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High Schools Name Valedictorians and Salutatorians

Each year, Senior High School and Hempstead High School recognize the graduates who have achieved the highest academic rank in their class. The student with the highest rank is named the class valedictorian and the student with the second-highest rank is named the salutatorian.

For the Hempstead High School Class of 2014, the valedictorian is Jiwei Sun and the salutatorian is Christopher Lee Bechen. This Sunday, Hempstead will graduate 373 students this year at its graduation at 1 p.m. at the Five Flags Center.

For the Senior High School Class of 2014, the valedictorian is Kristen Savary and the salutatorian is Mitchell Steinhauser. Senior will graduate 375 students during its graduation ceremony on Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Five Flags Center.

Valedictorians and salutatorians are determined based solely on a student’s grade-point-average as calculated by a weighted mathematical formula.

For more information, contact the DCSD School and Community Relations Office at (563)552-3020.

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Hempstead Teacher Named Teacher of the Year

The 2013-14 Dubuque Community School District Teacher of the Year was named at the annual Educators’ Recognition Dinner on May 8, hosted by the school district and the Dubuque Education Association.

Kate Riepe, an English teacher at Hempstead High School, was selected for the honor. Outside of the classroom, she is also a theater director and speech coach at the school.

Read More about “Hempstead Teacher Named Teacher of the Year”

Medical Associates Clinic Foundation of Dubuque Supports Local High Schools with $150,000 Grant

Recognizing the importance of continually developing highly skilled healthcare professionals, the Medical Associates Clinic Foundation of Dubuque has provided $150,000 in funding to Dubuque’s three high schools to help further prepare students interested in pursuing education and careers in the field. Hempstead High School, Senior High School and Wahlert High School will each receive $50,000 in total over the next three years to support programming in science and health coursework. Read More about “Medical Associates Clinic Foundation of Dubuque Supports Local High Schools with $150,000 Grant”

City and School District Indoor Aquatic Center Study Public Engagement Meetings Scheduled

A series of public engagement meetings have been scheduled and a new online tool will be launched as part of a feasibility study exploring the possibility of a community indoor aquatic center in Dubuque. Read More about “City and School District Indoor Aquatic Center Study Public Engagement Meetings Scheduled”

Dubuque Community School District Prepares for Kindergarten Welcome Events

Preparing for kindergarten is an exciting time for children and parents alike. The help ease the transition, schools in the Dubuque Community School District are holding a series of Kindergarten Welcome Events to help students and families get acquainted with their school and its staff in preparation for the 2014-15 school year.

At the welcome event, attendees will meet the school’s kindergarten teacher, the school principal and other school staff. There will be an overview of the school as well as overview of the registration process. Read More about “Dubuque Community School District Prepares for Kindergarten Welcome Events”

State Board of Education Renews Prescott Elementary School Charter Designation

The State of Iowa Board of Education renewed the charter designation for Prescott Elementary School today, Thursday, March 6, at its meeting in Des Moines through the conclusion of the 2017-18 school year. Read More about “State Board of Education Renews Prescott Elementary School Charter Designation”

District Selected for First Year of State Teacher Leadership Funding

]The Iowa Department of Education recently announced that the Dubuque Community School District is in the first group of Iowa school districts selected to launch teacher leadership systems next school year. The competitive grant will provide approximately $3.3 million in additional annual funding to the district for enhancements to its teacher leadership system. Read More about “District Selected for First Year of State Teacher Leadership Funding”

Dubuque Community School District Releases Proposed 2014-15 Calendar

The Dubuque Community School District has released its proposed 2014-15 calendar that district officials say is designed to be in line with new state requirements while also enhancing student instruction time and professional learning for teachers.

The calendar drafts are posted on the district’s website with an opportunity for community members to provide feedback on the draft through Monday, February 3.

The proposed calendar now counts student instruction time in terms of hours instead of days – a change necessitated by the state’s new definition of a complete school day which would mean days with weather-related late starts or early dismissals would not be counted. This would lead to cancellation on those days.

District officials embraced the change to hours and believe it has led to a calendar that will enhance education across the district.

“This proposed calendar adds instruction time for every student,” said Superintendent Stan Rheingans. “It also provides consistent professional learning for every teacher in the district and meets the state requirements for 36 hours of teacher collaboration time. The more our calendar planning progressed, the more we saw that changing from days to hours provided significant benefits to students and teachers.”

One of the main components of the draft is the elimination of all two-hour releases in the district, including the weekly ones at the district’s five Title I schools. Instead, it adds a weekly one-hour late arrival on Friday mornings for every school in the district and also adds minutes to each school day.

The district is working with community partners to ensure that activities are available for families needing them on Friday morning late arrivals. Y-Care and St. Mark Youth Enrichment have already committed to providing coverage during these times.

Rheingans said the proposed changes are in line with the district’s strategic plan priority to evaluate the calendar and examine time utilization to benefit students. In the proposed calendar, students in the district’s Title I schools will see a minimum of 38 additional hours of instruction each year.

The 1,100 hour proposed calendar includes a 20-hour contingency to cover weather-related late starts or early dismissals. Any late starts or early dismissals that would cause the total number of instruction hours to fall below 1,080 will be made up. Full days cancelled due to weather will be made up as they are currently.

“Having to make up hours missed due to any bad weather late start or early dismissal now means that the safety of our students and the time spent in the classroom are not in conflict,” said Rheingans. “We can guarantee that students will receive at least 1,080 hours of instruction each year. This is something we can’t guarantee now.”

The calendar, while adding both instruction time and professional learning time, comes at no additional expense to the district and fits within the parameters of the negotiated teacher contract.

“The proposed calendar gives more instruction time and new professional learning opportunities to help our teachers become even better,” said Rheingans. “It’s hard not to be excited about that. We are confident that this calendar is focused on doing what’s right for kids.”

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