Colt Corner
Colleyville Middle School
December 9, 2022
Colts,
The flurry of activities continues with choir concerts, band performances at GCISD elementary schools, basketball games, and cross country races. Our Colts are working hard as we approach semester exams and the final rush of activities for the calendar year.
Yesterday we welcomed the Schools to Watch (STW) site team from the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals (TASSP). The team evaluated all aspects of our school including instruction, school culture and climate, and school processes and systems. They also met with panels of students, parents, and teachers. The site team will determine if Colleyville Middle School will receive a three year re-designation to continue to be named a Texas School to Watch and furthermore a Nationally Recognized Model Campus by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. We anticipate finding out the results after we return from the break. A big thank you to everyone for helping CMS be the best. Enjoy your 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 12 - 7th Grade Girls & Boys Basketball - Schedule linked here
December 13 - Cross Country Meet - schedule linked here
December 14 - 8th Grade Girls & Boys Basketball - Schedule linked here
December 15 - Band Winter Concert - CHHS 6:00 - 8:30pm
December 16 - Modified CMS School Schedule for the school fine arts assembly & Semester Exam Reviews. See 2nd page for Friday details.
December 21 - Early Release - 12:10
December 22 - January 9 - Winter Break
In this Edition of the Colt Corner
* Social Studies Student of the Week
* Families of Bus Riders Should Sign Up for SMART Tag Parent Portal
* Current Lost & Found
Counselors Corner
* Thank you Notes for CMS Staff
* Collegiate Academy
* Credit by Exam Testing Window
* Additional Resources
Repeated Information
* GCISD Update Dec. 7, 2022
* Student Holiday Spirit Dress Calendar for Nov./December
* NJHS Toy Drive for GRACE Christmas Cottage
* PSAT 8 Score Release
* STAAR New Item Types
* 8th Grade Recognition Ads
* Semester Exam Schedule
* Modified Schedule for Friday, December 16th
* Zero Hour Schedule for December
CMS PTA
* 6th Grade Cotillion Invitations
* 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
did you know? 19 CMS home languages!
Social Studies Student of the Week
Families of Bus Riders Should Sign Up for SMART Tag Parent Portal
Parents with bus riders are encouraged to sign up for Transportation Services’ SMART Tag Parent Portal, which has replaced Here Comes the Bus.
Through SMART Tag, parents can be notified when their child’s bus is nearing the bus stop, similar to Here Comes the Bus. Additionally, SMART Tag is connected to the badges that were issued to GCISD bus riders at the start of the year. This is an important safety feature that alerts the parents when the student is exiting the bus and the bus driver if the student is exiting at the wrong stop or attempting to board the wrong bus.
Sign up today by visiting GCISD’s transportation web page. If you would like to learn more about SMART Tag, view this video.
Current Lost & Found
Counselors Corner: Dec. 12 - 16
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:
The application window for GCISD Collegiate Academy at Tarrant County Northeast will close on December 16, 2022. This is an exciting opportunity for GCISD students to attend an early college high school where students earn a high school diploma and an associates degree all for free! GCISD Collegiate Academy is a stand-alone high school located on the Tarrant County College Northeast campus. CA was established in the fall of 2014 and our students have been very successful academically. Please use the link below to apply. Acceptance letters will be delivered to CMS on January 13th.
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.
Additional Resources:
National Institute of Mental Health
In This Past Week's Edition:
- Superintendent Search Survey Open through Thursday, December 15
Education Foundation Surprises Teachers with $65,000 in Grants
Bus Rider Families Should Sign Up for the SMART Tag Parent Portal
Last Day to Provide Feedback on Instructional Calendar Options is Monday, December 12
And More!
Superintendent Search Survey
Student Holiday Dress for the Month!
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.
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.
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
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
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.