Happy Sunday, Dolphins!  This is Kristen Faircloth, proud principal at Durant Road Middle School, with your September 18, 2022 Family Message.  

We have had a glimpse of some fall weather this past week!  Even though the heat will be back this week, it will be no time that your students will be comfortable wearing their hoodies to school.  We are moving into our eighth week of school with our last day before tracking out on Friday, September 30.  Please check in with your students to ensure all assignments have been submitted as all quarter 1 student work is due by September 30.  

Please take a moment to read through the Family Message below, as well as the grade level newsletters, and do not hesitate to reach out if there is any way we can support you.   

Hispanic Heritage Month:  We celebrate Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month from September 15 - October 15. We recognize and honor the enduring contributions and importance of LatinX Americans to the U.S. and celebrate the many heritages and cultures of Americans from or with ancestors from Mexico, the Caribbean, Spain and Central and South America. To learn more click here. 

Day of Awesomeness:  Thank you to everyone who has supported our students and our school with our Power of Purpose Fund Raiser.  We are excited to celebrate with our culminating event, The Day of Awesomeness, on Friday, September 23!  The DRMS PTA is still in need of parent volunteers for the fun event.  Please see below in the PTA message for volunteer sign up.  

Spirit Week:  The week of September 26 is our last week of the quarter, last week before tracking out, and SPIRIT WEEK!  Thanks to the DRMS Student Council, our students and staff will show their school pride with a fun-filled week of spirit!  Take a look at the flyer and get ready to show your school pride.  

Picture Day: Our Fall Picture Day is Friday, September 30. You can order picture packages online by visiting our DRMS website. Information will also be sent home closer to picture day.  Students will take their pictures during their elective classes.  

Upcoming Athletic Dates and Eligibility:  We had very successful fall athletic tryouts and are ready for our fall season to start.  Believe it or not, now is the time to be preparing and thinking about tryouts for future seasons.  

• Dates

  • Winter Sports Season – The first tryout/practice day is November 17th, 2022. The first regular season playing date is the week of December 8th, 2022.

  • Spring Sports Season – The first tryout/practice day is February 27th, 2023. The first regular season playing date is the week of March 13, 2023.

• Eligibility

  • Student athletes must meet all eligibility requirements to try out for sports.  Please click this link to view all eligibility requirements for middle school students.  

  • We would like to highlight 2 of the requirements:

    • Students must pass (60% or above) 3 out of 4 core classes.

    • Students must not have more than 14 absences from the previous semester.

  • For Winter Sports, students must meet initial eligibility based on the Spring 2022 semester and continue to meet eligibility after first semester grades and attendance is finalized in December.

  • For Spring Sports, students’ eligibility is based on this current semester’s grades and attendance.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding athletics, please reach out to our athletic director, Gianni Esposito (pesposito@wcpss.net) and Jeff Kleiber, assistant principal over athletics (jkleiber@wcpss.net).

Parent Support Needed for Athletics at DRMS:  Fall athletics season is upon us and we need your help to make our athletic program a success!  We have several opportunities for parents to be involved. 

• If your student is interested in becoming a PODSQUAD member, please click this link.

• If you are interested in becoming a member of our DRMS ATHLETIC BOOSTERS, please click this link.

• If you, or know anyone, interested in becoming a CORPORATE SPONSOR with our ATHLETIC BOOSTERS, please click this link.

This is a special time for our DRMS Student Athletes, and we are excited about kicking off the fall season.  If you have any questions, please reach out to our athletic director, Gianni Esposito (pesposito@wcpss.net).  Go Dolphins!

Military Connected Families:  Durant Road Middle School Military-connected families complete this form as soon as possible.

Are you a military-connected family? 

In an effort to ensure that the unique needs of military-connected students are met, state law requires that schools collect information on military-connected students. The goal is to help accommodate these students by providing them with support and consistency when their parents are deployed, when they are transitioning between schools, and at other pivotal times during their academic career.  

If you are a military-connected family, please:

• Download the fillable form.
• Complete one form for each of your children.
• Return to the school data manager who emailed this form to you. 

The deadline is Nov. 11. You may also print and return a hard copy of the form to your child’s school if you prefer.

Important Message for ALL Parents:  Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in vapes being present in our school, particularly among our 8th grade students.  This issue not only causes a huge disruption to the learning environment, large amounts of time taken away from instruction, but also a danger to student's health.  After spending time researching ways to help support this concern, I found a text that I encourage ALL our parents to read.  We are here to partner with you and to create a village to ensure your child is safe and successful.   

Eat at City Barbecue on Sept. 29th to Benefit DRMS Chorus!:  DRMS Chorus Boosters Club is having a fundraiser at City Barbeque Raleigh, 9424 Falls of Neuse Road, on Thursday, September 29th. Enjoy some BBQ that day for lunch or dinner, and we'll get 20% of the sales! If ordering in person, present our group’s flyer or social media post with code FundA visible, either by pulling it up on your phone or presenting a printed copy. You can find the post on our Instagram page, @drmschorus. When ordering online, enter our fundraiser code (FundA) in the promo code box. Thank you in advance for your support of the DRMS Chorus Program!