Can you believe it?! We are only 20 days away from the beginning of another school year! I am so excited to meet and greet all of our students and welcome them back to school!

I am looking forward to not returning back to normal but returning to greater! What does this mean? We learned a great deal about teaching, learning and society that will inform what we do this year and years to come. We will continue to utilize technology to maximize student learning and engagement. We will continue to empower our students with truth and knowledge in order to be informed and active citizens of this nation and world. We will continue to reflect on the ways we can change our practices as educators so that each student reaches their full potential. We will center and proactively seek family and community engagement in the education of our students because we know that we can't do it alone. The work is not easy but it is the right work and this is the right time!

As many of you are already aware from watching the news, we are experiencing yet another spike in COVID transmission due to the Delta variant. It is our job as educators to do our best to maintain a safe environment for students, community and staff. We encourage the use of masks (for both those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated) and will implement other universal mitigation protocols (hand washing, social distancing as much as possible and disinfecting surfaces). We thank you in advance for planning ahead and speaking with your student(s) about how they can do their part to contribute to a safe place for all as well. These very acts of care and compassion are what makes us The Pride of Des Moines!

-- Carrie Romo, Goodrell Principal

As we roll into the new school year, let's introduce our wonderful student support! (Administration, Office Staff, Support Staff)

With the start of school quickly approaching, we are excited about sports and activities starting back up! In the next couple of weeks we will have more information about specifics regarding fall sports and clubs that will be starting. As of right now, the district is planning on implementing sports schedules as they were pre-Covid, meaning there will be interscholastic contests between middle schools across the district. We are proceeding with the understanding that sports will look fairly normal, but we also understand things could change as the pandemic continues. We will communicate any changes as they occur, but hopefully through continued mitigation strategies we can move forward with sports as scheduled. In the meantime, here are some details about what you can expect:

There are two organized fall sports that will be housed at Goodrell: volleyball and cheerleading. Volleyball is open to 7th and 8th grade girls, and cheerleading is open to anyone in 7th and 8th grade.

Volleyball will start on the first day of school (August 25th) and games are scheduled to start September 9th. There will be separate games for 7th and 8th graders. There will be a meeting for parents/guardians and players to go over team expectations and the date and time for that meeting will be announced prior to school starting. Drea Jones is the head volleyball coach and Sydney Rosenboom will be the assistant coach.

Cheerleading will have an informational meeting on August 31st and practice will officially start on September 2nd. There will be a also be meeting for parents/guardians and participants for cheerleading and the date and time for that meeting will be announced soon. Lauren Jacobs is the cheerleading coach.

There are also opportunities for Goodrell students to compete in sports at both of our feeder high schools, North High School and East High School. Cross Country is available for 7th and 8th graders and football is available for 8th graders. More information about these two sports will be available soon and will be sent out to families when we have it. The expectation is that each of these sports will start on the first day of school (August 25th).

All students participating in organized sports through Goodrell, North, or East is required to have a sports physical before they are allowed to participate. Students also need to have completed the concussion and Covid waivers, which were part of the registration process. Please be sure all of these things are completed prior to school starting so your student doesn’t miss any time from their sport.

Soon after school starts, we look forward to getting our clubs going. We are in the process of confirming some clubs with community partners and we will also be offering some clubs with staff in our own building. Students were surveyed in the spring about which clubs they would like to see and we are working to fill those needs. Club sponsors will be holding sign-ups for their clubs when we get back to school. More information about clubs will be available soon.

Please contact me (Jared Power) at 515-242-8444 or through email at jared.power@dmschools.org if you have any questions about our co-curricular sports and clubs!

Official public notice is hereby given that the City of Des Moines, Iowa, Municipal Housing Agency (DMMHA) will OPEN the waiting list for the Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance program beginning THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. Central Standard Time through FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.

Pre-applications will ONLY be available ON-LINE at desmoines.housingmanager.com. You can access the web-site from any computer, tablet or cellular phone that has internet access. Pre­applications will NOT be available on-line until 8:00 a.m. Central Standard Time on AUGUST 26, 2021 and will NOT be available on-line after 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on AUGUST 27, 2021.

In order to apply you will need to have with you the names (as they appear on the social security cards), social security numbers and dates of birth for all household members. YOU MUST ALSO HA VE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS TO APPLY. If you do not have an e-mail address you can set one up for free by googling "free e-mail account" and selecting the provider of your choice. If you do not have this information, you will not be able to complete the pre-application NOTE: If you or a household member were never issued a social security number by the Social Security Administration, or you do not have access to the internet by any other means, you will need to come to Polk County River Place, 2309 Euclid Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310 - ROOM 3A on AUGUST 26 or AUGUST 27, 2021 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.

IMPORTANT- READ CAREFULLY- ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE PRE-APPLICATION ON-LINE YOU WILL GET A CONFIRMATION MESSAGE AND AN E-MAIL STATING YOUR APPICATION WAS SUCCESSFULLY SUBMITTED. IF YOU DO NOT GET A CONFIRMATION E-MAIL, YOUR APPLICATION WAS NOT COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY AND WILL NOT BE PROCESSED AND YOU WILL NEED TO DO THE APPLICATION AGAIN.

Due to the high level of interest in the Housing Choice Voucher program, the DMMHA will use a random lottery system to select 4000 names from all pre-applications submitted and those selected pre-applications will be placed on the waiting list. Submitting a pre-application on-line does not guarantee placement on the waiting list, approval of the pre-application or application, or admission into the program.

If you or anyone in your family is a person with disabilities, and you require a specific accommodation in order to fully utilize our programs and services, please contact (515) 323-8950. A TDD machine is available at (515) 323-8950. The DMMHA also offers the Language Line for applicants needing interpretation services.

The on-line application can be completed in several languages by using the drop down menu as illustrated below and selecting your language of choice:

Email: lauren.jacobs@dmschools.org
Website: goodrell.dmschools.org
Location: 3300 East 29th Street, Des Moines, IA, USA
Phone: (515) 242-8444
Facebook: facebook.com/GoodrellMS
Twitter: @goodrelldmpride