DRMS' Principal Message
Happy Sunday, Dolphins! This is Kristen Faircloth, proud principal at Durant Road Middle School, with your January 30, 2022 Family Message.
We hope everyone had a wonderful and warm weekend. It was great to welcome our Dolphins back after a well deserved break and track-out. Even though our week started off with a snow day, our students did a great job adjusting to their new schedules, classes, and expectations. We are all looking forward to a full week and settling in to a routine and having a strong third quarter. Please take a minute to read through the Family Message below and don't hesitate to reach out with any needs.
Report Cards: Quarter 2 report cards were sent home with in-person students and mailed to our Virtual Academy students on Friday, January 28. If you did not get a chance to see your child's report card, please ask your child and/or check out PowerSchool to see the Quarter 2 grades. As always, don't hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher(s) with any questions you may have. Teachers are there to not only support your child but also partner with you to ensure progress and success is taking place.
COVID-19 Testing: Wake County Public School System, in partnership with MAKO Medical, will begin offering weekly, on-campus COVID-19 testing for students and staff. Participation in the program is voluntary. A parent or guardian must register any student under 18 years old in order to participate. This testing process is a “pool” testing process and will contain multiple steps if a positive test result is returned.
Durant Road Middle School will begin “pool” testing on Monday, January 31. Testing will take place starting at 8:30 AM. Students that have registered for testing will report to the testing location at a designated time and return to their Core 1 once testing is complete. If a positive result occurs in their “pool”, MAKO Medical will return to school and all members of the “pool” will be tested again to determine who tested positive.
To learn more about COVID-19 testing, visit www.MAKOstrongschoolsNC.com. To register your child, please visit https://www.wcpss.net/Page/50523.
Meal Benefits Application: A HUGE thank you to the parents who have applied for meal benefits. If you have not had an opportunity to do so, please take a minute to apply for meal benefits as soon as possible, and no later than mid February. By submitting a qualifying application, families will also support Durant Road Middle School in qualifying for additional funds to support students and learning through additional teaching positions and materials! Also, the NC Department of Health & Human Services is collecting student free and reduced lunch and attendance data from WCPSS to determine any additional Pandemic Electronic Benefits (P-EBT) that will be issued in the coming months! By not applying for these meal benefits, you will miss the potential opportunity to receive direct P-EBT funds for your family!
Yes, meals will still be free for all students through June 2022, but we still need you to complete a meal benefits application so our school can be eligible for this extra education funding next school year. Also, this ensures your student is covered for the first few weeks of school next year. Information about applying for Meal Benefits can be found at www.wcpss.net/meals. Help our school continue to receive this funding by completing an application online at MySchoolApps.com. Paper applications can be requested by calling 919-588-3535.
The quickest way to complete the meal benefits application is electronically through the link above. However, we mailed hard copies of the application to assist those who prefer to complete it by hand. If you completed a hard copy of the Meal Benefits Application, please have your child turn it in to their homeroom teacher on Monday or this week! What's in it for you? All students who return a completed meal benefits application to their homeroom teacher or submit documentation that a meal benefits application was completed online and emailed to Durantrdms@wcpss.net will be entered in a drawing for a variety of gift cards!! Who doesn't love a gift card? Raffles will take place February 14, 2022 and February 28, 2022.
Basketball Games: We are so excited about the great things happening at Durant Road Middle School this year! As we continue to reflect and grow on ways to make all experiences at Durant Road Middle School safe, efficient and enjoyable, we will be implementing an updated procedure for attending basketball games. For the remainder of our home basketball games, all students interested in attending the games must go home at the end of the school day. Students are welcome to return to be a spectator for the game but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian for the duration of the game.
Our basketball and cheerleader athletes will continue to stay after school with their team and coach in preparation for the games.
Home basketball games remaining this school year include:
- January 31, 2022
- February 3, 2022
- February 7, 2022
- February 10, 2022
All students should remember that, as spectators, they come to an athletic event to watch that event in a courteous and sportsmanlike manner. We will re-evaluate our process for attending games in the spring and will share updated information with students and parents once that is finalized.
We appreciate your support as we continue to foster a positive and safe atmosphere for all events at DRMS!
DRMS Athletics / Spring Sports Ticket To Play: If you are interested in a spring sport (boys & girls track & field, softball, boys soccer) please complete this form no later than February 16. This form will let our athletic trainer, Mrs. Mauder, know that you are interested in trying out for a spring sport on February 22 and this will begin your ticket to play process. In order to receive your ticket to play, which will be in the form of a wristband, you must be academically eligible and have all of your athletic paperwork submitted through DragonFly. Mrs. Mauder will verify your eligibility and athletic paperwork. If you pass both of those requirements, you will be given a wristband to wear on the first day of tryouts. This wristband is your ticket to play and will prove to the coach that you are cleared to be on the field or track. No wristband = No tryout, no exceptions! This form and all paperwork must be submitted no later than February 16. Paperwork submitted late will delay your tryout start date. Wristbands will be distributed to in person students the week of February 14. Virtual academy students will receive their wristbands on the first day of tryouts from their coach. If you have any questions about DragonFly or the ticket to play process, please email Mrs. Mauder at tmauder@wcpss.net. We are looking forward to seeing our Dolphins play again this year!
First in Fitness Tryouts: First in Fitness, the WCPSS 6th grade track & field event, is back for the first time since 2019! Any 6th grade student interested in trying out for the First in Fitness team should attend tryouts on Tuesday, February 1 and Wednesday, February 2. Tryouts will begin right after school and end at 4:30pm. All students should be picked up in the bus parking lot by 4:30pm. An announcement will be made releasing students from their last period class to attend tryouts. Students will meet Mrs. Mauder in the PE hallway after that announcement is made. Tryouts will take place outside, so please dress accordingly and have a water bottle. Any questions, please email Trina Mauder at tmauder@wcpss.net.
Yearbook: 8th grade families, this is your student’s last year in middle school! The deadline to purchase a yearbook ad as a special send-off for your student is fast approaching! The final deadline to purchase an ad is February 10, 2022!
Pricing and Purchase Information:
½ page: $65
¼ page: $45
⅛ page: $25
To Purchase: https://www.jostens.com/apps/jcom/router.mvc?affiliateId=1542971
Contact Ms. Robertson at sdrobertson@wcpss.net for any further questions!
DRMS Family Engagement Event: The Office of Equity Affairs is partnering with DRMS to present "Motivating Your Child to Thrive in School," a 1 hour virtual session focusing on strategies to help motivate and inspire your child to find greater success in school. This session is being offered in both English and Spanish on February 9th at 6pm. Flyers and google meet codes are attached to your student's report card and are also available here English/Spanish.
Wake Up and Read: Wake Up and Read is an organization that collects books and returns those books to high-need WCPSS schools. A student in our community (Greg Lavallee, a former Dolphin and class of 2024) is collecting- with a goal of 2000 books. We will have a box in the lobby to collect any books. Any contributions are greatly appreciated. This includes used books. Greg will be collecting up to February 28.
Thank you for supporting DRMS,
Kristen J Faircloth
Principal
