General

The following message was shared with families and staff on June 4, 2021 — the last day of the 2020-2021 school year…

Dear Dubuque Schools Family,

In August, we began this school year amidst great uncertainty.

Today, we join together as students, families, staff and many community partners to celebrate the end of this school year.

We made it — and we made it together.

Thank you for consistently exhibiting amazing flexibility, patience, strength and positivity through what have been some of the most challenging times in recent history.

As we conclude the school year, prepare for summer learning opportunities, and look ahead to next year, I hope you take a moment to recognize the many bright spots in this challenging year.

• Students received high-quality learning with consistency and continuity.
• Students participated in extracurricular activities and strengthened connections with their schools and community.
• Together, we mitigated COVID-19 and maintained low case counts in schools.
• Students received access to food and nutrition services to keep them healthy.

This year hasn’t been perfect. The path forward wasn’t always clear or easy, and yet collectively, we persevered.

Most importantly, we always put what’s best for students and staff at the forefront of our decision making.

Our students and community have been impacted by this pandemic and we will continue to focus our efforts on supporting students’ unfinished learning and social emotional needs as we move forward.

As COVID-19 numbers in our community continue to decrease, we look forward to a much more normal school year next year.

For today, though, let’s take a step back and recognize how much we’ve accomplished this year.

We wish you all the best this summer and we thank you for entrusting your students to us. We look forward to welcoming them back in August.

Sincerely,
Stan Rheingans
Superintendent of Schools

The Dubuque Community School District was recently recognized for its communication efforts at the 2021 Iowa School Public Relations Association (ISPRA) Communication Contest, honoring outstanding school communication throughout the state.

The district received 14 awards in the contest, with each entry evaluated and scored independently by school communication professionals in the Wisconsin and California. Based on a scoring rubric, winning entries can receive (from lowest to highest honors) an Award of Merit, an Award of Excellence, or a Blue and Gold Award, given to entries recognized as best in the state for receiving the top overall score of 5 out of 5.

The district was honored with the following:

BLUE AND GOLD AWARDS

• • Branding/Identity Package: PAVE THE WAY Testing Day
  • Special Purpose Publication: Return-to-Learn Plan
  • Video (short): Welcome Back
  • Video (short): #DBQSchoolsProud
  • Video (short): Eisenhower Respect Week

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

• • Excellence in Writing: Lumen Social-Emotional Learning Intro Copy
  • Excellence in Writing: “We Remain Committed to Safety, Not Politics” Editorial
  • Infographic: Mask How-To
  • Infographic: STOP: Stay Home/Symptoms
  • Video (long): Table Mound Mock Convention
  • Video (short): Lincoln Mural Project
  • Video (series): TEAM Healthy
  • Video (series): American Education Week

AWARD OF MERIT

• • Branding/Identity Package: VERTEX Initiative

“As a district, we believe that having outstanding schools relies on having an engaged, informed community,” said Mike Cyze, chief communication officer. “We work hard to proactively and transparently communicate to those we serve and we are pleased to be recognized for our work in doing so.”

The Dubuque Community School District has again been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education.

This is the fourth consecutive year the district has received the honor.

Now in its 22nd year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students.

To qualify for the Best Communities designation, the district answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

“The district has long recognized the value of music education in our schools, and music remains an integral part of our curricular and extracurricular offerings,” said Stan Rheingans, superintendent of schools. “Our district commitment is underscored by tremendous partnerships throughout our community that support our work to expose students to music education. This honor is truly a community honor.”

About The NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its approximately 10,400 members around the world. The foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs.

The Dubuque Community School District will provide NO-COST meals for anyone 18 or under (no infant formula will be provided) from Monday, March 15, through Friday, March 19.

All Grab n’ Go meal bags will consist of a breakfast meal and lunch meal that meets USDA meal guidelines.

The Dubuque Senior High School Color Guard competed in the Marching Auxiliaries Classic Regional Competition in Sioux City, Iowa, on February 6, and returned with a host of awards and accolades.

The team earned a “Superior Rating Banner” for achieving a Superior Rating on all routines and also earned the “Outstanding Choreography Banner.” The team also earned two out of the five total Judges Choice Banners awarded to five performances out of the competitions 84 performances. The team is directed by Anna Barry.

Honors included:

Category: Color Guard Flag/Rifle

Performance: Let It Grow
Award: Judges Choice Award, 1st Place and Superior Rating

Category: Prop

Performance: Friend Like Me
Award: 1st Place, Superior Rating

Category: Quartet

Performance: Lorelei Walker, Maddie Wright, Jacob Brimeyer, Bailey Simon
Award: Judges Choice Award, 1st Place and Superior Rating

Category: Duets 15/16

Performance: Lorelei Walker and Bailey Simon
Award: 1st Place

Performance: Anna McClain and Gretchen Henry
Award: 2nd Place

Category: Solos 15/16

Performance: Bailey Simon
Award: 1st Place

Performance: Alec Viner
Award: 2nd Place

Performance: CJ Stuart
Award: 3rd Place

Performance: Kiki King
Award: 4th Place

Performance: Lorelei Walker
Award: 5th Place

Category: Solos 17/18

Performance: Jacob Brimeyer
Award: 1st Place

Performance: Maddie Wright
Award: 2nd Place

Category: Solo Collegiate

Performance: Anna Berry, Director
Award: 1st Place

In November, the team also earned a Division I Rating and 1st Place in Class III Color Guard at the ISDTA State Championships. At that event, soloists Jacob Brimeyer earned a Division I Rating and 1st Place in the Large School Color Guard Competition, and Bailey Simon earned 2nd Place. Maddie Wright, Lorelei Walker and Kiki King all earned Division I Ratings.

The Dubuque Community School District and the Dubuque Museum of Art invite all students to participate in the first Dubuque-Area K-12 Virtual Art Exhibition.

Students in grades kindergarten through 12 are invited to submit their artwork. All art processes, skills, and levels of expertise will be showcased. All work must be school appropriate and original student work. Please avoid submitting any work with copyright concerns.

Students may email submissions to DCSDArtGallery@dbqschools.org through March 26. Be sure include the artist name, title, medium and dimension of the work.

SUBMISSION RESOURCES

To help move students through the artistic thinking process, we have created the following resources to support their idea development:

• Theme-based Choice Board (PDF): engaging topics to help inspire students with new and original ideas
• List of At-Home Art Materials (PDF): create with what you already have at home
• How to take Great Photos of Your Work at Home (PDF): guidance in achieving great quality photos of your work

EXHIBITION DATE

The Dubuque-Area K-12 Virtual Exhibition will go live on April 9, 2021 on both the Dubuque Museum of Art website and the Dubuque Community Schools website.

HAVE QUESTIONS?

Any questions regarding the K-12 Virtual Art Exhibition or the submission process can be directed to:

Brad Manternach
Dubuque Community Schools
Instructional Support Leader for Visual Arts
bmanternach@dbqschools.org

Margaret Buhr
Dubuque Museum of Art
Director of Education
mbuhr@dbqart.org

HOSTED BY:

SPONSORED BY:

On Thursday, Feb. 4, the Dubuque Community School District is implementing its inclement weather meal delivery plan.

No-cost meal service will be available at four Grab n’ Go meal sites to any individual 18 or under (with no infant formula or food served), regardless of whether or not they are enrolled in a district school:

• Fulton Elementary School (located in the bus drive up lane): 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
• Prescott Elementary School (located in the bus drive up lane): 11-11:30 a.m.
• Washington Middle School (located at the south side main building entrance): 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
• Hempstead High School (located next to the softball fields): 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

All “Grab n’ Go” meal bags will consist of a breakfast meal and a lunch meal that meets USDA meal guidelines.

Dubuque, Iowa – Hempstead High School has earned the College Board AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science A. Schools honored with the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award have expanded girls’ access in AP Computer Science courses.

Out of the 20,000 institutions that offer AP courses, 1,119 achieved either 50% or higher female representation in one of the two AP computer science courses or a percentage of the female computer science examinees meeting or exceeding that of the school’s female population during the 2019-20 school year. That’s nearly 37% more than the 818 schools recognized last year. In 2020, Hempstead was one of 232 recognized in the category of AP Computer Science A. Hempstead is the only Iowa school recognized in the Computer Science A category.

“As a school, and as a district, we are dedicated to breaking down barriers for all students – real or perceived – to help them discover the opportunities in front of them,” said Lee Kolker, principal of Hempstead High School. “We are proud to receive this recognition while knowing that our continued work in this area is important.”

Read More about “Hempstead High School Earns AP® ‘Computer Science A’ Female Diversity Award”