Please help us keep track of and care for our Journeys reading textbooks. These are newer purchases and cost the district a good chunk of change. Students should be using textbook 2 now, so if you have textbook 1 at your house still, please send it back to school with your child to give to his/her teacher. Thank you!

NWEA winter reports will be sent home with in person instruction students at the end of next week. If your child is a remote learner, look for information from your child's classroom teacher about when to expect NWEA reports. Remember, NWEA is a snapshot of a student's performance at a moment in time and doesn't define the student as a learner. It is a useful tool to monitor a student's growth over time by observing trends, strengths, and focus areas. NWEA also is a useful tool for teachers to design instruction that meets each student's needs.

Now that we are returning to in person instruction, the vestibule hours at Scott School will be adjusted to 7:45 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. on days we have school.

There has been a change to the way boxes lunches will be distributed to students to help reduce the amount of things students have to transport home each day and to eliminate the need for families to opt out if they are not interested in receiving them. DPS will continue to distribute meals as they have all year.

The USDA has extended the summer feeding program up until the end of the school year. This means all children 18 years and under can receive a free breakfast and a free lunch each day including the weekends. Our district is offering meal distribution on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for all the virtual students and hybrid students. Parents can find out details about times and pick up locations by calling Food Services at 517-668-3154. Free lunch is also available to students at school, and breakfast will be too when it's available in the mornings.

Did you know?

DeWitt Public Schools is offering free food kits for kids! Wondering what is in the food kits? Wondering what the pickup process is like? Check out the video link below to see Mrs. Nash (Herbison Woods' Counselor) "unpack" DPS food kits for her family!

Video Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEus93aQcLQ&feature=youtu.be

Important things to know...

• Food kits are 7 days of food! (1 breakfast and 1 lunch each day)

• They are FREE for all children up to age 18 and young adults with special needs up to age 26

• Pick up is EASY - No application, no questions asked!

• Food kits are available to EVERYONE no matter what your level of need! Please use this resource if it could help you financially, or even if just with time management/stress levels by giving you prepared meals that you don't need to think about! They are meant to take something off your hands!

• FACT: the more we use this program, the more resources the school has access to in return! So, let's take advantage of this program!

Other links and contact information:

• DPS Food Service (see this page for more information on the food kit program)

• Questions? Feel free to contact any of the people listed below:

  • Food Service

    • Sandy Leach, Food Service Director, 517-668-3138, leachsand@dewittschools.net

  • DPS Student Services:

    • Schavey: Amanda Brown, 517-668-3508, brownama@dewittschools.net

    • Scott School: DeAnn Schwarz, 517-668-3446, schwarzdea@dewittschools.net

    • Herbison Woods: Abby Nash, 517-668-3346, nashabi@dewittschools.net

    • Dewitt Middle School:

      • Meghan Suty (Blue Team) 517-668-3244, sutymeg@dewittschools.net

      • Kim Hunt (Gold Team), 517-668-3245, huntkim@dewittschools.net

    • DeWitt High School:

      • Steve Crowly, 517-668-3156, crowleys@dewittschools.net

      • Jessica Gleeson, 517-668-3113, gleesonjes@dewitschools.net

      • Teresa Paterson, 517-668-3146, pattersont@dewittschools.net

Please be sure to place a large sign in your window or dash with your child's first and last name if you use the pick up loop after school. This helps us say your child's name over our speaker system and be efficient in keeping traffic moving through our loop. Thanks for your help!

As we transition back to in person instruction, it is important that students and families follow our start and end of the day routines and procedures.

• Students riding a bus will be supervised and guided by school staff to enter and exit a bus in a safe fashion. All bused students will enter the building through the doors by the bus loop.

• Students dropped off and walking to school will be expected to maintain social distancing from others and only be able to enter the building at the front of the school by the office. Our school start and end times have been adjusted while we are in a half day cohort. Doors will open at 15 minutes prior to your child's cohort start time. There will be school staff outside to supervise and guide students to safely enter the building. Please do NOT have your child vacate your vehicle until you see school staff outside to help support a safe transition into the building by walking along the sidewalk to the front of the building. Once drop off students and walkers are inside the vestibule, they will go straight to the cafeteria and sit at designated seats until the first bell rings. They will then be dismissed individually to their classrooms. IMPORTANT NOTE: Student dropped off after bused students have entered the building AND before the final bell, will be directed to use the bus loop doors to enter the building. Students arriving after school starts must enter the front of the building to sign in before going to class.

• Parents wishing to drop off and/or pick up their child must use the loop to do so. Parking in front of the building is dangerous for our students and discouraged. This also prevents our staff from being on time to work since there are limited parking spots at Scott School. Thanks for your help with this.

• Drop off and/or pick up in the street is never acceptable and local law enforcement help keep our students safe by patrolling Wilson Street before and after school. Also, drop off and pick up at other locations other than our parent loop is discouraged. We care about the safety of our students and appreciate families following our procedures and guidelines.

• If your child is going to be picked up after school in the loop, please be sure to post a large sign on your passenger side dash with your child's first and last name (large and legible font please). This is necessary for staff to efficiently identify vehicles for students to keep our loop moving. We will be using a microphone and speaker to call student names to also help run a smooth pick up. Please don't forget to make your dash sign and keep it in your vehicle for use throughout the school year.

DeWitt Public Schools is in need of instructional assistants. Please consider applying if you think you would enjoy working in a school with students, or pass this information along to anyone you know who you think this would be a perfect match for. Thank you!

https://www.applitrack.com/ccresa/onlineapp/1BrowseFile.aspx?id=52766

School pictures have been moved to Thursday, March 11th. We are hoping to be back to full in person instruction with the need for fewer COVID protocols in place by that time.

If your child is going to be "absent" and miss school, even if they are a online learner, please be sure to call our attendance line at 517-668-3458. We are required to take attendance even when students are learning remotely, so we want to be sure to account for our students and excuse absences in Infinite Campus. If your child is learning remotely, you should also communicate absences to your child's teacher. We care about our students and worry about them when they aren't in class or online on days they are supposed to be.