Hello Cougar parents,

Here are some updates from the first few weeks of school.

CMS Homeroom – What is it?

Homeroom has developed out of a campus need to provide additional support for our students to navigate middle school. The CMS goal is to provide a mentor teacher in a homeroom setting that meets daily to provide opportunities for developing relationships with students to promote student academic, social and emotional success.

Allen ISD has a district goal to promote and nurture collaborative relationships essential for successful students and schools. This CMS goal supports the district goal.

Through homeroom, we will be developing character traits, building relationships between students, developing leadership and service oriented students, providing academic support and organizational skills, developing a sense of community and developing self-confidence, just to name a few! We are excited for this opportunity to work with students on these things in a fun and relaxed setting!

Social Emotional Learning

We started our social emotional learning program last week. Take a look at the lesson summary and take time to discuss with your child at home.

Grade 7 and 8, Lesson 1: Family Lesson Summary

This week’s lesson will help your child understand some of the changes that happen during adolescence, and how the Second Step Program can help your child succeed and do well, both as a student and as a friend.

Family Lesson Question

Ask your child about any changes he or she has noticed in friends now that they’re growing up, and what your child thinks about these changes.

Check Out PARENTEENCONNECT.ORG

ParenTeenConnect.org, a free website for parents and their teens created by the makers of the Second Step Program, is a great resource for middle school families. It provides expert advice and practical tools for dealing with real parent-teen issues.

Get Talking With PARENTEEN CONNECT

At ParenTeenConnect.org, you can hear from real parents and teens about the issues that cause conflict in their lives—including screen time, independence, responsibility, and communication—and get expert advice. Visit ParenTeenConnect.org at home with your child, select a topic together, and get talking!

STEAM Center Visits

Our 8th graders will be visiting the STEAM Center September 10-13. Please look for the permission slip that should have come home on Thursday last week or CLICK HERE to print both sides of the slip. Please return permission slips as soon as possible to help us prepare for the trip. We are excited to be back over at the STEAM Center for exciting learning!

Front Parking Lot

Please do not pick up students in the front parking lot or cut through the front parking lot during dismissal. Passing the buses with their stop signs on and red lights flashing is against the law. Please help us keep our students who are loading safe.

Parent Technology Night

Mark your calendars for September 19 for our annual parent and technology night! We will have sessions available from 6:00 - 7:30 beginning in the cafeteria. Sessions will include information on Canvas and how it is used in middle school, Skyward and how to help students check grades, Naviance introduction and how it’s used in middle school, Social Media and the middle school brain.

We want to help you stay informed this year and share the great things that happen at Curtis! Ways to stay informed include checking our website for daily announcements, following us on twitter @curtiscougars, joining the Curtis Middle School PTA facebook page, and reading this newsletter every other week!

Sincerely,

Sonya Pitcock, Principal

Curtis Middle School

Support our PTA and Curtis Athletics by signing up to work at concessions during Curtis' home games. We have Stadium Concessions at Curtis' football games and also Gym Concessions in the gym for home volleyball and basketball games. Proceeds go to Curtis PTA. Thank you for your consideration! CLICK HERE to sign up. You will need to login to your Membership Toolkit account.

In order to volunteer for Concessions, either at the Curtis Stadium or in the Curtis Gym, you will need a current AISD Volunteer Application on file. These are good for one year and expire annually on July 1. They can take up to 2 weeks to process. CLICK HERE to start.

Questions or if you want to bring your child to earn volunteer hours at concessions, please email Jennifer. It is required that at least one adult is present for each child who volunteers.

Questions? Please email Jennifer

The school year is off to a busy start and the CMS teachers and staff are doing a great job teaching our kids. Let's show our teachers how much we appreciate all that they do for us by providing them with a Mexican Fiesta for their first staff meeting on September 18. Please sign up at the link below. We also have an option to drop off non-perishable items at starting the weekend before. Thank you for your support and donations-we can't do it without you!

CLICK HERE and login to your Membership Toolkit account.

We are thrilled that our PTA membership number has surpassed 400! We are closing in on our goal of 476 by September 30 (our goal for the year is 673!). Your support not only helps to provide for our students and teachers and strengthen our organization locally, it is adding to the collective impact PTA makes across the state and the nation when advocating for the education of our children.

Contest Time! Every two parent membership will be entered into a drawing for a $50 iPic gift card, and every student membership will be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card to Game Stop. Drawing will be conducted on September 27, 2019.

To join, please visit www.CurtisCougarPTA.org. Just a reminder that if you are a PTA Member at an elementary campus, you still need to join the Curtis PTA to be a member.

PTA Reflections is a nationally acclaimed student recognition program to encourage artistic creativity in the classroom and at home. Students of all grades and abilities may participate and explore the arts based on the 2019-2020 theme: Look Within.

Entries may be taken to the CMS Library between Monday, October 28-Thursday, October 31, 2019. Be sure you have an entry form with your submission and a parent must be a PTA Member for your student to enter. For complete information including entry guidelines and submission forms, please CLICK HERE.

September 10, 2019

4:00-9:00pm

190 E Stacy Rd #800
Allen, TX 75002

Raising Cane's will donate 15% of the proceeds when you mention Curtis Middle School to the cashier.

Allen ISD's district-wide character initiative is called Be The One. Through this program, students at each campus are encouraged to spread kindness, be respectful to others, accepting of one another’s differences, and be helpful at home, in school, and community. In order to spread the word, Be The One t-shirts are available for purchase in both youth and adult sizes. The custom designed t-shirt can also serve as a great spirit shirt for all sporting events; as well as other school and community activities.

Please help us show our community and surrounding area that Allen students, parents, and staff want to make our world better by making the effort to Be The One that will make a difference!

To order https://allenisd.schoolpay.com/ and login to your account.

Click here for flyer.

This needs to be done annually and resets on July 1 of each year. Here is the link to get started:

https://www.allenisd.org/Page/214