Good Evening, Cabin John Middle School Families!
This is your Principal, Ms. Snider with the Sunday announcements for the week of October 7 - October 11. Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the October 7th attack by Hamas on Israel and the resulting conflict in Gaza. I want to acknowledge that this may elicit difficult memories and emotions for many. Our hearts are with all those who were and continue to be affected by recent events and personal losses. Please remember that we are here to support one another as a community. If you or someone you know is struggling, do not hesitate to reach out. Together, we can provide the care and compassion that make us strong. Take care of yourselves and each other.
This week we are having a Mental Health Awareness Week. Please take a minute to look through the themed days and activities in the graphic in our digital newsletter. We will also be holding a mental health awareness evening on Thursday, October 10th at 6:30pm through Zoom. A therapist from Thrive will be sharing how to better understand your child's mental health needs. We will send the Zoom link out in a separate Connect Ed later this week.
Attention 8th Grade Families: The HS Special Program Applications were made available on October 4 in ParentVUE. Look for the individual eligibility report letter in the Documents folder. Please review the offerings and programs in the letter and in the digital newsletter. Remember, applications are due November 1st.
Please remember the phone message just highlights some of the information you can find in our digital newsletter that arrives through email. Please take a look for more opportunities!
We look forward to welcoming every back tomorrow into our Cabin John community focused on respect, positive relationships, and resilience.
Have a great evening!
Ms. Somer Snider
Principal, CJMS
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- Monday, October 7 - Friday, October 11 - Mental Health Awareness Week
- Wednesday, October 9 - 8th Grade Field Trip to AFI Theatre
- Thursday, October 10 - Mental Health Awareness Presentation for Parents
- Thursday, October 17 - 6th Grade Principal's Tea/Outdoor Education Information Night
- Friday, October 18 - No School for Students, PD Day for Teachers
- Friday, November 1 - Last Day of Marking Period 1
- Monday, November 4 - No School for Students, Grading Day for Teachers
- Tuesday, November 5 - No School for Students and Staff, Election Day
- Wednesday, November 6 - First Day of Marking Period 2
- Monday, November 11 - 8:15am to 10:36pm - CJMS Open House - More Details to come!
- Wednesday, November 13 - MP1 Report Cards available in ParentVue
- Monday, November 25 - Early Release for Students (12:30pm Dismissal)
- Tuesday, November 26 - Early Release for Students (12:30pm Dismissal)
- Wednesday, November 27 - Friday, November 29 - Schools and Offices Closed
Please take time to review what students are currently learning in their classes this week at Cabin John Middle School in our weekly assignment summary.
Updated Guidance for Student Speech and Expression
Dear MCPS Families and Students,
Thank you for a great start to the school year!
Our community is entering a time that may bring challenging emotions and discussions into our schools and we want to ensure that our entire community—students, families, and staff—has the guidance and strategies to navigate these moments together. With the upcoming national election, the first anniversary of the October 7th attack, and the ongoing conflict, it’s important that we prepare for the range of conversations and emotions these topics may evoke.
For students to be their best in school, their learning environments must remain safe, welcoming, and inclusive. As educators, we strive to model thoughtful and positive expression and encourage students to make respectful, informed choices, especially during challenging times.
The new processes for responding to and communicating when faced with incidents of hate and bias, along with the information campaign addressing these issues, have been shaped by input from our community members. School staff and leaders have received these same resources to ensure we are all operating from the same guidance when managing student speech and expression in our schools.
Thank you for your continued partnership in making our schools a safe and inclusive space for everyone.
Respectfully,
Thomas W. Taylor, Ed.D., M.B.A.
Superintendent
Know the guidance for Student Speech and Expression.
Staff, students, and families must know the rights and guidelines for students to express views on issues important to them.
Guidelines for Students
Español / 中文 / français / Português / 한국어 / tiếng Việt / አማርኛFrequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
español / 中文 / français / Português / 한국어 / tiếng Việt / አማርኛ
Resources to Reduce and Address Incidents of Hate and Bias
See the steps taken and plans for this school year to reduce and address Hate-Bias
español / 中文 / français / Português / 한국어 / tiếng Việt / አማርኛVisit the new Responding to Incidents of Hate-Bias website.
High-Quality Curriculum
Civic Engagement conversations occur through Social Studies classes, where teachers are provided lessons, guidance, and ongoing professional development. A letter sent from principals and social studies staff provides notification of this work.
Attend the Social Studies Curriculum nights to learn more about how Social Studies is taught!
Attention Parents! We are looking for all parents that would be interested in helping with the Black History Heritage Month Celebration preparations.
If you are interested, please contact Tamara Hardy in the Counseling Office or by email at Tamara_A_Hardy@mcpsmd.org for more information.
We strive to keep all of our students happy and healthy, so we appreciate your assistance by keeping your child home if they are ill. We do our best to inform you if your child is exhibiting signs of illness at school or if they have an unexpected injury. We appreciate communication from parents as well if a student is ill or injured outside of school and they need any special accommodations.
If you are concerned about respiratory viruses, which we do see more of in the wintertime, please feel free to have your child wear a mask to protect themselves from potential infection.
The Montgomery County Health Department and MCPS request that parents keep their children home when they are exhibiting signs of illness such as fever (over 100 F), vomiting, diarrhea, persistent coughing/sneezing, sore throat, severe headache, earache, eye infection, skin rash or other symptoms of infection.
As always, we are here to help your child to thrive while at school! Please feel free to contact me (Brienne_B_Merritt@mcpsmd.org) if you have any questions or if we can be of assistance.
CJMS students: registration will be opening soon for extra curricular activities!
Visit the ECA Information Packet on the CJMS website to learn more about each club before you register your preferences. All clubs and activities rely on an adult sponsor. After reading the options, sign up for activities here!
Do you want to start your own club? Talk to Mr. Siddons and find a teacher to sponsor your activity! ECA Information Packet
Math Team Try-Outs will take place on Wednesday, October 19th after school in the cafeteria. Students from grades 6-8 can attend. Students need to bring a scientific (non-graphing) calculator and a pencil. 20 students will be accepted onto the team.
To register, go to bit.ly/cjms_mathteam24. Students must register with their school gmail account. More information is found on the form.
Join CJMS Coding Club (MCode)! We are a club where students will learn the foundations of computer science and the basics of programming languages such as Python and will use those skills in fun projects and exercises. For more information about the club and registration, go to: bit.ly/mcodeclass.
We have multiple classes for varying levels of experience with computer science at Cabin John. Our beginner Python class is open to all and teaches the fundamentals of computer science through the widely-used and popular programming language Python and will be given projects to help them develop their programming skills as well as logical and problem solving skills. Our intermediate Python class builds on the skills taught in the beginner class as students learn to build data structures and learn Object-Oriented Programming. This club is free, and students will need their laptops (or school-provided Chromebook) for either class. Interested students will have the opportunity to participate in both school-wide and multi-school Coding Fests.
The beginner class will begin Thursday, October 24th, and the intermediate class will begin Thursday, November 7th. If you are interested, email cjmscoding@gmail.com for more information and register with the link above.
Odyssey of the Mind (OotM) is a program that teaches students how to use creativity to their advantage when solving problems. Students will use teamwork, as well as critical thinking, engineering, and artistic skills to conquer the long-term problem of their choice. They will learn to "think outside of the box" and create new solutions to intriguing problems. For more information on the Odyssey of the Mind program overall, check out the OOTM website: https://www.odysseyofthemind.com
The first meeting for Odyssey of the Mind will be on Friday, October 11, 2024 from 3:15pm to 4:30pm at Cabin John. Click here to register! https://forms.gle/iBbdwmALCJ2vuvLk8
If you have any questions, please email Rachel Farnsworth and Erin-Alexandra Knight at CabinJohnOdyssey@gmail.com
The D.C. chapter of INTEGIRLS is hosting a beginner-friendly, in-person math competition Saturday, December 14th from 9 am - 4 pm at the Bioscience Education Center at Montgomery College Germantown Campus! Our mission at INTEGIRLS is to encourage girls and non-binaries in STEM fields through math competitions and events.
This year, we will have math competition rounds (individual and team), an estimathon, a speaker event, awards ceremony, provided lunch, and lots of fun STEM activities. Teams of up to 4 students will be able to connect with and enjoy math with other girls and non-binaries around the DMV. There will be a lot of prizes and fun swag for all participants.
Register here directly or go to the INTEGIRLS D.C. website (dc.integirls.org) to learn more about the competition.
Elections will be held on Thursday, October 10th during advisory. Stay tuned to learn who our elected officers are for this school year!
Please do not hesitate to reach out to Ms. Pun (pamela_z_pun@mcpsmd.org) with any questions.
The Social Studies team is hosting a series of Curriculum Night webinars for families to learn more about how social studies is taught in MCPS and how its curricula in kindergarten through 11th grade incorporate the history of various ethnic and cultural groups. The webinars will be held from 6:30–7:30 p.m. on the following dates:
- Thursday, Sept. 12–Black and African American History
- Thursday, Sept. 26–Asian History
- Thursday, Oct. 10–Hispanic History
- Thursday, Oct. 24–Arab History
- Thursday, Nov. 7–Indigenous History of the United States
- Thursday, Dec. 5–LGBTQ+ History (Middle and High School Only)
- Thursday, Dec. 12–Jewish History
To attend, families must register at the above links and a link to attend the webinar will be sent to them.
Resources for SSL:
- SSL forms, resources, and guidelines
- September SSL Opportunities
- SSL opportunities -September and Montgomery County Volunteer Center
- SSL program overview
- Step-by-step directions for viewing student SSL record on StudentVUE
- Introduction to SSL Handout: English | Español| 中文 | Français | tiếng Việt | 한국어 | አማርኛ | Portuguêse
This year we have 15 minutes at the end of each grade level lunch for student wellness time. During this time, students are allowed to go for a walk in the courtyard, play outside for recess (weather permitting), or play games in the cafeteria. Thank you to all the families who donated games to us on Back to School Night! If you have any old board games or activities appropriate for middle school age students, please feel free to donate them! We will put them to good use! All donations can be dropped off in the main office.
PTSA has also created a wellness wish list for us if you would like to purchase an item from the list. All items will be shipped directly to CJMS and used for our students wellness time. Thank you in advance for all of your generosity!
Welcome to our new CJMS PTSA Board that was voted in during the Back to School Night Welcome Back Fair! We appreciate you!
Please be sure to become a member of this important organization. Our PTSA is funded primarily through our memberships and donations.
Membership Information:
Family Memberships (2 parents) are $50
Student and Faculty Memberships are $10
General donations are welcomed.
Ways to join the CJMS PTSA:
**Preferred Method** AtoZConnect (payment can be made with any credit card) @ https://cabinjohnptsa.membershiptoolkit.com/
Mail in an application (send in your membership form with a check;
mail to Cabin John MSPTSA, Attn: Treasurer, 10701 Gainsborough Road, Potomac, MD 20854)
Questions? Send an email to PTSA Membership.
Our first meeting will be at the start of Back to School Night on August 28th. Please join us to hear more about how we can all support our CJMS school community!
General Cabin John Middle School Information
Main Office telephone: 240-406-1600
Counseling Office telephone: 240-406-1560
Health Office telephone: 240-406-1570
FAX: 240-740-4403
website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/cabinjohnms/
The school day for students is from 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It is imperative that students not be dropped off prior to 7:55 a.m. Students being dropped off by parents/guardians at school must enter through the doors by the cafeteria. Parents/guardians, if you are using the student drop-off loop, please make sure to pull as far as possible to the stop sign at the end of the loop - students are not permitted to enter through the main office doors, so it doesn't help to drop them off at that location.
After school activities will start on September 10th and will be on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Students must be picked up from after-school activities by 4:35 p.m. as supervision is not scheduled outside of these hours.
If you have questions about events, schedules or other school-related matters, including reporting the absence of a student, please call us at 240-406-1600.
If you need to report an absence and would like to submit a letter via email, please send an email to our attendance secretary, Ms. Jordan Murek (email: Jordan_Murek@mcpsmd.org). CJMS Attendance policies can be found here.
Cabin John Middle School
Assistant Principal (6th Grade): Mr. Casey Siddons
Assistant Principal (7th Grade): Mr. Andy Lee
Assistant School Administrator (8th Grade): Ms. Jen Wingate
Main Office Phone: 240-406-1600
Fax: 240-740-4403
Guidance Counseling Office: 240-406-1560
Health Room: 240-406-1570
Attendance Office: 240-406-1599 (to leave a VM)
Please call CJMS to notify us of your child's absence.
CJMS Attendance Office Procedures can be found here.
Email: Somer_Snider@mcpsmd.org
Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/cabinjohnms/
Location: 10701 Gainsborough Road, Potomac, MD, USA
Phone: 240-406-1600
X: @CabinJohnMS