Dear CFCI Families,

Thank you so much to all of of our families who joined CFCI at our fundraiser with food and fun at the TAPROOM on Friday night! We raised over $1000 towards our 8th grade trip to Washington DC! Thank you one and all!

This coming Wednesday, March 6th is our ALICE training for families. 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. Please see more information below.

Families, we also have some students/families who are in need of transportation- being such a small school without busses, we all really do rely on one another to help support getting to school.
Here is what is currently needed: Occasional Transportation help needed Family with an 8th grader needs help with occasional transportation to and from school. They live off of Masonboro Loop road, close to the shopping center with Bar Masonboro, The Veggie Wagon, and the fire station. If you can help, please contact Olivia Horne, our school counselor and she can give you more information. THANK YOU everyone, for your concern and generosity.

This Friday, March 8th and the following Monday, March 11th are Teacher Workdays, no school for students. 2nd Trimester reports will be issued on Wednesday, March 13th.

Upcoming Partnership events include:The Partnership is excited to celebrate our amazing teachers and staff during CFCI Teacher Appreciation Week, the week of March 12-15! Please see the attached flyer for more details. The QR code will take you to the sign-up for our school supply drive. We will be collecting items March 1-12. During that time, you can drop items off in the front office or during pickup in the lower lot carline on Tuesday, March 5.

The Spring Book fair is March 18-22. We will also be having our Spring Family Night that same week on Thursday, March 21. The book fair will be open that evening and we will have STEM activities for the kids. You can also expect delicious dinner options from the A&M Food Truck and sweets from CC’s Frozen Treats. We hope to see you all there!

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

• March 6th - ALICE Information Session for Parents/Guardians (childcare provided by our 8th grade!)
• April 12th - Middle Grades Dance - Footloose!
• 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

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

This unique game is essentially an inverted version of volleyball. The net is lower to the ground and the ball can bounce off the court before going over the net. Students learned and demonstrated volleyball skills such as platform passes, setting, and spiking while demonstrating teamwork and communication with their peers.

Kindergarteners went to the Cape Fear Museum and learned about plants and animals that live in the Cape Fear region today. We got to observe beaver pelts and skulls!

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

Thanks to Sarah McCorcle for helping the 1st graders in my class embark on their meteorite hunt after enjoying their unit on space and becoming extra curious after a scientist had a metal detector.

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 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