Tornado Talk

Dover Schools Community Member:

❄️ We hope you've stayed warm and cozy as we move out of February and look ahead to spring. We are sure ready for it here! We're continuing to make progress on our goals for 2025. The past month has been filled with learning, growth, and exciting activities.

Inside these emails, you'll find updates on recent Board of Education meetings, spotlights on student achievements, information about upcoming events, and more. We encourage you to take a look and stay connected with all the happenings in our Dover City Schools community.

To our senior friends, we'll release information about reservations soon (they aren't open yet!), but please SAVE the DATE for our annual Spring Musical Preview and Spaghetti Dinner on Wednesday, April 2. Our Board of Education Members and District Administrators always look forward to fixing up and serving a great meal, and I know our DHS Thespians enjoy hosting you for a "sneak peek" at the musical before opening night! Stay tuned for details!

Please share this email with family and friends who would like to receive updates from Dover City Schools. They can easily sign up for these emails at by clicking HERE.

Sincerely,

Karie McCrate

Superintendent

Here, you'll find the most recent Board of Education Meeting Agenda, as well as approved minutes from the previous month's meeting(s). These are also always available on the District webpage. All regular meetings now begin at 6:00 pm.

February 10th Regular Board Meeting Agenda

January 13th Organizational Meeting Minutes

January 13th Regular Meeting Minutes

January 24th Special Board Meeting Minutes

January 27th Special Board Meeting Minutes

In February, the Board approved several personnel items for the 2025-26 school year (next year!), which you can always see in full in the agendas and minutes. A few key teaching hires and transfers that were approved in February are noted here:

• Matt Von Kaenel is transferring from teaching Health and Physical Education at Dover Middle School to teaching the same subject areas at Dover High School.
• Jennifer Hindman is currently a school counselor at Dover Avenue Elementary, and she will be transferring to Dover High School to serve as a counselor at DHS.
• Benj Miller will be transferring into the Dean of Students position at Dover High School; he currently teaches grades 7-12 students enrolled in an alternative learning setting.
• Zach Gardner was hired for next year as an alternative learning options teacher for students in grades 7-12; Mr. Gardner is currently a teacher at West Holmes High School.

In August, Dover Schools conducts a New Teacher Academy for all new teaching staff, which includes a welcome reception at the August 2025 Board Meeting. We will provide more "welcome" and introduction to new teachers at that time.

We are blessed in this community with supporters who are generous in their gifts of time and resources.

In February, we recognized, with gratitude, a $4,500 service | donation from the Tusc Rainbow Connection for eyeglasses and exams for Dover students.

Each month, we offer a way for you to engage with us, and we'll share the results the following month. In December, we asked what kind of content you'd like to see more of from your school district and we heard 36% of you say you wanted to learn more about "facility planning and the state of the schools." Within the next week, all Dover residents should be receiving a financial update from the school district in your mailbox. A brief update on our facility planning is included. More information on that process and ways for you to be involved will be shared in the upcoming months.

In January, we followed up on that and asked you what topics are most important to you regarding facility planning -- you will see those results below.

We have heard some of your priorities and will be sure those are key parts of our discussion and planning. We want to engage with you more about the future of our K-8 school facilities. As we plan for community engagement in 2025, how would you most prefer to receive updates and information about the district's facility planning process?

Along with Dover Avenue Principal Katie Nicholson, and 5th Grade Teachers Mary LaBrake and Breanne Fuhrer, student members of the “Kindness Committee shared their efforts with the Board. A few slides are featured below, and you can click HERE or directly on them to view their full presentation. We thank all of these students and the Dover Avenue community for helping us grow kind, compassionate leaders at Dover Schools!

Under the direction of Dover City Schools Orchestra Director, Mr. David Rutter, DHS Junior Andrew Osborn performed Movement #1 of JC Bach’s C Minor Concerto for Cello. The piece had been prepared for an OMEA event in January that was cancelled due to weather, so we were happy to enjoy Andrew's talented performance. He was accompanied by his grandmother, Mary Cooper. Enjoy!

Here's a look back of some of the posts that drew the most engagement within the past month ...