Dundee Middle School began in 1956 as Dundee Junior High School when Dundee Community High School moved to a new building which is now used by Carpentersville Middle School. Dundee Community High School had used their old building since 1922, and before they moved, the school had been used by six grades from 7th Grade to 12th Grade. However, when Dundee Community High School moved buildings, only the top three grades (10th, 11th, and 12th) went along, and the bottom three grades (7th, 8th, and 9th) stayed in the old building. 

When Dundee Junior High School took over the building, they renovated it adding additional classrooms, a second gym, and a band room.

Dundee Junior High School became Dundee Middle School at the beginning of the 1969-1970 school year when District 300 switched to the Middle School System. When the Middle School system was adopted, 9th Graders began to attend high school, and 6th Graders switched from elementary school to middle school. 

Four years later, in 1973, it was voted on to move Dundee Middle School out of the then 51 year old building on Route 31, and build a new school. The school was completed and opened in the Fall of 1978, and that building has been used by DMS ever since. 

In 1991, DMS first launched a newspaper titled the “Cardunal Courier”, and in 1993, the school began “mainstreaming” special education students into the rest of the school. As the opening paragraph of an article published in the Chicago Tribune on April 7th of that year put it, “The lesson is geothermal energy, but the 6th grade pupils in Sue LaGrippe’s and Karen Fitzsimmon’s science class  are learning more than what lies beneath the Earth’s surface.” This was in reference to how students were learning to understand and respect special education student’s differences.

In 1995, the Dundee Middle School pompon team made it to the Universal Dance Association National Pompon Competition at M.G.M. (now Hollywood) Studios in Orlando, Florida. While they didn’t win, they still made a major accomplishment by being the first school in Fox Valley to make it to the National Pompon Competition. 

In the fall of 2002, Midnight Mile first began after the Dundee Middle School P.E. staff noticed that Lundahl Junior High School was doing a 24 hour run, and wanted to emulate it. Lundahl Junior High School, and Dundee Middle School would remain in contact over the years, and come up with ideas that the other would copy the next year in order to improve each of their events. In the Spring of 2003, the musical moved to Elgin Community College. The next year, in the Spring of 2004, four student bands started up the annual “Schoolapalooza” Rock Concert. 

As you can see, Dundee Middle School has a long and interesting history behind it. Huge thanks to Mrs. Warner for the information about Midnight Mile, and the Dundee Township Historical Society for access to all the primary sources from 1956-1995.

The DMS Musical  By: Winter, Tori, and Grace

Have you heard of the DMS Musical? Have you seen it? If you answered no, then let us tell you about it! With two sold out shows, the audience was engrossed in the emotional roller coaster. Seussical Jr is about a boy who embarks on an adventure through the land of Dr. Seuss. He visits places such as  Solla Sollew and the Jungle of Nool, and even the tiny planet of the Whos. The boy learns to help believe in yourself, and that you can do anything you put your mind to. Even the tiniest voice can make a huge difference. 

Right next to Dundee Middle School is located a forgotten cemetery. Now you may not believe me, but this is entirely true, and I have the evidence to prove it. 

Schroeder Cemetery was created in 1845 by Issaac and Sarah George who sold plots to 21 people, for $10 a plot, while reserving several plots for themselves. One of the people to buy these plots was the namesake of Gilberts, Albro Gilbert, a Vermont born pioneer who had a farm on the land that sits much of the Village of Gilberts today. The cemetery received the name "Schroeder Cemetery" in the coming years after Fred Schroeder owned a house next to the cemetery, although he himself is not buried in it, at least from the sources I was able to find. 

The cemetery is still in its current location, though as you can probably guess, it’s been abandoned. In addition, if you were to visit, it’s very hard to locate the tombstones, and during a visit to it last November, I only ever managed to find one, the picture of which is below this article. 

The cemetery will be abandoned no longer though, as the “Schroeder Cemetery Preservation Project” has been created to clean up the cemetery, and provide those in it with the respect they deserve. This is an ongoing project that has just begun, and will take a while. 

6th Grade: There are many challenges in 6th grade. Some are getting used to the different classes, you get a lot more homework, passing period, gym uniforms and lockers. Unlike in Elementary School, you have different classes that you go to a every 45 minutes. Compared to Elementary School you have more homework but it's still less than you expect. To get from class to class you have a passing period, you have 3 minutes to get to your class and get anything you need from your locker. The gym uniforms, you have to get used to, you have to change everyday. Instead of having your backpack out in the open, you have a locker. You have your own combination, but you also have another locker, your gym locker. Your gym locker, you have your own lock. So you need to remember both of your lockers and remember where they are. 

7th Grade:  In terms of 7th Grade specific challenges, I feel like music is a big jump. Don’t get me wrong incoming 7th Graders, you get to play a lot of cool music in 7th Grade, but it is a lot more complicated, which of course, is also what makes playing it awesome. The classes do get a little harder, but not monstrously. If you’ve had success in 6th Grade, I wouldn’t worry too much about 7th Grade, though of course, you still have to keep up whatever your current study habits are. 

8th Grade:  All the things from 6th and 7th Grade carry over into 8th Grade as well, though they aren’t as hard, since (most of us) have mastered it. I personally noticed a jump in class difficulty, specifically when it comes to math. I find myself having to review a lot more than I did in 7th Grade, and especially more than I did in 6th Grade. Some people also find Science more difficult, though I personally haven’t seen as big of a jump as I have with math.