Hello Dolphins!  This is Kristen Faircloth, proud principal at Durant Road Middle School, with your October 11, 2020 Family Message.

 

We hope that you enjoyed your first week of track-out and were able to rest after a rigorous first quarter at Durant Road Middle School.  The DRMS staff are working diligently to prepare for the second quarter.  Regardless if your child is a Virtual Academy student or will be coming back to the building as a Cohort student, we are excited for what lies ahead at our school!

 

As we look toward the second quarter, there are a lot of exciting items on the horizon:  Quarter 2 Materials Pick-Up, October 19-23 Awareness/Rainbow Week, Remote Learning Days, Facts with Faircloth, finalizing health and safety measures as we welcome some students back in the building through Plan B Transition cohorts, and much much more!

 

Please take a moment to read the Family Message updates below.  There is a lot of information that will help guide our next several weeks.  And to the DRMS families, thank you for your support so far in the 2020-21 school year!

 

Cohort Communication:  This past week families who opted to be on the Cohort rotations received an email through School Messenger designating your Cohort assignment.  If you did not receive this email and don’t know your Cohort assignment, please send an email to durantroadms@wcpss.net.  Please know that we are working closely with the feeder schools (for families with siblings) and transportation to ensure the cohorts are balanced.  If there are mistakes or adjustments that need to be made, a staff member from DRMS will contact you.  WCPSS has updated school calendars to reflect changes approved by the school board for the first semester. Important: Updated Calendars with cohort information.  Take a moment to view the WCPSS Cohort Calendar.  As you can see, Cohort 3 will be the first to arrive on campus Monday November 9th.

 

2nd Quarter Material Distribution:  Materials pick-up for Quarter 2 is scheduled for Friday, October 16, 2020.  These materials include items such as Language Arts Novels, Math and ELA workbooks and carpool tags. In order to accommodate as many families as possible, two time slots are being scheduled.  

To help staff easily identify your student and retrieve materials to you quickly, we are asking that each student write their name and grade on an 8.5" X 11" piece of paper and place it in the passenger window of the car during distribution.  If you have multiple students in the car, make sure you have each student listed.  

An important transportation tent ​will be setup for ​all families.  ​Bus routes ​will be verified to ensure that every bus rider is assigned to the correct bus​, and correct stop​.  ​Carpool tags ​will be issued to families that ​plan to use carpool this year. 

Staff will be stationed in the staff parking lot excited to see our students and hand out materials.  We are looking forward to seeing you drive through the staff parking lot and to distribute these important materials.

• Date:  Friday, October 16, 2020
• Times:  9:00 AM - 11:00 AM AND 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

• Choose EITHER morning or afternoon 

  Hour 1 - All students with last name A - M
  Hour 2 - All students with last name N - Z 

• Location:  Staff Parking Lot

 

October Awareness Month:  There are so many "awareness" opportunities to support in the month of October and we don't want to miss out to show our support.  DRMS is dedicating October 19th - October 23rd as "Rainbow Week."  Everyone is encouraged to participate and show support!

• Monday, October 19th: Wear PINK for Breast Cancer Awareness
• Tuesday, October 20th: Wear ORANGE for Bullying Prevention
• Wednesday, October 21st: Wear RED for Ed
• Thursday, October 22nd: Wear GREEN for Mental Health Awareness
• Friday, October 23rd: Wear WHITE or TIE DYE for Disability Awareness Month

 

DRMS Remote Learning Days:  Starting the week of October 19, 2020, DRMS, along with WCPSS, has built in "remote learning" days into the fall semester calendar for the 2020-21 school year.

These days are intended to support both teachers and students in having sufficient time to fully engage and succeed in their work. For students, it reduces the amount of time they are required to spend online. For teachers, it balances their workload with in-person instruction and provides time to plan.

On remote learning days, students who are scheduled to be in a school building will be home on the designated day. They will participate in assigned learning lessons and support activities.  Attendance will be taken on remote learning days through assignment submission.

• Wednesday, October 21st
• Wednesday, October 28th
• Tuesday, November 3rd
• Wednesday, November 18th
• Wednesday, December 2nd
• Wednesday, December 16th

 

Facts with Faircloth:  We have enjoyed hosting virtual principal chats (Facts with Faircloth) for families this year. In preparation for the return to In- Person learning, we will be hosting another Facts with Faircloth on Monday, November 2, 2020 at 5:30 PM.  The format will be a Google Meet that will be recorded and can be watched at a later time.  Please sign up using the following link: Facts with Faircloth Signup Form. A link for the google meet will be emailed to families who register.  If you would like to view past sessions, please visit our website here. We hope you find this community engagement session informative!

 

Important Dates to Remember:  The first quarter is officially over and all students are currently tracked-out.  As we prepare for the second quarter, please keep in mind the following important dates:

• Friday, October 16th - Materials Pick-Up Day
• Monday, October 19th - 2nd Quarter Begins 
• Wednesday, October 21st - Remote Learning Day
• Friday, October 23rd - 1st Quarter Report Cards
• Wednesday, October 28th - Remote Learning Day
• Tuesday, November 3rd - Remote Learning Day/Teacher Workday (Election Day)
• Monday, November 9th - Cohort 3 Students Arrive on Campus

 

8th Grade: Early College and Magnet Information:  It is time to explore magnet and early college options for 9th grade!  The early college application window opened October 15 and ends December 14.  The magnet application window opened October 15 and ends January 28. There are many virtual opportunities to learn more about these schools in the coming weeks including virtual fairs, information sessions, and sessions for specific schools. Jenna Warren, our 8th grade counselor, can be reached at jwarren@wcpss.net if you have any questions. 

 

FYI: Wake County Community Food Hubs:  Our partners at Wake County Cooperative Extension have set up community food hubs to continue our work in providing students and families with access to food.

 

Thank you for supporting DRMS,

Kristen Faircloth

Principal