Caruso Connect - November 11th
Caruso Middle School is an inclusive and vibrant community where Blue Jays take ownership of their social-emotional and academic growth by supporting, challenging, and celebrating self and others.
Good Evening Blue Jay Families:
We are so excited to welcome families to Caruso Middle School in the upcoming weeks for our student-led conferences (aka Parent-teacher conferences). Students have been working hard in all of their classes to prepare a portfolio of learning to present to their families, and all of us at Caruso are proud of our students' accomplishments this first quarter! As we reflect on these past months of learning, we are hopeful that the upcoming months will be just as fruitful for all our students and families. If you have not had a chance to sign up, please see the information below. The sign-up deadline is Monday, November 14th at 3:00 pm.
Have a wonderful weekend, and we want to send a note of gratitude to all veterans and those who have served our country!
Tim, Jim, Caitlin & The Caruso Staff
Tim Brodeur - Principal - tbrodeur@dps109.org
Jim Monaco - Associate Principal - jmonaco@dps109.org
Caitlin Lucci - Coordinator of Student Support - clucci@dps109.org
Upcoming Events
November 21st - Conferences - PM
November 22nd - Conferences
November 22nd-25th - No School
Friday Spirit Days
Blue Jays of the Week
*If you would like to nominate a staff member for this you may do so HERE!
Caruso News
Sign up for the CMS Student-Led Conferences!
(Communicated on 11/3/22 via e-mail)
Sign up for the CMS Student-Led Conferences!
Our annual Student-Led Conferences are coming up on November 21st and 22nd. This is an excellent opportunity to meet your student's CORE teachers and ENCORE teachers, but most importantly, it’s an opportunity to dialogue with your student about their progress and goals for the year. We see this as an opportunity to have a collaborative relationship betweenyou and your student. We ask that your student attend with you.
CMS Grade Level CORE Teachers:
6th Grade White: Stocco, Bohm, Hoglund, Clendenning, Lewandowski, Friedman
6th Grade Blue: Jensen, McCandless, Lombardi, Budrow, Pire
7th Grade White: Tomer, Moss, Berris, Swanson, Matan, Latourette
7th Grade Blue: Gold, Reisman, Kubiszewski, Stempien, Rich
8th Grade White: Sanders, Cooper, Philip, Revelins, Carpenter, Boruszak
8th Grade Blue: Demos, Riddle, Tandle, Richardson, Markin, Boruszak
CMS ENCORE Teachers and Staff:
Practical Arts: Anselmo, Chalfin, Max, Mormolstein, Vombrack, Witczak, Zmuda
Student Support: Cohen, D’Ambrosio, Dowell, Levine, Murphy, Remeniuk, Schneider, Schwerr, Wynn
World Language & PE: Fejer, Feldberg, Fowler, Hoy, Klee, Lee, Signa, Spies, Zamir
How do I sign-up?
For CORE teachers, when selecting a time slot, you are choosing a 30-minute session that will afford you time with your student and their CORE classroom teachers. Please click the CORE link in this text to go directly to the sign up.
For ENCORE teachers and staff, when selecting a time slot, you are choosing a 30-minute session that will afford you time with your student and their ENCORE teachers and staff. Please click the ENCORE link in this text to go directly to the sign up. All ENCORE teachers and staff are available in the LC at the time you select.
Sign-up deadline: Monday, November 14th at 3:00 pm
If you would like to schedule a zoom appointment, please email the team leader for your student’s team by Monday, November 14th at 3:00 pm. They are in BOLD above. Team leaders will then communicate directly with you.
Once you have completed the sign-up process, any necessary changes to your conference times should be communicated to your child's team of teachers (CORE) or with the individual staff member (ENCORE and Staff).
Caruso Staff Holiday Gift Fund
(Communicated on 11/2/22 via e-mail)
Looking for great Teachers’ gifts for the holidays? The PTO has the perfect answer! Contribute to the Caruso Staff Holiday Gift Fund.
All you need to do is visit our website at https://carusomspto.membershiptoolkit.com or open your Membership Toolkit app and tap Home. All teachers/staff members will receive a portion of the Caruso Staff Holiday Gift Fund with a thoughtful card naming each family who contributed.
The deadline to contribute is Friday, December 9 so don’t procrastinate! Contact Erica Lindon with any questions at ericalindon@yahoo.com
Signs of Suicide (SOS) program
(Communicated on 11/2/22 via e-mail)
Dear Parent or Guardian:
The adolescent years are marked by a roller-coaster ride of emotions – difficult for students, their parents and educators. It is easy to misinterpret depression as “normal” adolescent moodiness; however, depression (among the most common of mental illnesses) appears to be occurring at a much earlier age. Depression – which is treatable – is a leading risk factor for suicide. In addition, self-injury has become a growing problem among youth.
To proactively address these issues, Caruso Middle School is offering depression awareness and suicide prevention training as part of the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program. The program aims to increase help-seeking behaviors among students concerned about themselves or a friend. Listed on SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, the SOS program showed a reduction in self-reported suicide attempts by 40-64% in randomized control studies (Aseltine et al., 2007 & Schilling et al., 2016).
Our goals in participating in this program are straightforward:
To help our students understand that depression is a treatable illness
To explain that suicide is a preventable tragedy that often occurs as a result of untreated depression
To provide students with the training on how to identify serious depression and potential suicidality in themselves or a friend
To impress upon youth that they can help themselves or a friend by taking the simple step of talking to a responsible adult about their concerns
To help students know whom in the school they can turn to for help, if they need it
This program will be presented to our 6th to 8th graders during the week of November 14th. The SOS program is brought to us by Elyssa’s Mission, a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention. Elyssa’s Mission is the only organization in the state of Illinois to fund, distribute and implement SOS. To get more information on suicide prevention, visit their website at www.elyssasmission.org. Make sure to view their online Parent Presentation at https://elyssasmission.org/for-parents/ for specific information on warning signs and how to keep your child safe. We also encourage you to visit www.sossignsofsuicide.org/parent for information on warning signs for youth suicide, useful resources, and some of the key messages students will learn.
As part of the program, facilitators, which includes our social workers, counselors, psychologists and P.E. Teachers, will show SOS video clips and lead students in discussion. Students will then complete a brief depression screener, as well as fill out a Response Card indicating whether or not they would like to speak to an adult about themselves or a friend. The depression screening tool addresses thoughts and feelings which a parent may be unaware their child is having. This tool does not provide a diagnosis of depression, and rather alerts school staff to those students requiring further investigation. School mental health staff or a qualified community mental health partner will be available to meet with designated students; school staff will subsequently notify parents/guardians regarding any needed next steps.
If you have any questions and/or do NOT want your child to participate in the SOS program, please contact your student's grade level counselor (6th: Ms. Murphy jmurphy@dps109.org, 7th: Mr. Remeniuk aremeniuk@dps109.org, or 8th Ms. Wynn jwynn@dps109.org) prior to the program date. If we do not hear from you, we will assume your child has permission to participate in this program.
Sincerely,
Tim Brodeur
Junior High Mathematics Competition
(Communicated on 10/28/22)
Our Annual Junior High Mathematics Competition!
Register Here
Saturday, November 19, 2022
Check-in 8 AM to 8:30 AM
Pick-up between 10:45 AM and 11 AM
Solve challenging math problems!
Work with your peers!
Meet students from other schools!
Ways to Give
(Communicated on10/21/22)
Our Philanthropy Club has organized two different opportunities for Caruso to give!
The first organization that Caruso has teamed up with is CHANCE THE RAPPER’s nonprofit organization, Social Works! Items are given to Chicago families in need. There will be a large box in the front lobby of the school for people to bring in new/lightly used toys, coats, scarfs, new hygiene items, coats, gloves, blankets, and socks! Donations will run through December 4th. Please help fill the box.
DHS Online Enrollment for Class of 2027
(Communicated via e-mail on 10/20/22)
Dear Class of 2027 Families,
On behalf of Deerfield High School, I would like to welcome you to the enrollment process. As our first step, we must collect the demographic and contact information through our online form. Collecting demographic data should take no longer than 15-20 minutes to complete.
Please complete this by Friday, November 18, 2022. Upon collecting your contact information, we will then email you directly with further information about the upcoming course placement process, High School Preview Night, registration for courses and other pertinent information.
Please click the link below to begin. All of the necessary information can be found on this District 113 Online Enrollment Registration page link, including the link to begin the enrollment:
ENROLLMENT AND ONLINE REGISTRATION PAGE
Thank you, and we look forward to welcoming the Class of 2027 Warriors!
Best,
Dr. Brandt
Weekly Activity Calendar
(Communicated 9/23/22)
JOIN INTRAMURALS
(Communicated 9/9/22)
JOIN INTRAMURALS
The purpose of this program is to keep kids moving and develop minds, bodies, and relationships through a variety of sport and fitness activities. Each and every sport and fitness activity listed below is available to all Caruso students 6-8th grade.
Available dates and activities:
Wednesday, October 12 Basketball
Friday, October 14 Flag Football
Monday, October 17 Softball
Wednesday, October 19 Gaga
Friday, October 21 Flag Football
Monday, October 24 Soccer
Wednesday, October 26 Basketball
Friday, October 28 Flag Football
During the 1st quarter, our intramural program will be offered every Monday and Friday after school 3:00-4:00pm (late bus is available) and Wednesday (mornings) 7:00-7:55am. Please understand that these activities can and will change depending on weather, available space, and the number of participants present each day. If you have questions please feel free to contact Mr. Hoy. at thoy@dps109.org or call (847)945-8430 ext. 6150.
Order Your Yearbook Today!
(Communicated 9/2/22)
Gear Up and Homework Club
Caruso Bell Schedules
Coffee w/ Caruso
On October 20th the Coffee with Caruso will be held with architects working for the school district the conversation will be focused on improving our building to better support your students. Please join us and RSVP by calling the main office.
Who to Contact?
Mrs. Lucci, District Coordinator of Student Support
Mr. Brodeur, Principal
Mr. Monaco, Associate Principal
Caruso Middle School
Email: cmsoffice@dps109.org
Website: https://www.dps109.org/Page/9
Location: 1801 Montgomery Road, Deerfield, IL, USA
Twitter: @109Caruso