Archer Update #14

Your children are taught by the state's leading and award winning educators. Teachers, along with families, are an integral part of our “Triangle of Success”-- providing academic excellence in all 15 P-H-M schools. All P-H-M teachers are rated either "Highly Effective" or "Effective," according to IDOE evaluation ratings. Excellence Happens Here!

Happy Veteran's Day - November 11th

Thanksgiving Break is November 23rd-27th (No School)

In this edition of the Archer Update you will find the following information:

1. Point of #PHMExcellence
2. One Book One School is Coming Soon!
3. 8th Grade Penn High School Tour
4. DMS PTO Fundraiser - Major Saver
5. 8th Grade Washington D.C. Trip Information
6. eLearning Instructions if Needed for Inclement Weather Days
   
7. Available Substitute Positions ... Apply with ESS.COM
8. PTO Corner - Poinsettia Sale Information
9. Reporting Student Absences
10. SEL Lessons

Friendly Reminders:

• BOOK FEES ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON SKYWARD! Please login and begin paying them as they are due for the 2022-2023 school year! You can pay by check or at this website: https://payments.efundsforschools.com/v3/districts/56752 It is also possible that if you already paid, there have been some adjustments, so please double check to see if you still owe for a course that occurs in another semester this year. Thank you.

Discovery Middle School is now ranked #2 in the State of Indiana for top performing middle schools (this is out of about 300). Our teachers continue to be prepared to provide the most targeted, engaging lessons to help all our students reach their fullest learning potential. Our students are some of the best in Indiana and possibly the world! Thank you for sending us your finest!

Fall 2022 One Book One School Update:

Since August Discovery staff and parent volunteers have been working to prepare for the year’s One Book One School event. The event will take place between Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks this year.

• In August of this year, Discovery students were given the chance to vote on their favorite genres to read.

• In September, the One Book One School Committee shared story descriptions for the top three genres – Fantasy, Mystery, and Paranormal, and students were able to vote for the one that sounded most interesting. The Mystery was the winner!

On Monday, November 28, students will receive their copy of the book that won the vote. They don’t yet know the name of the book yet, so we will keep it a secret for another week...stay tuned to next week's SMORE!

Thank you,

The OBOS Committee of DMS

8th Grade Penn High School Tour

Attention DMS 8th grade parents: Your student received a permission slip on Tuesday to participate in the Penn High School Tours on November 29th from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Students will hear a presentation from the high school counselors about classes they can choose from when they schedule students in January. After the presentation, students will take a tour with a current high school student and hear all about what it is like to go to school at Penn High School. Permission slips are due November 16th and can be turned in at the counselors office or scanned to Ms. Horn (shorn@phm.k12.in.us). Click here for a digital PDF of the permission slip.

Attention 8th grade DMS Students and Parents:

Here is the link to sign up for the DC trip.

-Once on the site click find your school at the top of the page

-Scroll to about the middle of the page to find Discovery Middle School

-Click register

-Make an account

-You will find the details of our trip and links to sign up.

Dear DMS Families,

We are so thankful to be enjoying our first “normal” school year in recent history! The PTO spent time over the summer working to get ready to meet the needs of our staff and students - we have donated “Illuminate the Possibilities” 1/4 zip shirts to all of the staff at the beginning of the school year, provided funds to purchase items for the Archer Rewards store, stocked the concession stand for our fall sports teams (congrats to all of them for successful seasons!), and donated meals for teachers during student-led conferences. And that is just the first couple months of the school year!

We could not do this without the support of our DMS families. A huge thank you to those who worked at the concession stand, donated items to supplement our teacher dinners and/or donated via PayPal or check to our direct donation campaign!

As of right now, fewer than 8% of DMS families have made a donation. If you are not able to donate your time, please consider a financial donation - donations of $25 or more receive a DMS car decal. This is an easy way to support our PTO and help us reach our goal of providing ongoing support and appreciation to the faculty and staff of DMS. You can send a check to school with your student or donate via our PayPal link: paypal.me/DiscoveryPTO

We are also looking for volunteers! Do you have experience organizing Give Back Nights? Do you own a local restaurant or business that would be interested in donating items or gift cards for Teacher Appreciation Week in the spring? Would you like to be more involved with Concessions (we are looking for volunteers to chair this committee - a great opportunity to join the PTO board and get to know many of our amazing coaches)? We would love to work with you - please reach out!

We are so fortunate to have such an amazing school for our kids. Please consider supporting DMS and the PTO!

Go Archers!

Jamie Nugent

DMS PTO President

If your child will be absent for any reason, please notify our office as soon as possible! Our office staff records all absences beginning at 8:00 am and must phone any student's home who does not report to school without notice.

Another option is to go to your Skyward Family Access Account and follow these steps:

• Click on the Attendance Tile for the child who will be absent.
• Click on the Absence Requests Tab
• Click Add Absence Request on the right side of the screen
• Enter Start and End Date
• Check All Day if the absence will be the entire school day
• Attendance Reason - Choose from the drop down menu
• Comment - Add any information regarding the absence reason
• Click SAVE in the upper right hand corner

P-H-M is committed to helping students reach their fullest potential, which includes the whole child! Please visit the PHM website HERE for various valuable parent resources to help you in supporting your child

Website: https://discovery.phmschools.org/
Location: 10050 Brummitt Road, Granger, IN, USA
Phone: 574-674-6010