Miner Minutes
July 16, 2015
Great news for our students!
We have been granted 10 more Chromebook carts for CMS! This is AWESOME as this will provide our students access and tools to even more engaged learning. We hope to get them in early August, so more details on how we will organize all of our technological resources soon.
Title One?
There were rumors in the late spring that Concord Middle would qualify for Title 1 money. CCS has decided to add some financial resources to our budget that would be similar to Title 1 funding, but we will not officially be a Title 1 school and get the many resources that can come with that designation. But keep in mind, many other things come with that name, so this is not necessarily good or bad news. It's just news. And it means that our students are going to receive an investment into their learning because there is an acknowledgement that we are almost 75% free and reduced lunch, and therefore have different needs than many of our other middle schools.
Mr. Jamie Mabry, Dean of Students (6th grade)
Uniform check!
Ms. Alicia Davis, Assistant Principal (7th grade)
Administrative Team Complete!
Congratulations to Ms. Alicia Davis, who will be the Assistant Principal joining our team, as well as Mr. Jamie Mabry, who will be our Dean of Students! The CCS Board of Education approved them this past Monday, and we know this administrative team will be a wonderful support to our staff and students! Our Miner staff already knows Mr. Mabry, and we wanted to throwback to his soccer days at Pfeiffer with this photo. (And we have more for future entertainment...) Mr. Mabry will be starting his 3rd year at CMS this year after many years as an educator in Stanly County. He is currently working on his Masters in School Administration at Gardner Webb University and is in the National Guard. As a fun fact, Mr. Mabry used to have hair down to his shoulders! And he attended Pfeiffer on a soccer scholarship many years ago. He is married to Wendy. He says, "I am looking very forward to working with the teachers, staff, community, and students to create a new environment for CMS. Also, I am looking forward to being a part of a great administrative team to help bring the vision of CMS back for teachers and students. We are Concord!" Ms. Alicia Davis originally comes from Lee County, NC, and she is a North Carolina Teaching Fellow. She attended UNCC for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She has been married to Avram for almost 3 years. She comes to us from Mooresville Graded School District, and she is a former math teacher. A fun fact about her? She has never chewed gum! And she says, "I am excited to be at CMS and have the opportunity to work with such amazing teachers and students!" Mr. Lord will be the grade level administrator for 8th grade; Ms. Davis for 7th grade, and Mr. Mabry for 6th grade. I'm confidant we have the BEST administrative team in the state of North Carolina! (Be sure to check out our snazzy attire in the final picture...)
Field Trip!
Since half of our administrative team is new to Concord Middle, we felt it would be important to go on a field trip around our attendance zone this week. Ms. Reid was our chaperone and was kind enough to give us a grand tour of the many neighborhoods from which our students live. We actually saw many of our kids outside hanging with their friends and family! We thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Reid's intimate knowledge, and we took a few pics of some familiar locations for all of you.
Boys' and Girls' Club
The old Concord Middle/Concord High
Bleeding black and gold...
Our work this week...
We have continued our adventures in interviewing (I'm pretty sure we could create a sitcom off of these!). We have been reference checking like crazy, and we continue to screen and recruit and search for awesome educators. Remember, YOU are our best resource, so if you know of pals or friends of friends that may be interested, start that conversation to recruit them! Mr. Mabry has been learning in some district PD most of the week, and we have missed him. And Ms. McKenzie and our team worked together on creating a clear and concise discipline policy for our school. We have high expectations for our students, and we want to be sure they are all consistently aware of these expectations. I continue to appreciate those of you who have been able to sign up for our "FaceTime" together. I love getting to know each of you!
Calendar Reminders
July 28, 9am: CMS PBIS Team
To be scheduled: SLT
August 1: CMS Courtyard cleanup and cookout
August 3-4: CCS Summer PD Institute
August 5-6: CCS Tech Camp
August 10-12: Capturing Kids’ Hearts!!
August 17: Teacher workdays begin; CCS Convocation 1pm
August 19: CMS Open House 4-6pm