Colt Corner
Colleyville Middle School
February 3, 2023
Colts,
Well, that was an impromptu break, thanks to our unpredictable Texas weather. The forced time off came at a good time of the school year. The time between winter and spring break is one of the most extended stretches of time during the school year. Just think, we are only five weeks away from spring break. You read that right; only five weeks.
I love that many 6th-grade Colts are eager to return to school to see their friends and have a good time tonight at the Disco Cotillion. A big shout out to our PTA and everyone who has been up at the school getting things ready for tonight. It is a team effort to create these events for our students, which provide many memories for years to come.
While the decorating for tonight is happening, our STARS Dance team is practicing and preparing for their busy performance season, including the dance Spring Fling tomorrow at CHHS. Also, tomorrow many of our Colts will be traveling to Paradise, Texas, for the Science Team Competition.
As always, we wish our Colts well in everything they do. Thank you for the positive part you play on TeamCMS to help us be the best we can be for our students. Enjoy your weekend.
David Arencibia, Ed.D.
Colleyville Middle School, Principal
School Twitter: @CmsColts - #TeamCMS - #ColtPride
B.E.S.T. - Building Excellent Schools Together
UPCOMING DATES/EVENTS
February 3 - PTA Cotillion - (Disco) - 6:30 - 9:00
February 4 - CMS Dance Spring Fling - CHHS 12:30 - 2:30
February 4 - David Zahrndt's Fine Arts Festival CMS Theatre UIL One Act Play Performance- CMS Cafeteria 1:00 -3:30pm
February 6 - 7th Grade Boys Basketball - schedule linked here
February 6 - 7th Grade Girls Basketball - schedule linked here
February 7 - PTA Coffee with Dr. Arencibia/Executive Meeting - CMS Library 8:45am
February 9 - 8th Grade Boys Basketball - schedule linked here
February 9 - 8th Grade Girls Basketball - schedule linked here
February 10 - PTA Cotillion Finale - (Roaring 20's) - Colleyville Center 6:30 - 9:00pm
February 13 - CMS Showcase Night for incoming 6th Grade families- CMS North Gym 6:00 - 8:00pm
In this Edition of the Colt Corner
* School Report Card
* Emergent Bilingual Parent and Family Engagement Event February 22
Counselors Corner
* 8th Grade: SIGNED High School Course Request Sheets Are Due:
February 1st
* Collegiate Academy
* 6th & 7th Grade Course Selection for 7th & 8th Grade
* Preferred Participation Consent for Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention
* DNA Kits
* Additional Resources
Repeated Information
* GCISD Middle School Spirit Guard Signup
* GCISD Swimming Diving
* PTA Hospitality
* Morning Drop-off Band Hall
* February Parent Tech Academy
* CMS Showcase Night - Incoming 6th Grade Families
* Secondary Student GT/ASPIRE Referral Window
* GHS & CHHS Fine Arts Credit - Dance for Athletes
* 6th Grade Cotillion
* Colleyville Middle School Directory - Who To Contact
CMS Social Media Section
* CMS Portrait of a Graduate Video
* CMS on Twitter - @cmscolts
* CMS on Facebook
* CMS on Instagram
School Report Card (SRC)
Per the Texas Education Agency (TEA), CMS is sending its School Report Card (SRC) for your knowledge.
GCISD also posts all campus SRCs on our accountability website; however, if anyone is in need of a printed copy (in color or black and white) there are copies in the front office for anyone who cannot access the electronic version.
Emergent Bilingual Parent and Family Engagement Event, February 22
EB Parent and Family Engagement Event February 22
GCISD is offering a district-wide event for parent, family, and community Emergent Bilingual Parent and Family Engagement Event. In partnership with TEA, we will host a watch party to address the Parent Engagement event for Emergent Bilingual Families. This event will focus on educating parents to increase their English skills and academic performance and become active participants in their children's education.
We will meet in the PDEC building near CMS in the Panther and Bronco Rooms. We will have multiple Chromebooks to ensure that families listen to the information in their native language. The languages that we will offer to our families are:
English
Spanish
Arabic
Vietnamese
Russian
*** Here is some additional information.***
Counselors’ Corner
8th GRADE:
SIGNED High School Course Request Sheets Are Due:
February 6th - Counselors from both high schools will be at CMS to meet individually with each 8th grade student through their science class. Students need to bring their green course requests sheet to their meeting as high school counselors will be going over 9th grade course requests and alternate elective choices. This form will be used by high school counselors for creating freshman schedules. Please make sure the form has a parent signature. Forms without a parent signature will not be accepted.
Below are resources to help you with freshman course selection:
Welcome To High School Presentation
2022-2023 Course Selection Guide
8th Grade Transition to High School Flyer
Collegiate Academy:
8th grade students who applied for and were accepted to Collegiate Academy for the 23-24 school year were given a packet by CMS counselors this past Wednesday. The forms in their packet need to be signed and either returned to CMS counselors before Wednesday, February 1st or brought to school on that date. Mrs. Gardner, the CA counselor, will be at CMS on Feb. 1st and will need those forms for her individual meetings with future CA students.
6th & 7th Grade Course Selection for 7th & 8th Grade:
Mrs. Brizzi and Mrs. Bouchelle will be going through 6th grade PE/Pre-Athletics classes on Feb. 22nd and 7th grade social studies classes on Feb. 24th to talk to current 6th and 7th grade students about course requests for the 23-24 school year. Both grade levels will be given access to Google Forms corresponding to courses offered in their grade levels to request courses and alternate elective choices for the 23-24 school year. Course requests for both grade levels will be due by midnight on Monday, March 6th.
Preferred Participation Consent for Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention
As required by federal and state law, we will soon begin presenting a personal safety curriculum to middle school students. GCISD uses the Play It Safe! ® program to teach this curriculum. Play It Safe! ® is a child abuse awareness and prevention program that incorporates age-appropriate scripts and movies to teach children how to reduce the risk of sexual and physical abuse, and sexual assault. It teaches them to recognize potentially abusive behavior, provides the tools to respond to threatening situations, and encourages them to report abuse to a trusted adult. It is presented by The Women’s Center of Tarrant County, Inc. which uses trained volunteers to present the program using videos and scripted discussions at an age-appropriate level. Play It Safe! ® meets the State and Federal guidelines for curriculum addressing personal safety issues, child sexual abuse and pedophiles. The GCISD School Health Advisory Committee has reviewed and recommended these programs for all GCISD schools.
Our schedule for showing the Play It Safe Curriculum this year is as follows:
6th grade “Sexual Harassment”- November 8th, 2022
6th grade “Survivors of Abuse- March 8th, 2023
7th grade “Healthy Relationships”- October 5th, 2022
7th grade “Can’t Take It Back” - November 30th, 2022
7th grade “Abuse of Power” - February 21st, 2023
Please complete the section below to indicate your preference for your child’s participation in any of the above programs. If you choose for your child not to participate, your child will be provided an alternate location while this program is being presented. If the form is not completed, and turned into the campus counselor prior to the date on your campus notification letter, your child will not participate in the program.
Please complete the following Play it Safe form and return to your campus Counselor prior to the date of the lesson! Play it Safe Form
6th and 7th grade students were also provided with a hard copy form which can be returned to Ms. Dumas (advocate counselor). There is a recording of the parent preview located on the CMS counseling webpage.
DNA Kits:
In compliance with Texas S.B. 2158, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD offers parents and legal guardians inkless fingerprint and DNA kits for their children upon request. This kit is designed to “help locate and return a missing or trafficked child,” according to S.B. 2158.
Parents and legal guardians may request these kits through the front office at your child's campus.
Additional Resources:
National Institute of Mental Health
JOIN THE SPIRIT GUARD TEAM!
Enrollment is open for the 2023 team! Learn how to spin, toss, and perform new tricks every week. The team is co-ed, open to 6-8th graders, & no experience is needed. All students interested in joining or re-joining need to complete the sign-up form on our website and plan to attend the team practices.
Please note the weekly rehearsal location change, time change, as well as our calendar of special events. Our 1st event is next saturday, Feb 4th at GHS!
Parents/guardians, if you would like to order a team shirt for yourself, the form is live for you as well on the website. Plus, there are several volunteer and chaperone opportunities if you are able to lend a hand. Any amount of assistance is greatly appreciated!
GCISD Swimming Diving Flyer
PTA Hospitality
Thank you to everyone who contributed to Chili Bar for the staff and teachers this week! Everyone enjoyed the warm lunch in this cold weather!
You have more opportunities this spring to treat our faculty and staff! Please see Sign Up for different days!
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10c0f4fa5af2ca7f4c70-teacher
Morning Drop Off by the Band Hall
February Parent Tech Academy
Are you a parent looking to stay informed about your child's technology use at school and at home? Look no further than the GCISD Parent Tech Academy! Our next session is at the PDEC on February 22nd, at 6:30pm. At the Parent Tech Academy, we will go over how to access parent weekly emails, your children’s internet history, and even how-to pause the internet on school issued devices after school hours. We will also have a Q&A about raising kids in a digital world.
Join us for the Parent Tech Academy and learn how to be better informed on your child's technology use.
Academia de tecnología para padres de febrero
¿Es usted un padre que busca mantenerse informado sobre el uso de la tecnología de su hijo en la escuela y en el hogar? ¡No busque más allá de la Academia de tecnología para padres de GCISD! Nuestra próxima sesión será en el PDEC el 22 de febrero a las 6:30pm. En la Academia de tecnología para padres , veremos cómo acceder a los correos electrónicos semanales de los padres, el historial de Internet de sus hijos e incluso cómo detener el Internet en los dispositivos proporcionados por la escuela después del horario escolar. También tendremos una sesión de preguntas y respuestas sobre la crianza de los niños en un mundo digital.
Únase a nosotros para la Academia de tecnología para padres y aprenda cómo estar mejor informado sobre el uso de la tecnología de su hijo.
CMS Honored Again as “School to Watch”
Congratulations to Colleyville Middle School for being redesignated as a Texas School To Watch. State education leaders selected CMS for its academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity, and organizational structures and processes. The school was also recognized for its strong leadership, teachers who work together to improve curriculum and instruction, and commitment to assessment and accountability to bring continuous improvement. Read the full story.
Incoming 6th Grade Showcase Information Night (23-24)
Attention all 8th Graders and 8th Grade parents
This high school dance class at GHS & CHHS is a Fine Arts Credit that is specifically geared towards athletes. In this class dance and yoga techniques are used to help with flexibility and mobility as well as recovery & injury prevention. This class is in place to allow athletes to earn their fine arts credit while continuing to train and focus on their sport.
The class is "Dance for Athletes" however is coded in the system for scheduling as "Dance Wellness".
More Cotillion Info.
COLLEYVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTORY - WHO TO CONTACT
*Note, the point of contact is the first level to answer and questions or concerns. They are usually able to resolve your question/concern, but in the event that you did not reach a resolution, your concern will be elevated to the subsequent level until a resolution is reached.
To email a CMS team member type the first name dot last name @gcisd.net (i.e. David Arencibia = david.arencibia@gcisd.net) unless different and noted under the name.