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05.28.23 Principal Hokenberg's Message

 

May 28, 2023

 

Davis Drive Middle Families

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, everyone. Before we jump into this week’s updates, I wanted to take a moment to recognize, commemorate, and remember those who sacrificed their lives in military service and the loss these sacrifices have had on their families, friends, and communities. We remember and honor you….

 

This week, we will begin our End of Year testing. This time of year can certainly bring some level of anxiety to all of us, especially to our students. Please remember and remind your students that these tests represent the hard work they have put in throughout the school year. These tests are a piece of the puzzle that helps us to determine how best we can continue to support their education. While scores have some level of importance, here at Davis Drive Middle School, we will focus specifically on the growth your child makes on each exam. Our goal as a school is to cultivate a culture of continuous growth. Regardless of the final number achieved on the EOG/EOC, we will be using the growth factor to determine our success for the school year. We ask that our students try their best on each and every test they take. We are confident that their growth will exceed all of our expectations. 

 

Families have asked us what the best way to prepare for these exams is. The answer is simple. Get a good night’s sleep prior to each test. Wake up early enough to get ready for the day. Have a good breakfast each morning. Arrive at school on time without feeling rushed. And finally, relax and try their best. The hard work is over. These simple steps will put your student in the best position to be successful and show the growth we know they will. 

 

I just have a few additional thoughts for the week below. If you have any grade-level-specific questions, please reach out to your grade-level administrator. As always, you can also reach out with any questions (mhokenberg@wcpss.net).

 

EOG/EOC Testing Information

HERE is a copy of the testing information for families. We begin testing on Wednesday, May 31. If your student arrives after 8:15 am to school, they may be denied access to the testing location and will need to take their test during the makeup window.  

 

EOG/EOC Test Remediation and Re-Administration

As with the 21/22 school year, WCPSS will provide students that pass their respective Math or Reading class but score a Non-Proficient on the EOG/EOC state exam with the opportunity for test remediation and remediation on 6/12 and 6/13. Please click HERE for more information.  

 

Yearbook Distribution

Yearbooks will be handed out on June 5 & 6. Students who did not yet purchase a yearbook can join the WAITLIST by following the link to Jostens on the DDMS website. A limited number of yearbooks remain available for sale.

 

Students Not Planning to Return for the 23/24 School Year 

Students that are not planning on returning for the 23/24 school year, please send an email to our Data Manager, Ms. Cruikshank (kcruikshank@wcpss.net) states as such. Since school allocation is done on an enrollment basis, this information is critical to the successful planning of the school. Year. We thank you in advance. 

 

Negative Lunch Balances

If your child has an outstanding lunch balance, they received a blue notification this week. Please check with your child, or check your online lunch account to determine if your child has a negative balance. If they do, please pay online or send a check in with your child to cover the balance.

 

8th-Grade Families

The final days of the school year are here and we want to send our current 8th graders off to high school with some fantastic last memories, but we need your help! Please review THIS document for all the end-of-year celebration information as well as links to sign up to donate/volunteer. We need lots of donations to help make these events special for our students! Please take a look at the links below to see the different ways your donations (time or money) will help make the end of the year memorable.

Parents can help by: 

 

DDMS Good Things

Thank you all for your participation so far. If you are interested in adding a "Good Thing" about your child or a DDMS staff member, click on the HERE link to the form. Please complete the form by noon each Thursday for the information to be included. 

  • Andrew Durgasingh: “Congratulations to Drew who has been again selected to participate in the STEM Imagine Engineering Summer Camp organized by the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University! This year, he has also been ranked 17th statewide and 56th nationally in the Math Kangaroo competition. Drew, we are very proud of you!” Mom and Dad.
  • Shweta Thiagarajan: “Hearty congratulations to Shweta for winning the 2nd place prize at the Artsplosure Student Art Exhibition! Many thanks to Ms. Croom for providing the students the opportunity to participate in this wonderful event!” Mom 
  • Emma Dan: “Congratulations Emma! Emma got first place in the Excel Pre-Preliminary at Central Carolina Skating Classic 2023. I am so much proud of her!” Mom
  • Fine Arts Department: “Congratulations to our Dance and Band programs on wonderful Spring performances this past week. Our students demonstrated the hard work and dedication that they have put in all semester/year. Congrats to Ms. Winans and Ms. Burrell on another wonderful year.” DDMS Administration

 

PTA May Updates

 

PTA Final Board Meeting of the Year

On Monday, June 5th at 7 pm, the PTA will hold its final board meeting of the school year. This meeting will be held virtually. The information to join the meeting will be shared shortly. We will be voting on new board members and budget items. Here is the Google Meet link for the meeting.

 

Please reach out to the PTA at lovepantherpta@gmail.com, with any questions.

 

PTA Memberhub Website

Click HERE to be directed to our wonderful PTA’s Memberhub website.