CMHS Times

Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year! We hope that you and your families enjoyed a safe, healthy, and happy summer.

We kicked off the school year to an amazing start! The high school's 1:1 Electronic Device Program was implemented this year, and we also introduced The Chill Project at the high school. Clubs, activities, and sports are all underway. We encourage you to come out and support the Big Macs in sporting events or extracurriculars!

We look forward to a successful school year!

Anna Prezioso, has been selected as a member of the 2022 NAfME (National Association for Music Education) All-National Symphony Orchestra. The 2022 All-National Honor Ensembles program will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland outside Washington, DC, November 3–6, 2022.

Anna is a Senior bassoon player and currently serves as the Drum Major for the "Big Mac Band." Congratulations Anna!

Big Mac Bank opened this month in the high school. This school based credit union is sponsored by Washington Area FCU. This collaboration has been many years in the making but was delayed due to the pandemic shut down.

The opening dates are Tuesday, Aug. 30, Tuesday, Sept. 6, and Friday, Sept. 16. The initial plan is to be open every Tuesday and Friday during lunch periods.

We had several students complete a paid internship this summer at Washington Area FCU to train for this endeavor. These students will continue to work in the school branch along with Washington Area FCU employees.

We are excited about this opportunity for our students, faculty, and community!

On Tuesday, September 13th, the Drama Club is hosting a friends and family night in high school auditorium from 7-8pm. Ms. Nesser will provide snacks and water, and she has a variety of events planned!

At 7:45 pm, the Drama Club will be going LIVE on the Canon-Mac Facebook and Instagram pages to announce this year's musical!

Parade: Friday, September 16 at 6 PM beginning at St. Pat's

Game: Big Macs v. Bethel Park at 7 PM

Dance: Saturday, September 17 at 7 PM

Homecoming Court Nominees

Anna Beachy

Cassidy Dice

Anna Kusturiss

Melanie Lewis

Callie Rose

Laurel Williams

Bode Dagen

Calvin Daniels

Kevin Kestner

Samuel Mascara

Luke Ross

Kade Street

The Computer Science Club is hosting a programming competition for the month of September. This competition primarily focuses on topics and skills learned within the Python I & II courses, and the Python programming language in general. The first place prize is 6 months of Codecademy Pro (~$240 value), courtesy of Codecademy.

A special thank you to Xzavyer Adams reached out to Codecademy asking if they would sponsor the competition, and they said yes!

The competition starts on September 14th, 2022 and ends on September 21st, 2022. Want to learn more or participate? Join the Computer Science Club with the Schoology group code ZHR8-4DH9-DT5S9 !

Every high school student is encouraged to join the School Counseling Resources group in Schoology! Resources including academic development, career development, employment, community service opportunities, scholarships and more can be found there! Students can join the group by using the following access code: DB7QW-K4WWP

Kristen Speer, School Nurse

speerk@cmsd.k12.pa.us

CMHS ext. 5013

Please remember to get your student’s medical paperwork updated over the summer for the next school year. It must be completed by a physician for the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. Below are the links for the appropriate paperwork. If you have any questions please email the nurse.

Asthma or an Allergy

Seizures

Diabetes

If your student takes a daily medication at school or an as needed medication during school hours please remember that a new medication authorization for must be filled out for the new school year. There is a button below that links to the medication form.

Marijke Lucia, Secretary of Student Affairs

luciam@cmsd.k12.pa.us

724-745-1400 ext. 5009

Fax - 724-745-4490

Attendance:

If a student is not seated in their first period class by 7:45, they will be considered absent (shown as IUn in PowerSchool.) Prior to the end of 2nd period, an attendance rollover will take place and those students still marked as absent will be marked absent for all 9 class periods. That evening you will receive both a phone call and an email from our BlackBoard messaging system alerting you of your child’s absence. Please send them in with an excuse within three (3) days of their last absence. You can either provide us with a parent note, an email or you can fill out an absence excuse found here: Excused Absence Form. Parent notes can be placed in the absence excuse bin in the Student Affairs Office. Each student is allocated 15 absences (for any reason), per school year, before a doctor’s excuse is required. Any absence over 15, that is not accompanied by a medical excuse, will remain unexcused.

Tardies:

If your child is going to be entering the building late, they must first go through the Student Affairs Office to receive a late pass. Please provide your student with an excuse. Acceptable forms are a parent note, doctor's excuse, email or an online form submission found here: Tardiness Form. If they enter with an excuse, their absence will be changed to an excused tardy (TEx.) If they do not have an excuse, they will be entered as tardy unexcused (TUn.) If your child is marked as tardy unexcused, that evening you will receive both a phone call and email from our BlackBoard messaging system alerting you of their tardy. Each student is allocated 4 tardies, per semester (parent note or online submission) before a doctor's excuse is required. Disciplinary action will be taken for excessive tardies. There are no half days at the High School. Students must be present a minimum of 3½ consecutive hours in order to participate in an after school activity or a game or practice for a sport that is in season.

Early Dismissals:

If your student will need to leave the building prior to the end of the school day (2:40pm), you must provide them with an early dismissal note. This can be a parent note, email or online submission found here: Early Dismissal Form. A student is allocated 13 early dismissals per school year. All early dismissals require BOTH written and verbal confirmation. Please call Mrs. Lucia in the Office of Student Affairs (724-745-1400, ext. 5009) to confirm your child’s early dismissal. All early dismissal requests must be made by 9am. If you are requesting an early dismissal after 9am, please allow 20-30 minutes for your request to be processed. Once both forms are received, a pass will be sent to your child and they may leave at the time of their dismissal. If you are picking your student up, they will meet you outside, if they are a driver, they are free to leave and drive themselves. If you choose, you can come into the main office to sign your student out. No student’s will be permitted to leave until both forms of confirmation are received. All early dismissals will be entered as ER in PowerSchool. If your child has medical documentation for their early release, please provide us with this information and we will change their ER to a medical early release (MER.) Medical early releases are not counted in attendance reports. There are no half days at the High School. Students must be present a minimum of 3½ consecutive hours in order to participate in an after school activity or a game or practice for a sport that is in season.

The Student Affairs Office is closed daily from 12:30-1:00. Students may leave during the closure IF their early dismissal request was submitted and confirmed prior to the closure. If you did not submit a request and you need your child to be released during the office closure, please come to the main office to sign them out.

Votech (WACTC):

Please note that if your child attends WACTC and is absent from school, you must provide 2 excuses (parent note or medical excuse). One will need to be given to Mrs. Lucia in the Student Affairs Office and one will need to be given to WACTC. No copies will be made of a student's excuse and forwarded to another location.

Pre-Planned Trips:

The pre-planned trip form is available on the High School website under “School Links” or by clicking here: Pre-Planned Trip Form. This form must be submitted no later than two weeks prior to the start of your trip. Please note that students will only be given one day, for each day they are absent, to make up their work, and they are highly encouraged to make arrangements for their work prior to their trip.

Standing Medical Notes:

If your student has a standing medical note, please note that we will need an updated copy for this school year. Medical notes are only good for one school year and must be updated annually.

Mrs. Lucia can be reached by email at luciam@cmsd.k12.pa.us and by phone at 724-745-1400, ext. 5009.

Mr. Ken Crowley, Principal

Ms. Jenna Handra, Assistant Principal

Mr. Tom Orr, Assistant Principal

Ms. Brittany Taylor, Assistant Principal