News from the Nest

Dacula Middle School

137 Dacula Road, Dacula, GA 30019 / 770.963.1110

Click Here for the Dacula Middle School Website

March 24, 2023

Dear Parents:

As spring semester is underway and spring break approaches, we want to share details regarding Honor Roll and Principal’s Honor Roll recognition for our end of year awards, which will be held on May 15th for 6th and 7th grades, and May 16th for 8th grade. You will receive a progress report noting your child’s performance through March 30th. This report will be emailed home on Thursday, March 30. Any missing student work noted on the progress report should be submitted no later than Friday, April 14. Submitting late work after the Friday, April 14 deadline will not change a student's eligibility to be recognized for academic performance. The grades on the April 21st progress report along with the grades on the first semester report card will determine if a student is recognized for academic performance this school year.

We encourage parents to monitor their child’s grades every week through the use of the parent portal.

Recognition at the local school this year will include:

Honor Roll - All A’s & B’s for the year (including individual connections classes)
Principal’s Honor Roll - Straight A’s for the year (including individual connections classes)

Invitations/email for award recipients will be sent the week of May 8th.

Our Fabulous DMS Falcons in Action!

Arts and Crafts in Computer Programming Class? Definitely!

Mrs. Banner's 6th grade Connections students demonstrated their knowledge of the inside of computers by creating 3D models using shoeboxes and their creativity.

What a great way to show what they know!

Congratulations to our March Fabulous Falcons!

Each month our staff nominates fellow members of our DMS faculty in recognition of all they do and for going above and beyond to help students, staff, and our Dacula community as a whole just a better place to be.

This month's Fabulous Falcons as recognized by their peers are:

Sandy Blagg, Media Clerk

Vicki Butler, 7th Grade Clerk

Sandy Chatham, Cafe Assistant Manager

Sandra Dempsey, 8th Grade Clerk

Joe Hicks, Custodian

Nicole High, 8th Grade Counselor

Chenita Mumpfield, Business Education Teacher

Derek Tuthill, 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher

Corey Williams, Behavior Interventionist

Morning Tutoring and Morning Student Drop Off

Students coming for morning tutoring must be in the cafeteria by 8:15am.

Tutoring starts at 8:15am and teachers start picking up their students at this point. Late students are not allowed to go to tutoring without their teacher accompanying them.

Anyone arriving after their teacher has picked up their class will be held in the cafeteria until morning dismissal at 8:55am.

Morning Early Student Drop Off - Bus Zone Only until 8:30am!

All students arriving before 8:30am MUST be dropped off in the bus lanes in the back of the building. Drop off moves to the car rider lane starting at 8:30am to allow for bus arrival.

Students should not be dropped off at the front office or in the staff parking lot in the back of the building. Doing this creates safety hazards for students, staff, and our busses.

Women's History Month at DMS

Women's History Month By The Numbers:

63% of women voted in the 2020 presidential election compared to 59.5% of men. Women have voted at a higher rate than men in presidential elections since the 1980s. The last time men voted at a higher rate for president was 59.6% in 1976, while women voted at a rate of 58.8%.
Since 1980, the US population has been made up of more females than males. The total number of females in our country has grown 6.3% in the last 10 years.
Women-owned businesses in arts, entertainment, and recreation grew 10.5% between 2017 and 2018, from 22,219 to 24,542, according to the Census Bureau. In 2018, approximately 16.8% of the nation's 1.1 million women-owned businesses were in the professional, scientific, and tech services sector, compared to 14.3% for all companies in the sector.
The number of STEM degrees women received increased 66.3% since the 2008–2009 academic year. Women earned 237,874 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics degrees in the 2017–2018 academic year, up from 143,018 between 2008–2009. Despite this increase, women were 32.4% of all STEM degree recipients in the 2017–2018 school year.
Since 1916, every state but Vermont has sent a woman to the US Congress. Sixteen states have sent women only to the House of Representatives. Alaska, Mississippi, and North Dakota have sent women to the Senate. Thirty states have sent women to both houses of Congress.

8th Grade Celebration Day

Mark Your Calendars!

Spring Testing Information - GMAS and S2 Posttests

Georgia Milestones Assessment (GMAS)

Dacula Middle School will be administering the Georgia Milestones Assessment (GMAS) during the months of April and May. All students are expected to take the Georgia Milestones Assessments.

If you have concerns for your child regarding testing, you should contact Tasha Baumgardner no later than Friday, March 31st.

The calendar below indicates the dates each content area will be testing by grade level.

8th Grade Students Only:

***Please note 8th grade students in High School Algebra I and Accelerated Algebra I will take both the End of Course Milestones Assessment and the End of Grade Milestones Assessment.

***Students enrolled in High School Algebra I and Accelerated Algebra I who do not take the Algebra I EOC will receive a zero in the gradebook for this assessment and it will count as 20% of their overall grade.

Semester 2 Posttests: May 16th - May 17th

Students will be taking their Semester 2 posttests on May 16 and May 17, 2023. The daily schedule will be adjusted both days to accommodate a block scheduling period. These exams are 10% of the student’s overall grade and students are expected to take the exams. Please make sure your student is here on both days to take their exams.

Please contact Tasha Baumgardner if you have any questions related to the upcoming testing dates.

Rising 9th Grader ~ News You Can Use

What's Going on at DMS?

Parent Mentors Information

Annual Parent Involvement Survey

Who: Families of students who are receiving special education services

What: Each state is required to conduct a parent survey to measure parent/family perceptions of the success of parent engagement between home and local schools.

When: Available January 23, 2023 – May 31, 2023

Where: Parents can complete the survey via the survey link below.

Please use the following link to access the survey: https://survey.gadoe.org/SPEDParentSurvey

Middle School Summer Adventure Programs at Maxwell HS

Maxwell HS of Technology Middle School Summer Adventures for 2023 registration is coming up soon!

This program is targeted for rising 6th to rising 9th graders.

These programs usually sell out the day registration opens so mark your calendars if you're interested in signing up!

MyPaymentsPlus opened March 3rd for registration. Scan the QR below for more information and to see the programs available.

Reminders

Tardy Guidelines

As we begin the second semester we wanted to send a reminder of the process and procedures that are in place if a student arrives to class late without permission:

Tardy 1: Warning

Tardy 2: Teacher Detention

Tardy 3: Teacher Detention

Tardy 4: After School Detention

Tardy 5: Saturday School

Teachers may use their discretion when assigning consequences.

Teachers enter tardies into Synergy and parents should receive an automated call notifying them of the tardy.

Weekly Progress Reports will continue being sent every Friday.

This semester, one detailed progress report will be sent by the first academic period teacher. The report will include each academic and connections class along with their assignments up to that date.

If you have any questions regarding a specific class, please feel free to reach out to that specific teacher.

Progress Report Glitch

Please be aware that there is currently a systems’ glitch that is causing some teachers’ progress reports to be sent multiple times even though the teacher has only sent it once.

If this happens, please delete the additional reports you may have received. You can also clear your browser's cache and cookies to try to alleviate this issue.

We appreciate your understanding while this issue is being resolved.

Early Morning Drop Off for Tutoring

If you are bringing your child for tutoring before school on one of the assigned days, please be sure to have your child here before 8:15.

Students may be dropped off as early as 8 am in the bus lanes. Teachers will pick up kids from the cafeteria promptly at 8:15 and escort them to the classroom. Students may not be dropped off at the front of the building.

As a means of safety, students are not allowed up to tutoring past this time.

Monday- Language Arts

Tuesday- Math

Wednesday- Social Studies

Thursday- Science

Friday- Connections

Offered on Mondays Only:

The bus zone off of Auburn Road is only used for student drop off between 7:55am - 8:30a only!

Students cannot be dropped off in the bus zone after 8:30am due to bus traffic and should not be dropped of in the staff parking lot at any time.

These create safety hazards for staff, students, and bus drivers.

Moby Max

MobyMax is an online resource provided by Dacula MS that offers K-8 curriculum that is individualized per student to highlight skills that need attention.

MobyMax offers practice and support in language arts, math, science, and social studies.

Please check with your child for his or her username and password to gain access to this awesome, easy-to-use tool that can be used at home to help practice and strengthen skills.

1:1 Student Device Distribution

All GCPS students in grades 3-12 will be issued a Chromebook to be used at school and taken home to extend learning beyond the school day for the 2022-23 school year.

New students will receive their device/charger the first day they report to school.

While content filtering is applied to devices, parents are responsible for monitoring the appropriate use of technology at home.

Students in households with limited or no access to the internet can request a hotspot from DMS.

Students are expected to use devices following the GCPS Acceptable Use Policy and the Student Conduct Behavior Code.

Students need to arrive at school each day ready for learning with a fully charged device.

Additional information and resources can be found on the 1:1 Parent Support Site.

Stay Connected

ParentVUE & StudentVUE App Updates

A recent application update requires you to delete and reinstall the ParentVUE and StudentVUE mobile app from your device(s).

This update ensures that you have the newest version of the app and will continue to receive updates. If you do not delete and reinstall the applications, your device may not connect properly and continue to receive updates.

You will use the same username and password to log in after downloading the app.

Android Users will also need to delete the ParentVUE and/or StudentVUE web urls from your devices for the app updates to work correctly.

If you have any questions or need assistance please contact Jessica Curtis at 770-338-4630 or our ITI Coaches at 770-338-4627.

If you are not using the app and want to learn more, visit the GCPS website for information.

Do you have a MyPaymentsPlus account?

GCPS Students Need You!

News from the Clinic

Afternoon Bus Dismissal

We appreciate your patience and understanding with bus dismissal!

For afternoon dismissal, you can remain abreast of the departure times of your child's bus, by following these easy steps:

Log on to our DMS website.
Click on Parents/Students across the top of the screen.
Click on Afternoon Bus Dismissal you will see the buses that have already left and what time they departed our building.
You will need to refresh the screen periodically for updates.

Please call the GCPS Transportation Customer Service Center for information about bus pickup and drop-off at 770-338-4800.

Car Rider Reminders

Have you joined our PTA?

Click Here to Join!

Community Events

Home of the R.E.A.L. Falcons

Dacula Middle School will become a world-class school that provides a safe and nurturing environment where students acquire the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and beliefs to be successful in college and careers in a diverse society.

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