Miner Country News
March 5, 2017
Benchmarks - what's the purpose? And they are THIS WEEK!
Many of you have heard us talk about Benchmarks before, but what does that really mean for your child? Well, benchmark assessments are district created formal tests in core subject areas that help give teachers specific information about what your child has learned this year and what he/she needs help with as we move forward. The best way to think of it is comparing the assessment to when you go to the doctor for a physical, but now it's just 3 times a year in school. Students take benchmarks at the beginning of the year as a "pre-test" to see what they already know about this year's standards in that grade level. They take another benchmark in early December at the almost halfway point to see if there has been any growth, and a better way to get a "diagnosis" on help areas. Finally, students take benchmarks in early March (this week) as a final check before the BIG tests in May/June. It's so important that students put 150% effort into these tests so that teachers can get accurate information to help your students learn effectively. We also use these benchmark test scores to organize students into their Miner Time groups that meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. How can you support your student in this process? Help them be well rested and eat a solid breakfast. In the benchmarks THIS week, we model the EOG process by testing in homerooms for at least 2 hours so that students can "feel" those timing requirements, too, in order to better prepare them. Thanks for your support!
IB Updates
As many of you know, we are working diligently to prepare for our whole school transition to operating under the framework for International Baccalaureate education. Approximately 200 students will be joining us next year from JN Fries as well as other middle schools specifically for IB. We currently have empty classrooms that will be filled next year. We are currently working on a new "bell schedule" to incorporate IB expectations of how a middle school schedule should work. We have a student transition team that just interviewed Fries students about what IB is and how it will look next year. We will be posting that video soon! Our staff and parent transition team continues to meet, and we will be constantly discussing how best to educate students and parents on the amazing impact this will have for our community. Please be on the lookout for monthly videos on our school Facebook page as well as our school website that share tidbits about this transition. One of the most important things you need to know about IB is that an IB education in middle school is NOT all honors classes; it's more about HOW the teacher prepares lessons then anything else. Please contact me anytime if you want to discuss face to face or over the phone!
Student Expo - thank you!
Thank you to all those that were able to come to the CMS Student Expo a month ago. It was awesome to see all of the students share with their families what they have learned so far this year. We so appreciate our many community vendors in their support, too! We have an awesome video and professional pictures from the evening posted on our school webpage.
It's that time of year...
Teachers are trying to communicate with parents if there are serious academic concerns that may keep your child in the same grade level next year. Promotion criteria is based on class grades, benchmark scores, EOG scores, and attendance. We just recently sent out "In danger of retention" letters to students who were identified based on this criteria. If you ever have a question about your child's academic standing, PLEASE contact your child's teachers.
Updates from PTSO
Thank you for your support in the recent BOX TOP competition! The winning homerooms were Kluttz, Lowder, and Propst. We are currently getting ready for our March Madness celebration on March 23rd. Students will be able to participate in the faculty basketball game and celebration as a fundraiser for helping the school with scholarships for field trips. We will also continue the Krispy Kreme box sales once a month. This is another easy fundraiser to help support our students.
CMS Parent Advisory Team (PAT)
We have just recently started a Parent Advisory Team for our school. They meet on the first Thursday of the month from 6-7pm. The purpose of this team is for parents to share feedback to our administrative team on how we can continuously improve Concord Middle for your children. If you have any interest in wanting to participate, we would love to have you there. Just contact Mr. Mabry at james.mabry@cabarrus.k12.nc.us.
Cheesin' in science!
Officer Scott Medlin, SRO
Math is so tough sometimes!
The role of the SRO at CMS
As many of you know, we have a full time School Resource Officer provided by the Concord Police Department. For 5 years, Officer Kelly Seagraves served as our SRO. She recently received a promotion, and we now have Officer Scott Medlin as our SRO. Officer Medlin is a former K9 officer, and he's a graduate of both Concord Middle and Concord High Schools! He has arrived to Miner Country ready to get to know our students and support them in any way possible. I wish we could have tracked his steps the first week he started with us, as he was constantly walking the building. He said, "What better way to get to know the kids then to be out of my office? I hate being in my office." Officer Medlin is also a retired Marine, and he sees student safety as his utmost priority. If you're in the building, please take a moment to get to know him. He's a wonderful asset to our school!
CMS Upcoming Calendar of Events
Thursday, March 9 at 6pm: Spring Sports Parent Meeting
Friday, March 10 at 1pm: Early dismissal for staff professional development
Thursday, March 23: Early dismissal for staff professional development
Friday, March 24: Teacher workday (no school for students)
Thursday, March 30: 3rd quarter report cards come home
Friday, March 31: 6th grade wax museum (more details soon)
Carrie Tulbert, Principal
This newsletter is created through my desire to connect with our community as much as possible. If you have any feedback, please email me. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly with the below information. Thank you for reading!
Email: carrie.tulbert@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
Website: http://www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us/concord
Location: 1500 Gold Rush Drive, Concord NC 28025
Phone: 704-786-4121
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/concordmiddleschool/
Twitter: @carrietulbert