to John in a way that noneo his opponents ever could.

Surrounded by the teammates hedsummoned to the stage, John wastrying to express his eelings aboutall the hoopla swirling around him.He seemed desperate or an escapemaneuver. We love you, John, agirl hollered rom somewhere in thecrowd.

Now thats embarrassing, he

said, and everyone laughed.Even in the uncomortable hold

o the spotlight John Meeks cameup with the perect counter.

Roosevelt Wrestler Makes History

The Des Moines School Boardapproved the sale of approximately

$71 million in Sales Tax RevenueBonds in order to proceed with the

renovation of more than a dozenschools throughout the city, including

construction of a new EdmundsElementary School.

The boards action will save

money by getting ahead of inflationand reducing operational costs,

accelerate work on several schools inthe community, and support jobs in the

construction trades.The one cent sales tax is collected

statewide and distributed annuallyto school districts each spring based

on their annual enrollment. For themost recent fiscal year that endedon June 30, 2011, Des Moines Public

Schools received sales tax revenue of$24,120,171.

Students in the Central CampusBroadcasting and Film Programwere recognized by the IowaCoalition Against DomesticViolence or their contributionsto Dating Violence AwarenessMonth. Participants createdpublic service announcementsthat acknowledged everyonesright to be sae in a relationship.

School Board Approves Bonds

for More School Renovation

Central Campus

Students Produce PSA


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Des Moines Public Schools providesstudents with a wide variety o SEM(science, technology, engineeringand mathematics) educationalopportunities at all grade levels, andthe results were on display at theannual Middle School Science Fair.

More than 175 studentsrom nine DMPS middle schoolsparticipated in the event at the

Science Center o Iowa. Te scienceair has grown more than 150%since it began our years ago, rom50 projects during its frst year to125 projects in 2012.

wenty-seven students earnedmedals in nine dierent categoriesand advanced to the State o IowaScience Fair held at Hilton Coliseumin Ames on March 30-31.

Middle School Science Fair

Continues Expansion

Students at Merrill MiddleSchool aimed to create a positiveenvironment or each other andraise awareness about bullyingby inviting students and thecommunity to a BullyingAwareness Night on February27 in the school auditorium.Students were challenged tocreate anti-bullying public serviceannouncements, documentaries,or short videos. Over 300 studentsparticipated in this project.

Des Moines Public Schoolsannual student art exhibitkicked o on February 9 at theState Historical Building with areception or artists at the Stateo Iowa Historical Building.Governor erry Branstad, Lt.Governor Kim Reynolds, andDirector o the Iowa Departmento Education Jason Glass allhelped open the event and theHoover High School Jazz Comboalso perormed.

District Recycling

Program Earns

Hefty Rebate

Merrill Students

Fight Back Against

Bullying

Student Artists

Show Off at State

Historical Building

Te Metro Waste Authoritypresented Des Moines PublicSchools with a rebate check or$11,675.50 at a school boardmeeting as a reward or a 48%increase in the districts recyclingtonnage. One way the moneywill be used is to place additionarecycling containers and makeit handier or students, staand visitors to pile it on.

More than 175 middle school students participate in a science fair at theScience Center of Iowa on February 16.


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MARCH

The U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) named DesMoines Public Schools as a 2012ENERGY STAR Partner of theYear for strategically managing andimproving the energy efficiency ofits entire building portfolio.

Trough its partnership with

the ENERGY SAR program, DesMoines Public Schools has improvedits energy perormance, savedmoney and helped to protect theenvironment or uture generations.

Te school districtscommitment to manage our energyuse in partnership with ENERGYSAR has paid big dividends or ourschools and the entire community,said Bill Good, Chie Operations

O cer or Des Moines PublicSchools. Making our buildingsmore energy e cient has saved usmillions o dollars in resources at acritical time or education. We arehonored to be recognized by EPA orour eorts.

Forty-three public schoolsin Des Moines are currentlyENERGY SAR-rated, with our

additional schools soon to be addedto the list.

Key accomplishments by theschool districts award winningenergy management programinclude:

Install geothermal systemsat 27 schools, with our

more schools being addedthis summer as a part orenovation work

Replace 12 lighting withhigh e cient 8 and 5lighting

Employ daylight harvestingtechniques

Integrate LED site lightingand motion-sensor lighting

Replace ine cient windows

and doors with more e cientsubstitutes

$1.7 million have beensaved since the launch o theENERGY SAR initiative inDes Moines Public Schoolsthree years ago

70% o the districtsENERGY SAR buildingshave a rating o 90 and above

Between fscal year 2007-08 and fscal year 2009-10,Des Moines Public Schoolsreduced energy use by60,913 mBtu, preventingthe emission o almost5,700 metric tons o carbondioxide, or the equivalent to

the annual greenhouse gasemissions rom more than1,100 passenger vehicles

Established the Iowa Energyand Sustainability Academy,a college level instructionand work learning programabout alternative energy andenvironmental science

EPAs annual ENERGY SAR

Awards honor organizations thathave made outstanding contributionsto protecting the environmentthrough superior energy e ciency.Te award winners are selectedrom about 20,000 partners thatparticipate in the ENERGY SARprogram and were recognized at anawards ceremony in Washington,D.C., on March 15, 2012.

DMPS Named National Energy

Star Partner of the Year!

District Represents at Legislative Hearing

DMPS was well represented at

a public hearing on education

held in the chambers of the Iowa

House of Representatives at the

State Capitol on March 5. Many

district educators took time

to speak out, including Jessica

Gogerty (North High School),

Timm Pilcher (Hoover High

School), Dave OConnor (Merrill

Middle School), Cathey Sand (King

Elementary), Jake Wager (Harding

Middle School), and Andrew

Rasmussen (Callanan Middle

School).


21/32

Its one thing for landlubbers smack dab in the middle of the country to be

impressed by the marine biology and aquarium science facilities at CentralCampus. But its quite another when a world renowned oceanographer like D

David Gallo tours them and his jaw drops like a sharks at feeding time.

Dr. Gallo is the Director of Special Projects at the world famous Woods

Hole Oceanographic Institute near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Woods Hole is t

largest private, nonprofit ocean research, engineering and education organizati

in the world. Dr. Gallo claims he sees something amazing every day in his work

and today it was this place, the sort where careers like his can truly begin.

When I go back to Woods Hole Ill be babbling about this for some time.

Graduation Rate Continues Upward TrendThe Iowa Department of Education released graduation data, including the four-year

rate for the Class of 2011 and the five-year rate for the Class of 2010. While figuresshow a slight decline in the four-year graduation rate both statewide and locally,

the five-year rates increased, including nearly a six percent increase in the five-year

graduation rate for Des Moines Public Schools.

Top Oceanographer Calls Marine Biology

Program Tremendous

The DMPS horticulture andanimal science program wasbustling on March 8 with toursof its facilities on County LineRoad in observance of NationalAgriculture Day.

Te curriculum includes alocal chapter o Future Farmerso America (FFA), which was oneo the frst FFA chapters in Iowato be awarded a Planting a Seedgrant by the Iowa Food & FamilyProject, sponsored by the Iowa

Soybean Association.A menagerie o wildlie israised on the grounds, located nearBlank Park Zoo, a close partnerthat provides student internshipsamong other resources.

Te students enrolled in theprogram, numbering about ahundred, are used to doing choresor homework and extra credit.Tey take turns on evenings,

weekends and throughout thesummer eeding and groominglivestock and tending the ora inthe greenhouse. Te spring plantsale generates more than $60,000annually, proceeds that are plowedright back into the program.Director Cynthia Snell says studentscan earn accreditation as CertifedWildlie Educators, a credentialthats sought ater by places such

as zoos and theme parks or theiremployees. Te program alsoeatures partnerships with fsheriesand veterinarians and is a uniqueblend o classwork in the Career& ech Ed Institute at CentralCampus and feldwork at theacilities on County Line Road.

Ag Program Grows

Urban Farmers

Dr. David Gallo shares his research witstudents in a Marine Biology class.


22/322

APRIL

On April 24, hundreds of highschool juniors throughout DesMoines Public Schools took theACT college entrance exam, freeof charge.

DMPS has been oering theAC exam to all juniors since 2008.

Te benefts are becomingevident. Enrollment in AdvancedPlacement and other college

preparatory courses has increaseddramatically. Students whootherwise may not have consideredcollege are discovering theyhave what it takes. Colleges anduniversities open a dialogue withstudents, encouraging them to becollege-ready and begin consideringcareer options. And students aregiven a ree shot at a test that canhave a direct and positive impact on

their utures.

DMPS is the frst school districtin Iowa to provide every juniorthe opportunity to take a collegeentrance exam, which has becomea key element o the current debateover education reorm.

Iowas state universities currentlyrequire an AC score as part o theadmission process. For low incomestudents, frst generation college-goers and/or immigrant students,

this requirement can create a barrierthat may close the door to a collegeeducation. Providing the AC toall juniors begins the applicationprocess early while the support oschool counselors, teachers andadministrators is easily accessed.

While not every student willgo to college, every student shouldbe adequately prepared or sometype o post-secondary education.

No matter what career a student

decides to pursue ater high school,critical thinking skills, mathematicalreasoning and higher levels oreading comprehension are thestandards or the 21st centuryworkorce.

Although some people areconcerned about a short-termdecline or Iowa in the ACrankings when the pool o test-takersis expanded, that is more than osetby the improved quality o lie or allIowans that will result rom studentsbetter prepared or their utures. DesMoines Public Schools is proud to bethe frst school district in the state tomake this opportunity available to

all students.

DMPS Gives Free College Entrance Exam

Seven really was a lucky number for

the Roosevelt girls track and field

team as they made history this yearat the 103rd annual Drake Relays. The

Roughriders earned seven titles, set

two meet records and a new all-time

state record at the 2012 edition of

the nations premier track and field

event. The Roosevelt girls have a long

record of success at the Drake Relays,

winning 50 titles over the years.

Roosevelt Girls

Rewrite Drake

Relays Record BookU.S. Secretary of Education Arne

Duncan, together with White House

Council on Environmental Quality

Chair Nancy Sutley and Environmental

Protection Agency AdministratorLisa Jackson, announced that Des

Moines Public Schools Central

Campus is among 78 schools named

U.S. Department of Education Green

Ribbon Schools.

Iowa is among 29 states with

schools receiving the first-ever awards.

Central Campus is the only Iowa school

honored as a Green Ribbon School.

U.S. Department of Education

Green Ribbon Schools is a federal

recognition program that opened in

September 2011. Honored schools

exercise a comprehensive approachto creating green environments

through reducing environmental

impact, promoting health, and

ensuring a high-quality environmental

and outdoor education to equip

students with the 21st century

skills and sustainability concepts

needed in the growing global

economy.

Central Campus Named Green Ribbon

School by U.S. Department of Education


23/32

A

Te Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announcedthat Findley Elementary School has been selected to participate in a newarts education initiative to help turn around low-perorming schools,developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department o Education and

the White House Domestic Policy Council.Te urnaround Arts initiative is a new public-private partnership

designed to narrow the achievement gap and improve studentengagement through the arts. Findley was chosen to be one o eightschools eatured in the program through a highly competitive nationalselection process, and will receive intensive arts education resources,expertise and the involvement o high-profle Presidents Committeeartists, including Academy Award-winning actor, Forest Whitaker, overthe course o two years to support their educational reorm eort.

Both Hoover and Roosevelt againmade the list of the states top 50high schools on the 2012 Iowa APIndex. The rankings are based on

the number of AP exams takenby students and the number ofgraduates from the spring of 2011.

Te Iowa AP Index, compiledby the Belin-Blank Center orGited Education at the Universityo Iowa, ranks how Iowa high

schools provide students with theopportunity to take high-levelAdvanced Placement courses.

Roosevelt is ranked sixth in the

state, and has been among the top50 high schools every year since theindex was created in 2005. Hooveris ranked 49th this year, making thelist or the ourth time in the pastfve years.

In addition, Central Academyhad ar and away the highest index

score o any school in Iowa. Whilemagnet schools such as Centralare not included in the ormalrankings, it was once again singled

out or special mention by theBelin-Blank Center. Centralsindex score o 7.62 more thandoubled the 3.08 rating o CedarRapids Washington, the highschool with the next highest score,and is the highest score Centralhas ever received.

White House Tabs Findley for

Prestigious Arts Initiative

Central, Roosevelt, Hoover Earn High Marks on Iowa AP Index

Music and art programs at Findley will get a big boost thanks to theTurnaround Arts Initiative.


24/32

Ground Broken at

Site of New Edmunds

4

MAY

On a presumably cold day inJanuary of 1912 some 700students and faculty marched froma downtown campus that waslater consumed by the MacVicarFreeway to the site where EastHigh School still stands to startclasses at what was then a brandnew building. But first they paused

outside for a ceremony to markthe occasion.

On May 10 another ceremonywas held at that very same spot, thistime to retreive a time capsule thatwas tucked away a century ago inthe buildings cornerstone. Beneath

a canopy o old oaks that may havebeen saplings when the home othe Scarlet frst opened its doorsthe school band played the fghtsong and an assembled crowdthat was an appropriate mix oalumni and current studentschanted along.

Te ceremony and a banquet

that ollowed later in the daywere two o the keynote eventsduring Alumni Week at East.During the banquet 63 memberso the Class o 2012 were awardedscholarships that totaled inexcess o $100,000 by the EastAlumni Association.

East Centennial Ceremony

Goes Back in Time

Congratulations are in order orthe North High School AcademicDecathlon team ater its mostsuccessul year in more than adecade o competition. Te waythings are going at the school theymay have to change their name

rom Polar Bears to Scholar Bears!Led by coaches Archie Cookand Mark Schmidt, North led DesMoines schools and the rest oCentral Iowa in state and nationalcompetitions.

Te North team placed frst inregional competition held at DrakeUniversity, edging out JohnstonHigh or the second year in a row.

North competed against 12 schoolsin Central Iowa in the large schoolcategory and came away with 35individual awards. At the statecompetition, the team placed 5thand earned 15 medals, includingeight or Julius emble who

placed third overall in theindividual standings.Te team earned the right to

compete in the national onlinecompetition by achieving thehighest score o medium-sizedschools at the state level. Teyfnished 7th nationally inthat division with six individualmedals.

North High Scholar Bears GrabRegional Title in Academic Decathlon

The Edmunds Elementary commu

celebrated the soon-to-begin

construction of their new school

with a ceremonial groundbreaking

May 25. The $10.25 million projec

will be the first entirely new schoo

built in Des Moines since Carver

School opened in 2007.

Governor Terry Branstad stopped by

East Highs centennial ceremony.


25/32

Already the only school districtin Iowa to provide studentsaccess to the highly-regardedInternational Baccalaureate (IB)program, Des Moines Public

Schools is continuing to expandits IB offerings as three moreschools become candidates forthe program, including the statesfirst comprehensive high school.

Hoover High School, MeredithMiddle School, and the Gateway

Secondary School have all beennotifed by the InternationalBaccalaureate Organization thattheir applications to becomecandidate schools or the Middle

Years Program (MYP) havebeen approved. Te MYP is theIB program and curriculumramework or students ingrades 6 10.

Seven schools in Des Moinesare currently authorized tooer one o three dierent

International Baccalaureateprograms (primary years,middle years and diploma).Tose schools are: CentralAcademy, Goodrell Middle

School, Merrill Middle School,Hubbell Elementary School,Park Avenue Elementary School,Stowe Elementary School, andWalnut Street ElementarySchool, which was notifed inMarch o its certifcation as anIB provider.

Three More International Baccalaureate Candidate Schools

Te number o Advanced Placementexams taken by DMPS studentsincreased more than 80% in 2012.

Tis year, the school district isin the midst o making AP coursesavailable to more and more studentsthroughout all fve comprehensive

high schools in Des Moines,said Amber Graeber, humanitiescoordinator or Des Moines PublicSchools. We have seen a signifcantincrease in AP course enrollmentat each high school, providinghundreds o students with access toclasses that will help prepare themor college and beyond.

Students take the exams eachMay at the end o AP courses.Many colleges and universitiesprovide students with college creditor exam scores o three or higher(on a scale o one to fve).

In 2011, students in Des

Moines took a total o 1,024 APexams; two-thirds o those weretaken at Central Academy. Tisyear, students in Des Moines aretaking 1,846 AP exams, an increaseo 80.3% over last year. Te vastmajority o the increase is takingplace at the fve comprehensivehigh schools.

AP Participation Skyrockets!

Des Moines Public Schools has beennotified by the Iowa Departmentof Education that the districtsapplication for a 21st CenturyCommunity Learning Center (21stCCLC) grant has been approved

The 21st CCLC programsupports the creation of communitylearning centers that provide

academic enrichment opportunitiesduring non-school hours for childreparticularly students who attend higpoverty and low-performing school

Des Moines Public Schools willreceive $1.8 million over the nextthree years to support new programat Brody Middle School, Capitol ViewElementary School, King ElementarySchool, McKinley Elementary Schooand Monroe Elementary School.

DMPS Approved forMajor Grant

Hoover High School Meredith Middle School Gateway Secondary School


26/326

JUNE

U.S. Senator om Harkin visited East High School on June 8 to chair ahearing o the Committee on Health, Education and Labor on the topic obullying. National experts along with educators and students rom acrossIowa testifed about the impact o bullying as well as eorts to reduce theproblem. East High School is the recipient o a Sae and Supportive Schoolsgrant, a ederally-unded eort to help schools identiy and resolve bullyingand other saety concerns.

Senator Holds Hearing on Bullying

Stories of East Student

Teachers Featured in

New Undroppable

Documentary

For the frst time ever, studentsrom all fve high schools cametogether to celebrate their

accomplishments in extracurricularactivities in a banquest at theEast High School caeteria onJune 10. In Des Moines, thereare over 5,000 participants inhigh school extra-curricularactivities.

Activities Directors and boosterclubs at East, Hoover, Lincoln,

North and Roosevelt high schoolscollaborated to plan the event.

It has been such a rewarding

opportunity to plan a positive eventto recognize seniors rom all fvehigh schools, said Ric Powell, EastHigh School Activities Director.Te athletes and the perormingarts award winners at East High werehugging each other when they oundout they won. It was un to bringthem all together to be honored.

First District-Wide Awards

Banquet Honors SeniorsA male and female senio

from each high school

were chosen as winners

in five categories:

Athlete of the Year Iron Man and Iron

Woman Award

Outstanding Citizenship

Award

Outstanding Performing

Arts Award

Scholar Athlete of the Year

After leading a national effort last

year to increase student attendance,

East High School is one of a half-

dozen schools to be featured in a

new film project titled Undroppable.The Undroppable project is both

a documentary and social media

campaign focused on raising

awareness about the dropout rate

in American high schools, and to

highlight students, teachers and

communities that are pushing on and

persevering. Both students and staff

from East, the largest high school in

Iowa, are featured in the project. You

can learn more about this project at

www.undroppable.com.

East High School was the site of a

congressional hearing on bullyingheld by Senator Tom Harkin.


27/32

Before Dr. David Smouse, founderand namesake of the David W. SmouseOpportunity School, died in 1932 he

was looking to the future and how hecould continue to support the school.

Eighty years later, thanks to a gift inhis will of gas and oil rights on a piece

of land he owned in Texas, Smouseschool is receiving a payment of nearly

$1.2 million followed by monthlyroyalty payments.

Dr. Smouse was a visionary in so

many different ways, including helping tocreate a school to meet the educational

needs of students with physical disabilities,said Leslie Timmerman, principal of Smouse

Opportunity School.In Dr. Smouses will, he left to the school

district a 1/16th interest in the net proceeds

of gas and oil produced on land he owned inTexas. His will indicates the money is to be

used for the maintenance, upkeep and/orexpansion of Smouse school.

Added interim superintendent Tom

Ahart, On behalf of Des Moines PublicSchools, I want to give our deepest

thanks to Mark Robeck of the BakerBotts law firm, whose pro bono work

on behalf of the district helped us realizethis gift. Our thanks also goes out to

Choice Exploration, Inc. for their workand professionalism in ensuring that thebenefits from this bequest were directed

to Smouse school.Smouse Opportunity School

received an initial payment in the amountof $1,176,052 as the result of production

established by Choice Exploration, Inc. attwo drilling units located in Liberty County,TX. For the past few years, wells drilled

by Choice in the Kent/Spradley Unit havebeen producing oil and gas for which

the school district will receive $771,536.The second tract, known as the ChoiceExploration, Inc. Willis Ranch Unit, began

producing gas and oil late last year, resultingin $404,516 for the school district.

In addition to this initial payment,Smouse school will benefit from monthly

royalty checks for production on each ofthe units.

The David W. Smouse OpportunitySchool opened its doors on March 5,1931, and was a school unique for its

time. Students with physical disabilitiesfound a school with a range of facilities

and equipment adaptable to theirindividual needs, including a resting

room, hydrotherapy tank, sun andinfrared lamps, tilted blackboards toprevent glare for the visually impaired,

and rooms designed to carry vibrationsfor hearing impaired students.

While the Des Moines SchoolBoard annually approvescompensation packages forschool district employees, thisyears agreement between

DMPS and its teachers is agroundbreaking one that providesnew teachers with greatersupport and the opportunity toearn an advanced degree.

Interim Superintendent omAhart and Melissa Spencer, theoutgoing President o the Des MoinesEducation Association (DMEA),spearheaded the negotiations

and both characterized them ascooperative, amicable, and in the bestinterest o students and teachers.

Te new contract includes analternative contract or frst-yearteachers, which is innovative inseveral ways:

New teachers start out at Step 4on the districts salary schedule,

and receive pre-set raises o1.5% in each o the nextthree years.

In return, during each o theirfrst our years teachers work

an extra two days and 90additional minutes per week.Te extra time is devoted toproessional development.

During their frst ouryears teachers are evaluatedannually by a team comprisedo their principal and twocolleagues.

eachers may not transerbuildings during the frst

our years.

I successul during their frstour years, teachers are renewedand awarded one percent raises ineach o the next our with studentachievement incentives that carrythe potential to earn an additionalhal percent in each o those years.Te aected teachers will participate

in the setting o those achievementbenchmarks.

Te alternative contract isdesigned to serve multiplepurposes, including addressing

anticipated state/ederal educationmandates, progressing towards arevised and enhanced standardcontract, encouraging stacontinuity and teambuilding withinindividual schools, acilitating thetraining o teachers specifcallyequipped to serve the needs ostudents in an urban, diversedistrict, and attracting andretaining the brightest educational

talent at both the teaching andadministrative levels.In addition, new teachers

who opt into the innovative newcontract will achieve a MastersDegree in Eective eaching atersix years o service in the districtand be incentivized to stay orat least an additional two andhopeully beyond.

Smouse Donation Was 80 Years in the Making

DMPS, DMEA OK Innovative Contract


28/328

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 2011-12 School Year

Lincoln High School sophomoreswimmer Brittany Purscell capturedLincolns frst girls state swimchampionship, winning the 100meter breast stroke event. Her timewas the sixth astest in state historyand she is the current school record

holder in the event. Her coach isBrayton Weber.

Te Lincoln High School ootballteam won the CIML MetroConerence and qualifed or thestate playos. Teir coach is omMihalovich.

Te Roosevelt girls cross countryteam qualifed or and placed ninth

in the state cross country meet.

Seven girls competed at state: EmmaHuston, McKenzie Carney, EmmaBuchanan, Megan Schott,JordanSummers,Julia Robinson, andCarson Cary. Tey are coached byJacob Kaemmer.

Roosevelt High School senior MattMackaywon the CIML MetroConerence cross country meet andqualifed or the state meet. TeRoosevelt boys are coached bySteve Brown.

Eight DMPS student-athletes signedletters o intent in November to playcollege sports next year. Tey are:East sotball players Riley Fisher/

Iowa State; Jessica Grochala/

Congressman Leonard Boswell announced that Khashi (Paul) Reyes,

Roosevelt High School senior, won the Congressional Art Competition for

the state of Iowa. His art work will hang in the U. S. Capitol for one year.

Grand View; Meredith Henriksen/Indiana State; L.J. Putzier/MountMercy; Janie Smith/MissouriWestern; Roosevelt wrestler JohnMeeks/Iowa State; Rooseveltbaseball player Sam Norman/Creighton University; and Lincoln

sotball player Chelsea Blaylock/Drake University.

Central Academyreceived a$7,917 grant rom the AvivaCharitable Foundation to covercosts o Advanced Placement (AP)testing or low income students.Te grant also will pay ortransportation to the testing siteor all students, acility rental,

and test proctors.

Mark Schnurstein, Hoover HighSchool ninth grade Earth Scienceeacher, was recognized as AirForce Association General HornerChapter o Des Moines eachero the Year.

Lowes Charitable and EducationalFoundation awarded a $23,000

Lowes oolbox or Educationgrant to Hiatt Middle School tosupport the renovation o theschools auditorium.

Becky Johnson, a veteran artteacher at Roosevelt High School,was named Outstanding SecondaryArt Educator by the Art Educatorso Iowa (AEI).


29/32

World Design Challenge held at theScience Center on February 18.

East High School reshmanAppleJackson Amos and Roosevelt HighSchool sophomore Lily Nellanswere selected to serve on a newstudent state advisory group todiscuss key issues that impactstudents and schools.

welve high school seniors werechosen as 2012 Finalists or theNational Merit Scholarship, placingthem among the top young scholarsin the state and nation. Te DesMoines students were selected basedon their strong perormance on thePreliminary SA (PSA) test takenlast year. Tey were:

Jack Bequeaith, Roosevelt Kayleigh Courard-Hauri,

Roosevelt Braden Edwards, Lincoln Zoe Eagle, Roosevelt Rachel Jacobs, Roosevelt Margaret Long, Roosevelt Matthew MacKay, Roosevelt

Stephanie Manivanh,Roosevelt

Megan Mansfeld, Roosevelt Sarah Mansfeld, Roosevelt China Mauck, Roosevelt Danielle Ward, Roosevelt

Te Lincoln High School swimteam sent 11 athletes to the 2012IHSAA state swimming meet:Luis Arias, Brady Edwards,Matt Friend, Mitchell Friend,Curtis Knapp, Hunter Homaier,Kort Kern, Michael Nachtigal,Chase Shumaker, Keaton ripp,Carter Worth.

Mitch Arends, Ian Baker, Rossurner and Max Ward, memberso the Roosevelt High School boysswimming team competed in the2012 IHSAA state swimming meet.Ward was the state champion in the100 buttery and urner was namedto the Academic All-State Swim eam

Five DMPS wrestlers qualifed orthe 2012 IHSAA state wrestlingtournament. Tey were East

Continued on Page 30...

Mike Walag, Lincoln High School choir director, received WHO TV-13s

Golden Apple Award in February.

wenty-seven DMPS studentswere selected to participate in the2011 All-State Festival in choir,band and orchestra in November.

Tirteen seniors at CentralAcademy were named as candidatesor the 2012 U.S. Presidential

Scholars Program. Tey areJackBequeaith (Roosevelt HighSchool), Braden Edwards (LincolnHigh School), Corey Grie(Roosevelt High School),AndreaHarlan (Roosevelt High School),Xiaoxue Liu (Valley High School),Matthew Mackay(RooseveltHigh School), Megan Mansfeld(Roosevelt High School), SarahMansfeld(Roosevelt High

School), Kathryn Marcus(Roosevelt High School), ChinaMauck(Roosevelt High School),Alisha Smith (North Polk HighSchool),Augustine Villa(DowlingHigh School), Luchang Wang(Valley High School).

Seventeen Central Academystudents were chosen as winners inthe Young Lawyers Division o

Te Iowa State Bar AssociationsKnow Your Constitutioncompetition. In addition, out o1,500 essays submitted, RooseveltHigh School junior Nathan Leyscaptured the award or the statesbest essay.

Te North High School Roboticseam won the prestigious FCInspire Award at a state qualiying

meet held at North High School.Tis is the highest award in thecompetition.

Tayne Henderson, Chris Markle,andAmra Sotic, members oHoover High Schools Real WorldDesign Challenge eam coachedbyMark Schnurstein, receivedsecond place at the Iowa Real


30/320

reshmanJosh Davis, RooseveltsophomoreJake Kristensen,Roosevelt seniorJohn Meeks;Roosevelt senior Driece Shirley;and North senior Brian Warren.Meeks was a 4-time undeeated state

champion and will wrestle or IowaState.Warren was a 4-time statequalifer and 2011 state championand will wrestle or Grandview.Brittany Smith, Lincoln HighSchool junior, was the statechampion in the 2012 IHSAAgirls bowling tournament.

Roosevelt High School placed

frst in the 2012 All Iowa SpeechChampionships held at theUniversity o Iowa. In addition,the Roosevelt debate team wasrunner-up in the All Iowa FinalsChampionship in Debate.

Harry Strong, Roosevelt HighSchool speech/debate coach, was

named 2012 speech/debatecoach o the year by the AllIowa Coaches.

Karen Birchmier, third gradeteacher at Perkins ElementarySchool received the Golden AppleAward rom WHO V-13 in April.

Te Rotary Club o Des Moinesnamed fve DMPS teachers Rotaryeachers o the Year: MichelleHowe, Capitol View ElementarySchool Literacy Leader; SeithMonahan, Lincoln High SchoolSpecial Education eacher; BethOlkiewicz, Brody Middle SchoolSixth Grade Reading/LanguageArts; Laurie Phillips, Lincoln High

School Visual Arts eacher; MarySimmons, McKinley ElementarySchool ELL eacher.

Tirty-fve Des Moines middleschool students rom six dierentschools Brody, Cowles, Merrill,Meredith, Moulton, andWeeks took part in the 2012 Middle

School State Science & echnologyFair o Iowa held at Iowa StateUniversity.

wo teams oCentral Academyscience students competed in theEAMS competition and receivedBest in State in the 9th-10th

grade division as well as the 11th-12th grade division or the secondyear in a row.

Kristi Dusenbery, CallananMiddle School teacher, wonthe One Classroom at a imeEducation Grant rom ABC-5 andreceived $1,000 which will be usedto support the IHAD SummerSchool Program.

Te Southern Poverty Law Centerseaching olerance programnamedWindsor Elementaryasa Mix It Up Model School or itsexemplary eorts to oster respectand understanding among studentsand throughout campus during the2011-12 school year.

Te Central Academy academic

team oDanny Comito, MarkGee,Jay Kakade, Luke Sheeley,andVaibhav Srikaran placedthird in the High SchoolDivision o the frstComputational TinkingCompetition held on April 14,2012 at Iowa State University,Ames. Teir entry was entitledReaction Modeling.

Central Academy students earneda 7th-place fnish in the 2012Collaborative Problem-SolvingContest (CPSC), a nationalmathematics contest administeredby National Assessment & esting.Central Academy students whotook part in the CPSC mathematiccompetition were:

Continued from Page 29...

DMPS Earns Honors for Communications

Des Moines Public Schools earned recognition for several of its

communications efforts from the Iowa School Public Relations

Association (ISPRA), including for the districts work to enhance its online

presence with a new web site and use of social media.

Des Moines Public Schools earned the Blue & Gold Award,

representing top honors in a category, for several entries. These included

the school districts new web site at www.dmschools.org; the districts

integrated use of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr

and Tumblr; the DMPS Community Report, a bi-monthly newsletterdistributed to all families and employees; a new poster of the districts

mission statement, distributed to every classroom in the district; and the

district-wide map, which doubles as an informational brochure about the

school district.

ISPRA also presented Des Moines Public Schools with an Award of

Excellence for the news reports of DMPS-TV, the design of two new

logos, and a new human resources brochure.


31/32

9th grader: Kristina Smith 10th graders: Edel Aron,

Granger Carty, SophieHeatherington, PatrickHiatt, Max Pilcher, OliverShimp, Vaibhav Srikaran,Justin Weeks

11th graders: Olin Carty,

Eric Chen, Danny Deeter,Alex Lopez, Luke Sheeley

12th graders:JackBequeaith, Matt Mackay,Megan Mansfeld, ChinaMauck, Chris Sherwood,Luchang Wang

Roosevelt High School senioryler Foleywas awarded thehighest level o achievement the

Gold Key - or his personal essay,Jenga in the 2012 MidwestRegion Scholastic Writing Awards.Roosevelt High School seniorsJeannene Clark, Grace Payer,and Sarah RamundtreceivedHonorable Mention or theirworks. Te students participatedin Central Academys AdvancedCreative Writing class with teachersJean Ellerho, Amy Finnegan, and

Diane Morain.

Roosevelt sophomore Lily Nellanswon the extemporaneous speakingcategory at the 61st annualCatholic Grand Nationals debatetournament in Baltimore, MD.It was her third win this year at anational tournament.

Five students in the Central

Campus Culinary Arts programreceived gold medals at the FCCLA(Family, Career and CommunityLeaders o America) statecompetition on March 26. Teywill represent Iowa at the nationalcompetition in Orlando, Floridain July. Tey are Hannah DeVries(Lincoln senior), Hannah Dewey(Lincoln senior),Jordan Ouimet

(Lincoln senior),Jennier Brooker(Lincoln senior), andJosh Cooper(Roosevelt senior).

Six Central Campus students receivedgold medals at the Skills USA statecompetitions held April 26 and 27.Tey are Cody DeLaRosa(East

senior), Kimberly Wilkins (Lincolnsenior),Austin Gruis (Lincoln senior),Hannah Dewey(Lincoln senior),Hannah DeVries (Lincoln senior),Allison Ross (Lincoln junior),JoshCooper (Roosevelt senior),JennierBrooker (Lincoln senior).

Te Roosevelt High School girls werechampions in several Class 4A DrakeRelay events including:

Te 4100 team oDestaniWelch,Agnes Sayeh,JalynnRoberts-Lewis and ErinHawkins set an all-time Iowahigh school record with a timeo 47.55.

Sprint medley relay team oDestani Welch, McKennaSchnack,Agnes Sayeh andErin Hawkins ( time o1:46.20).

Destani Welch in the100-meter hurdles (time o14.92)

Erin Hawkins in the100 meters dash in a timeo 12.67

Jalynn Roberts-Lewis in thelong jump (17 9.5)

4200 relay team oJaylynnRoberts-Lewis,McKennaSchnack,Agnes Sayeh andErin Hawkins (Drake Relaysrecord time o 1:41.66)

Roosevelt High School juniorAlexaHuntwas the state champion in theClass 4A shot put competition o th2012 State rack Meet. RooseveltHigh School senior Emma Hustonwon 1st place in the girls Class 4A1500 meter run.

Roosevelt High School senior sprinter Erin Hawkins was named the 2012

Drake Relays Girls Athlete of the Year during ceremonies at the state

meet. She will continue her track career on scholarship at the University

of Minnesota.


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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 and

information is always available online and on air.

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

twitter.com/dmschools.

ON THE AIRTune 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 awww.dmschools. org. And if youre in the mood for interesting talk and music, tune Des Moines Public Schools own radio station - KDPS 88.1 - where your hosts arstudents from Central Campus and GrandView University.

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

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

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

The DMPS Community Report

JUNE 2012 | Vol. 4 No. 5

The DMPS Community Report is now

published every other month by theoffice of Community Relations.

Editor/Writer: Sarah Taylor, Mike Wellman

Editor/Writer/Photographer: Phil Roeder

Designer/Photographer: Adam Rohwer

Photographer: Kyle Knicley, Jon Lemons

Des Moines Public Schools

Community Relations

901 Walnut Street

Des Moines, IA 50309

(515) 242-8162

www.dmschools.org

2011-2012 Board of Directors

Teree Caldwell-Johnson, Chair

Dick Murphy, Vice Chair

Connie Boesen

Cindy Elsbernd

Bill Howard

Joe Jongewaard

JULY

11 First day of school Capitol View,

Moulton, River Woods

AUGUST15 First day of school Downtown

School

22 First day of school (adjusted early

dismissal) All other schools

SEPTEMBER

5 Holiday no classes, offices closed

26 Staff development no classes for

students

OCTOBER

26 Staff development no classes forstudents

NOVEMBER

21 No school for teachers or students

22-23 Holiday no classes, offices closed

DECEMBER

24-31 Winter recess no classes

24-25 Holiday no classes, offices closed


JANUARY


2 First day of school after winter

recess

16 First day of second semester

21 MLK Day In-service day; no

classes for students

FEBRUARY

18 No school for teachers or

students

MARCH

18-22 Spring Recess no classes

APRIL

23 No school for 9th and 12th grade

students. 10th and 11th graders

attend a.m. for PLAN and ACT

testing24 No school for 10th and 11th grad

students. 9th and 12th graders

attend a.m. only.

MAY


30 Last day of school for elementary

and middle students; dismissal afte

half day

31 Last day of school for high school

students; no adjusted early

dismissal

JUNE

3-7 Reserved for inclement weather

make-up days

A LOOK AHEAD TO THE 2012-13 SCHOOL YEAR

We will have more details on whats new for the 2012-13 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.

DMPS Community Report - June 2012

Documents

Transcript of DMPS Community Report - June 2012