Weekly Wildcat

PARENT NEWSLETTER: WEEK OF 9/19/2022

Chisholm Trail Middle School

Chisholm Trail Middle School

Chisholm Trail Middle School

Office Hours: Mon-Thurs 7am-4pm; Fri-7am-3:30pm

16700 W. 159th Street, Olathe, KS, 66062

913-780-7240

Technical Support: Help Desk--913-780-8058


Administration

Principal: Rick Sola

rfsola@olatheschools.org

Asst. Principal: Krista Dueringer (Silver Teams-6,7,8)

kdueringercst@olatheschools.org

Asst. Principal: Erin Richerson (Green Teams-6,7,8)

eericherson@olatheschools.org


Counselors

Rachel Iuli: Green Teams-6,7,8

rjiuli@olatheschools.org

Makaela King: Silver Teams- 6,7,8

mcking@olatheschools.org


Nurse

Jenn Ross: jiross@olatheschools.org

School Resource Officer

Taylor Shipley: tshipleysro@olatheschools.org

Attendance Secretary

Angie Peterson: alpeterson@olatheschools.org (913.780.7241)

Student Information Specialist

Melynda Marquardt: mrmarquardt@olatheschools.org
16700 W 159th St, Olathe, KS 66062, USA 913-780-7240 olatheschools.org/chisholmtrail

The 22-23 CST Family

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Week of 9/19

Dear CST Family,


A new feature in lunch began this past week: Brain Breaks! Students now have the opportunity to play board games with friends during lunch (read more about this below). It's been a fun addition to the middle school lunch room and middle school experience. There is so much available for our middle school students and I hope everyone can find something to which they can join. Whether it's sports, music, performing, or activities, we have something for everyone. Please reach out if we can help in connecting your child.


We host it all this week...volleyball, football, and our first HOME cross country meet. Please take note of the upcoming (9/28) NIGHT football game. We hope to pack the stands in green as our wildcats take on the Timber Wolves of Mission Trail. We'll begin announcements to students this week and will begin promoting our spirit week...join in on the fun!


Have a great week and Go Wildcats!


Rick

CST ROCS Store items -

Parents,

Your donations for the CST ROCS (Respect Ownership Compassion Safety) store has been a HUGE hit! We've begun opening the store during lunch on Wednesdays to compliment our Friday morning offering. We are grateful for your donations and continue to keep the store "fresh" with new items and non-tangible items but your continued support is MUCH appreciated! Below is a sign-up link if you're able to bring in items for the store.


As students were shared, the store and tokens are the fun way we're acknowledging and promoting our ROCS behavior system, but we're going to focus on those 4 tenets anyway. So please know your contributions are not simply about prizes but it's a reinforcement for expected behavior in our building. Thank you for helping!


https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044CAAA62CAAFC1-pbis

Parent Teacher Conferences--How will it work this year??

Parent Teacher Conferences--How will it work this year??

Parent teacher conference week is just around the corner (10/10-10/13) and will be similar to last year. For those new to middle school or new to Olathe, the breakdown of what to expect in the coming weeks and during conference week is below...


  • All teachers will have 12 hours of availability the week of 10/10-10/13 to conference.
  • All teachers will conduct in-person, "arena style" (defined below) conferences on Wednesday, 10/12 from 4:30-8:30.
  • The remaining 8 hours of conference availability will be determined by each teacher/team and communicated separately to parents beginning as early as this Friday (9/23). Teachers will utilize some form of sign-up system (i.e. Sign-up Genius) for their conferences.
  • Conferences outside the arena style day may be via Zoom or in person.
  • Please watch for more communication from your child's teachers. Feel free to reach out to your teachers if you have specific conference needs.


How do arena style conferences work?

  • Arena style is an open, first come, first serve format where all teachers are set up in the gym/MPR at CST. Parents will visit individually with their child's teacher and move on to the next teacher when finished. Each conference with a teacher should take less than 10 minutes. If there's need for a longer conference a separate time should be scheduled. This evening will bring in many parents and lines should be expected.
Parent Teacher Conferences--How will it work this year??
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CST WILDCATS NIGHT GAME

Wednesday, Sep. 28th, 6pm

11031 South Valley Road

Olathe, KS

Join us for the annual night football game at CBAC on 9/28...it's a GREEN OUT! All CST students (fans!) are encouraged to wear green as we take on the Mission Trail Timber Wolves! Begin making plans now for a fun night under the lights!
Get Directions

CST Supports Noah's Bandage Project

This week CST will be collecting bandages of all designs to donate toward Noah's Bandage Project. Send them in with your child and they can turn into the office of their teachers who will get the bandages to the office.
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2nd Chance Breakfast and Snack line

Parents,


Beginning Tuesday, students will have the opportunity to grab a "2nd chance breakfast" between 1st and 2nd hour. This practice is resuming after a district-wide hiatus during Covid. The breakfast is intended for students who may have missed breakfast at home or offered before school at CST and therefore have a "second chance". The meal can be purchased in one of 2 locations in the CST halls.


In addition, pre-Covid "snack line" items will begin appearing in the standard lunch line. These items have typically been offered in our separate snack line but we are now embedding this into the regular lunch line for additional cost due to staffing needs.

UPDATE: FastBridge Parent Night—Coming Soon!

Parents,

The message last week alerted you to FastBridge reports coming home. Our plan is to send home THIS week and we'll alert you all the same when this is to occur. Please still be aware of the district FastBridge info night on September 29th at 6pm located at the Instructional Resource Center near 143rd and Blackbob.


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English

Spanish

The attached documents (links above) provide information about reading FastBridge reports for your student. This week, students will receive a printed report of their assessment scores to bring home. Parents will be alerted to watch for this and the links above can be used to help explain the report. In addition, parents are invited to attend a FastBridge Parent Night on September 29th at 6pm hosted at the Instructional Resource Center (IRC). Parents who attend will get to hear more about FastBridge and experience what an assessment looks like for their student, including SAEBRS and mySAEBRS (mySAEBRS replaces Panorama). The goal is to answer questions and address any parent concerns. The session will be video recorded for parents to access from the district website as well.


Please feel free to reach out to CST assessment coordinator, assistant principal, Erin Richerson, or your child's ELA or math teacher.

CST IS HIRING!

We have 2 para positions and 2 cafeteria positions. Contact CST SPED coordinator, Krista Dueringer, if interested in more information about either of the para positions. Click the link below for job descriptions.

https://www.applitrack.com/olathe/onlineapp/default.aspx?AppliTrackPostingSearch=location:%22CHISHOLM+TRAIL+MIDDLE+SCHOOL%22

Introducting Brain Breaks at CST!

CST students now have the opportunity to play board games with friends and staff during lunch! Offering a variety of games and activities, students may finish their lunch, check out a game, and play with a friend or 2. This time has been well received and offers some different kind of social time for students. Games offered include Battleship, Jenga, Chess/Checkers, Suspend, Boggle, Left Right Center, as well as intricate coloring books and drawing. It's been a lot of fun!

Follow Us on Twitter! @CSTWildcatsMS

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September 17: Constitution Day

September 17: Constitution Day

As part of our recognition of Constitution Day, all 6th grade students will receive their own pocket US Constitution. All students received a copy last year so new 7th and 8th grade students will receive a copy as well. We will have daily trivia on morning announcements along with some fun incentives and social studies teachers will incorporate themed lessons into the week as well.


Downloadable US Constitution


Constitution Day in Schools


Supplemental Constitution Activities and Info

September 17: Constitution Day

How Secure is your Password?

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How good are you recognizing a phishing attempt?

Give it a shot! Phishing Test...

https://phishingquiz.withgoogle.com/

GoGaurdian Parent App

Parents,

The information below is from technology and outlines a software available for parents for monitoring your child's district device outside the school day. For full details, click the PDF button below. Check it out!


What is included in the GoGuardian Parent App:

• Top 5 summary of student browsing (apps, extensions, documents, and websites visited)

• Teacher interventions

• 30-day view of websites, videos, documents, apps, and extensions

• Ability to block websites on school-issued devices during out-of-school hours

• Ability to pause internet access on school-issued devices during out-of-school hours, either on-demand or at a scheduled time.

Read more in the attached PDF.

CST Community Partners

  • Wes Phillips—Farmers Insurance—coffee and cookies for all CST staff
  • Carmen’s Cocina II—donated money in support of 6th grade door hanger bags/beginning of year staff start up
  • Journey Bible Church—cookies for all students in the first week of school; treat bags and Starbucks for all staff
  • Jim Martin—State Farm Insurance—donated money in support of 6th grade door hangers/beginning of year staff start up


Thank you to our amazing business and faith based adopt-a-school partners...we are so appreciative!

FastBridge Assessment

CST Families,

See the message below regarding our shift from MAP to FastBridge. Students will be taking these assessments in the coming weeks in their math and ELA classes. These assessments will be completed in one class period rather than the 2-3 class periods MAP testing required. Please reach out if you have any questions.


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Dear Parent or Guardian,


We are excited to share that Olathe Public Schools has shifted to a new streamlined assessment system called FastBridge beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. FastBridge is replacing several separate academic assessment and screening systems we have previously used (NWEA MAP for both math and reading as well as AMIRA for screening at-risk readers). This past spring, seven buildings throughout the district were early implementors of FastBridge. Parents, students, and staff reported positive experiences with administration of the test and interpretation of results.


The shift to FastBridge allows educators to meet state required academic assessment and screening on one platform, and in all cases reduces the amount of time students are assessing. The academic data gathered is very similar to that of NWEA MAP, containing both a percentile and a scaled score much like that of the RIT score that you may be used to. The information gained from FastBridge directly informs the district’s Multi-Tiered System of Support for reading and math, allowing educators to proactively meet the needs of students.


If you have questions, please contact CST assessment coordinator, assistant principal, Erin Richarson at 913-780-7240.


As always, we will continue to provide information on assessments throughout the year.


Sincerely,


Rick Sola

Principal



Estimados padres o tutores,


Nos complace compartir que las Escuelas Públicas de Olathe han cambiado a un nuevo sistema de evaluación racionalizado llamado FastBridge a partir del año escolar 2022-2023. FastBridge está reemplazando varios sistemas de evaluación académica y revisión por separado que hemos utilizado anteriormente (NWEA MAP para matemáticas y lectura, así como AMIRA para la detección de los lectores de riesgo). La primavera pasada, siete escuelas del distrito fueron las primeras en aplicar FastBridge. Los padres, los estudiantes y el personal informaron de experiencias positivas con la administración de la prueba y la interpretación de los resultados.


El cambio a FastBridge permite a los educadores cumplir con la evaluación académica requerida por el estado y el monitoreo en una sola plataforma, y en todos los casos reduce la cantidad de tiempo que los estudiantes están siendo evaluados. Los datos académicos obtenidos son muy similares a los de NWEA MAP, ya que contienen tanto un porcentaje como una puntuación en escala muy parecida a la de la puntuación RIT a la que puede estar usted acostumbrado. La información obtenida de FastBridge sirve directamente para el Sistema de Apoyo Múltiple del distrito para la lectura y las matemáticas, lo que permite a los educadores satisfacer proactivamente las necesidades de los estudiantes.


Si tiene preguntas, comuníquese con la coordinadora de evaluación de CST, subdirectora, Erin Richarson al 913-780-7240.


Como siempre, seguiremos informando sobre las evaluaciones a lo largo del año.


Atentamente,


Rick Sola

Director

Golf Scramble for a Cause

CST business partner, Wes Phillips of Farmer Insurance, is promoting the golf tournament below in support of the Heartland Autism Society. Feel free to check it out!
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Updated: What is PBIS at CST???

Updated: What is PBIS at CST???

Great start to PBIS and CST ROCS this week! We'll operate a store every Friday from 7:15-7:45am. See our behavior matrix below for specific expected behaviors. CST ROCS!


BIG thank you to our parent volunteers this past Friday! See below if you're interested in signing up or donating to the store!


Volunteers for PBIS Store – Fridays 7:15am-7:45am - Auditorium

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044CAAA62CAAFC1-volunteer

Donations of items for PBIS Store
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044CAAA62CAAFC1-pbis



(Originally in the 8/15 weekly)

Chisholm Trail is launching its new PBIS program this year. PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports. All Olathe middle schools will eventually have a program. CST will be just the second middle school to implement a program, but CST feeder schools, Madison Place and Sunnyside Elementary, have already implemented theirs. We are so excited launch and for our students to experience this program.


Beginning Tuesday, staff will share lessons with students about expected behaviors at CST (see behavior matrix) in various settings. While posters are placed around the building and in each classroom (example here), the value will be the conversations that take place in acknowledging expected behaviors and how we work through unexpected behaviors. CST will have its own "economy" as students receive tokens various positive behaviors. They will receive a pouch to carry their tokens and will have the opportunity to cash them in for rewards on Fridays from 7:15-7:45am. We have collected prizes through donations and continue to add non-tangible ideas (help with morning announcements, shoot around with a friend and principal, etc.). If you'd like to support, you can click the links below to donate or sign-up to run the store.


(Below was from an 8/8 school email)


CST’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) system

More will be shared at Back to School Night, but CST is launching its PBIS program this year and we are very excited to share this with students. This system will incorporate tokens for positive behaviors and students can use those tokens to “purchase” rewards. This is where we need your help! We’d like to have parents run the PBIS store on Friday mornings from 7:15-7:45am in the CST auditorium. Next, is we’re taking donations for student incentives as part of this program. Click on the links below if you’re interested!


Volunteers for PBIS Store – Fridays 7:15am-7:45am - Auditorium

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044CAAA62CAAFC1-volunteer

Donations of items for PBIS Store
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044CAAA62CAAFC1-pbis

Updated: What is PBIS at CST???

Important Safety Info for Walkers and Bike Riders

Parents,


Please help us reinforce with students the best sidewalks to use upon arrival for walkers/bike riders (seen with the purple arrows on the map below).

  • Students from east of Mur-Len should cross at the 159th/Mur-Len light and walk/ride toward the football field. They will avoid having to cross all vehicle traffic in the parking lot by doing this.
  • Students coming from Lindenwood should take a left upon reaching the CST property and use the sidewalk next to our open field on the west. They should not cross exiting traffic onto 159th from the CST parking lot.
  • A new bike rack was placed at the doors west of the front entrance.
  • Students should exit the building using the same routes. PLEASE talk with students about crossing 159th at the light/cross walk...for their own safety, they should not cross 159th at any other location.
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NEW smartphone app for busing

The primary guardian of all registered bus riders will receive an individual subscription to Stopfinder, the free parent app with real-time GPS tracking for each child’s route. Parents are encouraged to download the free app and watch the Stopfinder English Tutorial or Spanish Tutorial for user instructions. We will no longer utilize Textcaster for late bus notifications!
Office Staff

Office Staff

Office Assistant: Connie Bray

Attendance Secretary/Assistant Principal's Secretary: Angie Peterson

Bookkeeper/Principal's Secretary: Sara Harris

Data Operator: Melynda Marquardt


School Nurse: Jennifer Ross


Please keep info updated (email, phone number, medical, etc.). Contact the office at 913-780-7240 if you are concerned you may be missing communication or need to update your family's information.

Office Staff