The Weekly Update #4

Congratulations to fourth grade student Charlotte Hargarten, winner of Jackson's Duneland Exchange Club Young Citizenship Award. The Young Citizenship Award is given to students who demonstrate quality conduct in everyday life, and excel in the areas of academics, character, service, citizenship, leadership, and sportsmanship.

Pictured above in the front row (L to R) are teacher Britni Psimos, award winner Charlotte Hargarten, and her brother Nathan Hargarten. In the back row (L to R) are Duneland Exchange Club member Bob Capehart, principal Sam Marshall, father Peter Hargarten, mother Andrea Hargarten, grandmother Monica Hargarten, and Exchange Club members Maggie Bielat and Michelle Mulholland.

The Duneland schools have partnered with NWI No Child Hungry to provide Buddy Bags for students in need.

The Buddy Bag program is designed to help fight childhood hunger. Buddy Bags are kid-friendly sacks of food that are sent home with students on Fridays to ensure they have enough to eat on the weekend. In each bag, students get a shelf-stable breakfast, lunch, dinner, fruit cup, applesauce, sweet snack, and salty snack. Each student who participates in the Buddy Bag program receives meals for both Saturday & Sunday.

Currently this program is for students in grades K-6. If you have more than one student the program will provide a bag for each student that is signed up. Sign Up Here if you would like your student(s) to be enrolled in the Buddy Bag Program.

The program is free of charge and is run anonymously in partnership with NWI No Child Hungry and their generous sponsors. For more information about this program, or if you would like to make a donation, you can check out the NWI No Child Hungry website.

For other questions about the program, contact Mrs. Bruss at mbruss@duneland.k12.in.us.

ILEARN testing begins this week. Third grade students will take the math and English language arts assessments. Fourth grade students will take math, English language arts, science, and computer science assessments. We will spread the tests over several days. There will be make-up testing on the days in-between scheduled tests and afterwards for any students that are absent on planned testing days.

You can help your student by ensuring they have gotten enough sleep, have eaten breakfast, and have charged their iPads fully. Talking about the tests positively will help students to feel less nervous or resistant about test days.

Dear 4th Grade Families,

Welcome to Liberty Intermediate School! We are so excited to have you join us for the upcoming school year, and we want to extend a warm greeting as you prepare for this exciting next step in your child's education. 5th grade is an exciting year full of new experiences, challenges, and opportunities to learn and grow. We can’t wait to see all the amazing things your child will accomplish with us next year.

To help our incoming 5th graders start getting familiar with our school, we will be hosting a 4th grade field trip to Liberty Intermediate School in May. This will be a great opportunity for students to explore and get a sense of what life is like at LIS.

Additionally, we would like to invite your family to our 4th Grade Family Night on Monday, May 19. This event will provide helpful information for both students and parents, give your child another opportunity to get familiar with our building and tour our school, meet some of our staff, and ask any questions that you might have. Parking will be on the North side of our building, entering at the LIS main office- Door 2N, or on the West side of our building, entering near our main gym- Door 16W.

Please see the attached flyer for more details. We can’t wait to meet you and your child and are excited to have you join the LIS community!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Kelly Hardwicke
Principal
Liberty Intermediate School

Dear Families,

We are excited to announce that we have adopted a new form of school-to-home communication at called ParentSquare for the 2025-2026 school year. This unified communications platform is designed to keep parents and guardians informed and encourage greater engagement and connection with [school or district name]. It provides a safe way for district administrators, school principals, teachers, staff, and parents to:

• Send and receive school and class information

• Share pictures and files

• See calendar items

• Sign up to volunteer

• Schedule parent-teacher conferences

• and much more . . . all in one centralized place!

Parents—Getting Started Video

All district and school, grade level and classroom information will now be sent to your computer or phone via email and/or text. For even more convenience, download the ParentSquare app (available for free for iOS and Android devices).

Have questions? Click the question mark in the top right corner of the desktop version or the Help tab on the app (tap the triple bar icon at the top left) to find answers to most of your questions.

Summer School Registration is Now Open

Registration for DSC 2025 Summer School programs is now open. New this year is the ability for parents to register for summer school via the Skyward Family Access. For directions on how to register your child please follow the links below based on the current grade level of your student.

Instructions for Grades K-7 - Registration Open March 17 - April 15

Instructions for Grades 8-12 - Registration Open March 17 - May 2

Note: Students in grades 8-12 who are interested in taking PE should review the additional information on the Flex PE Credit and reduced diploma requirements prior to registering.

Grades PreK-7 Summer School will take place at Liberty Elementary School from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in Session 1 Only. Grades 8-12 Summer School will take place at Chesterton High School from 7:30 a.m. - 12:55 pm for both Session 1 and 2.

Separate invitations will be provided for families interested in KinderCamp, our Pre Kindergarten Program.

Need Skyward Support? If you need support in registering for summer school within the Skyward Arena Scheduling please call your child’s school and the Skyward/Office Administrative Assistant can provide support.

Should you have any questions about summer school programming please contact the following:

Grades PreK-7 - Call the Department of Teaching & Learning at 219-983-3656

Grades 8-12 - Contact the CHS Counseling Office at 219-983-3730

ONLINE ENROLLMENT is NOW OPEN for incoming Duneland Kindergarten students for the 2025-2026 school year. If you were not able to attend Round Up on 2/27, you can still complete online enrollment. To get started please visit: DSC Kindergarten Enrollment 2025-2026

Students have the opportunity to be recognized for displaying the positive behaviors our staff teaches them each day. Recognition comes in the form of Caught Being Awesome tickets. The following students received tickets this week:

AUTHOR VISIT TO JACKSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2025

ALL GRADE LEVELS WILL PARTICIPATE IN A PRESENTATION TAILORED TO SPECIFIC LEVELS.

Students who wish to have a book autographed will need to bring their book to school before the author visits. The book will be signed and returned to the student the day after the author visits. The school will not be selling books and no books will be provided by the author.

A form will be provided to help track books that you would like the author to sign.

Please plan ahead if you wish to have a book signed as our author will be visiting ALL 5 DUNELAND SCHOOLS. Local supplies as well as online sources could run short if you wait until April to purchase a book. All students will participate in an author study before she arrives.

PTO has once again agreed to sponsor our author visit. Thank you to our PTO for this wonderful opportunity for our students.

Mrs. Eleftheri

Jackson Library Media Specialist

leleftheri@duneland.k12.in.us

Per the Indiana Department of Education, students should be in attendance for at least 94% of the school year. This means students should be absent for 10 or fewer days across the entire year. See below for our progress toward that goal.

Congratulations to 4th grade for having our best attendance percentage this week! As a reward, the grade level earned an extra recess period.

We'd like to highlight the 139 students who had perfect attendance in the month of March.

If you need details about the attendance policy, please see the below graphic or refer to the student handbook.

Dear DSC Elementary Families,

To ensure that all students, staff, and families have a way to report safety concerns anonymously, DSC administration has introduced a "K-4 Anonymous Safety Reporting Form."

This form is designed for individuals who wish to remain anonymous or for students who want to report something but are unsure of how to proceed. Parents are encouraged to continue reaching out to the school directly via email or phone for any concerns.

Please keep in mind that this initiative was created to keep communication channels open and provide students with a safe way to report incidents while maintaining their privacy. If you have any questions or safety concerns, don't hesitate to contact your building principal.

Submissions are not reviewed in real time. As a result, all emergencies should be reported to local law enforcement by calling 911.

We are working with students to help them learn what is expected of them in the various settings they encounter during their school day. We are focused on three big ideas: we want students to be safe, be respectful, and be responsible.

We know the power of partnering with our families and caregivers. We encourage you to speak with your child about the expectations in the "Everywhere" column, as this language will become a daily part of your child's experience at Jackson. We welcome support in helping students see the importance of these behaviors not just in school but in every other context of their lives.

Spirit wear items are available for purchase throughout the school year. Families may order at a time that suits them; the store will remain open all school year.

Kindergarten students will attend related arts with their classroom group. In grades 1-4, students are attending related arts with a mix of students from the other classrooms. The groups they attend are named after universities in Indiana: Ball State, Indiana State, IU, and Purdue. If you ask your child their group, then the below schedules will help you know which related arts class they have each day.

Each day is assigned a color (Maroon, Gold, White, Black). That color corresponds with a particular spot in the rotation. All classes rotate in the same direction: music moves to art, art moves to PE, PE moves to media, media moves to music.

The "Something to Smile About" Scholarship aims to support Duneland students aged 10-18 who need braces but face financial challenges in obtaining them.

Initiated through the collaboration of a local family and orthodontist, this scholarship provides an opportunity for parents or guardians to ensure their child receives professional orthodontic care, ultimately enhancing their confidence and promoting a positive self-image through a healthy smile.

General Eligibility Requirements:

• Your child is between 10 and 18 years old.

• Your total family income is 200% of the poverty level or less.

• Your child receives regular dental care and has good oral hygiene.

• Your child is not currently in orthodontic treatment or in between phases of treatment.

• Your child has not received previous orthodontic treatment.

• The family contribution is $500.

Downloadable Something to Smile About Application

Chesterton High School will host its 6th annual Porter County Disability Resource Fair on Thursday, April 24, 2025, from 5-7 p.m. The 2025 Porter County Disability Resource Fair, featuring over 40 vendors from Northwest Indiana, will offer information and feature local support services for people of ALL ages with disabilities. Chesterton High School is located at 2125 S. 11th St., Chesterton, IN. Attendees are asked to use Door#31 on the north side of the building. For additional information, contact Ezra Burke at eburke@duneland.k12.in.us.

Duneland School students participating:

Bailly: Calvin Aubin, Lily DiBona and Ivan Ford

Brummitt: Addilyn Cowser, Cameron Olson, Evan Olson, Ian Thode and Rowan Wallace

Liberty Elem: Levin Holmes

Jackson: Leah Craycraft

LIS: Celia Arizzi, Taylor Balon, Maddie Dietrich

LMS: Zachary Alvarez, Isabelle Fields, Charly Love and Jonathon Lus

WIS: Brenna Dunlap, Arya Ford, and Addison Spanapoulos

WMS: Graciela Gonzalea Greeman and Katie Sim

CHS: Beck Bradstetter, Dane Cooper, Ryan Kasper, Michael Shumante, Anna Holmes, Karleigh Pawlyszyn, Sophia Sylvester, Damion Lopez, and Christian Uzelac

Do you want to earn money but still be home with your family?

Does the cost of childcare hinder your plans to work?

Does your child participate in the many afterschool opportunities?

Would you like to spend quality time with your kids during spring, summer and winter breaks?

Learn more about the Duneland Early Learning Classes at the the HUB. Click on the image below to enroll.

To make an appointment please call 219-763-8112. Let NorthShore know you are a Duneland School student or staff member and that you would like to make an appointment at the Duneland School Clinic located at the old CMS.

We are excited to be hosting a Ready, Set, Kindergarten class at Jackson. The Jackson class will meet 11:30am-1:30pm on Fridays in the high ability classroom. See below for more information on registration.

Information regarding student bus transportation for the 2024-2025 school year is available on DSC website under the Transportation Department.

The Duneland School Corporation Department of Transportation has now made My Stop available to our families.

My Stop is a web-based application which will allow parents to access live bus GPS information using a smartphone, tablet, or computer and securely view the current location of your child’s bus on routes. The system also provides the bus’s estimated time of arrival at your child’s bus stop.

Please read the attached letter to parents for more information on how to use My Stop to track your child's bus.

The school meals program is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Duneland School Corporation will process free or reduced-price meal benefit applications for those students who apply and are approved. Those students not qualifying for free or reduced-price meals will be charged the paid meal price for breakfast and/or lunch.

Meal prices for the 2024-2025 school year are available on the DSC Child Nutrition website.

The DSC Child Nutrition Department utilizes NutriSlice as its menus program. This app is available for iPhone and Android through your mobile app store. Parents can also access the full website for Duneland Schools on a computer via this NutriSlice link.

This app will allow parents and students to view the menus as well as the nutritional info for each menu item at any of the Duneland Schools. This program will be developed further incorporating images of the actual food items being served at each of the Duneland schools.

Duneland School Corporation offers MyPaymentsPlus, a state-of-the-art online service that provides you the convenience and information you need to manage your student's meal account. This system speeds up serving lines in the cafeteria, eliminates the need to send physical payments to school or worry about lost or forgotten lunch money and ensures that your child will receive a nutritious meal.

At no cost, MyPaymentsPlus allows any family to: Create a FREE, secured account to manage all your student’s accounts, check your student's current account balance, and create settings to receive email notifications when the account reaches a low balance.

Also, at no cost, MyPaymentsPlus allows any family to make a prepayment into your student's meal account using a check, credit card, or debit card at MyPaymentsPlus or by calling 1-866-441-9125. Funds deposited through MyPaymentsPlus are usually available for student use within a matter of minutes. Create settings to automatically replenish your student's account when it reaches a low balance.

The Duneland School Corporation encourages all parents (even if you do not prepay for your student's meal account) to create an account at no cost. To create a new account, follow the on-screen directions and register your student using their Student ID number. Student ID numbers can be obtained by contacting customer support at: 1-877-237-0946.

Contact the Duneland School Corporation IT department via one of these methods:

1. Open a IncidentIQ ticket by sending an email to: helpdesk@duneland.k12.in.us
   
2. Log into IncidentIQ and submit a request duneland.incidentIQ.com

Families without internet due to financial hardship have access to programs from two local providers.

Comcast Internet Essentials:

• Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Internet Essentials program from Comcast.

• This program offers internet at a low cost per month.

• Additional options and services are also available

• More information is available at this Comcast link

Frontier Lifeline Program:

• Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Lifeline Program from Frontier.

• More information is available at this Frontier link