Dr. Gloria Fernandez, Principal
601 Woodbury Rd. Orlando, FL 32828
Phone (407) 384-1555 Fax (407) 384-1580
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 7:30 am - 4:30 pm
Discovery Middle is proud to be an Innovation School and Performing Arts Academy!
Explorer Weekly Update
August 27, 2021
Dear Explorer Families,
Congratulations to Callie Smith who represented the East Learning Community and was awarded 3rd place in the 2021 OCPS Summer Reading Challenge! Callie logged 7,545 minutes this summer which is quite an accomplishment!
Also, congratulations to our Boys Soccer Team for winning their first game vs Legacy MS. On Monday, August 30th, we will host Union Park MS and on Wednesday, we host Arbor Ridge K-8. Both are home games and start at 5 p.m. Boys will play first; followed by the girls. Arbor Ridge does not have a girl's team.
PTSA will have its first meeting of the year on Thursday, Sept. 2nd at 4:30 p.m. in the Media Center.
Effective Monday, August 30th all students and adults will be required to wear a face mask while inside school buildings and school buses until October 30. The mandate will not be required for any student with a note from a medical doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. Please remind your children that handwashing is one of the best ways to protect themselves and their families from getting sick.
As a reminder, check Canvas for continuous updates on your child’s grades and remind your child to bring their laptop, charge their laptop and bring their earbuds every day.
Thank you for your continued support of Discovery Middle as we “Prevail in Excellence.”
Sincerely,
Dr. Fernández
Principal
8/30/21: Soccer Game: DMS v Union Park @ 5 pm- Home
8/31/21: Fall Picture Day
9/1/21: Soccer Game: DMS v. Arbor Ridge @5 pm- Home
9/2/21: PTSA Meeting in Media Center @ 4:30 pm
We have been seeing an increase in students forgetting to bring their laptop and/or charger to school every day. It is incredibly important that students come to school with their fully charged laptop every day.
Students also need to be making it a habit to restart their computers once a week, while on campus in order to get any new updates.
ELA Update
7th grade ELA students are getting a "taste" of this year's Sunshine State books with our first Book Tasting! Students receive a tasting form and preview various titles. We spend 8 - 10 minutes with each book then rotate to a classmate, completing the form as we go. Students note titles and authors, likes and dislikes about the book based on their preview, and assign a 1 to 5 rating. (1 = No way! and 5 = I'm ready to read!) The forms can serve as a quick reference for book recommendations, and we can share our thoughts with each other!
Congratulations to the following students for making the soccer team this year! 2021 DMS Boys Soccer Team William Balladin
Camoren Buttvick
Logan Brown
Mason Corbo
Jason Rivera-Grover
Kaleb Ho
Liam Hutchinson
Gage Mahon
Alessandro Navarro
Nicolas Oliveira
Noah Ortiz
Nicolas Ortiz-Urrea
Cristian Pham
Angel Ramirez
Jake Schrader2021 DMS Girls Soccer Team
Yara Al Shaybani
Samantha Autrey
Emily Baile
Riley Butler
Emma Echevarria
Adriana Enriquez
Brianna Frederico
Salome Garces
Emma Peabody
Elliana Narvaez
Christine Rachko
Ella Smith
Anastasia Schenker
Kaitlyn Stewart
Michelle Walker
The first PTSA Meeting of 2021-2022 is Thursday, September 2, 2021, in the Media Center at 4:30 pm!
Parent Teacher Student Associations (PTSAs) provide youth members with the opportunity to make a difference by developing leadership skills, learning about the legislative process, increasing their self-esteem, and contributing to the school and community. In turn, adult PTSA members gain a new perspective for program development and youth leadership development and acquire a better understanding of the youth of today.
Joining PTSA does not mean you need to volunteer your time, certainly, if you have time we would love to have you volunteer. Joining PTSA is giving you and your student a voice and the ability to participate and help with student and teacher initiatives throughout the 2021-2022 school year. We would love for everyone to become a member and be an advocate for our students. Hope to see you on Thursday!
Help PTSA win the Membership Challenge between Timber Springs and Avalon Middle!
Dr. Fernandez will get a pie in the face if we can get the most Memberships before September 30th.
SAC meetings will be held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 4:30 p.m in the Media Center. The first meeting will be on September 16th.
The latest Keeping Up with the Explorers. Make sure to subscribe.
Laptop Dos and Don'ts
Do
Restart your computer at least once a week.
Use your laptop only on a hard, flat surface such as a desk or table.
Carry your laptop in a bag or backpack.
Unplug your device when it is fully charged.
Keep your charger out of reach of young children and pets.
Carry your device with both hands if moving around during classroom instruction.
Don’t
Drop your device, even when in a bag or backpack.
Cover or block your device’s air vents when in use.
Use your devices near food or drink.
Pick the device up by the screen.
Use a liquid cleaner to clean the screen of the device.
Skyward is the OCPS adopted Student Information System (SIS) for parent and student access to grades. Instructions for creating a LaunchPad parent account are included below if you do not already have an account created to view student grades.
Below are instructions on how to become an observer on your student's canvas account. This will allow you to see the content and gradebook of the different courses.
It is important that we remain consistent in adhering to guidelines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19:
Face coverings are meant to protect other people in case the wearer is unknowingly infected but does not have symptoms.
Physical distancing also called “social distancing,” means keeping a safe space between yourself and other people who are not from your household.
Physical distancing combined with mask-wearing can help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Encourage alternate means of greeting expressions to assist with physical distancing and maintain separation (i.e. minimize gestures that promote close contact, discourage shaking hands, fist or elbow bumps, and hugging. Instead wave and verbally greet them.)
Handwashing is one of the best ways to protect yourself and your family from getting sick. After you have been in a public place and touched an item or surface that may be frequently touched by other people, such as door handles, tables, countertops, chairs, sinks, shared pens, elevator buttons, and microphones. Always wash or sanitize your hands before touching your eyes, nose, or mouth because that’s how germs enter our bodies.
Health monitoring and recognizing the signs and symptoms are crucial to help reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposureto the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:
