Yost Weekly Update: August 11, 2023

Mrs. Harmison does so much for everyone at Yost. Whether it is having special lunches with students, running small groups, or just giving students (or teachers) a break when they need it. We are lucky to have her!

National School Counseling Week is February 3-7, 2025. This special week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.

Gym- Blake Inhat (Mrs. Papineau), Sammi Ritz (Ms. Taylor)

Library- Landon Laymon (Ms. Koss), Isabella Ontiveros (Ms. Spain)

Music- Shelby Dickinson (Ms. Toth), Fred Robinson (Ms. Toth)

Art- Skylar Griffin (Ms. Taylor), Ariel Washington (Ms. Taylor)

The link below will be used for any necessary safety reports for an elementary school in Duneland.

DSC K-4 Anonymous Safety Reporting Form

Read-A-Thon starts TODAY and goes until Tuesday February 25th! Register by clicking the link https://www.read-a-thon.com/readers/r/MmxRuV/1 or scanning the QR code! We’re SO excited to share the rewards that can be earned through donations and minutes read! If the whole school reaches 100,000 minutes Mr. Huwig will transform into a book worm AND we’ll throw a Glow Party March 20th!

PTO Dates to Remember

FEBRUARY

7- Read-A-Thon STARTS

11- FIT Club/PTO Meeting 4:30-5:30PM

25- LAST Day for Read-A-Thon

Questions can be directed to yostpto@gmail.com

For those families that volunteered, the student directory is attached.

Please refer to the video for updated traffic patterns.

https://youtu.be/sVQEas2ZlOA

Yost is committed to supporting and honoring those men and women that currently serve and have served in our military.

2/14-2/17 Winter Break (no school)

3/3 IREAD Testing Window Begins (Grades 2 & 3)

3/14 End of Quarter 3

3/21 Quarter 3 Grades Available

3/24-3/28 Spring Break (no school)

4/8 Yost PTO Meeting

4/14 ILEARN Testing Window Begins (Grades 3 & 4)

4/17 Yost Science Fair

4/28 Yost Author Visit

5/6 eLearning Day

5/8 Yost Blood Drive

5/13 Yost PTO Meeting

5/17 DSC Color Run

5/29 Last Day of School!

8/13 First Day of School 2025-2026!

The first step to maximizing academic growth throughout the year is getting to school as much as possible. This year, we have a goal of a 95% attendance rate for the year. We will celebrate class winners and share our school attendance rate for the week.

In an effort to improve attendance which directly positively impacts student growth and achievement along with adhering to the new state law regarding attendance, Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 282, Duneland School Corporation has developed a new Attendance Policy.

A few important changes:

• Parent/Guardian Verified Absence: This is a new category of student attendance. It is used when an absence does not meet the criteria to be considered "Excused" or "Unexcused." There will only be four (4) Parent/Guardian Verified absences allowed a semester. Additional absences called in by a parent or guardian not meeting the definition of "Excused" will be considered "Unexcused."
• Parents only have one (1) week to verify an absence or provide documentation for an "Excused" absence.
• A student who is absent from school for five (5) days within a ten (10) week period without the absences considered "Excused" will be deemed a student in need of truancy prevention.

1. Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year. Half the students who miss 2-4 days in September go on to miss nearly a month of school.
2. Chronic absence appears to have doubled by the end of the 2021-22 school year. We estimate that it now affects nearly one out of three students (or 16 million vs. 8 million students in the 2018-19 school year).
3. Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by the end of third grade or be held back.
4. By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school.
5. Research shows that missing 10 percent of the school, or about 18 days in most school districts, negatively affects a student’s academic performance. Chronic absence is considered two days a month.
6. When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and chances of graduating.
7. The most important thing to track is not just how many are missing school without an excuse but how many are missing so many days in excused and unexcused absences that academics are off track.
8. Missing one (1) day of school every two (2) weeks, adds up to almost a year and half of school from kindergarten to senior in high school.

Yost Attendance- 94.8%

Kindergarten- Mrs. Nay 93.3%

1- Mrs. Faher 96.3%

2- Mrs. Mendenhall 97.3%

3- Ms. Toth 98.5%

4- Ms. Spain 95%

ONLINE ENROLLMENT is NOW OPEN for incoming Duneland Kindergarten students for the 2025-2026 school year. Families are asked to complete online enrollment prior to attending Kindergarten Round-Up on Thursday, February 27, 2025. To get started please visit: DSC Kindergarten Enrollment 2025-2026

For your newsletters (image attached). The nomination period begins at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, January 31.

Here is the link to the page with the information: https://www.duneland.k12.in.us/about-us/dsc-teacher-employee-of-the-year

In keeping with our Core Values, Duneland School Corporation is committed to fostering partnerships to improve the quality of life in our community. One of our most important partnerships is with our families. As we strive to continue to build upon and strengthen our family partnerships, DSC is applying for renewal from the Indiana Department of Education as an IDOE “Family Friendly Schools” corporation. In doing so, we will continue to “focus on addressing students' academic, physical, emotional, and social needs while providing the needed resources and fostering the active involvement of their families through schools and the community.” (Indiana Department of Education Family Friendly Schools Handbook)

Please help us as we continue to support our students and community by completing the IDOE online survey by December 20, 2024

Your ongoing support in educating the children of our community is greatly appreciated!

SURVEY LINKS AND INSTRUCTIONS:

Survey Links:

• 2025-2026 Family Friendly Survey Questions for Families

• 2025-2026 Family Friendly Survey Questions for Families-Spanish

School Name: choose your school from the drop-down list

School Corporation: 6470 Duneland School Corporation

School Liaison Name: MICHELLE PALKO

School Liaison email: mpalko@duneland.k12.in.us

School Codes for your convenience:

6928 - Bailly Elementary School

6819 - Brummitt Elementary School

6817 - Jackson Elementary School

6823 - Liberty Elementary School

6941 - Newton Yost Elementary School

6821 - Liberty Intermediate School

6927 - Westchester Intermediate School

6925 - Chesterton Senior High School

6926- Northwest Indiana Online School (Trojan Virtual Academy)

Learn more about the Duneland Early Learning Classes at the the HUB. Click on the image below to enroll.

To make an appointment please call 219-763-8112. Let NorthShore know you are a Duneland School student or staff member and that you would like to make an appointment at the Duneland School Clinic located at the old CMS.

Information regarding student bus transportation for the 2024-2025 school year is available on DSC website under the Transportation Department.

TRACK STUDENT'S BUS WITH MYSTOP APP- The Duneland School Corporation Department of Transportation has now made My Stop available to our families.

My Stop is a web-based application which will allow parents to access live bus GPS information using a smartphone, tablet, or computer and securely view the current location of your child’s bus on routes. The system also provides the bus’s estimated time of arrival at your child’s bus stop.

Please read the attached letter to parents for more information on how to use My Stop to track your child's bus.

The DSC Child Nutrition Department utilizes NutriSlice as its menus program. This app is available for iPhone and Android through your mobile app store. Parents can also access the full website for Duneland Schools on a computer via this NutriSlice link.

This app will allow parents and students to view the menus as well as the nutritional info for each menu item at any of the Duneland Schools. This program will be developed further incorporating images of the actual food items being served at each of the Duneland schools.

Do you want to earn money but still be home with your family?

Does the cost of childcare hinder your plans to work?

Does your child participate in the many afterschool opportunities?

Would you like to spend quality time with your kids during spring, summer and winter breaks?

https://www.applitrack.com/dune.../onlineapp/default.aspx...

The goal of the Duneland School Corporation district school newsletters is to inform students, parents and the school community about school-related information.

The Duneland Schools share information that pertains to opportunities our students may be interested in and outside of school on a special page on our website. These available opportunities are offered by not-for-profit partnerships and organizations within our school district boundaries and local communities. Follow this link to Community Opportunities.

Want your event/activity/camp posted on this page? Submit a request by email with the flyer/information to the Duneland Schools Administrative Center to ahicks@duneland.k12.in.us and bmartinson@duneland.k12.in.us.

Email: jhuwig@duneland.k12.in.us
Website: https://www.duneland.k12.in.us/Domain/12
Location: 100 West Beam Street, Porter, IN, USA
Phone: 219.983.3640