August 12, 2024
Greetings Stephen Decatur Middle School Families,
We are excited about the upcoming school year and cannot wait to see our returning and new scholars. Welcome back to our returning families, and a special welcome to the new families of Stephen Decatur, The Home of the Mighty Eagles, we are honored to have you. As we approach opening the doors of Stephen Decatur for the 2024-2025 school year, I hope you and your family had the opportunity to rest, relax, and rejuvenate during the summer break. With great anticipation for a dynamic school year of academic success and personal growth for all Stephen Decatur students, we want to share some important information and reminders. The first day of school is Monday, August 26, 2024, the doors of the school will open to all students at 9:00 am and breakfast is served from 9:00 am - 9:20 am.
Stephen Decatur Middle School wants to ensure a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment for our students, please consider joining our SDMS Parent Teacher Association to work hand-in-hand with administration or our SDMS Parent Volunteer program to volunteer your time. Parents are our partners, and it is essential to establish and build a strong, positive relationship to support the social, emotional, and academic needs of our students. We are delighted for the return of our grade-level administrators, and this is the first school year Stephen Decatur will have a community schools coordinator. Everyone listed below is charged with providing an exceptional educational experience through direct support, guidance, and encouragement for our students. The Stephen Decatur grade-level and program administrators are:
In addition to the grade-level administrators, I am honored to introduce to you our professional school counselors. They also play a vital role in supporting the social emotional and academic needs of our students. We have our returning professional school counselor, Ericka Coan - ericka.coan@pgcps.org, who will support 8th-grade students and families and we have professional school counselor Amber Lee amber.lee@pgcps.org, who is new to the Stephen Decatur Middle School family, she will support 6th grade students and families. They will both support the students and families of our 7th-grade team. I would like to introduce our student advocates, Samone Spriggs - samone.spriggs@pgcps.org and Shamica Davis (she is still in the onboarding process). They will play a vital role in advocating for families and students.
Reminders:
STUDENT DRESS CODE: Stephen Decatur Middle School is a uniform school, students must be in proper uniform every day. Students will wear tan/khaki bottoms and their grade-level shirt colors.
6th Grade - White or Light Gray Shirts
7th Grade - Black Shirts
8th Grade - Red Shirts
SCHOOL MEALS: Breakfast and Lunch are offered in all schools. Meals are at no cost or reduced for students who are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals. Parents are encouraged to complete the lunch application to determine eligibility for meal benefits. Households can complete an application at MySchoolApps.com. Online applications are processed within 24-48 hours. Students who are not eligible for free or reduced-priced meals must pay for their meals. See Meal Prices. Food deliveries (GrubHub, UberEats, etc.) are strictly prohibited.
OUR THEME:
Our theme for the 2024- 2025 school year is “Community, Connection, and Collaboration.” We want our community to feel the school connection through positive collaboration to challenge our students to Rise, and Soar, to always Achieve Academic Greatness.
Here are some important dates to remember:
Stephen Decatur Middle School is committed to providing a school environment where all students can achieve greatness. We are also committed to building strong relationships with our families and community to ensure a commitment to our student’s success. I look forward to working with you for a great and successful school year.
Sincerely,
Cecil Miller, Ed.S
Proud Principal
