North Dorchester Middle School

Today is National Custodian Appreciation Day! We want to give a huge thank you to our amazing custodial team: Mr. Potts, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Taylor, Mr. Holland, and Mr. Fred! They do so much behind the scenes every day to keep our school clean, safe, and functioning. Without a building that is ready for students and staff each day, learning simply could not happen. Thank you for all of your hard work and for everything you do to take care of NDMS. We appreciate you!

🚌 NDMS is hitting the road this weekend!

We’ll be at the Hurlock Fall Fest this Saturday, October 3, from 9:00 AM–2:00 PM at the Old Hurlock Library!
Stop by and say hello to our NDMS staff! We’d love to connect with families to discuss your student’s academics, progress, and growth—or just stop in to say hi and catch up!

📍 Old Hurlock Library
📅 Saturday, October 3
⏰ 9:00 AM–2:00 PM

We’re bringing NDMS to you—see you in Hurlock! 🦉💙❤️

MCAP results were sent home with students yesterday. Please check your child’s folder, backpack, or other belongings for their individual score report.

We encourage you to take a few minutes to review the results together—celebrate areas of success, reflect on the progress and growth your child has made, and identify opportunities where they can continue to grow.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support!

📚✨ Attendance Matters at NDMS! ✨📚
As part of our Attendance Matters Campaign, the NDMS School Improvement Team recently recognized students who were randomly selected to receive a gift card for being present on our September half days!

🎉 Congratulations to:

September 15
⭐ Lita Elzey – 8th Grade
⭐ Brooke Neild – 7th Grade
⭐ Leianah Comfort – 6th Grade

September 24
⭐ Jamar Wongus – 6th Grade
⭐ Malayah Malone – 7th Grade
⭐ Muhammad Ismail – 8th Grade

Every day counts—even half days! NDMS reached approximately 90% attendance on September 15 and an outstanding 91.6% on September 24, the highest attendance rate in the district that day!

👏 Thank you to our students, families, and staff for making attendance a priority.
Show up. Learn. Succeed.

Mrs. Cohoon's Pre-AP English 8 students at NDMS engaged in a rigorous deconstruction of their argumentative essays on Roald Dahl’s "Lamb to the Slaughter," focusing on the theme of justice versus morality. They segmented their essays into key parts—introduction, body paragraphs organized by literary device, and conclusion—then affixed these sections onto blue paper for annotation. Using a color-coded system, students highlighted claims in pink, textual evidence in yellow, and reasoning in blue to clearly trace how evidence supports their arguments. They also tracked their reasoning explicitly and corrected writing errors, enhancing both their analytical skills and attention to written conventions.

🚗🦉 NDMS is on the road!

Our NDMS staff will be heading to Hurlock Elementary School for Family Night on Wednesday, September 23!

We can’t wait to connect with HES families, say hello to some familiar faces, and meet some of our future Owl families who may be joining us at NDMS in the years ahead.

Stop by and see us — we’d love to meet you! See you there! 🦉💙

Good morning, North Dorchester Middle School families. This is a quick update from NDMS. Our automated attendance system is currently experiencing a glitch and may be sending absentee robocalls in error.

Please disregard these automated calls at this time, and please do not call the school to have the attendance notification corrected. We are aware of the issue and have already received many calls, which are beginning to tie up our phone system.

We truly appreciate everyone’s concern for student attendance and your patience as this issue is corrected.

Here is this week's NDMS Newsletter! https://app.smore.com/n/62tse

🎉 Hispanic Heritage Month is officially underway at NDMS! 🇵🇷🇨🇺🇲🇽🇩🇴🇨🇴🇵🇦 Today, our students attended our Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff Assembly Celebration! Dr. Barnes and Ms. Jalon kicked things off with a presentation exploring the history of Hispanic Heritage Month and why September 15 is such an important date — marking the anniversary of independence for several Latin American countries, with additional independence celebrations following in the days and weeks ahead. We were also honored to welcome local artist Miriam Moran! 🎨 Miriam is a self-taught artist of Puerto Rican descent with Taíno heritage whose work can be found throughout our community and across the Eastern Shore. Her art celebrates history, culture, community, and the power of using your talents to make a difference. Mr. Pages sat down with Miriam for a special interview about how her childhood dreams of becoming an artist became a reality, the journey that brought her to where she is today, and how her Puerto Rican upbringing continues to shape both who she is and the art she creates. And sometimes the best moments aren’t planned! ❤️ Today also happened to be Alondra’s birthday — and she already follows Miriam on TikTok! Needless to say, she was ecstatic to meet her in person and get a birthday picture with one of her favorite local artists! 🎂🎨 A huge THANK YOU to our Heritage Celebration Committee — Ms. Warfield, Dr. Barnes, and Mr. Kahl — for putting together such a meaningful way to begin our celebration! We’re looking forward to continuing to celebrate the cultures, histories, accomplishments, and stories of our Hispanic and Latino communities throughout Hispanic Heritage Month! Go Owls! 🦉

🦀 PEP UP & THRIVE CRAB FEAST 🦀

Join PEP (Parent Encouragement Program) and Dorchester County Public Schools for an event for the entire family!

Good Food. Real Talk. Parenting Tools You Can Use Right Away.

🍕 Pizza and activities will be available for kids!

📅 Wednesday, September 30
⏰ 5:00–7:00 PM
🎟️ FREE ENTRY
📍 North Dorchester High School
5875 Cloverdale Road, Hurlock, MD 21643

Reserve your spot today by scanning the QR code on the flyer or visiting tinyurl.com/PEP-FamNite.

Questions? Contact Tenishia Tillery at tenishia.tillery@pepparent.org.

This event is for families who attend Warwick Elementary School, Vienna Elementary School, Hurlock Elementary School, North Dorchester Middle School, and North Dorchester High School.

We hope to see our NDMS families there! 🦉

📣 NDMS Families — we’re looking for YOU!

We are currently building our interest list as we work toward a November start for WISE — Working in Support of Education, our parent organization for North Dorchester Middle School.

WISE will give families an opportunity to help:

Support school programs
Plan events and fundraisers
Build a stronger school community
Make a positive difference for our students

If you’re interested in being part of the group from the beginning, we’d love to hear from you!

For more information or to join the interest list, contact Ms. Linda Barnes, Assistant Principal, at 410-943-3322 ext. 1669.

We’re excited to bring more families together in support of NDMS! ❤️💙🦉

🎯 Math Vocabulary in Action!

Students in Ms. Reed’s 7th Grade Math Intervention class had some fun putting their math knowledge to the test! Students had to guess the math vocabulary term on their forehead by listening to academic clues provided by their classmates.

It was a great way to review important vocabulary while getting students talking, thinking, and using mathematical language together.

👏 Great work, 7th grade!

Our latest NDMS newsletter is now available! This week’s edition includes important upcoming dates and reminders, a look at our Poms tryouts, WBOC’s visit to highlight our TV studio, and more of what’s happening around North Dorchester Middle School.

Take a few minutes to check it out here:
https://app.smore.com/n/mwukb

As always, thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. Have a great week, Owls!

Thank you, North Dorchester Middle School families, for your patience and flexibility during today’s dismissal.

This afternoon’s storm developed very quickly. Within just a few minutes, conditions went from calm to extremely windy with heavy rain as the severe thunderstorm moved through Hurlock. After reviewing the radar and seeing that the worst of the weather was expected to pass relatively quickly, we made the decision to briefly hold dismissal rather than send students and staff outside during the strongest conditions.

We understand that delaying dismissal creates a domino effect for families, buses, and our neighboring schools, and we sincerely appreciate everyone’s flexibility. We also want to thank the staff at North Dorchester High School, Hurlock Elementary, Warwick Elementary, and Vienna Elementary for adjusting as our delay impacted their afternoon transportation as well.

While a few students may have still gotten a bit wet, our staff did everything possible to keep students safe and sheltered during the worst of the storm.

Student and staff safety will always be our top priority. Thank you again for your patience, understanding, and flexibility this afternoon!

🎉 NDMS Back to School Dance! 🎉

We’re excited to kick off the school year with our Back to School Dance on Friday, September 11!

🕺 After school until 5:00 PM
🎟️ Tickets are $5
📅 Tickets on sale September 4–10
✅ Students must have no major referrals from now through September 11 in order to attend.

A few reminders for students:

👕 Students will not be permitted to change clothes after school. Our dances are casual events, so come dressed for the school day and ready to have fun!

🎶 These dances are all about enjoying some music, hanging out with friends, and grabbing a few snacks.

🍿 Snack tickets will be available for purchase, so students should bring a little extra money if they would like something from concessions. Usually $1–$5 is plenty!

We’re looking forward to a fun afternoon together! ❤️💙

Sponsored by NDMS Administration.