Hello DDMS Families,

Happy New Year!!! I hope all within the Davis Drive Middle Community had a wonderful Winter Break and a Happy New Year. It is amazing to think that we have welcomed in 2025. It seems like it was just yesterday we were worried about Y2K and the world coming to a screeching halt. Where have the last 25 years gone?

First, thank you to all for your kind words (via email and Gift Crowd) and for thinking of the staff here at Davis Drive Middle during the holidays. The PTA and the DDMS community always lets us know how much we are appreciated....

Now, we are ready to welcome in 2025 and finish this school year strong. While we still have a little bit over a half of the school year left, we know it will go as fast as the first half. In this week's message, I am going to provide a several updates for the start if the new year and provide a few timely reminders on some day-to-day procedures. As always, please reach out with any questions that you may have.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Mr. Hokenberg

mhokenberg@wcpss.net.

@mhokenberg

Each week, I will share a quick video update to help share the information that will be shared that week. Please click on the link below for this week's video updates.

To help families celebrate their child’s academic/extra-extracurricular accomplishments, we are providing families a way to share this information in our “DDMS Good Things” section of our DDMS Updates Newsletter. If you are interested in adding a "Good Thing" about your child or a DDMS staff member, click on the picture to the right to fill out the form. Please complete the form by noon each Thursday for the information to be included in an the upcoming newsletter.

Student’s school assignment for the coming school year may be found in the Parent Portal. Please review the directions below to determine your child's school assignment for the 25/26 school year. Please note, we will not be sending home assignment strips this year. All school assignments can be found via the Next Year Assignment page found on your student’s page under Information. You will see the student’s next year school assignment, next year grade, and transportation type. This information is updated nightly to reflect any changes that families submit to WCPSS.

PLEASE NOTE: Families can only see assignments in the web version of the Parent Portal. Assignments CANNOT be seen in the mobile app.

Quarter 2 is quickly coming to an end. Students will have the next two weeks to wrap up Quarter 2. Please make sure to talk with your student regarding where they are currently performing and to see if they have any outstanding assignments. It will be important for students to get caught up on all of their work before the end of the Quarter, January 17. Please reach out to your student's teachers directly with any questions that you may have,

We have been pretty fortunate with Carpool so far this school year. We know that carpool can only run smoothly with everyone doing their part. I have linked HERE the standard AM and PM Carpool procedures. We have not made any changes to the way things work. Just a few things worth pointing out. During AM carpool, DDMS does not supervise the carpool lane before 7:45am. If you are going to drop your child off early, please be careful and mindful of those around you. Please watch the cars that are parked and waiting for the 7:45am bell to release their students. Never drop your student off in the parking lot, on the side of the building, or in the bus parking lot. After 7:45am, there is no passing of cars in the carpool lane. Wait behind the car in front of you and exit campus (RIGHT TURN ONLY) in a single file line. During PM carpool, please only pickup your child once there is a sidewalk to your right. Encourage your student to keep an eye out for your car. We will do the same.

For your student to have a successful school year, It is important for us to see your student each and every day, for the full day. While we certainly recognize illness, travel, and family responsibilities may result in a few missed days each year, it is important to minimize these missed days as much as possible. In addition, being late to school or leaving school early on a regular basis has a negative impact on your student's ability to be successful in the classes that they are missing. Please make every effort to have your child in school, for the entire day as often as possible. Click HERE to access the Student/Family Handbook with all attendance policy information.

Just a friendly reminder of the Davis Drive Middle School Grading Policy. Most importantly. we want to continue to stress the importance to our students that Effort Drives Excellence! While we do not worry about the overall outcome at the end of the quarter, we do stress the importance of the student's effort on a daily basis. This focus allows ours students to be present during the process and helps them to understand why daily/weekly assignments are o important. Please take a moment to review our grading policy with your student and to stress the importance of the educational journey.

We are fortunate that the students of Davis Drive Middle make great choices on a regular basis. With that said, we also recognize that we surround ourselves with over 1,000 middle schoolers on a regular basis. By nature, bad decisions come with the age group. As the school year progresses, we see an increase in students making poor decisions around the topics listed below. Please take a moment to review these with your student. I have linked our Student/Family Handbook HERE to support your conversation.

• Social Media Policy: Teaching and monitoring appropriate social media use is the responsibility of the parent/guardian. While we take opportunities in school to set expectations for appropriate use of social media, it is not the responsibility of Davis Drive to monitor student social media activity. Students should not create, send, or post messages on social media outlets that are derogatory and/or sexual in nature towards others. Davis Drive will address situations that occur during school hours and on Wake County student accounts; however, we are limited in our ability to address situations that occur off-campus, in students’ homes. Please set your expectations for social media with your child and continuously monitor their behavior online.

• Cell Phone Policy: At school, the use of cell phones comes with specific expectations. Unless otherwise permitted, cell phones should not be used at school. Not following the expectations listed below may result in school-based consequences and/or the loss of privileges to bring a cell phone to school:

  • Students are prohibited from using cellphones in school unless permitted by staff.

  • Students are prohibited from touching or using other students’ cell phones.

  • Students may be permitted (as determined by administration) to use their cell phones during lunch.

  
  

• Honor Code Policy: Academic honesty is essential to excellence in education and is directly related to the Board's educational objectives to promote integrity and self-discipline in students. As all schoolwork is a measure of student performance, academic honesty facilitates an accurate measurement of student learning.

  Each student, parent, family, and staff member has a responsibility to promote a culture that respects and fosters integrity and honesty. Academic integrity and honesty require that all stakeholders share responsibility for the fulfillment of this policy. In fulfilling these responsibilities:

  • students will collaborate with their peers to foster a culture of academic integrity; refrain from participating, either directly or indirectly, in any form of cheating or plagiarism; and adhere to the honor code;

  • parents and family will actively support the honor code by encouraging their child(ren) to foster and uphold a culture of academic integrity;

  • staff will establish and annually teach expectations regarding academic integrity and honesty; and promote the honor code.
    

Get your dancing shoes ready!! The PTA will be sponsoring our Winter Dance on Friday, January 10. As with all of our dances, tickets will be $10 and will be sold at the door.

Thank you, presenters, for giving your time to our students! Parents, if you would like to get in on the opportunity to share your career with DDMS students, please reach out to our Career Development Coordinator, Jenifer Tharrington, at jtharrington@wcpss.net.

New Year, New Agenda

Has your student's agenda taken a beating - or gone missing? We get it! To start the new year fresh, we will be selling DDMS Agendas before school starting at 7:45 am on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We will offer these at a "flash sale" price of $3 per agenda - cash only, exact change preferred.

Winter Dance this Friday, January 10

Our winter dance for DDMS students will be this Friday, January 10, from 6-8 pm. Students must arrive by 6:30 for entry. The dance costs $10 per student, cash only, payable at the door. Parents, can you help chaperone? Sign up here: DDMS PTA: Winter Dance.

Holiday Thank You!

Thank you to all of the families who helped make the holidays extra-special by giving to our annual Holiday Spirit of Giving Campaign for DDMS students and by writing a note and making a gift to DDMS teachers and staff through GiftCrowd. We appreciate your generosity, as well as the parent volunteers who organized the efforts!

We hope your family had a restful winter break and is ready to kick off 2025 with us!

This week in athletics is a quiet one, giving us all a chance to ease back into the flow of things. Our Basketball teams will hit the court again on Thursday, January 9th, traveling to Mills Park. We are excited to welcome everyone back to our next Home game against Reedy Creek on Monday, January 13th.

Looking ahead, Spring Sports Tryouts will be here before we know it! Please ensure your student has an up-to-date sports physical uploaded to DragonFly. A quick reminder: sports physicals are valid for 395 days. Stay tuned for more details about spring sports and upcoming interest meetings in the weeks ahead! If you have any questions, please reach out to Mr. Jaggers.

Stay up-to-date with the latest athletic news by following our social media accounts or reaching out to me directly.

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