The Merrill Minute
March 30, 2020
Providing Educational Resources
Thank you for reaching out with your ideas, suggestions, thoughts, and concerns. Each day we are learning more about how we can best support our students during this time away from the building. Please know that we appreciate whatever routines you have found to work in your household. We are all searching for what works best for our children as well, and we know this is not easy. There is not a right or wrong way of approaching each day. You have to do what works best for you and your family.
DMPS has created a webpage, https://www.dmschools.org/onlinelearning, where you can find links to high-quality resources, should you choose to have your student engage in learning activities online. These links are meant to support, not burden, families. We hope you’ll browse through and see if there’s something that will meet the unique needs of your family.
I've heard from many of you that this resource page is not enough. Please understand the fine line that we are walking right now. By law we are able to provide educational resources to students and families, but we are not allowed to provide educational services that would be equivalent, or similar to, a classroom setting where we are moving on to the next topic or learning target. This guidance supports equity of access for all of our students, a belief that we hold as a core value in our organization and community.
Having said that, we will continue to seek out additional resources, develop optional student engagements that align with topics already covered, and find better ways to support you as you maneuver through this time at home. For some content areas, we have resources in place that our students are accustomed to using in the classroom. Other content areas are scrambling a bit to come up with resources that fit the guidelines we are working within. We are cautious to push resources out that aren't fully vetted or don't meet the requirements of equity of access.
As guidance continues to be released from the Department of Education and DMPS Leadership, I am committed to keeping you informed. Thank you for the feedback. It helps us think through next steps and get a feel for what parents and families need.
Yours in staying safe, being well, and finding our stride,
Kate
Kathryn Panek
Merrill Middle School, Principal
Merrill Communication Plan
- Monday: Merrill Minute from Kate
- Tuesday: Language and Literature and Individual and Societies Teachers
- Wednesday: Performing Arts and Physical Education Teachers
- Thursday: Mathematics and Science Teachers
- Friday: Language Acquisition and Design Teachers
These check-ins may be "hello" notes or videos from the teachers, ideas for optional activities for students, student "challenges", or links to resources that students may be interested in inquiring into.
Follow us on Twitter @MerrillMustangs!
Please sign-up for School CNXT if you haven't already. The directions are below.
School CNXT
We are continuing to use SchoolCNXT to post important and helpful information regularly. If you have ever logged into SchoolCNXT (even if it was as long ago as 2018), you can still login using the same information! Here’s how:
- Download the SchoolCNXT app from the app store on your phone or visit cloud.schoolcnxt.com on your computer.
- Login using your email address or mobile number along with your password (if you forgot your password, you can click on the "forgot password" link).
- If you experience any difficulties, email SchoolCNXT at support@schoolcnxt.com.
If you are a new SchoolCNXT user, another invite was sent out last week. If you do not see an invite, then there may be a number of things happening.
- You signed up during a prior school year and just need to login to see updates (use steps above).
- The invite is in your spam folder.
- The email address we have for you in IC is incorrect.
If you feel as though you should have an invite but do not, please do not hesitate to email kristen.kennedyanderson@dmschools.org directly and she will look into Merrill’s side of things and get back to you within 24 hours.
Follow @ MerrillMustangs on Twitter
I have been tweeting and retweeting resources that may be of interest to you on our @MerrillMustangs Twitter feed. Below is a sample of the resources I tweeted out last week:
- Iowa Reading Research Center (@IAReading): The Iowa Reading Research Center is part of the University of Iowa College of Education. It operates in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Education.Here you will find the IRRC blog with posts
- Jessica Minahan (@jessica_minahan): Jessica Minahan, M.Ed, BCBA has been a presenter at the DMPS Summit on Climate and Culture. She's posting resources several times throughout each day. Take a look and see if you find something that would support your student.
- Teaching Tolerance (@Tolerance_org): Teaching Tolerance's mission statement is to help teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy.
- Mind Shift (@MindShiftKQED): MindShift explores the future of learning, covering cultural and tech trends and innovations in education.
- Ted Ed (@TED_ED): To help support students, parents and teachers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, they've launched a daily newsletter. Sign up for TED-Ed@Home to get a handful of engaging video-based lessons (organized by age group) delivered to your inbox daily.
Merrill Spring Fundraiser
First, we hope this finds you and your families well during such a challenging time. The PTA wanted to provide an update on the March 28th, Merrill Spring Fundraiser/Get Together. It is difficult to know how to appropriately proceed and also meet the fundraising goals of the Merrill PTA. Merrill PTA relies on this fundraiser greatly to provide direct support for our students and teachers. If we do nothing, no Merrill student or teacher will benefit. If we do something, each child and teacher can benefit. We have chosen to do something.
We will take our fundraising exclusively online. With this, we will be donating 20% of our proceeds to DMARC and Food Bank of Iowa, our community partners supporting our students and families daily.
We thank the many families and local businesses that have already contributed so generously to this event. If you would like to donate something to our online auction, please reach out asap. Last, if you have already purchased tickets for the in-person event, please contact us (emails below) for a refund, or consider donating your ticket to the PTA.
Please click here for full details and to access both the PTA Facebook page and Bidding Owl.
Be well,
Merrill PTA
Rose Green & Holly Kilborn O'Neall
Merrill FAQ
Will students still be taking ISASP when they return?
No. The administration of the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) will be waived for the 2019-2020 school year. DMPS will be making decisions about other district-wide assessments such as MAP and Conditions for Learning in the coming days.
Only a select few people (custodians, nurses, principals) are allowed to enter the building, and access is only to be used for emergency purposes. Right now this is limited to retrieving medication that was left at school by a student. Until guidance changes, instrument pick-up will be delayed.
SRG questions...
We are awaiting more guidance from our district office regarding multiple opportunities for students to show progress of learning on topics that have already been covered. During the closure, all activities/resources that are made available are OPTIONAL and will NOT impact student grades.
Ready, Set, Bingo!
Grab and Go Lunch
MIDDLE SCHOOL MEAL LOCATIONS
- Brody Middle School, 2501 Park Ave.
- Callanan Middle School, 3010 Center St.
- Goodrell Middle School, 3300 E. 29th St.
- Harding Middle School, 203 East Euclid Ave.
- Hiatt Middle School, 1430 East University Ave.
- Hoyt Middle School, 2700 East 42nd St.
- McCombs Middle School, 201 County Line Road
- Meredith Middle School, 4827 Madison Ave.
- Merrill Middle School, 5301 Grand Ave.
- Weeks Middle School, 901 East Park Ave.
In addition, DMPS will be providing student meals at the following locations:
- The Meadows, 2525 County Line Rd.
- Common Bond, 1421 Des Moines St.
- Deer Ridge, 6000 Creston Ave.
- Oakridge, 1401 Center St.
- Hickman Flats, 2400 Hickman Rd.
- The Watchman, 2723 Euclid Ave.
- Willow Park, 6514 Chaffee Rd.
- Oak View Terrance, 2901 Boston Ave.
- Melbourne, 5515 SE 14th St.
- Living Waters Fellowship, 3000 SE 22nd St.
- Woodland Park Apts., 4530 Lower Beaver Rd.
- Apartments at 2501 24th St.
Volunteers Needed for FIRST Lego League and FIRST Tech Challenge at Merrill!
FIRST Tech Challenge teams (up to 15 team members, grades 7-12) are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format. Guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and working as a team.
Merrill is in need of parents, families, and community members who are willing to help coach the team next year. The more volunteers that are willing to help, the easier it will be for everyone. Whether or not you are a “robot person”, you can be a huge help to getting this program rolling.
All FIRST Tech Challenge mentors are welcome. We are looking for volunteers with basic mechanical skills, a programming background, or volunteers who are willing to simply support students with organizational techniques, presentation skills, and team building.
Please let me know if you are able to help get this program rolling here at Merrill.
(In addition, while we have not yet received any grant funding for FIRST Lego League, I am interested in getting this program started for our 6th graders next year. Again, please let me know if you are interested in supporting this activity.)
DMPS Board Goals
- Student Expectation Goal 1: The percent of all third grade students on track in reading will increase from 52% to 72% by June 2023, as measured by FAST.
- Student Expectation Goal 2: The percent of black male third grade students on track in reading will increase from 35% to 72% by June 2023, as measured by FAST.
- Student Expectation Goal 3: The percent of black male students completing Algebra I with a B or higher by the end of grade 9 will increase from 17% to 35% by August 2023.
Click here to learn more about our progress.
Merrill Middle School Goals
- Student Expectation Goal 1: The percent of black male 6th – 8th grade students on track in reading (exceeding at-risk cut point 30th%ile) will increase from 53% to 75% by Spring 2023, as measured by NWEA MAP.
- Student Expectation Goal 2: The percent of black male 6th – 8th grade students on track for college & career readiness in math will increase from 12% to 29% by Spring 2023, as measured by NWEA MAP.
- Student Expectation Goal 3: The percent of 6th – 8th students with positive results will increase from 34% to 75% by spring 2023, as measured by the Conditions for Learning Survey.
Contact Information
Email: merrill@dmschools.org
Website: https://merrill.dmschools.org/
Location: 5301 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA, USA
Phone: (515) 242-8448
Twitter: @MerrillMustangs