CMIT South Elementary School
Dear CMIT South Elementary Tiger Families,
As we approach the end of another exciting week at CMIT South Elementary. Here are some important updates and upcoming events to be aware of:
🌟 Celebrating Our STAR Awardee:
I am thrilled to announce our newest STAR Awardee, Ms. Elaine Blair, for her exceptional dedication to volunteering in the cafeteria during Kindergarten and 1st-grade lunches. Ms. Blair's commitment and service have not gone unnoticed, and we are incredibly grateful for all that she does for our school community.
🎉 Congratulations to 3rd Grade:
Congratulations to our 3rd-grade students for their hard work and dedication during the recent MCAP testing. Due to a county-wide internet outage, the testing will be completed on Monday, May 6, 2024. We are proud of our students for their perseverance and positive attitude during this time.
🚌 Upcoming Events:
- 3rd Grade Field Trip: Don't forget that the 3rd-grade field trip is scheduled for May 9, 2024. It promises to be a fun and educational experience for our students.
- Foam Run: Save the date for the Foam Run on May 13, 2024. Get ready for a day of fitness and fun for those students who participated in the fundraiser. We were able to exceed our goal of $25,000 and will utilize the funds for end of the year activities for students.
- School Closure: Please note that CMIT South Elementary and PGCPS will be closed on May 14, 2024, due to the Prince George’s County and Maryland primary elections.
🎓 Career Day and Honor Roll Recognition:
- Career Day: We encourage all students to participate in Career Day on May 17, 2024. Please reach out to Ms. Chandler, our school counselor, for more information, and complete the Google Form to indicate your interest.
- 3rd Quarter Honor Roll Ceremony: Save the date for the celebration of our 3rd quarter honor rollees on May 23, 2024. We are excited to recognize our students' academic achievements.
🚫 Safety Reminder:
As a reminder, please remind your students that horseplay and running during dismissal are not allowed for safety reasons. Let's work together to ensure the safety and well-being of all our students.
Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school community. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to the school office.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead!
Sincerely,
Mr. Ronald A. Miller, Jr.
Principal
Chesapeake Math & IT Academy South Elementary
Prince George’s County Public Schools
Please take a look at these April/May calendar reminders:
- 5/6-10 Teacher Appreciation Week
- 5/8 School Nurse's Day
- 5/10 - Drama & Chorus clubs present "Annie"
- 5/13 4th Quarter Progress Reports Released Online
- 5/13-6/3 DIBELS Testing for K-3rd
- 5/14 Primary Election Day- Schools and Offices Closed
- 5/17 CMITSES Career Day
- 5/21-5/23 MAP Testing K-5th
- 5/27 Memorial Day- Schools and Offices Closed
- 5/31 Field Day
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.
Hazel Health Services Coming to CMIT South Elementary
What is Hazel Health?
Hazel Health has partnered with Prince George's County Public Schools to provide access to quality healthcare services for all students, at no cost to families, this school year. Students can be referred by the school counselor or their parent/guardian. A designated person at the school or a parent/guardian can initiate a video visit with a Hazel health care provider while your child is at school or at home to provide either physical or mental health services. Therapy sessions with Hazel Health are a safe space and are private and confidential.
How can your child receive services?
Waitlists for mental health services for children are sometimes long or sometimes as parents it's tough to find the time to take our children to appointments which makes it difficult for them to receive the immediate support they need. Hazel Health is geared to bridge that gap. Students are able to receive these services free, virtually and while in school. If you have any questions please feel free to visit their website https://www.hazel.co/ or reach out to me.
The “Lost and Found” collection bin is located in the cafeteria. Any found articles (coats, hats, gloves, backpacks, lunch boxes, etc.) are placed in the bin. Found small items (keys, glasses, jewelry) are stored in the Main Office. Students may check the “Lost and Found” for lost items before or after school, or during lunch. All items left unclaimed at the end of each academic quarter are donated to charities or are discarded. Parents are strongly encouraged to label all belongings with first and last names.
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. Birthday invitations will not be distributed.
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 8:10 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.
Health Forms
Please be sure to submit all required health forms! Please note that ALL medications, cough drops included, cannot be administered or consumed without appropriate documentation.
You can access all health forms here for the 2023-2024 school year.
School Meals
2023-24 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 Updates
Grade level blurb:\
Hello families,
By now, all families should be aware of what role your child has in our Kindergarten promotion. All students will either recite a line from a poem, play a role in a skit, recite the pledges, or create a video. Each child only has one role that they will perform that day. Please ensure that you practice the items that they must recite or begin submitting the videos. If you need any assistance or have any questions, please reach out to your scholar’s teacher.
Also, here are the items that we practice at school each day. Some students enjoy practicing at home as well. Here are the video links below.
LET IT GROW: PROMOTION DANCE- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SV796F6jJk
ADDAMS FAMILY GRADUATION SONG- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKG-z88QPY
FINAL HOMEWORK-
We have sent home the Kindergarten Memory Books. These are due on May 10th. Students will share their books with their classmates on this day.
WACKY WEDNESDAY-
We had to make 2 adjustments to the calendar, updating the dates 5/8 and 5/22.
HAT DAY is next Wednesday, so wear your favorite or silliest hat. Students MUST be in a school uniform.
TRAVELING SCIENCE PROGRAM-
We are currently accepting field trip payments for our in-school program hosted by the Maryland Science Center. The $3 payment (exact change please) is due by Friday, May 10th.
No chaperones will be needed for this event.
Grade Level Updates
Grade level blurb:
Dear Families,
As we zoom down into June, the focus will include infusing some amount of fun into teaching and learning across content. Therefore, the team will implement ABC Countdown (see insert below). Additional instructions will be shared by teachers…please stay tuned.
We would also like to share that reading is given more time these final days. Students are reading with partners in class. Please extend this practice, and have our scholars read aloud to someone at home. Then ask questions about what they read.
As always, Thank you for supporting learning away from home.
Reading Updates:
Unit 4-5
Reviewing of current and past skills
Alignment of reading activities with ABC countdown activities.
Math Updates:
Chapter 10-
Using models and strategies to add tens and ones.
Science Updates:
Living Things: Where animals live.
Parents and their offspring.
Social Studies Updates:
One Nation, Many People and discussion/asking and answering questions.
Health Updates:
Unit 9-students will read and discuss learning on How I Breathe.
Grade level blurb:
SCREAMING a long overdue and special THANK YOU to all the parent chaperones who volunteered their time and made our Botanical Gardens field trip possible! Thank you for your support.
Please check SchoolMax weekly for up-to-date grades.
Please continue to review your class' digital agenda for homework updates. Your scholar should also have these written in their agenda as well. Digital agendas are being used to support home-school connections. Attached is the digital agenda for each teacher. Please refer to these for important due dates and assignments:
Reading Updates:
We are wrapping up Unit 4 in reading and will test on Monday, May 13th. Unit 4 Week 6 is all about making a time capsule. Our Spelling pattern will focus on consonant patterns (kn, wr, gn, mb, lf).
A few consonants can be silent when they are paired with another consonant. The k in kn, the w in wr, the g in gn, the b in mb, and the l in lf are often silent.
Math Updates:
We have started Topic 11- subtraction within 1000. In this unit, students will focus on the following strategies for subtraction: open number line, place value, and using models. Please be sure your scholar is completing their homework nightly and ONLY the lesson completed for that day.
Science Updates:
Students are wrapping up plant and animal life cycles and will be moving on to our final topic of animal habitats.
Social Studies Updates:
We are wrapping up Topic 4 - People who supply our goods and services and moving on to Topic 5. In this Topic, we will focus on the essential question, “What can we do to make a difference?” Students will explore what makes a hero and who some famous heroes are!
Health Updates:
We are beginning a new topic related to Germs. Students will learn about what germs do and how to keep their bodies safe.
Grade Level Updates
Grade level blurb:
Great day Amazing parents! We are almost at the finish line. Due to internet connection issues in our county, we were unable to complete the last section of the MCAP assessment. We will finish the final section this upcoming Monday, May 6, 2024. Please plan to bring students on time. Scholars did such an amazing job staying focused on the task at hand. We look forward to finishing strong.
Field day is approaching soon: May 31, 2024. Please be sure to reach out to your homeroom teacher if you would like to chaperone.
Reading Updates:
This week students completed the Reading MCAP Assessment.
Math Updates:
This week students completed the Mathematics MCAP Assessment.
Science Updates:
No updates due to testing.
Social Studies Updates:
Mathews/ Madison: Students completed a jumpstart activity matching local and national leaders with the different branches of government. We also reviewed the responsibilities of the legislative and executive branches. Next week we will review the responsibilities of the judicial branch.
Health Updates:
No updates due to testing.
Grade Level Updates
Grade level blurb:
Greetings Tiger Family,
4th Grade has concluded their MCAP Testing for the year!! If a scholar has not finished their testing they will not be pulled until the week of May 6, 2024, to finish testing. Students will have to miss class instruction time to have make-up testing provided by Mr. Metin.
Before the fourth quarter ends, scholars will still have to take spring diagnostic tests of MAP and i-Ready. These assessments will happen during class after the conclusion of MCAP administration and make-ups for students. We look forward to seeing the growth that students have made throughout the year. Results from MCAP and i-Ready spring testing will be provided to you once all students have finished.
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 in school.
Fourth Grade Reminders:
Please check SchoolMax weekly to see the scholar’s updated grades. Canvas is a Learning Management System that scholars utilize to complete assignments and get access to materials. The grades provided in SchoolMax are those that will be used to calculate progress reports and report cards.
If your scholar is absent, please share a note with the homeroom teacher within 3 days of your scholar returning back to school. For students to receive make-up work you must provide a note stating; the student’s name, the date of absence, and the reason for absence. Work is provided to students upon their return to school with an absence note.
Each week we suggest checking your scholar's browser history and YouTube history. This is to make sure that your scholar isn’t going to a site or watching videos that you would not approve of. Teachers are limited to only seeing activity on your scholar’s screen when they are in class. We utilize a system called Hapara that allows us to prevent access to certain sites. We are asking that you check your scholar's computer history weekly.
Reading Updates:
This Week: Students celebrated Poetry Month by reading various poems. Students selected poems that were their favorites to analyze the poetic elements. Students also provided a review and explained the meaning the speaker was trying to convey. Finally, students had an opportunity to create poems using particular poetry styles to share with their peers. Students had another opportunity to read their poems to younger students to get them interested in poetry.
Next Week: Students will complete a project-based learning activity. Students will create an opinion blog in which they identify which extreme weather is the worst. Students will research to gather information about their chosen storm and will create a video graphic supporting their opinions.
Math Updates:
Our focus this week will be using what we learned about factors and multiples to identify and convert equivalent fractions.
Science Updates:
This week we are diving deeper into Topic 3:Types of Waves and Wave properties. Please check SchoolMax and Canvas with your scholar to ensure completion of assignments.
Social Studies Updates:
This week: Students began reading Chapter 4 Lesson 3 People and the Economy. Students are exploring how individuals and families make economic decisions.
Next week: Students will begin working on the Chapter 4 Quest Project. In this project, students will work to create a new business. Students will have to plan the logistics for running their business utilizing the information we discovered in this chapter.
Grade Level Updates
Grade level blurb:
Hi everyone! We are now in the new month of May, and we are focusing on our character trait, perseverance! We want to persevere in any way we can, especially in wrapping up Q4!
We are prepared for our trip to Camp Schmidt at the end of the year for our 5th grade students and we are so excited! The date will be June 3-4, so stay tuned for further info! Thank you SO MUCH to all of our volunteer chaperones who will be coming on the trip! We appreciate you! We sent chaperones more info recently. We are also FULL for Camp Schmidt chaperones!
Field Day is also coming up on May 31! This time, we are going off the school property to Liberty Sports Park to enjoy our activities! Thank you to the chaperones who have already signed up! If you’d still like to, please send Ms. McDonagh a message.
Our 5th-grade promotion ceremony is planned for Friday, June 7 at 9:00 am. We will have lots of information coming out about this soon, but we are so excited to honor and celebrate our hardworking scholars! Please keep this date available!
We have been having tests, quizzes, and homework, so we want to make sure students are keeping up with their work. Students should click on their homeroom teacher’s name to see their assignments. Here is the link to the 5th-grade website for those who need it: https://sites.google.com/pgcps.org/5thgradeclasssite/home
A reminder that we are happy to have volunteers come in to assist us with different things throughout the year, so if you are interested, please make sure your volunteer requirements are completed. We would love it if people wanted to come in and volunteer during lunch times for students, so let us know if you are interested.
Also, Career Day is May 17 and we’d love to have our 5th grade parents come in and talk to students about their careers! Please send Ms. McDonagh a message if you are interested!
Additionally, please see the following message from PTO about upcoming dates/deadlines:
Promotion Ceremony Baby Pictures
The 5th grade team is collecting baby photos of all graduates. Submit your photo no later than May 17, 2024.
Promotion Ceremony
Friday, June 7, 2024 | 9:00 AM
Gym
Two tickets will be available for each scholar.
The attire is black and white. Scholars may be a combination of each color or one color. Scholars should dress to impress.
Yard Signs
Order a custom Yard Sign by May 8, 2024. Yard signs will be delivered to the school and distributed to your scholar. Click here to order: https://cmitsouthespto.org/fundraisers
Thank you!!
Reading Updates:
We are working on unit 4 week 1 and our section is about historical fiction. We are also starting on our new spelling words for this section next week!
Math Updates:
Students are in unit 9 of Math which is about dividing fractions. Homework will be posted on the assignment calendar as we get started so keep an eye out!
Science Updates:
Students are working on unit 5 of Science, about the human impact on Earth’s systems. Homework will be posted on the assignment calendar as we get started so keep an eye out!
Social Studies Updates:
We are working on chapter 9 now about the Civil War. We are working on Chapter 9 lesson 3 more next week!
Lego:
This week in Legos, we continued with the robotic hand and reviewed new vocabulary words. We also worked on Scratch to get inspiration to create our video games.
Maker’s Lab:
Students have worked on line of symmetry artwork. We will continue to build on this next week, as many classes were testing and not able to complete our activities.
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: Tigers
• School Website: http://www.cmitsouthes.org
For more information