DRMS' Principal Message
Hello Dolphins! This is Kristen Faircloth, the proud principal at Durant Road Middle School with your weekly family message.
The time has finally arrived! The first day of school is Monday, August 17, 2020! The DRMS staff is eagerly awaiting to virtually meet your child using the google meet codes provided. We are excited to use the first few weeks of school to get to know your child and give them time to practice their schedule and feel comfortable with virtual learning. We will all make mistakes. However, we will learn from them and make the needed adjustments to ensure we provide the best learning environment for ALL students. Please take the time to read some important information below. As always, don't hesitate to reach out to let us know how we can support you.
DRMS Bell Schedule: The DRMS Bell Schedule can be found Here. The schedule is also on our website and was provided during Student Materials Pick Up. Take some time to review the schedule and make a plan for your child's day of learning. This specific schedule aims to meet the needs of our students for both Virtual Academy and Plan B Transition. Additionally, this schedule will allow for a seamless transition when students re-enter the building officially (including less transitions to ensure maximum safety) and allows flexibility in-front of computers for the Virtual Academy students.
A video has been created to help 6th grade families navigate the DRMS website, 6th grade website as well as receive individual support: How to Navigate You Child's Schedule Video.
7th grade families can view a video here to learn more about reading their student's schedule and applying it to the web-based schedule.
DRMS Virtual Family Orientation: Thank you to the Dolphin families who joined us on Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at 9:00 AM and/or 5:00 PM for the DRMS Virtual Family Orientation. We hope the family engagement event was helpful to prepare our students for a successful 2020-2021 school year. If you were unable to join a virtual orientation session, you can find the grade level links below.
6th Grade:
- Please click here to view the opening presentation from Ms. Hartman and Ms. Deen.
- Please click here to view the teacher's presentation from the Family Orientation.
- Please click here to view videos from all of the 6th grade teachers and elective teachers. Once students view their schedules on PowerSchool, they can watch videos specific to their teacher.
7th Grade:
- Please click here to view a FAQ document from both sessions of the orientation on August 12.
- Please click here to view the opening presentation from Mr. Kleiber and Mrs. Van Rensburg.
- Please click here to view the teacher's presentation from the Family Orientation.
- Please click here to view videos from all of the 7th grade teachers and elective teachers. Once students view their schedules on PowerSchool, they can watch videos specific to their teacher.
8th Grade:
- Please click here to view the teacher's presentation from the Family Orientation
- Please click here to view videos from all of the 8th grade teachers and elective teachers. Once students view their schedules on PowerSchool, they can watch videos specific to their teacher.
Spanish translation:
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Haga clic aquí para ver la presentación en español.
Student Materials Pick Up: We had a very success Student Materials Pick Up Event on Thursday, August 13, 2020 with approximately 650 DRMS families picking up instructional materials! Please stop by the school between 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM to pick up your child's learning materials if you have not done so already. Materials include ELA and Math workbooks, Student Agenda, etc.
Technology: We know that not every student will have connectivity the first day of school. The district has hundreds of employees and volunteers who will be devoting the next two weeks to reach out to families who need it and support them in getting it.
It is very important that families do not go to their child’s school to try to secure a device. There are five high schools serving as distribution sites. If you submitted a device request in the recent tech survey, you will be notified by email soon when your device will be ready for pick-up. Please wait until you receive notification before going to a distribution site to pick up your device. If you go to a distribution site before receiving notification, there will not be a device available for you.
The DRMS teachers and support staff will work with students to catch them up once they are connected. Your child will not be penalized for getting started later than others.
Back to School website: WCPSS has developed resources to help you. We encourage you to visit the Back to School website at wcpss.net.
Tech Support: Information about how to support online learning is available at wcpss.net/techguides. The resources on this site show students how to log into their Wake IDs and student email, how to set up and use Chromebooks and Internet hotspots, how to connect to WiFi, how to use learning systems such as Google Classroom and Canvas, and much more. You can also find how to contact our Help Desk for direct support.