Colt Corner
Colleyville Middle School
November 6, 2020
Colts,
This week many of our students were able to enjoy the great fall weather, both remote and in-person, while navigating their classes. Our Colts enjoy the flexibility we provide to have some classes, lunch, and breaks outside to help break up the screen time when possible. The outdoor learning environments are just another way we try to help our Colts with their social and emotional well-being during the school day.
On Wednesday, I had the privilege to see some of our great programs perform at Mustang Panther Stadium during the 7th grade football games. Our cheer, dance, and football teams performed outstandingly and represented Colt Country well. It was a joy to watch our student-athletes in action knowing it brings them so much joy.
A special congratulations to our football teams (8th grade A/B and 7th grade A) and our volleyball teams (8th grade A and B) on clinching the GCISD District Championships! We wish our student-athletes, coaches, and sponsors well as they wrap up their seasons in the coming weeks.
Enjoy your weekend!
David Arencibia, Ed.D.
CMS Principal
Facebook: Colleyville Middle School
Twitter: @CmsColts
#TeamCMS - #cmscelebrates - #CMSstrengths
B.E.S.T. - Building Excellent Schools Together
UPCOMING DATES/EVENTS
November 9 - 7th Grade A & B Football - schedule linked here
November 9 - 7th & 8th Grade A & B Volleyball- schedule linked here
November 10 - 8th Grade A & B Football - B Team 5:00, A Team 6:15 - Pennington Field
November 11 - Spelling Bee Qualifier
November 11 - Progress Reports
November 11 - Veteran's Day
November 13 - UIL - Regain Eligibility
November 23 - 27 - Thanksgiving Break
In This Colt Corner Edition:
Veterans Day - On Wednesday the 11th, CMS will honor our Veterans!
Yearbook Sale Flyer - Discounted yearbook price if purchased before 11/13/20.
COVID-19 Email Communication Update - Adjustment, one email notification identifying all positive cases for that day on campus vs. multiple emails.
Social Studies Student of the Week
Grace Holiday Food Drive - Giving campaign and grade level competition.
PTA Thanks For Giving Pies - Donate a pie to a staff CMS member tradition.
Thanksgiving Feast - Nov. 12 will be the traditional Thanksgiving feast on campus.
Junior Chefs - Chef Jason wants to see your holiday dish!
Attendance - Attendance reminders and Skyward correction process.
Aim For Success - Student presentations at CMS will be on December 2nd for 8th graders.
Counselors Corner:
8th Grade four year high school planning
Four Year Planning for Remote Students
Play It Safe Student Lessons
Character Strong
Friends For Life Hotline
Repeated Information:
GCISD November 4, Update: Repeated information from GCISD's Update email overview.
Bring your refillable water bottles - Encourage your Colt to bring a water bottle to campus.
Canvas - How to receive notifications
Yearbook Pictures - Send in summer time pictures for the yearbook!
Collegiate Academy - Applications now being accepted for 8th grade Colts.
Spelling Bee - Qualifier is November 11th
Free Meal Extension - Nationwide waiver for free meals through June 2021.
Veterans Day
At Colleyville Middle School, we will have various cross-curricular activities in ELA and Social Studies, as well as activities led by our leadership groups. Our StuCo (Student Council) and NJHS (National Junior Honor Society) groups will be placing flags and decorations around campus (inside and out). We will be showing our Veterans Day slideshow during announcements and displayed throughout our monitors on campus and on Canvas. Mr. Prescott, one of our band directors, will continue our CMS tradition by playing Taps during the Advisory period announcements. During our passing periods, our AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) students will be playing military branch songs over the intercom to help with the day's theme and learning. We can't wait to see the posters that our PALs (Peer Assisted Leadership) students create with the names of their family members who are veterans for display.
CMS is excited about continuing the tradition of honoring our veterans this year!
COVID-19 Email Communication Update
As we move into November, GCISD will be making a slight adjustment to the process in which families are notified of a test-confirmed positive COVID-19 case on their campus. Beginning this week, families will receive one email notification identifying all positive cases for that day on their student’s campus, as opposed to multiple emails if there are multiple cases. Families will only receive this email if there was a positive case on your student’s campus that day.
NOTE: This does not change procedures for close contact communication. If your child is determined to be a close contact of a test-confirmed positive case, you will be directly notified by your campus.
NJHS CANNED FOOD DRIVE FOR GRACE/GRADE LEVEL COMPETITION
Thanks to generous support from the community, GRACE was able to provide 481 Thanksgiving meals and 387 Christmas meals to families in need last year. The estimated value of each food basket is $80.00.
This year, Colleyville Middle School’s National Junior Honor Society will again be sponsoring a drive to collect food items for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Collections will be accepted from November 4 to November 18. Drop off boxes are located at major entrances of the school. We will also be adding some competition to our drive. Let’s see which grade level can bring in the most donations.
Please help NJHS help GRACE families with some of these suggested items assigned by grade level:
Thanksgiving Feast
Thanksgiving Feast is on November 12. Enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving meal of sliced turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread stuffing, green beans, fresh-baked roll, apple crisp, and a slice of pumpkin pie. Meals are free for in-person students at elementary, middle, and Collegiate Academy.
Junior Chefs
Calling all junior chefs, Chef Jason wants to see your holiday dish that you will make this Thanksgiving! Check out the Chef Chat Video on Mashed Potatoes for your Thanksgiving meal.
Attendance
As a reminder, please be aware that as we move through this unique school year with in-person and remote learners, the way in which our teachers take attendance in Skyward has become much more complex. Therefore, to make better use of instructional time, teachers now have the flexibility to formally enter attendance into Skyward up to a full day after the attendance period.
With that said, it is important for parents to know that if you access Skyward to view your student’s attendance, it is possible the system may show them as being absent for the current day, even if they were present in class or online. Additionally, it is possible that remote learning students may still display as absent up until the following day. Also, when a teacher is off-campus, it will take longer than two days to have attendance entered in Skyward.
However, if you see an absence and question it, please email your child’s teachers and they will go back to verify student attendance. Teachers then email the attendance clerk to make a change in Skyward.
According to a new GCISD policy starting October 19, “If a student misses five consecutive days of in-person instruction, or five days total during a three-week period, they will be moved into remote instruction for the remainder of that grading period.” This does not include students that are quarantined, sick, or have another office valid reason.
For more attendance related questions, please look at the CMS Website - Resources - Attendance.
AIM FOR SUCCESS
GCISD has partnered with Aim for Success to provide sexuality instruction to your children. According to the Texas Education Code, all parents are required to be notified of the upcoming instruction and given the opportunity to preview all of the content the students will be receiving. The Parent Preview date has already passed (it was advertised in the Principal Smore.) If you still have questions, do not hesitate to visit the Aim for Success website at www.aimforsuccess.org or contact the school.
The student presentations at CMS will be on December 2nd for 8th graders and February 26th for 6th graders. Students in these grade levels will participate in the presentation unless an opt out letter is received.
Aim for Success English Opt-out letter
Counselor Corner Week of November 9 - 13th
8th Grade Parents
4 Year Planning: Please watch the video and review the information about high school course offerings and endorsements that is linked below with your 8th grade student. Then, complete the high school 4 year plan template with your student and email it to your student’s counselor. Counselors will enter the courses and endorsements that you write on the template into Skyward, and then meet with your child to review their course selections and endorsement choice. After the meeting, you will receive an email requesting that you review and electronically sign both the plan and the endorsement(s).
In January, high school counselors will come to CMS and meet with students individually and use the 9th grade courses that we enter into Skyward to create freshman schedules. Students will have the opportunity to change course selections at this time.
* On the template linked below, select core classes and electives for 9th grade, but only select core classes for 10-12 grade (not electives). While students will be filling out information for all four years of high school, only the 9th grade year will be used for scheduling. The 10-12 grade core course selection is only a “plan” and will not become a student’s future schedule. Students will make course selections every year throughout high school.
If the template is not completed and emailed to counselors, students will select courses during the meeting with their counselor.
4 Year Planning for Remote Students: Counselors will send Webex invitations to remote learners to review 4 year plans and endorsements. Please have your student check their school email account and accept the invitation when they receive it.
If you have any questions, please email us and we will be happy to help you! We want you and your student to make the most informed decisions possible so that your student is fully prepared for high school and feels confident about their course selections and endorsement choices.
8th grade 4 year plan meeting video
4 Year Plan Template for Parents
GCISD Course Selection Guide 20-21
Freshman Course Selection Sheet
Sophomore Course Selection Sheet
Collegiate Academy Applications: 8th grade parents should have received an email containing and an informational video from Collegiate Academy this past week. On Friday, Nov. 13th, Collegiate Academy will host a Webex meeting for all 8th grade students during advisory to answer students’ questions and help them decide if CA might be a good choice for them. For 8th grade students who would like to attend Collegiate Academy, the application window is now open (please see the link below). If you have any questions, please contact Riley Cavanagh, counselor at CA.
Collegiate Academy application
Play It Safe Student Lessons
Parents of 6th & 7th grade students, a parent preview for the Play It Safe program was hosted via a live Zoom on October 1st at 10 a .m. Students will view the lessons on the dates listed below. The lessons, taught in partnership with The Women’s Center of Tarrant County, encourage and teach students how to recognize, report and reduce the risk of being in an abusive and/or dangerous situation.
(7th Grade) Healthy Relationships - Oct. 13
(7th Grade) Can’t Take It Back - Nov. 13
(6th Grade) It’s Harassment - Dec. 1 (new date)
(7th Grade) Abuse of Power - Feb. 10
(6th Grade) Survivors of Abuse - March 3
Character Strong
Our district has adopted Character Strong as a way to support the social/emotional wellbeing and character development of our students. All GCISD secondary campuses will be focusing on the character trait/skill of HUMILITY for the month of October. Students will view the newest character video in school at the beginning of each month. We want to encourage you to also view it together as a family and find ways to work on the monthly trait/skill together. November Commitment Video
Also, as we build a strong connection with our community to support social emotional wellness, we will continue to share out the Family Character Dares for an extension into your home. Here is the latest!
Family Character Dare:
Friends For Life Hotline
Have a friend in need? Is someone you know the target of violence or bullying? Did you see or hear something? Say something! Make an anonymous call and get them help! It's okay to help a friend.
817-469-8477
TEXT: "TIP117 PLUS YOUR MESSAGE" to 274637
VISIT: www.469tips.comGCISD Update | GCISD.net/Fall2020
Update November 4, 2020
Board of Trustees Election: Votes have been tallied for GCISD's Board of Trustees Election.
COVID-19 Notifications: GCISD is making a slight adjustment to how families are notified about test-confirmed COVID-19 cases on their campus.
National Recognition Program Scholars: Sixteen members of the Class of 2021 have been named College Board National Recognition Program Scholars.
Free Meals Available: The USDA has extended a waiver allowing GCISD to offer free meals now through June 2021. Meals are free in elementary and middle school cafeterias, and curbside meal bundles are free to all children.
Thanksgiving Additions to Take and Bake: Thanksgiving sides and desserts have been added to GCISD's popular "Take and Bake Meals" program. Families can pick up these items on November 19 or 20, but must place orders by November 17.
Bring your Refillable Water Bottles!
Canvas
If you would like to receive notifications from Canvas about your student's assignments, here's some information about how to set up your preferences.
How do I set my Canvas notification preferences as an observer?
Learn more about becoming an observer in your student's Canvas here.
Collegiate Academy
Scripps National Spelling Bee
It is time to prepare for the Scripps National Bee competition! This is the highest-profile academic event for middle-school-aged students, and we encourage students to compete!
In order to compete in the Campus Spelling Bee, students must first qualify. The CMS Qualifier Spelling Bee will be on November 11th during Advisory. Students who qualify will advance to the CMS Campus Spelling Bee.
See more details here.