Colt Corner
#TeamCMS
October 11, 2019
Colts,
It has been another great week at CMS. Today we ended the week with a Club Day, which is always a great time for our Colts. Also, our PALs and cheerleaders were able to make a trip to DFW Airport to team up with American Airlines and their Something mAAgic campaign cheering on children heading to Disneyworld for their Make-A-Wish trip. What an amazing experience for everyone involved.
As a reminder, we have a three-day weekend and will begin next week with our Colt Pride (shirt) Blue-Out Day on Tuesday. Our great Dad's Club, backed by our PTA, will be hosting our first tailgate party after school and everyone is welcome to come. The tailgate will be from 4:00-5:00pm and located on our back patio where there will be food for $5, music, and yard games. There will be inter-district 7th grade football games vs. Grapevine Middle School following the tailgate with the first game beginning at 5:00. I hope you all enjoy the weekend and week ahead!
David Arencibia, Ed.D.
CMS Principal
Facebook: Colleyville Middle School
Twitter: @CmsColts
#TeamCMS - #cmscelebrates - #CMSstrengths
B.E.S.T. - Building Excellent Schools Together
UPCOMING Events
October 14 - Teacher/Student Holiday
October 14 - Choir: Dress Rehearsal Fall Concert 3:30 - 5:00
October 15 - 7th Grade Football - A&B Teams - schedule linked here
October 15 - Tailgate on the CMS Patio - 4:00 - 5:00 - $5 food/chips/drinks
October 16 - 8th Grade Football - A&B Teams - schedule linked here
October 16 - Make-up picture Day
October 16 - 8th Grade PSAT test 8:10 - 12:30
October 17 - 7th & 8th Grade Volleyball linked here
October 18 - End of 1st Nine Weeks
October 21 - 7th Grade Football - A&B Teams - schedule linked here
October 22 - 8th Grade Football - A&B Teams - schedule linked here
October 22 - 6th Grade Choir Fall Concert - CMS Cafeteria 7:00 - 8:30 pm
October 23 - Band Fall Concert - CMS North Gym 6:00 - 8:00 pm
October 24 - 7th & 8th Grade Volleyball linked here
Parent Previews
6th grade Human Growth and Development Parent Preview:
MORNING Programs on Tuesday, 10/22/19 - held at GCISD Admin Bldg - 3051 Ira E. Woods Ave - in the Board Room
6th Grade PowerPoint - 10:00 AM- 12:00 PM - Please arrive on time. The presentation will start promptly at 5 minutes past the hour.
EVENING Parent Programs on Tuesday, 10/22/19 - held at GCISD Admin Bldg - 3051 Ira E. Woods Ave - in the Boardroom
6th Grade PowerPoint - 6:00 - 8:00 PM - Please arrive on time. The presentation will start promptly at 5 minutes past the hour.
ZERO HOUR
Reminder to students and parents that in accordance with the Zero Hour Schedule (attached), zero hour classes will not meet on Wednesday, October 16, due to testing at high school and middle school campuses. Middle school students should be dropped off at their middle school campus no later than 8:10 a.m.
TELESCOPING MIDDLE SCHOOL TO HIGH SCHOOL
Due to the testing schedule, math telescoping classes that are scheduled at either high school (CHHS or GHS) will not meet on Wednesday, October 16. Students will not miss any math curriculum as high school classes are engaging in other learning on these specially scheduled days that will occur on the following remaining dates this school year:
- Wednesday, October 16
- Friday, January 10
- Thursday, April 9
Middle school students who telescope to the high school will need to be dropped off at their middle school campus no later than 8:10 a.m. and will need to be picked up from their middle school campus at the conclusion of the school day on October 16.
PSAT
Wednesday, October 16, 8th-grade students will take the PSAT 8/9. This not only provides students the opportunity to practice the SAT-style test, but it provides valuable data for both home and school on the student's progression towards college readiness. For more information about the test, please review the PSAT 8/9 Student Guide.
A couple of notes about the PSAT and testing day.
- Students that arrive after the test has begun, will not be allowed to take the test.
- 8th-grade lunch will move to 12:30 to allow time to complete testing
- Students are encouraged to bring their own calculators to use on the calculator portion of the test.
- Students are NOT allowed to eat or drink during testing unless such accommodations are already in place for health reasons.
- Students may not use a mechanical pencil for the test.
- Students testing with oral accommodations will take the test over 2 days.
Red Ribbon Week - October 28 through November 2
Red Ribbon Week is celebrated every year during the last week of October. Red Ribbon Week is a nationally recognized substance abuse prevention campaign dedicated to the memory of Kiki Camerena, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, killed in the line of duty.
Poster Contest
GCISD will be sponsoring a drug prevention poster contest.
- Posters must be on 11 x 17 paper or ½ of a posterboard.
- Select your own campus committee to choose 1st, 2nd and 3rd place posters for each grade level.
- Send all 1st place posters to the front desk of the administration building for the district wide competition by Tuesday, October 29.
- Please include the student’s name, grade and school on the back of the poster.
- District winners will be announced on Wednesday, October 30.
Public Service Announcement Competition
GCISD is also sponsoring a Public Service Announcement competition. All video entries must be submitted by Tuesday, October 29 to info@gcisd.net. Please title the email “RRW PSA 2019”. Entries must be no longer than 30 seconds. Winners will be announced on Thursday, October 31.
All first place district level winners will be recognized at the November school board meeting. Your campus principal and counselor will be notified.
October is Dyslexic Awareness Month
October is Dyslexic Awareness month and many times we have difficulty understanding why it is important to have students with dyslexia reading books or material using a program such as learning ally. Please listen to this very fascinating article...
Reading and Listening to books stimulates the same areas of the brain…
Here is a link to the article
National School Lunch Week is October 14 through October 18
Each October, schools across the country celebrate National School Lunch Week. During this time, schools highlight some of the awesome foods offered as part of the lunch menu.
During this week, GCISD Nutrition Services will celebrate with a week full of Texas State Fair favorites. Students always get excited to see Leon's Foot Long Corny dogs and Churros as part of the school lunch menu for the week.
Click here to watch a special video on National School Lunch Week.
GCISD Gold Card Program
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD residents who are 65 years or older are welcome to join the Gold Card Program at absolutely no cost. Members receive free general admission to all athletic (excluding playoffs), theatrical productions and musical events hosted by GCISD. To receive a Gold Card, residents 65 and older are invited to attend an informational session about the District and learn more about the great things happening in our community. Upcoming Gold Card information sessions:
- Tuesday, October 15 from 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. at Grapevine Middle School - Lecture Hall | 301 Pony Parkway, Grapevine, TX
- Wednesday, October 16 from 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. at GCISD Professional Development & Education Center (PDEC) - Panther Den | 5800 Colleyville Blvd, Colleyville, TX
- Wednesday, October 16 from 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. at GCISD Administration Building - Board Room | 3051 Ira E. Woods Avenue, Grapevine, TX
Please visit www.gcisd.net/goldcard for more information.
September Students of the Month
Social Studies Student of the Week
Caroline is a hardworking student who creates fantastic projects and is a leader in group work. She has a fantastic attitude and is a high achiever in Social Studies. Way to go Caroline!
Counselor Corner (Week of Oct. 14 - Oct 18 )
8th Grade 4 Year Planning for High School
Counselors will begin meeting with each 8th grade student individually to create their 4 year plans in October in order to allow us time to meet with all students and complete all 4 year plans before Christmas break. Then in January, counselors from both high schools will come to CMS to meet with our 8th graders.
Parents, please review the PowerPoint presentation and documents linked below with your student and help him/her select his/her high school courses and endorsement prior to meeting with counselors. This will help ensure that your child gets the courses that best meet his/her needs and that courses are aligned with his/her future college and career goals. We do want to emphasize that we are creating a “plan” and selecting an endorsement that can be changed throughout high school - we know that it is unlikely that middle school students know what they want to take for all 4 years of high school. The most important thing is that you select the 9th grade core classes and electives that you want because these can not be changed after high school counselors meet with 8th graders in the spring semester.
4 Year Plan PowerPoint Presentation
Freshman Course Selection Guide
RED RIBBON WEEK
GCISD will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week Oct. 28-Nov. 1. During this week, students will have the opportunity to learn about the dangers of using tobacco, vaping, drugs, and alcohol and how these substances can negatively impact students’ futures. We will also emphasize the positive outcomes students can experience when they make the choice to stay drug free and make healthy choices for themselves. This year’s Red Ribbon Week theme is ‘Send a Message. Stay Drug Free.”
PLAY IT SAFE PREVIEW
The Women’s Center of Tarrant County will be at CMS on the dates listed below. The lessons presented encourage and teach students how to recognize, report, and reduce the risk of being in an abusive and/or dangerous situation. Opt out forms were due to your child’s counselor by Monday, Oct. 7, 2019.
(7th Grade) Can’t Take It Back - Nov. 13
(6th Grade) It’s Harassment - Nov. 19
(7th Grade) Abuse of Power - Feb. 6
(6th Grade) Survivors of Abuse - March 5
Duke TIP
The Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented youth. Duke TIP's talent searches serve as the entry point to academic benefits and programs for gifted and talented students in grades 4-12. For more information, click here:
Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation Scholarship Program
The Bobby Bragan Scholarship Program is a competition open to 8th grade students from a total of 151 middle and junior high schools. Two applicants are selected from each school to represent the school in the BBYF scholarship competition. The "finalists" will make up the pool from which 34 scholarship winners will be selected. Each scholarship will be distributed after the recipient graduates from high school, gets accepted and enrolled into a college, university or technical school, and submits a verification of enrollment to BBYF.
$2,500 scholarship
2 Finalists will be selected from CTMS
Pick up an application in the counseling office
Due Friday, November 8, 2019
In September, 8th graders watched an informational video in their English classes about the Bobby Bragan Scholarship. This is a competition open to 8th grade students from 151 middle schools in our area. Students wishing to apply for the $2,500 scholarship need to complete an application and a 500-700 word handwritten (not typed) essay and submit both to their counselor to be judged by a panel. The panel will judge each essay blindly (without knowing who wrote each essay). The top scoring male student and the top scoring female student from CMS will have their applications and essays sent to Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation for the final judging. Applications and essays are due back to CMS 8th grade English teachers – Mrs. Sloan or Mrs. Engle by Friday, November 8th at 3:25. Students may obtain applications in the counseling office or by clicking on the link below.
Bobby Bragan Scholarship Application
REMINDER
Please make sure that you are checking Skyward. You can download the Skyward app for your phone or for your child’s phone so you can monitor grades.
Lynn Brizzi– Counselor A-K – 817-305-4916
Amy Bouchelle – Counselor L-Z – 817-305-4917
Heather Ingram - Data Clerk/Registrar - 817-305-4955