Dakota H.S. ~ Meadowlark News
October/November 2022/2023
Dakota High School
David Burkman, Principal & EL Director
Jim Keal, Assistant Principal
Ila Hegg, Adm. Asst.
Arati Heath, Summer School & EL Adm. Asst.
Website: www.fargo.k12.nd.us/Dakota
Location: 1305 9th Avenue South, Fargo, ND, USA
Phone: 701-446-2800
Dakota High School Mission Statement
Dakota High School will provide a student-centered alternative instructional program to allow students to obtain a high school diploma and to learn skills necessary to be productive, responsible citizens.
Top Ten Reasons to Attend Advisory Day
by Jim Keal, Assistant Principal
As the leaves begin to drop from the trees it’s a great reminder to think about completions. Trees are completing the growing season and Dakota students who started the school year with us should be completing 2 or more classes. We have students finishing classes every day – who will be next?
We have our second advisory day coming up on November 3rd. I am often asked why we do this and if parents should attend. Here’s my crack at answering this very good question.
Mr. Keal’s Top Ten Reasons to Attend Advisory:
10. The best opportunity for uninterrupted conversation with your Advisor
9. Students earn advisory units for attending – These turn into ½ credit when you accumulate 80
8. This is our version of conferences
7. Discuss the student’s graduation plan and progress
6. It’s never too early to start planning what comes after high school
5. Plan Accolades progress
4. Discover community service opportunities (and how to get more advisory units)
3. Be informed about coming events
2. Celebrate progress, problem solve, and set goals
1. It’s fun!
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at Advisory. Please remind your student to make an appointment with their Advisor.
The Dakota High School staff are always open to helping students solve problems. If something is getting in the way of your student’s success, please let us know. We also have a pantry of food/clothing available to students in need – just ask. WE are here to help.
Game Day Mondays!
Uno anyone?
Video game competition!
Let's study and play a card game!
Fargo Public Schools Breakfast & Lunch Meal Prices ~ "No Cost Waiver" has Expired for 2022-23
The USDA waivers which provided free school meals during the pandemic have expired. Starting in the fall, students will need to pay full price for school breakfast and lunch. Households may apply, on an annual basis, to qualify for either free or reduced-price school meals. The application is the Student Fees Assistance and Benefits Application (also know as the Free and Reduced Price School Meals Application).
A. You may pay for your student’s meals by adding monies to your student’s SchoolPay account. (See instructions in the download below)
Or
B. Families can fill out an application to qualify for Student Fees Assistance/Meals form. These forms can be obtained at the school's main office or you can submit an application is on-line at www.EZMealApp.com. This process is preferable due to:
1. Available in multiple languages
2. Ensures the family member has completed the application accurately before being submitted. Paper applications submitted incomplete result in extra work and delays in processing the application.
3. Is immediately available to the nutrition services staff to process and issue applicable benefits to the household.
Secondary Breakfast $1.60
Secondary Lunch $2.75
Adult Staff $3.60
Extra Milk $0.40
SchoolPay for Lunch Account Instructions ~ Download link below
Indigenous Peoples Day ~ October 10th
Dakota High School students prepared a Native American traditional meal of Bullets Soup and Bang Bread with the help of Dr. Caitlin Johnson, former DKHS English teacher.
Students working together
Making the bullets for the Soup
Special Guest
Everyone gets to enjoy a traditional Native American lunch.
I want a bigger serving!
Bang bread is a lot harder to make than I thought!
Written Notification of School Accountability Report ~ Dakota High School
Dear Parent/Guardian,
North Dakota has launched a dashboard called “Insights,” designed to help communities across the state access important information about K-12 districts and schools. Insights features easy-to-read reports on multiple measures of school success, including:
· Student Achievement
· Choice Ready Results
· Performance Comparisons
· English Learner Progress
· Graduation Rates
· School and State Accountability Results
· School Improvement Information
· Post-Secondary Education
· School Environment
Transparency to the Public
North Dakota is committed to informing communities about how well our schools are doing. North Dakota’s future success depends on tapping into the potential of all students, so they graduate choice ready with the knowledge, skills, and disposition to be successful.
State education departments are required to annually create an accountability report for every public school in the state per the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The school accountability reports outline how schools perform on the accountability elements North Dakota selected within its ESSA plan.
How is our School Doing?
To find more information about our School Accountability Report, visit the dashboard at Insights.nd.gov, select “Find My School,” and search alphabetically. The school accountability report is posted under the Dashboard heading.
Please note that the data made available to the public masks or hides data for groups with ten or fewer students to protect confidential information about individual students. Therefore, if data is unavailable to less than ten students, it will say “no data available.”
Family Engagement
We have strong plans for working to improve the educational programs at our school. We want you and your child(ren) to continue actively participating in our educational system. Please help support our high expectations for student achievement by participating in the school educational initiatives, offering input and support in our endeavors to raise student achievement, or volunteering at the school. Meeting our school’s goals will take a united effort, and I look forward to working with our families to ensure success for each student.
Continuous Improvement
All schools engage in continuous improvement for general support; therefore, our school has completed a continuous improvement plan through Cognia.
As part of the overall school improvement plan, a strategy map is generated for each school. Our strategy map, outlining our key school improvement initiatives, is also available on Insights.
Dakota High School is not a participating Title I school, with a student membership count of 144.
If you have any questions regarding the information in the memorandum, please contact (Jim Keal, Assistant Principal at kealj@fargo.k12.nd.us or 701-446-2805
Sincerely,
David Burkman
Building Principal
Counselor's Corner
by Jennie Rude, School Counselor
How is the 2022-2023 school year going for you?
We are so excited to have you working towards your high school diploma at Dakota High School! As we navigate through our current school year we need to think about how to set our year up for success. Here are a few tips to start the year off.
- As a family, talk about what your day will look like. Write down a daily schedule and stick to it!
- Set up an area in your house that can be used for studying. Think about a quiet area with fewer distractions.
- Get enough sleep! Go to bed a decent time so you can have a productive day!
- Reach out for help if you are struggling with school or life issues.
- Your school counselor, principals, teachers and staff are all here to help. We will do our best to help and connect you with any needed resources.
- The Source is our pantry at Dakota. If you need food, we can help!
- Stay connected with friends and family.
- Connect through video calls, letters, or face-to-face meetings (keeping in mind social distancing guidelines). Quality relationships are important for our mental health!
Science Room Explosions & Electric Conducting
Pickle Conducting Electricity.
Pumpkin about to explode!
Pickle about to explode!
Attendance Information
Email/call your teacher or the main office @ 446-2805 to report an absence
Good attendance and being on time are very important life skills.
# Students can earn P-R units (punctuality and reliability) towards advisory credit by having good attendance.
- 1-4 PR points (advisory units) are awarded at the completion of every class. If a student completes 12 courses in a year with great attendance, they could earn 48 advisory units (12 classes @ 4 PR points).
## Regardless of student absence/presence, each school day in session counts in the day count of course completion (25-29 day target).
### Parents (for students under 18) or students age 18/older are expected to call in a morning or full day absence by 9 a.m. and to call in an afternoon only absence by 12:30 p.m. for the absence to be excusable.
a. If a parent can’t call an absence on time, the student must call (by 9:00 and/or 12:30) and the parent must call later in the day to verify the absence.
b. Absences called in late will not be excused. Extenuating circumstances will be considered.
c. Appropriate absences will be excused when called in on time (but still will be included in day count completion):
a. Illness, funeral, medical or legal appointments, parent request, family vacation or emergency
#### A student may be dropped from a course after 3 unexcused absences.
Attendance Notification System
Dakota sends a daily, automated attendance call to report unexcused absences @ 10:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.
Tardiness ~~ Learn to be on-time (Punctual)
Be punctual and reliable. Earn Punctuality and Reliability Points for Advisory Credit!
Tardy (I’m late.) The student is reducing their P/R points for their class.
Tardy 10-15 Minutes: Recorded as Tardy (Tdy).
Ø The student loses access to Meadowlarks Meeting room, Library, or other out-of-class space for the rest of the class period.
Tardy Extended 16 – 70 Minutes: Recorded as tardy absence unexcused (Tdy AU)
Ø Tdy AU = half-period unexcused absence count (2 Tdy AU = 1 AU)
Ø The student loses opportunity to grab and go breakfast and access to work in Meadowlarks Meeting room, Library or other out-of-class space for the rest of the class period.
The "Squash" Project!
On October 11th, NDSU Seed Program donated to our Agassiz Building a whole lot Butternut Squash – the result of a successful seed trial at NDSU. We were thrilled with the prospect of getting it out to our families who could use free and nutritious food.
Our DKHS students and the EL program students came together to bag the squash for donation and to enjoy cocoa and hot cider together.
Serving hot cocoa and cider.
Have a bag of squash to go home.
Using muscle power to unload the squash.
EL & DKHS students working together.
Bagging squash.
What a nice day to help others.
ACT Testing Dates at DKHS
The students will be sent home informational reminders and a BlackBoard call will go out before each test date as a reminder on the test times and room number.
Fargo Cass Public Health ~ Vaccination Clinic
Still mandatory vaccinations ~
Beginning with the 2022-23 school year, a second dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) is required for students entering eleventh or twelfth grade. This means your 11th and 12th grade student will need proof of two doses of MCV4 before returning to school in the fall.
Ideally, children should receive one dose of MCV4 when they are eleven to twelve years old and a booster dose on or after their sixteenth birthday. Please schedule with your child’s health care provider or your local public health. Please have your child receive this booster prior to the start of the school year. Also, remember to bring in the documentation of the immunization date to the school.
****The student has 30 days from enrollment to update their immunizations or their classes will be on PLACED hold.
Open Gym at Lunch with Officer Moen
Jump shot!
Officer Moen, DKHS SRO, is refereeing.
Made it in?
Fargo Public School Evening Session Calendar ~ See below
Night School Format & Attendance
- FPS Night School classes are self-paced independent learning with teacher support and availability.
- Multiple courses in social studies or English meet in the same classroom and use Edmentum as a backbone to meet district and state standards. This flexible arrangement is beneficial.
· 16 Super-block class nights @ 6:00-9:00 pm
o On-campus dates are indicated in bold dates; attendance is required.
o Asynchronous virtual dates are smaller font and not bold.
o Asynchronous attendance: Students are expected to do a virtual check-in as per teacher’s expectation
· Seat time requirement: a student can complete the course after 13 class meetings
- Reporting. Power School is used for Nightly Attendance and Unit Grades and Final Grades
- Edmentum progress and can be accessed by students, counselors, and administration.
- Progress reports will be sent to your school and parents/guardian after the 4th, 8th, and 12th class.
See the download below for more information.
McKinney-Vento Act
1. Is your current address a temporary living arrangement?
2. Is this temporary living arrangement due to loss of housing or economic hardship?
If you answered “yes” to both of these questions, your child(ren) may be eligible for McKinney-Vento services.
Please call Jan at 701-446-1074
Banana Cake Event
Mixing another batch.
Group work making ingredients.
Waiting for the pan to come out of the oven.
Dakota High School Accolades
Dakota students who have distinguished achievement are recognized in the DKHS Accolades program.
Criterion for a student to achieve Dakota High School Accolades:
- Must be enrolled in a minimum of 2 DKHS sessions (starting by mid to late February)
- Average a minimum of 2 course completions per session
- Average a minimum or 3 P/R points for the year
- GPA for the year at DKHS must be at least 2.8
- No unresolved ICUs or DKHS community issues
- Complete 24 credit diploma to graduate with Accolades
Graduate must have attended more than 4 sessions at DKHS.
- Advisor’s written statement(s) of recommendation
Benefits of Achieving Dakota High School Accolades:
- Accolades Recognition Breakfast for student and family guests in May. (TBD)
- Certificate/Award that represents:
- Quality Attendance
- Commendable Scholarship
- Respectful Character
C. Potential to graduate with Accolades
D. Success and a personal sense of accomplishment
E. Quality material for Job-Scholarship-College Applications
Co-Curricular Activities for DKHS Students
All Dakota High School students are welcome to join and participate in their home schools co-curricular programs (sports, music, dances etc…) which exist for the development of skills, attitudes, and self-esteem of students, and are intended to enhance the physical, social, emotional, artistic and intellectual growth of our young people. Parents are encouraged to be positive and supportive in their relationships with advisors and coaches. It is the prerogative of the advisor/coach to manage the activity in such a manner that sound human relationships are encouraged and the regulations of the North Dakota High School Activities Association are met. A team effort by parents, school officials, and the participants is needed.
FARGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISPUTE RESOLUTION POLICY 2022-23
Fargo Public Schools
Dispute Resolution Policy
2022-2023
Dispute Resolution Policy
Federal and state regulations require districts to adopt procedures for receiving and resolving disputes. A complaint may include an investigation by district staff that will result in a determination of findings of facts, conclusions, and reasons for the final decision.
Any individual who believes the Fargo School District has violated the regulations or law governing the federal Title program should submit a detailed, written statement of facts supporting the allegation to:
(Manager of Specific Title program)
Fargo Public Schools
700 7th Street South
Fargo, ND 58103
Fargo Public Schools Title Managers
Title I Part A (Disadvantaged Students) Jan Anderson anderja@fargo.k12.nd.us
Title II Part A (Teacher Training/Recruitment) Robert Grosz groszr@fargo.k12.nd.us
Missy Eidsness eidsnem@fargo.k12.nd.us
Title III (English Language Acquisition) David Burkman burkmad@fargo.k12.nd.us
Title IX (Discrimination/Sexual Harassment) Tamara Uselman uselmat@fargo.k12.nd.us
Section 504 (Students with Disabilities) David Burkman burkmad@fargo.k12.nd.us
Any complaint must include:
• The date;
• The name of the district, unit, or individual the complaint is against;
• The name, address, and telephone number of the person making the complaint;
• A detailed description of the complaint, including specific facts; and
• The signature of the person making the complaint.
When a complaint is filed, the appropriate Fargo Public Schools Title Manager will investigate and issue a written response within sixty (60) calendar days from the date the complaint is received.
Reconsideration
The complainant may submit a reconsideration request in writing to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, the North Dakota Division of Juvenile Services, and the U.S. Department of Education.
State Superintendent The Secretary of Education
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction U.S. Department of Education
600 E. Boulevard Avenue, Dept 201 555 New Jersey Avenue NW
Bismarck, ND 58505-0440 Washington, D.C. 20208
North Dakota Division of Juvenile Services
100 Railroad Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58501