CMIT South Elementary School
Dear CMIT South Elementary Tiger Family,
It's been an eventful week here at CMIT South Elementary, filled with exciting achievements and memorable moments. I am delighted to share some highlights with you:
Successful Field Trip to NAAMHC: Our 3rd-grade students embarked on an enriching field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. They had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich history and culture that our nation has to offer. Kudos to our dedicated teachers and parent volunteers for making this trip possible!
Chess Team Triumphs: Congratulations to our Chess Team for their outstanding performance against CMIT North Elementary. Special recognition goes to Arvin Naag from 5th grade and Arvik Naag from 2nd grade for their exceptional sportsmanship and high level of competition. We are proud of their achievements!
"Annie" Presentation by Drama and Music Club:
Our Drama and Music Club showcased their talent with a spectacular presentation of "Annie," directed by Ms. Crusoe and Mr. Weldon. The dedication and hard work of our students, along with the support of our parent volunteers for set design, costumes, and audio, made this production a resounding success. Bravo to all involved!
Foam Run Fundraiser:
Students who raised over $200 for our Foam Run fundraiser will be invited to participate on Monday. Invitations will be sent out accordingly. A big thank you to all our fundraisers for their dedication and effort. Special recognition goes to our top fundraisers and classes:
Top Ten Fundraisers:
1. James J. (3rd - Madison) - $1,480
2. Lenox A. (3rd - Fleet) - $1,100
3. Carter B. (K-3rd - Windsor) - $1,000
4. Legend T. (K-2nd - Lewis) - $800
5. Ezra W. (1st - Brown D.) - $750
6. John E. (2nd - Convert) - $745
7. Were O. (4th - Holloway) - $730
8. Chase E. (K-4th - Hughes) - $680
9. Gabrielle D. (5th - Jenkins) - $665
10. Ian L. (2nd - Valera) - $615
Top Three Fundraising Classes:
1. 3rd - Madison - $2,745
2. 3rd - Fleet - $2,441
3. K-3rd - Windsor - $2,170
Teacher Appreciation Week:
A heartfelt thank you to our outstanding PTO and Charter Operator Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation for organizing an amazing Teacher Appreciation Week. The delicious food, sweet treats, thoughtful gifts, and exciting raffles truly made our staff feel appreciated and valued. We are grateful for your continuous support! Waffles and smoothie bars, coffee bar, delicious Caribbean food, cheesecake and dipped pretzels it was all wonderful to be thought of for even a moment let alone an entire week THANK YOU!!!
Upcoming Exams:
As a reminder, our upcoming iReady, DIBELS, and NWEA MAP exams for Math (1-5), Reading (1-5), and Science (2-5) are fast approaching. Please ensure that your child is prepared and well-rested for these assessments.
Student Rights and Responsibilities:
Finally, I would like to remind our school community of the importance of upholding student rights and responsibilities. Kindness, respect, and safety are paramount at CMIT South Elementary. Let's work together to ensure that all students have access to a safe and secure learning environment.
Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school community. Together, we can achieve great things!
Sincerely,
Mr. Ronald A. Miller, Jr.
Principal
Chesapeake Math & IT Academy South Elementary
Prince George’s County Public Schools
Please take a look at these April/May calendar reminders:
- 5/13 4th Quarter Progress Reports Released Online
- 5/13-6/3 DIBELS Testing for K-3rd
- 5/14 Primary Election Day- Schools and Offices Closed
- 5/17 CMITSES Career Day
- 5/21-5/23 MAP Testing K-5th
- 5/23 3rd Qtr Honor Assembly via Zoom
- 5/27 Memorial Day- Schools and Offices Closed
- 5/31 Field Day
- 6/6 Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony
- 6/7 5th grade Moving-Up Ceremony
- 6/12 3hr early dismissal
- 6/13 Last day of school
In November 2020, PGCPS launched an online volunteer application and approval process. Click here for more information on becoming a volunteer and to access the application.
Hazel Health Services Coming to CMIT South Elementary
What is Hazel Health?
Hazel Health has partnered with Prince George's County Public Schools to provide access to quality healthcare services for all students, at no cost to families, this school year. Students can be referred by the school counselor or their parent/guardian. A designated person at the school or a parent/guardian can initiate a video visit with a Hazel health care provider while your child is at school or at home to provide either physical or mental health services. Therapy sessions with Hazel Health are a safe space and are private and confidential.
How can your child receive services?
Waitlists for mental health services for children are sometimes long or sometimes as parents it's tough to find the time to take our children to appointments which makes it difficult for them to receive the immediate support they need. Hazel Health is geared to bridge that gap. Students are able to receive these services free, virtually and while in school. If you have any questions please feel free to visit their website https://www.hazel.co/ or reach out to me.
The “Lost and Found” collection bin is located in the cafeteria. Any found articles (coats, hats, gloves, backpacks, lunch boxes, etc.) are placed in the bin. Found small items (keys, glasses, jewelry) are stored in the Main Office. Students may check the “Lost and Found” for lost items before or after school, or during lunch. All items left unclaimed at the end of each academic quarter are donated to charities or are discarded. Parents are strongly encouraged to label all belongings with first and last names.
Birthdays are so much fun to celebrate with classmates. However, during the school day, the health and safety of each student are important, especially students with food allergies. Students are ONLY permitted to bring in NON-FOOD items to distribute to classmates at the end of the school day. Birthday invitations will not be distributed.
Attendance in school each day is important. Let’s stay in school.
In order for an absence to be considered excused, a written note must accompany the student no later than three (3) days after return to school. The note should include:
- date(s) of absence
- scholar’s name
- Reason for absence
Late or make-up work will not be accepted unless the absence is an excused absence. Please review Administrative Procedure 5113 AP 5113 - Student Attendance, Absence and Truancy for further information.
Students who are absent for ten consecutive days will be withdrawn on the 11th day and will need to re-enroll.
Lawful Absences
Students enrolled in public schools are considered lawfully absent from school for any portion of the day, only under the following conditions:
- Death of a family member
- Illness of the student
- Court appearance
- Work approved or sponsored by a school
- Observance of a religious holiday
- State of emergency
- Suspension from school
- Mental Health (Students may receive as an excused absence one (1) day of absence
- in each semester of each school year for a student’s mental health needs.
- Other emergencies
- Deployment-related absences
Unlawful Absences
Unlawful absence – any time a student does not attend school that does not qualify as the above-listed reasons for a lawful absence.
Tardy
Scholars will be officially tardy if they are not in the building at 8:10 a.m.
If your scholar enters the building after the 8:05 a.m. bell, a parent must escort them into the building and electronically sign them in the late arrival portal. Scholars will be given an orange tardy slip to be permitted to class.
Parents of students who have 10 or more tardies in a semester will be required to meet with the principal/designee to discuss the reasons for the tardies and to develop a plan for improvement.
Health Forms
Please be sure to submit all required health forms! Please note that ALL medications, cough drops included, cannot be administered or consumed without appropriate documentation.
You can access all health forms here for the 2023-2024 school year.
School Meals
2023-24 School Year Meal Prices
Elementary (Pre-K through Grade 5)
Breakfast: $1.60/day
Lunch: $2.75/day
How to Pay
MySchoolBucks, owned and operated by Heartland Payment Systems, is an online payment service that provides parents the ability to securely pay for meals, monitor student cafeteria purchases, make tuition payments for Before and After School Extended Learning programs, and receive email notifications for low-account balances. With MySchoolBucks, payments can be made 24/7 using a Visa, MasterCard, Discover, credit or debit card, and mobile app.
Principal Lunch Account
ALL breakfast,lunch, and Principal lunch payments should be made via www.myschoolbucks.com.
All money comes/goes to 1 account (child's). All that is needed to set up account (if not done) is
students lunch pin or student id.
Free and Reduced-Price Meals
We encourage all families to consider applying for free and reduced-price meals! Visit www.myschoolapps.com/Home/PickDistrict to apply online today!
To apply, you will need:
- The name, school, and grade of your school-age children
- The name of all adults living in the home
- Income information for all adults living in the home
- Student ID Numbers for your school-age children
Applications will also be sent home with students the first week of school. Applications are available at all PGCPS schools and can be submitted at any time.
Grade Level Updates
Hello everyone!! Updates for next week are as follows:
No school on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Share your voting experience with your scholars and explain the importance of the rights that we have as well.
iReady testing will take place on Wednesday, May 15th. Please ensure that your scholar has a good night’s rest and eats a healthy breakfast. All scholars must report to school on time. Testing begins first thing in the morning.
GLOW PARTY DAY! May 15th
Wear your glow necklaces, glasses, bracelets, etc. as we dance and celebrate the last month of school. Please ensure that your child wears their school uniform.
Field Day permission slips are coming home next week. This is a FREE field trip, but permission is REQUIRED. Please return by May 24th.
Grade Level Updates
Grade level blurb:
Dear Families,
As we zoom down into June, the focus will include infusing some amount of fun into teaching and learning across content. Therefore, the team will implement ABC Countdown (see insert below).
Additional instructions will be shared by teachers…please stay tuned.
We would also like to share that reading is given more time these final days. Students are reading with partners in class. Please extend this practice, and have our scholars read aloud to someone at home. Then ask questions about what they read.
As always, Thank you for supporting learning away from home.
-1st Grade Team
Reading Updates:
Unit 4-5
Reviewing of current and past skills
Alignment of reading activities with ABC countdown activities.
Math Updates:
Chapter 10-
Using models and strategies to add tens and ones.
https://youtu.be/RbKgIPJm3lc?si=fRYfsdVpvoju1PNs
Science Updates:
Living Things: Where animals live.
Parents and their offspring.
Social Studies Updates:
One Nation, Many People-read and discuss/ask and answer questions.
Health Updates:
Unit 9-Students will read and discuss learning on "How I Breathe."
Grade level blurb:
Testing season has arrived and we have many updates and reminders!
Updates:
1. The Unit 4 Reading test will be on Monday. There is nothing to review for this per se, but rather it is a measure of what students have learned over the last 6 weeks.
2. The Topic 11 math test will be this week as well. Please take a few minutes this weekend to review subtracting within 1,000. Have your scholar show you how to subtract using place value blocks, number lines, and partial differences.
3. iReady testing will take place on Wednesday, May 15th. Please ensure your scholar has good rest and a healthful breakfast. Please also remind them of the importance of slowing down and putting forth a good effort.
4. DIBELS testing will be next week as well, reach out to your homeroom teacher for the date your class will be testing.
6. Field Day permission slips went home on Friday. This is a FREE field trip, but permission is REQUIRED. Please return by May 24th.
Reminders:
1. There is NO SCHOOL on Tuesday, May 14th.
2. Please check SchoolMax weekly for up-to-date grades.
3. Please continue to review your class' digital agenda for homework updates. Your scholar should also have these written in their personal agenda as well. Digital agendas are being used to support home-school connections. Attached is the digital agenda for each teacher. Please refer to these for important due dates and assignments:
Happy {early} Mother’s Day to all of you incredible moms! We love you!
Reading Updates:
We will take the Unit 4 test on Monday, May 12th, and move on to Unit 5 focusing on “Our incredible Earth.” The essential question is “How does Earth Change?”. Students will focus on reading informational and procedural texts and learning about changes on Earth.
Math Updates:
Your class has or will be wrapping up Topic 11 this week. We will jump to Topic 15 Graphs and Data. We will focus on line plots, bar graphs, and picture graphs.
Science Updates:
Students are wrapping up plant and animal life cycles and will be moving on to our final topic of animal habitats.
Social Studies Updates:
We are wrapping up Topic 4 - People who supply our goods and services and moving on to Topic 5. In this Topic, we will focus on the essential question, “What can we do to make a difference?” Students will explore what makes a hero and who some famous heroes are!
Health Updates:
We are beginning a new topic related to Germs. Students will learn about what germs do and how to keep their body safe.
Grade Level Updates
Grade level blurb:
We are just a few weeks away from the end of the school year! Thank you to everyone who joined us for our field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Our students had a great time. Looking forward, we will be completing another round of tests in the next coming weeks. Please make sure your students are on time to school daily to complete testing. iReady testing will take place next week on the 15th and 16th. DIBELS will be happening throughout the coming weeks. MAP Growth tests will be taken on May 21-23.
Reading Updates:
Fleet/Lewis: This week we began studying the text structure of a play by reading the play Grandma and Grace. The story explored Asian immigrants migrating to the USA.
Math Updates:
Fleet/Lewis: This week we have wrapped up Topic 13 which is Fraction Equivalency. Next week we will start working on Topic 14 which is Solving Time, Capacity, and Mass.
Science Updates:
Fleet/Lewis: This week we have started Topic 7 which studies Fossils. We’ve completed lesson 1 which explains what fossils are and the types of fossils.
Social Studies Updates:
Fleet/Lewis: In Social Studies, we started Chapter 6 Lesson 1. This lesson talks about the evolution of travel in the United States.
Health Updates:
For May we will be discussing When Bodies Have Challenges. This unit will address body challenges, their causes and effects, physical impairments, learning disabilities, and special needs in the community
Grade Level Updates
Grade level blurb:
Hello Tiger Family,
The fourth-grade team would like to thank you for all your kindness and love during Teacher Appreciation Week! Special thanks to the PTO for doing a great job with Teacher Appreciation Week!! We are now down to the final weeks of school and have activities planned for each week upcoming. Field Day is coming up, permission slips will be coming home on Monday. This year Field Day will be at the Sports and Learning Complex that is in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. All students will travel by coach bus to the Field Day location and will spend the day completing activities.
Next week we will begin our i-Ready diagnostics. This will happen on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, and into Thursday if necessary. This assessment will occur during the reading block for students. This is an untimed assessment that observes students' growth over the school year.
Important Upcoming Dates
Tuesday, May 14, 2024- State Primary Elections No School
Wednesday, May 15, 2024- Spring i-Ready Diagnostic
Tuesday, May 21, 2024- Spring MAP Math
Wednesday, May 22, 2024- Spring MAP Reading
Thursday, May 23, 2024- Spring MAP Science
Monday, May 27, 2024- Memorial Day No School
This is a friendly reminder that late work is only accepted if a student has an excused absence! If a scholar is absent and does not bring a note they will earn a 0 on the assignment that was missed. Please read the reminders to ensure that you are partnering with your scholars to make them successful for school.
Fourth Grade Reminders:
Please check SchoolMax weekly to see scholar’s updated grades. Canvas is a Learning Management System in which scholars utilize to complete assignments and get access to materials.The grades provided in SchoolMax are those that will be used to calculate progress reports and report cards.
If your scholar is absent, please share a note with the homeroom teacher within 3 days of your scholar returning back to school. In order for students to receive make-up work you must provide a note stating; the student’s name, the date of absence, and reason for absence. Work is provided to students upon their return to school with an absence note.
Each week we suggest checking your scholars browser history and YouTube history. This is to make sure that your scholar isn’t going to a site or watching videos that you would not approve. Teachers are limited to only seeing activity on your scholar’s screen when they are in class. We utilize a system called Hapara that allows us to prevent access to certain sites. We are asking that you check your scholar's computer history weekly.
Reading Updates:
This Week: Students got a chance to complete a Project Based Activity. Students created a news report in which they selected the most dangerous storm on Earth. Students gave their opinion and attempted to convince others why their storm or environmental element is the worst on Earth. Students also began previewing and making predictions for the novel study that we will begin next week.
Next Week: Students will begin a novel study and will be reading “The Hero That Lives Two Doors Down.” This realistic fiction takes us back to the 1940s in Brooklyn, New York, with Jackie Robinson moving to a segregated area. During a novel study students are able to read a story in its entirety and see how the character grows and changes throughout. As we are reading this novel students will continue to practice reading skills we have covered this year.
Math Updates:
Our focus this week will be using what we learned about factors and multiples to identify and convert equivalent fractions.
Science Updates:
This week we are diving deeper into Topic 3:Types of Waves and Wave properties.
Social Studies Updates:
This week: Students worked on Chapter 4 Quest Project. In this project students created a new business. Students planned the logistics for running their business utilizing the information we discovered in this chapter.
Next week: Students will read “The Land of the Northeast” and explain how the Northeast has mountains, a long coast, and large lakes and rivers.
Grade Level Updates
Grade level blurb:
Hi everyone! We are now in the new month of May, and we are focusing on our character trait, perseverance! We want to persevere in any way we can, especially in wrapping up Q4!
We are prepared for our trip to Camp Schmidt at the end of the year for our 5th grade students and we are so excited! The date will be June 3-4, so stay tuned for further info! Thank you SO MUCH to all of our volunteer chaperones who will be coming on the trip! We appreciate you! We sent chaperones more info recently. We are also FULL for Camp Schmidt chaperones!
Field Day is also coming up on May 31! This time, we are going off the school property to Liberty Sports Park to enjoy our activities! Thank you to the chaperones who have already signed up! If you’d still like to, please send Ms. McDonagh a message.
Our 5th-grade promotion ceremony is planned for Friday, June 7 at 9:00 am. We will have lots of information coming out about this soon, but we are so excited to honor and celebrate our hardworking scholars! Please keep this date available!
We have been having tests, quizzes, and homework, so we want to make sure students are keeping up with their work. Students should click on their homeroom teacher’s name to see their assignments. Here is the link to the 5th-grade website for those who need it: https://sites.google.com/pgcps.org/5thgradeclasssite/home
Reminder that we are happy to have volunteers come in to assist us with different things throughout the year, so if you are interested, please make sure your volunteer requirements are completed. We would love it if people wanted to come in and volunteer during lunch times for students, so let us know if you are interested.
Also, Career Day is May 17 and we’d love to have our 5th grade parents come in and talk to students about their careers! Please send Ms. McDonagh a message if you are interested!
Additionally, please see the following message from PTO about upcoming dates/deadlines:
Promotion Ceremony Baby Pictures
The 5th grade team is collecting baby photos of all graduates. Submit your photo no later than May 17, 2024.
Promotion Ceremony
Friday, June 7, 2024 | 9:00 AM
Gym
Two tickets will be available for each scholar.
Attire is black and white. Scholars may be a combination of each color or one color. Scholars should dress to impress.
Thank you!!
Reading Updates:
We are working on unit 4 week 2 and our section is about historical fiction. We are also starting on our new spelling words for this section next week!
Math Updates:
Students are in unit 9 of Math which is about dividing fractions. Homework will be posted on the assignment calendar as we get started so keep an eye out!
Science Updates:
Students are working on unit 5 of Science, about the human impact on Earth’s systems. Homework will be posted on the assignment calendar as we get started so keep an eye out!
Social Studies Updates:
We are working on chapter 9 now about the Civil War. We are working on Chapter 9 lesson 4 more next week!
CHESAPEAKE MATH AND IT SOUTH ELEMENTARY
• Hours: 8:00 a.m to 2:25 p.m
• Grades: K-5
• Uniform: Yes
• Before After School Enrichment: Yes
http://clfmd.org/enrichment-2/
• School Colors: Hunter Green, Navy Blue
• School Mascot: Tigers
• School Website: http://www.cmitsouthes.org
For more information