October 2013 DMPS Community Report

7/27/2019 October 2013 DMPS Community Report

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8th Graders TakeExplore Test

DMPS UrbanLeadership Cours

Iowa Teacher of t

Graduation Walk

North High DesigExemplar School

AIB, Lincoln Play

Des Moines Public Schools

COMMUNITY REPORTDMPS

October 2013

DMPS Community Report | OCTOBER 2013

Students all across the district areworking hard in school and the latestresults from the Iowa Assessmentsprove it.

Te Iowa Assessments are the statewidetests that measures student prociency inreading and math. Students in grades 3-8,and 11 are tested every year.

Data rom the tests were presented atthe September 17 meeting o the SchoolBoard. Te test results show studentgrowth across every grade level and

among nearly every demographic groupin Des Moines.Prociency is always the goal, but

growth is what I nd most important,stated Superintendent om Ahart.

Some o the biggest gains were madein reading, with every grade level seeing

an increase on the Iowa Assessments.In grades 3-5, students overall saw an

increase o 2.4%. In act, all studentdemographic groups, with the exceptioo Asian students, saw growth. Ingrades 6-8, students overall saw anincrease o 1.2%, including growthamong every student subgroup. Andin grade 11, students overall saw anincrease o 4.5% and growth in everystudent subgroup.

Te growth in mathematics was neas impressive, with increases at all grad

levels. In grades 3-5, students overallsaw an increase o 1.7%. In addition, astudent demographic groups increasedwith the exception o students withdisabilities, who remained the same,and Asian students, who saw a slight

Student Achievement ShowsGrowth Across All Grade Levels

Continued on Page

TEACHERS HONORED

Two DMPS educators are

nalists for the prestigious

residential Award for

xcellence in Mathematics and

cience Teaching while two

ther DMPS educators are

nalists to be Iowa Teacher of

he Year. Read more about our

reat teachers on pages 4-5.


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decrease. In grades 6-8, studentsoverall saw an increase o 1.8% andall student demographic groupsincreased, with the exception o

Asian and Hispanic students;Arican American students hadthe largest increase o 4.6%. Andin grade 11, students overall sawan increase o 2.2%. Most student

subgroups increased, with theexception o ELL, Arican Americanand Asian students.

Te latest scores indicate the

district is moving in the rightdirection to improve studentachievement.

New systems and structureshave been put into place to

complement the delivery o highquality proessional development toour highly trained teaching sta thatis beginning to move the pendulum

o academic success towards the highexpectations that we have set or ourstudents, commented Holly CrandeExecutive Director o Curriculum,Instruction and Assessment.

Student Achievement Shows Growth Across All Grade Levels

Continued from Page 1...

Record Number of StudentsTake ACT; Two Students Earn

Perfect Score

A record number of juniors atDes Moines Public Schools tookthe ACT college entrance examthis past spring, and two membersof the Class of 2014 recordedperfect scores, according toinformation recently providedby American College Testing.

In 2009, Des Moines Public Schoolsbecame the rst school districtin Iowa to make the AC examavailable, ree o charge, to all highschool juniors. Tey attend schoolon a no school day or the rest othe student body in order to takethe AC exam.

Te spring 2013 examadministration had the highest

number o juniors tested to date,with a total o 1,732 students. Tisequals approximately 88 percent oall DMPS juniors who took theAC in the spring o 2013, anincrease o 3 percent o studentsrom the spring o 2012.

In addition, while ewer than oneout o every 1,500 students who take

the AC earn a perect compositescore o 36, two o these are seniorsat Roosevelt High School: Edel Arono Clive, the daughter o Mikhailand Julia Aron, and Max Pilcher oDes Moines, the son o imm andKathryn Pilcher.

For last years graduating class,

nearly 1.8 million students acrossthe nation in the Class o 2013 tookthe AC exam; only 1,162 o themearned a composite score o 36.wo members o Roosevelts Classo 2013 Nathan Leys (now atGeorge Mason University) andLuke Sheeley (now at CornellUniversity) also earned perectAC scores o 36.

Administering the AC is one

step we take to help determine igraduates are college and careerready, said Mary Grinstead,assessment supervisor or Des MoinesPublic Schools. No matter whatstudents dream o doing with theirlives, being prepared or educationater high school is the best plan.Providing a college entrance exam

with critical eedback on student

skills is essential to preparing studenor lie ater high school.

Tere is a downside to theschool district being more inclusivewith the AC: as more and morestudents take the exam overall scorewill see slight declines comparedto the past, when the AC wasexclusive to students who haddenite plans to attend college,added Grinstead. But there are som

positive exceptions to this trend. Tbest example is reading, which is anarea o growth or both our districtand many o our schools. Tis canbe attributed to a renewed ocus onreading interventions at the highschool level, an eort that is startingto bear ruit with the success o ourstudents.

Roosevelt seniors Edel Aron and Max Pilch

earned top marks on the ACT college

entrance exam.


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Iowa is known across the nationand around the globe for itscommitment to excellence ineducation. For many years our

students and teachers havebeen leaders when it comesto academic excellence. Morerecently, we are also leading theway when it comes to state-of-the-art school facilities.

In 1999, Polk County votersapproved the Schools Firstcampaign, a local option sales taxthat made possible signicant and

long overdue improvements toschool acilities in Des Moines PublicSchools and other school districtsthroughout the county. Te approvalmade positive changes or students,teachers, parents and neighborhoods,investing more than $240 millionthroughout the community.

Ten in 2008, the Iowa GeneralAssembly turned the local option

sales tax into a statewide sales tax,providing each school district inIowa with an ongoing revenuestream to meet their schoolbuilding and inrastructure needs.Te ollowing year, voters inDes Moines approved the districtsplan or using these unds calledStudents First which includesenhanced saety and security;replacement o obsolete, ine

cient, or worn-out equipmentand systems; improvement obuildings not addressed bySchools First; installation oair conditioning; and technologyupgrades.

As DMPS enters the th yearo Students First, a special onlinereport has been prepared to providea closer look at what this has meantor our community, the priorities set

in improving schools, how publicdollars are being wisely spent, andhow it is all making or excellentschools in which our students learnand our teachers teach.

o learn more about whathas been accomplished over thepast ve years and the districtspriorities or the uture visitstudentsrst.dmschools.org.

Des Moines Public Schools administeredthe ACT Explore assessment to eighth

grade students on October 7-18. Resultsfrom the Explore assessment will provide

students the opportunity to build plansfor their future and offer students a

check point for college and careerreadiness. Explore assessments showstudents what they know in English, math,

reading, and science and what they areready to learn next.

Students will use informationfrom the Explore assessment to write

goals, think about future educationplans and learn about career options.

Testing students before high schoolhelps them choose classes that willsupport their plans and help them

stay on track for graduation. Whetherstudents go on to college, university,

career or technical school, theinformation and skills they learn in

their high school classes will alwaysbe useful in planning for their post

high school years.Visit www.explorestudent.org for

more information.

Students First Entering Year Five

Explore Test Helps 8th Graders

Stay On Track for Graduation

studentsfrst.dmschools.org

EDMUNDS:

Des Moines newest school was madepossible thanks to the Students First p
http://studentsfirst.dmschools.org/http://studentsfirst.dmschools.org/http://studentsfirst.dmschools.org/http://studentsfirst.dmschools.org/


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Two DMPS Educators FinalistsFor Iowa Teacher of the Year

Each year the Iowa Departmentof Education names ve nalists

for the states Teacher of the Yearaward. This year two of the ve

hail from DMPS and between themthey vividly demonstrate

the exceptionally widespectrum of opportunity thatthe district offers.

At Smouse Opportunity SchoolKristi Wickre teaches specialeducation. Maybe a better way to sayit is that shes a special educator.

Her entire 20-year career hasbeen at Smouse which she describes

as a very positive, caring place,thanks in no small measure to her.

Wickre was nominated by herlongtime classroom associate KristenVan Dyke whos been so inspiredby her mentor that shes returningto school to get her own degree inspecial ed. Teres no recognitionthats quite so attering as thatbestowed by teammates.

Wickre attributes her ownteaching aspirations to Mrs. Nielsen,her 3rd grade teacher back in LinnGrove, IA.

When Wickre started at DrakeUniversity she was a Psychology

major with vague intentions olaw school but summer jobs atChildserv and memories o Mrs.Nielsen steered her in a morenecessary direction. She got a jobas an associate at Ruby Van Meterand a masters degree in educationat Drake with certication in specialed. While long term subbing atRVM the job opened at Smousethats been hers ever since.

Her room brims with attention-getting appointments. Te wholesolar system is on display withJupiter and Saturn looming onthe ceiling and the sun on the arwall, beaming almost as brightlyas Wickres ever-ready smile, theenergy source in this space. Onecan imagine that its as powerul asgravity to her students.

Like an old ashioned schoolmarm presiding in a one-roomschoolhouse, Wickre welcomedher class o six ranging rom grades1-6 on a recent morning. Later ona eld trip or Special Olympicsbowling was planned but rst thekids had some classwork to do.

On the screen at the ront o theroom was their writing prompt orthe day:

I am a student whogoes to school, wrote one.reads books, wrote another.has a great teacher, they mightall have written.

eacher o the Year? How abouteacher o the Last wenty?

Lots o good things are alwayscooking at Central Campus sono wonder Che Elaine Wol,who heads up the award-winningculinary arts program there, was alsorecognized as one o ve nalistsor Iowa eacher o the Year by thestates Department o Education.

Che Wol holds a degree in

Restaurant Management romMiami University o Ohio and has awide-ranging career background inthe eld that runs the gamut

risti Wickre, Smouse Opportunity School

Kristi Wickre, Smouse

Chef Elaine Wolf, Central Campu

Chef Elaine Wolf, Central Campus

Continued on Page 6..


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student and cites one o his ownormer teachers when he wasgrowing up in Osceola, Frank Riley,as a major inuence in his decisionto become a teacher himsel.

A discussion o limits in oneo his calculus classes quicklytakes o and soars way over thehead o a visitor who is struck, onthe contrary, by how unlimitedeveryone seems. Reece scribblessomething on the whiteboardand tells his protgs to unknot itwithout calculators. No problem,the visitor thinks. Tey AREcalculators!

A perect storm o potential andguidance gathers in Room 1022. Ithappens every day.

Te climates pretty muchthe same in Room 2770 over atRoosevelt where Mr. Marks haspresided or eight years at hishigh school alma mater ater 14years at Brody Middle School. Hisnominator or the PAEMS wasormer Roosevelt Principal KathieDanielson.

On the whiteboard in Marksroom as a class o pre-calc studentsles in is a caricature in redmarker beneath the words FavoriteMath-Related Nickname So Far:Arcsine the Magnicent. It bearsa suspicious resemblance to theresident proessor. Did one o hisstudents draw it? Yes, it is me,Marks admits, but actually, I drewit mysel. Never mind the Arcsinepart. You wouldnt understand.

Class begins and an easy rapportbetween instructor and pupils isreadily apparent. Somehow they allwring laughter rom triangles. Teonly things an outsider recognizeshere are the word hypotenuse andthe old-ashioned pencil sharpenerbolted to the wall in the back cornero the room.

Its that time of year whenapples fall on the noggins ofgreat thinkers like Isaac Newton,and change agents from Nobellaureates on down are beingrecognized. And again this yearDes Moines Public Schools canclaim two of Iowas three mathnalists for the prestigious

Presidential Award for Excellencein Math & Science Teaching(PAEMST).

Te Iowa Department o Educationannounced that district math

teachers Brian Reece o CentralAcademy and Je Marks o RooseveltHigh School have been selected asstate honorees. National winners willbe announced next spring.

For DMPS, this is getting to bea habit. Te same thing happenedlast year, as Zac Christensen oPerkins and Josie Burg o theDowntown School comprised two-

thirds o Iowas PAEMS mathnalists. And in 2010 all threenalists were DMPS teachers, oneo whom Barb Leise, also o theDowntown School was named anational awardee. (Since the awardoriginated in 1983, nine DMPSeducators have gone on to earn thenational honor.)

Reece is in his 7th year atCentral Academy. He used to be awrestler so the segue into grapplingwith mathematical predicamentscame naturally. Hes been coachedenough that it inorms his teaching

methods. Tose wheelbarrows ullo titles that Central Academystudents haul back rom regionaland national math competitionsevery year? Do you suppose thatwould happen without goodcoaching? Reece is part o thatcoaching sta.

He was nominated or thePAEMS by a parent o a ormer

Brian Reece, Central Academy Jeff Marks, Roosevelt High School

Two of Iowas Three MathFinalists for Presidential

Award Teach at DMPS



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Two DMPS Educators Finalists For Iowa

Teacher of the Year

Two of Iowas Three Math Finalists for

Presidential Award Teach at DMPS

rom institutional oodservice tone dining. Shes been at CentralCampus since returning to teachingrom the private sector in 2004.Her OY nomination letterreads like a ull-course menu ocredentials and achievements.She has elevated the culinary artsprogram to one where studentscan earn up to a ull years credittoward a degree rom DMACCs

Iowa Culinary Institute andalso orged partnerships withmore than 50 area ood industryproessionals as an additional meanso generating opportunities orher students. Heck, the programeven has its own trophy case in thehallway outside the state o the artteaching kitchen that wasincluded in the recent renovationsat Central Campus and partially

equipped through grants writtenby Che Wol. Asked to sharethe recipe or the success o herapprentices, Che Wol describeshersel as equal parts mentor,manager, advisor, cheerleaderand coach.

I absolutely love my job, saidChe Wole. No one doubts her.



Marks looks too young to know allthat he does and to have taught it or aslong and as well as he has. But hes in his

element, even guring out the solutionlast year to the ollowing story problem:one o the students in the class o aveteran high school math teacher is hisown daughter: where is the line drawnbetween home and school?

It really was no big deal, theteacher/dad claimed. It worked itselout pretty easily.

Isnt that what the math whizzesalways say?

Reece and Marks will be honored

at a luncheon hosted by the IowaDepartment o Education onNovember 8 at the Prairie MeadowsEvents Center.

Te PAEMS is the highesthonor a public school math orscience teacher can achieve. Reeceand Marks are now eligible or a$10,000 cash prize and a trip to

Washington, DC. Establishedby Congress in 1983, the awardprogram authorizes the bestowal oup to 108 awards each year.

For more inormation about thePresidential Award or Excellencein Math & Science eaching, visitwww.paemst.org.

Good luck getting a table when the

Central Campus Caf reopens for

lunch on Friday, November 1 (see

dates below). The views of Western

Gateway Park are breathtaking and the

chef is now ofcially recognized as one

of the best in her business.

Friday, November 1

Thursday, November 7

Friday, November 15

Thursday, November 21

Friday, December 6

Thursday, December 12

The cafs serving hours are

10:55 12:30. Please make

reservations for groups of six or more

at [email protected].

Central Campus Caf


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A variation on an old riddle:

Q: Why did the 20 year-old youngman who had no choice but to quitschool a few credits shy of graduationso he could work two jobs as the onlybreadwinner in his household cross the

stage?

A: To get the diploma he earned bycompleting his coursework in onlineacademic support labs while keepinghis job[s].

On September 21, the annualsearch and rescue mission knownas the Graduation Walk (ormerlyReach Out to Dropouts) hit the

streets o Des Moines or the thtime and cast the widest net yet tore-engage not only students whohave ofcially let school somewhereshort o the nish line, but also toreach kids whove veered o-courseand allen behind in credits and getthem caught up beore its too late.

Te perect weather that greeteda determined orce o DMPS staand community volunteers nearly

300 strong proved to be an omeno the successes they achieved inrounding up strays and bringingthem back into the old.

Also participating wererepresentatives rom theInternational Visitor Leadership

Program arranged by the MeridianInternational Center. Te visitorswere learning eective ways odealing with the same problem inthe Caribbean and were invited bythe U.S. State Department.

Te volunteers were divviedinto 87 teams and altogether theyknocked on 782 doors, a recordnumber o home visits since under-credited students were targeted

as well as actual dropouts. Noteveryone was home, in which casea door-hanger was let to explainwhod been there and why, alongwith some contact ino. But thetroops did have 391 conversationsand preliminary results indicatedthat 111 kids scheduled ollow-upappointments to explore alternativepathways to the all-importantdiploma.

For Some Students, Graduation WalkRenews the Route to a Diploma

Te events corporate sponsorthis year was Wells Fargo and theother community partner wasUnited Way which has been adriving orce behind RO2DO/GradWalk since the events inception.

Tat stereotype o anincorrigible kid rom an apathetic

home is as obsolete as blackboards.Te door-knockers reportedencounters with hard-working kidscarrying too much weight on theiryoung shoulders who were excitedto learn there are ways to completetheir classwork even i they cant beat school all day, Monday throughFriday, due to work schedules orchildcare responsibilities, to cite justa couple o predicaments many o

them ace. Bless you or coming,was a sentiment expressed on morethan one ront porch.

Ater the obstacle course manykids have to negotiate throughouttheir lives to get there, they deservethat proud, hard-earned walk acrossthe stage. Its even better than goingthe extra mile on a sunny Saturdaymorning in the all. Save the date: next years Grad

Walk is already in the works andscheduled for September 20,2014.


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New Members Elected, Veterans

Reelected to School Board

Hanawalt Elementary School

Launches Community Recess

On September 23 HanawaltElementary School, together withDes Moines Public Schools, PolkCounty, and some private partners,cut the ribbon on Phase One ofa community conservation andrecreation site.

Tis site, designed to serve school andcommunity, got o and running withcelebration (and demonstration) oa three-lane, 1/10 mile asphalt track,resuraced play courts and an open

park lawn, promoting public healthand innovations in storm-watermanagement.

Hanawalts project willeventually culminate in aCommunity Recess Initiative withthe lawn, track, and courts enhancedby community gardens and restored

landscaping and supplementedwith an outdoor classroom/mini-amphitheater, all designed to invitestudents and the community to getoutside and activate.

Polk County Supervisor AngelaConnolly chairs the regions omorrowPlan and Capital Crossroads initiativesTe Polk County Board o Supervisorswas one o the lead contributors inthe planning and construction othis project.

Polk County values

opportunities to help residentsconnect to their communities,live actively, and enjoy the greatoutdoors, said Supervisor Connolly.We need more places like thisacross the region.

Des Moines Public SchoolsSuperintendent om Ahart praisedthe many partners who haveworked or success here, whileHanawalt PA President Julie Hahn

acknowledged the contributionso Polk County, RDG Planning &Design and Des Moines University(DMU), along with private donors.RDG and DMU joined orces todesign the site and develop programswith educators to enhance learningand promote physical activity.

At the ceremony, Ahart,Connolly, and Hahn were joined bystudents, sta, and residents who

were eager to take the rst steps onthe new track. Educational markersintroduced the public to the newsites many benets and uture plansor lie in the ast lane.

The Des Moines community voted on

September 10 to re-elect Connie Boesen

and Teree Caldwell-Johnson to the Des

Moines School Board, and also elected

two new board members: Rob Barron and

Toussaint Cheatom.

Boesen was elected at-large and

begins her tenth year as a school board

member. Caldwell-Johnson will represent

District 4. She begins her seventh

year on the board.

Barron was elected at-large and

Cheatom was elected to represent

District 2.

School board members are

currently elected to serve four-year

terms. Elections are held on odd-

numbered years.

DES MOINES SCHOOL BOARDPat Sweeney, Teree Caldwell-Johnson, BiHoward (vice chair), Cindy Elsbernd (chSuperintendent Tom Ahart, Rob Barron,Connie Boesen, Toussaint Cheatom


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North Named Exemplar School byPartnership for 21st Century Skills

North High School has beendesignated a P21 Exemplar Schoolby the Partnership for 21stCentury Skills in honor of theschools work to prepare studentsfor life after graduation.

Everyone at North is working hardto put our school on the cuttingedge, said principal Mike Vukovich.We have seen tremendous academicgains over the past ew years (and)its a great honor or North to nowserve as a model or other schools

across the nation.Te Partnership or 21st CenturySkills is a national organization thatadvocates or readiness or everystudent. P21 advocates or local,state and ederal policies that supportschools. For more inormation, visitwww.p21.org.

Te Exemplar Program identies,documents, and promotes exampleso successul 21st century learning

taking place in schools across thecountry. Te program provideseducators and communities with avariety o resources to draw rom andoers policymakers local examples toencourage their support.

Recognized schools must gothrough an evaluation process toensure they employ 21st centuryinstructional practices. Steps inthe evaluation process include a

team visit by representatives o thePartnership or 21st Century Skills(including classroom visits andmeetings with the superintendent,principal, teachers and students) anda site evaluation o the school thatanalyzes its evidence o commitmentto college, career, and lie readiness;

educational support systems andsustainable design; engaged learning

approaches; equitable student accessto 21st century learning; evidenceo student acquisition o 21stcentury knowledge and skill; andpartnerships or sustainable success.

North High School willparticipate in a national summit on21st century learning next month.

DMPS, Drake, DMACC Form 3D CoalitionTo Recruit & Train More Minority Teachers

Leaders from Des Moines Public Schools,

Drake University and Des Moines Area

Community College are partnering to

recruit, train and hire more minority

teachers for Iowas capital city. The goal

of the new partnership called the 3D

Coalition is to identify aspiring minority

teachers in Des Moines.

In 2012-13, minority students atDes Moines Public Schools, the largest

school district in Iowa, made up 53.4% of

enrollment. During that same time, only

10% of administrators and 4.5% of certied

teachers were minorities.

DMPS, Drake, and DMACC recognize

the efciencies of working together to

strengthen the urban community and

preliminary planning is underway to identify

other potential allies and revenue sources.

Members of the 3D Coalition previously

worked together to implement two large

federal grant programs geared to attract

minority teachers to Des Moines classrooms.

The Career Opportunity Program was

active in the 1970s and was instrumental in

recruiting and training a number of minority

teachers who went on to serve Des Moines

schools in the classrooms and administrativeofces for many years. The Teacher Quality

Project (TQP) ran from 2005-2009 and it,

too, focused on the recruitment, training, and

hiring of minority teachers. Thirty-two of the

34 TQP graduates continue to teach in Des

Moines schools.

The new program will develop an

academic plan for each student, customized

according to their educational background.

Other objectives include:

Educational pathway

development and advising

Financial planning, including

the identication of grants and

nancial aid opportunities

Mentoring and seminars Technology assistance

Tuition assistance, including

books and fees

Flexible work, including

schedules and student teaching

stipends

After completion of the program,

graduates will be hired as DMPS teachers

and be required to work in the district for a

many years as they were supported by 3D.


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Middle Schoolers Learn LessonsAbout Community Service

Service Learning Fair Connects

Merrill Students with Non-Profts

Middle schoolers roaming malls inpacks arent an uncommon sight.But when the mall is the schoolcaeteria and the shops are

displays set up by area non-protslooking or help, deliberate attentionis called or.

Tat was the scene at Merrillduring the schools 5th annualService Learning Fair.

Te day began with an assemblyin the auditorium where the8th graders were brieed on theways and means o ullling the

community service component otheir International Baccalaureatecurriculum. Each o them mustlog 10 hours over the course o theyear at a nonprot agency o theirchoosing rom a long list o certiedservice providers. wenty-one othem were represented at Merrill,ranging rom the Animal RescueLeague to the Young WomensResource Center.

Math teacher Robert Randazzowarned all those not exactly redup to pitch in that they were in ora pleasant surprise. He recountedhis own adolescent baptism as avolunteer when he raised his hand tohelp out with the Special Olympics.Tere was a ree meal at McDonaldsin it or him, plus his girlriend wasinvolved. Tat was more years agothan Mr. Randazzo can believe.

McDonalds isnt quite the specialtreat he thought it was back thenand the girlriend is long gone,but his association with SpecialOlympics endures.

Te idea is to plant a lot o civicseeds that will grow into ull-blowncitizenship as the kids grow into

adulthood. According to socialscience teacher Dave OConnor,the coordinator o the event, Mr.Randazzos experience way backwhen is not unusual. Oh yeah,every year lots o kids end up arexceeding the 10 hour quota, hesaid. Tey kind o tiptoe in andthen they get hooked on whateverkind o service they try.

Tere are 248 8th graders at

Merrill this year. imes ten, thatsaminimum o almost 2,500 hoursworth o helping hands extendinginto the community that wouldntotherwise. Chambers o commercelike to tout the economic impact obig events on their communities.But how do you measure the impacto something like this? And howlong does it last?

Sometimes, a lietime right,

Mr. Randazzo?

Harding Wolf Pack Brings LifeBack to Laurel Hill Cemetery

Te popular image o cemeteriesdepicts them as somber, evenspooky places where love and grieare buried in equal measure. Teyreusually quieter than libraries aresupposed to be. But not when a

busload o middle school kids showsup to help out with the kinds othings that municipal budget cutsdont allow or.

Despite unereal weatherconditions, as soon as the HardingMiddle School Wol Pack arrivedat Laurel Hill, the municipalcemetery just south o the IowaState Fairgrounds, the mood there


Merrill students signed up to volunteer for a

ariety of local non-prot organizations.


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changed. Tey came in two shits. Inthe morning the 8th graders policedthe grounds, clearing debris dropped

on grave sites rom the abundant oldtrees that stand like sentries all overthe rolling grounds. Te aternoonshit was 7th graders who deployedwith clipboards to update LaurelHills records o which sites aremarked with ootstones and whichhave headstones, or instance.

Hardings eorts at Laurel Hillare one o the ways that memberso the schools Wol Pack pay the

community service portion o theirmembership dues.

Te Pack will be back at LaurelHill in November to continue itsgood work there. Its a naturally

beautiul, spiritual place that reallycomes alive when noisy teenagersarrive in droves to give a little extraLC to all the buried treasures. Butit would be a mistake to think thattheyll be doing all the talking.

Some o them noticed thatthe markers in the inant sectionsometimes have only one date onthem and they asked about that,said city sexton Jay Hastings. I told

them thats because those babies wereborn and died on the same date. I

told them lie doesnt come with anyminimum guarantee and that thingshavent always been the way they are

now with hospitals and medicine.Tats something to think about.

Middle Schoolers Learn Lessons About

Community Service


AIB, Lincoln Play Ball on FacilitiesPartnership

AIB College of Business and Des

Moines Public Schools launcheda new athletics partnership witha groundbreaking ceremony atthe Lincoln High School baseball/softball elds on Friday,September 20.

AIBs new sotball and baseballprograms will use the LincolnSouth sotball and baseball eldsor practice and home games. Te

school district will be responsible ormost maintenance o the elds, andAIB will contribute to the cost orenovating them.

Te initial term o the agreementis ve years, with the option or AIBto extend the agreement or ourthree-year terms subject to approvalo the Des Moines Public Schools.

Tis is an exciting partnership

or both AIB and Lincoln HighSchool, said AIB President NancyWilliams. AIB will have the use ocollegiate-level sotball and baseballelds that are near our campus,and the college will have theopportunity to establish a eedersystem o student-athletes or allsports rom a major CIML highschool in Des Moines.

Lincoln High School will have

assistance in upgrading acilities touse as their home elds. And thecity o Des Moines will benet rombeautication o a very visible area,Williams added.

Superintendent om Ahartbelieves the district is ortunate tohave partnerships with many highereducation institutions in central Iowa.

And this is a great opportunityto expand our relationship withAIB, Ahart said. Tis joint eortnot only benets student-athletesat both Lincoln and AIB, but willenhance a public venue in oursouth-side community.

Harding students donated their time to

improve the Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Representatives from AIB College of

Business, Des Moines Public Schools an

Lincoln High School gathered to kick o

a new athletics partnership.


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This regular feature of the DMPS Community Report highlights awards and achievements of district students and staff.Please let us know if you have a notable achievement to share by e-mailing Sarah Taylor at [email protected] are some achievements from the past few months.

Celebrating Our Achievements

wo national organizations the

Government Finance OfcersAssociation and the Associationo School Business OfcialsInternational have recognizedDMPS or excellence in nancialreporting and accounting or thesixth year in a row.

Sarah Dougherty, who teacheshal-time as an Arts IntegrationSpecialist at Findley Elementary

and hal-time as the Visual ArtsCurriculum Coordinator or DesMoines Public Schools, was namedthe 2013 Outstanding ElementaryArt Educator or the state o Iowa.

Lisa Jorgensen, who is in her

rst year o teaching art classesat Findley Elementary, wasnamed the 2013 OutstandingMiddle School Art Educator orthe state o Iowa. Lisa waspreviously a teacher at WebsterCity Middle School.

Te Iowa State University Collegeo Human Sciences highlightsthe work o alumnaJulie Rosin,

assistant director at CentralCampus. Te article looks atthe work she does to helpstudent-teachers succeed intheir chosen career.

Roosevelt High School senior LilyNellans and 13 grad NathanLeys were named All Americansor the 2012-13 school year bythe National Forensic League.Te honor means the current and

ormer member o the RidersDebate eam were among the top25 national point leaders in debateout o more 120,000 students whoparticipate across the nation.

Hillis Elementary School waspresented with the HealthierUSSchool Challenge Silver Awardor their work to improve thehealth and nutrition o students.

Te initiative is sponsored bythe USDA Food & Nutritionprogram. In total, ten DMPSschools are being honored thisyear or their participation andsuccess in the program. Otherschools include: Brubaker, Garton,Jeerson, Lovejoy, Monroe, Stowe,Studebaker, Windsor, and Wrightelementary schools.

While in Des Moines in September,

Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist Jo

Redman took time to work with memb

of the Hoover High Jazz Combo during

master class session at Drake Universit


Ater qualiying or the State Gol ournament or the rst time in17 years, thanks to winning the District ournament on October8, the Roosevelt Roughriders golf team nished th in the teamcompetition. Junior Aaron Wirt led the team in scoring and nished3rd overall among individual golers with rounds o 71 and 78. TeState Gol ournament was held in Marion on October 11-12.


13/15

Celebrating Our Achievements


Eleven high school seniors in Des Moineswere chosen as 2014 Semi-Finalists for

the National Merit Scholarship, placing

them among the top young scholars in the

state and nation. The Des Moines students

were selected based on their strong

performance on the Preliminary SAT

(PSAT) test taken last year.

Des Moines Public Schools is proud to

announce that the following students have

been designated National Merit Scholarship

Semi-Finalists:

Edel Aron

Roosevelt High School

Granger Carty


Patrick Hiatt

Roosevelt High School Austin Lin


Lillian Nellans


Lydia Phillips


Maxwell Pilcher


Cianna Rothwell


Ryan Utke

Hoover High School

Quinn VeasmanRoosevelt High School

Reid Wade


Each of the above students also

attends classes at Central Academ

In addition, Daphne Gates, a

senior at Van Meter High School

takes courses at Central Academ

was also named a National Merit

Semi-Finalist.

Te Lincoln High Marching Rails earned the overall Grand Championhonors at the North Central Iowa Marching Band Invitational in FortDodge in September. Te Rails also earned top individual honors in thecategories o best marching, best brass and best percussion.

DMPS, GallupTeam Up to SurveyStudents on SchoolClimate

Students in grades 5 through 12in Des Moines Public Schools areparticipating in a Gallup StudentPoll to provide information onhow students feel about schooland life. DMPS is joining thousandsof other school districts inmeasuring the hope, engagement,and well-being of students.

Gallups research has shown thatthree key actors: hope, engagement,

and well-being are what drivestudent grades, achievementscores, retention, and utureemployment.

Te Gallup Student Poll isdedicated to measuring these threekey actors o Americas students. Bytapping into the hearts and minds oAmericas students, the Gallup StudentPoll will provide crucial insight tohelp acilitate new conversations and

solutions or student success in schooland lie.Te Gallup Student Poll consists

o a 10-minute web-based survey,containing 20 core questions, vedemographic questions, and mayinclude one randomly assigned index.All data are stored, aggregated, andanalyzed by Gallup.

All student data is completelycondential, as no personally

identiable inormation iscollected. Ater the survey has beenadministered, each school principalwill receive an electronic scorecardo their schools results. Te districtwill also receive an overall scorecard.

For more inormation, pleasevisit the Gallup Student Poll websiteatwww.gallupstudentpoll.com.

2014 National Merit

Scholarship Semi-Finalists


14/154

The Dream Lives On in NewDMPS Urban Leadership Course

Implicit in the historic dream thatwas shared half a century ago isa new class this year at CentralCampus.

Its called Urban Leadership 101 andthats an accurate enough course titlegiven that the objective is to raise

up a generation o inormed andinspired community activists, but itbarely hints at the cross-curriculargoings-on. ake the August 28 sessionor instance. In honor o the 50thanniversary o Martin Luther Kingsiconic I Have a Dream speechthe class detoured rom its unit onimmigration or an exercise builtaround that stirring moment hal acentury ago in Washington D.C.

It was part American History,part Government/Civics and partEnglish as the class watched a slideshow o images rom the event,wrote down their impressions andthen shared them in a ree-owingdiscussion.

Te groundbreaking newcourse is taught by Emily Langand Kristopher Rollins who dash

rom Central Campus back to theirheadquarters at Harding MiddleSchool ater beginning their dayswith UL 101. Its like jumpinginto the day rom a trampoline orteachers and students alike.

Words like sacred, courageous,sorrow, reverence and spirit are the

jargon. Outbreaks o goose bumpsare requent. Te atmosphere iscollegiate. When heads bow to writethe only sound in the room is apack o pencils racing across paperto convert powerul eelings intoequally powerul words.

We remind them all the timethat we can learn as much romthem as we teach them, Rollinssaid. Our eectiveness depends on

our ability to build relationships.We are challenging them to becomethe people we talk about in classand convincing them that they arecapable o that.

Or as Lang puts it, We wantto equip these kids to becomechange agents in their community.As opposed, say, to settling or ahigh school resume padded with

student council ofces that dressup a college application withoutimpacting the status quo.

Tere is no teaching manualor a class this innovative. Tecurriculum is coming on the y. Butthe co-creators are nothing i notresourceul. A good example is their

plan to bring in ELL students thatare brand new to America as parto the unit on immigration. Tatsounds like an idea that will giveinsight to their own students whilealso welcoming strangers who, itheyre eeling intimidated by newsurroundings, arent likely to inRoom 2101. Can you say win-win?

When its time to go, musicrelevant to the lesson plays instead

o a bell ringing. On their ways out,everybody stops to shake handswith their teachers. Expressions olove, casual but real, are exchanged.

Tey call it Urban Leadershipbut it could just as well be ModernFamily. Kids rom all over the worldand all across the socio-economicspectrum judging each other not bythe colors o their skins, but by thecontents o their characters like a

dream come true.


15/15

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 nd information on our schools, news stories, data, contacts, and more on

the DMPS web site at www.dmschools.org. In addition, follow DMPS on the followingsocial media sites:

Facebook: facebook.com/dmschools Twitter: twitter.com/dmschools Pinterest: pinterest.com/dmschools

ON THE AIRTune in to DMPS-TV on Mediacom Cable channels 85 and 97-3 at

any time to see stories about programs and events from throughout the school

district. 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

into Des Moines Public Schools own radio station - KDPS 88.1 - where your hostsare students from Central Campus and GrandView 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)

in its educational programs and its employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for

processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this

policy, please contact the districts Equity Coordinator Patricia Lantz, General Counsel, 901

Walnut Street, Des Moines, IA 50309; phone: 515.242.7837; email: [email protected].

The DMPS Community Repo

OCTOBER 2013 | Vol. 6 No. 2

The DMPS Community Report is

published every other month by the

ofce of Community Relations.

Editor/Writer : Phil Roeder, Sarah TayMike Wellman

Designer: Adam Rohwer

Photographer: Kyle Knicley, Jon Lem

Des Moines Public Schools

Community Relations

901 Walnut Street

Des Moines, IA 50309

(515) 242-8162

www.dmschools.org

2013-2014 Board of DirectorCindy Elsbernd, Chair

Bill Howard, Vice Chair

Rob X. Barron

Connie Boesen

Teree Caldwell-Johnson

Toussaint Cheatom

Pat Sweeney

Reminders

Friday, October 25:

Teacher EQ Development D

No school for students, 195-day

associates, 9.5 & 10-month employ

All teachers report.

Wednesday, November 27:

Thanksgiving Eve

No school for students, teachers,

associates. Ofces will be open.

Thursday-Friday,

November 28-29:

Thanksgiving Holiday

No school. All ofces will be close

Winter is coming whether (or weather)

we like it or not!

Its all in Iowa and that means possible snow days may be in the near uture!Detailed instructions are available on the DMPS website or what employees,students, and parents should do in the event there is no school, an earlydismissal, or a late start due to weather conditions.
http://www.facebook.com/dmschoolshttp://www.twitter.com/dmschoolshttp://www.pinterest.com/dmschoolshttp://www.pinterest.com/dmschoolshttp://www.twitter.com/dmschoolshttp://www.facebook.com/dmschools

October 2013 DMPS Community Report

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Transcript of October 2013 DMPS Community Report