Welcome Back!

7th Grade Students and Families,

Welcome back! I hope you had a restful and fun summer. As we begin a brand-new school year, I am excited to see our 7th graders return to campus ready for new opportunities, growth, and friendships.

Seventh grade is a year of important transitions—students will take on greater responsibility, build stronger study habits, and continue discovering who they are as learners and individuals. Parents, your support and encouragement will be key as your child navigates these exciting challenges.

As your school counselor, I am here to partner with you and your student throughout the year. My role is to support academic growth, personal and social development, and to encourage a positive school experience for every student. Please know that my door is always open for questions, concerns, or even a quick check-in.

Here’s to a successful and rewarding school year !

Mrs. Michelle H Young

Student Skills in Middle School

Middle school is a time for students to learn something new. They need to learn how to learn, how to be responsible, and how to be more independent and in charge of their own learning.  They should begin taking ownership of their own education.  Grades are of course important in middle school, but the student skills that lead to success are just as important.  Learning HOW to be a successful student will lead our students TO BE successful students.  Here is a short list of student skills that students should develop, strengthen, and practice throughout middle school so they can be confident and capable while taking the next step of their educational journey.

• Ask questions.  Students need to be able to ask questions if they need clarification.  This helps students take charge of their learning and demonstrates their maturity.  Asking questions especially when it’s difficult (due to comfort, logistical constraints, etc) is even more important.  

• Stay organized.  In order to be on top of their academic game, staying organized is crucial to students’ success.  Students should be able to keep track of papers, rubrics, assignments - ANY of their physical materials - easily and efficiently.  Knowing where things are posted on websites is also a component of staying organized - which is why teachers make sure to keep their websites/Google Classrooms updated regularly.  

• Have effective time management.  Students need to be organized with their materials and their time in order to be successful.  Using calendars/agendas to keep track of due dates and assignments is important, but students should also be a part of the active decision-making as to WHEN to complete assignments/tasks.  

• Balance academic time with relaxation time.  Students must be able to determine when it’s time for them to work and when it’s time for them to relax.  Life is all about a balance - and sometimes it seems that the work/play balance is skewed more in one direction than another.  However, in the grand scheme of things, students should practice a work/life balance, just as adults do (or should).  In order for students to be successful in middle school, they have to know when to buckle down and work hard, and when they can coast and relax.  Too much of one area generally leads to poor results (either the student is stressed out and overwhelmed or the student isn’t meeting grade-level expectations and standards).  

• Keep track of responsibilities.  As students venture through middle school, they will have more and more responsibilities to keep track of and to fulfill.  It’s important that students take ownership of their responsibilities and duties - as a student, a family member, an athlete, and any other identity students have.  Students must learn strategies that works best for them to keep track of all they need to do.  Whether students use a calendar, an agenda, a spreadsheet, etc, it’s important that they find a method that works for them - and USE IT.  

• Stay calm when things go wrong.  An important part of the learning process is the series of bumps, potholes, twists, turns, and dead-ends of the academic road.  In order for students to be successful and demonstrate success, they have to know how to regroup when things don’t go as planned.  Taking a break, reaching out for assistance, regrouping, and devising new plans are all strategies that students can readily use when they feel stressed, flustered, or unsuccessful.  Remember - resiliency and knowing how to handle setbacks are crucial to being successful.

Tips for Success 

• Know the Schedule.  Please take the time to become familiar with our bell schedule, have it ready to go so students know exactly where they should be at any given time during the school day.  Teachers will help students navigate through SMART Block for the first week of school.  

• Students should use an agenda or calendar to write down assignments!  Have your child get into the habit of using an agenda or a calendar to write the assignments that need to be completed to help keep track of what needs to be done.  We have sold out of DDMS agendas but you can purchase your own to use. 

• Students should respond to questions, even if they don’t know the answer.  Saying “I’m not sure” aloud is absolutely fine because it shows the teacher that they might need to revisit their instruction!  When students stay silent when they are called on, the teacher has a hard time differentiating between the student being unsure and the student not engaging/paying attention.  

• Have your child show you what work they have turned in!  Our teachers are using CANVAS as the learning platform to submit assignments and view resources.  Although assignments can be turned in, students can still show you what they put on a specific assignment when they submitted it.  If you ask your child “what did you do today in school” and they say “I don’t know”, one solution is to have them pull up their CANVAS to show you what they're learning 😃

• Model self-care and stress management coping strategies.  If you feel that your student is feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, please talk to them about how you handle those feelings!  We are still in a pandemic, and although life seems to be getting closer to "normal", this is still an uneasy situation for almost everyone.  Please model appropriate self-care strategies and encourage your child to take quick mental breaks, away from distractions throughout the day.  

MIDDLE SCHOOL TIPS - 

Parents can help enhance students‘ comfort level by helping to equip them with skills necessary to be successful.  In order to help prepare our students for their middle school experience, here is a list of actions and ideas that may help prepare our 7th grade students and parents for a successful school year!  

• • READ! READ!! READ!!!  We want our students to keep reading! We know many students (and parents) have concerns about missing key information with regards to curriculum from the previous school years.  Our teachers understand the position that ALL students are in - and will work with all students to get them to where they should be.  The best way to ensure our students' minds are staying engaged is to continue to READ!  The amount of independent reading done outside of school has consistently been found to relate to growth in vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency, general information acquisition, and school achievement.  Parents, please allow your students to pick out literary works of their choice to read to help foster the love for reading.  Students, please ask your friends for recommendations for books or genres that they enjoy - you might find that you connect with those as well! 

  • Become familiar with the main Davis Drive Middle School Website.  Almost all information as it pertains to DDMS will be posted or linked to the main website.  Much of the information has been updated for the 2025-2026 school year, so please review the website and the different components to get a good feel for where information is located.  Also, please take the time to navigate through the main 7th grade website as well.  To get to this website, go to the main DDMS website, hover over "Academics" and click on "7th grade".  Feel free to look at some of the teacher websites to familiarize yourself with how the information is presented.  Most 7th grade teachers structure their individual websites similarly, so this is a great way to get accustomed to finding information!  

  • ALL students will have a Chromebook to be used throughout this school year.

We know that Middle School can be a challenging time for many - please remember that the coping skills that are modeled by a student's parents are often mirrored in the students.  The coping skills that parents implement and practice are setting a strong example for their child(ren).  Please take time to check in with your children, talk with them about the stressors, offer opportunities for your children to ask questions, offer suggestions for them to relieve/reduce stress, and of course, practice and model self-care.  The coping skills that our students utilize are life skills for them - and in middle school, our students commonly experience stress related to academics and friendships that they aren't typically accustomed to and haven't experienced before.  By talking to them about how to manage stress, setbacks, and adversity combined with modeling positive coping strategies, our students can learn some safe and effectives strategies to help them navigate the bumps in the road while building skills that will benefit them for life.