Colt Corner
Colleyville Middle School
October 15, 2021
Colts,
As the fast paced month of October continues to move along I am continually impressed with the work ethic of every student and staff member on campus and their efforts to be the best. High levels of engagement are seen throughout campus on a daily basis, which is no easy feat considering the amount of activities happening on and off the CMS campus and effort they require.
Next week over half of our teams will be competing for GCISD district championships. Five of our eight teams will compete for the fall titles! We wish our football and volleyball teams the best of luck as they take on CTMS in the final fall district play match up.
On a fun fact note, this year is the 45th anniversary of Colleyville Middle School opening. Each week I have included information at the bottom of the parent newsletters to take a look at CMS’s past through the eyes of our old yearbooks. This week we look back at the 10th year of CMS, which includes one of our famous Colts, singer-songwriter Norah Jones, who walked our halls. I am happy to say that we continue to see so much talent today in our Colts in various ways. Enjoy this edition of the newsletter and the weekend!
David Arencibia, Ed.D.
CMS Principal
Twitter: @CmsColts - #TeamCMS - #cmscelebrates - #CMSstrengths
B.E.S.T. - Building Excellent Schools Together
UPCOMING DATES/EVENTS
October 18 - GCISD All District Choir Auditions - Heritage Middle School 4:00 - 5:30 pm
October 18 - 7th Grade A & B Football - Schedule linked here
October 18 - 7th & 8th Grade Volleyball - Schedule linked here
October 19 - 8th Grade A & B Football - Schedule linked here
October 20 - Picture Day Retakes
October 20 - Band Fall Concert - CMS North Gym 7:00 pm
October 20 - Wear Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness (Wednesdays in Oct.)
October 22 - UIL - Students Gain/Lose Eligibility
October 23 - Choir: Region Audition at N. Richland Hills Middle School
October 25 - 29 Red Ribbon Week
October 27 - Band Beginner Debut - CMS 6:00 pm
In this Edition of the Colt Corner
* Colt Football - Both 7th grade teams, and 8th grade A team play for district championships!
* Colt Volleyball - 7th grade teams play for the district championships!
* Veteran's Day - Photo requests
* GCISD Looking for Cafeteria Volunteers
* Counselor Corner: 8th Grade Parents, 4 Year Plan Presentation, Bobby Bragan, Play it Safe Parent Preview, Signs of Suicide, GCISD Mental Health Awareness
Repeated Information
* GCISD Update - October 6
* Picture ordering information
* Yearbook ordering information
* GCISD Holiday Greeting Card Art Contest
* GCISD College and Career Night
* AIM for Success
* Remote Conferencing
* COVID-19 Protocols and Testing Center
* Colleyville Middle School Directory - Who To Contact
Colt Football
Colt Volleyball
Veteran's Day
GCISD Looking for Cafeteria Volunteers
Counselors’ Corner (Oct. 18-22)
8th Grade Parents:
If you were unable to attend our 8th Grade Parent 4 Year Plan presentation please click the link below to access a recording of the presentation. Please watch the recording and review the other important resources linked below with your student some time over the next week, so that your student can decide which core courses he/she would like to take in all four years of high school and which endorsement(s) to select. In December, we will go over electives for 9th grade with the 8th grade as a whole. Students will be selecting their 9th grade electives in January when they meet with the high school counselors. Please make sure your student knows what electives they want to take and what alternates prior to their one on one meeting with the high school counselors in January. This is a change from the way we have done things in the past.
Individual student meetings will begin the week of October 13th and be complete by mid December. The classes that students select for their freshman year will automatically roll over in Skyward and become their 9th grade course selections. However, every 8th grade student will have the opportunity to make changes with the high school counselors in the spring before their course selections are finalized.
If you attended the counselor's presentation on 4 Year Plans last week please fill out the attached survey to provide feedback. This feedback will help us to improve our parent presentation.
4 Year Plan Parent Presentation Survey
GCISD Career and Technology Education
Quest for Your Student's Success by Texas OnCourse
Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation Scholarship Program
The Bobby Bragan Scholarship Program is a competition open to 8th grade students from a total of 151 middle and junior high schools. Two applicants are selected from each school to represent the school in the BBYF scholarship competition. The "finalists" will make up the pool from which 34 scholarship winners will be selected. Each scholarship will be distributed after the recipient graduates from high school, gets accepted and is enrolled into a college, university or technical school, and submits a verification of enrollment to the BBYF.
CMS has had several Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation Scholarship recipients in past years and we would love to have two more CMS students join their ranks this year!
Students wishing to apply for the $2,500 scholarship need to download and complete an application, write a 500-700 word handwritten (not typed) essay, and submit both to their counselor to be judged by a panel. The panel will judge each essay blindly (without knowing who wrote each essay). The top scoring male student and the top scoring female student from CMS will have their applications and essays sent to Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation for the final judging. Applications and essays are due to CMS Counselors – Mrs. Brizzi or Mrs. Bouchelle by Friday, November 19th at 3:25 p.m. No late entries will be accepted. Students may obtain applications by clicking on the link below.
Bobby Bragan Scholarship Application
Play it Safe Parent Preview
The Play it Safe! Middle School Parent Preview was held virtually through Zoom on September 23rd at 10 a.m. and was recorded for parents to watch at their convenience--you can click HERE to view it.
For CMS campus-specific dates for the upcoming 6th and 7th grade Play It Safe 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:
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:
GCISD College and Career Night
October 13, 2021 | GCISD.net
In This Edition
Elementary Early Release: All GCISD elementary schools will dismiss at 11:45 a.m today, Wednesday, October 13.
National Recognition Program Scholars: A group of 55 GCISD seniors from underrepresented communities have been named College Board National Recognition Program Scholars.
Cafeteria Volunteers: The GCISD Nutrition Services Department is looking for volunteers to help serve lunch to students. Read below for more information.
Internet Usage Reports: Starting this month, parents will begin receiving internet usage reports for their children using district devices.
COVID-19 Resources: Visit GCISD's numerous COVID-19 resources that include frequently asked questions, the GCISD COVID-19 Testing Center, remote conferencing and more.
What's For Dinner? Take and Bake Meals Return: GCISD's popular "Take and Bake" meals program has returned and is available on Thursdays through October.
Order your yearbook!
GCISD Holiday Greeting Card Art Contest
All elementary, middle, and high school students are invited to submit original artwork for GCISD’s Holiday Greeting Card Art Contest. This year’s theme is "A Season of Kindness.” Three student designs—one each from the elementary, middle, and high school levels—will be selected and sent out on behalf of the GCISD Board of Trustees and Superintendent Dr. Robin Ryan.
The three students whose works are selected for the GCISD Holiday Greeting Card will receive $25 and recognition at the December meeting of the Board of Trustees. The selected artwork will be featured on the district’s website and used in district publicity.
Complete rules and guidelines can be found on this flyer. Last year's winning designs can also be found online.
Wednesday's in October wear pink!
AIM FOR SUCCESS OPT-IN LETTER
This year GCISD is continuing to use the Aim for Success program for the 8th graders and Determined to Succeed for the 6th graders.
Aim for Success focuses on “the benefits of waiting for sexual activity”. Topics included are teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and emotional hurts. Students in 7th-12th grade also receive information on contraception and setting their own boundaries.
Determined to Succeed focuses on “recognizing social/peer, technology, and media related pressures”. The program briefly outlines the problems of teen pregnancies and STDs, and then addresses the issues of how to resist pressure to become sexually active. This includes recognizing healthy relationships, sexual abuse, emotional hurts, and resisting peer pressure (refusal skills), the media, and pornography.
ALL STUDENTS in 6th and 8th grades are to turn in a signed form where the parent will designate if their child may attend the program or not. Due to changes in State Law, a student must have a signed Opt-In form with a parent's permission in order to attend the program.
8th Grade Parents who are interested in attending an informational session thru WebEx to hear about the curriculum may attend either of the sessions below:
10AM-11AM
JOIN WEBEX MEETING https://gcisd.webex.com/gcisd/j.php?MTID=m8311bcc4c332cd6126e5afd2c6cfedba
Meeting number (access code): 2620 994 7572
6PM-7PM
JOIN WEBEX MEETING https://gcisd.webex.com/gcisd/j.php?MTID=mdd95079549aedbe5103203941feded08
Meeting number (access code): 2620 011 7641
The 8th grade program will take place on December 1st.
Forms for the 8th grade program are linked below and need to be turned in to their history teacher.
Aim for Success Opt-In Form English
Aim for Success Opt-In Form Spanish
All 6th grade program sessions will take place in the Spring Semester, so more information will be sent later.
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
1986-1987 (Year 10 at CMS)
Norah Jones
CMS LIFE IN '86-'87
#cmscelebrates
Celebrating 45 Years
Looking back at 1986-1987
'86-'87 YEARBOOK COVER
A fun look back at the yearbook from the '86'87 school year.
#cmscelebrates
Celebrating 45 Years
Looking back at 1986-1987
CMS LIFE IN '86-'87
#cmscelebrates
Celebrating 45 Years
Looking back at 1986-1987