Family Resources

Have you heard about Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program?
It offers income-eligible Hoosier students up to four years of paid tuition at an eligible Indiana college or university after they graduate from high school, depending upon financial need. Tuition is a big part of college expenses, and the 21st Century Scholarship may provide tens of thousands of dollars in financial aid over the course of four years.

Beginning in 2023, Indiana has made changes to include auto enrollment for the 21st Century Scholars scholarship:

• The office of 21st Century scholars is working on enrolling the 2027, 2028, and 2029 cohorts into the 21st Century Scholars Program, specifically all students who are financially eligible regardless of guardianship or foster care status.
• We currently have a partnership with the Indiana Department of Child Services which allows us to automatically enroll all foster care students through their senior year of high school.
• Auto enrollment will place the students in ScholarTrack in "Enrolled Pending Pledge" status.
• Letters notifying students and families of their automatic enrollment should most likely go out in October.

What do I need to do?
Create an account in ScholarTrack and check your enrollment status at: ScholarTrack.IN.gov.

*If you are NOT receiving free/reduced lunches and want to apply, create an account in Scholar Track.

Questions?

• 21st Century Scholars: 888-528-4719
• Ms. Schalliol (7th Grade Counselor): 574-254-3617
• Mrs. Freel (8th Grade Counselor): 574-254-3618

Your child's education is very important. You want to see your child learn and grow. Throughout the school year, your child will take different tests to assess their learning and growth. As a parent or family member, sometimes it is hard to know what test is being taken and when or even what the test is for. This area is here to help answer those questions. You can learn more about the test that your child is taking, understand your child's test results, and become more familiar with policies related to each statewide assessment. 

Every day a student is absent is a lost opportunity for learning. Too many absences not only can affect achievement for the absent student but also can disrupt learning for the entire class.

Research shows that students who consistently miss school are at risk of lower academic achievement, failure and even dropping out of school altogether.

Indiana State Senate Bill 282, entitled Truancy Prevention Policy (IC 20-33-2.5), and Indiana House Bill 1243 require us to make changes to our attendance policy beginning this school year. These bills require:

• School boards to adopt a policy that will apply to students who are absent 5 days within a 10-week period unless the absence is (1) excused or (2) in conformity with a note on file from a physician, therapist, or other professional under a student’s IEP, service plan, or 504 plan.
• The superintendent or attendance officer to notify the prosecutor when a student has been identified as a habitual truant (defined as a student who has 10 unexcused absences).

Indiana Department of Education’s definitions regarding attendance:

• IC 18-2-6.5 IDOE defines “chronic absenteeism” as students absent from school for 10 percent or more of a school year for any reason.
• IC 18-2-6.5 defines “habitual truancy” to include students absent ten (10) days or more from school within a school year without being excused or without being absent under parental request filed with the school.

Attendance Notifications
We send automated Attendance Notifications to parents/guardians (via email) whose children are marked “Absent” on a given school day to notify them of the absence or late arrival. 

You will receive a notification of your child’s absence when they have missed the following number of days:

• 3rd Unexcused Absence: Letter
• 5th Excused/Unexcused Absence: Letter and Administrator Call
• 5th Excused/Unexcused Absences (in a 10 week period): Parent Conference
• 8th Excused/Unexcused Absence: Letter
• 10th Excused/Unexcused Absence: Letter and notification sent to the Prosecutor
• 15th Unexcused Absence: Letter and notification to DCS

What Can Families Do?
Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school and themselves. Start building this habit on the first day of school so they learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Good attendance will help children do well in high school, college and in their careers.

What you can do:

• Avoid scheduling vacations when school is in session.
• Build regular routines for bedtime and the morning.
• Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.
• Talk about the importance of regular attendance and about how your child feels about school.
• Don’t permit missing school unless your child is truly sick. Use a thermometer to check for a fever. Remember that stomach aches and headaches may be signs of anxiety.
• If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to teachers, school counselors, or other parents for advice on how to make him/her feel comfortable and excited about learning.
• Avoid medical appointments when school is in session.
• Keep a chart recording your child’s attendance at home. At the end of the week, talk with your child about what you see.
• Develop back up plans for getting to school if something comes up. Ask a family member, neighbor or another parent for help.

Additional information regarding the Attendance Policy can be found in the Parent/Student Handbook.

Thank you for your support.

Attendance Goals
 

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) has a list of resources and best practices available to the public regarding the prevention and reporting of bullying and cyberbullying.

IDOE Bullying Prevention Resources

This digital manual represents a multi-disciplinary effort to improve student mental health, safety, and school climate at SCM. 

Special thanks to the following team of professionals for making this project possible:

• Social Workers: Lynn Kamiak, Michele Hadary, Kristin Ermeti, and Rose Clark
• Director of Exceptional Learners: Matthew Johns
• School Psychologist: Nick Marchi

Indiana law IC 20.35.5, et seq., as created by SEA 217 (2018) in April 2018, states that Indiana school corporations and charter school's reading plans must now include screening for dyslexia risk factors and indicators. If a student is determined to be at-risk for dyslexia, the school will administer an additional dyslexia screener, which will identify whether or not the student needs to be referred for further testing. It also requires schools to use specific response to intervention processes if screeners indicate certain characteristics of dyslexia are present.

DEFINITION OF DYSLEXIA
House enrolled Act 1108 defines dyslexia as a specific learning disability that:

• Is neurological in origin and characterized by: difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities;
• Typically results from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction;
• May include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge; and
• May require the provision of special education services after an eligibility determination is made in accordance with Article 7.

SCREENING
Senate Enrolled Act 217 requires schools to universally screen:

• All kindergarten, first, and second grade students annually to identify and predict students who may be "at some risk" or "at risk" for dyslexia;
• A kindergarten through second grade student who transfers to a new school, and has not previously been screened during the school year;
• A student in third grade or higher who has difficulty as noted by the classroom teacher in:
  • Phonological and phonemic awareness;
  • Sound symbol recognition;
  • Alphabet knowledge;
  • Decoding skills'
  • Rapid naming skills; and
  • Encoding skills
• A student in kindergarten through second grade from another state who enrolls in an Indiana school for the first time unless the student has documentation that he/she has had dyslexia or similar screen during the school year or is exempt from screening;
• A school corporation is not required to administer a universal screening if the parent objects to the screening.

CORE CURRICULUM
School City of Mishawaka uses HMH Into Reading and Literature. Click here to learn more about the remediation plans for students who are not successful. Administrative contact is Dr. Stockstell. 

REPORTING
Before July 15 of each school year, each school shall report the following information:
(NOTE: This information shall not be provided if fewer than 10 students are identified.)

MORE INFORMATION
You can visit the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) website for further information.

QUESTIONS
Please contact the Curriculum & Instruction Department at 574-254-4500 with questions.

The following information is to clarify how families will receive communications in case of an emergency. Phone numbers and email addresses used for communications pull from the information in Skyward. Login to your Skyward account to verify your contact information is correct.

NON-THREATENING INCIDENT

Parents may be notified by call, email and/or text regarding the incident depending on the circumstances and nature of the event.
 

EMERGENCY INCIDENT

• Our first priority is to protect students and staff.
• Parents should not call or go to the school unless directed otherwise.
• Parents should avoid contacting students during an emergency.
• Please do not rely on unofficial reports of information coming from word of mouth, social media and/or any source other than the official School City of Mishawaka communication.
• Parents will be notified by call and email as soon as possible.
• Information will also be shared on the district website at MishawakaSchools.com. 
   

AFTER AN EMERGENCY

• Be patient and wait for information.
• If off-site family reunification is necessary, please remember to follow the emergency pick-up procedures communicated at that time. State-issued photo ID will be required.

Federal and state law requires that local school districts identify, locate, and evaluate every child who may have a disability requiring special education services. This is called Child Find.

Child Find - SCM

The ARC Indiana

Indiana Disability Resource Finder

Indiana Institute of Disability and Community

IN*SOURCE

The Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning Suspension and Expulsion Policy (#5702)

Working with Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation

Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social and emotional development. School City of Mishawaka is partner of the Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties Head Start Consortium.

More information can be found on the Head Start website at: HeadStartesj.com.

Head Start Enrollment

School City of Mishawaka recognizes that some students perform at, or show the potential to perform at an outstanding level of accomplishment in the core academic areas of language arts and mathematics. These students are found in all socio-economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds, and this school corporation recognizes the need to identify such students through systematic, on-going procedures. The high ability program provides a supportive learning climate that will enrich learning so students can maximize academic potential and develop emotionally and socially in order to be contributing members of society.

Definition of Homeless (McKinney-Vento)
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), defines “homeless children and youth” (school age and younger) as:  Children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including children and youth who are residing in the following situations due to a due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason.

• Doubled up with relatives, friends, or strangers;
• Living in emergency or transitional shelters;
• Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, camping grounds, or abandoned in hospitals;
• Living in cars, parks, public spaces, bus or train stations, or abandoned buildings;
• Having a primary nighttime residence that is substandard, or a public/private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodations due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;
• Migratory children or youth living in circumstances described above; and/or
• Unaccompanied youth, meaning youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian, such as runaways and youth denied housing by their families (sometimes referred to as “throwaway” children and youth).
   

What do families need to know?

• Children and youth experiencing homelessness have a right to attend school.
• You do not need a permanent address to enroll your child in school.
• Children and youth experiencing homelessness can stay in their school of origin or enroll in any public school that students living in the same attendance zone are eligible to attend, whichever circumstance proves to be in the student’s best interest.
• The Liaison must provide you with a written explanation if a placement or eligibility dispute occurs. Contact your local Homeless Liaison for assistance in handling a dispute.
• Your child cannot be denied school enrollment because school records or other enrollment documentation are not immediately available.
• Your child may have the right to transportation services to and from the school of origin if determined in their best interest* (see transportation procedures).
• Your child has the right to participate in extracurricular activities and all federal, state, or local programs for which he/she is eligible.
• Unaccompanied youth have these same rights. (Contact your local Homeless Liaison.)
• McKinney-Vento status provides stability at the school for the duration of the school year. If housing instability continues beyond that school year, you must apply for requalification the following school year.

Legal Reference: The McKinney-Vento Assistance Act (42 U.S. C. 11431 et seq.) at Subtitle B of title VII. (Reauthorized 2002).   

The Parent-Student Handbook is a guide of policies, laws and regulations that explain the rights and responsibilities of students. You can view the entire Parent-Student Handbook at the link below.

PARENT STUDENT HANDBOOK

The “Standard Response Protocol is courtesy of the “I Love U Guys” Foundation

Easy to understand. Easy to implement.
A uniform, planned, and practiced response to any incident is the foundation of a safe school. Safe business. Safe community. The SRP is action-based, flexible, and easy to learn. It rationally organizes tactics for response to weather events, fires, accidents, intruders and other threats to personal safety.

The SRP’s development is ever-evolving, created with extensive collaboration between experts such as first responders, public safety, school, districts, and communities. Its tactics are data-driven, researched and based on experience and contemporary practices.

On the Same Page. Everyone.
The benefits of SRP become quickly apparent. By standardizing the vocabulary, all stakeholders can understand the response and status of the event.

For students, this provides continuity of expectations and actions throughout their educational career. For teachers, this becomes a simpler process to train and drill. For communities, it leverages the growing adoption of the protocols from residents of all ages. For first responders, the common vocabulary and protocols establish a greater predictability that persists through the duration of an incident.

People easily understand the practices and can reinforce the protocol. Additionally, this protocol enables rapid response determination when an unforeseen event occurs.

SRP is Action Based
The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is based on the response to any given situation not on individual scenarios. Like the Incident Command System (ICS), SRP demands a specific vocabulary but also allows for great flexibility. The premise is simple - these five specific actions that can be performed during an incident. When communicating these, the action is labeled with a "Term of Art" and is then followed by a "Directive." Execution of the action is performed by active participants.

	Hold is followed by the Directive: "In Your Room or Area" and is the protocol used when hallways need to be kept clear of occupants.
	Secure is followed by the Directive: "Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors" and is the protocol used to safeguard people within the building.
	Lockdown is followed by "Locks, Lights, Out of Sight" and is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep occupants quiet and in place.
	Evacuate may be followed by a location, and is used to move people from one location to a different location in or out of the building.
	Shelter and state the Hazard and Safety Strategy for group and self protection.

Standard Response Protocol Parent Handout - English

Standard Response Protocol Parent Handout - Spanish

Your school nurse is a registered nurse who is present to strengthen, facilitate and enhance the educational process by improving and protecting the health status of children. We are able to offer health services through our partnership with Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center.

All medical forms can be filled out in Skyward. However, if you do need a printable form for the school nurse to administer medication, the forms can be found below:

Medication Form A: Authorization to administer Medication Form

Medication Form B: Authorization to posses and self-administer inhalers, EPI-Pens, and insulin.

The mission of Young Adult Services (YAS) is to maximize the skills of our students as they prepare for life beyond the public school setting. Students in YAS have individual education plans (IEP’s) that are designed to increase skills in the area of education and training, including the continued development of functional academic skills when appropriate, employment, and independent living.

Stay connected with us

Young Adult Services Facebook

OUR PARTNERS

Cultivate
As a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, Cultivate is devoted to ending the cycle of hunger in the local communities of northern Indiana by providing a food rescue ser vice. Our mission is to build a local network of food suppliers with the goal of providing wholesome meals so no one in our community goes hungry. Join with us to provide food to the most vulnerable in our community. Your donations and volunteer time are invaluable to changing lives in northern Indiana.

Mishawaka Parks Department
YAS and the Mishawaka Parks Department have partnered together since the YAS program started in SCM in 2014. Students volunteer and have worked with the landscaping department in the city parks planting, weeding, and doing seasonal work. The staff has assisted in building and setting up the YAS gardens on the Battell Center property. YAS and the Parks Department recently collaborated with MEF and other resources in the community to construct and maintain the community greenhouse. Recently the YAS program moved into the Battell Community Center and the students have had the opportunity to help with holiday events such as the Haunted House, various dances and events, and Winterfest. 

Farmer Bill’s
Jane (a MHS alumni) and her husband run a family farm called Farmer Bill’s located on Bremen Highway. Our partnership began when we were looking for small pumpkins for a project. The students have worked on the farm over the past 3 years helping with planting, harvesting, setting up and taking down greenhouses, and with general seasonal farm work. Ron and Jane have graciously given the students vegetables from the farm to use during cooking instruction in the classroom. 

Real Services
Students have volunteered weekly at Real Services for the Meals on Wheels food delivery program. Students package and deliver meals to clients in the Mishawaka community who are in need of nutritious meals and the students also provide a community connection that many of the clients need.