Welcome to Ellsworth.cdrWelcome!
“The more healthy relaonships a child has, the more likely he will
be to recover from trauma and thrive. Relaonships are the agents of
change and the most powerful
therapy is human love.”
Dear Families,
Welcome to the beauful Black Hills! As the School Liaison (SL),
I
am here to help make your transion to Ellsworth AFB (EAFB) as
smooth as
possible.
My goal is to empower parents to be their child's best advocate
in
the educaonal process. I help parents navigate the school system
and
ensure that military children are given the best opportunies to
achieve
their highest potenal.
Quesons for families from the School Liaison:
· Would you mind sharing your student(s) name, and the grade
they
will be entering? You are also welcome to share any younger
siblings at home, and pets, if you like.
· What is your student(s) interested in and curious
about—acvies,
sports, and so forth?
· How else may I help you?
Please reach out with any quesons regarding the educaonal
concerns of your school-age children, feel free to contact me at
the
Rushmore Center Bldg. 1000 Suite 2000, by phone 605-385-5385
(Commercial) or 605-593-6563 (cell) or 674-5385 (DSN), email
[email protected] or
[email protected]
www.ellsworthslo.org and Facebook page.
Here's more informaon and some Frequently Asked Quesons
that I hope you will find useful in the next secon.
Very respecully,
What is my neighborhood school?
Deciding where to live, will determine the school district that
your student(s)
will aend. To help know the school districts' boundaries and
aendance
zones this website will be helpful;
hps://southdakota.hometownlocator.com/schools/
If you are wondering, most students aend the Douglas School
District (DSD)
in the city of Box Elder with the second highest number of students
going to
Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS).
How do I register my student?
You may pre-register for schools online using the local school
district's
websites found below. Final registraon may be completed when you
arrive.
You can also do all of this in person (rather than on line) once
you arrive at
base.
hps://www.dsdk12.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=358872&typ
e=d&pREC_ID=1464107
ü Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS) Go Cobblers! Go Raiders!
hps://rcas.org/student-new-to-the-district/
ü Meade School District, Go Scoopers!
hps://www.meade.k12.sd.us/index.php/enrollment/
Are there DoDEA schools located on Ellsworth AFB?
EAFB is locate in Meade and Pennington Counes and is served by the
Douglas
School District off base in the city of Box Elder. If your family
chooses to live in
Rapid City they will aend Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS). We have
an
excellent relaonship with our local schools.
If I live on EAFB, what school will my middle or high school
student aend?
For residents on EAFB, students aend Douglas Middle School (DMS)
and
Douglas High School (DHS). Go Patriots!
The greatest gis we can give our children are the roots of
responsibility and the wings of independence. -Maria
Montessori
ü Cerfied Birth Cerficate
ü Complete Immunizaon Record
ü Custody Order (if applicable)
ü Photo ID or Driver's License (parent/legal guardian)
ü Proof of District Residency (current rental/lease
agreement,
current monthly mortgage statement, EAFB housing
verificaon/TLF leer of residence)
ü Records from previous school including report cards,
standardized test scores, and IEP's; as applicable
ü Social Security Number (RCAS)
What is the age cut-off for Kindergarten in South Dakota?
Kindergarten students must be 5 on or before September 1 of the
year
entering kindergarten. If a family is moving into the district from
another state
and the child is not yet five, but was enrolled in a public school
where they
came from, the military child can be enrolled in SD schools.
When does the school year begin and end? In South Dakota each
school district sets their own school calendar. SD schools begin in
August and end in late May or early June. The school calendars can
be found on line along with district events.
ü DSD - hps://www.dsdk12.net ü RCAS -
hps://rcas.org/parents/calendar-forms-school-supply-lists/
Is there a pre-school program in DSD?
Pre-school services are offered for a monthly fee at the Carrousel
School at
DSD; phone 605-923-0090. A complete explanaon of pre-school
programs
can be found at
EC_ID=779963
School Counselor
The school counselors at your student's school can answer many
quesons.
Each of the schools has a counselor embedded in their building to
assist
students with making educaon, career, or college plans. If your
student(s) is th th
in 6 to 12 grade they can talk about course selecons, credit
bearing
courses, SAT/ACT dates, and more. The earlier you reach out to
them, the
beer! The DSD counselors work closely with the peer mentoring
programs of
Student2Student (S2S) and Anchored4Life (A4L) programs, which will
link your
students with other students already at Douglas schools.
At DSD the CYB-MFLC provides non-medical support to military
connected
students for issues including, but not limited to, school
adjustment,
deployment and reunion adjustment, and parent-child
communicaon.
Parents must acknowledge, in wring whether or not their student
may
receive assistance by the CYB-MFLC. Permission requests are
provided at the
school and at the on-line registraon page.
Note: RCAS do not have CYB-MFLC's assigned to the schools but
service
opons are available through MilitaryOneSource.
Can my student aend school in another district?
Yes, the SD Legislature established “enrollment opons” program for
students
in grades K-12, commonly known as Open Enrollment. The law, which
can be
found at SDCL 13-28-40 through 13-28-47, requires the Department
of
Educaon to provide applicaon forms for open enrollment to local
schools.
Under the Open Enrollment law SD Schools accept students who are
legal
residents of another SD district provided they can do so without
adversely
affecng the quality of the educaonal program. Approval is subject
to
program and/or space availability. Contact the SD School District
that you
want to apply for this program of open enrollment. SD provides
great
flexibility with school choices but it is key to keep in mind the
transportaon
costs, me involved, and child care opons when making this decision
for
your student.
Can my student be transported from DSD to my home in Rapid City or
vise-
versa?
The school busing system at DSD is for families living in the
district over 2.5
miles from the school. Transportaon costs to an area outside the
district is
the responsibility of the parent/guardian. Note: RCAS has a 2.5
mile radius
from residence to the school for bus transportaon.
Is Before and Aer School Care available on Base?
Yes, School Age Care (SAC), Open Rec, and Teen Center program are
available
on base at the Youth Center. Call 605- 385-2277 (Commercial) or
675-2277
(DSN) for more informaon.
ü Students must aend DSD to ride the SAC bus and families incur
a
cost for busing services.
ü There may be a waing list for Before and Aer School care.
ü SAC is open for full-me care during school breaks, weather
delays,
base open but DSD closed occasions.
How do I connect with Special Educaon resources for DSD?
Carrousel School houses the DSD's support programs of Special
Educaon
and related services, phone 605-923-0090 or stop by 421 Don
Williams
Drive, Box Elder.
What if I need help working through a concern about district
procedure?
ü First talk with the person involved; to the teacher, assistant
principal
or school principal about the situaon. If the problem cannot
be
solved at the school, call the DSD main office at 605-923-0000
they
will connect/refer you with the appropriate administrave
office.
ü Call the School Liaison Office; I'm happy to assist in any way
possible
605-385-5385.
How do I register to home school my student(s)?
ü Students that choose home schooling need to file a Noficaon
for
Public School Exempon Cerficate annually. The form can be
found
on SD Department of Educaon website
hps://doe.sd.gov/oatq/documents/ExemptForm.pdf or picked up
at the Carrousel School office, the contact point for the DSD
home
schooling; 605-923-0090, 421 Don Williams Drive, Box Elder.
ü Aer compleng the exempon cerficate it is filed with the
superintendent of the district where you live.
Can High School Students earn college credits while aending High
School? ü DSD offers opportunies for students to earn college
credit while in
high school. AP courses are offered at DHS each year.
ü Juniors and seniors, who meet eligibility criteria, can take dual
enrollment courses through SD technical schools and universies. The
informaon for dual enrollment can be found at
hps://sdmylife.com/prepping-for-college/dual-credit.
ü For quesons and more informaon students and parents can reach out
to the DHS School Counselors at 605-923-0041 or via email (email
addresses can be found on the district webpage).
ü DHS Counseling Office provides a website that is kept updated
with announcements and informaon
hps://www.dsdk12.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=579144&ty
pe=u&pREC_ID=897626.
Are physicals required?
ü When playing middle school or high school athlecs students will
need
a physical; fine arts acvies do not require physicals.
ü Douglas Middle School (DMS) acvies packet is posted at the
DSD
webpage www.dsdk12.net under the Schools tab select DMS then
choose Acvies tab to download the packet including the
physical
form. Contact the acvies director at 605-923-0050,
[email protected] for more informaon.
ü Douglas High School (DHS) acvies packet is available at the
DHS
Acvies webpage at www.dsdk12.net. For more informaon reach
out
to the high school acvies director at 605-923-0039,
[email protected] .
What me does school start and end? (2019-20 school year) ü Patriot
Elementary (Badger Clark and Francis Case Elementary) - K-3
all
start at 8:00 with K-1 ending at 2:50 and 2-3 ending at 3:00 (Note:
can be at school for breakfast at 7:30 otherwise cannot be at
school before 7:40 because staff are not on duty)
ü Vandenberg Elementary – Grades 4 &5 start at 8:50 with
dismissal at
2:45
ü Douglas Middle School - School day begins at 8:00 with dismissal
at
3:05
ü Douglas High School – Classes begin at 7:55 with dismissal at
3:10
How can I access the schools report card?
To find the informaon about the individual schools performance go
to:
hps://doestatereporng.sd.gov/Nimble/asp/Main.aspx
-Eleanor Roosevelt
call 605-385-2277
ü Youth Sponsorship Program – contact YP for a request form
ü Youth sports
ü Partnership with 4-H and Boys & Girls Club of America
ü School Age Care – Before and aer school care for children
ages 5-12, with busing available to Douglas Schools
ü Child Development Center –for children ages 6 weeks to 5
years,
for informaon call 605-385-2488 (Commercial) or 675-2488
(DSN)
Online plaorms and helpful resources and informaon:
You and your students may enjoy perusing these sites.
Tutoring/Academic Skills
ü Homework Help for US Service Members and their Children
www.tutor.com/military
ü hps://mic3.net/
ü www.dodea.edu/Partnership/InterstateCompact.cfm
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a
habit.
ü EFMP-E at EAFB: 605-385-4663 (Commercial) or 675-4663 (DSN)
ü EFMP-M at EAFB: 605-385-3416 (Commercial) or 675-3416 (DSN)
ü Military One Source www.MilitaryOneSource.mil/efmp
ü ADHD www.help4adhd.org
www.operaonausmonline.org
hp://www.operaonwearehere.com/EFMP.html
www.wapave.org
hps://wapave.org/?s=stomp
ü Advocacy and Special Educaon Law for Children with
Disabilies
www.wrightslaw.com
ü Military Child Educaon Coalion (MCEC) www.militarychild.org
ü Military Impacted Schools Associaon (MISA)
www.militarystudent.org
hp://www.militaryonesource.mil/family-and-relaonships/military-
hps://doe.sd.gov/oatq/homeschooling.aspx
hps://doe.sd.gov/oatq/documents/ExemptForm.pdf
ü Home School Legal Defense Associaon hps://hslda.org/
ü Schools Report Card
hps://doe.sd.gov/gradrequirements/
hps://doe.sd.gov/tle/toolkit/
ü Scholarships, College, and Financial Aid www.fastweb.com
ü Scholarships for Military Youth www.military.com,
www.militaryscholarorg
ü Federal Student Aid hps://fafsa.ed.gov/
ü Career Exploraon Program hps://www.asvabprogram.com/
