DMS Panther Pulse

DMS Families,

Welcome to this edition of the Panther Pulse! Please read through the DMS updates below. Please check this edition throughout the month as it may continue to be updated throughout the month.

Go Panthers!

Mission: Our community will develop respectful, productive citizens by cultivating positive relationships and modeling our core values of integrity, kindness, and trust.

Vision: Each student performing at grade level in all areas.

September 2 - Labor Day - No School

September 3 - Parents' Club Meeting 5 PM DMS Library/Virtual Link

September 13 - Progress Reports sent via Email

September 18 - Picture Day

September 20 - SIP Day - Noon Dismissal

September 30-October 5 - Homecoming Week

October 1 - Parents' Club Meeting 5 PM DMS Library/Virtual Link

October 2 - Custodian Appreciation Day

October 3 - Homecoming Parade

October 11 - End of Quarter 1

The DMS Spirit Wear store is open for another week. Please use the link below to order-
https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/DUNMS304
Store will stay open till September 30th 11:59 PM.
Orders will ship directly to your home. You will receive your orders on or before Oct 31st.

DMS Families,

The staff at Dunlap Middle School is looking forward to hosting student-led conferences and having the opportunity to visit with our families to discuss your child’s academic and social-emotional development. We have been working diligently in preparation for our annual conferences to provide quality feedback to your family. Please review the important information below:

1. Conferences will be held on Thursday, October 24, 2024, from 12 PM-7 PM and Friday, October 25, 2024, from 7 AM-1 PM.

2. Use the Sign Up Genius links below to sign up for a time. Choose a date & time using the links. Please be sure to include your child’s name when signing up online.

   1. Click on the appropriate grade level and date below:

      1. 6th Grade

         1. Click here to sign up for Thursday, October 24, 2024 (12-7 PM)

         2. Click here to sign up Friday, October 25, 2024 (7 AM-1 PM)

      2. 7th Grade

         1. Click here to sign up Thursday, October 24, 2024 (12-7 PM)

         2. Click here to sign up Friday, October 25, 2024 (7 AM-1 PM)

      3. 8th Grade

         1. Click here to sign up Thursday, October 24, 2024 (12-7 PM)

         2. Click here to sign up Friday, October 25, 2024 (7 AM-1 PM)

3. These conferences are student-led and your child should plan to attend as they will lead the conference while teachers will stop by for a short time.

We look forward to seeing you on October 24th, and October 25th. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Antonio L. Johnson
Principal
Dunlap Middle School

2024 Homecoming Parade Information:

• Parade Date: Thursday, October 3rd, 2024
• Parade entry form due: Sunday, September 29th, 2024
• Parade Line-up Location: North Park
  
• Parade Set-up & Line-up: 4:00 pm
• Parade Start Time: 4:45 pm
• Theme: Eagle Island- Beach & Tropical

Check here for more updates.

Also, on Friday, Oct. 4th "Eagle Fans" are invited to stay seated following the varsity football game vs. Canton to enjoy a firework spectacular! Fans will enjoy our firework show to music as we celebrate our staff, students, and alumni! Thank you to the TD Club, Country Financial Josh Riekena, and the DHS Homecoming Committee for their support!!

Any student in 3rd-8th grades interested in building or improving their basketball skill is invited to attend upcoming HOI Fall Basketball workouts beginning Sunday, October 6th through Sunday, October 27th. All workouts will take place at Dunlap Valley. There will be a strong emphasis on shooting off the catch, shooting off the dribble, and ball handling skills. For more information visit https://www.heartofillinoisbasketball.com/fall-workouts/2024-fall-workouts. This is a great opportunity to get ready for the upcoming basketball season. Last year's sessions did fill up so sign up soon.

DMS Families,

A reminder that Picture Day is this Wednesday, September 18, 2024. You all should have received an email from HR Imaging with order information. You can place an order online by clicking here. If you received an envelope in the mail, feel free to send it to school with your student on picture day, whether you ordered online or not.

Thanks,

Antonio Johnson

Principal

Dunlap Middle School

The August Panther Word of Pride was "kindness." Teachers recognized several students who were friendly, generous, and considerate of others.

Congratulations to our honorees: Owen, Xhejda, Nayani, Dylan, Zoe, Max, and Nick!

August 26 th , 2024

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As part of ongoing support for families, your child’s school is offering a series of classes for

parents and guardians through a partnership with the Behavior Intervention Support Team

(BIST). These training sessions are designed to provide ways you can support your child’s

developing academic and behavior skills, as well as increase consistency between home and

school.

BIST Virtual Parenting Series

5:45 PM - 6:00 PM Enter Zoom Waiting Room

6:00 PM – 6:45 PM Informational Session

6:45 PM – 7:00 PM Questions and Answers

September 19th: “The Impact of Common Ground Parenting: Presenting a United Front”

September 26th: “The Art of Not Saying ‘No’”

October 3rd: “Moving from Resistance to Resilience”

These classes are designed to:

• Create consistency between school and home
• Provide language for adults to use when redirecting children
• Share ways to problem solve to increase your child’s success
• Increase generosity and kindness in your children
• Bring a sense of calm to your home

Please join us for any or all three sessions!

How to Register for Free Training

These virtual classes are provided free of charge, however, we do ask that you please register

through our website on or before Friday, September 13th, 2024. Instructions for registration

are on the page below.

We are excited to offer this opportunity to you!

Sincerely,

Marty Huitt, Director

Behavior Intervention Support Team/Cornerstones of Care

8150 Wornall Rd

Kansas City, MO 64114

@MartyHuitt

To register for this class:

1. Go to http://BIST.org

2. Click Log In on the home screen.

3. If you already created a username by previously enrolling in a BIST class, just log in on

this screen.

4. If you have never registered for a BIST class, enter your information (Name, Email, and

a Password). This will register you on the website, but not for the class.

5. At the top of the page, use the dropdown menu called “Classes.” Click “Training

Calendar.”

6. Select the class you wish to attend (Parenting with BIST). Click “Register” under your

preferred class.

7. Fill out the required questions and click “Register.”

8. On the checkout screen, complete the billing details even though this is a free class.

9. Click “Place Order.” The Order Details page is your confirmation of registration.

10. You will receive an email containing the Zoom link for the training sessions on

Wednesday, September 18 th .

a. If you have not received an email containing the Zoom link by noon on

September 18 th , please contact our office at bist@cornerstonesofcare.org for

assistance.

Click the links below to read through Back to School Night presentations for each grade level.

• 6th Grade
• 7th Grade
• 8th Grade

New To Dunlap Middle or curious about what is going on at our school? Attend a DMS PTO meeting. Our meetings provide updates from our Principal as well as needs that are identified and discussed to support our students, staff and school.

DMS PTO meetings are held at DMS in the school library. We also offer a virtual option by clicking here. All of our meetings begin at 5 PM.

September 3

October 1

November 12

December 3

January 7

February 4

March 4

April 1

May 6

Interested in volunteering? Fill out this survey!

Don’t worry the time commitment for middle school PTO is NOT as intense as elementary PTO positions. Our meetings are all after school/work once a month. We have many roles on our board which helps us break up the duties so they are more manageable. Please consider volunteering for a position during the 2024-25 school year. You can find out about any open volunteer spots by attending our September meeting! There is a spot for everyone at our PTO so please join us!

Questions - contact presidentdmspto@gmail.com

A district goal for the coming school year will be to improve student attendance. Our attendance practices and policies have been aligned to the Illinois State Board of Education requirements and Illinois School Law. Students will be allowed up to 7 days per semester as excused for illness, mental health, etc... Absences for travel or other reasons not excused by a doctor beyond the 7 days will be considered unexcused. Make-up work and credit for unexcused absences will not be provided and students will receive zeros for this assignments. Please make every effort to avoid extended absences due to travel outside of the scheduled breaks from school. A missed school day is a missed opportunity for student learning. Additional information on the attendance policy is available in the student handbook.

As you enter the DHS/DMS campus please start to form two lines. Those families dropping a student off should stay to the left as you pass Dunlap High School. Once you turn to head toward Dunlap Middle School please get in the right-hand lane for drop offs. The left-hand lane is used for thru traffic.

Do NOT stop in the left-hand lane. All DMS drop-offs should be done in the right-hand lane close to the front door crosswalk.

Also, when picking your child up in the PM all traffic will flow through the DMS parking lot. Students should wait close to the front of the building to be picked up. Please be on the lookout for our students as you drive through our parking lot!

Eighth grade families, if your child is interested in attending the Washington D.C. trip please be sure they are signed up as buses are filling up quickly. Email me at ajohnson@dunlapcusd.net if you need more information. Click links below for information presented last May.

Eighth grade students have received information regarding the 2025 class trip to Washington D.C. The opportunity to visit Washington D.C. has become an exciting trip for many middle school students. Next year’s trip is scheduled for May 29 through June 2, 2025 with an itinerary that may include various historical sites such as Mt. Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. Capital, a host of national monuments and others in the Washington D.C. area. Feel free to review the informational slides and registration form below for those that were not be able attend the informational meeting.

Washington DC Information and Registration Form

Informational PowerPoint from Meeting

Thanks,

Antonio L. Johnson
Principal
Dunlap Middle School

Want to know what's going on at DMS? Click here to access our daily announcements! This is a great way to stay informed on our daily announcements.

We are required by the State of Illinois to engage in multiple mandatory safety drills. These drills are reviewed and practiced with our students in developmentally appropriate ways. If you would like to request that your child be opted out of these drills, please contact Mr. Johnson (ajohnson@dunlapcusd.net). Drills are scheduled for the following dates:

Fire Drills:

• August 20, 2024

• September 3, 2024

• September 12, 2024 with the Dunlap Fire Department present

Law Enforcement Drill:

• August 22, 2024
• August 26, 2024 with School Resource Officers present

Severe Weather Drill

• September 19, 2024

• March 10, 2025

Bus Evacuation Drill:

• TBD

The DMS school day starts at 8:20 AM. School is dismissed at 3:30 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and 3:00 PM on Wednesday for PLCs. Our bells schedule can be found on our website by clicking here.

Click here to access information about signing up for a PowerSchool parent account.

Click here to access information about signing up for a Canvas parent account.

It is important to notify the office if your child is going to be absent and/or if your child will be leaving early on a particular day. If you child will be leaving early, your communication should be done early. This will help us have your child ready for you when you arrive. You may simply send your child in with a note, email school secretaries (ceckles@dunlapcusd.net, gtucker@dunlapcusd.net and/or rkortemeier@dunlapcusd.net), and/or call the school with the information. There is also an email absences button on the front page of our newsletter.

It is best to communicate first thing in the morning or the previous day so that we can update our attendance accordingly or so that a pass can be written for your child. If you have your child bring in a note, please have them bring it to the office upon arrival that day.

In an effort to maintain the safest environment possible for our children, security measures have been implemented in all buildings throughout the district. All school doors, including the front entrance, will be locked during school hours. Visitors to the school will need to press the buzzer located to the left of the main entrance and wait to be let in by office staff.

Upon entering the building, visitors will be asked to present a US government issued ID such as a Driver’s License, which can either be scanned or manually entered into our electronic sign in system. Once entry is approved, a badge will be issued that identifies the visitor, the date, and the purpose of his/her visit. Upon exiting the school, visitors will be asked to give their visitors badge to the office staff when checking out.

The District has a 1:1 Technology website that will help answer questions regarding Canvas FAQ, Chromebook care and Google/Chromebook FAQ.

If you are experiencing any issues with your Chromebook, and cannot find the answers to your questions, please contact the Dunlap IT help desk at helpdesk@dunlapstudents.net.

Classroom teachers and the office may not be able to support any issues with technology aside from general login instructions for district platforms.

Dear Dunlap CUSD #323 Parents and Guardians:

Welcome Back! The new school year is fast approaching and the Dunlap Food Service

department is busy preparing for our students to arrive. Please take a moment to review some

important information that will assist you in a successfully navigating the food service program.

Below are the prices of school meals for the 2024-25 school year:

School lunch prices for school year 2024-25

Grades K-5 - $2.65

Grades 6-8 - $2.85

Grades 9-12 - $3.05

Reduced Price Lunch - $0.40

Milk - $0.50 per carton

Free/Reduced Applications Available August 1, 2024. Apply online using MySchoolApps. Use the

link below.

https://www.dunlapcusd.net/cms/one.aspx?pageId=3071539

Special Note: If approved for Free or Reduced meal benefits and your student needs a milk for

their lunch brought from home, the student will need to purchase at .50 cents. Milk is only

provided with the school meal.

Adding Money to Lunch Accounts: Middle school students can add money as they go through the lunch line using cash or check.

Preferred Payment for all schools, MySchoolbucks.com. See link below.

*Please be advised, (All Schools) if you deposit money on your child’s account after 9:30 am

using myschoolbucks.com, there’s a good chance the deposit will not post to your child’s

lunch account until after 12:00pm.

https://www.dunlapcusd.net/cms/one.aspx?pageId=3071539

Email: ajohnson@dunlapcusd.net
Website: https://dms.dunlapcusd.net/
Location: 5200 West Cedar Hills Drive, Dunlap, IL, USA
Phone: 309-243-7778
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DunlapMiddleSchool/
Twitter: @DMSPanthers