Dear Explorer Families,
Congratulations to Mrs. Peterson, Discovery Teacher of the Year and Mrs. Hettenbach, Support Person of the Year. They were recognized at the district’s Stellar Awards ceremony. We are proud of these two well-deserved Explorers!
OCPS has selected Discovery Middle to receive an award through the Curb Appeal program. They will deliver plants, mulch, and landscaping tools to beautify our campus. We need your help! We are seeking 30 volunteers to help support our efforts. If you are willing to volunteer on Saturday, January 18, please let us know by signing up using the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0448AAA623A2F58-discovery1.
Discovery Middle is in the process of incorporating the arts across all content area. We are currently partnering with another organization that provides professional development to our teachers to implement arts-based reading strategies in all content areas. Research has shown that by integrating the arts across all content areas enhances the academic achievement of all students. A representative from our partner organization will be on campus Wednesday, January 15 and Thursday, January 16 to train teachers and to observe the implementation of these research-based strategies. Please ask your child about what the arts integration initiative is and what they’re doing in their classrooms.
Report cards will go home on Tuesday, January 14. Remember to check your child’s backpack.
Mark your calendars, SAC will meet on Tuesday, January 21 at 4:30 p.m. in the Media Center.
Also, on Tuesday, we will have the “Be an Angel” Therapy Dogs on our campus for the first time. These trained therapy dogs offer support to struggling readers and help encourage students to read by providing a non-judgmental listener and furry friend to read to. Students who have previously worked with these therapy dogs have demonstrated increased reading performance. We are so excited to welcome these wonderful volunteers and their therapy dogs to the Discovery campus and look forward to the positive improvements they will help our students achieve.
Please remind our Explorers to charge their laptops at night and to bring their chargers to school each day.
That’s all for now, everyone! Thank you for your continued support of Discovery Middle as “We Prevail in Excellence.”
Sincerely,
Dr. Gloria Fernandez
Updated 1/10/2020
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Discovery Middle School
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About Discovery Middle School
Celebrating more than 25 years of serving students and our community, Discovery Middle has a longstanding tradition of excellence. Recently recognized by the State of Florida as a "School of Excellence", Discovery Middle offers advanced courses for high school credit, a plethora of elective courses such as art, band, chorus, guitar, orchestra, foreign language, computer technology, STEM, and Latinos in Action. Student artwork has been recognized in local museums and art shows and have won numerous art competitions. Our band, chorus, and orchestra students have received superior ratings from All-County and All-State competitions. We offer computer courses where students have the opportunity to earn both high school credit and Microsoft industry certification. Students who participate in STEM are often found working on engineering projects that prepare them with real-world skills such as problem-solving, collaboration and decision-making while utilizing principles learned in their math and science courses. Our Latinos in Action partner with our neighboring school, Waterford Elementary to tutor students in reading and math. Simply put, Discovery Middle is a school of excellence and innovation.
Phone: 407-384-1555
Fax: Fax 407-384-1580
Address: 601 Woodbury Road, Orlando, FL 32828-7104
Email: discovery_ms@ocps.net
Innovation School Plan
Discovery Middle is partnering with other stakeholders to integrate the arts into all content areas. According to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, arts integration is defined as, "an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both."