FOX FEATURES WEEKLY UPDATE
September 7 2018
UPCOMING EVENTS
- PARENT VISITATION DAY
- D5 BOARD MEETING DFHS 7:00 PM - 8:30 P.M.
TUESDAY 09/11/2018
- C- TEAM VOLLEYBALL GAME vs CHAPIN @DFMS 4:30 P.M. - 6:30 P.M.
WEDNESDAY 9/12/2018
- LATE START FOR STUDENTS (SEE DETAILS BELOW)
- C - TEAM FOOTBALL vs BROOKLAND CAYCE @DFHS 6:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
THURSDAY 9/13/2018
- C- TEAM VOLLEYBALL vs WHITE KNOLL @ WHITE KNOLL 4:30 PM - 7:30 P.M.
LATE START REMINDER
YEARBOOKS ARE ON SALE!!!
STUDENT COUNCIL INTEREST MEETING
FCA
FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT
JR. BETA CLUB
Any students wishing to run for an office in Junior Beta club needs to attend the interest meeting on 9/11 in Mrs. Goley's room - 204 @7:30 am.
Junior Beta Club students need to purchase a t-shirt through the link in the google classroom by September 13th. Don't include shipping in the purchase.
Boys Basketball 411
UPDATE –
The Fall workout schedule has been modified… The workout that was scheduled for THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH has been CANCELLED. All other workouts are still on.
FALL WORKOUTS
Fall workout will be held on the following dates: September 18th, September 25th and October 2nd. All workouts will be in the Middle School gym from 3:45 – 4:45. PLEASE have your rides here at 4:45. If you cannot get picked up by 4:45, please do not plan on staying. We are on a very tight schedule during these workouts. All workouts are open to any NON-FALL sport athlete and are completely VOLUNTARY.
TRYOUTS
Tryouts will be held on October 29th, October 31st and November 1st from 3:45-5:15. Athletes are expected to attend all three (3) days in order to considered for the team. All forms, including a physical and a copy of the athlete's birth certificate, must be completed and uploaded to https://www.arbiterathlete.com and all the forms must be digitally signed. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Coach Smith by email at Asmith@lexrich5.org or by phone at 803-476-4801
DFHS SWIM TEAM
40 swimmers will participate in the Dam Swim for Drew tomorrow morning to promote boat safety on Lake Murray. This is a 2 mile open water swim/race. Good luck to those swimmers representing DFHS!!!
PSAT TESTING
Parents of 8th-grade students: The PSAT will be given at school during the school day on Wednesday, October 10th. Letters with the permission form and information will be sent home on Thursday, September 13th.
Mrs. Fine will be collecting checks payable to DFMS for $16 AND the permission form beginning Monday, September 17th through Wednesday, October 2nd.
Money will only be collected on MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS, and FRIDAYS. Mrs. Fine will be set up in the area in front of the Fox Hole for students to pay from 7:30-8:00.
Again, Mrs. Fine will start collecting money and permissions forms on Monday, September 17th.
Please let Mrs. Fine know if you have any questions.
CAFETERIA NEWS
PTSA FUNDRAISER INFORMATION
Raise Craze started this week! This is the school-wide PTSA fall fundraiser! Register your student at my.raisecraze.com/A88VKCP and start spreading kindness!
Curious how fundraising through kindness works? Check out the brief video (http://raisecraze.com/instructional-video!) and make your mark on the world.
PRIZE ALERT! Our 1st weekend challenge: Send 3 emails by 9/9/18 (Sunday) and get a Dutch Fork Middle School pencil.
PTSA UPDATE
We hope the this school year is off to a good start for your students. We have a few topics to share with you.
BOX TOPS:
We will be collecting Box Tops soon. So, keep clipping and save your box tops. There will be a reward for the den that collects the most Box Tops.
SPIRIT NIGHT:
Wednesday, September 26th from 5-8pm Spirit Night at Chicken Salad Chick on Harbison Blvd.
SPIRIT WEAR:
If you would like to make a request for a Dutch Fork T-Shirt you can send a request through email-dfmiddleptsa@gmail.com if paying by card. If paying by check or cash please send to the front office attn: PTSA. We only have sizes medium or large in white or grey left. Keep an eye out in October for our online spirit sales options.
MEMBERSHIP:
Membership papers were sent home with your student earlier last week, if you are interested in joining the PTSA please have your student return the paper and dues in an envelope to the front office.
REFLECTIONS:
Our school wide Reflections art competition will be coming soon. The theme is "Heroes Among You". There will be six categories; Film Production, Photography, Visual Arts, Dance Choreography, Literature, and Music Composition. Keep an eye out for details coming soon.
If you have any ideas or suggestions please send us an e-mail. Share your thoughts. We'd love to hear from you.
VOLUNTEERS:
Do you like planning events? We need help planning a school wide family event coming soon and planning our Reflections award ceremony. Please contact Jennifer Sandsted at dfmiddleptsa@gmail.com
Have a great weekend!
Contact info:
TECHNOLOGY INFO
By now, all students should have received their District issued Chromebook. Parents who attended Open House had an opportunity to view the iFive Technology Initiative Parent Orientation video. If you were unable to attend, please be sure to watch the video here.
If you have any questions regarding Chromebooks, please contact Kelly Thacker, DFMS Digital Integration Specialist at 476-4826 or via email at kthacker@lexrich5.org.
Establishing Ground Rules at Home for District Issued Devices
Technology use at home should be in line with your family's online safety rules. Technology is infused in all aspects of our lives today -- especially our students. Learning how to use technology is an essential skill for everyday life and learning in today’s classrooms. Students need guidance to help them safely navigate online. District Five offers the following strategies and resources for technology use at home if needed:
Keep charger area visible: Students are required to bring fully charged devices to class each and every day. By leaving the charger plugged in a common area of the house, this ensures the device is not only fully charged, but also left as a reminder at the end of the day.
Designate specific areas in the home: Determine specific areas in the home for homework and research. Select a visible location for adult monitoring and not in the bedroom.
Set time limits for device use: Establish a set amount of time to use devices for purposes other than homework, maybe 9 PM or 10 PM, after which equipment must be put away.
Shut off home wi-fi: If needed, shut off wi-fi on the device during certain hours of the day. This allow students to continue using the device for reading, writing and/or other activities which doesn’t require internet access.
Set volume limits for headphones: The volume level is important while students are using earbuds and/or headphones. For information concerning irreversible Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), please view the article, Generation Deaf, about the research and instructions on how you can set maximum volume levels on an iPhone.
A MESSAGE FROM LEXINGTON-RICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT #5
Lexington-Richland School District Five will immediately implement several new safety measures at varsity sporting events, following an incident that prompted the evacuation of spectators at the Dutch Fork High vs. Irmo High football game on Friday, Aug. 31.
Among the new measures:
- The district will implement handheld metal detectors to screen all spectators, beginning with varsity football games at Chapin, Dutch Fork and Irmo high schools.
- Bags also will be subject to searches at designated entry points, in line with state statute permitting “reasonable search” of any person entering school premises.
- Admission will be charged throughout the duration of games.
- All students 8th grade or younger will now be required to attend games with parents or guardians.
- School Resource Officers also will travel with teams at away games.
The district takes safety and security very seriously. After listening to the concerns of our parents, staff, community members and school board members over the weekend; we met with our high school principals, district safety officers and other key district staff to take immediate action and implement new safety measures.
The district already had several security measures in place, including increased law enforcement presence at sporting events and evacuation protocol communicated to key school and district staff. The added security steps are short-term, immediate measures that we can implement this week, and we will look at other measures that we may be able to adopt in the future.
Local law enforcement and school officials continued Monday to investigate the incident at the Friday game. Shortly after the incident, district officials used the automated message system to notify parents that rumors of gunshots were not true. No guns were found, and no shots were fired, officials with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said.
Counselors were made available to students Tuesday and will continue to be available throughout the week. The district also took added steps to ensure the safety and well-being of students.
School District Five has been in constant contact with local law enforcement this weekend and will continue to coordinate with them as they continue their investigation. The messages we provide you during emergencies as well as the security measures we take at schools are in partnership with local police. We will continue to work to ensure we communicate pertinent information when it's available and ensure that our schools remain safe places for our students to learn.
DUTCH FORK MIDDLE SCHOOL
Website: https://www.lexrich5.org/Domain/23
Location: 1528 Old Tamah Rd, Irmo, SC
Phone: (803) 476-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dutch-Fork-Middle-School-549147891811317/