Free school and sports physicals – Wednesday, MAY 13th,  5:30 to 8:30 pm at the Downtown Iowa Ortho & Physiotherapy Associates, 450 Laurel St., Des Moines. Parent/Guardian must be present in order to provide consent.

Mark your calendars for the Annual Husky Alliance 4 Person Best Shot Golf Outing on Saturday, May 2nd at the Waveland Golf Course, sponsored by Harding Hills Hy-Vee. Shotgun start at 8:00 AM. Register as a team or as an individual …

Besides the weather, the other good thing about Spring is that new high school sports seasons for soccer, tennis and track & field are all heating up. Yesterday Hoover and North faced off in both boys and girls soccer (including a boys’ game that was tied 0-0 after regulation and two overtime periods with the Huskies pulling off a 3-1 win in the shoot out). Click the photo to see more.

There are a lot of good things happening at Hoover High School. The graduation rate is up. Enrollment in Advanced Placement courses is up. The school is an International Baccalaureate World School. And it is home to the STEM Academy. Click the photo to read an article in CityView about the good work of Maureen Griffin, the director of our STEM Academy, and the positive changes underway.

Students at Hoover High School test-drove AT&T’s “It Can Wait” driving simulator on Friday to experience the distraction of texting while driving. After finishing with the simulator, each student made a pledge to never text and drive. Click the photo to see more of the event on the DMPS Flickr page.

Be sure to stop by the Polk County Heritage Gallery at 111 Court Ave to check out the DMPS High School Art Exhibit. The exhibit runs through April 17th and the gallery is open from 11:00am – 4:30pm, …

The Class of 2014 graduation rate set a new high mark for Des Moines Public Schools as every high school saw an increase. At Hoover, our graduation rate increased to 89.33%. The overall graduation rate at DMPS has gone up 9 percent over the past six year. For more details, please click on the photo.

More than 50 bands from middle and high schools throughout Iowa played in the 44th annual Hoover Jazz Festival on Saturday. Jazz bands from Meredith, Goodrell, Hoyt, Merrill, and East schools all performed for judges to critique their music. Since 1972 the Hoover Jazz Festival has been one of the preeminent high school music fests in Iowa. Click on the image for photos.

The Hoover Orchestra is Breaking the Box Office with its 2nd annual Once upon a Melody Concert! The Concert is Tuesday, March 10, 7 PM in the Hoover auditorium. We will be performing pieces from the movies Pirates …

In a district where student families collectively speak more than 80 languages and dialects, Hoover High School, an International Baccalaureate School, is the most diverse school. Not only in the district, but in the state. Once a year, students showcase their cultural diversity with a colorful and enthusiastic assembly. To see photos of this year’s event, click on the image.