Dearborn Public Schools is offering free pickup lunch and breakfast for students while school is closed for the mandatory shut down over the next three weeks.

Families will be able to stop in and pick up a bag with both breakfast and lunch for each child in the family.  Pickups will run daily from 10 a.m. to noon starting tomorrow, March 17 at Fordson, Edsel Ford and Dearborn High schools, McCollough-Unis, Salina Intermediate, and Woodworth Middle School.

Signage at each site will direct parents and students where to enter the building. Food will be near entrances to minimize the amount of time community members spend in the facilities.

Please note, meals are available to anyone age 18 and younger.  Students do not need to be present, and the Dearborn School student does not need to attend at that building.  A designated person can collect meals for multiple children.  Meals for Saturday and Sunday can be picked up on Friday.

The program will allow the District’s 20,700 students to continue to have access to healthy food.  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week ordered all Michigan schools closed from March 16 through April 3 to slow the spread of novel coronavirus and cases of COVID-19.  Dearborn Schools is scheduled for spring break April 6 to 10, so school will not resume in the District until April 13.

The grab-and-go meals will be served at least through April 3.

Superintendent Glenn Maleyko praised the District’s food service team for quickly implementing this drastic change in service to meet the needs of families.

“We appreciate the patience of our families and community as we all try to adjust to this sudden change from closing schools,” Dr. Maleyko said.  “More than three quarters of our students qualify for free or reduced priced school meals.  We realize this food is important to our families, many of whom may be facing additional financial hardships from the sudden economic changes related to COVID-19.”

Check the Dearborn Public Schools website at www.dearbornschools.org for any updates or changes to the meal program or for other issues regarding the school closure.

Students will be doing the majority of their work online for the next month. For families that may not have internet access in their homes at this time, Comcast is offering their Internet Essentials package for free for the next 60 days. Please click on the link to the story below. Instruction for signing up are included in this article.

https://www.wxyz.com/news/national/coronavirus/comcast-offering-internet-essentials-package-free-for-60-months-during-coronavirus-outbreak

Thursday evening, the Governor ordered all schools in Michigan to close to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). At Stout, we will continue to provide educational activities to students during the closure. These activities will be shared through our school website, teacher websites, and emails from teachers. We ask that students regularly check their district email account and their teachers’ websites for educational activities. At Stout, we have several online resources that will support learning while students are at home. Students are familiar with these resources as they already use them regularly. These resources include:

• IXL
• iReady
• Khan Academy

In addition to their websites, many teachers also use Google Classroom and iLearn. These platforms allow students to complete and submit assignments digitally. Most students are familiar with these platforms as well.

During the school closure, teachers will be regularly checking their email and posting content to their websites. We will be using the school website to share important information about educational activities for students, health and safety recommendations for parents, and available resources for the community. We ask that parents regularly check the school website for updates and highly recommend that parents subscribe to the school blog.

Please take care of your families and follow the recommendations that have been shared by our elected officials and health experts. These recommendations include practicing good hygiene habits and social distancing. While our staff may not physically be at school during the closure, we are still here to support our students and families. Stay safe and healthy. We are looking forward to seeing our students back on April 13th.

Stout Community,

With the news of two confirmed cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Michigan, I wanted to share the additional steps we are taking at Stout Middle School to support a healthy environment for our students.

1. Our custodians will be putting extra focus on cleaning and disinfecting all surfaces areas including desks, tables, door handles, and other items that students and staff come into contact with.
2. We have changed procedures for distributing food during lunch, including prepackaged food. All food will be handed directly from the server to the individual student for the time being.
3. We have eliminated salad bars during lunch for the time being. Salad will still be available for students, but it is now being individually prepared and packaged.
4. We have shared and posted preventative strategies with students such as regular and thorough hand-washing.

Good hygiene practices will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases. Please follow these recommendations and encourage all family members to do the same.

1. Stay home if you are sick, and advise others to do the same.
2. Always cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.
3. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
4. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
5. Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol if soap and warm water are not available.
6. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

The following resources were shared by the district administration team to support parents in discussing COVID-19 with their children. Please click on the links below to review these documents.

Talking to Children about COVID-19

Helping Children Cope with Stress due to the COVID-19 Outbreak

The health and safety of our students is always our first priority. We will continue to share information on the school blog as it becomes available. Additional information is also available on the district’s website.

Mr. Oke

Transform your child’s behavior at home and at school! We will be training you in the best strategies for how to question, support and guide your child through a life of success. This will be Part 1 of a two part, in-depth parent workshop. We look forward to learning with you!

Thursday, March 5th, 2020 in room B2 @ 9:30am at Stout Middle School

Parent Education Meeting Flyer – English & Arabic

This school year, Stout was selected to participate in the Dearborn SHINES grant to implement nutrition and physical activity programming at the student, family and school levels to improve students’ overall well-being.

We are asking parents to take a few minutes to fill out a short survey that will assist us in implementing the DSHINES program. The survey is designed to gather physical activity and nutrition information as well as thoughts about the program from the community. Please use the link below to access the survey.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DSHINES2ParentT1

This week, we will be holding two important meetings at Stout.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 25th at 6:00 PM, we will have another Secondary Options Parent Meeting for those parents who could not attend the previous meeting during the day. This meeting will present information to parents of 8th graders about options for high school that are available to all Dearborn students including Henry Ford Early College, Michael Berry Center, DCMST, and Dual Enrollment.

On Wednesday, February 26th, we will be having our monthly PTA meeting at 5:30 PM.

We encourage you to attend both meetings and look forward to seeing you there!

This morning, Ms. Shannon Peterson, Executive Director of Student Achievement, met with 8th grade parents in our auditorium to share information about the secondary options that are available beginning in 9th grade. Ms. Peterson provided an overview of our alternative high school programs: Henry Ford Early College, DCMST, Collegiate Academy, and the Michael Berry Center. For parents who were unable to attend, Mr. Oke and Mrs. Faraj will be offering an evening meeting on Tuesday, February 25th, at 6:00 pm where the same information will be presented.

Links to the slide show presentation from this morning’s meeting in English and Arabic are included below.

Secondary Options Presentation – English

Secondary Options Presentation – Arabic

Dear Parents,

We have a busy week coming up and wanted to share the week’s events with you…

On Wednesday at 9:00am in our auditorium, we will be holding our Secondary Options Parent Meeting. A district representative will be giving an overview of our alternative high school programs: Henry Ford Early College, DCMST, Collegiate, and the Michael Berry Center. This is a great opportunity to find out more information about the unique opportunities available for your 8th grader. We hope to see you there!

The PTA would also like to inform you that they will be holding two bake sales on Thursday February 13th and Friday February 14th. 

Lastly, just a reminder, next week is Mid-Winter Break and school will be closed February 17th-February 21st. Have a great week! 

Mr. Oke & Mrs. Faraj

Dear Parents,

As part of our ongoing effort to keep an open line of communication with our parents, we would like to take a moment to share information regarding a comment made by one of our students.  

Today, four students came to the office to share with us information they were told about regarding a comment made by another student that mentioned some sort of threatening behavior. Although the information shared with us appeared to be third or fourth hand information we followed standard procedures to determine if the comment was made and any other details pertaining to the situation.  

We did discover that the student who allegedly made the threatening comment was involved in an argument with other students. However, details about what was actually said varied between the students involved.  After a thorough investigation, we were able to determine that there was no threat to the safety or security of students and staff at Stout. We have taken the appropriate steps to address this situation with the students involved as well as reached out to parents, our School Resource officer, and district administrators to ensure that all security and safety measures are in line with district policies with regards to allegations of a school threat. 

We do appreciate the students who came forward to share the information. Although these students had not heard the comments directly, they felt it was important to share what they knew and we support them for being an Upstander by coming to the office and talking with us.  

We live in a time when even very minor events, such as this unfortunate exchange of words, must be taken with the utmost seriousness and acted upon without delay.  Please use this as an opportunity to discuss with your child the importance of using appropriate words when expressing emotions and never use words that would threaten others with violence or harm.   

Everyday, all of us at Stout work to maintain a safe school environment for all students. By always working together, and communicating, our school will continue to be a great school and a safe place for your child. We value your continued support as partners in your child’s education. 

We appreciate your trust and confidence as we work in partnership to support our students. Please feel free to contact us with any concerns or questions you might have at (313) 827-4600. 

Regards, 

Mr. Oke, Principal

Stout has been selected to participate in the Dearborn SHINES grant to implement nutrition and physical activity programming at the student, family and school levels to improve students’ overall well-being. The attached newsletter (click here) includes information on some of the upcoming programs and activities for D-SHINES. We hope you’ll join us!

Reminder: There will be an informational meeting for parents of all current 8th graders interested in attending DCMST for the 2020-2021 school year today, Tuesday, February 4, 2020 from 6-7 pm in the Michael Berry Lecture Hall at the Dearborn Heights Campus. For program information and eligibility, please Click Here.

The school Geography Bee was held on Friday, January 31st. Congratulations to the top three finishers and to all who participated! Sebastian Beauchamp defended his title from last school year and will now move on to state qualifying.

1st Place: Sebastian Beauchamp

2nd Place: Molly Chinery

3rd Place: Elyas Abbas

Last Monday’s Parent-Teacher Conferences were rescheduled for Monday, November 18th from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. If you were unable to attend last Wednesday, please join us this Monday for opportunity to meet with your child’s teachers.