DMS Family Email - 1/23/26

January 23, 2026

Dear Families-

Important Dates:

January 29 – 5/6 Student Council Movie Event (see details below)

January 30 – Spirit Day – School Spirit (wear your Dover gear!)

February 2 – PTA Meeting @ 6:00 PM in DMS Library

February 13 – 7/8 Dance (info coming soon)

From the Counseling Office

Please review the attached newsletter from the DMS counselors.

5/6 Student Council Movie Event

5/6 Student Council will be holding a movie fundraiser after school! This will take place on Thursday, January 29^th, 2:30-4:00 PM. We will be showing the movie Madagascar! Tickets will be sold at lunch starting Thursday, January 22 – Wednesday, January 28. Due to limited seating in the Ren Room, only 150 tickets will be sold, so tickets are first come, first serve. Each $5 ticket will provide a drink and snack for the movie. Tickets will not be replaced if lost.

Athletics

DMS Girls Softball is invited to winter workouts with the high school team. The two sessions are currently Saturday January 31 at 8am in the DHS auxiliary gym and Saturday February 14 at the same time and place. All interested players are invited to join!

Players should be dressed in workout clothing, bring indoor sneakers, fielding gloves, bats, and fielding masks if they have them. Some extra gear may be available but limited.

From the DMS PTA

SAVE THE DATE: School-wide Read-a-Thon (RAT)

Join us March 16-27 for the school-wide read-a-thon, where we will aim to reach 150k collective minutes read over the two weeks. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

Mental Health First Aid

This past Monday, Suzanne Weete of the Dover Mental Health Alliance (DMHA) attended our PTA meeting to ask what topics we, as parents and caregivers, would like to have more information on, and mental health and suicide prevention were two of the top topics mentioned. We have an opportunity to partner with the DMHA and Community Partners to provide Mental Health First Aid to DMS parents and caregivers at no cost. 

This 8-hour training helps adults recognize signs and symptoms of mental health distress and teaches them how to engage in conversation and support those facing a mental health challenge or crisis.

We are looking at breaking the 8-hour class into 2-hour sessions over the course of four weeks. If you are interested, please complete this short survey to help us identify the best days/times for the course. Completing the survey does not commit you to the class. Those who do complete the survey will have an opportunity to enroll in the class first, before it is made widely available to DMS families.

What Happened to the Wall Ball Wall?!?!?!?

Well, we didn’t get our permit in time to have it up by fall; HOWEVER, we have received the necessary permits and are finalizing the fence quote to not only have a fence behind the wall ball wall, but also over by the Gaga Ball pit. We are on track to get the wall ball wall up by early spring! Stay tuned for more details!

We hope to see you at our next meeting on Monday, February 2, at 6 pm in the DMS Library or on the first Monday of each month through June. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions at [email protected].

To have a vote in DMS PTA activities, events, and how we use funds to support the school community, complete your 2025-2026 dues for just $10.

Join today my.cheddarup.com/c/25-26-dms-pta-dues

Yearbook

The 2026 DMS Yearbook is now on sale! Yearbooks are $35 and can be purchased at https://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A05024850.  Yearbooks can only be ordered online and will not be sold at school. 

Does your child play a sport for DMS? The DMS Yearbook is looking for pictures of our athletes to include in this year's yearbook. If you have pictures of DMS sports you are willing to share, please upload them to: https://photos.jostens.com/MKDJTE

Have a great weekend!

Lindsay Dube

REPEATED / IMPORTANT INFORMATION

DMS Staff Email Directory

District Transportation Information & Contact

Food Services

Student Handbook & Policies

Attendance: 

If you need to report an absence, please email [email protected] or call 603-516-7019 to leave a message.

Early Dismissals:

Students are not called to the office before a parent arrives. As soon as you check in at the window, we will call your child down.

Bus Changes:

Parents/guardians must contact First Student directly to request the change. First Student

will then inform the Dover Middle School office of the updated arrangements. You can reach First Student at (603) 692-4406. They require 24 hours’ notice to be able to approve and communicate the change. Notes are not accepted from students.

Student Drop Off and Pick Up:

Please do not park in the bus loop at the main entrance during 7:00-7:30 AM or 2:00-2:20 PM. We have several buses that utilize this area during those times. 

End 68 Hours of Hunger:

We hope everyone is having a smooth transition back into school. We wanted to inform those who are new to the district as well as a reminder to those returning to us this year of our end 68 hours of hunger program. The 68 Hours program is a food program that each household and every student has access too. Once a week on Thursday (or earlier depending on Holiday and break schedule) the students come down at the end of the day to receive their bag(s) of groceries. The food items are non-perishables such pastas, cereal, canned goods, peanut butter, and other pantry food items. If you are interested in having your household participate, please contact your student’s counselor, and let them know. We hope you have a fantastic school year.