Head of School Update

Mr. Art Campbell, Head of School

Ms. Kelly Stauffer, Admin. Asst. to the Head of School

We hope everyone has had a wonderful first week of school. As a reminder, there will be no school on Monday, September 2, 2024 in observance of Labor Day. Many events, including college visits for the senior class during the school day, have been added to our STEM Academy website calendar and will be updated throughout the school year. Below are some additional important dates to remember during the month of September.

• Senior Class: Final Senior Portrait Dates: Tues-Thurs. 9/3-9/5. Appts are still available on Wednesday and Thursday evening: Downingtown STEM Academy Class of 2025 Senior Portraits
• Lifetouch Picture Day: Thursday, September 5 for all students in grades 9-11. Pictures can be pre-ordered: STEM Academy Picture Day . Orders can be placed using either the Student ID, or Picture Day ID: EVTFP9JT4
• All students should make sure to have their pictures taken, so that they can receive an updated student ID. Student ID cards for members of the senior class have already been delivered and will be passed out to students the first week of school.
• Back to School Night: Thursday, September 12 at 6:00 pm. Parents will follow the "A" Day schedule for their student. It is important to make sure that you arrive with a copy of your students' A Day Schedule. Below is time schedule we will follow for the evening:

24-25 STEM Academy Back to School Night Schedule

• Senior Panoramic Photo: Monday, September 16 during advisory. All orders for the group photo must be placed before 9/16. The cost of the photo is $20 and can be placed through www.mylifetouch.com, using code LW294003T0. Please contact Ms. Bradley or Ms. Snyder for any additional details or order forms if you prefer to not order online.
• Home and School Meeting: Monday, September 16 at 7:00 pm in the STEM Academy Atrium. All are welcome to attend.

Lunch & Learn :The daily schedule for August 26-September 11 has been modified as we work toward preparing for the Lunch & Learn Schedule. Please make note of the changes on the

24-25 Opening Week Schedule.

Beginning September 11, and on days students have periods 1-7, we will continue our one hour Lunch & Learn. The purpose of Lunch & Learn is to provide students with time, support, and resources necessary to be a successful student. By scheduling time during the school day all students will have equal access to their teachers and other resources. This is a time for students to eat lunch, work on schoolwork, meet with teachers and counselors, participate in physical activity in our stadium behind the school, meet as student clubs, as well as other optional special programs for our students. This is a time that all staff and administration are available for our students. Please be on the lookout for much more information over the next few weeks.

Early Dismissals: Emails can be sent to stemattendance@dasd.org for any student requiring an early dismissal. Students should report to the office in the morning to pick up their early dismissal slip to show their teacher and should check out in the main office prior to exiting the building. Students should not leave out of any door other than the main office.

If a student is sent home by Mrs. Mikulich, our school nurse, they will be dismissed through the main office as well. If a student is feeling ill they should ask their teacher if they may go to the nurse and the nurse will assist in next steps. Parents, please do not allow your student to text or call you to come get them and then pick them up and leave. Please tell them to go to the nurse and the nurse will be in contact or please call the school to let us know your child isn’t feeling well. This is extremely important for student safety and accountability. If there are any questions, please reach out to Ms. Mikulich.

Arriving at School on Time: We have a lot of work to do each day with our STEM Academy students. Therefore, it is critical for students to arrive on time whether they are riding with a family member, friend, or driving themselves to school. The good news for some is that our school day begins twenty minutes later than past years. We will begin promptly at 8:00 am. Students are expected to be in their classroom by 8:00 am each morning in order to maximize their experience with us. We will be lenient the first week but students driving or obtaining a ride are expected to be to school on time. If students ride the bus and their bus arrives late, they will not be marked late due to a late arrival of the bus.

Traffic: Please review the student pick up and drop off procedures located under School Day on our Website. Please allow enough time for traveling to school in the morning.

Attendance: As a reminder, Ms. Sokso is our attendance assistant. All attendance inquiries can be directed to stemattendance@dasd.org . If you have any questions or concerns about attendance please reach out to her. If your student is absent you must send in an excuse note within three days after the absence. If your student will be missing school for a family trip please be sure to fill out the family trip form ahead of time. Request Form for Educational and Family Trips.

School Safety: Safety and Discipline are an essential component to any school. Students and parents are required to read the bullet points below as you will be held responsible for following school and school district policies.

All students are required to follow all school and district policies and procedures.

• Student Code of Conduct Policy- please review prior to the start of school.
• Student Rights and Responsibility- please review prior to the start of school.

The 24-25 Parking Permit application opened for the Senior Class on Monday, August 5, and for the Junior Class on Monday, August 12. Please be reminded that students should use their DASD student email address to apply, as the permit is issued to the student driving the car on campus. Information regading parking permits can be found on our website in the Backpack. Additional parking permits are available this school year as construction on campus is winding down.

Volunteers: We would like to welcome volunteers throughout the school year. Please take a moment to review the Volunteer Requirements. The Annual DASD Volunteer Disclosure Form should be completed and returned each school year. All volunteer clearances and forms can be emailed to Kstauffer@dasd.org.

After evaluating the initial plan over the course of the past few days for students being dropped off at Downingtown West High School in the morning, we are able to provide an alternate route students may take to get to the STEM Academy, as it will take them less time to navigate from bus drop off to school.

Please see the Updated Morning Drop off Map for Students Dropped off at DHSW.

Students should follow the yellow path, as indicated on the map, upon being dropped off by their bus at Downingtown HS West. It is also important to note that as soon as students exit the school bus, they should cross through the blue barriers, and not walk against traffic at any time. Please note that if there is inclement weather students, are certainly able to use DWHS as an alternate path.

• 2024-2025 School Year

  The DASD 2024-2025 Calendar was board approved on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. Please note the change in school start times as shared on the district website and noted below:

  The schedule for the 2024-25 school year is as follows:

  
  

  • Elementary (Grades K-6): 9:00 a.m.-3:35 p.m.
  • Secondary (Grades 7-12): 8:00 a.m.-2:45 p.m.
  
  
• Infinite Campus: Student schedules, report cards, and access to updating the annual registration verification can be accessed here.
• Payschools: All Activity, Technology and Food services fees can be paid quickly and easily in this portal. (All parking permit fees should now be showing in student accounts.)
• Schoology: Many courses and classes are updated daily. This is a very important tool for communicating!
• Service Desk: Technology support can be accessed here. Please review the directions for the new platform for service desk request for the 24-25 school year.

Please be reminded that all families should take a moment to complete the student contact information confirmation process for your child. This process asks families to check and update student and parent information. It also serves as a way to communicate important policies to our families.

Ensuring that we have accurate demographic, health and contact information for your child directly impacts our ability to best serve our students. Additionally, it is an essential piece to ensuring student safety.

**Please complete the “2024-2025 School Year” for Existing Student Registration as circled in the image above ; detailed instructions are also listed below.

This process takes place in the Infinite Campus Parent Portal (www.dasd.org/parentportal) and should be completed on either a computer or tablet as it does not function best on the app.

We are asking families to complete this process by Friday, September 20th for the 2024/2025 school year. All families that have a student attending a DASD school or the Downingtown Cyber Academy must complete this process. Changes you make may not be visible right away in the parent portal as we work to process the information.

Families New to DASD: The confirmation process will be very similar to the new student registration application you completed to enroll your child. We ask that complete the confirmation process through the Parent Portal so that we have the most update to date information for your child.

If there are any questions regarding this process, please contact Ms. Rockowitz in the STEM Counseling office.

• Technology related questions – Enter a ticket at https://servicedesk.dasd.org/support/home

Senior Panoramic Photo: Monday, September 16: Details from Lifetouch will be coming soon.

STEM Academy Class of 2025 Diploma Name Verification : This form must be completed by the graduating senior, using the student DASD email address and should be completed no later than October 14.

Class of 2025 IB Fees Letter with Payment Schedule

2024-2025 IB Exam Schedule: Mark your calendars!

STEM Academy Class of 2025 Senior Class Parking Permit : As a reminder, this application must be completed by the student, using their DASD student email address. For future reference, all of this information can also be located on our website, under the Backpack.

Senior Early Dismissal/Late Arrival Form (Senior Privileges) 24-25: This form is for Early Dismissal/Late Arrival permission for Senior Class students.

Act 10 Military Letter: Please review this letter and return to Ms. Stephanie Rockowitz in the STEM Counseling office by October 10, 2024 if you wish to be excluded as noted in the letter.

Attention Class of 2025: Save the dates!

Final Senior Portrait Dates: September 3-5, 2024.

• These sessions will be held from 3:00 pm-9:00 pm and scheduling will open soon. An email will be shared with families. If you need to schedule a retake, please call 1-800-687-9327.

If there are any questions, please email kstauffer@dasd.org.

All of this information for the Class of 2025 can be found on our website throughout the year: STEM Academy Class of 2025 Important Reminders.

The Common App is now open! For those looking to get a jump start on their applications, below are some FAQs regarding school info that you will need to input.

So much more to come when we are back to school later this month!! Please contact Ms. Glowik or Ms. Hewitt with any questions.

Mr. Michael Sheehan, Dean of Currciulum and Instruction

Ms. Meghan Schell, Administrative Assistant

2024-2025 Program of Study

STEM Academy Class of 2025 IB Fees Letter: IB Fee Payment #3 is due on September 15th!

2024-2025 IB Testing Schedule: Mark your calendars!

Ms. Alyssa Sherlock, CAS/EE Supervisor

Welcome back for another great school year!

Senior CAS/Graduation Project Spotlight:

Xinnuo (Sheena) Cao, Melody Xu, and Ronika Medagam are working to establish a service organization called “Bridges Across Borders (BAB)”. BAB is a Service organization dedicated to promoting cultural diversity, bridging gaps and fostering understanding among communities. They believe that by bringing people together, we can create a world where everyone is valued and respected. They will promote these ideas through their magazine, “The Bridge Connect”, as well as supporting, hosting, and promoting fundraisers for local organizations.

Class of 2025 [Seniors]:

Many students updated their CAS progress in ManageBac over the summer. Now is a good time to post reflections and upload evidence from all you have done, making sure to address all seven learning outcomes.

If you have not yet submitted your proposal for a CAS or Graduation Project, please email it to Mrs. Sherlock by Sep. 13th!

Class of 2025 [Seniors]:

EE Outlines with Bibliography are due to be submitted to both ManageBac and TurnItIn by Friday, September 13th.

Your advisors are looking forward to seeing all that you have done so far!

Dr. Troy Podell

Downingtown STEM Academy Internships and Partnerships
Supervisor of Teaching & Learning

Ms. Kaitlin Brinker, Admin. Asst.

One the primary goals of the STEM Academy, and our district, is to prepare students for a future of their choice. At STEM, we take pride in intentionally cultivating the skills, habits, and dispositions that our partners in industry inform us are integral to success. In addition to integrating this into our classes, we offer our students specific targeted training in partnership with the MidAtlantic Employers Association. The first of these training sessions will take place on Thursday, September 12th for our Freshmen class. They will be learning about strategies to overcome obstacles in their path. Stay tuned for updates on more sessions to come.

Ms. Katherine Cole, Dean of Academics & Student Life

Ms. Kaitlin Brinker, Admin. Asst.

Information for Clubs for the 24-25 School Year will be shared in mid September. Stay tuned!

Many events for the upcoming school year have been added to the calendar on the STEM Academy Website.

Thank you HSA for the Grab and Go Welcome Back Snacks!

Order a Yearbook now and get the Picture Day Sale Price of $60 through 9/5/24.

Any questions? Please contact Ms. Janette Romano or Ms. Megan Dunn, Yearbook Advisors

STEM Players Troupe Auditions taking place after school September 9 and 10. Email Mr. Namerow with questions.

Audition Sign-Up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4DADA72BA5F4C25-50424765-auditions

Rehearsal Schedule: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sua8s9DO-uwBab-tbAUJLOpDC4G6FlTANFw8TjFiIcg/edit?usp=drive_link

Any questions? Email Grace Janczak or Mr. Namerow with any questions.

Not interested in acting, but want to help behind the scenes? Join Stage Crew!

Email Grace Janczak or Mr. Namerow with any questions.

Ms. Stephanie Rockowitz, Counseling Secretary/Registrar

• To schedule an appt. to visit your school counselor, please complete the following form: Counseling Appointment Request Form
• Additional Resources from the STEM Counseling Department

Ms. Jennifer Stull, Prevention Specialist

Guide to Districtwide Mental Health Resources

If you are in need of a work permit, please find the application located in the STEM Back Pack at the bottom of the page under Work Permits. Permits can be obtained in the counseling office. Please be sure to review and provide the necessary documentation listed on the website.

Additional Resources

College App Workshop presentation

Common Date Set Overview

US Dept. of Education College Scorecard

Registration is available for Universities Unite: An Evening with the University of Florida, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and University of Vermont.

Juniors and seniors are invited to this informational presentation and will be able to have one on one conversations with admissions counselors.

Registration is available now and space is limited! Families are welcome to attend, as well.

2024-2025 STEM Academy HSA Board

President: Kerri Roberts

Co-Vice Presidents: Mary Gasser and Heather Steiger

Secretary - Marcie Epstein

Treasurer - Kousalya Alapati

Welcome back! The HSA Board is excited to see you all at our first Home & School meeting on September 16th at 7:00pm in the Atrium. This will be our first meeting of the year and we will be updating you on all of the exciting things we have planned for 2024-2025.

The first of many opportunities to volunteer is coming up next week on September 5. We have 2 opportunities for you to help out:

1. The nurse needs parents to assist with with health screenings

2. Lifetouch needs parents to help direct students for picture day

If you are interested and available you may sign up here.

Stay up to date on all HSA activities by following our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Welcome back to school! We’re excited to see all our music students again and eager to welcome new faces to our program. This school year promises to be filled with new ventures, inspiring performances, and opportunities for growth. We can’t wait to make beautiful music together and create memories that will last a lifetime. Let’s make this year the best one yet!

The DHS-MPA is made up of parents and guardians of students involved in any of the Downingtown High School music programs, including Marching Bands, Concert Band, Symphonic Band and ensembles, String Orchestra and ensembles, Vocal Choirs and ensembles, Indoor Drumline, and Color Guard. Our mission is to provide program support to maintain the existence and the integrity of the music programs at all of the Downingtown High Schools, including the Downingtown East Campus, the Downingtown West Campus and the STEM Academy.

The next meeting of the Music Parents Association will be held on Tuesday, September 10 at 7:00 pm at STEM Academy in the KnowCo. Come meet the Executive Board, the Music Directors and your fellow music parents and learn more about what's going on in the organization.

The concession stands need YOU! It does not matter if you are East, West, or STEM or band, choir, or orchestra because when you volunteer, your time benefits every music program. This is one of our two biggest fundraisers to support all high school music programs. Adults and students may volunteer, and students can receive honor society credit.

Signup to Volunteer HERE!

Get Your Clearances Now!

All Parent Chaperones are required to have clearances on file with DASD. Visit DASD Volunteer Info to get started!

Wawa Shorti Coupons

Coupons are available for $5 each and never expire. A portion of each sale is donated to the MPA to impact EVERY DHS music program!

· Reach out to Tina Ayala or email DHSMPA.waysmeans@outlook.com to get your coupons today!

What is the MPA?

Donate to the Music Program

Follow us on Facebook

All students at STEM are encouraged to participate in athletic programs offered at their home schools.

An activity bus is available for students heading to East to participate daily, and is located in the bus loop at dismissal.

To find more information about what sports are offered at your students’ homeschool, please choose one of the following that links directly to the correct Athletics page:

Downingtown East High School Athletics

Downingtown East High School Athletics Schedule

AND

Downingtown West High School Athletics

Downingtown West High School Athletics Schedule

Please save the date for the following events:

• Sunday September 15, 2024: Welcome Pool Party @2:00 pm. All current team members and interested swimmers/divers are welcome to attend. Email dwestswimanddive@gmail.com for the party details.
• Tuesday October 8, 2024: Interest Meeting, run by the coaches, will be held in the West Library from 7:00-8:00. All current team members and interested team members and parents should plan to attend. Email dwestswimanddive@gmail.com with any questions.

Student Drop Off

Please be reminded that students are to be dropped off behind the school. No students should be dropped off on Manor Ave. We appreciate your cooperation. Safety is always our first priority.

Also for the safety of all students and staff crossing back and forth during lunch time, the entrance to the STEM Academy on Campbell Drive will be closed during all lunch times for the remainder of the school year. Please use the West entrance to access the campus during that time.

Traffic:

Parents are not permitted to park, drop-off, or pick-up students from the left side of the Academy or on Manor Avenue.

• All parent pick-up vehicles must enter from Manor Avenue on the right side of the building (Campbell Drive). Parents will be directed by the traffic guard to loop around the building in order to pickup students.
• Bus pick-up for students from the Downingtown East High School attendance area will be along the fence that faces Kottmeyer Stadium. Bus pick-up for students from the Downingtown West High School attendance area will be at Downingtown West High School and Downingtown Middle School. Students will then walk to the Academy.
• Please make sure students are prepared for inclement weather. Parents are not permitted to park, drop-off, or pick-up students from the left side of the Academy or on Manor Avenue.
• For the safety of our students, it is essential that all drivers adhere to traffic patterns and regulations

Please review the student pick up and drop off procedures located under School Day on our Website.

Bus Passes are for Emergency use only. All bus rosters are full and only in the event of an emergency will a student be allowed to ride a different bus home. The request for a bus pass should come to the main office and will need approval from Mr. Campbell.

• Online Registration: Please remember to complete the Online Registration for your child(ren). This will provide me with updated health information as well as give permission for over the counter medication this school year. Go to Infinite Campus Parent Portal to complete the process.
• Medication: Students are only permitted to carry emergency medication (Epinephrine, Asthma inhalers, and diabetes medication). Any medication to be administered during the school day, should follow our current medication policy (attach board policy) and complete the authorization for medication administration
• Please contact Ms. Jennifer Mikulich with any questions or concerns.

The Downingtown STEM Academy is the third high school in the Downingtown Area School District. The STEM Academy opened in the fall of 2011 at 335 Manor Avenue, Downingtown, PA 19335.

The Academy is an IB World School offering every student the opportunity to earn an IB Diploma. The curriculum offers Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Pathways. Students are engaged in rigorous, challenging academic work that requires a mindset of growth and effort.

Email: stinfo@dasd.org
Website: https://st.dasd.org/
Location: 335 Manor Avenue, Downingtown, PA, USA
Phone: 610-269-2420