DRMS' Principal Message
Happy Sunday Dolphins! This is Kristen Faircloth, proud Principal at Durant Road Middle School, with your May 30, 2021 Family Message.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all of our DRMS families! While it is a weekend for us to spend time with family and friends, it is important to remember and honor the brave women and men of our military, as well as their families, that paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms we enjoy. As we pay tribute to the service members who have given their lives serving our nation, we should also take a moment to thank the men and women in uniform who are currently serving. This weekend also serves as a reminder that the year is coming to an end. We have three weeks left in the 2020-21 school year. These three weeks are going to be action packed. Please take a minute to review the information below regarding EOG/EOC testing, schedule changes, athletics, and other important information. As always, please reach out with any questions and/or needs you may have.
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. 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.
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 see the testing dates below as well as modified testing schedules:
- 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 Celebrations on June 22, 2021. This includes:
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WCPSS library books
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EL (language arts) novels
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WCPSS- issued hotspots
New Web Page With "Before You Leave" Technology Information: To assist students and staff that are leaving WCPSS, a “Before You Leave” web page has been created to assist with technology-related items that students and staff will find useful.
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. Please be on the lookout for additional details regarding the End of Year Celebrations in next week's Family Message.
- 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
High School Athletics: Since we feed into numerous high schools, we are going to house all the information we receive from different high schools regarding athletics here on this website. This is nowhere near an exhaustive list of all athletics announcements going on in high schools right now, but we'll keep adding to it as we receive information. Please make sure you go to your high school's athletics website for all the information you need.
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.
DRMS PTA Message: Congratulations to Intervention and Acceleration Specialist Ms. Robinson on this week's Staff Shout Out! You can view all our Shout Outs, or submit one of your own, by clicking here. This year's last PTA board meeting will be held at 7:00 PM Wednesday, June 2, via Zoom. Please send an email to durantroadmiddlepta@gmail.com if you'd like to receive the meeting link. Thank you as always for supporting DRMS!
Thank you for supporting DRMS,
Kristen Faircloth
Principal