What are you committing to in 2025? I recently learned that the second Friday in January is referred to as Quitter's Day because research has shown that is approximately how long New Year's resolutions are maintained. Can you beat the average? Can you maintain that edge and make a small improvement? What or who is your motivation?

Some tips for upholding that resolution are:

- Keep it simple and small: make one small change that will make a lasting impact.

- Let others know what you are trying to achieve and have them join you in that challenge. Two is company and three's a party.

- Celebrate your accomplishment with a short term reward each week or month - whichever time period fits. A celebration can be something as small as a sticker (don't laugh!) or something as large as an outing.

At CMS, our students will be setting academic resolutions. Ms. Paroubek will be talking about this on announcements and Student Council will be sponsoring this worthwhile activity.

Best of luck - you can do this! We truly hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful break and are ready to get back into the swing of things on January 6th.

Craig Caroff

Thank you very much for abiding by the following expectations for a safe arrival and afternoon dismissal process. Morning drop off has been going really well. Thank you to everyone who has been getting their students to school on time and following our traffic pattern. Please remember that there is only one lane in the morning in front of the school, and this must be adhered to for everyone's safety. Also, please be patient with our teachers who are pulling into their spots and crossing the street. We want all to report to work safely.

We need your help to improve afternoon pick up and the following items will help us achieve that as safely as possible:

• Parents are not permitted to park in the lot and have their child cross traffic to come to them. Please join the traffic line. It is unsafe for your child to run across the lot. Supervision occurs by our staff, but as you know it is a small footprint with many moving parts. We have come close to students being hit by cars and absolutely want to avoid this occurring.
• There are 2 lanes of traffic in the front of CMS in the afternoon but 1 lane in front of the board office. Please do not double park by the CMS office or the BOE building. Generally Ms. Paroubek is directing traffic, and she will only direct you to an open spot in a single lane. She never intends for you to make a 2nd lane in front of the board office. This creates a dangerous traffic situation.
• If you are going to change lanes, please look before you do. Several instances of near sideswiping have occurred.
• Always look for children before stepping on the gas pedal (in front, on the sides, and behind you).

When everyone slows down and follows the procedures and traffic monitors, traffic will move smoothly, faster, and safely.

Our second round of MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) testing will occur during the week of January 13. We are going to be implementing a new testing schedule at CMS. MUCH thought and very careful planning has gone into our new schedule for testing days with very specific and clear reasons. If you have any questions about our new schedule, please call Tracy Paroubek at CMS.

We will be taking four school days to complete the assessment rather than utilizing our previous schedule of two school days. We will also be carrying out state testing in April and May with this schedule. We feel that it will meet the needs of our students in an optimal way, ensuring them a comfortable and non-stressful testing experience.

January 13: 4th and 5th Grade Reading Test

January 14: 6th and 7th Grade Reading Test

January 15: 4th and 5th Grade Math Test

January 16: 6th and 7th Grade Math Test

As part of our new testing schedule we are TRIALING a late start for those students who are not testing on a given day. When your student is not taking an assessment, they are eligible to report to school late at 10:45 a.m. and still be counted as attending school for the day.

We do need to emphasize that reporting to school on days when a student is not taking an assessment is still required. They will be attending classes and will be presented with new material, with learning to proceed as normal.

For those whom a late start is not desired or possible, students are absolutely welcome to come to school as normal, and we will have a place for them to be during testing. If we find that we have too many absent students on their off days during this TRIAL period, this option will be strongly reconsidered for Ohio State Testing later in the spring and all students will be reporting as normal every day.

Thank you for your help in assisting us in trailing this new schedule on the above dates.

Hello Parents,

It has been hectic in the clinic thus far. I have seen over 4,800 visits as well as have done over 300 vision /hearing tests.

If you feel your child is ill please keep them home. If you do send them to school, know I will try the interventions I have here before calling you. ( hot pad, rest, mint, crackers, cold pack)

I call parents with every 2nd visit of the day, failed healing with intervention tried, fever, vomiting, injuries, or anything following the school health guidelines.

We are seeing Flu, RSV, and mycoplasma pneumonia in the community. Please review with your child proper cough/cold etiquette, handwashing, and how to properly blow their nose.

Feel free to call me if needed.

Jennifer Trittschuh RN BSN LSN

Exciting news! CMS identified the top three spellers from our school!

3rd place: Tadhg O'Brien in 5th Grade

2nd place: Sebastian Kingzett in 6th Grade

AND...

1st place: Livia Yeomans in 7th Grade, who will have the opportunity to participate in the tri-county spelling bee early in 2025.

Thank you to Mrs. Quinn and Ms. Kovalkevich for organizing the Bee and Mrs. Langtry and Ms. Christopher for serving as judges.

Thank you to all the family members who came to support their children! We had a great turn out!

During the first week of school, all families received personalized QR codes to join PBIS rewards to see your student's information as it relates to positive behavior choices in the building. If you have not joined yet, please consider doing so by scanning the code you received and signing up to receive notifications.

If you need another QR code, please reach out to your child's homeroom teacher or Ms. Paroubek to access another copy.

Thanks for partnering with us on this new system!

Did you capture a great action photo of your child participating in CMS Basketball, Wrestling, or Cheer this season? Would you like that photograph in the yearbook? If yes, submit that photo to the yearbook staff for review. You might see it in the yearbook this spring!

Use this link with the password: CMS24pics!

Wondering what is for breakfast or lunch? Use this link to access the menu each day!

https://www.myschoolmenus.com/organizations/2280

*All meetings are at 4:30 p.m. in the CMS Library/Media Center on the first Wednesday of each month.

September 4

October 2

November 6

December 4

January 8

February 5

March 5

April 2

May 7

Use the screenshots above and these directions below to access the Donation Fund. We appreciate you!

In the Parent Portal, select Fees > Filter by School Year 2024-2025 > Optional Payments > FIELD TRIP DONATION > Add to Cart > select 'My Cart' > Manually add donation under AMOUNT > Complete payment process

Have you done your annual OLR update yet for your student/s?

Not yet? Visit this link for instructions: https://www.chardon.k12.oh.us/InfiniteCampus.aspx

Scroll down the page and look for the first red link that says INSTRUCTIONS.

THANK YOU for updating this information for us!

Chardon Middle School

Asst. Principal: Ms. Tracy Paroubek: tracy.paroubek@chardonschools.org

Website: www.chardonschools.org

Address: 424 North Street Chardon, OH 44024
Phone: (440) 285-4062