It’s been nearly two weeks since the 2025-26 school year started, and Duncan Middle School students are settling into the year.
School for Duncan Public School began Aug. 14 with nearly 800 students enrolled.
Students might have noticed the school year is a bit longer this time around. During the 2025 Oklahoma Legislative Session, legislators passed a bill to increase the school year. As part of Oklahoma House Bill 1087, schools following the 180 days rule saw an increase to 181 days. However, school districts, such as Duncan, who follow the hours rules, saw an increase from 1,080 to 1,086 hours.
Aubrey Hicks, who just started sixth-grade at Duncan Middle School, said the thing she is most excited about this year is learning new things.
¨Ms. (Cathy) Barkers (humanities) class is my favorite because I like Greek mythology,” Hicks said.
Seventh-grader Micah Maloney and eighth-grade Bryson Brooks said the thing they are both looking forward to most this year is playing sports at DMS. Both will be wrestling for Duncan Middle School, and Maloney will also be playing football.
Still, wrestling isn’t the only thing Brooks is looking forward to this year.
Brooks said he is also excited about being in Mark Monteith’s life management class.
“We get to do hunter safety,” he said.
This year, several new classes were offered at DMS including Spanish taught by Cynthia Castillo, civics taught by social studies teachers Chuck Wagner and Ashley Ford, and podcasting/blogging taught by journalism teacher Derrick Miller. This year also saw the addition of an Advisory period, which gives students 25 minutes each day of intervention or enrichment.
There are also several new faces around the building, including new teachers and support staff. The administration team, led by Principal Cassie Berthold, remains the same.
With the start of the school year, several students have set goals for themselves. Maloney said his goal is to have straight A’s by the end of the year.
