School Board Invites Public to a “Community Conversation”

In 2007, the Des Moines School Board asked the community a fundamental question: what knowledge, skills and abilities should high school graduates have in order to be ready for their next stage in life? Thanks to feedback from thousands of people in surveys, focus groups and community meetings, the school district established new “Graduate Ends” as the expectations for all students.

“Today, as Des Moines Public Schools looks to the future, the School Board is inviting the community again for its input, and to help us determine whether our community’s expectations for students are still on the right track,” said Teree Caldwell-Johnson, chair of the Des Moines School Board. “We encourage people to share their thoughts and ideas with us as we work to help our students be best prepared for their futures.”

The School Board is doing this in two ways. First, parents, staff, students and people throughout the community were invited to participate in online surveys over the past couple of weeks. The final results from those surveys will be presented later in May.

Second, the School Board is hosting five town hall meetings throughout Des Moines starting next week. The public is invited to attend, where they will hear an overview of the community survey and participate in a facilitated discussion to share thoughts and ideas about the expectations for DMPS graduates.

The meetings, which will begin at 5:30 PM, will be held as follows:

• Monday, April 30 – Meredith Middle School – 4827 Madison Avenue
• Thursday, May 3 – Weeks Middle School – 901 E. Park Avenue
• Monday, May 7 – Callanan Middle School – 3010 Center Street
• Tuesday, May 8 – Hiatt Middle School – 1214 E. 15^th Street
• Thursday, May 10 – Harding Middle School – 203 E. Euclid Avenue

A copy of the district’s current “Graduate Ends” is available online by clicking here.