Colt Corner
#TeamCMS
September 20, 2019
Colts,
Click here for this year's first video update announcement. Enjoy the three day weekend!
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
September 21 - Cheer Competition Team Lock In - CMS
September 23 - No School for Students (Professional Learning Day)
September 23 - 7th Grade Football - A&B Teams at CMS - schedule linked here
September 24 - 8th Grade Football - A&B Teams at Carroll Middle School - schedule linked here
September 26 - 7th & 8th Grade Volleyball - schedule linked here
September 28 - CMS Band Practice-A-Thon and Mini Lock-In
September 30 - 7th Grade Football - A&B Teams - schedule linked here
September 31 - 8th Grade Football - A&B Teams - schedule linked here
October 2 - Progress Reports
Mark of Excellence - Honors Band Winners!
We have another new exciting announcement to share coming from our rocking CMS Honors Band and directors!
The Mark of Excellence project seeks to recognize and award outstanding achievement in performance by high school and middle school bands, choirs and orchestras. The project gathers entries from throughout the United States and provides valuable feedback for all entrants. The top 25% of entrants are recognized as National Winners, with the second 25% named as Commended Winners. The Colleyville Middle School Honors Band was selected as 1 of only 8 total National Winners in our classification! This is another huge accomplishment - we are so proud of our students, community, and staff!
Results can be viewed here: https://www.foundationformusiceducation.org/…/2019-nationa…/
Last Call: Community Champions
Time is running out to sign up for Community Champions! Want to learn more about Grapevine-Colleyville ISD? GCISD Community Champions is recruiting its class for the 2019-2020 school year. Learn more about this opportunity by visiting our website: http://ow.ly/ACqe50w2VQe
District Communication Contact Information
There may be instances where we need to send emergency communication via email, phone call and/or text message. Please make sure that your contact information is updated in Skyward. If your information is updated in Skyward, but you are not receiving campus communication, please send your name, students name, contact information and campus to info@gcisd.net.
Bus Rules
While traveling in GCISD buses, we want to ensure a safe ride for all passengers and meet your travel needs. All luggage, equipment or carry on items must be stored underneath a seat and may not block the aisle or emergency exit. If possible, encourage students and staff not to take items that won't fit under a seat. Storing things in a seat, whether attended or not, can become projectiles if the bus has to stop quickly. If you have items that cannot fit under a seat or more items than space available on the bus, please contact Cynthia Patterson at 5593, or at cynthia.patterson@gcisd.net to help with arrangements. Additionally, to keep our buses in good condition please make students aware that they may not wear cleats or other shoes or footwear that can damage the bus floor.
GCISD Friendship Week
We will celebrate GCISD Friendship Week September 23 through September 27. This week will be about meeting new people and will focus on kindness and inclusion throughout the campus.
Student Accident Insurance
This is an affordable, full excess, accident only policy for students that will help offset the rising medical costs and deductibles required by insurance carriers under your current health plans. To view more, click here.
Theater News
Counselors’ Corner (Week of Sept. 23-27)
8th GRADE 4 YEAR PLANNING INFO FROM PARENT NIGHT
Thanks to all the families who were able to join the counselors on Wednesday, September 18th for our parent meeting. Our hope is that you feel better about the process for getting your 8th grade student(s) ready for high school. For those of you who were not able to attend, the information presented about Four- Year Planning and Endorsements is available on the CMS counselors’ website and it will be available in your student’s Counseling Google Classroom Wed., Sept. 25 (the Counseling Google Classroom code will be given to 8th grade students during their SOS presentation). You can also find the information by using the links below. If you have questions about this communication, please contact your student's counselor. Remember, this plan is a working document in Skyward that can be changed this year and on into high school. Counselors will meet individually with 8th grade students through the end of the 1st semester. Students will also revisit their plans and endorsement choices to make any changes in the 2nd semester when the high school counselors come to visit CMS. Four-year planning and choosing an endorsement is going to be a focus for this school year, and we want our students and parents to feel good about their choices for high school.
4 Year Plan PowerPoint Presentation
Freshman Course Selection Guide
GCISD FRIENDSHIP WEEK
GCISD has set next week, Sept. 24-27, as Friendship Week. It is our hope that by encouraging students to become more aware of the students in our school who feel isolated and need friends and by getting to know those students, the students they pass in the hallways daily they don’t currently know, and students who they view as different than they are in some way that CMS students will grow in empathy, learn to have a greater appreciation for diversity, build new friendships, and prevent bullying. During this week different student organizations will greet students as they arrive in the morning. Counselors will give CMS students a daily friendship challenge (i.e. sit with someone in the cafeteria that you have seen sitting alone, get to know someone from a different cultural or ethnic background than your own, etc.). We will also read daily quotes during announcements encouraging kindness and friendship.
PLAY IT SAFE PREVIEW
Parents of 6th & 7th grade students, we will host a parent preview for the Play It Safe program on Sept. 30th at 10 a.m. and 6p.m. at the Admin Building 3051 Ira E. Woods, Grapevine, Texas 76051. Students will view the lessons on the dates listed below. The lessons, taught in partnership with The Women’s Center of Tarrant County, encourage and teach students how to recognize, report and reduce the risk of being in an abusive and/or dangerous situation. If you would like your student to opt out of this program, please use the link below to obtain an opt out form and turn the form in to your child’s counselor by Friday, Oct. 4, 2019.
(7th Grade) Healthy Relationships - Oct. 9
(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
SIGNS OF SUICIDE (SOS)
During the month of September the CMS Counselors have been leading guidance lessons for all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students from the SOS (Signs of Suicide) curriculum that has been approved by the district. Students are learning how to respond to a friend who may need extra support. One tool they gain is the acronym ACT.
A: Acknowledge the problem;
C: Care. Let the person know you care; and
T: Tell a responsible adult.
Counselors will also discuss the difference between sadness and depression.
If you were unable to attend one of the preview meetings offered this past month, you can find information about the SOS curriculum and view the SOS videos using the link below. If you would like for your child to opt out of the SOS presentation, fill out and return the opt out form linked below to your child’s counselor.
8th Grade SOS Presentation - Sept. 25
David’s Law Presentations
David's Law was enacted in September, 2017, to protect Texas children from cyberbullying. It provides for schools to collaborate with law enforcement when serious or life-threatening cyberbullying situations arise. David’s Law (anti-bullying) presentations will be on the following dates:
Tuesday, October 1 - 6th Grade
Tuesday, October 22 - 7th Grade
Wednesday, October 16 - 8th Grade
Credit by Exam
Students in grades 6 through 12 currently enrolled in the District can receive credit for an academic course or subject area, in which the student has had no prior instruction, with a passing score of 80% or higher on an exam approved by the district’s Board of Trustees. If you’d like more information or want to sign up, please see one of your school counselors. Registration for the Fall CBE will be open until 4 p.m., October 9th. You can also find more information at
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
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
This past week, 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
Skyward 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