May 5, 2017
Happy Friday morning from TheWeek@DMPS. As the first week of May comes to a close, it means we're now counting the days to the last day of school and graduation ceremonies (see below for a complete schedule of commencements). This week also marked the first week of AP Exams for hundreds of high school students, saw a Roosevelt sophomore selected to create new "street art" for Des Moines, and brought some well-earned recognition to long-time School Board member Connie Boesen. Plus be sure to see a story with details on our summer meal program. Read on for these stories and much, much more.
STORIES ABOUT OUR STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS
Boesen Honored for Service to Education, Community
Congratulations to School Board member Connie Boesen who has received two distinguished awards in as many weeks this spring: the Louise Noun Visionary Woman Award from the Young Women's Resource Center and the United Way of Central Iowa Advocacy Award.  Read more about Connie's work  on behalf of education and the community since she was first elected to the School Board in 2003.
DMPS Summer Meal Program Returns in June
Des Moines Public Schools, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will once again offer no-cost breakfast and lunch to children under the age of 18 at 31 locations throughout the district this summer.  Most meal sites begin serving June 5. Click here for more details including locations as well as dates and times.
AP Exam Season Underway at DMPS
The yearlong countdown is over and this week DMPS students took off on their missions of more than 2,400 AP exams. The exams conclude next week. While it's not rocket science, there are 31 other disciplines ranging from American history to English literature to Chinese, German and Italian cultures; biology to psychology to geography; music theory to studio art (and new courses to come next year).  Click here to read more about the AP Exam and DMPS .
Student Creates "Street Art" for Des Moines
The City of Des Moines will soon install new manhole covers throughout the city, part of a sewer upgrade project. Roosevelt sophomore Ellie Duong created the winning design of the manhole covers, creating "street art" that will appear at more than 300 locations in Des Moines to remind people about the importance of water quality.  Read and see more about Ellie's work and the unveiling of her design.
The fashion program at Central Campus creates designs that deserve to be on the cover of any fashion magazine. So while we wait for Vogue or Elle, have a look at nearly 300 photos from last week's annual and always fashionable Fashion Show. Check out the great designs and works created by our students that are worthy of runways in Paris, Milan or New York.
Scavo, Downtown School Collaborate on Book
Scavo High School illustrators and Downtown School authors teamed up this spring to publish books that will soon be shared with families and future students. It's a collaboration that teachers and teacher-coaches say was the highlight of the year.  Click here to read and see more.
History Road Show Stop at Cowles Montessoi
Sometimes the students go on the field trips and sometimes the field trips come to the students. This week at Cowles Montessori School it was the latter when a big, blue museum on wheels parked at the school for three days. As we get regular reminders about why it's important to know history, click here to read and see more about how history paid a visit to our students.
Roughrider Wins Tournament of Champions
Congratulations to Roosevelt High School senior Jacob Thompson on winning first place in the Extemporaneous Speaking category at the Tournament of Champions, held last weekend at the University of Kentucky. The TOC is one of the nation's most prestigious high school speech and debate tournaments.
MAY IS COMMENCEMENT MONTH FOR CLASS OF 2017
In less that three weeks, hundreds of high school seniors will don cap and gown to walk across the stage and receive diplomas at eight DMP graduation ceremonies. Below is the schedule of commencements for the Class of 2017:
  • Districtwide Programs: North High School Auditorium, May 24 at 2:00 PM
  • Scavo High School: Hoyt Sherman Place, May 26 at 10:00 AM
  • Ruby Van Meter: Van Meter Gymnasium, May 26 at 6:30 PM
  • East High School: Drake University Knapp Center, May 27 at 9:00 AM 
  • Hoover High School: Drake University Knapp Center, May 27 at 12:30 PM
  • Lincoln High School: Drake University Knapp Center, May 27 at 3:30 PM
  • Roosevelt High School: Drake University Knapp Center, May 27 at 7:30 PM
  • North High School: Drake University Knapp Center, May 28 at 7:30 PM 
PHOTO GALLERIES OF THE WEEK
Greenwood Highlights Computer Science
Greenwood Elementary was the site of a press conference Monday with Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise, who spoke about a new law to encourage computer science education. The star of the show, however, was Greenwood's coding club, a group of more than 75 students who meet after school to work on technology projects.  Click here for photos of the event.
Downtown School Celebrates Books
From Rosie Revere, Engineer to the man in the yellow hat to Clark the Shark and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Downtown School students and teachers celebrated books by dressing as their favorite book characters on Wednesday. The school invited parents to share in the fun at a rally in the Central Campus auditorium.  Click here to see more photos on the district's Flickr page.
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 5
Movement 515 Teen Poetry Slam - Drake's Harmon Center (6:30 PM) -  click here for info
May 7
DMPS Community Legislative Action Team - Central Campus (1:30 PM) -  click here for more
May 11
"I'm Not a Racist ... Am I?" - Roosevelt High School (6:00 PM) -  click here for free tickets
May 13
Oak Park Elementary 5K Fun Run & 125th anniversary open house - Oak Park School (10:00 AM) -  click here to register
May 16
School Board Meeting - Central Campus (6:00 PM)
Spring Sports
Girls Golf/Soccer/Tennis/Track & Field  - Visit athletics.dmschools.org for schedules
ICYMI: DMPS IN THE NEWS
Recent items in the news or online about or of interest to students, teachers and parents at Des Moines Public Schools:
  • East High School held their 25th annual fashion show Tuesday night, and in addition to displaying the creative work of students it was also for a good cause: raising funds for the family of Stephen Kim, a local father of three who was recently killed. WOI-TV reports on the event and why students felt it was important to engage with the community. Click here to see Channel 5's report.
TheWeek@DMPS is a recipient of the 2016 Award of Merit 
from the National School Public Relations Association.
It is the policy of the Des Moines Community School District not to illegally discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, 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 believe you (or your child) have been discriminated against or treated unjustly at school, please contact Anne Sullivan at 2323 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312 or 515-242-7709 or anne.sullivan@dmschools.org.