August 20 PTO meeting (12:45-1:45)

August 23 Makeup Picture Day

August 27 Back to School Night (6:00-7:30)

September 2 No School- Labor Day

July/Aug Calendar

Welcome our NEW Staff!

TEACHERS:

• ELL teacher- Bethany Depp

• Art Teacher- Ian Park

• Elective Teacher- Kerry Angelopulos

Attendance Matters

Since COVID, we have seen a slow decline in our overall student attendance rates at Drake.  While our rate is still higher then the overall district average, we will be reemphasizing the importance of attendance for students by clarifying our expectations, procedures and systems.  In doing so, we hope that you support these values, and know that we are here to support our students and families in any way possible.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS OVERVIEW

In this overview, please pay special attention to the new tool created for parents to excuse their student in the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.  Here is some information and directions on this new tool.

ID Badges REQUIRED for students

This school year, Drake is piloting a new student ID, which will serve as an all-in-one for bus riding, purchasing breakfast and lunch, and checking out books/computers in the library.  All of Jeffco will begin using this new ID in January.  As such, all students will be required to wear their student ID at all times while at school.  IDs will be handed out at Open House, and a lanyard will be supplied.  Replacement IDs will be sold for $10 in the main office.

The Drake Way Grades

The "Drake Way" will be a grade in every student's class. We use the Drake Way grades as a method to communicate with families about the progress of their child that goes beyond purely academics. The community has asked that we provide further communication on the status of their middle schooler that is not only about academics. These grades are modeled after good citizenship and building great community members and we believe that these behaviors should count toward a middle schoolers development and grades. Generally, these grades will be updated every two weeks for families to view. If you have any questions about the grades received in this part of the gradebook, feel free to contact the teacher directly. 

Pick up and Drop off 

As we begin the new school year, I would like to remind you that we have A LOT of traffic at pick up and drop off times.  It is essential that we all remain calm and patient, and work together to prioritize student safety, support busses continuing on their routes, support parents getting to work on time, and respectfully maintain our relationships with our neighboring community and businesses.

I want to assure you that we are do our best to make the process safe and as efficient as possible.  We continually revisit potential solutions to increase safety and efficiency, as well as have conversations with our community partners to ensure we are doing everything we can to make this process as tolerable as possible. 

We would like to remind parents of the following processes:

• If you are new to Drake, please familiarize yourself with our process by watching THIS VIDEO, and please PLAN AHEAD!  It will likely take up to 15 minutes to enter or exit our parking lot at the peak times.

• Please watch for the school staff stopping traffic in the parking lot and on 52nd outside the school.  Their purpose is to help students cross streets and lanes safely AND to direct traffic to ensure there are opportunities to get in and out of here.  If they are being put in increasingly dangerous situations with upset drivers, we will not be able to have our staff off of our campus to help.

• We do have 2 lanes pulling into the parking lot (always in the pm and sometimes in am depending on the construction/traffic situation), in an effort to free up some space for non- Drake traffic to get through on 52nd.  Generally, traffic in the lane closest to the curb should turn right onto 52nd and traffic in the left lane should turn left on 52nd.

• Please be courteous to our parents, students, staff and neighbors during these processes.  Know that drop off could take up to 10 minutes from the time you enter the parking lot to the time you exit, and pick up could take close to 15 minutes from the time school gets out.  Honking, swerving, yelling does not help anyone to feel safe and does not help the process. 

• If you feel particularly frustrated by the traffic situation, please know that we are open to help and ideas.  We also have space on our busses.  Please visit the transportation info finder to determine if bus riding is a current option for your student.

• If traffic feels worse than it has in the past, that's because IT IS!  We have more students than we have ever had and the traffic on the road at our start and end times is greater than it was at previous start and end times.  In addition, we no longer have clubs in the afternoons as we did in the past. We have approximately 700 students riding in cars to and from Drake. We are all in the same boat and I am requesting that we work together and exercise patience.

Safety Note* 

We will only have outside and crosswalk supervision from 8:30-8:55am & 4:00-4:10pm. If your child needs to cross the street outside of these times, we recommend dropping them off or picking them up at the front doors instead. 

Upon arrival in the mornings: 8th grade students go to courtyard by basketball courts (south), 7th graders into courtyard on east side of the building, 6th grade students go to the courtyard on the northeast side of the building.

Student and Guardian Handbook

Please make  it a priority to read through our Student Guardian Handbook.  Let your Assistant Principal know if you have any questions.

Drake Sports (Registration has begun)

Drake Middle School partners with Skyhawks to deliver on multiple sports for our students. Registration for Flag Football and Cross Country have already begun. If you have interest in participating in any of our sports offered, you can click the link HERE or visit the "Drake Sports" link on the Drake Middle School homepage. 

Cross Country begins August 19th

Flag Football begins August 20th

Drake Clubs (Starting the Week of Sept 9th)

Drake Middle School runs a wide variety of before school clubs for students that run from 7:45am-8:45am. Clubs are sponsored by Drake staff members or volunteers approved by Drake Administration. We will reveal our full list of clubs offered and available to sign up for in the Deets on Friday, August 23rd with our first week of clubs starting before school the week of September 9th. 

In the past, we have offered:
Robotics, Theater, Crochet, Pokemon, Anime, Chess, Sources of Strength, Jazz, Yoga, Sewing, Art, and many more...Be sure to look for the link to the newest clubs for the 2024-2025 school year in late August. 

Yearbooks are for Sale Now! 

The 2025 Drake Middle School Yearbook is on sale now.  Visit yearbookforever.com  and type in Drake into the school search bar.  Follow the prompts to purchase your yearbook today.  

If you purchase by Friday August 16th, the cost is $45.00. 

Starting Saturday August 17th, the cost will be $50.00. 

Each year, yearbooks do sell out so please reserve yours early so your child is sure to get one! 

Please note: Yearbooks can NOT be purchased through Jeffco fees

8th Grade Parents: Baby Ads need to be purchased by Thursday, October, 31st

If you want to purchase a baby ad for your graduating 8th grader, you must do that by October 31st. Go to yearbookforever.com and click on "Create a Baby Ad." Ads cost $50.00 to offset the extra pages we must purchase. We will not sell baby ads after October 31st in order to allow us to meet our first deadline.  

Summer Travel Fundraiser

Join us for a fundraiser at MOD pizza for our Greece and Rome Summer 2025 Trip. Our fundraiser date will be on Thursday, August 22nd all day. Mr. Vazquez and Ms. Johnson, and other trip chaperones will be there from 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. if you want to join us for dinner.

If ordering online use this code: MODGIVES25 and mention Drake MS, or print the attached flier and take it with you to the MOD pizza at 9515 Ralston Rd, Suite 100, Arvada.

Thanks for your support!

MORE INFO

Drake Counseling

If a student would like to meet with their school counselor, they must complete the grade level counselor's form below. Please let your student know about this new process.

6th Grade Counselor Check In Request Form: Mrs. Legg

7th Grade Counselor Check In Request Form: Ms. Ewald

8th Grade Counselor Check In Request Form: Mrs. Hodson 

If your student needs a schedule change, please complete the Schedule Change Request Form  by Sunday, August 18th, at 4pm. We will only change schedules for the reasons on the request form.

Social Emotional Learning

We want your child to be successful in school, and that means supporting and encouraging their whole development. While excelling in academic classes is important, students also need skills for learning challenges, making good decisions, handling strong emotions, and getting along with others. 

On September 28th during Advisement class, we’ll begin Second Step® Middle School, a research-based social-emotional learning program designed to improve students’ social-emotional skills, such as emotion management, impulse control, problem solving, and empathy. Each week, a synopsis of the lesson and suggested discussion topics for families.  Also, other social emotional resources, such as this link for FREE HAIRCUTS, will be provided in this section of the Drake Deets.

Second Step skills and concepts are designed to help students both in and out of school. These include: 

Mindsets and Goals: Students learn how to develop a growth mindset and apply research based goal-setting strategies to their social and academic lives. 

Recognizing Bullying and Harassment: Students learn how to recognize bullying and harassment, stand up safely to bullying, and respond appropriately to harassment. 

Thoughts, Emotions, and Decisions: Students learn how to recognize strong emotions and unhelpful thoughts, and apply strategies to manage their emotions and reduce stress. 

Managing Relationships and Social Conflict: Students learn strategies for developing and maintaining healthy relationships, perspective-taking, and dealing with conflict. 

24-25 Bell Schedule

School Supplies

Student Guardian Handbook

Transportation

Drake Concerns Flowchart

Infinite Campus How to

Drake Clubs Flyer