Colt Corner
Colleyville Middle School
December 2, 2022
Colts,
We have had a great first week back and we are looking forward to some holiday fun during this season of cheer. With the end of the first semester quickly approaching, please take a look at the semester exam schedules. If your Colt needs to miss an exam for any reason, please see the information regarding make-up exams that can be found in the Repeated Information section below. As a reminder, please be sure to review the district calendar to ensure that your Colt can be present each day.
GCISD recently released a district calendar survey for the 2023-2024 school year. If you haven’t already, please take a moment, using the link here, to share your voice on next year's school calendar.
Thank you to the awesome group of volunteers who decorated the main common area of the school. The toy box theme highlights our student leadership organizations, Student Council (StuCo) and National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) who are gathering toys for our local charities. Our Colts have also enjoyed decorating doors and hallways throughout the school and we can’t wait to see it all come together.
Thank you for your support as we continue to make CMS the best it can be for our Colts. Have a great weekend!
David Arencibia, Ed.D.
Colleyville Middle School, Principal
School Twitter: @CmsColts - #TeamCMS - #ColtPride
B.E.S.T. - Building Excellent Schools Together
UPCOMING DATES/EVENTS
December 3 - GCISD Wellness Event - GHS - Run/Walk 9:30am Expo open 10am-12:00pm
December 3 - Choir - Breakfast with Santa Claus (7th/8th Grade Boys/Girls) - Crown of Life Lutheran Church Colleyville 9:00am
December 5 - 7th Grade Girls & Boys Basketball - Schedule linked here
December 5 - Winter Choir Concert - GHS 7:00 - 8:30pm
December 6 - Cross Country Meet - schedule linked here
December 8 - 8th Grade Girls & Boys Basketball - Schedule linked here
December 12 - 7th Grade Girls & Boys Basketball - Schedule linked here
December 13 - Cross Country Meet - schedule linked here
December 14 - CMS Theatre Showcase - Canceled
December 15 - Band Winter Concert - CHHS 6:00 - 8:30pm
December 15 - 8th Grade Girls & Boys Basketball - Schedule linked here
December 21 - Early Release - 12:10
December 22 - January 9 - Winter Break
In this Edition of the Colt Corner
* Congratulations to our spelling bee contestants!
* PSAT 8 Score Release
* NJHS Toy Drive for GRACE Christmas Cottage
CMS PTA
* 6th Grade Cotillion Invitations
Counselors Corner
* Thank you Notes for CMS Staff
* Collegiate Academy
* Credit by Exam Testing Window
* 8th Grade 4 Year Planning
* Preferred Participation Consent for Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention
* GRACE Toy Donation
* GCISD Health and Wellness Expo
* Additional Resources
Repeated Information
* GCISD Update - November 30
* Student Holiday Spirit Dress Calendar for Nov./December
* STAAR New Item Types
* 8th Grade Recognition Ads
* Semester Exam Schedule
* Modified Schedule for Friday, December 16th
* Zero Hour Schedule for December
* Colleyville Middle School Directory - Who To Contact
CMS Social Media Section
* CMS Portrait of a Graduate Video
* CMS on Twitter - @cmscolts
* CMS on Facebook
* CMS on Instagram
PSAT 8 Score Release
How to access scores:
If your child is 13 or older, your student can create a free College Board online account and sign in to see PSAT 8/9 scores under Student Score Reports. This online account will also be used in the future for your student's PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, and AP Exam results. To create a College Board account, you can use this link. In this online account, the College Board lists all score reports available for the assessments your student has taken with them. The entry for each score report shows the total score and section scores your student received for that test. Clicking on the box containing your student's score will take you to a more detailed, online score report for that test.
Using PSAT 8/9 scores and College Board features:
- Explore potential careers with BigFuture Career Search
- Browse potential colleges, majors, and careers on College Board's BigFuture
- Review skills inside the online PSAT 8/9 Score Report
- Click on Skills Insight which is designed to help students gain a better understanding of how scores relate to specific academic skills. It offers descriptions of performance and insight into skills measured at each score band. It also provides actionable suggestions for improving skills that help students gain additional practice.
- Click on Test Questions to view the questions from your student's test, as well as, the correct responses, an explanation of each answer, your student's responses, and each question's level of difficulty.
- Starting in ninth grade, see which AP classes may be a good fit for your student using the AP Potential Tab on the score report.
NJHS Toy Drive for GRACE Christmas Cottage
NJHS is sponsoring a toy drive to benefit the GRACE Christmas Cottage. The drive will run from Dec. 1-20. Please send new, unwrapped toys, gift cards, or batteries to donate to the drive.
There will be a competition between Colt Time classes, to see which classes can bring the most items. Put a sticky note with your student's Colt Time teacher's name on the donation so their class gets credit for the item.
Here is a list of items GRACE has requested.
2023 6th Grade Cotillion Invitations
Cotillion invitations have been distributed to your student's Colt Time teacher! Don't worry, if the invitations didn't make it home today, we've attached the invitations here. Click Here to view the Cotillion website and to RSVP.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Thank you so much!
Tamaron Hunt + Stephanie Wilkerson
Counselors Corner: Dec. 5-9
Thank You Notes for CMS Staff:
We just celebrated Thanksgiving a little over a week ago. At CMS, we would like to extend this season of reflection and gratitude. Research studies done at Berkeley and Harvard suggest that practicing gratitude helps us change our focus to positive, rather than negative emotions and doing so can actually change your brain! Berkeley’s study revealed that the act of writing thank you letters or notes produces even greater benefits.
Please have your student take a moment to thank CMS staff members who have done something to help them, have demonstrated an act of kindness, or who are just appreciated for the hard work that they do each day. Fill out the form linked below and we will share thank students’ notes with the appropriate CMS staff member(s).
A student may submit as many thank you notes as they would like. (Please consider thanking teachers, substitute teachers, coaches, custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, office staff, support staff, counselors, assistant principals, and our principal).
Collegiate Academy:
CA Interviews are Monday! Collegiate Academy’s counselor will be at CMS Monday, Dec. 5th, to interview 8th grade students who have applied to attend CA next year. Every student who has applied should have received an email from either Mrs. Brizzi or Mrs. Bouchelle letting them know the time of their interview. Students should report to the counseling office 5 minutes before their interview time.
Applying to attend CA: The window for applying for CA is still open! CA students can earn both a high school diploma and an associate degree by the time they graduate from high school. Any student wishing to apply to Collegiate Academy can do so by following this link:
Collegiate Academy application
Credit By Exam Testing Window:
The registration window for the February test administration will open Monday, November 14th. It will close at noon on January 9, 2023. Linked below are the registration forms and information about the exams.
Preferred Participation Consent for Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention
As required by federal and state law, we will soon begin presenting a personal safety curriculum to middle school students. GCISD uses the Play It Safe! ® program to teach this curriculum. Play It Safe! ® is a child abuse awareness and prevention program that incorporates age-appropriate scripts and movies to teach children how to reduce the risk of sexual and physical abuse, and sexual assault. It teaches them to recognize potentially abusive behavior, provides the tools to respond to threatening situations, and encourages them to report abuse to a trusted adult. It is presented by The Women’s Center of Tarrant County, Inc. which uses trained volunteers to present the program using videos and scripted discussions at an age-appropriate level. Play It Safe! ® meets the State and Federal guidelines for curriculum addressing personal safety issues, child sexual abuse and pedophiles. The GCISD School Health Advisory Committee has reviewed and recommended these programs for all GCISD schools.
Our schedule for showing the Play It Safe Curriculum this year is as follows:
6th grade “Sexual Harassment”- November 8th, 2022
6th grade “Survivors of Abuse- March 8th, 2023
7th grade “Healthy Relationships”- October 5th, 2022
7th grade “Can’t Take It Back” - November 30th, 2022
7th grade “Abuse of Power” - February 21st, 2023
Please complete the section below to indicate your preference for your child’s participation in any of the above programs. If you choose for your child not to participate, your child will be provided an alternate location while this program is being presented. If the form is not completed, and turned into the campus counselor prior to the date on your campus notification letter, your child will not participate in the program.
Please complete the following Play it Safe form and return to your campus Counselor prior to the date of the lesson! Play it Safe Form
6th and 7th grade students were also provided with a hard copy form which can be returned to Ms. Dumas (advocate counselor). There is a recording of the parent preview located on the CMS counseling webpage.
GRACE Toy Donation:
Celebrate the holidays with GRACE and help us collect new, unwrapped toys for families in need! CMS is partnering with this vital agency to support children here in our neighborhood. General information about GRACE can be found here and their Christmas Cottage wish list can be found here. Donations may be taken directly to GRACE or brought to CMS before December 16.
GCISD Health and Wellness Expo: Saturday: 12/3/22
Looking for something that the whole family will love on Saturday? Come see us and a special guest at the GCISD Wellness event! Join our GCISD Community for a free Winterland Health and Wellness Expo at Grapevine High School Mustang Activity Center (MAC) from 10AM-12PM.
Additional Resources:
National Institute of Mental Health
Winter Wellness Event December 3
In This Edition
- Share Your Feedback on GCISD's 2023-2024 Instructional Calendar Options
CHHS Volleyball Wins State Championship
Help CHHS Be Named Most Driven Football Team in Texas
Sign Up to Receive Important GCISD Text Messages
And More!
Student Holiday Dress for the Month!
STAAR New Item Types
The State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) has undergone a redesign starting with the 2022 - 2023 school year. Students will experience new item response types, as well as, additional opportunities for free response and writing.
Families and students can preview and practice with the new item types by visiting the Texas Education Agency (TEA) resource at this link.
You do not need a login or password to access the site. Leave both options set to Guest and click the green login button at the bottom of the page. After selecting a STAAR-tested grade level, you will have a variety of options including information about the new item types and practice tests.
8th grade yearbook recognition ads
Zero Hour Reminder for December
December 2022
Wednesday, December 14: Zero Hour classes hold semester exams during regular class time; follow home middle school schedule for the remainder of the week
Thursday, December 15: Zero Hour classes do not meet due to testing schedule
Friday, December 16: Zero Hour classes do not meet due to testing schedule
Monday, December 19: Zero Hour classes do not meet due to testing schedule
Tuesday, December 20: Zero Hour classes do not meet due to testing schedule
Wednesday, December 21: Zero Hour classes do not meet due to testing schedule
6th Grade Cotillion
6th Grade Cotillion
If you have any questions about Cotillion, please reach out to our Cotillion Chairs:
Tamaron Hunt tamaron.hunt@gmail.com
Stephanie Wilkerson stephanie@wilkersontx.com
CMS is excited to be hosting the 2023 6th Grade Cotillion! Please Save the Dates:
Week One: Friday, January 20th - Western (CMS)
Week Two: Friday, January 27th - Sock Hop (CMS)
Week Three: Friday, February 3rd - Disco (CMS)
Finale: Friday, February 10th - Roaring Twenties (Colleyville Center)
Cotillion will be held from 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. each week. A website will be available soon for updates!
We'd love to have parent volunteers! Please click here to let us know how you would like to assist! We are planning a volunteer meeting on Friday, November 4th. Click here for details and to RSVP.
Thank you!
Cotillion Chairs,
Tamaron Hunt + Stephanie Wilkerson
Tamaron Hunt tamaron.hunt@gmail.com214-226-6993
Stephanie Wilkerson stephanie@wilkersontx.com 817-721-3288
COLLEYVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTORY - WHO TO CONTACT
*Note, the point of contact is the first level to answer and questions or concerns. They are usually able to resolve your question/concern, but in the event that you did not reach a resolution, your concern will be elevated to the subsequent level until a resolution is reached.
To email a CMS team member type the first name dot last name @gcisd.net (i.e. David Arencibia = david.arencibia@gcisd.net) unless different and noted under the name.