Student Development
Student Ambassadors
Students in grades 6-8 are given the opportunity to grow in leadership skills by becoming a Student Ambassador. Student Ambassadors undergo a thorough vetting process and, if selected, represent the school on campus and in the community.
Student Council
The MIS Student Council is an organization of student-elected officials from grades 7-8 who embody the ideals, spirit, and standards of MIS. The student council organizes and leads many different events throughout the school year, including service projects and a junior high dance.
Competitions
Continental Mathematics League: "Continental Math" focuses on helping students improve their mathematics comprehension and problem solving skills. This national test is administered quarterly to all the students in the 2nd-8th grade. Students receiving high qualifying scores are honored with awards and recognized by MIS.
Spelling Bee: MIS students in grades 4-8 are eligible to participate in the school wide spelling bee. The winning representative participates in the Dallas County Spelling Bee. Winners from that competition are sent to the Dallas Morning News Regional Spelling Bee, where a winner is chosen to represent our region at the Scripps National Bee Championship in Washington, D.C.
Geography Bee: The National Geographic Bee, an educational program of the National Geographic Society, is a nationwide geography competition offered to students in grades 4-8. The contest is designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography. The school-wide winner of the Geo Bee is eligible to compete for a spot in the state level competition.
Private Schools Interscholastic Association (PSIA) Competition: Offering 59 academic contests in Math, Science, Language Arts, Speech, Social Studies, and Fine Arts since 1998, PSIA remains the most comprehensive academic extracurricular program in America for students in grades 1 through 8.
Fire Prevention Art Competition: Third grade students from MIS participate in the Fire Prevention Poster Contest, a city-wide competition which is sponsored by the City of Farmers Branch.
Diocesan Speech/Drama Competitions: The Dallas Diocesan Speech League was organized to promote and encourage excellence in speech by sponsoring a diversified program of speech activities for middle school students. The League sponsors three meets per year (the first two meets are non-ranked events designed to improve student performance; the final meet is a ranked, competitive event) which offers competition in a variety of events, including: Dramatic Interpretation, Duet Acting, Humorous Interpretation, Original Oratory, Poetry Interpretation, Prose Interpretation, Storytelling, TV Commercial, and Two Man Improvisation.
Diocese of Dallas Religion Scholars Bowl: Schools from across the diocese form teams with one student from each grade, fifth through eighth. The 4 students selected have a strong knowledge of the Catholic faith and lives that faith on a day to day basis. Working together as a team they witness to that faith by sharing what they know about the Bible and our Catholic teachings.
American Dance/Drill Team Competition: This competition is for officers from various high schools and a few middle schools throughout North Texas. The officers take a home routine to the camp to compete with, plus learn other dances while they are there.
Student Enrichment
Each year, MIS has students honored with admission into these national/regional programs.
Duke TIP Program: Duke TIP is a global leader in identifying academically gifted students and providing them with opportunities to support their development.
Junior Thespians: The International Thespian Society (ITS), an honorary group for middle and high school theatre students, is a division of the Educational Theatre Association. The mission of the ITS is to honor student excellence in the theatre arts. The Junior Thespian troupe is a student honor society within the ITS, and membership is earned. Through drama studies at MIS and their participation in Diocesan speech drama tournaments, Junior Thespian students earn induction points that can be applied towards their invitation into the Thespian Society during high school.
Jr. DECATS: Junior DECATS scholars in grades 3-5 have an intensive study of four courses during the three-week summer session. Classes emphasize hands-on, exploratory learning in the areas of literature, social studies, mathematics, science, computer science, multimedia presentation, journalism, creative writing, yearbook, fine arts, and language.
Sr. DECATS (DeBusk Enrichment Center for Academically Talented Students): DECATS is a 3-week invitational enrichment program for grades 6-8 that strives to identify and challenge young scholars at a critical period in their lives and to make a direct impact on the learning environments of participants, and positively influence the lives of other students with whom participants are in contact in their home schools.