The Dolphin Report
Destin Elementary School
To access staff contacts, handbooks and more, visit our website at https://www2.okaloosaschools.com/o/destines
August 2025
Mrs. Meyer, Principal / Mrs. Brown, Assistant Principal / Mr. Telatovich, Dean
DES families and community,
Off we go into the brand-new school year! It's my absolute favorite time of the year. It is full of excitement and possibilities. Adults and kids alike are reuniting with familiar faces and meeting new friends all at once. It is our goal to create a school where every person can feel welcome and loved while growing academically, socially and emotionally. I hope you visit our "Guide to DES Policies and Procedures" edition of the Dolphin Report on our website, put out this summer for information about the procedures and policies of our school. You can access this on our website as well as our Student Handbook. If you have questions or concerns, you may call the office and talk to one of our amazing secretaries! Mrs. Lori Scott is our new front desk secretary. Pam Page is our administrative secretary, Julie Jowers is our registrar, and Felicia Hutchins is our bookkeeper. Any one of these amazing women are there to help you in any way we can! If you need to speak to an administrator, you may call to make an appointment with myself, Amy Meyer, the principal of DES, Jessica Brown, the assistant principal of DES or Aaron Telatovich, the dean of students at DES. Our new guidance counselor, Kim Levins, is another valuable resource to help you when needed.
I encourage you to communicate openly with your child's teacher throughout the year. You can access all staff's email on our webpage and your child's teacher will let you know the best way to contact them.
We will host classroom orientations on August 26th and 28th. The schedule is posted below. I will be available in the cafeteria providing general school information on both nights. Pop in to see me before or after your classroom orientation if you'd like! We will also have other organizations set up in the cafeteria to tell you about opportunities for after school programs.
Any visitors to our campus during school hours, must come to the front office with a drivers license to sign in through our security system before coming onto school grounds.
We will welcome visitors for lunch beginning the week following Labor Day. All after school activities will begin after Labor Day as well. Information on these activities are posted as we get them. The ones we know are coming are listed in this newsletter.
We have an outstanding PTO group that welcomes volunteers. Their first meeting will be August 21st at 7:45 am and the rest of the meeting dates will be scheduled at that time. This group works throughout the year to support our school, our teachers and our kids through fundraising efforts and volunteering at all of our school events.
Thank you for trusting us with your most precious gifts. We promise you to treat them with respect and kindness and take care of them while they are with us. If problems arise, we want to work with you as a team to find solutions. These kids are learning so much as they grow and we are here to help guide them and teach them alongside you.
It truly takes a village and we have the best around! Together we will make this year the best ever! Thank you for being our partners and FINS UP DES!
Warmest Regards,
Amy Meyer
DES Principal
School Supply List for 25-26!
The dates for classroom orientations are below. We will have vendors in the cafeteria to tell you about after school programs available to sign up for. I will also be hosting an informational meeting for parents in the multipurpose room during orientation nights for our new parents or anyone wanting a refresher before/after your classroom visits :)
Healthy Schools Newsletter August 2025
Free and Reduced Lunch Applications for the 25-26 school year!
Free and Reduced Meal Applications must be submitted each year. If you were in this program last year, you will need to fill out a new application for the 25-26 school year, please! We encourage ALL of our families to fill out a free and reduced meal application, even if you don't think you will qualify or if you plan to bring meals from home. This application offers other supports as well, such as reduced internet cost if you qualify. Please take a moment to fill out the application!
Thank you :) https://www.myschoolapps.com/
Set Up your FOCUS account!
Parents, please make sure you have your FOCUS accounts set up and accessible. All communications, grades and student information will be through your FOCUS account. :)
Lunch visitation will begin on Tuesday, September 2nd!
Want to be a School Volunteer? Use the link to apply!
We love our volunteers! If you would like to help in classrooms or chaperone on field trips, you must have an approved volunteer application on file through Okaloosa County Schools. These volunteer approvals are good for one calendar year. You will receive an email when your application is received and another email when it has been approved. If you have an approved application on file, you will receive an email alert 30 days before it will expire to let you know to reapply. If you have problems with your application, you may call Lori Scott in the front office of DES :).
**From Here Down is Repeated Information!**
Field Trip Chaperone Guidelines
PTO Sponsorships for DES
If you are able, please consider being a PTO sponsor to support Destin Elementary School this year! Thank you to all of our local business partners that help us every year by providing funds to enhance our school and the educational experience for all of our kids!
READ AT HOME PLAN!
Parents and caregivers! Reading at home with your kids is the best way to ensure they become proficient readers. Please use the link below to access some resources and strategies to help!
Spanish version of the Read at Home Plan!
Visit Squad Locker for your DES apparel! All items can be individually ordered and shipped right to your house! We hope you like it!
Please remember to put your child's name on all belongings!
Our Lost and Found bins fill up fast! Parents are free to look through the bins right inside the school. Check in through the front office. Items will be donated at the end of the quarters.
All after school activities are coordinated by the sponsor and parents.
Destin Elementary School allows organizations to use our facilities to provide after school activities for our students. We are not directly affiliated with them and are not involved in the agreements parents make with the organization.
Clubs and Activities
Club registrations with information about age requirements, cost and dates/times will be sent home a few weeks after school begins!
We are still in need of a sponsor/coach for the Drone Club! :) Contact Mrs. Meyer if you are interested!
Drama Kids - After school on Thursdays
Violin - After school on Tues and Thursdays
Remarkable Arts- After school on Thursdays
Music Club- during the school day, students rotate
Good News Club (all grades)- after school
Library Club (4th grade only) - during school hours
HOPE Squad (4th grade only)- during school hours, students chosen by peers
Safety Patrol (4th grade only)- during school hours
Junior Deputy (4th grade only)- during school hours
Destin Ambassadors (all grades, students chosen by admin)- during school hours
New School Addition coming to DES in August 2026!
We are thrilled to showcase our school expansion! This will be the new front office which will be located on Beach Dr! To the left of the front office, you can see the new multipurpose building with the classroom additions behind that!
Below is the view of the new, 2-story, 30 classroom addition that will house our 3rd-5th grade classes! There will be more parking and an additional car line for pick up to help with traffic on the main roads!
Things You Need To Know
Students may purchase breakfast in the cafeteria before class if they choose.
School starts at 8:25. All students should be in their classroom and ready to learn no later than this or they will be marked tardy.
Please make every effort to be on time. Instruction starts at 8:25 and it is uncomfortable for students to enter late and try to catch up on what they missed :). It also disrupts the learning of the other students.
No visitors will be allowed on campus unless they sign in through the front office.
Drop off- Students may ride the bus, come by car or walk/ride bikes to school. Walkers and bike riders have 3 ways they may enter. One is on Beach Drive at our multipurpose room (we call this the Beach Drive entrance), one to the left of the front office (we call this the kindergarten gate) and one to the right of the front of the school by the kindergarten playground (we call this the black gate).
Car riders will come through the car line on Kelly St. Please have your students ready to exit the car when you pull up to the drop off point so we can keep things flowing smoothly!
Although we try to open all car doors for students, you do not have to wait on staff to get kids out of the car. Students that are capable, may exit the car on their own.
DO NOT drop off students across the street and have them cross traffic or walk in front of the car line to come to school. Any student crossing a street should use the crosswalks! I understand the car line can get long, however, this causes a very dangerous situation and we want our kids to be safe- thank you.
You may park at the Catholic Church on Beach Drive and walk your student to the multipurpose room entrance if you don't want to wait in the car line. Please do not park in the yards/driveways of people who live around the school. We want to be respectful of their property.
Breakfast and lunch are able to be purchased each day. The menu can be viewed by clicking the following link. Keep in mind that there are times the menu changes without notice.
https://okaloosaschools.nutrislice.com/menus-eula
You may access the application for free and reduced lunches with the link below. We encourage everyone to fill out the form whether you think you will qualify or not. :) It helps our school by having more people fill out the form!
https://www2.myschoolapps.com/
Breakfast and Lunch Prices are listed below.
You can add money to your child's account online by creating an account at https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain?requestAction=home
We welcome parents to come eat lunch with your kids any day of the week! Due to limited seating in the cafeteria, we ask that you eat outdoors only at any of our picnic tables or benches around campus. You may bring lunch in to eat with your child or buy lunch in the cafeteria. We do not accept deliveries for lunch such as fast food drop offs or Door Dash orders. Calling classrooms for students to pick up their lunch disrupts instruction and causes much confusion and traffic in the front office. When you come to eat with your child, you may only take your child with you. Please do not invite friends to join you. This is for everyone's safety. Sign in through the front office when visiting, please :)
*Side note about lunch- Students are allowed to purchase ice cream, chips and other treats at lunch as long as there is money in their account, unless you contact the cafeteria and tell them otherwise. When students buy these extra treats, most of the time that is all they eat. The rest of the lunch goes in the trash. We want parents to be aware. If you would like to limit what your child buys, please write a note to the cafeteria or call to talk to them. :)
Early Checkouts: If you need to check your child out early for any reason, please come to the front office to sign them out. We ask that you come no later than 2:15 for early checkouts. Dismissal time gets very hectic in the front office and we need that time to handle transportation changes and make sure kids get to their correct locations to get home.
If your child is needing to change the way they go home, you MUST write a note that includes your child's full name, teacher's name, the date and the way you want them to go home. Please sign the note and send it to school with your child. Their teacher will get it to the office for you. Any transportation change that differs from their regular way home, requires a written note.
Dismissal - Dismissal begins at 2:55 and students are released in waves.
ALL students will be given a tag that is placed on their backpacks. They will be assigned a tag number.
Any parents picking up in car line must have a matching car tag to their students backpack tag. You will be sent to the front office to get your child if you do not have your car tag at pickup.
Kindergartener walkers will be picked up at the kindergarten gate to the left of the front office. Parents of kindergarten walkers only will be required to show their matching tag. Older students may go home as walkers/bike riders without a parent meeting them.
Kindergarteners are walked to their appropriate places for dismissal.
***If you plan to volunteer at school this year, including attending field trips with your student, you must have a current volunteer application on file. You can access this application at the following link: https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/OTYyOmVuLVVT
When filling out the application, if you choose Coach, Overnight Chaperone, or Mentor options, they require fingerprinting and it's a longer process. You do not need to be fingerprinted to volunteer in the school setting only. If you do not hear back about your application within a week, contact us to check on it for you :)
Pop Top Collection to Support the Ronald McDonald House!
Please collect these tops throughout the year and send them into school with your child or bring them to the lobby of the front office and place them in the container.
Thank you for helping us support a very special organization that helps families every day!