CMS Parent Newsletter
February 6, 2017
Dear Parents,
Upcoming Seahawk Events
Feb 7 - CMS vs. Oglethorpe at CMS
Feb 8 - State Tornado Drill
Feb 9 - Papa John's Spirit Night
Feb 9 - Basketball vs. Charles Ellis at CMS
Feb 13 - FCCLA Week
Feb 14 - Basketball vs. Hubert at Hubert
Feb 14 - Wear a red shirt with jeans and bring a $1 donation for FCCLA
Feb 14 - Sample size toiletries collected from homerooms
Feb 15 - Spirit Night at Wendy's
Feb 15 - FCCLA Day at the Capital
Feb 15 - Spirit Wear - donations benefit our PTSA
Feb 16 - Basketball vs. Bartlett at CMS
Feb 21 - Basketball vs. Isle of Hope at IOH
Feb 22 - Family Homework Pass Night - Write a letter to a relative or friend
Feb 23 - Students who have already made a $30 donation or more for the Seahawk Strut may dress down.
Feb 23 - Basketball Playoffs Round 1
Feb 24 - Seahawk Strut!
Feb 24 - Students who donated at least $15 for the strut may dress down in athletic attire.
Feb 28 - Basketball Playoffs Round 2
March 2 - Basketball Championships
March 6 - Students who donated $50 or more to the Seahawk Strut may dress down.
March 7 - Blood Mobile at CMS 9am - 1 pm
March 14 - 8th Grade HS Registration night - 5:30 - Mandatory
Tornado Drill Wednesday
The Spelling Bee Buzz
The PTSA Seahawk Strut is Almost Here
The Sea Hawk Strut is coming up on Feb. 24!
What is the Seahawk Strut?
The Sea Hawk Strut is PTSA's only fundraiser! During connections classes, students will enjoy music, dancing, football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, corn hole, and other free time activities! We will also have an inflatable obstacle course for $1 per turn. Concessions will be available for $1 per item.
How do students participate?
Students can participate for a $4 donation. For $15, they can participate and dress down for the Strut. Donations $30 and over earn additional dress down days. Look for complete details about participation and prizes in the coming weeks and in the flier that will be sent home on February 13.
Remember, proceeds from the Seahawk Strut fund our mini-grant program. We need your help to make this event happen!
For questions about the Seahawk Strut, contact April Cullen at aprilcullen@bellsouth.net or Jody Jones at jcjones@glaciertechnology.com.
Thank you for your support of our only fundraiser!
Coastal Middle School PTSA Board 2016-17
Parent Help Needed - The PTSA and our children need you.
The Sea Hawk Strut is coming up on Feb. 24!
We need your help to make this event happen! Please sign up using this link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F4BACAE2FA02-seahawk1
For questions about the Seahawk Strut, contact April Cullen at aprilcullen@bellsouth.net or Jody Jones at jcjones@glaciertechnology.com.
Basketball - Seahawks are on Fire!
Offical School ID Required On All Field Trips
We believe that we owe it to our students to be consistent and fair. Our policy is that no student will attend a field trip without an official, school issued, picture ID. Exceptions cannot be made. Thank you for your support in keeping our students safe and helping them to learn responsibility now.
Developing Strong Students
Each week the administrators at CMS have the opportunity to observe some of the best teaching in the world. Our teachers truly plan and deliver incredible lessons. After a day of seeing amazing instruction, I do often reflect and realize I never saw one student reading. In this high-tech, ultra-entertainment world, we dance, sing, entertain, and inadvertently spoon feed our students. It is rare that students are ever quizzed on anything that they have not been explicitly taught and retaught orally and visually. Our students are not truly asked to work independently until they take the GMAS test.
I strongly believe that we are doing our students a disservice by not expecting them to read (old fashion reading without animated videos) to learn information. We have tasked every single teacher – PE, Science, Math, Chinese, ELA, you name it – to begin setting aside one graded assignment a week in which students are given a passage or text to read about their current unit of study and asked to respond to the text for a grade. You may start seeing some of this for homework. I expect you will love it because you will actually have what you need to help your child like back in the days when we more heavily utilized textbooks. Please encourage your child to be prepared for this work and to actually, literally, READ the passage before jumping to the questions. If we get back to more basic, old-school practices such as this I think we will be surprised at how well our students will perform.
Canned Food Drive - Wipe Out Media Center Fines
Send a nonperishable food item to the Media Center next week (Monday, February 6th – Friday, February 10th) to help offset MC charges your student(s) might owe. Each canned item will equal $1.00 off charges, while each boxed food will offset up to $2.00, with a daily limit of 5 food items per student. (Examples of boxed items include: Mac-and-Cheese, Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, Peanut Butter, etc.)NO GLASS please.
Information from the World of IB
(Inquiry): One of the pillars of the IB philosophy is the idea of inquiry. Through this approach, teachers start with what students already know about a concept. The next step is to encourage students’ questions and let their curiosity drive the unit. When students are interested in the concept and can connect it to their own lives, their research becomes more meaningful and learning at deeper levels can take place.
Coastal's Light Continues to Shine Around the Nation
As a National Lighthouse School to Watch, Coastal's faculty, staff and students radiate their brightness in academics, their kindness in providing a safe and fun place to learn and grow and their high standards in viewing the world with respect and care. These attitudes and traits lead others to visit us quite often, and we were excited to host The Executive Director of the National Forum, Ericka Uskali on Friday. During her visit, she gained insight into the many exciting things going on at CMS. She participated in classroom visits, discussions with staff and students and saw two interdisciplinary unit roll-outs (6th and 8th grade). Like a Lighthouse from the days of old, we appreciate and are blessed that you have entrusted your children to our beacon tower and that you allow us to fill them with gallons of educational "oil" to keep them illuminated physically, emotionally and academically! Thank you for helping us continue to stand tall and proud in the community, the state and in the nation.
8th Grade State Promotion Requirement
Y.O.L.O.
With all the holidays and festivities throughout the year, when does one have time for anything else? Well, let me tell you! YOLO – You Only Live Once. Time has been set aside for all your needs; eight hours of work, eight hours of rest and eight hours of play. We as humans always complain that there is not enough time in a day to do all that needs to be done but the truth is, we do not manage or budget the time we have. Life is too short not to live the life that has been given to you. Here are some things you can do to make life easier and help your student practice being a balanced learner! Challenge your student and your family to try just one of these items this week and have fun together!
10. Take Pictures - because you will want the memories when you are older. They are worth a thousand words.
9. Stop and Smell the flowers –because this will help you become more grateful of all the wonders around you.
8. Travel – do it now because when and if you retire and your children are grown, it may be too late. The body gets older every day.
7. Make Friends – because they come in and out of our lives as life experiences. That is, some leave and some stay.
6. Make Goals because if you have no goals, you cannot grow.
5. Have no Regrets – never regret the things you do, only regret the things you did not do when you had the chance. Tony Robbins says, “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”
4. Make Family a priority– everything else will come.
3. Except Change – because change is a constant part of life. It happens every minute of every day.
2. Be Kind because when you can help others, you help yourself and therefore, more blessings come your way.
1. Don’t let anyone steal your JOY because people did not give it to you and people cannot take it away. Remember, You Only Live Once.
Parent Testimonial
Coastal Middle School has a very good IB program. They offer many different programs that not all public middle schools have. It makes the potential for a well rounded student great. Many of the students at Coastal go on to specialty program high schools, and, in turn, graduate and go on to college.
Celebrating Our Heritage and Diversity as an International Baccalaureate World School
All That Jazz! Thursday, February 9th @ 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM @ the Islands Public Library.
As part of Black History Month, Savannah Children’s Museum will be at the Islands Library for a celebration of Jazz music and local black history. Join us to learn about instruments, rhythms, and jazz musicians through our interactive, educational story time. For more information, please call 912-897-6233
Community Opportunities
SCAD Presents “Savannah Songs” Sat. Feb. 11 from 11AM-1PM Join SCAD for an afternoon of immersive live performances that chart a musical journey through Savannah’s rich history. “Savannah Songs” will have you dancing in the streets and celebrating the city’s remarkable legacy. This one-of-a-kind event is brought to you by SCAD students and alumni. Guests will explore four SCAD buildings that have been transformed into living portraits of the past. Delve into the 1920s for high tea at Gryphon. Wheel into Art’s for a bopping ’80s shake shop experience, and then jump back in time to Civil War-era Georgia in Morris Hall. Finally, grab your ration ticket and send the troops off to war in style with a 1940s big band, USO-style dance in Poetter Hall. Check-in for “Savannah Songs” is at shopSCAD . Performances begin at 11AM and extend until 1PM Admission is free for SCAD Carte holders and children age 12 and younger. Cost is $10 for the general public. To purchase tickets or for more information visit, scad.edu/savannahsongs.
Heart of the Park Trophy Do something special and fun this Valentine's Day Weekend 2017 @ Skidaway Island State Park in Savannah. Win the HEART OF THE PARK TROPHY by competing in Skidaway Island State Park’s Second Annual Valentine's Day Weekend Scavenger Hunt right here in the park. Cost: $5 for parking and $15 per couple/family team. Sun. Feb. 12 from 1:30-3PM Skidaway Island State Park 52 Diamond Causeway Savannah, Georgia 31411 MAY THE BEST COUPLE/TEAM WIN!
Repeats and Reminders
Tuesday, February 7 through Friday, February 10, students may purchase carnations for $1 each to send to their classmates and teachers. Carnations will be delivered on Tuesday, February 14. Volunteers are need to collect money and gift tags as well as sort, tag, and deliver the flowers. Please click on the link below to sign up to help. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c4eafad2ba64-2017 If you have any questions about this sale, please contact Andrea Melton at andrea.melton11@gmail.com.
8th Grade High School Transition Night
Our 8th Grade High School Transition Night is scheduled for
Tuesday, March 14th. All 8th grade parents and students need to attend from 5:30 - 7:00.
Yearbook
Order Online at website www.yearbookordercenter.com and use Order # 20020. Or, order in the front office on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday before homeroom. Order forms are available on line. ($35 CASH OR MONEY ORDER ONLY if ordered in the school's office.)
SRI and MAP
SRI
6th - 835
7th - 890
8th - 955
MAP
6th - 219
7th - 223
8th - 227
Free Digital Resources
Please be aware that you and your child can access free, interactive digital textbooks through the Georgia Department of Education's website. The textbooks can be accessed by visiting www.gavirtuallearning.org/Resources. Texts are currently available for middle and high school courses.