Happy Sunday, Dolphins!  This is Kristen Faircloth, proud principal at Durant Road Middle School, with your August 13, 2023 Family Message.  

 

Our Dolphins experienced another outstanding week at Durant Road Middle School!  Our students are coming to school each day with a smile on their face and excitement for learning.  We ended the week with a visit from John Wall, NBA player!   The John Wall Family Foundation has adopted Durant Road Middle School this school year.  The John Wall Family Foundation strives to improve the quality of life for disadvantaged families and impact the lives of at-risk youth through mentorship, education, and physical activity.  Our students engaged in an assembly led by John Wall and had an opportunity to ask him questions as he walked the halls and into classrooms.  The John Wall Family Foundation provided all students with earbuds and a signed picture.  Make sure you ask your child about the amazing experience.  We look forward to the continued partnership with the John Wall Family Foundation this year.   

 

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

 

Fall Picture Day

Thursday, August 17 is Fall Picture Day at Durant Road Middle School.  All students will get their picture taken on Thursday, August 17.  Fall pictures will be used in the 2023-24 yearbook.  A flyer and information was sent home on Friday.  

 

DRMS Athletic News

We are excited to announce when fall athletic tryouts will be held at Durant Road Middle. The tryout process and days will vary from sport to sport. Please pay attention to the following schedule below of when tryouts will begin:

 

Football: Tuesday, September 5th

Girls Soccer: Wednesday, September 6th

Cheerleading: Tuesday, September 5th

Volleyball: Tuesday, September 5th

 

As a reminder, all student athletes will be responsible for a ride home. We do not provide transportation home from tryouts. If you are wanting to learn more information on the specific sports, please visit our athletics website https://wakecountyathleticzone.com/durant-road/. 

 

DragonFly information & Deadline:

In order to play on any athletic team at Durant Road Middle School, a student athlete must create and fill out a dragonfly form. If help is needed, please see Mr. Esposito or contact him (pesposito@wcpss.net). Dragonfly hard copy forms may also be distributed to students who need help creating accounts. These forms can be picked up from the school. Dragonfly accounts must be submitted, with all proper paperwork, by Friday, September 1st in order to be eligible for the fall season. Once paperwork has been submitted to 100% completion, on September 1 and September 5, student athletes will receive a wristband that will deem them eligible for fall tryouts.

 

Football Workout (Optional):

On Wednesday, August 16, we will be hosting our first football workout of the season. The workout will take place from 3:30-4:30 after school and will give students the opportunity to participate in skill development. Our head coach and assistant coach, Baine Martin and Logan Bennett, will be attending and running the workout together. This is not mandatory for all student athletes wanting to play football this season, but it is a good opportunity to practice some skills before tryouts begin. Please sign up by putting your name on the posted sheet outside of the gymnasium doors this week. Also, in order to attend, students must have 100% complete dragonfly accounts. 

 

Fall Sports Athletic Parent Meeting:

Our fall sports athletic parent meeting will take place on Wednesday, August 30 from 5:00 PM - 5:45 PM. The meeting will take place inside of the school auditorium. This will give parents and/or student athletes an opportunity to learn what the expectations are for student athletes, logistics for each sport during the fall season, a chance to ask questions about the athletic season, and an opportunity to see where the Durant Road Middle School athletic program is heading. 

 

DRMS Family Survey

Please complete this brief survey to help us know the best way to support you and your family throughout this school year.  https://bit.ly/drmsFA2023

 

Incentives for Students during the 2023-2024 School Year

We are excited to offer several incentive opportunities for students throughout this school year!  Success and the opportunity to attend these events starts now.

• Eligibility for After-school/Evening Activities:  Students must be eligible to attend after-school/evening activities.  If a student receives an in-school suspension (ISS) or out of school suspension (OSS), they become ineligible to attend these events for the remainder of that Quarter.  

• Principal’s List:  All As for the Quarter

• Honor Roll List:  All As and Bs for the Quarter

• Academic Breakfast:  Any student on the principal’s list or honor roll for that Quarter, get to attend the Academic Breakfast in celebration.  This takes place each quarter.

• Chill and Chat:  On Fridays, starting in the 2nd Quarter during Smart Block, any student on Principal's List or Honor Roll can hang out with their friends outside and play games to celebrate their Academic Success!

• Block Party:  Each student received a Dolphin Card as a reminder of our D.R.M.S. expectations each day.  Students can earn signatures for not following expectations as well as POSITIVE signatures.  If a student has 7 or fewer redirection signatures (not following expectations), they get an invite to the Block Party which includes fun activities!

• TOPS Celebration:  Any student who receives a 4 or 5 on their End of Grade Test at the end of the year, earns an opportunity to come to the TOPS celebration.  Last year, our students were treated and enjoyed waffles with all the TOPPINGS!

• GROWTH Celebration:  Any student who shows a year’s worth of growth on their End of Grade Test at the end of the year, earns an opportunity to attend the GROWTH Celebration!  Last year, our students competed in pep rally games to earn bragging rights.  It was a BLAST!!!!

 

Canvas

Families can view their student's course content and progress by creating a Canvas Observer Account. If you have multiple students, you can link all your students under a single Observer account.  Parents can click on the following link to connect in Canvas.

https://www.wcpss.net/Page/51339

 

Meal Benefits

All families must complete an application for the 2023-2024 school year in order to receive benefits. Please allow 10 business days for processing.

 

For every student that turns in the free and reduced meals application and qualifies, the school also receives federal funds that benefit the students and teachers at the school.

 

We need you to complete a 2023-2024 meal benefits application so our school can be eligible for extra funding next year. If you have not completed a free or reduced-price meal application and think your child may be eligible, pick up an application at your child’s school or apply online. 

 

A student’s status from the 2022-2023 school year will roll over to this current year; however, it only carries them forward for the first 30 operational days or until a new application for the 2023-2024 school year has been processed.

 

7th Grade - Important! Immunizations Required

NC State Law mandates that all 7th-grade students have their TDAP and Meningococcal (MCV) vaccines by the start of their 7^th grade year, July 31, 2023.  7th grade students who have not submitted their immunizations will be suspended based on policy.  Please return immunization records showing TDAP and Meningococcal (MCV) vaccines anytime between now and July 31, 2023. Immunization records may be dropped off at the front office or emailed to kbograd@wcpss.net.  We appreciate your attention to this mandate.  

 

WCPSS Family Academy

The WCPSS Family Academy Department provides multilingual parent workshops.  You can learn more about the opportunity by visiting the WCPSS Family Academy Facebook Page. They offer a wide range of workshops in various languages including English, Spanish, Arabic, Korean, Chinese, French, Vietnamese, and Hindi.

 

DRMS PTA

JOIN THE Durant Road Middle School PTA

 

Your school PTA is working hard as the school year begins and we need your help.  Why should I join the PTA?  Membership dues help support your child by helping us with funding for essential education and curriculum needs.   Our board is small but made up of parents and community leaders who want to help our school support our children to the best of our abilities.

 

Right now, we are focused on membership and looking to raise our membership in our school.  Our goal is 100 parents and 100% faculty membership.

 

If you have not joined, please join now.

 

We have a raffle for all members who join now at the beginning of the year.   A Yeti Cup raffle for parents and for faculty.  Your name will be entered and one parent/community member and one faculty member will each be selected. We will draw winners the last week of September, before track out.

 

Our first meeting will be August 22, 2023 at 6:00 PM. We will be voting on our new officers.  If you are a member, you can vote.  We welcome all members to attend (virtual).  Sign in is noted in Givebacks (drms.memberhub.com/dashboard)

 

We look forward to working hard this year for our DRMS families and welcome all to DRMS.

 

PARENT/GUARDIAN QR Code and Link to join PTA for 2023-2024

 

https://drms.memberhub.com/store/items/12672

 

Thank you for supporting DRMS,

Kristen J Faircloth

Principal