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Three young girls in black t-shirts with "TEAMUTRUISMO" printed on them cheer with pom-poms in front of a colorful mural.
Photo Gallery: Duke House System Sorting Event
Jeremy Tepper

August 28 marked what has now become an annual, joyous occasion, as 7th and 8th grade students were sorted into their Duke 'House', starting a journey of competition, camaraderie, and community. 

The 2026-27 school year is the third year that the district will be implementing the Duke House System, based on the Ron Clark Academy house system model. The Ron Clark Academy, an acclaimed nonprofit middle school in Atlanta, Georgia, has been revered by educators for its ability to foster a “loving, dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence and fosters leadership.”  

Seventh grade students — along with new 8th graders — blindly grabbed a colored ball out of a box and then went down an inflatable slide, initiating them into their new house. Students and staff cheered loudly for each student. 

The district’s house system splits students into four different groups and represents students’ home rooms, headed by one of four teachers: Mr Uram, Mr. Wilson, Ms. Geyer, or Ms. Taylor. The blind selection of a ball corresponds to one of four houses: Altruismo (the house of giving), Amistad (the house of friendship), Isibindi (the house of courage), and Rêveur (the house of dreamers).

As houses, students build a sense of community and have friendly competitions by way of a point system. Students regularly compete against each other in house challenges — organized by paraprofessionals Desiree Bluett and Jennifer Kraus. Further, students can regularly earn house points for following house rules. A TV monitor on the middle school floor displays house point totals.

Staff have lauded the impact that the Duke House System has had in fostering community and incentivizing good behaviors.

“I think RCA definitely has helped the behaviors down here,” said Mr. Uram, a middle school teacher. "The kids are bought in and the staff is bought in.”    

"They have pride in representing their house. They want to defend their house and get the most house points, and the way to do that is by following house rules. It has made a tremendous difference,” added Jennifer Yocca, the district’s assistant principal.  

A young boy in a white t-shirt and black pants holds a blue ball while standing in front of a colorful inflatable bounce house.
A group of young people in green shirts, some with %22TEAM SIBIND%22 visible, are gathered outdoors with a woman in the foreground raising her hand in a peace sign, while trees and a building form the background.
A woman with her arms raised and holding pom-poms cheers in the foreground, while other people and a building are visible in the background.
A man in a blue shirt and sunglasses gestures emphatically in the foreground, with a blurred background of a grassy field and a young person.
Two young boys in red shirts embrace and laugh in the foreground, while other children and a blurred background suggest an outdoor gathering.
A man with a blue pom-pom cheers at two boys in front of a large blue inflatable structure.
In the foreground, two young people in blue shirts cheer with pom-poms, while in the background, adults stand behind tables laden with green and red items.
A group of people in green shirts cheer with pom-poms in the foreground, while a blurred background shows a grassy field and trees.
A young boy in a blue shirt laughs while holding blue pom-poms, with a grassy field and a fence in the background.
Two boys shake hands in front of a colorful inflatable bounce house with trees and buildings in the background.
A young boy in a light green jacket and camouflage pants stands in front of a colorful inflatable bounce house, with a grassy yard and trees in the background.
Two young men laugh together in the foreground, while a woman with a megaphone cheers in the background.
A young boy in a red t-shirt stands in a grassy area with a graffiti-covered wall behind him.
In the foreground, two people high-five while another person in the background shouts into a megaphone, all on a grassy field with a red obstacle in the distance.
A young boy with dreadlocks slides down a blue inflatable slide, with a brick building visible in the background.
A young boy in a black hoodie and sweatpants runs with a red ball in his hand, with a colorful inflatable bounce house in the background.
A young boy with dreadlocks and ripped jeans smiles as he reaches out to a man in a blue jacket and sunglasses, with a brick building and trees in the background.
A group of excited children in red shirts cheer and clap in the foreground, with a blurred background of a building and trees.
A smiling girl in jeans and a black jacket stands on a colorful inflatable bounce house with a green lawn in the background.
A young girl with braided hair holds a blue ball in her hand while standing in front of a colorful inflatable bounce house on a grassy field.
A young girl in a white t-shirt and jeans shakes hands with a man in a blue jacket in front of a colorful inflatable obstacle course.
A woman in a blue shirt and striped pants shouts into a megaphone in the foreground, while a young woman in a brown shirt and leopard-print pants runs past in the background, with a red inflatable and a grassy field behind them.
Two young women laugh while holding a pom-pom and a ball in front of a colorful inflatable bounce house.
A young boy in a green %22Team Isibindi%22 shirt and sunglasses runs across a grassy field holding a green pom-pom, with a chain-link fence and a building in the background.
A young man with dreadlocks in a green shirt and jeans runs across a grassy field with buildings in the background.
Three smiling young people in matching %22Team Altruismo%22 t-shirts clap their hands in front of a graffiti-covered wall and stairs.
Three young girls in black t-shirts with %22TEAMUTRUISMO%22 printed on them cheer with pom-poms in front of a colorful mural.
Three young people in black t-shirts are laughing and playing on a colorful inflatable bounce house in a grassy yard with trees and buildings in the background.
Two young women with braided hair laugh and hold hands in the foreground, with a colorful inflatable bounce house and blurred figures in the background.
A group of excited people in blue shirts with %22Team Revel%22 on them cheer with pom-poms and raised arms in front of a blurred grassy field.
A woman in a blue t-shirt with %22TEAM REVEUR%22 written on it speaks into a megaphone, with a grassy field and trees in the background.
Two people high-five in front of a colorful inflatable obstacle course.
A group of children and adults in green t-shirts pose for a photo in front of a blue inflatable slide with a grassy field and buildings in the background.
A group of people in blue shirts stand in front of a large blue inflatable slide, with a grassy field and buildings in the background.
A young woman in a black hijab and t-shirt holds a pom-pom in her left hand while standing on a grassy area with other people in the background.
A group of children in black shirts pose in front of a bouncy castle with a wooded hill in the background.
A large group of people in colorful shirts stand on a grassy field in front of a school building and a wooded hillside under a cloudy sky.
A group of children and adults in red shirts stand in front of a blue inflatable slide on a grassy field, with trees and a building in the background.