COUGAR COURIER
January 11th, 2019
From the desk of Principal Ruiz
Our scholars are welcome to participate in No Uniform Today on Friday, January 18th. Each scholar that brings $1.00 to their homeroom teacher on January 18th, may wear their outfit of choice.
Spirit Wear is available. Click the link below to order CIA items that may be worn to school, in lieu of a polo shirt. CIA spirit wear is approved for every day at CIA.
Thank you for encouraging your scholars to come to school in the approved CIA uniform. Your assistance has reduced to the dress code infractions substantially. Family support is appreciated!
A friendly reminder that school is now dismissed at 3:50 for all CIA scholars. While we appreciate our families patiently working with our team as we adjusted the schedule to maximize instructional time for mastery learning.
Next week our bilingual scholars will be participating in the mandatory WIDA testing. All participating scholars and their families have received testing details.
Report cards are now available in PowerSchool. Please review your scholar's current progress; we encourage each family to make an appointment with your scholar's teacher(s), if a failing grade was earned.
Popcorn Fundraiser: Ms. Simpson is selling popcorn. Starting Monday, the cost per bag will be just $2.00. Flavors are Taki, Snickerdoodle, Peppermint and Cheesy Caramel Mix. Students can purchase popcorn at the ROAR Store or in the library.
The CIA team raised a little over $100 dollars in donations from wrapping gifts at Barnes & Noble. The funds raised will be used to purchase supplies needed for CIA scholars and staff. Our team received approximately $40 from sales at Barnes & Noble, which will be used to purchase books for the CIA library.
This week we will not have a "traditional" Great Day at CIA video to share. Stay tuned for a "new look" in next week's edition of the Cougar Courier! However, we encourage you to view our 1st grade scholars celebrating Mr. Dillon's birthday this week in addition to the "Month at a Glance" video that was created during the month of December.
Have a wonderful weekend - as always, it is a great day to be a Cougar!
Serving with scholars in mind,
Ms. Angela Ruiz, Ph.D. Candidate, Ed.S.
Welcome Ms. Barnhill!
CIA welcomes Ms. Chantell M. Barnhill as the newest addition to our team. Ms. Barnhill joins the team as a 7th grade Language Arts teacher.
Ms. Barnhill is a graduate from Clay Middle and Clay High School. She has a degree in Public Relations from Ball State University and a MA degree in English from IU South Bend. Ms. Barnhill believes that her teaching superpower is creating community within the classroom; moreover, she feels this creates a solid foundation for learning. Ms. Barnhill is grateful to be a part of the Clay International Academy and looks forward to getting a chance to help the scholars recognize and reach their potential.
N.U.T. day!
All funds raised will sponsor the Positive Behavior program at CIA.
Cougar P.R.I.D.E.
We are excited to announce and introduce our Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) plan. Our staff took the first steps in developing a more positive academic and behavioral environment for everyone at Clay International Academy. As a staff and student body, we have devoted much time over the last several months to collaborating on the details of a School-wide PBIS program, which is now fully implemented. Part of this process included developing and teaching specific behavioral expectations to our scholars. These behaviors will be positively reinforced throughout the school for the remainder of your child’s career at Clay International Academy.
What is Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS)?
PBIS is a process for creating safer and more effective schools. It is a systems approach to enhancing the capacity of schools to educate all children by developing research-based, school-wide, and classroom behavior intervention support systems. The process focuses on improving a school’s ability to teach and support positive behavior for all scholars. Rather than a prescribed program, PBIS provides systems for schools to design, implement, and evaluate effective school-wide, classroom, non-classroom, and scholar specific plans. PBIS includes school-wide procedures and processes intended for all scholars and all staff in all settings. PBS is not a program or a curriculum. It is a team-based process for systemic problem solving, planning, and evaluation. It is an approach to creating a safe and productive learning environment where teachers can teach and all scholars can learn.
What is PBIS at our school?
We will be using five consistent school expectations:
Prepared - Luck is what happens when being prepared meets opportunity.
Respect - Respect other people’s feelings. Even if it doesn’t mean anything to you, it means everything to them.
Integrity - Integrity is a choice. It is consistently choosing truth over popularity.
Dedicated - Be yourself, but be your best self!
Excellence - It is not a skill. It is an everyday attitude.
You will see these expectations posted throughout the building. We will begin the month of January using “Prepared” and follow the remaining expectations each month for the remainder of the school year. Teachers will be using lesson plans to explicitly teach these five expectations to our scholars for all areas of the school (cafeteria, playground, classroom, etc.). To reinforce these expectations, your child’s teacher will be expected to choose one scholar each month from the class of whom consistently demonstrates the word of the month. The chosen scholars will be rewarded by receiving certificates, small prizes, and special recognition.
How can you be a partner in this effort?
We want you to be a partner in helping us make our school a more positive place for our children to learn. To ensure that you as parents and your scholar(s) are aware of the school expectations; we ask that you review the expectations in its entirety with your child. Additional ways to be involved are: using the expectations in your home, making sure your scholar is dressed in their uniforms, reminding your scholar each day before they leave of the expectations, making sure that your scholar come to school on time every day, as well as asking them if they followed the rules that day.
Thank you in advance for your support in our PBIS program and we look forward to working with you in creating our school to be the best learning environment possible for your scholar.
Make Every Day Count!
Scholars with regular attendance are more likely to read on grade level, are more actively engaged in school and display higher self esteem.
We encourage all families to put their scholar on the path to success with these attendance strategies:
Make school a priority: Every absence (excused or not), can impact academic achievement. Talk to your scholar about how important their education is. Make daily routines for homework and waking up on time for school. Maintain communication with teachers and keep an eye on your scholar’s academic progress.
Report an absence: If an absence or early dismissal is unavoidable, contact Ms. Pol. If your family’s religious observances fall on school days, let teachers know early in the year which days your child will miss. Carefully weigh sick days. If your scholar is sick, talk with your health care provider to determine whether they should stay home from school. If the doctor or nurse recommends that your scholar stay home, find out exactly how long and on what conditions he/she can return to class (for example, after 24 hours of antibiotics). Before keeping your scholar home, make sure they are not faking symptoms. Regularly feigning sickness may be a sign that your scholar is anxious about facing a challenge at school.
Schedule wisely: Check the CIA calendar, and arrange doctor and dentist appointments after school, on weekends, or during holiday breaks, if possible. Resist the urge to schedule vacations when scholars will miss school. This gives scholars the impression that school is not a priority. Help your scholar complete assignments. When your child has to miss school, make arrangements with teachers to pick up make-up work. If your child’s absence will be lengthy (for surgery, for instance), alert teachers as soon as you know and pick up assignments as the days go on.
MYP Spelling Bee!
Twelve scholars from each grade (6th - 8th) will be selected to compete in the CIA Spelling Bee. The words that will be used for the competition can be accessed in this link. The winner from each grade level will then go on to represent CIA in the district Spelling Bee that will be held on February 7th.
Up Next… Well, Don’t you know that “every hero needs a squad?”
Yes, it is true. The CIA STCO is going to be helping out the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by working to raise funds for their organization, which makes a member of their Hero Squad.
Beginning Tuesday, January 22nd, until Tuesday, Feb. 19th, the student council will be holding the “Pennies for Patients” charity campaign. Each classroom will be in a race to raise the most money for this very worthy cause. And, guess what? The winning classroom will win a Dunkin Donut Hole party! So, clean out your pockets, search the sofa cushions, and scrounge around in the car to find and bring in all your change!
Cougarette Dance Club News:
Practice Schedule:
Until further notice, the CIA Dance team will practice each Monday and Thursday after school in the small gymnasium from 4:15 - 5:50 P.M. All dancers should be picked up at door 18 (in front of the gym) no later than 6:00 p.m. Activity buses are available to transport dancers home if the scholars do not have a ride.
Who Can Dance
Grade 5 - 8 scholars are encouraged to participate as long as they are in good standing in the following areas:
• Attendance (scholars must have 95% attendance or better)
• Behavior
• Academic Performance (“C” average or better to participate with passing grades in all core classes)
Look how the CIA scholars are giving to others!
On December 28th, CIA partnered with United Health Services and Chick-Fil-A to provide breakfast and lunch to patients receiving chemotherapy treatment at Michiana Hematology Oncology. CIA scholars were able to donate 30 gift cards for "Lunch on Us!" to the cancer patients.
In addition to the opportunity provided for those receiving treatment, our scholars were honored to help one of our own Cougar families. The Dettman family was blessed with a check from CIA to help their family during this time of chemotherapy treatment for Mrs. Dettman.
The fundraiser was sponsored by the 8th grade scholars through the October service project designed to promote Breast Cancer Awareness. Thank you to each CIA scholar family, and staff member for your generous donations.
Gather your Box Tops to raise money for CIA
Yes, it is true...if our CIA families collect box tops, we earn money.
Here is how this works: CIA families, every time you use a General Mills product, cut off the BoxTop label and send it to school with your scholar. 400 scholars X 10 BoxTops per scholar = $400 for CIA! This is a fantastic opportunity because there is no need to purchase anything special. Many families end up with General Mills products in their homes after a trip to the store. We encourage each family to ask your friends, relatives and neighbors to do the same. Begin your search for the Box Top label! A collection box will be placed in the main office; please send all labels to school with your scholar.
STCO Candy Grams News:
Thank you so much for supporting STCO! We were able to raise over $100.00 for our club. This money will help us in the future as we find ways to help out in both our school and local community!
Girl Scouts are coming to CIA!
Registration: Wednesday, January 16th
Time: 5:30 P.M. - 6:30 P.M.
Location: CIA Media Center
Scholars will not be permitted to stay after school for the meeting. All scholars must have a parent/guardian present to register.
For further information, contact Bryan Aponte at (800) 283-4812.
Parents may register online.
Principal Ruiz
Email: aruiz@sbcsc.k12.in.us
Website: http://clayintermediate.sb.school/home
Location: 52900 Lily Road, South Bend, IN, USA
Phone: 574-393-4300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClayInternationalAcademy/?hc_ref=ARSPi9IBwtzl5EJdceUcqxSSyItIHbU4cIAKX3ZtMeCZAoKpGJMFSGRmc0FRNLyfIJ0&fref=tag
Twitter: @cia_cougars