Diplomat ROAR

August 10, 2024

Welcome to the 2024-2025 School Year!

Diplomat Middle School's Administration team welcomes you to the 2024-2025 school year!

Principal: Jason Plucker

Assistant Principal of Curriculum: Jennifer Milstein

Assistant Principal of Administration: Tanya Norris

Assistant Principal of Administration: Courtney Wood

We are here for you! Please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Parent Drop Off Procedures

Beginning at 9:15, students will be allowed onto campus and into the building to make their way to the cafeteria, if they wish to have breakfast. If a student does not want breakfast, they will be directed to go to the Gym.

Please pull all the way around the drop off circle to let your child out of the car. This will allow many more students to exit vehicles at the same time and not hold the line. Please be sure that your child exits your vehicle quickly. Your child should wait in your car until 9:15.

If you need to visit the office for any reason during drop off, please park in one of the visitor parking spots located along the entrance driveway.

Parent Pick Up Procedures

If you are picking your child up from school at dismissal, please stay in the line of cars and do not pull around if you see that the pick up circle is empty. Our staff will direct the traffic just before dismissal begins.

When entering the driveway for our parent pick up circle, you must enter from the southbound direction on NE 10th Place. There are no right turns allow into our pick up driveway. See the RED arrows on the picture below. If there is a line of traffic to enter our pick up driveway, please park along NE 10th Place without blocking the roadway.

When exiting the driveway, you are only allowed to make a right turn. See the BLUE arrows on the picture below. Due to the construction areas, once you exit the driveway, you will proceed to NE 19th Terrace to follow the route around the work zones. See diagram 2nd diagram below.

Please follow all staff directions to ensure the safety of all students, parents and staff.

The Parent Pick Up process runs very smoothly, but during the first two weeks of school, it does take more time. It can take up to an hour to get through the line initially, but after the first two weeks, the line is cleared by 4:25.

Walk ups are not allowed during dismissal. You must come through the parent pick up line.

Per district policy, students are not allowed to be signed out from school during the last 30 minutes of the school day. If your child has an appointment, please plan accordingly.

Utilities Expansion Project Construction Alert

Please note that for the start of the school year, there will be construction in the area around the school due to the Utilities Expansion Project. While our entrances will be open, the roads in the area will not be paved. The map below shows the expected travel routes for parents to pick up and drop off. Middle School families should follow the route indicated by the BLUE line.

We will be using our regular parent pick up and drop off procedures. You may also see extra patrols and staff to assist with the process for the first week of school. Please follow all directions to keep the traffic flowing and maintain a safe roadway for all.

You may encounter an increased amount of traffic with the adjustment to the elementary school routes. Please be patient.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Walkers and Bike Riders

Walkers and bike riders will be dismissed as a group. They are expected to exit campus using the sidewalk near the Diplomat Middle sign and the sidewalks along NE 16 Ter. Parents are not allowed to pick students up along the roadway. There is still construction along parts of NE 16th Ter, so please talk with your child about the safest route they should take to get home.

In the morning, walkers and bike riders should not be on campus before 9:15. Bike riders are advised to have a lock for their bike and that it is inside the gated bike racks.

Counselor's Corner

Kiersten Mears – School Counselor- 8th Grade and 7th Grade A-L

Diandra Demetropoulos- School Counselor- 6th Grade and 7th Grade M-Z
Noemi Pena – School Counseling Secretary

First Day

Your child's schedule can be found in Focus.

If you attended Open House and picked up a white schedule, please send that with your child on the first day. This will help us get your child to the correct 1st period class.

If you did not attend Open House or Focus does not match the schedule you picked up, our teachers will be able to help them locate their first period class.

Once students get to 1st period, teachers will be distributing a new copy of the schedule to all students.
We have a big campus and it can be hard to navigate initially as a new student. Our teachers and staff will make sure that all students can find the next class period.

Make sure your child knows how they are getting home. Bus numbers and bus stops can be found in Focus.

Basketball Try Outs begin August 14.

Boys start on August 14

Girls start on August 19

Start time: 4:15

Pick Up time: 5:30

Athletes MUST have all 3 athletic forms on file before attending tryouts. Please visit our website to find the forms.

If you have any questions regarding athletics, please reach out to Tara Stroup or Jamie Gross.

School Messenger Emergency Alerts and Notifications

SchoolMessenger® Communicate is a program that enables administration from the District and schools to send families important messages, emergency broadcasts, attendance alerts and event reminders.

There is also a way to receive text messages, however under a rule by the Federal Communications Commission, you must opt in for that service. The process is easy and only takes a few seconds to complete. Simply text any one of these words subscribe, optin or yes to the number 67587.

You will know you were successful if you receive the following reply message:

You are registered 4 School Messenger notifications. Reply STOP to cancel, HELP for help. Msg&data rates may apply. Msg freq. varies. schoolmessenger.com/txt

You will want to repeat the opt-in process for any wireless numbers that you wish to include:

Please note, although the district does not charge you for this service, it does not pay for text or phone message charges that may be incurred by you for sending or receiving text messages or receiving phone calls. Check with your wireless carrier for possible charges.

In addition to performing the opt-in process above, you will want to ensure that the district has your wireless number(s) in our student information database. If you have not already provided that information to your school, please contact them directly.

Families may sign up for a free account at go.schoolmessenger.com to set communication preferences for calls and emails.

There is a companion app that schools may or may not choose to use that will allow teachers to communicate directly with you. Please check with your child's school to see if the school is using the app.

Focus Parent Portal

Focus is the district's platform for all grades, student information, attendance and test history. Creating a parent portal gives you 24/7 access. In the portal, there are required forms that we need in order to ensure you are receiving the most current information. There is also a required form for your child to receive care in the clinic. Without this clinic form, we cannot assist your child. If you have not already completed these online forms, please create an account and complete them.

Where's the Bus app

If your child is riding a school bus, you'll want to download the Where's the Bus app.

Safety First

Students are not to be on campus before 9:15 without being enrolled in our before school program.

When dropping students off in the morning, the safest way is through our parent drop off loop. Stopping along the roadway to drop off students creates a safety issue for you and those travelling the roadway. No drop offs should occur in the DMS faculty lot or the elementary school parking lot.

When picking up students in the afternoon, the safest way is through our parent pick up loop. Our parent pick up line moves quickly and clear by 4:25 each afternoon. As a reminder, school dismisses at 4:00 and students need to be picked up from school by 4:30. If you arrive after 4:30, you will need to come to the office to pick up your child.

To keep the flow of traffic moving, remember that to exit campus from parent pick up, you need to make a right turn and go around behind the school. When entering the driveway for parent pick up, you must turn left into the driveway.

2024-2025 Instructional Calendar

Diplomat Middle School Dress Code

Grade Level Supply Lists

Bus Stop Information

Before School Program

7th Grade Immunization Requirement

Attention all incoming Seventh Grade students: In addition to kindergarten through twelfth grade vaccines, students entering or attending seventh grade need the following vaccinations:

• One dose of tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap) vaccine in grades seven through twelve

• An updated DH 680 form to include Tdap, must be obtained for submission to the school

Students will not receive a schedule or be allowed to attend class at the start of the 2024-2025 school year without the updated immunization record. Be sure our clinic has this on file.

Please visit the school district website for more information.

https://www.leeschools.net/cms/one.aspx?portalId=676305&pageId=1336425

Reporting Student Absences

If your child is going to be absent from school for any reason, please email 0772.Attendance@leeschools.net with the student name, date of absence, reason for absence and a doctor's note for illness.