Welcome

*The Algebra EOC Test is Tuesday, 8 May

BEACH BASH - 8th grade - 22 May - 10 am - 2 pm

Announcing Pride Time

We are proud to announce a new program coming to Dowell Middle School! Starting January 16th we will incorporate a 25 minute time period from 10:30 - 10:55 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday called Pride Time*. During Pride Time students could be doing a variety of different things from classroom intervention and extension activities to working with their elective teachers to using our brand new MakerSpace or Creation Den. We are very excited about the opportunities that this will afford our students including closing achievement gaps, content enrichment, creative expression and more.
As we start this process, we know that there may be some changes along the way to best meet the needs of our students and we appreciate your flexibility during this time. We look forward to this exciting new opportunity for our students and cannot wait to see the great achievements they make as a result.
*Please note that the school bell schedule will be slightly altered on these days.

Semester 2, Otr 3 Progress Report is Final on Friday, 9 March at 3:45 p.m.

Winter Illnesses

We would like to remind all parents of the importance of keeping sick children home. When a child comes to school ill, he/she can spread illness by coughing, touching his/her nose/mouth and then touching objects that other students come in contact with.
Remember that fever is not the only sign of true illness and that fever is usually a late sign of an illness, or an illness that is progressing.
If your child is out sick remember to always send in a note from the Doctor or a parent note.
MISD Health policies are in place to help insure a healthy school where students can learn and grow. Please take a moment to review the exclusions that are listed below.
Guidelines for Returning to School after an Illness
In order to minimize the number of children that are ill, we ask you to please consider the following guidelines when making your decision to let your child attend school or return to school after an illness.
A student with any of the following symptoms must be excluded from school until such time as the student is free from symptoms.

Temperature of 100.0 degrees or more. Student must be fever free for 24 hours, without medication, before re-entry (Texas Administrative Code)
Vomiting (not related to a single event such as gagging, positioning, mucus, running after eating, or eating spicy food). Student must be symptom free for 24 hours, without medication before reentry.
Diarrhea, of two or more loose or watery stools. All students must be diarrhea free for 24 hours without the use of medications before re-entry (Texas Administrative Code).
Pain and/or swelling at angle of jaw
Undetermined rash over any part of the body accompanied by fever
Under diagnosed scaly patches on the body or scalp
Red, draining eyes
Intense itching with signs and symptoms of secondary infection
Open, draining lesions or wounds
Jaundice
See McKinney ISD Lice guidelines
A vaccine preventable illness in question will require a physician's note for re-entry (pertussis, mumps, measles, etc.).
For any infection, antibiotics must be taken for a minimum of 24 hours prior to re-entry to school.

These guidelines have been designed to give your child adequate time to recover, as well as keep the majority of the students, faculty and staff as healthy as possible.
Hand Washing
Hand washing is one of the easiest and best ways to prevent the spread of disease. Direct contamination of your mucus membranes (eyes, nose and/or mouth) is how many infectious diseases enter your body. So let's work together to decrease the risk of contracting and spreading illnesses by following these three simple rules:

Wash your hands when they are dirty and before you eat.
Do not cough or sneeze into your hands (use your sleeve, elbow or shoulder instead).
Never put fingers in your eyes, nose or mouth.

Remember... You are responsible for keeping yourself healthy!!
Be as nice to yourself as you are to others!

Canvas LMS for Middle Schools 2017-18

Canvas is an easy-to-use, cloud-based learning management system (LMS) that connects all the digital tools and resources teachers and students use into one simple place.
Read more about it on parent_login_to_canvas_lms_.pdf

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/

2015 - 2016 TEA Accountability Ratings for Dowell Middle School

Domain I: A

Domain II: A

Domain III: B

Domain IV: B

Domain I measures student achievement based on student STAAR performance at three standards: Level II, Final Level II, and Level III.

Domain II reflects student progress year-to-year by examining each child’s scaled STAAR scores in reading and mathematics and comparing them to the previous year.

Domain III measures how effectively schools are closing performance gaps based on STAAR performance for economically disadvantaged students compared to state-predicted STAAR performance for those same students. Students achieving within the predicted range would receive a grade of “C.” Those performing above the predicted range would receive a grade of “B” or “A” depending on how much they exceeded state expectations for performance.

The first three domains, factored together, account for 55 percent of a school’s A-F grade.

Domain IV, which counts as 35 percent of a school’s grade, indicates postsecondary readiness and relies on the following indicators rather than STAAR testing: attendance rates in elementary schools; attendance rates and dropout rates in middle schools; and graduation rates, diploma-type rates and college and career-ready graduation rates for high schools.

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. Additional Information.
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