Every year seems to go faster and faster.

I guess that’s a sign of getting older!

Anyway, it is once again hard to believe

that we are already to the midway point

of our first nine weeks. The first 23

days of school have gone very well!

With the midway point comes mid-term

report cards. These are not official re-

port cards, but rather just an update of

where your child stands at this point in

the school year. The mid-term report

cards will be available to you beginning

Wednesday, August 31 through Sky-

ward. Log in to Skyward and click on

the report card tab. Here you’ll be able

to find your child’s mid-term report. If

you’d like a hard copy of the report,

simply let us know, and we will take

care of that for you.

Some important dates that are coming

soon:

We collected trash bag order forms

for our PTO fundraiser this morn-

ing. If you have any lingering order

forms out there, we will collect or-

der forms one more time on Mon-

day, August 29. Thank you for your

support of our students and our

PTO!!

Washington, DC Trip: Friday, Sep-

tember 9 is the final day to sign up

for the 2017 8th grade Washington,

DC Trip. Please go to http://

www.academicexpeditions.com to

register for the trip. If you need

specific directions on how to sign

up for the trip, please see the in-

structions attached to this news-

letter.

There will be no school on Monday,

September 5 due to Labor Day.

Our next PTO meeting is Monday,

September 12 at 6:30pm. We meet

in the Decatur Middle School Cafe-

teria. Please enter Door #1. We

look forward to seeing all of you

here!

When schools, families, and community

groups work together to support learning,

children ten to do better in school, stay in

school longer, and like school more.

Have a great weekend!

- Kyle Barrentine, Principal

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Barrentine’s

Billboard

1

NASA Field Trip 2

School Safety 2

Club Phoenix

Family Night

3

Vaccination Clinic

Information

3

Calendar of Events 4

D E C A T U R M I D D L E

S C H O O L Hawk Highlights A U G U S T 2 6 , 2 0 1 6 I S S U E 1

U P C O M I N G

E V E N T S :

September 5—Labor

Day—NO SCHOOL

September 8—Club

Phoenix Family

Night—6-8pm

September 30—

JobSpark Fair (8th

Graders Only)

5108 S. High School Rd.

Indianapolis, IN 46221

Principal: Kyle Barrentine

Asst. Principal/Imagine:

Adam Allen

Asst. Principal/Apex:

Melissa Harvey

Explorations SLC Dir.:

Stacy O’Brien

Global SLC Dir.:

Maren Kula

Phone: 317-856-5274

Fax: 317-856-2163

Website:

www.decaturproud.org/

decatur-middle

Barrentine’s Billboard

P A G E 2

School-Wide Staff Safety Meeting

NASA Field Trip—Children’s Museum On Tuesday, August 23, 2016,

34 DMS students representing

all Small Learning Communities

had the unique opportunity to

visit the Indianapolis Children’s

Museum in order to partici-

pate in International Space

Station Amateur Radio Con-

tact Day. Via ham radio, stu-

dents engaged in live

conversation with

NASA astronaut Dr.

Kathleen Rubins, a

microbiologist current-

ly aboard the Interna-

tional Space Station!

Our time with Dr.

Rubins was limited—

eight minutes, to be

exact. Why such a

brief conversation?

Ham radios rely on radio fre-

quencies that

can only reach

so far. Our

conversation

had to be

timed precisely

with when the

ISS was directly

above the Unit-

ed States!

Two Decatur

Middle School students were

chosen to ask Dr. Robins ques-

tions—Naya Ortiz (Global)

and Jaiveer Dutta (Apex).

Both were confident and well-

prepared.

Students also had a chance to

explore the museum’s new

Beyond Spaceship Earth exhibit,

where they experienced what

life was like on the space sta-

tion. They manipulat-

ed tools while wearing

thick space gloves,

used a computer sim-

ulator to maneuver

machines outside the

station, and even tried

on some fashionable

space suits. Overall,

students had a fasci-

nating, once-in-a-

lifetime opportunity at the

museum. They represented

DMS well and showed what it

means to be #DecaturProud!

DMS school safety plan.

Different scenarios were

laid out and staff had an

open discussion about a

variety of procedures to

keep students and them-

selves safe.

With safety being a top

priority for MSD of Deca-

tur Township, staff mem-

bers at Decatur Middle

School participated in a

school-wide staff safety

meeting.

Office Chase Lyday with

the Decatur Township

School Police came to

DMS on Tuesday and

Wednesday of this week

to go over the district’s

Crisis Management Strat-

egies with staff. Officer

Lyday had staff participate

in a discussion about the

H A W K H I G H L I G H T S

School Safety

Tabletop

Discussion—

MSD of

Decatur Township

Crisis Management

Strategies

P A G E 3

Back-to-School Vaccination Clinics

Club Phoenix Family Night

Club Phoenix, Decatur

Middle School’s After

School Program, will be

hosting it’s FIRST Fami-

ly Night of the year on

Thursday, September 8,

2016.

Please plan to join Club

Phoenix from 6-8pm in

the DMS cafeteria for a

fun evening including a

FREE dinner, door prizes

and a chance to meet the

Club Phoenix staff.

In partnership with Com-

munity Health Network

and Walgreens Pharmacy,

Healthcare Clinic will pro-

vide recommended and

state required back to

school vaccinations. If your

child has not already re-

ceived their state required

vaccinations, you may visit

the Walgreen’s Pharmacy

on Mann Road this Satur-

day, August 27. Further

information is provided in

the flyer to the right.

H A W K H I G H L I G H T S

Just a reminder that Book Fees are now due!

Please contact Donna Graham, DMS Treasurer,

at 317-856-5274 ext. 8015 as soon as possible to

either make a payment on your child’s book fees

or make payment arrangements. She can also

answer any questions you may have regarding

the fees owed.

The core mission of this school is the creation of highly engaging activi-

ties, materials, and settings for learning that are too good—too interest-

ing—for students to resist AND increases student achievement.

The MSD of Decatur Township is Student Invested, Community Connected.

We prioritize Student Learning, Safety and Customer Service, fostering a

support system for our families.

Calendar of Events—August 29-September 10, 2016

It is the Board’s commitment to provide a safe, positive, productive and nurturing educational environment for all of its students. Any individual who believes a student has

been or is the victim of discrimination, bullying, or harassment should report the situation to the building principal or designee or complete the School District’s Harassment,

Intimidation and Bullying report form, which is available online at www.msddecatur.k12.in.us.

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

29

30

4:30pm—Boys Golf vs.

Clark-Pleasant @ Eagle

Pines

5:15pm—7/8 Volleyball

@ Franklin Community

5:15pm—Cross Country

@ Lynhurst

5:15pm—Tennis @

Beech Grove

31

4:30pm—Boys/Girls Golf

vs. Warren Township @

Eagle Pines

5:15pm—7/8 Volleyball

vs. Lynhurst

5:15pm—Boys Soccer @

Warren Township

5:15pm—Tennis vs.

Perry Meridian

6:45pm—Girls Soccer @

Warren Township

1

4:30pm—Boys/Girls Golf

@ Southport

5:15pm—7/8 Volleyball

@ Eastwood

5:15pm—Cross Country

@ Speedway

5:15pm—Girls Soccer vs.

Lynhurst

5:30pm—7 A/B Football

@ Paul Hadley

5:45pm—8 A/B Football

vs. Paul Hadley

6:45pm—Boys Soccer vs.

2 3

5

LABOR DAY—NO

SCHOOL

6

4:30pm—Boys Golf vs.

Plainfield @ Eagle Pines

5:15pm—Boys Soccer vs.

Southport

5:15pm—Girls Soccer @

Southport

5:15pm—Tennis @

Southport

7

4:30pm—Girls Golf vs.

Plainfield & Brownsburg

West @ Eagle Pines

5:15pm—7/8 B Volley-

ball vs. Center Grove

North

5:15pm—7/8 B Football

@ Lynhurst

8

4:30pm—Boys/Girls Golf

vs. Paul Hadley @ Eagle

Pines

5:15pm—7/8 Volleyball

@ Franklin Township

West (Marion Co. Tour-

ney)

5:15pm—Tennis @ Clark

-Pleasant

5:30pm—Boys Soccer @

Franklin Community

5:45pm—7/8 A Football

9

10

9:00am—7/8 Volley-

ball—Marion Co. Semi-

Finals @ Perry Meridian

9:00am—Cross Coun-

try—Jon Mitchell Invita-

tional @ Cascade

Book Fees—Due Now!