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DRMS' Principal Message

Happy Sunday Dolphins!  This is Kristen Faircloth, proud Principal at Durant Road Middle School, with your May 23, 2021, Family Message.

 

We hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and caught up in the Storm Surge that is Carolina Hurricanes Hockey!  We are quickly approaching the final days of the 2020-21 school year.  During this time, there will be a lot of communication from your child's teachers and administration.  Information will be included in weekly newsletters/messages, Google Classrooms, and on our websites.  If you feel you are missing information, and you cannot find what you are looking for, please reach out.  Your child's teachers, grade level administrators, and myself are her to support you during this exciting time.

 

Asynchronous Day - Wednesday, May 26, 2021:  This is a friendly reminder that Wednesday, May 26 is an Asynchronous Day for all students.  On Wednesday, May 26, students will not have any live Google Meets, but should complete work from their Google Classrooms by 3:00 PM to be counted Present-off-Site.  Please encourage your child to use their time wisely while at home completing assignments.  

 

Memorial Day Holiday - Monday, May 31, 2021:  Please remember that Monday, May 31, 2021 is a holiday.  there will be no school and no assignments posted by DRMS staff.  Please enjoy the three day weekend!  As we move into the final weeks of school, please continue to encourage your child to finish the 2020-21 school year strong.  

 

Health Reminder:  Remember that students should take their temperature before coming to school each day.  Students should stay home if they are not feeling well, have a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, a sore throat, a new cough, new shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or smell, diarrhea or vomiting, or a new severe headache.  Students should not come to school if exposed to someone with COVID-19 or instructed to quarantine.  Thank you for doing your part to keep our teachers and friends healthy and safe.  

 

Virtual Academy 2021-22:  Registration is now closed for the WCPSS Virtual Academy for the 2021-22 school year.  The school district will not allow transfers into or out of Virtual Academy during the semester.  For the upcoming school year, 10% of the DRMS population will be housed virtually.  We are currently organizing our master schedule as well as other information and resources.  Prior to the start of the school year, Virtual Academy students will be provided with the following:

  • Daily schedule, including live instruction times
  • Assigned teachers
  • Schedule for picking up instructional materials, if needed
  • A virtual, self-paced orientation for families, provided by the district

 

End-of-Year State Testing:  We look forward to supporting our virtual and in-person students with end-of-year standardized testing.  Students will participate in the following:

  • End-of-Grade tests in Reading (grades 6-8), Mathematics (grades 6-8), and Science (grade 8)
  • End-of-Course tests in NC Math 1

NCDPI does not allow students to take these tests virtually.  Students can only take these tests at school.  During our testing window, all students will follow a modified schedule.  This will allow for instruction to continue throughout the building for those students not testing on a given day.  Testing Information can be found here for In-Person and Virtual Academy students. Please be on the lookout for modified testing day schedules that will be sent in next week's newsletter. Please see the testing dates below:

  • 6th Grade:  June 1st & 2nd
  • 7th Grade:  June 3rd & 4th
  • 8th Grade:  June 7th, 8th & 9th
  • Make Ups:  June 10th & 11th 

 

Return Materials/Devices to DRMS:  To end the school year, WCPSS Technology Services requests ALL WCPSS-issued WiFi hotspots be returned to the school.  Hotspots will be disabled after the last day of school.  Students will keep their WCPSS-issued Chromebooks, even if they are transferring or advancing to another WCPSS school. Students who are graduating or leaving WCPSS are required to return all devices to their school on or before their last day.

 

Starting June 1, in-person students can return school materials to their Core 1 teacher.  Virtual Academy students can return these items to the front office or at our end of year celebration on June 22, 2021.  This includes:

  • WCPSS library books

  • EL (language arts) novels

  • WCPSS- issued hotspots

 

End of Year Celebration Updates: We are in the planning stages of developing end of year celebration plans for each grade level.  The end of year celebrations will be a drive thru event.  Please note the date change for our events below.  We will continue to share more information as details come together.  

  • 6th - 8th grade celebrations will take place on June 22, 2021
  • 6th - 8th grade celebrations will be held from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • Last names ending in A-H invited 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
    • Last names ending in I-P invited 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    • Last names ending in Q-Z invited 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
  • 6th & 7th grade celebrations will be held in the staff parking lot
  • 8th grade celebration will be held in the bus loop parking lot

 

Skill Sessions: All sport skills sessions are now complete. Thank you to everyone who came out during the fall, spring and winter sports seasons! We enjoyed having you try new sports, learn new skills, make new friends, and have fun!
 
Athletics 2021-2022: For our 8th graders interested in trying out for sports in high school next year, please begin checking out your high school's athletic website, social media accounts, and email your potential future coaches for information for summer workouts and tryouts. We will post any information high schools send us, but you should also be looking on your own too as we do not receive all information from all schools for all sports.  For our 7th graders and 6th graders, be on the lookout for information for tryouts for next school year in the near future on our athletics website and social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook). If anyone has any questions, please email Trina Mauder at tmauder@wcpss.net. Go Dolphins!
 
 
High School Athletics 2021-2022:
 
Millbrook High School Cheerleading: If you are interested in participating in cheerleading and are going to Millbrook High School next school year, please refer to this flyer for information about summer workouts and complete this interest form. Summer workouts are a great way to learn new skills & routines, practice & perfect skills you already have, get to know the coaches, and get to know other Millbrook students. Please note that you are not eligible to attend June 14 or June 15 because you are still a middle school student at that time. You will be allowed to attend starting the evening of June 21. The cheerleading coaches at Millbrook have already been made aware of this from Mrs. Mauder.
 
Millbrook High School Football: Are you interested in playing football at Millbrook High School? There will be a football interest meeting on Tuesday, June 1st at 7pm via WebEx. During the meeting you will learn about physicals, summer workouts, tryouts and more. Go to www.MillbrookFootball.com and click on the yellow button to be added to their email distribution list. 
 
Millbrook High School Volleyball: Are you interested in playing volleyball at Millbrook High School? Summer workouts begin June 29. Tryouts are August 2-3. Make sure you follow us on twitter @mhswildcatvball to get all the latest updates. Fill out this form as well to receive information about volleyball and get added to our interest list. 
 
Millbrook High School, Boys Soccer: Are you interested in playing boys soccer this FALL at Millbrook High School? Please note, that boys soccer is a FALL sport at the high school level!  Please read all the information found here to learn about summer workouts and tryouts.
 
Wakefield High School Athletics: If you missed Meet the Coach Night at Wakefield High School on Thursday, May 20 please reach out to athletic director, Chancey Wolfe (cwofle@wcpss.net) with any questions. New student-athletes can also sign up to receive communication from coaches at the link below:
 
 
Wake Forest High School Football: If you are attending Wake Forest High School for the 2021-2022 school year and are interested in trying out for football, please attend the information meeting on June 1 at 5pm in the gym. For more information, please refer to this flyer or email Coach Reggie Lucas at rlucas2@wcpss.net. 
 
 
 
Summer Camps:
Soccer Camp: Millbrook High School is hosting a youth soccer camp for any elementary or middle school student and any rising 9th grade student this summer. For our rising 9th graders, you do not have to be attending Millbrook High School in order to attend this camp. The camp runs from July 12-July 15, from 9:00am-12:00pm. Information and registration for this camp can be found here. If you have any questions, please reach out to Coach Germano at jgermano@wcpss.net.
 
Basketball Camp: NC State is hosting various basketball camps throughout the summer. Find out more here!
 
Thank you for supporting DRMS,
Kristen Faircloth
Principal