Dear Families,

As we move through the month of October, we continue to focus on our One Curtis belief that all students and staff should feel welcomed, accepted, included, and valued in our school community.

In middle school, our students are learning about the impact of their words and actions and that it is never acceptable to make jokes that involve race, religion, gender, etc.

We know that sometimes students repeat words they hear in songs or video games because they don’t understand what they mean. We need your support and partnership in educating the students about these topics and helping them to understand the importance of treating others with respect and dignity.

We also want students and families to feel comfortable reporting anything that does not align with our One Curtis belief. Thank you for your assistance in this area.

Thank you,

Jeff

Wednesday, October 19 - 12:45 Early Release; 7:30 p.m. CPO Meeting

Wednesday, November 2 - 12:45 Early Release: Parent/Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, November 9 - 12:45 Early Release: Parent/Teacher Conferences

Friday, November 11 - No School - Veterans Day

Wednesday, November 16 - 12:45 Early Release: Parent/Teacher Conferences

The Pennies for Hope fundraiser competition at Curtis runs through Friday, October 28th. Collection jars for donations are located in each homeroom. On the 28th, donations will be collected and consolidated for each grade. The grade that raises the most money will win a prize, such as an extended recess or a movie to be shown at school the day before one of our upcoming vacations.

The money collected at Curtis will be presented to HopeSudbury during their telethon in early November. Last year, Curtis raised more than $3,000 for HopeSudbury. In the past, money raised by HopeSudbury has helped families cover expenses such as medical bills, household repairs and utility bills.

Please encourage your child to support this important fundraiser. If you have questions about the Pennies For Hope fundraiser competition, please contact Curtis Angels Faculty Advisor, Ivar Henningson.

Thank you for your support.

Reminder to 8th grade families: To register your 8th grader for the civics trip, go to Worldstrides AND Family ID. To seek financial aid, use the D.C. Scholarship Request Form. For other information and links, please visit the ECMS D.C. Website.

The Frozen Fundraiser ends on Monday! To create an account, click here or scan the QR code below:

***GRADE 7 PHYSICALS***

Please submit a copy of your 7th graders most recent physical exam to the Health Office (within the past 13 months). If you have already submitted one, thank you! No need to submit another one. To date, we have only received about half of the required physicals.

***COVID GUIDELINES***

Please continue to remain vigilant for symptoms of COVID-19. If your student becomes symptomatic please test. If your student tests positive please notify the health office for isolation guidelines.

I hope that your child is having a good transition to middle school. Students seem to be adjusting and settling in to the new experience of being a middle schooler. This is a big step for students and it usually takes some time for them to get fully acclimated and settled.

Throughout the course of the school year, I will be offering small groups for 6th graders on various topics, such as friendship (Make New Friends, but Keep the Old), transition to middle school (Middle School Conversations) and Relaxation/Stress Management Strategies (Keep Calm and Carry On). The groups will meet either during Team Time or Recess and will run for six weeks. I will be running groups during all three trimesters.

If you think your child might benefit from or enjoy one of these groups, please email me at:

terry_miller@sudbury.k12.ma.us and let me know which group your child might be interested in.

Thank you and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns about your child.

Terry Miller

6th Grade School Counselor

If your child is applying to private school, please contact your child’s grade level school counselor so that we can help facilitate the process. To ensure that this process is efficient and expedient, please follow these guidelines:

• Prior to submitting any forms (electronically or on paper), please ensure that your child contacts their teachers and the counselor to ask for their recommendation.

• Most schools are using on-line platforms for applications and recommendations. Please notify the grade counselor which schools your child is applying to and the platforms that these schools use.

• If the applications require paper forms, they should be dropped off at the ECMS main office to the attention of the grade level counselor. Please do not send any paper recommendation forms directly to teachers; the grade level counselor will distribute these to teachers.

• In order to send records and recommendations to the private school, we must have a signed release from a parent or guardian. This is usually provided with the private school application form or may be part of the on-line platform.

• We request that you submit all forms as early as possible to allow teachers and counselors ample time to complete recommendations. Please be aware of the following timeline for submitting forms to the grade level counselor:

By December 1, 2022 for a January 1, 2023 deadline
By December 15, 2022 for a January 15, 2023 deadline
By January 3, 2022 for a February 1, 2023 deadline

• In early spring after you have heard from the school’s admissions department, please contact the grade level counselor to inform us of the application outcome and private school decisions for your child.

• Please direct any questions about the status of recommendations to the following counselors.

Procedure for applications requiring direct mail:

• Include a large (10 x 13) stamped standard mailing envelope for each school with the forms, so that we are able to mail them out quickly when the applications are complete.

• On each mailing envelope, include a postage amount of $2.94.

• Print the specific name and address to whom we are directing the application.

• Leave the return address blank as we will fill this in indicating that the materials came from Curtis.

- Terry Miller, Grade 6 ext. 7513

- Jennifer Hymes, Grade 7 ext. 7512

- Ivar Henningson, Grade 8 ext. 7511

Thank you very much for your assistance and cooperation with this private school application process.

ECMS Counseling Department

Through music, stepping, tap, and ring shouts, the amazing dance troupe Step Afrika! captures the rhythmic rebellion of the human spirit. Please click here for more information.

The Curtis Library is looking for parent volunteers to assist in checkout, staffing the circulation desk during team time, building displays and bulletin boards, and other library tasks. No library experience is needed, you will be trained, but it is useful! Please email elizabeth_simpson@sudbury.k12.ma.us for more information. (Please email again if your original attempt bounced back). Thank you!

We are fortunate to offer a diverse list of clubs and activities this year to meet the interests of our students:

• Cauldron
• Strategic Games
• Computer Club
• Diversity Club
• ECMS Theatre Troupe
• Model UN
  
• Science Olympiad
• Speech & Debate Team

Click here to go to the Activities & Clubs webpage, where you will find a description of each of the course offerings, along with applicable forms to print out, complete, and return to school. Please be sure to make all checks payable to Town of Sudbury. If you have any questions, please email the advisor of the activity.

Attention all math lovers! The MATHCOUNTS Competition is coming back to Curtis again this year! This competition series will be in person. All in-school students of Curtis 6th - 8th graders are eligible to participate in a school level MATHCOUNTS practice competition. Following that, a group of up to 12 selected students will be representing Curtis Middle School at the Chapter Competition.

What is MATHCOUNTS?

The MATHCOUNTS Competition Series is a nationwide middle school mathematics competition that provides students the opportunity to compete in-person against and alongside their peers.

The competition is held annually at the school, chapter, state and national levels. This will be the sixth year that Curtis Middle School will participate in the competition. Our goal is to have fun, build confidence, and improve our critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Registration and Cost

School Practice Competition

Date: TBD before end of January 2023 (after school time or weekend)

Cost: free

How/when to register: Complete the registration form here by Nov 20th

Chapter competition will be held in February 2023.

Registration fee for Chapter Competition: $30 / student

A group of up to 12 students per school will attend the Chapter Competition.

Who leads the Chapter team?

The Curtis team will be lead by volunteer Curtis parents. There are no weekly meets. There will be online or in-person practice sessions before the chapter competition for the school group. This year’s coaches will be Mr. Yi Hou and Sophia Hou.

Please contact Yi Hou at yihou@hotmail.com with any questions.

Our students would love to have more recess equipment! Please consider donating a used or new ball or jump rope to help our kids enjoy their recess time. Supplies needed:

• Rubber balls for 4 Square
• Basketballs
• Footballs
• Soccer balls
• Tennis balls
• Any other balls that are not hard
• Jump ropes

We are looking for School Council representatives for the Curtis School Council this year.

What is School Council?

A school council is a representative advisory group that collaborates in planning for and implementing school improvement. It is a form of site-based management that places the school at the center of planning, goal setting, and budgeting for improvement.

Who serves on a School Council?

It is composed of representatives of the school and community. Members of the council include:

~principal

~teachers

~parents of students attending the school

~community representatives

If you are interested in serving on the school council, please submit a brief statement about why you wish to serve on the Curtis School Council. Please send this information to Jeff Mela.

Please click here to view the SPS 2022-2023 School Calendar.

Please click here to see the complete Curtis schedule for this school year.

Curtis Directory

Please remember you can purchase the CurtIs directory and make a donation to Direct Appeal in one easy step. Print and online access for the directory is $15 and online-only is $10; the printed directory will be available in November and you will have online access right after you place your order.

Direct Appeal

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to the CPO to help support Curtis’ cultural, creative, and educational programming. The CPO supports a variety of programs and initiatives, including cultural enrichment, the 1:1 computing program, the Curtis Messenger newsletter, student scholarships, student social events, technology, end-of-year activities, classroom curriculum aids for teachers, UA supplies, recess equipment, uniforms for school sports teams, library furniture, the student counseling department, the tile project in the school hallways, outdoor beautification projects, and much more. These are all important additions to the Curtis community and they truly improve the students’ experience at Curtis Middle School. This is all possible because of the generosity of the Curtis parent community.

We suggest a $75 donation—but no donation is too small—and all are appreciated! Also, please check if your company offers a matching donation. Click here to donate.

Please note that donation acknowledgment letters will be provided by request only. If you require a letter for tax purposes, please email a request to cpotreasurer@gmail.com.

(You can also make a donation when you order your directory!)

First CPO Meeting

We will be hosting our first CPO meeting in a virtual format on October 19 at 7:30pm. We’ll share the meeting link soon. We hope you can join us, along with Mr. Mela, who will discuss the upcoming school year, as well as Ms. Kerrigan, technology integration specialist at Curtis, who will give an overview of how technology is used at the middle school, including Schoology. Both will answer parent questions.

CPO Facebook Page

The CPO Facebook is a great resource to get information and ask questions. Please remember to answer the required questions to be approved. This is important for us to keep the membership contained to Curtis families.

Curtis Gear

The Curtis online store is now open with lots of Curtis spirit wear and gear, including clothing, hats, bags, and more!

8th Grade Events and Washington DC Trip: VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED

Thank you to those who have volunteered for the 8th grade events and DC trip. We still need more volunteers. If you can be a T-Shirt Coordinator for DC or a Care Package Coordinator please let us know. Please reach out to the 8th Grade Co-Chair Nalini Luthra via email nluthra647@aol.com if you would like more information or sign up to help.

CPO MESSENGER

Please share this newsletter with others who are new to Curtis and encourage them to sign up for their own copy!

Boys in grades 5-8 and their parents are invited to a Halloween pizza party on October 27th at 7pm to learn more about BSA Scout Troop 63. Join us at St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church for the following fun activities:

* Scout videos and troop activities slideshow

* Story of High Adventures

* A taste of camping (indoor virtual campfire, stations for test setup and knot tying)

* Parents Q&A with Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters.

* Guests will mingle with the troop while enjoying pizza, cobbler, ice cream, and snacks!

Learning ~ Respect ~ Responsibliity

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