CMIT South Elementary School
Dear CMIT South Elementary Families,
As we continue our journey through this academic year, I am filled with pride and optimism seeing the remarkable growth and dedication shown by our students, staff, and community. As Oprah Winfrey once said, "Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire." Our community embodies this spirit of perseverance and growth every day.
Important Updates and Celebrations
Schedule Updates
This is B-Week/Week 2; please follow your child's B-Week/Week 2 schedule for creative arts (CARTS) classes
School will be closed on Monday, February 18, 2025, for Presidents' Day
100th Day Celebration
Last Friday, February 14, 2025, we marked our 100th day of school with a celebration of LOVE! It was heartwarming to see our staff and students embrace the day's spirit by dressing up as centenarians. We look forward to making the remaining 80 days just as memorable and enriching.
Special Education Services Update
We want to address the current vacancies in our special education department. While we navigate the national shortage of special educators, we are working closely with the Department of Human Resources to fill these positions. We remain fully committed to implementing services and accommodations specified in your child's Individualized Education Program (IEP). Our available staff are providing these essential services, and we are taking all necessary steps to ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruption.
Important Action Items
Please complete the Emergency Contact and Pick List for each of your scholars
Join us for Maryland Alliance of Public Charter School's 2025 Advocacy Day:
Date: February 19, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Location: St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Church Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401
Purpose: Meet with elected officials and rally for charter school support
Administrative Updates
Mr. Holloway has transitioned to his new role as Program Coordinator (STEM) and Dean of Students. The updated behavior infraction protocol is as follows:
Level 1 behavior infractions will be handled by the classroom teacher
Program Coordinator/Dean of Students (Mr. Holloway)
Assistant Principal (Dr. Watkis)
Acting Principal Lewis
As always, remember that the STEM Journey Begins Here at CMIT South Elementary! Let's continue to fill this school year with exciting learning opportunities, personal growth, and impressive achievements for all our scholars. Your partnership in education makes a profound difference in our students' success and we thank you for making CMIT South Elementary a vibrant and supportive learning community. Together, we're creating meaningful experiences for our scholars! Remember, we can't continue this STEM journey without you!
Let's make this year a roaring success! 🦁📚
Wishing you all a 🐾 PawwRific 🐾 day and see you all Tuesday, February 18, 2025!
With Tiger Pride,
Ms. Tauheedah N. Simmons-Lewis
Please take a look at these February 2025 calendar reminders:
February 1- Coat Drive Distribution 10am - 2pm.
February 11- Second Quarter Report Cards Released Online
February 14- Inclement Weather Make-Up Day- Schools Open (Converted from Professional Development Day)
February 17- Presidents' Day (Schools and Offices Closed)
February 19- In Person PTO Meeting
February 28- First Day of Ramadan (starts sunset of 2/27)
February 28- Teacher Planning Half-Day – 3-Hr. Early Dismissal for Students
Birthdays are so much fun to celebrate with classmates. However, during the school day, the health and safety of each student are important, especially students with food allergies. Students are ONLY permitted to bring in NON-FOOD items to distribute to classmates at the end of the school day. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping all of our students safe at CMIT South ES.
Additionally, please note that teachers and staff are unable to participate in distributing communications/invitations or email addresses related to birthday celebrations. All planning for birthdays needs to happen outside of school so that it does not take away from the purpose of instruction.
Attendance in school each day is important. Let’s stay in school.
In order for an absence to be considered excused, a written note must accompany the student no later than three (3) days after return to school. The note should include:
- date(s) of absence
- scholar’s name
- Reason for absence
Late or make-up work will not be accepted unless the absence is an excused absence. Please review Administrative Procedure 5113 AP 5113 - Student Attendance, Absence and Truancy for further information.
Students who are absent for ten consecutive days will be withdrawn on the 11th day and will need to re-enroll.
Lawful Absences
Students enrolled in public schools are considered lawfully absent from school for any portion of the day, only under the following conditions:
- Death of a family member
- Illness of the student
- Court appearance
- Work approved or sponsored by a school
- Observance of a religious holiday
- State of emergency
- Suspension from school
- Mental Health (Students may receive as an excused absence one (1) day of absence
- in each semester of each school year for a student’s mental health needs.
- Other emergencies
- Deployment-related absences
Unlawful Absences
Unlawful absence – any time a student does not attend school that does not qualify as the above-listed reasons for a lawful absence.
Tardy
Scholars will be officially tardy if they are not in the building at 8:05 a.m.
If your scholar enters the building after the 8:05 a.m. bell, a parent must escort them into the building and electronically sign them in the late arrival portal. Scholars will be given an orange tardy slip to be permitted to class.
Parents of students who have 10 or more tardies in a semester will be required to meet with the principal/designee to discuss the reasons for the tardies and to develop a plan for improvement.
School Meals
2024-25 School Year Meal Prices
Elementary (Pre-K through Grade 5)
Breakfast: $1.60/day
Lunch: $2.75/day
How to Pay
MySchoolBucks, owned and operated by Heartland Payment Systems, is an online payment service that provides parents the ability to securely pay for meals, monitor student cafeteria purchases, make tuition payments for Before and After School Extended Learning programs, and receive email notifications for low-account balances. With MySchoolBucks, payments can be made 24/7 using a Visa, MasterCard, Discover, credit or debit card, and mobile app.
Principal Lunch Account
ALL breakfast,lunch, and Principal lunch payments should be made via www.myschoolbucks.com.
All money comes/goes to 1 account (child's). All that is needed to set up account (if not done) is
students lunch pin or student id.
Free and Reduced-Price Meals
We encourage all families to consider applying for free and reduced-price meals! Visit www.myschoolapps.com/Home/PickDistrict to apply online today!
To apply, you will need:
- The name, school, and grade of your school-age children
- The name of all adults living in the home
- Income information for all adults living in the home
- Student ID Numbers for your school-age children
Applications will also be sent home with students the first week of school. Applications are available at all PGCPS schools and can be submitted at any time.
Grade Level Blurb:
The student’s had a great time on Valentine's day, exchanging gifts and friendship to each other. The kindergarten teachers would like to send their thanks to all parents for the girts and support that you all give to the classroom. All standardized testing has finished for the grade, results and ways to help your scholar will be coming home in the coming weeks.
As a reminder, please have your scholar utilize the online resource of Clever. Through Clever you can access other resources such as IXL, Lexia and i-Ready to help your scholar further their understanding of topics taught in class. Such as numbers 1-10, addition up to 10, shapes, sight words, and short vowel cvc, consonant vowel consonant, words.
Lastly, we are still in winter please look on classdojo and pgcps.org for weather related notices or announcements.
February 17: No School
February 21: Homework Packet and Black History Month Project Due
February 21: Dress Down: Rep your Decade- Wear fashion from the 2000’s
February 27: Black History Month Program K-2nd 8:30am
February 27: Dress Down: Black Out- Wear All Black
February 28: 3hr Early Dismissal (Teacher Planning)
Reading Updates:
UNIT 3- Week 1: How Anansi Got His Stories
Essential Question: What can we learn from stories?
Phonological Awareness: Initial and Final Sounds; Segment and Blend Phonemes
Blend and Segment: Onset and Rime
Phonics: Constant sounds initial J and final consonant X
High-frequency words: was, said, where
Unit Vocabulary: choose, explain, meaning, character
Learning Goals:
Learn about folktales and explore themes of a story
Visualize details from a story
Find details in a text
Capitalization for the beginning of a sentence
Verbs and pronouns
Story elements: characters, setting, plot
Math Updates:
Topic 6: Understanding Addition
Essential Understanding: What types of situations involve addition?
Show numbers in many way
Express smaller parts of a bigger number with actions
Represent addition as putting to or more numbers together up to 10
Practice using an addition equation
Show addition using number lines, ten frames and pictures
Vocabulary: plus, addition, equal sign, altogether, in all, patterns
Science Updates:
TOPIC 3 LESSON 2: Sunlight and Earth’s Surface
Essential Question: How do objects change in the sun?
Learn how the relationship between the Earth and the sun
Describe how the sun keeps things/people warm
Designing structure to keep animals cool and protected
Observe the sun
Vocabulary: Earth
Social Studies Updates:
Chapter 3 lesson 2: Jobs at School
Essential Question- How have jobs changed over time?
Understand why people work
Look into the different jobs that can be found at school
Analyze a student’s job at school
Vocabulary: teacher, principal, and nurse
Health Updates:
February Topic: Going to the Doctor and Dentist
Describe the difference between a doctor and a dentist
Encourage confidence in the doctor’s or dentist’s office by discovering what happens when getting a checkup.
Demonstrate respect for bodies and our teeth
Explain why it is important to make healthy decisions
Vocabulary: doctor, dentist, teeth, help, and care
Grade Level Blurb:
Third quarter is almost halfway over! Be sure to check in with ParentVue to review your scholar's grades. Also, review all graded work arriving home! This is a great way to see what your scholar may need additional help with.
1st grade students will complete a Black History Month project. Information about this project came home on Friday. Students will learn about one important African American in history and create a poster to show their name, date of birth, and important contribution. Your scholar should come to school on February 27th dressed as their person. Their poster will count as an assessment grade in social studies and their presentation grade will count as an assessment grade for oral and written. A rubric will come home this week for reference.
**We will be working, this week, to update Mrs. Brown-Taylor's class. Thank you for your patience!
Mrs. Brown Taylor's Digital Agenda
Updates:
1. The new school goal for iReady Math is 10 lessons per week. We are actively working on this in class, but we could use your help! If you have access to a device at home, please consider having your scholar work on his/her lessons. Participation may be graded.
2. A new spelling packet will be sent home, this week, on Tuesday. The words will be the same as last week with new activities to complete. Students will take their spelling test on Friday, February 21st.
Reminders:
1. In math, we are working through topic 6. This is a short topic, so be sure to monitor for important due dates and test dates-- likely the end of this week or early the following week!
2. Resources are available on CANVAS! Check for extra practice and review!
3. The weather has changed DRASTICALLY. Please send your child to school with appropriate clothing in order to participate in outdoor recess.
Reading Updates:
Continuation...
This week, in reading, students will evaluate the elements of Folktales. They will read the story "The Clever Monkey."
Phonics- Our words this week will focus on long /o/ spelled VCe.
Math Updates:
We are working through topic 6 on data and graphing. Students seem to really like this topic! If you are able, please review tallies with them! Some students struggle with knowing the fifth tally crosses the bundle. Consider having them survey their friends or family members and create a tally chart!
Please also help us ensure students are completing 10 iReady math lessons, INDEPENDENTLY, per week! You can check their work by going to "My Progress," "Completed Work," and then counting the lessons completed during the current week.
Science Updates:
Continuation...
We are working through our chapter on the sky and Earth. Students will make observations of the sky, explain patterns, and discuss how the sky changes during certain weathers and seasons.
Social Studies Updates:
Continuation...
We have started working through our topic on United States symbols and traditions. Students are learning what it means to be American. Our first symbol we are focusing on is the United States Flag.
Health Updates:
Continuation...
Students are working through their new magazine on talking and Listening. Students are learning about how they hear and different ways that people communicate! We will be wrapping up this topic soon!
Grade Level Blurb:
Hello Tiger Family, To ensure the well-being of all students, we kindly ask that if your child is feeling unwell or showing symptoms of illness, please keep them at home until they are fully recovered. Due to the short week we are extending last week's topics into the upcoming week.
We have a few important dates
Monday February 17, 2025 there is no school for President's Day.
Friday February 28, 2025 is an 3 hours early dismissal.
Reading Updates:
We are starting Unit 3 which will be centered around Tradition. Week 1 scholars will focus on fables. In addition to being introduced to fables they will work on generating questions about the text before, during and after the reading.
Math Updates:
Scholars will continue you with Topic 5 learning strategies to subtract within 100.
Science Updates:
We will continue to discuss earths’ surfaces.
Social Studies Updates:
The next topic will cover the Government and its different branches.
Health Updates:
Students will finish up their current topic
Reading Updates:
We are finishing up Unit 2! This week, students are reading nonfiction text and have been introduced to food webs (our reading topic is still animals and plants)!
Math Updates:
Students have worked on interpreting bar graphs and pictographs!
Science Updates:
We are still learning about climate!
Social Studies Updates:
Students have been learning about opportunity cost, benefits, wants, and needs!
Health Updates:
Students have been focusing on having a positive mindset and attitude!
Grade Level Blurb:
Greetings Tiger Family,
I hope this message finds you warmly. This has been a very exciting start to the year with the number of days we have had out of school for weather. We ask that you continue to monitor your child if they are not feeling well. Also we have collected money and permission slips for our field trip to the SpyMuseum. Please partner with your scholar to support them in completing of Black History Projects. We are excited to have students present their findings to their classmates.
The character trait of the month of February is Peace. We have been discussing with our students about the power of changing your mindset even when things get a little challenging. Please have your scholar practice creating positive affirmations that they can say to themselves. Please continue to read to get updates and important information from Fourth Grade.
Thank you for your continuing support and partnership.
Warm regards,
4th Grade Team
Important Upcoming Dates:
Monday February 17, 2025- Schools Closed Presidents Day
Friday February 28, 2025- 3 Hour Early Dismissal
Fourth Grade Reminders:
Uniforms:
We are a uniform school. Students must be in the proper uniform each and every day. Students are expected to have mostly black shoes. They may wear a navy blue or school logo jacket or pullover during class. Students will be asked to remove any jacket or sweater that is not following the uniform policy.
i-Ready:
i-Ready is a computer based math and reading program that is available for all of our scholars. Scholars have completed their diagnostics and are working on programs based on their areas of need. If scholars have access to a computer at home, we recommend that your scholar is getting at least 45 minutes of practice a week in both reading and math. Please encourage your child to complete lessons and ensure they complete the lessons independently to accurately improve their skills. i-Ready is accessed through clever.pgcps.org, and scholars will use their PGCPS logins to access the program.
Absences:
This is a friendly reminder that late work is only accepted if a student has an excused absence! If a scholar is absent and does not bring a note they will earn a 0 on the assignment that was missed. Please read the reminders to ensure that you are partnering with your scholars to make them successful for school. If a scholar leaves early or arrives late to school and it is not excused they will earn a 0 for all work that is not completed.
If your scholar is absent, please share a note with the homeroom teacher and attendance managers within 3 days of your scholar returning back to school. In order for students to receive make-up work you must provide a note stating; the student’s name, the date of absence, and reason for absence. Work is provided to students upon their return to school with an absence note.
Communications:
Students must bring their agenda book each day. Teachers will note the agenda book and it should be signed nightly by the adult at home.
Please allow up to 48 business hours for all responses to emails and Classdojo messages. Teachers are not actively monitoring their emails during the day because we are engaged in instruction. Emails are not monitored over the weekend or in the evening hours when teachers have gone home. If the message sent relates to dismissal changes please call the school directly to leave a message with the front office.
Grading:
Please check Synergy weekly to see scholar’s updated grades. Canvas is a Learning Management System in which scholars utilize to complete assignments and get access to materials.The grades provided in Synergy are those that will be used to calculate progress reports and report cards.
Parent Teacher Conferences:
Conferences with teachers are available with families as needed. Please reach out to the homeroom teacher about scheduling a parent teacher conference.
Scholastic Book Club:
Dear Tiger Family,
This year, our class is reading with Scholastic Book Clubs! You’ll have access to expertly curated, affordable books that help boost your child’s reading skills, build your home library, and maybe even create moments of quality time you can share together.
Plus place an order of $25 or more and you can pick a FREE $5 book (use code READS at checkout).
Family Order Due Date: 03/10/2025
Shop Our Class Page: https://orders.scholastic.com/MF27J
Shop Flyers: https://clubs.scholastic.com/all-flyers
Invite relatives and friends to help your child discover the joy of reading when you share our class page link. Every order benefits our classroom, helping me earn FREE books and resources that every child can enjoy.
Thanks so much for your support!
Ms. Crusoe
Reading Updates:
All texts that are being read in the classroom are also available for students to reread at home in their Vol. 2 textbooks. Please have students continue to read and discuss with you information that they find in the text. Students should always read a portion of the text and share any thoughts or questions they had while reading. Students should also note the text underlining, circling, and highlighting parts of the story that were important to know. Homework continues to be sent home on a weekly basis on the first day of the week.
This Week: We begin our reading in Vol. 2 textbook and a new unit on “Diversity.” IN this unit we will read stories from diverse backgrounds to gain a better understanding of how diversity brings us together. This week's story is called “Out of My Mind” found on pages 21-27 in the textbook. This story has also been made into a movie on Disney+ and is a full novel available in the library by Sharon Draper.
Math Updates:
This week we will continue with Topic 3, Multiplying multi-digit numbers.
Please check Synergy ParentVue and Canvas with your scholar to ensure the completion of assignments.
Science Updates:
This week students begin to work with electric circuits.
Please check Synergy ParentVue and Canvas with your scholar to ensure completion of assignments
Social Studies Updates:
This week: Students worked on their black history project.
Next week: Students will read Chapter 3, Lesson 2, "How Our Government Works," and explain the responsibilities of the three branches of the United States government: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
Health Updates:
In health we are learning about our Mouths and keeping our Teeth Healthy and clean.
The Leaders of Tomorrow News
We had a great mini celebration for Valentine’s Day, and now it’s time to shift our focus to preparing for MISA practice! Additionally, the Black History Month projects look fantastic—our students have done an amazing job showcasing their knowledge and creativity. As we move forward, please ensure your child comes to class prepared each day with all necessary materials and a readiness to learn.
Math Updates:
We are wrapping up our unit on dividing decimals by decimals. Students have been working on understanding place value, interpreting quotients in real-world contexts, and applying their skills to problem-solving situations. Encourage your child to review their notes and practice at home as we conclude this topic.
Science Updates:
We are finishing our unit on human impact on Earth. Students have explored how human activities affect the environment and discussed ways to reduce negative impacts through conservation and sustainability. Ask your child about one way they can help protect the planet!
Health Updates:
In health, we are learning about the lungs and the respiratory system. Students will understand how the lungs function, the importance of maintaining healthy lungs, and the effects of air quality on breathing.
Reminders:
•Please make sure students come to class prepared each day with their math notebooks, pencils, and completed assignments.
Ms. Madison’s 3rd grade class’ Antoine Shumate was bitten by the creativity bug this week! We recently learned about an abstract artist named Piet Mondrian and his famous painting Broadway Boogie Woogie. The subject of that painting was the streets of New York City. Antoine remembered it and decided to recreate it in black and white as an installation piece on the art room floor. He even got his classmates involved!
Makers Lab:
This week in Makers Lab, we watched an engaging episode of Wild Kratts titled "Mystery of the Flamingo," where students learned about the unique behaviors and adaptations of flamingos. After watching the video, we had a thoughtful discussion about the interesting facts and observations they made during the episode. Due to the shortened week caused by the weather, we focused mainly on this activity and had a great time exploring the world of flamingos together!
CHESAPEAKE MATH AND IT SOUTH ELEMENTARY
• Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 2:25 p.m.
• Grades: K-5
• Uniform: Yes
• Before After School Enrichment: Yes
http://clfmd.org/enrichment-2/
• School Colors: Hunter Green, Navy Blue
• School Mascot: "Roary" the Tiger
• School Website: http://www.cmitsouthes.org
For more information
KVS is our school's dismissal tool for car riders. All parents MUST fill out their KVS number when picking up their scholar. It is imperative that numbers are entered once you reach the car line. If your scholar is a car rider, please take time to help him or her practice memorizing his or her number as this will make the dismissal process much quicker!
In November 2020, PGCPS launched an online volunteer application and approval process. Click here for more information on becoming a volunteer and to access the application.
