2023-2024 CJMS Back to School

Good Evening, Cabin John Middle School Families!

This is your Principal, Ms. Snider, and welcome back to our weekly Sunday announcements! We are all very excited to see everyone tomorrow, Monday, August 28th. Staff started last Monday and have been working to get everything in order so we are all ready to welcome our students to the building on the 28th. We had a great time getting to know our 6th graders last Thursday morning and our new to Cabin John 7th and 8th graders. The rest of our messages for this week can be found in our Back to School Newsletter below! A few sections have been updated since it was sent out in early August!

Happy August! Welcome back to what we know will be an amazing school year at Cabin John Middle School! It is my sincere hope that our entire Cabin John community is doing well, in good health and spirits while enjoying these last few weeks of summer.

This school year, I am thrilled to be starting my sixth year here at Cabin John Middle School, and my third year as the principal. Each year gets more and more exciting as we develop our programs and reflect on how to best serve our students and school community.

The Instructional Leadership Team (ILT), your PTSA, the counselors and countless other teachers and staff have been working all summer to prepare for the students to arrive. A huge thank you is in order for our Building Services staff members who have worked especially hard to give the building a thorough cleaning.

During our leadership team's planning week in July, we spent time reflecting on feedback from students, families, and staff in order to make adjustments to our programs and processes to best serve our students this school year. As a result of these reflections, we are planning professional development around student engagement in the classroom and our continued equity work.

We are continuing our focus on respect, relationships, and resilience. These values are essential to students' academic and well-being journey through middle school and align with our CJMS Mission and Vision.

CJMS Mission

Cabin John’s mission is to create compassionate and resilient learners who approach life with a growth mindset, a respect for diversity, and a desire to serve the global community.

CJMS Vision

Cabin John Middle School is committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming environment that promotes respect, positive relationships, and resiliency.

I truly believe our entire school community will benefit from our commitment to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment, and I look forward to working with the staff and community to make our mission and vision a reality for our students.

The remainder of this newsletter includes information to help you prepare for the 2023-2024 school year. Please read the information under each category heading carefully. We have made every effort to answer all the questions we are anticipating from you; however, if additional questions arise, please feel free to contact me via email at Somer_Snider@mcpsmd.org. You can also check out our CJMS website at any time!

Have a wonderful rest of your summer and we will see you soon!

Ms. Somer Snider

Principal, CJMS

We are making a significant change in how we manage Chromebooks this year that will help ensure all students have charged Chromebooks and don't lose their chargers or forget them at home.

At the end of the day, all students will be leaving their Chromebooks plugged into a cart to charge overnight. Students will no longer bring the Chromebook home every night but all online homework and assignments can be accessed from any Internet connected device.

7th and 8th grade students will be asked to bring their chargers to school on a specific day during the first week of school so that we can effect this change. More information about timing will be in next week's communication, but we wanted to be sure families knew about this change early.

If your child does not have access to an Internet connected device at home and needs a device, please complete the form linked below.

Cabin John has always made clear communication a priority. We will continue to prioritize communication and tell the story of Cabin John Middle School through multiple venues. Please expect the following from us:

• Weekly Sunday night Connect Ed phone call @ 6:00pm from administration with detailed information on activities and upcoming happenings at CJMS. This will transition to the Remind platform in September.

• Weekly Smore newsletter from administration with detailed information on activities and upcoming happenings at CJMS.

• This year, we will also be utilizing Remind, as our texting communication app. More information to come on this!

• All updates and links will be found on the Cabin John Middle School website.

• Weekly Assignment Summary (a document briefly listing all class assignments for the week) will be included in the weekly Connect Ed as well as posted on the CJMS website.

• Cabin John Twitter account will continue to be utilized to communicate messages and share news and events with our community. (@CabinJohnMS)

We are continuing our work to be more “green” and share as much information as possible with parents electronically. We will notify you with Connect Ed updates when we add or update with new information. But, if you cannot find what you need in this newsletter or on our webpage, please contact the main office and we will be happy to help you.

6th Grade Mini-Day

When: Thursday, August 24th from 8:15 a.m. to 12:00pm

Who: All CJMS 6th grade students & 7th/8th graders new to CJMS

What: 6th grade students are invited to participate in a "mini-day" to acquaint them with the CJMS school community before the official first day of school on Monday, August 28th. On Thursday, August 24th, your students may ride their bus from their scheduled bus stops to Cabin John for an all school orientation day. School will dismiss at 12:00 p.m. and students may ride home on their regular buses.

Students in our special education discrete programs are strongly encouraged to attend, but their bus transportation may not be available, so parents are encouraged to drive their students to school to meet their teachers.

FIRST Day of School

When: Monday, August 28th from 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Who: All CJMS

What: Staff will assist students in locating their classrooms. All students will receive their schedules on the first day of school. Grade level counselors will be available to answer student scheduling questions.

• All 6th grade students will report to the cafeteria.

• All 7th & 8th grade students will report to posted homeroom assignments located in the 7th & 8th Grade PODs.

• Students in our special education programs will report to their designated classroom teachers.

Back to School Night & 1st PTSA Meeting*

When: Wednesday, August 30st from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Who: All CJMS

What: Please join us at 6:00 p.m. for the following Back to School Night Activities:

• 6:00 p.m. - PTSA meet & greet in the activity lobby

• 6:00 p.m. - Room 1301 - Health Materials Review for 7th and 8th grade parents only

• 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. - Visit your students daily classes period by period. Parents and guardians will have a chance during their students lunch period to talk with Ms. Snider & the grade level administrators in the cafeteria.

Your children will bring home their daily class schedule, or a schedule can be obtained in the school’s Media Center.

Carpooling is encouraged, but overflow parking will be available at Bells Mill Elementary School, one block from our building, on Bells Mill Road.

Based on feedback from students, families, and staff, CJMS is incorporating a whole school PRIDE on Wednesday afternoons and including more time to see teachers during daily PRIDEs. Our advisory PRIDE lessons will take place on Friday in the advisory before student lunches while the whole school PRIDE, with a return to PRIDE-letics, will happen on Wednesday afternoons.

For the full bell schedule document, click here.

Updated for 2023-2024 School Year!

• MCPS Transportation - Bus Routes

• Letter from MCPS Bethesda Bus Supervisor

• Bus Routes for Cabin John Middle School - General Education

• Arrivals

• Departures

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 in mid-September 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. CJMS Attendance policies can be found here.

Check out the letter from our PTSA President, Ms. Yen Wang!

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 30th. Please join us to hear more about how we can all support our CJMS school community!

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students working toward a Maryland High School Diploma are required to complete 75 student service learning (SSL) hours in addition to other graduation requirements. Students may earn SSL hours beginning the summer after grade 5 and continue to accrue hours through high school. SSL hours are also awarded to middle school students who successfully pass grade 6 science, grade 7 English, and grade 8 social studies and complete all SSL activities included in these courses. Hours may be earned in school-sponsored clubs and organizations that have a service focus and through involvement with pre-approved, official nonprofit tax exempt organizations in unpaid activities that address needs in the greater community. MCPS is highly aware of the potential for growth that can occur for students involved in the preparation, action, and reflection phases of quality SSL experiences.

The SSL hours earned while enrolled in an MCPS middle school accompany the student to high school. The SSL record of Cabin John Middle School students will be maintained by Ms. Jennifer Poole, SSL coordinator. Progress toward this diploma requirement is reflected on quarterly report cards and in the MCPS Parent Portal. Students and parents should monitor this record and keep copies of all SSL documents. Documentation of any school year or summer service for which SSL hours are desired can be turned into Ms. Poole through email or may be turned into the Cabin John Main Office.

Further SSL information is available at the MCPS Student Service Learning website. All necessary SSL forms can be found on the homepage of the Student Service Learning website. The Superintendent’s SSL Award will be given to students who meet the high school graduation requirements by the 1st Friday in April of a middle school year. Support your child’s involvement in meeting this graduation requirement by helping them choose meaningful service-learning opportunities, follow program guidelines, and keep accurate records of participation. To find SSL opportunities in the community, both virtual and in-person, visit www.montgomeryserves.org and search for opportunities marked as MCPS SSL with the graduation cap icon.

Parents should use their ParentVue portal to update their student’s emergency information online. You may click here to view the ParentVue Guide (Student Information: How do I see student information?) for directions on how to do so. This is the best way to update your student’s information. However, if you cannot provide this information electronically, students are given student specific pre-printed copies of these forms as well as other important forms (see complete list of forms at the end of this letter) during the first weeks of school and are asked to take them home to be reviewed and completed by a parent or guardian. Please update all family contact information as this is our only means to contact family members in the event of an emergency. This information is not shared outside of the school system. It is essential that each form be updated and returned to the student’s 1st period teacher by Friday, September 8th.

Please note that students will only be released to the parent/guardian and emergency contact person(s) identified on the Student Emergency Information form.

CJMS staff and students practice fire evacuation and emergency drills regularly. The school’s safety and crisis preparedness plan is based on a national model and is supported by central office safety and security staff. The school’s On-Site Emergency Team (OSET) is comprised of administrators, counselors, health room staff, teachers, building service personnel and other staff members. The team meets regularly to ensure the safety of the school building and our ability to respond to potential safety concerns and/or emergencies.

Our school has 40+ security cameras in public areas of the building. There are no cameras in classrooms, restrooms or locker rooms. Security cameras provide critical information should security issues or emergencies occur.

In the event of a school emergency, the school or school system will contact parents/guardians through public service announcements and through the use of the Connect-Ed phone message system. (Please make sure that phone numbers and emails are kept up to date.) As we respond to any emergency, our first priority is the safety of all staff and students on our campus. Driveways and parking lot access must be available for emergency response teams and their vehicles, and may be blocked for any other access. If you need to come to the school, please remember to follow the directions of emergency and/or school staff. Parent reunification sites will be set up in the main office atrium and cafeteria. Any parent or adult picking up students must have a valid form of identification and the name of the authorized adult must be on the student’s emergency information form. Students will not be released to anyone other than those documented on this form.

Montgomery County Public Schools requires school volunteers and partnership agencies to complete certain compliance measures in order to volunteer within our school district.

• Online Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect Training via their myMCPS Classroom/Canvas account
• Background check (dependent upon the type of volunteer service, per the Volunteers regulation and FAQ)
• COVID-19 Vaccination Attestation - NEW!

MCPS has created a step-by-step User-Guide (with pictures) on how to access create and access their myMCPS Classroom/Canvas account to complete the Online Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect Training module AND upload the Certificate of COVID-19 Vaccination from the state Department of Health.

The online course grade sheet will show a total of 183.3% for completion of both compliance modules. You can show the gradesheet as evidence of successful completion to schools and your name will appear on the MCPS volunteer roster after October 1.

MCPS is asking for a pdf copy of your vaccination certificate in order to upload it to this module, you can download a copy from Maryland MyIR (directions for completing this process are located in this support guide). As an alternative, you may also upload a copy of one of the following:

• State Department of Health Certificate of COVID-19 Vaccination (DC, VA, WV)
• Vaccination verification provided by the volunteer's health insurance provider
• A letter from a primary care physician attesting to your vaccine status

Our digital newsletter can be translated into many different languages and the font can be adjusted so our entire community has access to what is happening in the CJMS community!

To adjust your view of the newsletter, click on the "accessibility" button. The button is a circle with figure in it. Once you click the accessibility button, the menu to choose the language or different font size will appear.

Principal: Ms. Somer Snider

Assistant Principal (6th Grade): Mr. Andrew (Andy) Lee

Assistant School Administrator (7th Grade): Ms. Jennifer Wingate

Assistant Principal (8th Grade): Mr. Casey Siddons

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
Twitter: @CabinJohnMS