FOX FEATURE WEEKLY UPDATE
MAY 3, 2019
UPCOMING EVENTS
MONDAY 05/06/2019
- TEACHERS APPRECIATION WEEK
TUESDAY 05/07/2019
- BAND SPRING CONCERT 7:00 PM
WEDNESDAY 05/08/2019
THURSDAY 05/09/2019
FRIDAY 05/10/2019
- INTERIMS SENT HOME
- 8TH GRADE FORMAL
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
DISTRICT DRESS CODE POLICY
The dress code for Dutch Fork Middle school is determined largely by school district policy. The school may modify the dress code as long as the changes stay within the district guidelines.
● Clothing deemed distracting, revealing, or overly suggestive shall not be permitted.
● Dress or accessories that are considered unsafe, dangerous, a health hazard, or disruptive to the learning environment shall not be permitted. Clothing may not display vulgar symbols or language and may not contain alcohol, tobacco, or drug symbols.
● Sleeveless shirts should be at least ID badge width across the shoulder with no visible undergarments. Bare midriffs, spaghetti straps, halter/tank tops, and see-through shirts/tops/blouses are not permitted.
● Inappropriate tops are not to be worn beneath an overcoat that the student plans to remove.
● Pants must be worn at the natural waistline.
● Sleepwear or slippers may not be worn.
● Hats, head stockings, kerchiefs, bandanas, or bonnets are not allowed at school.
● Shorts or skirts must be at least “fingertip length”. This means that all skirts and shorts must be as long as the longest finger-tip when hands are placed at the student’s side along the entire hemline.
● Jeans with holes may not have holes that are higher than the student’s longest finger when hands are placed at the student’s side or higher than mid-thigh.
● The school will not be responsible for confiscated, unauthorized material brought to school.
NEW REGISTRATION PAGE IS NOW OPEN!!!
HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT COURSES FOR 2019-2020
Dutch Fork Middle School provides our student's opportunities to pursue Honors level classes and helps ensure our students get a quality education that will assist them as they transition to high school. Some of these Honors level courses allow the student to earn high school credit. In middle school, core academic classes that carry high school credit include Algebra 1 Honors, Geometry Honors, and English 1 Honors. Middle school elective classes that are credit-bearing include Spanish 1 (8th grade only) and Fundamentals of Computing 1 (for 0.5 credit). These classes are taught to the standards of a high school course because the student will receive credit which will be applied to high school graduation requirements. These classes align with the standards of high school difficulty, as well as both high school attendance and grading policies.
Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, middle school students taking high school credit classes will be held to the following expectations:
A “WF” or a “WP” (Withdrawal due to Failing or Withdrawal due to Passing) will be assigned to any student who decides to drop a high school credit-bearing class after the 10th day of school for a year-long class or after the 5th day of school for a semester-long class.
These classes will affect your student’s Grade Point Average (GPA). If a student makes a grade that is failing or has a final grade that is lower than he/she desires, the student has the ability to retake this class. However, students MUST retake the class at the same level AND both attempts/grades of taking the class will be recorded on the student’s transcript. The benefit of retaking a class is that the higher of the two grades will be averaged into a student’s GPA.
Students must obtain the required “seat time” to receive high school credit. Students must attend at least 170 of 180 days for one unit of credit and 85 days of 90 days for ½ unit of credit. Although absences may be lawful and not relative to truancy charges, all absences out of school are counting days when considering the awarding of credit. Any student who is absent more than 10 days in a year-long course and 5 days in a semester-long course shall not be eligible to receive credit in class.
Your student’s success is important to us. Please let us know if you have any additional questions by contacting the school counseling department at 803-476-4805.
AFTERNOON DISMISSAL PRODECURES
3:30 PM - At the first dismissal the following students are released:
- car riders
- 1st round of buses...this is announced daily
- home walkers
3:37 PM - At the second dismissal the following students are released:
- 2nd round of buses...this is announced daily
- high school walkers (walk behind the tennis courts and enter the high school from the back)
Please note, the high school does not dismiss until 3:40 PM. Any middle school students on their campus prior to 3:40 PM could be considered trespassing. We purposely hold our high school walkers until the 3:37 PM dismissal to assist the high school in their dismissal process.
All coaches have been informed of our dismissal timing. Please let us know if you have any concerns and we can discuss them with the high school athletics department.
BOYS BASKETBALL CAMP
SWIM TEAM
DUTCH FORK MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY
Check in your closets, under your bed, and in the car for those overdue library books! Anyone who has an outstanding fine or overdue book will not be allowed to check out until their account is cleared. If an item is not returned by Fri., May 24th, it will be marked lost and you will be charged the replacement cost. If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Wilkins at lwilkins@lexrich5.org.
Please remind your student that we have 2 return locations - the green bins outside the library doors and the slot in the Circulation Desk inside the library!
DUTCH FORK MIDDLE SCHOOL COUNSELING OFFICE
8TH GRADE FORMAL
Students will be ineligible to attend the 8th Grade Formal if they receive any Level II or Level III Office Referrals. If students receive more than two Level I referrals (this includes Excessive Tardies) they will be unable to attend. These guidelines will be enforced beginning April 1 - May 10. No refunds will be issued if a student is unable to attend due to disciplinary issues. Parents, please note that May 10th will still be considered an unexcused absence if the student is not here during school hours.
LOST & FOUND
FRONT OFFICE SURVEY
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
Chromebook Preparation for State Testing
State testing season is upon us. In order to ensure that all student Chromebooks are prepared for testing, we will be doing Chromebook checks during Den on Monday, May 6. At that time, we will check for system updates, screen resolution, keyboard language, and needed repairs. It is important that students bring their fully charged Chromebooks to school each day in order to instill the habit prior to testing.
If your child has lost their charger, a replacement can be purchased from FoxTech for $20. Students can pay with cash or check payable to DFMS.
Urgent: Any student Chromebook needing repair should be brought to FoxTech as soon as possible so that it can be repaired and returned prior to testing.
For questions and concerns, please contact Mrs. Thacker, Digital Integration Specialist, at kthacker@lexrich5.org.
PTSA CORNER
TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK:
Our Teachers are the Best in the Universe!
Celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week and #ThankATeacher with us
May 6-10, 2019!
They change the lives of hundreds of children every day.
Let’s show our thanks and gratitude to our stellar educators. Help us jump start our PTSA Teacher Appreciation Week to #ThankATeacher for all that they do to help our children.
We love seeing all the awesome ways you celebrate the “T” in PTSA.
One of the many things we do for the "T"eachers that week is a raffle and a breakfast. We are asking parents to please send in gift cards, monetary donations for gift cards, or items listed in the signup genius. Please click the link to see some gift card ideas and signup there are two separate sign-ups, one for gift cards and monetary donations and a separate one for the breakfast items.https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/409094ea9ac2da6f94-teacher1/59331141
Breakfast item sign up:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094EA9AC2DA6F94-teacher2
NOW SEARCHING:
BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE 2019-2020 school year! We are looking for a few great volunteers to carry on the service provided by PTSA at our school. There are many ways to help on the board. Box Tops, Reflections, Fox Frenzy, just to name a few. Please email dfmiddleptsa@gmail.com if you are interested or have questions.
TEACHER SPOTLIGHT:
The following was sent by a parent about her child view of her teachers at DFMS,
"After reading the teacher nomination section in the newsletter each week, I asked my daughter to tell me something special about each of her teachers. She talks about each individually, depending on what they are working on and what's going on in the classroom. Here are the things she came up with about each of her current 7th-grade teachers:
Mrs. McCartha makes science easy to understand. She explains things well and takes the time to answer questions when we don't understand something. Mrs. McCartha also provides fun activities related to what we are working on in class.
Ms. Edenfield's class is fun. I was a little worried when I started because it wasn't the class I requested but has turned out to be great. She makes sure we understand all material that will be covered on the quizzes and is really nice.
Mrs. Brown is very supportive. She provides lots of interesting class activities and seems to really enjoy what she does.
Mrs. Crumpler:
I appreciate the time and freedom Mrs. Crumpler gives us to do classwork and homework. This is very helpful when you know you've got lots of other homework that evening.
Mrs. DaWalt:
I like the support Mrs. DaWalt offers. She gives us easy ways to remember what we learn and she's always in a good mood.
Mr. Gunter:
I like how Mr. Gunter is very straight forward, and understanding. He makes class fun!
With Teacher Appreciation Week around the corner, I cannot think of a better time to spotlight a whole team of teachers.
Please email us and tell us why you think a teacher is going above and beyond at our school. Every teacher nominated will have their morning duty or lunch duty for special area teachers taken care of for a day. The teachers truly appreciate knowing what they do matters and the break that comes with it. To nominate a teacher send an email to DFMIDDLEPTSA@gmail.com. Please add the teachers name, grade and why you are nominating them.
SPIRIT WEAR:
You can order spirit wear on our website all year at www.dutchforkspiritwear.com
BOX TOPS:
Don’t forget to download the Bonus Box Top App. Make sure you sign up to continue supporting our school through the school year and summer DFMS ID# 584789.
NOTE:
If you have any ideas or suggestions please send us an e-mail. Share your thoughts. We'd love to hear from you
DUTCH FORK MIDDLE SCHOOL
Website: http://lexrich5.org/dfms
Location: 1528 Old Tamah Road, Irmo, SC, USA
Phone: (803) 476-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dutch-Fork-Middle-School-549147891811317/