We are quickly approaching the opening of the first day of school as we transition from summer vacation marking August 20th, 2014, as the start of a new school year. A new school year presents opportunities for various beginnings. These new beginnings include renewed opportunities for professional growth, new classroom faces, and new teachers. As to new teachers, I would like to welcome to the DCMS family the following new teachers:
Mr. Daniel Dawson ......................................................... 6th Grade Math
Mr. Timothy Jackson........................................................ 6th Grade Social Studies
Mrs. Leandra Martin ...................................................... 6th/7th/8th Life Skills
Ms. Kaitlyn Paul............................................................... 8th Grade Math
Ms. Jessica Ralston.......................................................... Vocal Music
Mr. Jared Shillington....................................................... 8thGrade P.E.
Mr. Wade Spencer........................................................... 7thGrade Social Studies
Mr. Blake Studt................................................................ ESL Newcomers
Ms. Julie Tacka................................................................ Special Education
Mr. Timothy Jackson........................................................ 6th Grade Social Studies
Mrs. Leandra Martin ...................................................... 6th/7th/8th Life Skills
Ms. Kaitlyn Paul............................................................... 8th Grade Math
Ms. Jessica Ralston.......................................................... Vocal Music
Mr. Jared Shillington....................................................... 8thGrade P.E.
Mr. Wade Spencer........................................................... 7thGrade Social Studies
Mr. Blake Studt................................................................ ESL Newcomers
Ms. Julie Tacka................................................................ Special Education
Newness alone, however, cannot produce transformation. Each school year we must be willing to be caught up in rebirth to improve our craft. Starting a year gives us the opportunity to make new plans, design new strategies and implement new ideas. A special kind of joy and satisfaction comes from planning lessons and activities for a new class, although the subject or grade level may be the same, the students are new and they appreciate the planning done for them.
Whether one's responsibility is in administrating, supervising, teaching, preparing lunches, maintaining a building or managing an office, we continue to recognize room for improvement and ways to do a good job even better. We can be proud of what we are achieving, in our offices, our playing fields, our stages, and our classrooms, but our achievements are not due to complacency and satisfaction with status quo.
Our school is what it is because of our staff of dedicated, aspiring men and women establishing a common goal to do what is best for students and always looking for ways to continue to achieve this goal. What we must remember when approaching each year is our school is not about programs, it is about people like you who make Dodge City Middle School a place of enjoyment for students to learn and teachers to teach. Dodge City Middle School is truly about a climate of trust.
This year we will be developing a Title I plan focusing on improvement goals for math and reading. Our Title I plan will be constructed around USD 443 vision of improved instruction. The Title I plan will also maintain our focus on student centered instructional practices. To accomplish this focus together, we will need to establish a means by which we understand individual learning needs through differentiated instruction and formative assessments. We will continually strive to provide avenues to help students reach success by monitoring academic deficiencies through our Student Intervention Team. This will mean teachers and teams will frequently focus on the individual child as we communicate different levels of needs.
With enrollment verification scheduled for Thursday, August 7, 2014, we anticipate smaller class sizes, especially as we approach ideas supporting differentiated instruction. With smaller class sizes and the goal to improve instruction at the forefront of our craft, we will need to prepare for ways to ensure a strengthened commitment to student centered learning.
This year we will continue the district’s mission of every student having the necessary skills to achieve academically and socially at the next level of their education. Our goals will be to help each student use technology as a learning tool, post clear learning expectations by communicating objectives, and reinforce learning with high degrees of checking for understanding, supported through meaningful feedback as we incorporate multiple ways to deliver purposeful explicit vocabulary instruction.
To accomplish these goals, we must revitalize the foundations we have constructed for success built around this year’s theme of “We are One"; one district, one school and one community bound together with the central purpose of ensuring that every student is College and Career Ready. These College and Career Ready foundations transcend with middle level education which is constructed around our teams of teachers, Professional Learning Communities and effective teaching practices.
Attached you will find a tentative schedule of back to school events.
Let us make the 2014 – 2015 school year our best year yet!
Whether one's responsibility is in administrating, supervising, teaching, preparing lunches, maintaining a building or managing an office, we continue to recognize room for improvement and ways to do a good job even better. We can be proud of what we are achieving, in our offices, our playing fields, our stages, and our classrooms, but our achievements are not due to complacency and satisfaction with status quo.
Our school is what it is because of our staff of dedicated, aspiring men and women establishing a common goal to do what is best for students and always looking for ways to continue to achieve this goal. What we must remember when approaching each year is our school is not about programs, it is about people like you who make Dodge City Middle School a place of enjoyment for students to learn and teachers to teach. Dodge City Middle School is truly about a climate of trust.
This year we will be developing a Title I plan focusing on improvement goals for math and reading. Our Title I plan will be constructed around USD 443 vision of improved instruction. The Title I plan will also maintain our focus on student centered instructional practices. To accomplish this focus together, we will need to establish a means by which we understand individual learning needs through differentiated instruction and formative assessments. We will continually strive to provide avenues to help students reach success by monitoring academic deficiencies through our Student Intervention Team. This will mean teachers and teams will frequently focus on the individual child as we communicate different levels of needs.
With enrollment verification scheduled for Thursday, August 7, 2014, we anticipate smaller class sizes, especially as we approach ideas supporting differentiated instruction. With smaller class sizes and the goal to improve instruction at the forefront of our craft, we will need to prepare for ways to ensure a strengthened commitment to student centered learning.
This year we will continue the district’s mission of every student having the necessary skills to achieve academically and socially at the next level of their education. Our goals will be to help each student use technology as a learning tool, post clear learning expectations by communicating objectives, and reinforce learning with high degrees of checking for understanding, supported through meaningful feedback as we incorporate multiple ways to deliver purposeful explicit vocabulary instruction.
To accomplish these goals, we must revitalize the foundations we have constructed for success built around this year’s theme of “We are One"; one district, one school and one community bound together with the central purpose of ensuring that every student is College and Career Ready. These College and Career Ready foundations transcend with middle level education which is constructed around our teams of teachers, Professional Learning Communities and effective teaching practices.
Attached you will find a tentative schedule of back to school events.
Let us make the 2014 – 2015 school year our best year yet!