A Message from Curtis Principal, Sonya Pitcock
Cougar parents,
We have had a great start to this school year. Thank you so much for the positive words and support for your kids!
Some reminders for the start of the year:
- Please be sure your students have money in their lunch accounts to start the year. Lunch money does carry over from elementary, but you might want to check those balances and add to them.
- Please help your students have a system for where to keep their ID badge so it comes to school each day. For 7th graders, this is the first year to have to keep up with the badge so some reminders would help. Students are required to wear their ID each day to and from school, while at school and at any school event. New ID badges can be purchased in the library for $5.00 if it gets lost.
- As we get into the second week of school we will start talking to students about dress code. The most frequent mistakes are shorts and skirts that are too short. All shorts (boys and girls) must be mid thigh. Another frequent mistake (and yes, we know this is trendy right now) is midriff shirts. Students should be able to raise their hand without showing their midriff to be in AISD dress code. Thanks for your support in helping our students stay in dress code.
- Cell phones and electronic devices are to be used for instructional purposes only. We do not allow students to be on their phone during the school day. They can check messages before 8:20 and after 3:30, so if you need to communicate with them, you can call the office or wait until after school. The purpose of this expectation is to keep students focused on learning and school. Electronic devices are a constant distraction for students and can negatively affect their focus and learning.
- Lastly, we are very excited to share that Allen ISD is expanding our student support programs this year through a new district-wide Social Emotional Learning (SEL) initiative. As part of this initiative, we will use the Second Step Program to guide weekly, age-appropriate lessons. We will begin these lessons the week of August 26th in homeroom and will share updates and lesson summaries with you in this PTA newsletter. Skills that we will focus on include mindsets and goals, values and friendships, thoughts, emotions and decisions and serious peer conflicts.
We want to help you stay informed this year and share the great things that happen at Curtis! Ways to stay informed include checking our website for daily announcements, following us on twitter @curtiscougars, joining the Curtis Middle School PTA facebook page, and reading this newsletter every other week!
Sincerely,
Sonya Pitcock, Principal
Curtis Middle School
Curtis Cougar PTA Membership Update
Thank you, Cougar families! By the first day of school, our PTA has already grown to over half of last years final membership number. We are so thrilled to welcome all of our newest members, as well as our returning members from 2018-2019. Your support not only helps to provide for our students and teachers and strengthen our organization locally, it is adding to the collective impact PTA makes across the state and the nation when advocating for the education of our children.
Here at Curtis, our first membership contest is underway! Every two parent membership will be entered into a drawing for a $50 iPic gift card, and every student membership will be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card to Game Stop. Drawing will be conducted on September 27, 2019.
If you have not yet joined the Curtis PTA, please get connected! Remember, if you have already registered at the elementary school level, you are not automatically a member at the middle school level. Registration is easy via Membership Toolkit. Visit www.CurtisCougarPTA.org to get started
Volunteers Needed: Concessions
Support our PTA and Curtis Athletics by signing up to work at concessions during Curtis' home games. We have Stadium Concessions at Curtis' football games and also Gym Concessions in the gym for home volleyball and basketball games. Proceeds go to Curtis PTA. Thank you for your consideration! CLICK HERE to sign up. You will need to login to your Membership Toolkit account.
If you are volunteering as a Football Stadium Concession worker, you will need to receive a Food Handling Certificate. To receive this certificate you can either go to www.learn2serv.com to take the course online for $7.99 or you can attend one of the Food Handlers Course through Allen ISD that is held once a month. The first course is on Thursday, August 29 at 6pm at the Service Center. It will last around 45 minutes. There is no need to sign up for the class, but there is a maximum of 150 people in the class. The next course is planned for sometime in September. You do not need a Food Handling Certificate to volunteer for Basketball and Volleyball Gym Concessions.
In order to volunteer for Concessions, either at the Curtis Stadium or in the Curtis Gym, you will need a current AISD Volunteer Application on file. These are good for one year and expire annually on July 1. They can take up to 2 weeks to process. CLICK HERE to start.
Questions or if you want to bring your child to earn volunteer hours at concessions, please email Jennifer. It is required that at least one adult is present for each child who volunteers.
AISD Project SOAR - Apply by August 22
CMS Theatre Production
Here is a link to complete details on auditions:
Be The One T-Shirts On Sale Through September 6, 2019
Allen ISD's district-wide character initiative is called Be The One. Through this program, students at each campus are encouraged to spread kindness, be respectful to others, accepting of one another’s differences, and be helpful at home, in school, and community. In order to spread the word, Be The One t-shirts are available for purchase in both youth and adult sizes. The custom designed t-shirt can also serve as a great spirit shirt for all sporting events; as well as other school and community activities.
Please help us show our community and surrounding area that Allen students, parents, and staff want to make our world better by making the effort to Be The One that will make a difference!
To order https://allenisd.schoolpay.com/ and login to your account.
Annual AISD Volunteer Screening
This needs to be done annually and resets on July 1 of each year. Here is the link to get started:
Your PTA Donations and Dollars at Work
The Curtis Hospitality team would like to thank the parents for their donations and support to make the Back to School staff lunch a successful event. Our hardworking teachers and staff enjoyed a BBQ lunch before heading back to their classrooms to get ready for our students!
Throughout the year, our teachers and staff are provided with snacks every month for their staff meetings after school. In September, the PTA, with the help of parent donations, will be able to provide the Curtis Staff with a Mexican Fiesta. Please look for sign-up details coming soon! Opportunities to support our staff are available when you log in to your account at www.CurtisCougarPTA.org.
Curtis Middle School PTA
Email: ptacommunications.curtis@gmail.com
Website: https://www.allenisd.org/curtisms
Location: 1530 Rivercrest Boulevard, Allen, TX, USA
Phone: 972-727-0340
Twitter: @CurtisCougars