CMIT North Middle School Newsletter

In partnership with students, parents and the community, CMIT will attain educational excellence by providing a rigorous and technology-integrated education for middle and high school students with an emphasis on mathematics, science, and information technologies.

CMIT Academy follows the PGCPS school calendar.

Import the CMIT North Middle School calendar to your own Gmail calendar to stay informed of all school-wide events.

3/11: First Day of Ramadan

3/22: End of 3rd Quarter

3/25-4/1: Spring Break

4/2: Professional Day for Teachers (1/2 Day Asynchronous Learning for Students from Home)

4/10: Eid al-Fitr (Schools and Offices Closed)

4/18: 3rd Quarter Report Cards Released

5/13: 4th Quarter Progress Reports Released

5/14: Primary Election Day (Schools and Offices Closed)

5/27: Memorial Day (Schools and Offices Closed)

6/13: 3-Hr Early Dismissal for Students

6/14: End of 4th Quarter-Last Day for Students- 3-Hr Early Dismissal for Students

We are seeking your assistance and attention to the matter of morning drop offs.

As you may know, our school doors open at 8:15 a.m. for us to welcome the arrival of our wonderful scholars.

However, we have been seeing an influx of students being dropped off as early as 7:30 am and begin to walk around the school buildings with their friends, engage in playful behavior, and run around chasing their fellow schoolmates.

While safety and supervision is crucial during this time, it does become a hard task to monitor a crowd full of scholars and direct traffic.

We are reaching out to ask for your assistance to please drop off your scholars between 8:15 and 8:30 so that we can limit the amount of time a scholar is waiting for entry to the school.

Thank you for your understanding and partnership.

Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society and has been observed annually in the month of March in the United States since 1987. Women’s History Month 2024 will take place from Friday, March 1 - Sunday, March 31, 2024. #PGCPSWOMENSHISTORY

Examples of Lawful Absences include: death in the immediate family, illness, suspension, observance of religious holidays, court summons, etc.

Please be sure to provide a note to the school when your child is absent. Electronic notes are also accepted using this link https://shorturl.at/kmoL4

Families are encouraged to refer to Administrative Procedure 5113 for more information.

According to Administrative Procedure 5121, classes that meet 3-5 times per week require a minimum of 2 grades per week entered into SchoolMax and classes that meet 1-2 times per week require a minimum of 1 grade per week entered into SchoolMax. Additionally, please be mindful that AP5121 also states "Teachers must return graded papers and assignments within ten days of submission in order to provide on-going, timely feedback to students and parents."

Parents are encouraged to login regularly to monitor their scholar’s progress. Additionally, be sure to update your contact information in the Family Portal. This is the information that the school will use to send emails, texts, and robo-calls to keep you informed. If you encounter any issues accessing or updating your Family Portal please visit:

https://www.pgcps.org/offices/information-technology/technology-training-and-instructional-technology/schoolmax-support-for-parents-and-guardians.

In order to prepare your scholar for upcoming MCAP math, ELA, science (MISA) and social studies, please visit the MCAP website. There are practice tests (see link below) available for students to get familiar with the testing tools as well as question types. MCAP testing begins in March and will conclude in May. Specific testing dates will be shared in the upcoming weeks. Make-up testing is limited, therefore please plan ahead for your scholar to be at school on time on testing days.

MCAP ELA - All grades
MCAP Math - All grades
MCAP MISA - 8th grade only
MCAP Social Studies - 8th grade only

(https://support.mdassessments.com/practice-tests/)

Free Online Math Tutoring Available for grades 3-12 through students PGCPS Clever account. Students can receive virtual, 1-on- , on-demand, or drop-in tutoring through Carnegie Learning. Please see the flyer for more information.

Service learning is a teaching method that combines meaningful service to the community with curriculum-based learning. Students improve their academic skills by applying what they learn in school to the real world; they then reflect on their experience to reinforce the link between their service and their learning.

The minimum total number of hours students must engage in service-learning activities before they successfully complete the service-learning graduation requirement. Prince George’s County Public Schools students must engage in a minimum of 75 student service-learning (SSL) hours in order to successfully meet the service-learning graduation requirement. To ensure that students are able to meet this requirement, service-learning has been infused into the science and social studies curricula for grades 5-10 for a total of 51 hours. Social Studies courses provide a total of 28 curriculum-infused hours and Science courses provide a total of 23 curriculum-infused hours.

Additionally, students must complete 24 independent hours of service-learning.

Please reach out to Mr. Johnson for questions regarding student service learning hours and opportunities at yurhance.johnson@pgcps.org

https://www.pgcps.org/offices/student-services/student-service-learning

CMIT North Academy will be hosting a Culture Festival. We are looking for vendors to participate in the event. Students are also welcome to participate as a vendor if they have a small business! This will help you to get more exposure. You do NOT need a license in order to be a vendor.

Culture Fest will take place April 6 from 10AM-1PM at CMIT North Academy High School. If you are the owner of a small or large business and would like to either advertise or sell merchandise, please consider signing up for this event. It is open to the community!

Please follow the directions on the flyer in order to reserve your table. Should you have any questions please feel free to use the email from the flyer to contact Ms. Upshaw (jupshaw@cmitacademy.org).

From UMD:
It is also camp season once again!
The Advanced Physics Summer Program is now accepting applicants for 2024. This program, designed for high school students (rising 9th-12th graders), will include awesome experiences you can use in the future! Participants will get to solder, code, learn about career options, and more. With interesting research, speakers, lab tours, STEM professional development, and networking activities, the Advanced Physics Summer Program is a blast. For more information about The Advanced Physics Summer Program and our other summer camps, click the links below

https://umdphysics.umd.edu/events/summer-programs/advanced-summer-girls-program.html

https://umdphysics.umd.edu/events/summer-programs.html

Please see the attached letter for volunteering and student service learning hours opportunities.

The CMIT North MS Student Government Association (SGA) would like to thank all the students who completed the Nationality Survey.

Our goal is to celebrate our diversity and backgrounds by decorating the halls with the flags of the nations that represent our heritage.

We would love the larger CMIT North Middle School community to support this project by purchasing a flag/s from the Amazon Wish List: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1WFXA2AD3OR8L?ref_=wl_share

Please ensure your order is shipped to:

CMIT North MS, ICO: SGA
6100 Frost Place
Laurel, MD 20707

Don't see your flag? Please complete the Nationality Survey: https://forms.gle/63U65ugjqnUbShqX6

https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/Order/SelectStudent?isAdvertisementOnly=False&jobNumber=14671624

National Junior Honor Society at CMIT is hosting a March Madness Book Drive throughout the month of March. Student sections will compete in a bracket-style competition to see who can bring in the most books for the Maryland Book Bank. Bring your gently-used books, that you no longer need, to room 119 for drop off. Make sure to label your donation with a sticky note so Mrs. Moree can give your section credit! The section that wins the competition will earn a pizza party.

National Junior Honor Society is an esteemed organization across the U.S. The pillars of NJHS include Scholarship, Service, Leadership, Character, Citizenship. As 6th grade students have entered their second semester, they will soon be considered to be inducted to the program. All students must have a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A and have met and recorded their grade-level service hour requirements with Mr. Johnson (3 hours for 6th, 8 hours for 7th, and 16 hours for 8th graders). All 6th grade students meeting these requirements will be invited to join NJHS, so please make sure your student has their service-hours up-to-date if they would like to be considered! https://www.njhs.us/parents/

Join the fun and support our Athletic Department. We're thrilled to invite you to the highlight event of the year, The Annual Students vs. Teachers Basketball Game!

Date: Friday March 15, 2024
Time: 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Location: CMIT North High School

Admission: Adults: $5.00 and all students $3.00 Payment will be accepted at the door, so be sure to bring your friends and family along for an unforgettable night of school spirit and friendly competition.

This year, we're bringing back the highly anticipated Students vs. Teachers basketball Game. Cheer on your favorite team as they battle it out on the court for bragging rights and school spirit.

Concessions will be available for purchase

We are accepting chips, drinks, candy, cookies for donation. You can leave it at the front office, and we sincerely appreciate your generosity and support.


Make a difference and enjoy a night of students, teachers and family excitement!

Spread the word and mark your calendars! We can't wait to see you there!

Updates from your PTO Executive Board

Greetings Tiger Families and Staff!

In case you missed it, our first CMIT North Middle PTO General Membership Meeting was held on Thursday, February 22 at 6:30pm. We are looking forward to our next meeting on Thursday, March 14th at 6:30pm.

During the meeting, the CMIT Community had the opportunity to meet the newly elected PTO Executive Board, receive reports from the Board members, learn about proposed plans for the remainder of the school year, and learn about the revised Bylaws.

Prior to the meeting we asked that the school community review the revised Bylaws, understand the reasons behind each article and section and how they might impact the PTO; the Bylaws were reviewed during the meeting as well. During our next meeting on March 14th, we will vote on the adoption of the updated Bylaws. To participate in the vote you must be a member in good standing who paid dues at least ten days prior to the General Membership Meeting.

We also reviewed the minutes from the last General Membership Meeting held on December 19, 2023. The Board took a motion and adopted the meeting minutes during the February 22, 2024 meeting.

Lastly, and most importantly, during this meeting the PTO Executive Board got to hear directly from you. 😀

If you still have any specific questions about the revised Bylaws, or any questions for the PTO Board, please do not hesitate to contact us in advance at info_nmspto@cmitacademy.org.

Please use the link below to sign up for a committee(s):

https://forms.gle/9vTzA55hq2Wj5NzY7

Don't forget to check out the PTO’s revised webpage on the CMIT North Middle Academy website. We will continue to update the PTO webpage in the near future with important information and resources.

We look forward to engaging with you.

Your Partners,

CMIT North Middle PTO Executive Board

We hope this message finds you well and thriving in the joys of the academic year. The PTO and PGCPS- Department of Family and School Partnerships we believe that fostering a strong partnership between home and school is essential for the holistic development of our scholars. To strengthen this bond, we are excited to invite you to the upcoming Family Institute provided through PGCPS- Department of Family and School Partnerships.

Please use the following link to sign up for the upcoming workshop http://tinyurl.com/yc45e8yy

Stay up to date with the monthly breakfast and lunch menu with Meal Viewer.

All parents are encouraged to apply for Free or Reduced Meal Services (FARMS). This information impacts school funding which equals $$dollars$$ in our classrooms.

Even if parents don't think they qualify, they are encouraged to apply at MySchoolApps.com. Online applications are processed within 24-48 hours.

Students who are not eligible for free or reduced-priced meals must pay for their meals. See Meal Prices. Parents and guardians can easily monitor and add funds to student meal accounts using MySchoolBucks.