Dear CFCI Families,

This week we are preparing for our Charter Renewal Visit from the Office of Charter Schools. On Thursday, February 29th we will be hosting a virtual visit with 4 focus groups including: CFCI Board, CFCI Parents, CFCI Faculty, and CFCI Leadership. This is the first part of seeking a 10 year charter renewal agreement in the state. As we mentioned last week and at the Board meeting on Tuesday, we have a lot of positive news to share including our ranking as the #1 charter in New Hanover County for middle and elementary schools. We also rank in the top 15% of public middle schools in the state and top 20% of elementary schools in the state. All of this while staying true to our mission of teaching with and through inquiry. We are looking forward to the visit and then sharing the results with all of you. Thank you in advance for your support and thank you to all the individuals who will be sharing time with the visiting team!

We are also getting ready for some mid-winter fun with the following:

• March 1st The Scapegoat Taproom Fundraiser to benefit Grade 8 DC Field Trip
• March 6th - ALICE Information Session for Parents/Guardians (childcare provided by our 8th grade!)
• April 12th - Middle Grades Dance
• April 13th 6-9pm CFCI Adult Prom

We hope you have a great week!

Kim and Susan, Co-Directors

Lisa C, Ben P, & Kelly - Coordinators

Lina & Ben R - Front Office

NC Project LEAD is bringing the world-class ballet company Collage Dance Collective to UNCW's Kenan Auditorium. The dance company will did a 60-minute lecture performance on Friday, February 23rd. RISE is an annual performance to honor the legacy and

contributions of African-American giants and pioneers, past and present. The RISE program features a neoclassical ballet choreographed by our artistic director, Kevin Thomas, and set to the text of Dr. King’s mountaintop speech, which he gave in

Memphis the day before his assassination, and music produced by local Memphis musicians. Mr. Thomas was inspired by his many visits to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, the site of Dr. King’s assassination.

As part of CFCI’s continuing partnership with families to nurture and support students’ health, wellness and potential, we are offering a workshop series this winter/spring through our Family Education Series..up next..."Managing Child Stress and Anxiety."

Our guest speaker Buffy Andrews, will lead us in learning more about building good communication, providing support and information, building knowledge and being open to working in partnership. Gain practical and useful tools to enhance connection with your children, as well as professional resources for knowing where to turn when you feel out of your element.

Coming up:

Wednesday, March 27th, 6-7pm - Managing Child Stress and Anxiety

Wednesday, April 17th, 6-7pm - Childhood ADHD

On Friday night, the 5th grade matched wits against some pretty smart adult cookies, including Dr. Susan Graziano and "Mr. Ben" Rose and parents. They played hard, they played to win...it was a new fundraiser which was the brainchild of Ms. K and picked up on by partner teacher Ms. Angelica and our 5th grade parents. What an absolutely fun night! Thanks to all who participated.

Over the past year, our staff has worked on evaluating and improving our Safety Plan. Part of this plan was to train all staff members on a widely recommended approach to safety concerns known as ALICE. We completed a full staff training in August of 2023 and have been meeting monthly with our Safety Team members to strategically plan full-school implementation. For more information about ALICE and some additional sponsored resources, please access this link.

Our next step is to inform our families about the ALICE approach. We will be holding an ALICE Information Night on Wednesday, March 6th from 6:00-7:00 p.m. All family and community members are welcome to attend, but it is important to note that this is an adult-only event. We will be offering childcare with the help of our 8th grade teachers and students. Our 8th grade students will be collecting donations for this service that will go toward the cost of their annual Washington, D.C. field trip. The recommended donation amount is $10 per child.

In order to appropriately plan for this event, we are asking that those interested in attending fill out the RSVP form linked below. We hope to see you there. However, for those who cannot attend, we will be sharing a link to a recording of the presentation.

Link to RSVP: https://forms.gle/8BgUXrHJoLAEfVPi6

Mark your calendars for some great performances!

First up: Our amazing 1st,2nd, and 3rd grade summer songs piano recital!

Wednesday, May 15th in the CFCI Multi-Purpose Room

1st Grade @ 5:00pm

2nd Grade @ 6:00pm

3rd Grade @ 7:00pm

Then, join us for our 4th and 5th grade ukulele concert! This year, because of it's popularity we found a space that would hold all of our wonderful performers and their families. We will NOT be holding this concert in the CFCI MPR. Leland Cultural Arts Center provides us with a bigger stage, as well as more room for our audience!

Thursday, May 16th @ 5:00pm at Leland Cultural Arts Center

The North Carolina Department of Justice (NC DOJ) is working hard to keep kids safe. Youth today face a variety of challenges – some that may be familiar to parents and many that simply did not exist in generations past, before fentanyl, cell phones, and social media. To help support parents, caregivers, and people who work with children and youth, NCDOJ launched a webinar series: Protecting the Next Generation of North Carolinians.

We invite you to join the upcoming session on Youth Substance Use, in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS):

• Wednesday, February 28 from 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
• Speakers include:
• Kelly Crosbie, MSW, LCSW, NC DHHS Director of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services (DMHDDSUS)
• Randy Abbott, Parent Advocate; Recovery Resource Advocate, Alcohol/Drug Council of NC
• Jarmichael R. Harris, MS, LCAS, Director of Scholastic Recovery, Addiction Professionals of NC
• REGISTER HERE

This webinar is designed to provide parents, caregivers, grandparents, and others with helpful information and practical tips to help keep NC kids healthy and safe.

According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, in the last month 65,000 (8.14%) North Carolinians aged 12 to 17 report using drugs, and 9.17% report using alcohol. What is more, since their introduction in 2011, rates of youth e-cigarette use in North Carolina have steadily increased, impacting 20.9% of high school students and 6.1% of middle school students in 2019.

To learn more about the Protecting the Next Generation of North Carolinians webinar series, which includes previous sessions on Safe Gun Storage and Online Crimes, scan the QR code or visit the webinar series website.

Please join us on Feb. 28th – and please share this invitation broadly with others who may be interested.

The Board of Directors and the Leadership Team would like to share the update on our Strategic Plan - Vision 2026. This is our three year plan that we created this past year to look at our school and determine the best goals to focus on to make improvements that are in the best interest of our students. Please see the Mid-Year Review presented to the Board during its January meeting. We hope you take a few moments to read through and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Susan Graziano or Kim McCormick.

We would like our families and learning community to be aware that we are in the beginning phase of a two year process for renewing our school charter which expires in June of 2025. The first phase includes a visit from the NC Office of Charter Schools which will take place on February 29th, 2024. This will be a virtual visit which will include a presentation by the school along with 4 meetings with representative groups from the school including: The Board of Directors, Parent/Guardians, Faculty/Staff, and Administration. We are looking forward to sharing the good work that is happening in our school every day and will keep you informed of the process as we continue along our path to renewal. Thank you for your interest and support! If you have questions, please reach out to our Board of Directors Chairperson, Dr. Dana Stachowiak, Kim McCormick, or Dr. Susan Graziano.

As the temperatures dip and then rise dramatically in our North Carolina Coastal Environs, please know that we do our best to make appropriate decisions for having our students participate in outdoor activities as much as possible. Here are the temperature guidelines we use to determine if it is suitable for our students to be outside for an extended period of time. Remember, we need your help when the weather is cooler - dress appropriately (hats, mittens/gloves, and a warm coat) when cold and bring a water bottle to keep hydrated when it is warm outside. Thank you for your support of our teachers and students in our quest to get them out into the fresh air!

THESE POLICIES WILL BE POSTED AND AVAILABLE ON THE SCHOOL’S WEBSITE.

CFCI believes that parent/guardian and family involvement must be pursued and supported by our community, in homes, schools/colleges/universities, neighborhoods, businesses, faith congregations, organizations, and government entities by working together in a mutually collaborative effort. As such, the Board is committed to developing policies to involve parent/guardians in school and in their child’s education effectively. N.C.G.S. § 115C-76.20(b)(3).

For the next month or so, our learning community is diving into learning about Self-Management

Self-Management is the tool we use to set and achieve personal and educational goals.

After completing these lessons, students should be able to:

• Describe and celebrate something they have accomplished
• Distinguish between long-term and short-term goals
• Describe why learning is important in achieving personal goals
• Evaluate the action steps taken to accomplish a goal
• Identify resources that help them achieve their goals, i.e., home, school, and community support