Dakota Minute

As we approach the close of a successful school year, we extend our sincere gratitude for your significant support and collaboration. As we look forward to celebrating the end of the year with various activities, we want to emphasize our shared commitment to maintaining a positive and respectful environment for all. We encourage you to partner with us in reinforcing appropriate behavior and considerate conduct during these events. By working together in these final weeks, we can ensure a safe, enjoyable, and celebratory conclusion to the year for our entire middle school community. Thank you for your continued dedication to our students' success.

Gratefully,

Principal Hyer

We’re excited to welcome students to middle school and want to make sure families feel informed and supported as we approach the start of the school year. The first day of school for our incoming 6th graders will be TUESDAY, August 26. On this day, 6th grade students will have the building to themselves—a great opportunity to ease into middle school life. They’ll spend the day getting comfortable with their new surroundings, practicing locker combinations, walking through their schedules, and building connections with teachers and classmates. While the optional 6th grade transition camp is no longer taking place in the middle of summer break, this first-day experience is designed to offer all students similar support in a more focused, real-time setting.

Our 7th and 8th grade students will join us starting WEDNESDAY, August 27. We’ve heard a few questions from families and elementary school staff about the transition camp, so we wanted to provide this update and will continue to communicate clearly as the first day approaches. We’re looking forward to a great start to the year for all of our students!

Please see THIS letter from our tech department in regards to Chromebook collections.

Beginning May 5, the trail behind Dakota Meadows will be temporarily closed for approximately one month due to tennis court construction. Thank you for your understanding as we work to improve our facilities.

Please make sure to have your student check the lost and found! We have quite a few items that are still in the lost and found and are needing their home. If you do not claim it by the last day of school, it will no longer be available.

The MAPS School Board will be adopting a revised 2025-2026 school calendar in order to provide additional time for construction in the summer of 2026.

On March 4th, a proposal was shared with the school community that outlined changes to next year’s calendar. Since that time, another option has been identified that would end the school year even sooner, eliminating the need to start the 2026-27 school year a week after Labor Day.

On Monday, March 17, the School Board met and discussed the attached 2025-26 calendar option that would:

• Start the school year before Labor Day.

• Hold school on November 25, November 26, January 2, March 13, March 23, April 1 and April 2.

• Hold Parent-Teacher conferences during the evenings in November and March and move the ‘no school days’ associated with conference days (teacher comp days) to the end of the school year.

• Set the last day of school as follows:

• Elementary: Monday, May 18, 2026
• Middle: Wednesday, May 20, 2026
• High School: Thursday, May 21, 2026 (graduation)

The School Board is scheduled to determine next school year’s calendar at their meeting on April 7.

As we come to the end of the year, please be on the look out for communcation in regards to your student and field trip opportunities. We have some fun events planned in school and off campus. If you have questions about upcoming events, please reach out to your advisory teacher.

Future Chaperones:

Turnaround times have been up to 6 weeks when submitting to the BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension). Be sure you get your applications in as soon as possible if you have an upcoming field trip you are volunteering for. You may fill out an application in the office and submit a copy of your valid driver's license. There is a $15 filing fee.

If you are the parent or guardian of a MAPS student, we want to make sure you’re receiving all the necessary communication.

Please check the following:

Do you have an Infinite Campus Parent Portal Account?

• If not, please follow THIS LINK to create one.

Do you have an account, but you're unsure about your contact preferences?

• If so, follow THIS LINK to review and update your settings.

If you have checked your preferences and still haven’t received a message, we recommend contacting your phone carrier, as some carriers may have issues with third-party or mass messaging services.

For further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to Infinite Campus support at icsupport@isd77.org.

Construction will continue throughout the 2024-25 school year as work on the new pool progresses. Construction fences and concrete barriers (see attachment) remain in place around the parent drop-off/pick-up area.

To help reduce congestion on Howard Drive and in the DMMS parking lot, we offer the following suggestions:

Student Pick-Up and Drop-Off Areas:

• School Lot: Please use both lanes and take turns merging near the pick-up/drop-off area.

• Crossview Church: Please enter the parking lot and find a parking space. DO NOT stop or park in the roundabout, as this may result in a ticket.

• Caswell North: Please find a place to park and wait for your student. Students may use the trail from campus to Caswell North.

Here is the assessment calendar for the 2024-2025 school year. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Please make sure to view the student calendar on our district website. This will have our early releases and no school days. In addition, the Google Calendar will have DMMS Specific information.

• May 19th- Big Ideas Trailer & Choir Concert @ West
• May 20th- Jeffer's Petroglyphs Field Trip- 6th Grade Trail Mendota
• May 21st- Jeffer's Petroglyphs Field Trip- 6th Grade Trail Minnesota
• May 26th- No School
• June 3rd- Arn Kind 6th Grade Presentation & 7th Grade Mahkato State Capitol Trip
• June 4th- 7th Grade Kasota State Capitol Trip
• June 5th- 8th Grade Celebration & Last Day of School