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You may be aware that the district has hired Just Training Solutions, LLC to assist them in conducting a full investigation of the allegations made against the DHS football program. The firm is open to hearing from any parent or resident who believes they have information relevant to the investigation. Please feel free to contact Mr. Edward Mitnick directly at emitnick@justtrainingsolutions.com.
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Safety at Student Drop Off and Pick UpIn order to ensure all students who do not take the bus are safely dropped off and picked up from school, please review the following information regarding our procedures this year.
Arriving to School- Please enter campus from Alden Street by the library and drive SLOWLY around the building until you approach DMS.
- This year, students may be dropped off along the entire distance from the cafeteria patio to the courtyard along the back side of the building (marked by the red line below). As long as your vehicle is pulled immediately next to a sidewalk area (on the driver's side of your car) of the DMS end of the building, you may drop your child off and allow them to walk to the entrance to avoid congestion.
- As much as possible, please have students exit the back seat driver's side of your vehicle.
- No students may be dropped off in ANY staff parking lot.
- Students may enter the building starting at 7:50am. If they arrive earlier than 7:50, they should remain outside on the sidewalk or grassy areas around the entrance and wear their mask until doors open.
Departing School- Drivers should enter campus at the Alden Street entrance and travel SLOWLY around campus as you approach the DMS patio.
- Students will be dismissed from the building by floor starting with the first floor (primarily 6th grade students).
- Drivers should queue up along the DMS side of the building starting at the yellow star in the image below, with the sidewalk along the driver's side of the car, and all along the red line.
- Students will be encouraged to walk from the DMS entrance to your car, where you will be able to depart.
- No students may be picked up in ANY staff parking lot.
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Dismissing Students Early/ Dropping Off ItemsThis year, we have to limit outside visitors from entering our building, which means we will not be having adults enter the building for any early dismissals or to drop off any forgotten items. We will using the following protocols this year for these situations.
Dismissals (Early/ Unexpected/ Nurse):- Early Dismissals- Students must have written permission from their parent or guardian to be dismissed. This permission must include the date, time of dismissal and reason for the dismissal.
- Unexpected Dismissals – Please call ahead to the DMS main office at 781-934-7640 to let us know your student is being dismissed and follow the above protocol. (We would prefer not to interrupt their classes).
- Adults will drive to the DMS side of the building and will need to get out of their car and press the “buzzer” located to the left of the doors on the brick wall. Please note there is no parking near the DMS entrance for visitors. All parking in this lot is for staff members. The DMS office staff will bring your student to the door where a parent/guardian will be able to sign the student out for dismissal.
- The student will show the note to the office and his/her classroom teacher at the time of dismissal and come to the main office where the office staff will walk the student to the DMS doors to collect a parent signature
- Nurse Dismissals – will be managed by our DMS Nurse, Karen Doyle, and will occur at Door # 11 (this door is located on the side of the building).
All adults will need to present a valid driver’s license or form of I.D. that they will need to show an office staff member before the student will be allowed to be dismissed with them. - Early Dismissals- Students must have written permission from their parent or guardian to be dismissed. This permission must include the date, time of dismissal and reason for the dismissal.
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Dropping Off Forgotten Items
Family members will not be permitted in the building to drop off any forgotten items. Any forgotten item that must be dropped off should follow the below protocol.- Adults will drive to the DMS side of the building and will need to get out of their car and press the “buzzer” located to the left of the doors on the brick wall. Please note there is no parking near the DMS entrance for visitors. All parking in this lot is for staff members. The DMS office staff will come out and grab item. Please be sure it is labeled with the student's name
- Please note that we do not expect parents/guardians to drop off items forgotten by students. In the effort to support a student's growth in independence in preparing for their school day, we encourage parents/ guardians to avoid dropping off forgotten items. A student who forgets their lunch will always be provided one if needed.
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A Message from the Principal:
9/28/20
Dear Students and Parents/ Guardians,
With a second successful week of school, I again want to thank all of our students, families, and staff for working hard to comply with our new guidelines and ensure we can remain open and in our hybrid model. I continue to be amazed by our students and staff and their flexibility in this scenario. We continue to make some slight adjustments to improve the experience for our DMS community, and below, you'll see an important update regarding reporting your child's absence, and you'll see an update regarding our Wednesday virtual learning days.
Reporting Absences:
In order to better facilitate the reporting of absences, we are asking that families use this form, also linked on the DMS website, to report ANY absence (full day, tardy, dismissal) and the cause for it. We ask that you complete this form first thing in the morning of an absence in lieu of calling the office to report an absence.
As a reminder, please note that we are asking families to reach out with any COVID related reason for absence, and that our nurse, Mrs. Doyle, will be in communication with you to ensure we are appropriately managing the safety and wellbeing of all our students, staff, and families in our community. Additionally, we remind families that we are expecting them to keep advised of travel restrictions for out of state travel, and that families communicate using this form should a travel restriction issue come up with any students. We appreciate your cooperation with this process.
Wednesdays:
Wednesdays are virtual learning days for students. It is expected that students will complete the equivalent of a full class period of learning and work on each of their classes on Wednesdays, and that the day counts as a rigorous day of learning for our DMS students. To facilitate this, all teachers will post the work for Wednesdays on their Schoology courses by 8:20AM (start of a typical school day). Students will complete their work throughout the day, and access their teachers for office hours via Zoom for support and questions. These office hours and their access links will be posted on Schoology for students as well. We previously set our deadline for work on this day for 4pm, given the expectation that it serve as a school day despite the virtual format. After having assessed this model for the past two weeks, and in conference with some parents and my staff, we've made the decision to extend this Wednesday work deadline to the end of the day (11:59pm to be exact) to strike a balance between valuing the day for school work, and supporting families and students who may need more flexibility on this school day. I respectfully ask that students prioritize their school work on these days as our goal in assignments was to have students complete their school work during typical school hours. Please note that a student's attendance for the day is assessed through completion of their learning experiences on Wednesdays, and the assignments are also graded and added to the student's Aspen portal at regular intervals. The Office Hour Schedule is below:Grade 6 Team Teacher Office Hours
9:20-10:35am
Grade 7 Team Teacher Office Hours
10:05-11:20am
Grade 8 Team Teacher Office Hours
12:20-1:35pm
Elective Teacher Office Hours
1:35-2:50pm
Learning at DMS:
In the myriad of announcements and important information, I want to be sure to keep celebrating our students and staff and show our families what learning looks like this year. Mrs. Kennedy, always looking for ways to capitalize with math in the real world, took her classes outside this week with yard sticks to practice visualizing physical distancing more effectively. Mr. Collins and Ms. Noerenberg led their class through warm ups on Fridays under the tent with students at home, and others at school. After only a few classes, they are sounding great already! Mrs. Sciretta's class practiced irrational numbers while they took a mask break, ensuring they use every minute together in Math class! Our PE teachers are making the most of the weather with frisbee golf and pickle ball on the fields and at the Steele Building. Check out some pictures of the learning in action below.
As always, if you have any questions about any of the information I shared, please reach out. I want to highlight our Home Communication Guide to families (which can be found in our Student Handbook linked under Quick Links on the DMS website) as well and encourage communication between families and teachers regarding classroom questions or concerns.
Each week, I will send a newsletter which will serve as the primary vehicle for communicating important updates and information for DMS families. I encourage you to use this newsletter as a resource, and to reach out to the DMS Main Office (781-934-7640) if you ever have a question regarding the information shared here. You will find a number of important items in the announcements below. Wishing you all a wonderful start to this school year!If you have any questions, concerns, or would like to connect, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Sarah McGuire
Principal
Duxbury Middle School
781-934-7640
smcguire@duxbury.k12.ma.us
