MSD OF DECATUR TOWNSHIP

With cold and flu season upon us, don't forget that Decatur Township students in grades K-12 can receive FREE Virtual Care services through Community Virtual Care! Appointments are held at the clinic (5106 S. High School Rd, Suite B, Door #4 in the Technology Center, beside the entrance to DMS) and the students will see a provider virtually. Schedule an appointment by calling your school nurse or emailing decaturvirtualcare@ecommunity.com.

At the regularly scheduled meeting of the MSD Decatur Township School Board of Education on August 13, 2024, Assistant Superintendent Mr. Chris Gearlds led the Decatur Proud recognitions.

For the first recognition, Mr. Gearlds introduced Mr. Todd Sconce, Director of Transportation. Mr. Sconce shared that, “Our Transportation Department is called the ‘Elite Fleet’ as they strive to get better every day to become elite. Our drivers are the first (and last) MSD Decatur employees our students see each day. If they don’t do their job well, it impacts everyone else’s job.” During the 2023-24 school year, the 75 buses and 100 employees of the MSD of Decatur Township transportation department helped transport more than 5,700 students over 900,000 miles and transported students and teams on 1,221 trips. Congratulations to the following bus drivers for having perfect attendance during the 2023-24 school year:

• Cris Barr

• Mistie Hartloff

• Kellie Norris

• Susan Phillips

• Linda Poore

• Gail Sharp

• Kevin Schrader (In addition, Kevin is a 2nd generation MSD Decatur bus driver who has not missed a day in his 10 years of driving for Decatur Township!)

Left to right: Dr. Scott Collins (Superintendent), Chris Barr, Kevin Schrader, Susan Phillips, Kellie Norris, Todd Sconce (Transportation Director), Gail Sharp, Larry Taylor (School Board President)

Mr. Gearlds then invited the following STEAM teachers to come forward at the meeting:

• Rebecca Bersani (STEAM and PLTW K-6 Coordinator)

• Shawn Powers (Blue Academy)

• Andy Riester (Gold Academy)

• Maxwell Golden (Lynwood Elementary)

• Helen Harris (Stephen Decatur Elementary)

• Carla Monical (Valley Mills Elementary)

• Ryan Stroud (West Newton Elementary)

Mr. Gearlds announced that Blue Academy, Gold Academy, Lynwood Elementary, Stephen Decatur Elementary, Valley Mills Elementary, and West Newton Elementary have been named Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Launch Distinguished Schools for the 2023-24 school year. This honor is given to a select number of elementary schools across the U.S. for providing broad access to transformative learning experiences for students through PLTW Launch, an elementary STEAM curriculum. These students engage in critical and creative thinking, build teamwork skills, and develop a passion for and confidence in STEAM subjects. This recognition honors schools committed to increasing student access, engagement, and achievement in their PLTW programs. To be eligible for the designation, each of these six schools had to have more than 75% of the student body participating in the program and had to offer at least one PLTW Launch module at each grade level during the 2022-23 school year. Congratulations to our elementary schools and these teachers for their dedication to helping their students achieve exemplary results.

L to R: Dr. Scott Collins, Andy Riester, Shawn Powers, Ryan Stroud, Carla Monical, Helen Harris, Rebecca Bersani, Larry Taylor

Dr. Scott Collins (Superintendent) and Mr. Justin Dixson (Director of Operations) introduced Mr. Nick Jenkins as our new Assistant Athletic Director at Decatur Central High School. Mr. Jenkins has previously served Decatur Township as the Armstrong Pavilion Manager and is proud to take on this new role.

L to R: Justin Dixson (Director of Operations) and Nick Jenkins (Assistant Athletic Director at DCHS)

Check out this school year's menu! Don't forget that breakfast & lunch are free for all students! Join us for some delicious, nutritious meals!

Check out our lunch portal! You can monitor purchases, add funds, and much more!

Reminder: For the 2024-2025 school year, breakfast and lunch will be provided to all students at no charge. Families can load funds through the Linq Connect app for any "extras" students may want to purchase.

Register here: https://linqconnect.com/WPME5A

Click here for detailed instructions on how to register!

MSD of Decatur Township Child Nutrition Department

5275 Kentucky Ave., Indianapolis IN 46221

317-856-5265

Setting up your Stopfinder Account:

The Stopfinder app can help track the GPS location of your child's bus. If you need a new email invitation to join, please contact the Transportation Department at 317-856-8060.

Stopfinder can be downloaded for free from the App Store or Google Play.

Here are other resources to assist you in setting up the Stopfinder app, once you receive the invitation email:

Video: How to set up and use your Stopfinder Account

We would like to highlight that once you set up your account, you will also need to create GeoAlerts for your student, which will notify you when the bus has arrived in or departed from any location on your student’s route, including their assigned bus stop and school. Please view the following linked video, which explains how to set up these GeoAlerts:

Video: How to Set Up GeoAlerts (Notifications of bus arrival/departure)

Decatur Township Transportation Department
​317-856-8060

ParentSquare is the official communication platform of the MSD of Decatur Township.

Visit https://www.parentsquare.com or download the ParentSquare app to get started:

Connect to Skyward here or download the Skyward App:

Per state legislation, Indiana families will not be charged textbook fees. Parents and students will continue to be responsible for any lost or damaged educational material, including but not limited to, lost textbooks, lost or damaged iPad and related components, library books, cafeteria fees, extracurricular activities, fundraising, and NSF check fees.