Curtis Chronicles

Cougar parents,

We’ve had a busy few weeks!!

Love Week was a great success with lots of donations from Curtis families! Thank you to all of you who donated to support this Allen tradition!

Valogram sales were a record high this year! Special thanks to all the volunteers who came to sell Valograms and pass out candy!

You may have also seen the story of a group of young boys who pooled their money to give all the girls at Curtis a carnation for Valentine’s Day. We received a letter from a woman in Comanche, Texas who saw the story and wrote to share how proud she was to see such kindness from young students and to compliment our parents for teaching kids kindness and giving! We know there are many examples of this type of kindness going on with our students. Thank you to parents for helping us spread kindness and help our students navigate the challenges of middle school!

We are almost finished with our simulation testing with only two tests left for this week- 8th grade science and Algebra I. The students have worked hard on those assessments to help us see where we are and help our teachers prepare instruction to meet any areas of need.

Our fine arts department is moving into UIL season and we are proud of the hard work they have put in to prepare! Choir and Orchestra UIL will be the week of March 2 and Band will be the week of March 23.

The Full Orchestra performed in San Antonio last week as a recipient of the TMEA Honor Orchestra Award. They performed beautifully and were met with a standing ovation! We are proud of how they represented Curtis and our community!

Just a reminder that March 6 will be a half day with dismissal at 12:35. Students will be asked in homeroom this week if they wish to purchase a sack lunch to take with them that day.

Course registration is in our final stages to make sure all students have selected courses for next year and we are excited about planning for 2020-2021 school year! If you are like us, this year has flown by! Just a reminder of the following application due dates:

• Office Aide (Due Feb 28 )
• Peer Helper (Due Feb 28)

Thank you for all your support from home and your partnership to serve our students. We are very thankful for the community support of our schools!

Sincerely,

Sonya Pitcock

Feb. 25: Vaping Program, noon

Feb. 29: Allen Eagle Run

March 6: Early Release day, 12:35

March 9-13: Spring Break

March 17: Spirit Night, Liberty Burger

March 23: Community Education Night

March 27: Save the Date - Spring Dance

This week's SEL Update:

7th grade: FAMILY LESSON SUMMARY

This week, your child will learn about skills for calming down. Knowing effective calming-down strategies and how to use them can help your child make good decisions when he or she is upset.

FAMILY LESSON QUESTION

Talk to your child about the strategies you use to calm down when you feel upset or angry. Ask your child what he or she can do to calm down in difficult situations.

8th grade: FAMILY LESSON SUMMARY

This week, your child will learn skills for calming down. Identifying good ways to calm down can help your child make good decisions even when he or she is feeling angry or upset.

FAMILY LESSON QUESTION

Talk to your child about what you do to calm down when you feel upset or angry. Ask your child about the things he or she can do to calm down in difficult situations.

And next week…

7th grade: FAMILY LESSON SUMMARY

Research shows that taking slow, deep breaths is an effective way to calm down. This week, your child will practice using slow breathing when he or she is feeling frustrated.

FAMILY LESSON QUESTION

Ask your child about situations that might make him or her feel frustrated, either at school or at home. Discuss using slow breathing to calm down and come up with a plan your child can follow in frustrating situations.

8th grade: FAMILY LESSON SUMMARY

Research shows that taking slow, deep breaths is an effective way to calm down. This week, your child will practice using slow breathing when he or she feels anxious.

FAMILY LESSON QUESTION

Ask your child about situations that might make him or her feel anxious, either at school or at home. Discuss using slow breathing to calm down and come up with a plan your child can use in these situations.

Curtis PTA's nominating committee is accepting nominations for the 2020-21 Curtis PTA board. If you are interested in serving our students, staff and community through a position on the PTA, please CLICK HERE for more details including the nominating form.

Nominations are due Friday, February 28.

Allen Council of PTAs provides several training opportunities throughout the year as well as one-on-one support so everyone feels comfortable in their role. Thank you for your consideration!

Curtis PTA membership has reached an all time high this year, with 581 members as of 02/19/2020. We still have several months in which to reach our goal of 708 members. Why 708? This number represents half of the student enrollment for 2019-2020, and will earn us our first ever President’s Challenge Award, which would be a very prestigious honor for our school.

We are asking for your help to reach this goal! If you haven’t joined the Curtis PTA yet, we ask that you please consider doing so! REMEMBER: becoming a member IN NO WAY obligates you to do anything you do not want to do. You will NOT be asked to volunteer. We will NOT try to recruit you to hold any position. That only happens if you fill out the volunteer interest form.

We only need 128 more members to make this happen! So buy a membership for the non-member parent, or for a grandparent, aunt, uncle or friend. An extra $10 is all it takes.

Also, don’t forget! Every membership you purchase gives you one more chance to win the Apple AirPods that we will be giving away in May!

If you have already joined, THANK YOU!

Questions? Email Jill, VP Membership, CurtisMS.Membership@gmail.com

This incentive is made possible by the Allen Council of PTAs.

Nominations for the PTA Lifetime Membership award are being accepted now through March 6, 2020. You may nominate someone who you feel goes “above and beyond” for the Curtis students and community. Please CLICK HERE for the nomination form.

The Teacher and Staff Meeting for March is coming up on March 18th and we need a few different snack items and donations to make it a success. If you are able to donate any food and/or drink items it would be greatly appreciated.

Items can be dropped off at Curtis Middle School on March 18th between 8am and 1pm. They can also be dropped off at 1998 Verde Ct in Allen the weekend of March 14th.

If you have any questions please reach out to ptavolunteers.curtis@gmail.com

Thank you for donating, it is really appreciated.

CLICK HERE to sign up.

CMS PTA is pleased to announce our business sponsorship program. We offer businesses an opportunity to support CMS students and staff with donation levels.

Red Level, $100

• 1 PTA Community membership
• Logo/website listed on PTA website for one year

Black Level, $250

• 1 PTA Community membership
• Logo/website listed on PTA website for one year
• 1 shout out in both our campus newsletter (1,400+ student families) and 1 shout out on the PTA FB page

CLICK HERE for a flyer with more details or email Jennifer.

Learn about the important Attendance Credit Election. There is one more meeting time available:

9-10 am Monday, March 2 at the AISD Service Center (1451 N. Watters Rd.).

All community members are welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

Make plans to attend Curtis' Spring Dance! Purchase tickets in advance the week of March 23. Tickets to the dance are $5 in advance or $7 at the door.

We will have raffle prizes, items such as gift cards to Whataburger, In & Out, Starbucks and Target just to name a few! One lucky student will win Apple AirPods!

If you buy your ticket in advance, your name will be entered into a drawing for a Movie Theater Prize Pack.

Take pictures with your bestie at the Memory Maker Photo Booth sponsored by North Texas Orthodontics Associates.

Eat delicious pizza by the slice from Mario’s Eastside Pizza. The DJ will bring his glow in the dark light and will have opportunities to win prizes with a dance off! Two gyms will be open for basketball and volleyball. Remember: For students who are PTA members, please check your coupon book for a free pizza slice!

Recommended attire is Black & White. Don’t forget you must wear your ID badge to enter the dance. You don’t want to miss this epic bash!

The 12th Annual Allen Eagle Run will be held on Saturday, February 29 at Eagle Stadium. Hosted by the Foundation For Allen Schools and the Allen Council of PTAs, the event will feature a one-mile Fun Run, a certified 5K Run and a sleep-in option.

Our campus goal is 100 registrants. We are at 55 registered. The 7th and 8th grade homerooms with the highest percent of registrants will receive:

• A front-of-the-line lunch pass for each student in the homeroom.
• A restaurant gift card for the teacher of that class.

Every student who registers will be entered into a raffle for movie tickets.

Details about registration, fees and deadlines or information about becoming a sponsor are available here.

Proceeds from the Allen Eagle Run directly benefit Allen teachers and students through scholarships, teacher tuition reimbursements and classroom grants. Many of our Curtis teachers have been beneficiaries of these grants.

Thank you for your support!

CMS PTA is accepting applications from current high school seniors through March 25, 2020. Please click here for more details and the application.

Do you shop on Amazon? Use Amazon's Smile and support Curtis PTA!

AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchase to Curtis PTA when shopping Amazon.

1. Go here: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/

2. Select your charity: PTA Texas Congress 201 Curtis Middle School

3. Bookmark smile.amazon.com

4. Start using smile.amazon.com whenever you want to shop at Amazon!
   

   
   

Be sure to shop through AmazonSmile the next time you shop online. You’re still shopping with Amazon — you’re just doing good while buying what you need!

Please encourage grandparents, neighbors, and friends to support Curtis PTA by shopping through AmazonSmile too.

With feedback from campus counselors and nurses, AISD Council PTA has compiled a list of items that are needed at many of our AISD campuses.

Please consider donating and supporting students throughout AISD. These donations will be distributed to the campuses in the district that are in need.

Save a trip to the store and donate by ordering the district approved items via the Amazon wish lists below:

• Click here for Hygiene Products
• Click here for Snacks

Thank you for helping students in Allen!

Want to know what clubs and organizations are meeting? As well as other information that is shared with students? You can read about it by clicking here.

You can still order Curtis spirit wear! The t-shirt styles have limited quantities. Sizes and quantities available are updated online.

Orders will be delivered to your student's homeroom teacher approximately 4 weeks after purchase. Please be sure you enter your student's homeroom teacher for easy delivery.

To order, visit CurtisCougarPTA.org, login or set up an account to place your order.

Questions? Please email Jennifer

PTA Facebook Page

PTA Website

Email: ptacommunications.curtis@gmail.com
Website: https://www.allenisd.org/curtisms
Location: 1530 Rivercrest Boulevard, Allen, TX, USA
Phone: 972-727-0340
Twitter: @CurtisCougars