Porter Ridge Middle School

Debbie Mayer, Principal

    School Updates

    • Weekly Message 09/07/2025

      Good evening families of Porter Ridge Middle School! It was a fantastic week and ended with the longest running pep rally in the history of Porter Ridge! We had 6 consecutive sorting celebrations on Friday! We sorted and celebrated just over 1,300 students. Thank you to the House students from other schools (mostly Poplin) that brought the energy to the day! It was a great and exhausting day! If your student was not at school on Friday or did not get selected by a House, we will do that tomorrow during Flex Time. 

      We have our first home football game on Tuesday! The theme is a "Black Out". Students should come decked out in all black that day to school to cheer on our football players... We would also love to see a great showing at the game that night! Hope to see you there!

      Student absences... If your student is absent, please complete the digital attendance form that can be found on the PR website under Quick Links. Please do not send paper copies of notes. Notes can be easily uploaded into the digital system. This helps to streamline the process and notes do not get lost. Here is the link for our reference... Attendance Entry Form. 

      We are continually working to improve the Infinite Campus experience. We are aware that there are issues with households, phone numbers, and emails. Ms. Bryant, our data manager, is working through each one to better serve our community. Thank you for your patience as she works to help you. 

      On Tuesday, September 9th, students will participate in our beginning of the year math screener, STAR. This is just a screener to determine best placement as well as data for teachers to best support our students. Due to it being a screener, students will take this in their math classes. We expect students to take this seriously and do their best so that we can meet them where they are academically. If students rush through the screener, it will be reset and it will be taken again. Please speak to your student about the importance of this data point. 

      On Thursday, September 11, we will host a curriculum night. This is a parents ONLY event where you are going to meet each of your student's teachers and learn about the classroom expectations, procedures, and topics covered in the class. It will begin promptly at 5:30 pm and parents will spend between 10-15 minutes with each teacher. Parents will receive a copy of their student's schedule at 5:30 pm in the first block class. You will use that paper schedule to walk to each of the classrooms, learning about each one. We look forward to seeing you then! Curriculum night is not set up as a drop in event. Thank you.

      Dates to Mark on Your Calendar:

      Monday, September 8th - Volleyball game @ Weddington at 5:00 pm (Our team is 2-0!)

      Tuesday, September 9th - STAR math screener in math classes; Home football game vs. Weddington at 6 pm (BLACK OUT)

      Wednesday, September 10th - Home Volleyball vs. Piedmont at 5:00 pm; Wayfind Parent Night at 5:30 pm (8th grade parents); 6th grade Jump Start Band Night after school until 6:30 pm

      Thursday, September 11th - Cross Country @ Weddington; Curriculum Night at 5:30 pm

      Wednesday, September 17th - 7th grade Parent Night - Parents Only event from 6 pm - 7 pm; This is a night to share our expectations, new year information and more! 

      Thursday, September 18th - 8th grade Parent Night - Parents Only event from 6:00 - 7:00 pm;This is a night to share our expectations, new year information and more!  

      Thursday, September 25th - 6th grade Social from 4:30 pm to 6 pm.

      Friday, September 26th - 7th and 8th grade Social from 4:30 pm to 6 pm.

      We look forward to another amazing Pirate week!

      Debbie Mayer, Principal
      Comments (-1)

    • Weekly Communication 09/01/2025

      Good evening families of Porter Ridge Middle! Last week was a great week to be a Pirate! We will continue that energy this week with our first football game and our introduction to the House System!

      Last week, teachers reviewed the PRMS Student Handbook in homerooms. Deputy McDonald and I reviewed the UCPS Board Code of Conduct as well as safety protocols with all grade levels in the pit on Wednesday. Please see both documents linked in this message. Thank you for your attention and dedication to being a member of our team in safety and behavior expectations for everyone.

      We will be distributing more Chromebooks this week. Please make sure that the Chromebook form is returned (all students) and the technology fee is paid either through Infinite Campus, cash or check. If your student qualifies for Free and Reduced Lunch, please bring in your letter from Child Nutrition to get the fee waived. 

      Please return all Back to School beginning of year paperwork as soon as possible. Thank you for your attention and diligence to this task.

      Curriculum Night was originally planned for Thursday, September 4th, however, we are going to postpone it. We will re-schedule it and we will get that date out this week. Thank you for your understanding.

      Dates for your calendar:

      Tuesday, September 2nd - Football @ Piedmont @ 6 pm

      Wednesday, September 3rd - Volleyball @ Parkwood @ 5 pm

      This week on Friday, we will welcome our students into their Houses! Each house has its own characteristics that we hope to share with all students. We will have 6 houses...Altruismo, Amistad, Nukumori, Onraka, Reveur, and Isibindi. Altruismo is the House of Givers, Amistad is the House of Friendship, Nukumori is the House of Kindness, Onraka is the House of Unity, Reveur is the House of Dreamers, and Isibindi is the House of Courage. Here are some resources for you to explore to understand the House System... Ron Clark House System Guidelines and Ron Clark Houses. We cannot wait to celebrate each House!

      Infinite Campus is still a work in progress! We are working through emails and phone calls to support parents and families with each issue. Thank you for your continued patience!

      We are going to have another amazing week! Please come out and support our football and volleyball teams this week!

      Debbie Mayer, Principal

      We Challenge, We Connect, We Celebrate
      Comments (-1)

    • Weekly Communication from Mrs. Mayer 08/24/2025

      Good evening Porter Ridge Middle School families! It's finaly here... the first day of school eve! The staff, custodians, and teachers have prepared a beautiful environment for the students tomorrow! We are so excited to welcome back our students and welcome some new ones!

      Here are a couple of tips for tomorrow:

      1. We have been making schedule changes all weekend. Please have your student login to Infinite Campus to view the most current one. Students should go into NCEdCloud on any computer to view it.

      2. Plan ahead! Bus transportation will be slow as the drivers learn their new routes and students. Please make sure that students are out at the bus stop early...at least 10 minutes before Edulog says it will be there. In the afternoon, the buses will probably be later than "normal". Please keep an eye on the Edulog app for bus locations. 

      3. Car rider line is a one lane drop off. We ask that you pull all the way down to the end of the curb (teachers will be there to direct you), keep a close distance to the car in front of you, and unload where the sidewalk begins. Please do not stop at the entrance to take videos or pictures of your student. Hav:e your student gather his/her items from the car prior to it stopping for drop off. This will make the car rider line move quicker. Drop off begins at 8:20 am.

      4. No flimsy cups from Starbucks, Bojangles, McDonald's, etc will be permitted in the building. Students will need to leave them in the car.

      5. Appropriate attire for school is expected. PE is scheduled every day for minutes so students should bring tennis shoes/sneakers every day. There are no PR uniforms.

      Here is the link to the UCPS Handbook as well as the Porter Ridge Middle School Handbook. Please review them for important information as it relates to county guidelines as well as Porter Ridge expectations.

      Teachers and staff will be available for students who get lost and need help. We promise that we will take great care of them! 

      Have a great night!

      Debbie Mayer, Principal
      Comments (-1)

    • August 17 communication from Mrs. Mayer: 

      Good evening, families of Porter Ridge Middle School! Just a quick shout out to the amazing families who came out to clean up the campus on Saturday. Mulch, donated by the PTO (thank you!), was thrown, trees were cut back, weeds were trimmed around the trailers, a pathway to Trailer 1 was created, trash was picked up on the baseball field as well as the bus lot, and weeds were pulled. Thank you does not begin to cover the gratitude for your support.

      Schedules were mailed out on Friday afternoon. We are still making some changes to classes in order to best serve our students. Students will have access to their Infinite Campus (see their schedule) on Wednesday morning. Please have them log into NCEdCloud and click on NCSIS. This will allow them to see if any changes were made. We are working to fix the glitches and hope to have everything worked out prior to Wednesday! Thank you for your patience.

      This week is a busy one... Monday night from 6-7 pm, we will host 6th grade parents only for a special session. Parents will have the opportunity to meet the new 6th grade assistant principal, Ms. Amber Heine. We will share some key points that will help jump start your student's success this school year.

      Tuesday is our Exceptional Children's Night from 6-7 pm. This is a night to meet with professionals from several departments. If your student is in one of the categories (AIG, 504, Multi-Language, EC, Math I, II or English I), please join us to receive the most accurate and up-to-date information. 

      On Wednesday, we will host our 6th graders and their families from 4:30-6:00 pm for a drop in Open House. This is an opportunity to walk your student's schedule, meet the teachers, buy Spirit Wear, get information about the PTO, sign up for transportation, and more!

      On Thursday, we will host our 7th and 8th graders as well as their families from 5:00-6:30 pm for a drop in Open House. Families will have the same opportunities as the 6th graders from the night before.

      Chromebooks will not be distributed during Open House. We will distribute those during the school day once school begins. Make sure tech fees are paid or a Free and Reduced Lunch letter is provided to the front office. In addition, we must have a signed Chromebook form. These will be provided to you.

      Here are some other reminders for upcoming dates:

      Saturday, August 23rd - Football scrimmage vs. Marvin Ridge! Come out and support your Pirates in the "preseason"!

      Monday, August 25th - First day of school! School begins at 9:05 am. Car riders should be dropping off by 8:55 am in order for students to make it to class on time. Please refrain from taking pictures and video in the car rider line. Students should be prepared to exit with all belongings when the car comes to a stop. Thank you for doing your part in moving the car rider along!

      Wednesday, August 27th - Our first volleyball game at Sun Valley! Come out and support our volleyball team in their first match of the season!

      Thursday, August 28th - Our first XC meet at Marvin Ridge! Come out to support our XC runners in this heat!

      Friday, August 29th - College Colors day for UCPS

      Monday, September 1st - No School - Labor Day

      Thursday, September 4th - Curriculum Night - all grade levels beginning at 5:30 pm

      Wednesday, September 17th - 7th grade Parent Night

      Thursday, September 18th - 8th grade Parent Night

      Thursday, September 25th - 6th grade social

      Friday, September 26th - 7th/8th grade social

      We look forward to seeing you this week! 

      Debbie Mayer, Principal

      We Challenge, We Connect, We Celebrate
      Comments (-1)

      • Online Payments

        Union County Schools is changing its online payment provider from OSP to SchoolCash Online. SchoolCash Online is a secure way to pay for school activities, field trips, spirit wear, etc., using Visa, Mastercard, eCheck, and Apple Pay (coming soon). We encourage all parents to register now, so you’ll be ready to receive email notifications when fees are added to your student’s account and make online payments as schools begin to add school items to the online catalog.  Click here to register.
      Comments (-1)

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