Sunday Snapshot
Summer Updates: August 11, 2024
Welcome Back!
Welcome back, Viking Families!
Summer has flown by once again as our staff has worked tirelessly to ensure we are prepared for the start of the 24/25 school year. You will notice many updates to both our building and staff this year and we will continue to share out information regarding both as we get closer to the start of school. We hope that you've had a chance to relax and get refreshed and we look forward to partnering with your families in your child's education. After reading this update, if you still have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at Shana.love@dundeeschools.org.
Go Vikings!
- 8/12 DCS Board of Education Meeting
- 8/19 Community Construction Reveal 1:00-3:00 pm & 4:30-6:30 pm
- 8/21 1st-4th Grade Open House 4:00-6:00 pm
- 8/26 First day of school for 1st-4th grades
- 8/26 Open House & Soft Start for Young Fives & Kindergarten students
- 8/27 First day of school for Young Fives & Kindergarten students
- 8/30 No School
- 9/2 No School: Labor Day
- 9/17 PTO Meeting 4:00 pm
- 9/20 PTO Read a Thon Kick Off
- 11/6 & 11/14 DES Fall Conferences 4:00-6:00 pm
Our crew has been hard at work to finish construction project plans and clean up the dust. Here is what you can expect when you visit DES this year:
- New main entrance
- Our new main entrance and office are now on the back side of the DES building. The current entrance on Adams St. will no longer be used and the buzz in system will be disabled. To enter the office, you'll enter the traffic loop and utilize the visitor parking lot.
- Walkers and bikers will enter the same entrance as our bus riders on Ypsilanti St.
- Traffic Loop
- Our new traffic loop takes the traffic away from Adams St. Visitors will enter the traffic loop on Ypsilanti St. north of the middle school and follow the loop to the new main entrance. To exit, you will follow the loop out to Dunham St.
- Visitor Parking Lot
- We now have a visitor parking lot on the north side of the elementary building. To reach the visitor parking lot, you'll use the traffic loop. The visitor parking lot is to the east of the building and is found near the playground.
- Playground
- Our new playground has all new equipment as well as some interactive blacktop space. There are also areas dedicated to sports such as basketball, baseball and soccer. We are excited for our students to get out there and enjoy it! Did you know that our previous fourth graders helped with the playground design ideas?!
- Cafeteria & Kitchen
- Our cafeteria has doubled in size and has a new sound-reducing floating ceiling. The kitchen area has expanded for a better flow with service and more space for food prep.
We are excited that we have received grant funding in order to provide a much needed update to our ELA curriculum materials over the next year and we'd love to offer families the opportunity to take a look at what we will be teaching this year in the classrooms selected for the pilot.
After an extensive selection process, our ELA Curriculum Adoption Team has selected a pilot program for the 2024/2025 school year. This pilot will involve only two teachers from each grade level team. We started in February 2024 by forming a team of teachers, administrators and our reading specialist to research and vet various materials. From our research we selected four programs to vet further. During this process we met with representatives from each program, perused sample materials, visited other districts who are implementing the programs and spoke with other teachers, administrators and reading specialists who are currently using the materials. In the end, our team decided on one program that we feel strongly will be the best fit for our pilot program.
Pilots are a process in which we receive needed materials for the pilot timeline and the chosen company provides training and support to our staff throughout the process while we "try it out". At the end of the pilot, if our team agrees that we want to continue with the adoption process with the same program, we will train the remaining teachers in each grade level.
Now that we are starting to receive our pilot materials, we would like to provide an opportunity for parents to view the materials and ask questions. We will also seek family input at the midpoint of our pilot program to assist in making our final decision before we decide to move forward with the adoption.
The two opportunities for families to learn more about the adoption process as well as to view materials will be on Tuesday, August 20th from 4:00-5:00 pm or Wednesday, August 21st from 12:00-1:00 pm. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Mrs. Love at Shana.love@dundeeschools.org so that sufficient meeting space can be provided. If these dates do not work for you, please email Mrs. Love and an alternate time can be discussed.
All DES students will receive FREE breakfast and lunch again this year.
It is still very important to complete the free and reduced application forms in your back to school paperwork, regardless of your qualification status. This application process is essential for the district as it helps secure vital funding from the state and federal sources. Regardless of your income, please fill out this application. Thank you for your help with this matter!
Our PTO has many fun events planned for our students and staff this year! We hope you'll find an opportunity to help support them in their good work!
- First PTO Meeting is September 17th at 4:00 pm
- PTO Read-a-Thon September 20th-October 11th
- PTO Read-a-Thon Kickoff with Popcorn and Books September 20th
- PTO Fall Book Fair November 4th-7th
- PTO Holiday Shop December 9th-13th
- PTO Spring Book Fair March 17th-21st
420 Ypsilanti Dr.
Dundee, MI 48131
School Phone: 734-529-7044
School Fax: 734-529-3741
Principal: Mrs. Love shana.love@dundeeschools.org
Assistant Principal: Mr. Briggs jay.briggs@dundeeschools.org