Dakota Minute

As we navigate the challenges of this season together, I want to take a moment to reaffirm the heart of our mission at Dakota Meadows Middle School: Equity, Excellence, and Empowerment. During difficult times, these values serve as our anchor and our promise to Every Student, Every Day. In our hallways, Equity means ensuring every child has the specific support they need to thrive, regardless of the hurdles they face outside our doors. Excellence is our commitment to high-quality learning and character even when the path is difficult, and Empowerment is the spark we ignite in our students to help them realize they have the voice and agency to shape their own futures. Whether we are facing the literal chill of a Minnesota winter or the weight of trying times, our dedication to your children remains unshakable. We are honored to partner with you in fostering a community where every student feels seen, valued, and ready to lead.

Principal Hyer

ONE & DONE Fundraiser Results – Final Update

WOW, DMMS families — you showed up!

Thanks to your generosity, we raised $10,218, reaching 59% of our $17,350 goal!

Congrats to Mr. Smith, Mr. Buttell, and Ms. Brezina for leading their groups in fundraising! Their advisories earned a donut party.

• For raising 50% of our goal, teachers and administrators will face off in a wild, messy, wet competition during a school wide assembly which will be planned with input from the top fundraising advisors and their students!

• In addition, for every 1% raised above 50%, DMMS Administrators are giving students an extra minute of recess — that’s 9 extra minutes of recess for our students!

• Thank you to every family, donor, and advisor who helped make this fundraiser a success. Your support directly benefits DMMS students, and we are so grateful!

Warmly,

Meghan Maes

DMMS PTA President

Our upcoming spring conferences will be held: Thursday, February 26th and Monday, March 2nd after school.

We will still use PTCFast for families to sign up to meet with their student's teacher/s. More details to come!

Charting the MAPS Course Together with Secondary School Redesign continues to move forward through the development of our Secondary Input Team (SIT) and the team’s first meeting. SIT consists of 25 teachers and administrators representing each of our five secondary schools.

The purpose of SIT is to:

• Become knowledgeable about the future of learning, grounded in local, national, and global data and supported by relevant, recent research.

• Understand the needs of our current and future learners.

• Provide input to administration on potential options moving forward.

• Serve as a conduit for communication while representing staff perspectives and needs.

In the near future, we will be creating a Community Input Team made up of families, students, representatives from local industries, alumni, and school administrators. This team will serve in a similar capacity to SIT by providing input and helping ensure multiple perspectives are reflected in the work.

The Secondary School Redesign process will not be developed in isolation. We are excited to gain perspectives from stakeholders across our school district while learning from one another to create a system that helps students discover their passions, earn valuable credentials, and prepare for their future and a life beyond MAPS.

Snow season is just around the corner! In preparation, here is an important resource that is available on the ISD77 website for your review:

Weather Related Information - includes details on where to find out about weather related closings and late starts. Please note the MAPS Notification Line: 507-387-6046.

We believe cell phones/electronics devices can cause distractions to the educational environment and our students deserve to learn in a postive environment that is free from avoidable distractions.

• Anytime your student is absent from school or if you plan on your student being absent from school, please call the office and leave your name, student’s name, grade and reason for absence.

• Verified reasons to excuse your student:

• Illness

• Religious Holidays

• Appointments (Doctor, Dentist, Therapy), Please provide documentation for appointments

• Vacation (5 Days) (Please notify the office up to one week before so we can help them collect work while they are gone.)

• The attendance office can be reached by:

• calling (507)387-5077 Option 1

• via email at: dmmsattendance@isd77.org

• If your student is marked absent for a class the system will send an automated courtesy call/email in the evening to remind you to excuse the absence. All absences not excused within the 48 hour time window will remain unexcused.

• If your student is marked absent and you feel it was made in error, please have them talk directly with their teacher.

Two hour early releases will take place on the following dates:

January 14th. February 11th. March 11th. April 8th. May 13th.

Your student will start their day at the normal time of 8:35 am and be released at 1:25 pm. They will receive lunch prior to the 1:25 pm dismissal when buses leave the building. Students participating in varsity co-curriculars will need to go home, then return to practice at the designated practice time. There will be no middle school co-curricular practices on early release Wednesdays. All students need to ensure they have transportation home by 1:25 pm.

• As a reminder, please use Door 1 to pick up and drop off your student during the school day. For example, if your student is arriving late or leaving early due to an appointment or an event please pick up at Door 1. Door 1 is locatated in our middle parking lot by the main office. This is where our new secure entrance is located. Students should not be dropped off or picked up at door 1 before and after school unless approved by Principal Hyer or here for a before school event.
• Please use Door 8 (the cafeteria side parking lot) for pick up and drop off before and after school. We ask that families do not pick up and drop off at Door 1 unless approved by Principal Hyer.
• Door 20 (our pond side parking lot) is used for buses to pick up and drop off students.

• January 9th- All School Dance
• January 14th- Early Out
• January 16th - End of Quarter 2
• January 19th- No School
• January 20th- No School/PREP Day
• February 6th- 6th Grade Ski Trip
• February 11th- Early Out
• February 17th- Panorama Survey
• February 23rd- PTA Meeting
• March 11th- Early Out
• March 18th- End of Quarter 3
• March 19th & 20th- No School
• March 23rd- No School/PREP Day
• March 24th- 6th Grade Biz Town- Trail TBD
• March 25th- 6th Grade Biz Town- Trail TBD