Welcome

Open House & Registration Meetings ~ Thursday, 20 February 5:00 - 6:30 PM

5:15 ~ Registration Meeting in the DMS Cafeteria for all CURRENT 6th & 7th Grade Students. See the Counselors' Corner for more information.
5:45 ~ Athletics Parent Meeting in the DMS Gym for INCOMING 7th Grade Athletes

Meeting for Incoming 6th Grade Students
on
Thursday, 20 February
at
7:00 PM
in the
DMS Cafeteria
hosted by
DMS Adminstration

We are partnering with BrightBytes, an educational research organization, in order to learn more about our students’ school and home technology use for learning. We are reaching out to ask our parents to take part in the Technology & Learning questionnaire. Your participation is essential in helping us form a more complete picture of technology use for learning in your students’ lives. Please know that all of your responses will remain anonymous to protect your privacy. www.BByt.es/W69WP

APEX Color Battle Postponed to Friday, 20 March

2020-2021 MISD Physical Exams ~ 16 - 22 April

New STAAR Testing Dates

April 7, 2020 – 7th Writing, 8th Math
April 8, 2020 – 8th Reading
May 5, 2020 – EOC Algebra
May 7, 2020 – 8th Science
May 8, 2020 – 8th Social Studies(this is a Friday)
May 12, 2020 – 6th and 7th Math and 8th Retakes
May 13, 2020 – 6th and 7th Reading and 8th Retakes

Dowell Coders Win 2nd Place in Midwest Cyber Robotics Competition

Congratulations to RoboLions teams 1 & 2 in the Cyber Robotics Coding Competition on 14 December 2019.

Out of 30 teams from across the state of Texas and the 13 state Midwest region, Dowell Middle School team of Nisal Rajapakshe and Logan Schwab placed 2nd and the team of Colin Kuns and Caleb Fikes placed 4th – just 5 points from taking third place from an Evans Middle School team.

Immunizations Information
The Care Van offers FREE vaccines to children who are uninsured, have Medicaid, are American Indian or Alaskan Native or who have private insurance that does not cover vaccines. Infants to 18 years of age.

Vaccinations Needed for 7th Grade

Dtap (Tetanus/Diptheria/Pertussis? Booster
Meningococcal vaccination

These vaccinations are usually given at age 11 during your child’s well visit. Contact your healthcare provider to see if your child needs the required immunizations. Please send proof of the vaccinations to the school clinic. You can send in a hard copy or email/fax the shot record to (469) 302-6701.

School Report Card

Linked below you will find a copy of the State of Texas 2016–17 School Report Card for Ruth Dowell Middle School. This is a report required by the Texas Legislature and prepared by the Texas Education Agency. The report provides information concerning student performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®), as well as information on student enrollment, class size averages, and financial expenditures. A more complete report about Ruth Dowell Middle School, the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), is also available.
School Report Card (SRC) SRC Definitions
Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR)
http://www.mckinneyisd.net/about-misd/campus-directory/

Drop-off and Pick-up Procedures

Students not riding buses should be dropped off in the front of the building and doors open for the school at 8:15 a.m. The back parking lot is for MISD buses only from 8:00-8:30 am.
There are 2 entry lanes at the front of the school next to each other. The right lane is for dropping students off. Please be patient and read/respect the signs posted to help understand the procedures. The left lane is for vehicles going to the south parking lot or exiting onto Ridge Road. For the safety of our students we ask that you never cut into the right lane from the left lane and that you never unload students from the left lane.
After 8:30 am, parents are welcome to drop students off in the back.
The procedure will be the same after school with 2 lanes and we ask that no cars enter the back parking lot until buses have left. Please see the above directions for maneuvering through the drop off/pick up lanes in the front.
Vehicles exiting from the front or back of the building will be directed to turn right only on to Ridge Road.
Please be careful and watch for students walking in front of your car.
As it gets closer to 8:45 am the traffic increases, so please try to arrive earlier for more convenience and a shorter wait.
Be courteous to one another and help us keep our Dowell community safe!

Box Tops for Education

Clipping Box Tops is an easy way for you to help our school earn cash. Our school receives two checks from the Box Tops for Education™ program each school year based on the box tops we submit. Hurry, clip your Box Tops and turn them in to the office. Thanks for your help!

Google Apps for Education

McKinney ISD is partnering with Google to become a Google district. Our teachers will start using Google apps and collaboration tools to enhance our student learning experience.
Student Login Instructions

Tardy Policy

Our goal at Dowell Middle School is to maximize learning time. One of the ways we do this is by establishing a standard of students' arrival in the classroom. When a student arrives late to class, we call this "tardy”.
This year we are using a new communication tool, which will email a parent each time the student is tardy to a class. The tardy count resets each quarter.
Policy :
·         First Unexcused Tardy is a warning
·         Second Unexcused Tardy is a 30 minute after-school detention
·         Third Unexcused Tardy is a hour after-school detention
·         Fourth Unexcused Tardy is a two hour after-school detention
·         Five or more Unexcused Tardies per quarter, are a three hour after-school detention each occurrence
* All detentions are served on Thursday afternoons