The Become Here Project

Findley Elementary will not only become a Montessori school during the 2024-25 school year but current fifth grade students will also have the option to stay at Findley for 6th grade. The pilot program means more options for students and an opportunity to observe the potential benefits of adding 6th grade at other elementary schools. In this month's The Become Here Project: A Des Moines Public Schools Podcast, Findley principal Dr. Barb Adams and associate principal Ryan Pirtle talk about how they used data and included their families and staff in the process of developing and executing these innovative ideas.

Come Here. Become Here.

⁠⁠dmschools.org⁠⁠.

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Hosted by Amanda Lewis.

Produced by Kyle Knicley, DMPS-TV.

Every Day Matters isn’t just a slogan, it’s a fundamental truth about education. Every school day is a building block to the next. The absence of these building blocks creates holes in learning that may cause a student to fall behind and impact their readiness for the next grade level.

Learn about the potentially devastating effects of chronic absenteeism and the benefits of making a habit of attending every school day, as Amanda Lewis speaks with Jake Troja, Director of School Climate Transformation, and Jennifer Stalder, SUCCESS Supervisor. Joining the conversation, Dr. Ian Roberts provides the district's outlook and key efforts in tackling the challenges of absenteeism.

Learn more about this topic and access resources by clicking here.

Come Here. Become Here.

⁠⁠dmschools.org⁠⁠.

Follow DMPS: ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Flickr⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

Hosted by Amanda Lewis.

Produced by Kyle Knicley, DMPS-TV.

Central Campus Marine Biology students move among tanks of creatures from the ocean each day during their classes, caring for animals they would have to travel far to see in the wild. Despite the landlocked nature of our state, these students dream about careers exploring, investigating, and preserving our world’s oceans and their inhabitants. Nine of Dr. Gregory Barord’s students recently earned a special designation and opportunity that will open their world even more. Dr. Barord shares their success become NOAA Ocean Guardian Youth Ambassadors in a blog post special to the Blog@DMPS here.

We speak Dr. Barord and two of the nine students with the NOAA desgination: Vianne Stroope West, sophomore, Central Campus Marine Biology and East High School and Michael Gerety, senior, Central Campus Marine Biology and Ankeny High School.

Come Here. Become Here.

⁠⁠dmschools.org⁠⁠.

Follow DMPS: ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Flickr⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

Hosted by Amanda Lewis.

Produced by Kyle Knicley, DMPS-TV.

Episode seven is a recorded Q&A session live from the 2024 State of the Schools event in the Hoover High School auditorium featuring Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts, DMPS Board Chair Jackie Norris, and co-hosted by student journalist.

Watch the video of the address and podcast recording by clicking here.

Come Here. Become Here.

⁠dmschools.org⁠.

Follow DMPS: ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Flickr⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠YouTube⁠.

Hosted by Amanda Lewis.

Produced by Kyle Knicley, DMPS-TV.

Des Moines Public Schools is beginning an important project to make plans for the future of our district’s facilities and infrastructure. This effort is to not only look at our school

The end goal of this process?  Develop a 5-10 year facility plan that drives 21st Century educational excellence in DMPS.

Click here for more information.

Come Here. Become Here.

⁠⁠dmschools.org⁠⁠.

Follow DMPS: ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Flickr⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠.

What is Virtual Campus? How does it work? Would it be a good fit for your Iowa high school student? Learn the answers to these questions by listening in as Amanda Lewis speaks with Virtual Campus Interim Principal Praveen Bannikatti, Associate Principal Tori Rabe, and Nadia Powell, a senior at Virtual Campus.

See more of Iowa's Best Accredited Virtual High School: virtualcampus.dmschools.org

Come Here. Become Here.

dmschools.org.

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Ahead of Des Moines Public Schools Homeless Awareness Week, Amanda Lewis speaks with DMPS Homeless Liaison, Lyn Wilson, and Elementary School SUCCESS Case Manager, Lisa Beving.

Click on this link to learn more and connect with DMPS Homeless Services.

Ahead of the October 12th ribbon-cutting ceremony at the brand new Mediacom Stadium, we check in with Director of Operations Dave Berger and Director of Activities and Community Education Jason Allen to hear what the new Des Moines Home Field means for the DMPS community.

Learn more about the stadium at: https://www.dmschools.org/stadium/

This is a two-for-one episode as we learn more about what it takes to nourish more than 30,000 DMPS students, and why preschool is an indicator for lifetime success.

Featured guests in this episode:

DMPS Director of Food & Nutrition, Amanda Miller

DMPS Director of Early Childhood Programs, Kristin Rourk

Teacher at McKee UPK, Julie Wilcox

Produced by Kyle Knicley of DMPS-TV

Listen in as Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts shares his journey that lead him to Des Moines Public Schools and see what his markers of a successful superintendency means for the future. Learn how his mother influenced his character and academic pursuits, and how his athletic achievements reached as far as the Olympics.