NOVEMBER 2024 DILLON ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
TEACHING EFFECTIVELY-LEARNING SUCCESSFULLY
SUPERINTENDENT’S MESSAGE: RANDY SHIPMAN
Hello from the district office here in the Elementary School District! I hope this newsletter finds everyone doing well and bracing for the changing weather. As I
write this newsletter the weather is starting to change to winter. In the newsletter this month I would like to talk about school safety and show appreciation for our
hard-working educators.
School safety is a topic that is constantly on my mind. I want you to know that we are working hard to make sure that your children and school staff
members are safe while at school by practicing several drills throughout the year including fire, earthquake and intruder drills.
In fact, during our early release for students on Wednesday, November 6th, our staff will be involved in an ‘Active Shooter Response Training Drill” put on
by Jason Grimmis, retired Lewis and Clark Deputy and Undersheriff and currently the Director of Security at the University of Montana Western, Butte Tech, and
Helena College of Technology. Dillon Police Chief Jeremy Alverez and Assistant Chief of Police Joel Stewart as well as other officers from the department will also be
involved. Local County Sheriff’s Deputies, Tom Wagenknecht, with Disaster and Emergency Services, and several Emergency Medical Technicians and hospital personnel
will also be involved in the training. We hope we never have to put our training to use but in the event we do we want to be prepared. This training will help us
achieve that goal.
Our staff members do a great job preparing our students in the event of a disaster here at school. Additionally, staff is constantly receiving training on
various safety features such as first aid, CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator) training, intruder training, and bullying and suicide awareness and prevention.
We will continue to work hard to make sure we are prepared.
Another way that we are addressing student and staff safety is through our Crisis Response Team, made up of administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals,
custodial staff and others. This team meets periodically to review and discuss protocols and best practices. In early December, our team will meet to discuss
and review our safety protocols and procedures and to make sure that we are doing everything we can to protect our most precious resource.
Another topic I would like to focus on this month revolves around our educators. The week of November 18, 2024, is American Education Week and in
honor of that, I would like to take the time in this newsletter to applaud our educators for all the wonderful things that they do. Teaching is truly a noble profession in
which our educators should be proud. The daily impact that they make in students’ lives is tremendous and extremely noteworthy. I am immensely proud of them.
Please take the time to thank a teacher, a paraprofessional, a bus driver, a kitchen worker, a custodian, a trustee, an administrator, administrative staff, a clerk, a
substitute/guest teacher, a licensed professional working in the school or anyone else connected to the school who works with our children. And then, thank the
parents for the wonderful job they do raising their children each and every day. Dillon is lucky to have great educators and great parents who are always working
together toward the betterment of our youth.
Don’t forget that you can stay informed about what is happening at your child’s school by accessing our website at www.dillonschools.org. Academic
information such as teacher lesson plans, grades and sports schedules can be located on this website. In addition, this site contains the lunch menu, student handbook,
our district policy manual, board meeting agendas and the school calendar.
Finally, I would like to express again how excited and honored I am to be your superintendent at School District #10 and a part of such a great community.
I would like to thank everyone in advance for working with us to make our district a success. If there is any way that I may be of assistance to you, please stop in or
call the district office at 683-4311, option #3.
PARKVIEW ELEMENTARY NEWS: GREG FITZGERALD
It’s hard to believe that we are through our first two months of school. We are getting very close to end the 1st trimester. Our students and
teachers have been working very hard to accomplish all their goals this year.
We would like to thank all our parents for their attendance in person or online during Parent/Teacher Conferences. This year we had a 95%
attendance rate. Your attendance helps to ensure positive communication between the school and home. It is also one of the most important
factors to a student’s success. If at any time you have questions for your child’s teacher, please e-mail or call so that your questions may be
answered.
We continue to need your help with getting messages to your children at the end of the school day. As a rule, please call the office no later
than 2:30 pm Monday-Thursday and 1:30 pm on Fridays when making changes to a student’s end of the day routine. This allows us the necessary
time to get the messages out to your children. Unless it is an emergency, we ask that you make arrangements with your children prior to
the start of the school day.
On Wednesday, November 6th students will be released from school at noon so that teachers are able to take part in some important professional
development. KG students will be released at 11:50 am, 1st-2nd Grade students will be released at 11:55 am, and 3rd-5th grade students will
be released at 12:00 pm. Buses will run on Wednesday at 12:05 pm.
Parent Council Meeting on Wednesday, November 13th at 4:00 pm in the Parkview Teacher’s Lounge.
No School November 27th-29th for Thanksgiving Break. School be released at its regularly scheduled time on Tuesday, November 26th.
This is your November reminder regarding student preparedness for adverse weather conditions. At a minimum, please make sure students
are sent to school daily with hats, coats, and gloves. Though our fall has been very mild to this point we know that this can change at moments
notice.
If you have questions regarding anything at our school, please don’t hesitate to contact the school directly, visit our school webpage, or follow
us on FaceDILLON
MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS: JOEL ROGERS
Happy November 2024 from the Dillon Middle School office. It’s hard to believe we have completed nine weeks of school and are starting down to the start of quarter number two. On behalf of all staff and students at DMS, I want to say thank you for the outpouring of support from our parents and community stakeholders. Your feedback and support are greatly appreciated as we work to educate each student.
As we move into November, I would like to draw your attention to two upcoming dates. The first is November 1st, which is the end of quarter #1. On the evening of the 1st, from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm, DMS will be hosting a student dance (western themed) in the DMS gym. The second date is Friday, November 8th. On this date, we are making plans to host our annual Veterans Day Assembly at 10:15am. This event is to honor our Veteran’s, current day service members and their families. More details will be coming to our district Facebook page and website as we come closer to this date.
DMS is also in transition with our activity seasons. Currently, boys’ basketball and girls cross training are in season for the next five weeks. Parents can always find the most up to date activity schedules on our district website (www.dillonschools.org), under the Dillon Middle School tab. If you get the opportunity to come and watch a game, our student athletes would greatly appreciate your support.
November, at School District #10 includes some corky school calendar dates to note including an early out on Wednesday, November 6th where students are out of school at 12:00 p.m. to give staff time for professional development in the afternoon. There is also NO SCHOOL on Wednesday, November 27th-November 29th to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.
Again, we greatly appreciate your support and hope to see you in the upcoming days. In the meantime, if there is anything Mrs. Mickelson or myself can assist with from the DMS office, please don’t hesitate to reach out.