Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the K12 Instruction And Student Support topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DCG middle school leadership outlines MTSS and behavior priorities; students describe BizTown project
Summary
The district’s middle school building leadership team described multi‑year work on MTSS, PBIS, PLCs and special education improvements; 6th graders reported on a December BizTown entrepreneurship exercise.
At the Dallas Center‑Grimes middle school presentation Monday, interim principal Anne Dodge and the building leadership team described a multi‑year plan emphasizing multi‑tiered systems of support (MTSS), common behavior expectations, and expanded professional learning communities (PLCs).
Dodge said the team held a summer retreat to define goals and integrate 5th and 6th grade identities inside the combined building, and that the group prioritized MTSS as the year’s central work. “We determined that we must establish time to learn about this process as a building,” said BLT member Chris (first name only in the record), who explained the building’s tier‑1 focus and training schedule.
The middle school described an effort to create common rules, teach those expectations to students, and boost recognition of positive behavior as part of a building‑level PBIS approach supported by consultant Emily Donovan. Special education staff reported improved staffing and weekly collaborative meetings to strengthen specially designed instruction; staff also described plans to pilot a co‑taught math section next year if scheduling and training allow.
Teachers and administrators highlighted professional learning communities (PLCs) as the primary vehicle for instructional improvement, with embedded meeting time and focused workstreams such as ELA curriculum rollout, assessment review and targeted professional learning. The administration said district‑wide MTSS supports begin with an administrative/teacher session on Feb. 11; buildings will adapt the model to local needs.
Students in the 6th grade described Junior Achievement’s BizTown project, an experiential learning day in December that put students into simulated jobs and businesses. A 6th grader who participated said, “I was the CFO for a retail shop; my responsibility was to pay our bills,” and described learning to track spending and balance business accounts.
Board discussion during and after the presentation focused on timelines, staffing challenges for therapeutic classrooms and how to collect parent feedback about interest in additional special education services. The administration said providing a district‑wide MTSS framework should reduce variation across schools while allowing successful local practices to continue.
Administrators asked the board to expect a district report on MTSS findings at the next meeting; the board asked district staff to present the consultant’s summary of findings at the following meeting.
