FOX FEATURE WEEKLY UPDATE
MAY 10, 2019
UPCOMING EVENTS
MONDAY 05/13/2019
TUESDAY 05/14/2019
- SC READY ELA DAY 1 WRITING
WEDNESDAY 05/15/2019
- SC READY ELA DAY 2 READING
THURSDAY 05/16/2019
- SC READY MATH
FRIDAY 05/17/2019
- SC PASS SCIENCE 8TH/SOCIAL STUDIES 7TH
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.
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
ATTENTION 7TH GRADERS
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
LOST & FOUND
FRONT OFFICE SURVEY
PTSA CORNER
I hope everyone got a chance to thank a teacher this week for all they do for our school and our students. Many teachers take on extra tasks we do not know about at the school and go that extra mile for our students. We as parents may not see these things but need to know how hard they work. If you have not already thanked a teacher please send one thank you email to a teacher this weekend. We also want to thank all of the parents that donated items this week and last to make this such an amazing teacher appreciation week for our teachers. I also want to thank our amazing hospitality crew for putting all of the cute gifts, lunches, and breakfasts together for the teachers.
Fox Frenzy:
Fox Frenzy is field day at DFMS. It will be on Friday, May 24th. Please be on the lookout for a sign up to volunteer to help run our photo booth that day. We will also need 1,100 waters sent in to cover students and staff that day.
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:
We are repeating last weeks nominations in honor of teacher appreciation week. The following was sent by a parent about her daughters 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! Please email us and tell us why you think a teacher is going above and beyond at our school. This section is only possible with your nominations. 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/