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.
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!
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.
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!
Stout has been selected to participate in the Dearborn SHINES grant.
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.
DCMST Meeting tonight at 6:00 pm at the Berry Center.
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.
Another teacher assists with small group instruction in a second grade classoom at Maples Elementary. Dearborn Schools has designated teachers that visit classrooms and help the homeroom teacher provide additional small group instruction. Maples was recently recognized as a national Distinguished School for its success in helping at-risk students succeed. Photo Dec. 5, 2018
Dearborn Public Schools this week mailed letters to the families of all 1,500 third grade students in the District, providing them with information about the Read by Third Grade Law. The Michigan Legislature passed Public Act 306 in 2016, but the law does not take full effect until this year. Current third graders will be the first ones forced to repeat that grade if their state M-STEP scores show they are a year or more behind in reading. Third graders will not start taking the test until late April. “Dearborn Public Schools does not believe retention is an effective way to help students master a subject or to help them succeed at school,” Superintendent Glenn Maleyko wrote in the letter to parents of third graders. “Our philosophy is to provide your child with quality instruction from the time they become our students.” The District letter explains that if a student scores below 1253 on the M-STEP, the state will send that child’s family a letter saying that the student should repeat third grade. State letters are expected to arrive by May 23 or 14 days after the Michigan Department of Education receives the assessment results. Parents should be aware the state plans to send the notifications via certified mail, so someone in the household will need to sign for the letter. Parents who receive a state letter have 30 days to request an exemption that would allow their student to go on to fourth grade. The District’s letter stressed that parents have a right as a student’s legal guardian to request a good cause exemption. In the days after the state notifications arrive, all Dearborn Public elementary schools will hold a meeting to explain the exemption process to parents or guardians and to assist parents who want to request an exemption for their child. The law provides several reasons why a child would be allowed to continue to fourth grade. Using last year’s scores as a benchmark, the vast majority of Dearborn Public Schools third graders would have met the reading requirement. Of the few dozen Dearborn third graders who fell short of required score, all would have qualified for an exemption for other reasons, such as still learning English. How this year’s third grade class will do now that the law is in effect is yet to be seen. Dearborn Public School’s letter is part of ongoing District efforts to help parents understand the Read by Third Grade Law and its potential impact on students. Last school year, Dearborn formed a Read by Third Grade Community Task Force, inviting parents and others from the community to participate. Internally, the District has worked since the law’s passage in 2016 to strengthen its already strong focus on helping struggling students learn to read. That work included additional professional development for teachers, more intervention and assistance for struggling students, closer monitoring of student reading levels, and increased communications with parents. “When a student is struggling in any subject area, we will support them with additional programs and early interventions to help that student be successful,” Maleyko wrote.
in January 2015 I started a journey with Stout Middle School, and for 5 years I tried my best to make Stout better and to provide help and support to our students, staff, and community. Today this journey comes to an end, and, starting Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, I begin a new one at Dearborn High School. I will miss Stout a lot and I leave with very mixed emotions. One thing I will always do is give our students the best I have because they are our future engineers, doctors, lawyers, and even politicians. Simply put, helping them is helping ourselves.
My thanks extend to everyone at Stout; the compassionate Mr. Oke, the energetic Mrs. Faraj, the main office staff who made my job easier (most of the time), the teachers and support staff who did their work selflessly, to the parents who entrusted me, and to the students who made my job “interesting” to say the least. All the best to every and single one of you.
Parents and potential students are invited to come learn about the Career training opportunities offered at the Michael Berry Career Center for all Dearborn Public School High school students in grades 10 through 12. Tour our facility and meet current students; view demonstrations of the industry-standard hands-on skills training we do; learn about college credit and industry certification opportunities; talk to students about student clubs and organizations; experience the “Berry Difference” first hand and much more! Please click on the link below to read the full details!
Parents must be thinking that summer has arrived early. Their kids had 1/2 day on Friday, January 17, were off on MLK day Monday, January 20, 1/2 day on Tuesday, January 21, and another 1/2 day on Wednesday, January 22. Let me assure you that summer is still far away, but I am sure that the kids and staff definitely had no problem with these mini-breaks.
Stout Middle School – as well as all Dearborn Public Schools – are closed on Monday, January 20, 2020 to commemorate Martin Luther King and his great role in advancing civil rights. Schools resume on Tuesday, January 21, which will be a half day where Stout closeS 11:00 am.
Congratulations to Stout’s Varsity Boys Basketball team for reaching the Final after beating Lowrey by a score of 35 – 19. Our boys willbattle Bryant for the Championship at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at Dearborn High School! Go Falcons
