Colt Corner
Colleyville Middle School
September 17, 2021
Colts,
Hello Friday! Lots of exciting “school things” happened this week with high level class engagement and academics going on all around. Our athletics are in full swing and many (8 of 9 teams) won their district openers in convincing fashion! We also enjoyed watching our cheerleaders and dance teams do what they love and they performed well for our Colt community!
As a reminder our students do not have school on Monday due to our staff professional Development Day.
Next week is very important for our students that are involved in UIL activities in any way (i.e. sports, fine arts etc.) because it is an eligibility grade check week. Be sure to check the yellow grade calendar and UIL information below for details. All current assignments/corrections are due to teachers by 4:00pm Thursday, September 23rd. Thank you for your help in partnering with us to keep our students on a successful academic path. Have a great weekend!
David Arencibia, Ed.D.
CMS Principal
Twitter: @CmsColts - #TeamCMS - #cmscelebrates - #CMSstrengths
B.E.S.T. - Building Excellent Schools Together
UPCOMING DATES/EVENTS
September 20 - No School for students. GCISD Professional Development Day
September 20 - 7th Grade A & B Football
September 20 - 7th & 8th Grade A & B Volleyball
September 21 - 8th Grade A & B Football
September 23 - Student grades are due by 4:00 pm
September 24 - UIL Grade Check for all students
September 27 - 7th Grade A & B Football
September 27 - 7th & 8th Grade A & B Volleyball
September 28 - 8th Grade A & B Football
October 4 - 7th Grade A & B Football
October 4 - GCISD Band Night - Mustang Panther Stadium 7:00 - 9:00 pm
October 5 - 7th & 8th Grade A & B Volleyball
October 7 - Band Fall Social - Halls Pumpkin Farm - 6:00 - 8:00 pm
In this Edition of the Colt Corner
* Grades Advisory Bootcamp
* UIL Calendar and Information
* National PTA School of Excellence
* CMS PTA Reflections Program
* GCISD Support Staff Job Fair
* CMS Therapy Dog
* Picture Retakes
* Counselor Corner: Newest Counseling Addition, Play it Safe Parent Preview, Signs of Suicide, GCISD Mental Heath Awareness, Credit by Exam Registration
Repeated Information
* Trinity River Authority Art Contest
* Student Opportunities from Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne
* Remote Conferencing
* COVID-19 Protocols and Testing Center
* Colleyville Middle School Directory - Who To Contact
Grades Bootcamp
In an effort to help students stay current with their work, we have missing work boot camps scheduled during Advisory next week during the school day. These are done periodically throughout the school year to help our students stay current with their grades. Please encourage your Colt to check in on their grades. Grades may also be reviewed on Skyward from your device for convenience.
Grade Bootcamp Days:
Sep. 21st - 6th grade
Sep. 22nd - 8th grade
Sep. 23rd - 7th grade
Important Date for upcoming Grades:
Sep. 23rd - Students assignments due to teachers by 4pm
UIL Calendar
This coming week is a (UIL) University of Interscholastic League grade check week. This grade check will determine eligibility for all UIL activities including all school sports and fine arts etc. activities. A student must have a passing grade (70% or above) in order to stay eligible to participate in UIL events. Please help ensure your Colt has all of their grades up to date and passing before their grade level bootcamp day (see above) and by 4:00pm on Thursday, September 23rd the deadline for all current grades.
National PTA School of Excellence
CMS PTA Reflections Program
GCISD Support Staff Job Fair
GCISD is hosting a Support Staff Job Fair on Wednesday, September 22, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Professional Development and Education Center (5800 Colleyville Blvd.). If you are interested in joining a Dallas Morning News Top 100 Workplace in any of a variety of support staff roles, this is the event for you. On-site interviews will be held.
GCISD is looking for applicants for all of the following positions...
Cafeteria Food Service Workers
Bus Drivers
Bus Driver Trainee (no experience required)
Custodians
Grounds - Field Maintenance
After School Care Assistants
Childcare Teachers Assistants
Irrigation Technician
Substitute Teachers
Apply online today at www.GCISD.net/Careers.
CMS Therapy Dog!
We are very excited to welcome a new addition to our campus, our very own therapy dog Zeppelin! Zeppelin has been trained and certified through Alliance of Therapy dogs and will be working with students through our counseling and library programs. Zep is a Standard Poodle, he is hypo-allergenic and doesn’t shed. He won’t be on campus every day and when he is with us he will have his own space in the library. We are very excited about this opportunity for our campus! If you have any questions about the therapy dog program email shannon.jones@gcisd.net
ID Badges
The requirement for the information on the back of the ID is also listed below for your convenience.
Senate Bill 279 Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the intent of the bill?
- The bill is intended to help prevent youth suicides. Providing national crisis-line numbers to students is a statewide suicide prevention strategy. The goal is to equip students with awareness, information, and immediate access to help in a crisis by providing the numbers for students to read on their student identification (IDs) issued by the school to students in grades 6-12.
“bathroom challenge” or “Devious Lick”
Across the district we have been made aware of a viral “bathroom challenge” or “Devious Lick” circulating on Tik Tok, where students are encouraged to vandalize school property and steal random items from their campus. This challenge is impacting neighboring districts and schools across the state, creating thousands of dollars of damage and sometimes closing bathroom facilities for repairs.
We ask that you please take time to speak with your student about the impact of this destructive trend on our campus, staff, and our facilities. Please encourage your student that if they “see something, say something.” We fully recognize that this can be intimidating socially but please assure your student that campus administrators are available discretely via email if they do not feel comfortable coming to the office to make a report.
Also, please reiterate that students caught engaging in behavior such as this can face serious disciplinary consequences as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct, as well as be financially responsible for property damage and/or theft.
Thank you for your collective efforts in speaking with your student about the importance of respecting school property and/or reporting vandalism as we work together to foster pride in our schools.
Week of September 20 - 27
Newest CMS Counseling Addition
We are excited to announce a new member to our counseling staff. Sarah Dumas is joining us as the new student advocate at CMS. Mandy Ozuna is moving into the district department of Student Engagement adding her background in counseling to that lense as their coordinator. Sarah has seven years experience in the mental health field and has worked in various settings including schools, hospitals, and in-home family therapy. She previously worked for Dallas ISD and shared, she is honored to begin this new journey with CMS and is looking forward to working with the staff, students, and families at CMS. She will be such a great addition to the team and resource for students. We are thrilled to welcome her as a Colt.
Play it Safe Parent Preview
The Play it Safe! Middle School Parent Preview will be held virtually through Zoom on September 23rd at 10 a.m. and will be recorded for parents to watch at their convenience. To view more details and the CMS campus-specific dates for the upcoming 6th and 7th grade presentations, please see the English Flyer or Spanish Flyer. If you do NOT want your child to participate, please fill out the linked form and send/bring to school with your child or email Sarah Dumas at sarah.dumas@gcisd.net BEFORE the presentation date to let us know that you would like to opt your child out. Otherwise, all students will participate in the program.
SOS SIGNS OF SUICIDE® PREVENTION PROGRAM
GCISD offers depression awareness and suicide prevention training as part of the SOS Signs of Suicide® Prevention Program. The program is designed for all secondary students grades 6-12. The GCISD School Health Advisory Committee has previewed and recommended these programs for all GCISD secondary schools.
A parent preview of the program was held Tuesday, September 7, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. and at 6:00 p.m. at the GCISD Administration Building.
For more information, including information about how to opt your student out of the program, please click here for English or Spanish.
CMS is planning to do our SOS presentations this Fall on the following dates:
8th grade – Oct. 5
7thgrade – Oct. 12
6th grade – Oct. 19
Opt out forms should be sent to Ms. Dumas, our new student advocate. Her email address is sarah.dumas@gcisd.net Opt-out forms need to be returned before the date of your child's presentation only if you do NOT want your child to participate.
GCISD Mental Health Awareness
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and in honor of this awareness we would like to remind students and our community that counselors are available to support students and parents and will be conducting Suicide Prevention Curriculum this semester at all secondary campuses.
"Out of the Darkness Walk" with GCISD Hope Squads Oct. 30th - click HERE to register and join our district for the DFW Metro Walk.
Additional Resources:
National Institute of Mental Health
Jordan Harris Foundation (Upcoming virtual QPR trainings advertised here)
Credit by Exam Registration
The Nov., 2021 CBE Online Registration is now open on the GCISD Website. The deadline for registering is October 6, 2021. Online Remote Proctorio Testing dates will be Nov 1-11, 2021. Please use this link to access the GCISD CBE website.Trinity River Authority Art Contest
The Trinity River Authority's (TRA) annual art contest calls on 1st-grade through 8th-grade students who live in the Trinity River basin to create original artwork depicting this year's theme, "Save Your Pipes, Don't Flush the Wipes". The contest aims to raise awareness about the importance of conserving and protecting our water supplies from potential pollution.
A winner from each grade is selected and an overall grand-prize winner is selected from among the winning entries. The winners are invited to attend the October TRA Board of Directors meeting where they are individually recognized and receive prizes.
More information and rules can be found here. The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2021.
GCISD COVID-19 Resources
Please visit www.GCISD.net/COVID19 for lots of resources from the District pertaining to COVID-19. There you can find updated frequently asked questions, current GCISD COVID-19 protocols, information on the GCISD COVID-19 Testing Center, information on remote conferencing, statistics regarding COVID-19 cases in GCISD and more.
Recursos de GCISD sobre COVID-19
Por favor visite www.GCISD.net/COVID19 para acceder a muchos recursos del Distrito sobre COVID-19. Allí, se puede encontrar preguntas frecuentes actualizadas, protocolos actuales de GCISD sobre COVID-19, información sobre el Centro de Pruebas para COVID-19 en GCISD, información sobre las conferencias remotas, y estadísticas sobre los casos de COVID-19 en GCISD y más.
Remote Conferencing
GCISD would like to inform families that, beginning on Monday, August 23, remote conferencing will be available for students who are unable to attend school in-person because they are in quarantine as the result of being a close contact or test-positive for COVID-19.
Approved by the Texas Education Agency, remote conferencing is a mechanism by which online instruction can be provided for those who are temporarily away from campus for reasons related to COVID-19. It is important to remember this is not GCISD Online, a temporary remote learning option for elementary students that families were made aware of last week.
Please click here for frequently asked questions regarding remote conferencing. More detailed information, including a complete list of FAQs, is available from the TEA by clicking here.
Additional Remote Conferencing Info.
COVID-19 Protocols and Testing Center
Throughout the summer, GCISD has continued to monitor updated health guidance and recommendations to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Additionally, the District has monitored positive cases for students and staff that participated in summer programs. This continued monitoring has helped inform the District’s 2021-2022 COVID-19 protocols. More information about the protocols was sent last week, and can be read here.
GCISD COVID-19 Testing Center
The GCISD COVID-19 Testing Center at Mustang Panther Stadium is currently open for symptomatic students or staff.
The testing center hours will be 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. No appointment is needed from 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.; however, please email covidtesting@gcisd.net to let the district know that you will be coming. From 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., appointments should be made using the same email address listed above.
CMS Who To Contact Directory
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