Greetings DMS Families,

Our final PBIS Activities Night for the year was a "BIG HIT" for those who attended. Students enjoyed their last "get together" with pizza, pop, sports activities, dance music and social time. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help raise funds for our DMS HEROES School Store and end of year event!

SPRING TESTING CONTINUES. 6th-8th grade students will be participating in the M-STEP assessment this week. Our 6th & 7th graders will be taking the Math section and our 8th grade students will be taking the Social Studies test. To help us prepare your child to be ready to show their BEST, we request you to remind your son or daugther to get plenty of rest this week and remind them to eat something before going to class in the morning (FYI-We have FREE breakfast for all of our students available every morning in our cafeteria.). Also, if you could remind them to charge their Chromebook the night before, that would be very helpful. We thank you for your continued support!

DMS Farewell Dance tickets will be on sale this week during lunch for those 7th & 8th grade students interested in attending (the cost to attend is $10). This traditional event is sponsored by our DMS Student Council and is scheduled to take place this Friday, May 2nd from 6:00-8:00 PM. This year's theme is "Neon Party." DJ Pac Man will be entertaining everyone and there will be a special photo booth available as well. We look forward to seeing everyone in their "BEST DRESS!"

ATTENTION FAMILIES. We are moving closer to the last days to purchase a 2024-2025 DMS Yearbook. If you are interested, please follow the QR code listed below in our newsletter to place your order.

Our DMS Spring Sports Teams are "flying high." Our Tack Team had a lot of student-athletes who placed 1st and 2nd in their events (Cordell S. - 2nd place 55m Hurdles, Jamere B. - 2nd place High Jump & 1st place Long Jump, Brenna C. - 2nd place open 400m & 2nd place High jump, Jaleah H. - 2nd place 55m Hurdles, Bailey O.- 1st place Shot Put) and our DMS Girls Softball and Boys Baseball teams both won their games against Eau Claire Middle School. Finally, our DMS/ETS Esports Team has been "on a roll" advancing to the MSEL Semifinals.

GREAT things are ALWAYS happening at DMS!!

Dr. Wightman

News from the Art Room: I am beyond excited to share that we have 38 students participating in the MS/HS Community Art Exhibition this year!! This art exhibition takes place at Box Factory For the Arts in Saint Joseph, MI. Districts from all over our county and neighboring counties come together for one BIG student art show. Dates for this show are April 17, 2025- May 4, 2025, and the Opening Reception (Awards) is Thursday April 24, 2025 from 6-8pm.

Mrs. Cline - Art

I am incredibly proud of all of my students. It takes courage to enter your artwork into a showcase like this because everyone who views your work sees it from a different point of view. I had 38 courageous students participate this year. There are over 800 art pieces in the show between 17 middle and high schools combined! It is definitely worth the trip to The Box Factory to see all of the incredible artworks.

Mrs. Wightman's STEM class

We started a new project sponsored by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) which is part of their AWIM program (A World In Motion).  We are learning all about what Engineers have to do before they release an automobile to the public.  So far, we have built our Prototypes using a balloon as our engine.  Our engineers have started the testing phase which included: distance, time, and load weight.  Once they complete their testing, our engineers will need to design their own car using their data to determine if they want to build a car that does wheelies, spins, or some other unique trick.

Mrs. Wightman - Life Science

For the past few weeks, we have learned what organisms need to survive and how the availability of these resources can affect their population size.  We are enhancing our learning by using our Gizmos program (virtual laboratory) to see how a rabbit population is specifically affected by any change in their environment.

May 2: DMS Farewell Dance; 6-8PM

May 8: Fine Arts Night; 6PM @DUHS

May 13: Band Concert; 7PM

May 15: Choir Concert; 7PM

ATTENTION BUS RIDERS: rider families to make sure they are at bus stop pickups and ready to hop on the bus 5-10 early each day so that they drivers and routes can stay on schedule!!!

If you would like to recognize a DMS staff member for a special "Chieftains Shout Out", please use the following link to do so: Staff Shout Out Link

Drop Off Time: 7:25 a.m.

Breakfast: 7:25 a.m.-7:35 a.m.

Building Times: 7:37 a.m.-2:23 p.m.

Half Day Dismissal: 10:47 a.m.

Building Office Phone:269-782-4440

Dowagiac Middle School Website:

https://www.dowagiacschools.org/o/dms

Dowagiac Middle School Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/DowagiacMiddle/

Lunch Menu:

https://dowagiacschools.nutrislice.com/menu

District Website:

https://www.dowagiacschools.org/

District Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/dowagiacschools/