Curtis Chronicles

Cougar parents,

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were excited to see our students back after the break, rested and ready to finish this quarter strong!

Thank you to PTA for our AIM for Success Program for our 8th graders before the break. We appreciate your PTA membership dollars that allow us to bring in programs to support the education of our students!

Our next privilege time will be on December 6 and we are excited for our students and their hard work to earn this “choice” time!

Semester exams will be on December 18, 19 and 20. Students will see all classes on the 18th and 19th and test in periods 2 and 8 on the 18th and test in periods 3 and 7 on the 19th then finish the week testing in periods 1, 5, 6 on the 20th. Students who are absent will be required to take their exams when we return from winter break. Per district policy, semester exams will not be given early.

December 20 is an early release day and students will be released at 12:35. Students will have the opportunity to place an order to purchase a sack lunch to go for that day if they wish. Buses will run at the earlier time on this early release day.

Thank you for your support,

Sonya Pitcock

Dec. 2: 7th grade basketball v. Rockwall Williams, girls home/boys away

Dec. 4: Cookie Exchange, donate cookies for our staff to enjoy

Dec. 5: 8th grade basketball v. Rockwall Williams, girls away/boys home

Dec. 9: 7th grade basketball v. Rockwall Cain, girls away/boys home

Dec. 10: Raising Cane's Spirit Night

Dec. 10: 9th grade course info night at Curtis, for 8th grade families

Dec. 12: 8th grade basketball v. Rockwall Cain, girls home/boys away

Lowery admin and counselors will be visiting with CMS 8th grade students on December 10 all day to discuss course registration for 9th grade.

The parent meeting with the same information and more will be held on December 10 in the CMS cafeteria from 6:00 – 7:30.

Topics of discussion will include:

• Course Selection
• Advanced Academics
• Endorsements
• Four-year planning

If parents cannot attend the CMS meeting night there will also be meetings at Ford on December 11 and Ereckson on December 12 at the same times.

Parents,

Here are the summaries of our Social Emotional Learning lessons. Please ask your students about these!

7th grade

FAMILY LESSON SUMMARY

This week, your child will learn about what makes a friendship strong and think of good ways to develop friendships. This will help your child deepen and strengthen positive relationships with his or her peers.

FAMILY LESSON QUESTION

Talk to your child about friendships. Discuss the fact that friendships sometimes grow stronger and sometimes grow weaker. Ask your child what he or she can do to make a friendship stronger.

And next week…

FAMILY LESSON SUMMARY

This week’s lesson uses a fun and engaging activity to practice skills for strengthening friendships. Practicing the skills he or she learned will help your child use them in real life.

FAMILY LESSON QUESTION

Tell your child about a time you had a problem with a friend. Explain how you fixed the problem. Ask your child if there’s a strategy he or she has used to strengthen a friendship in the past.

8th grade

FAMILY LESSON SUMMARY

As children grow up, they form close relationships with their peers. Sometimes friendships can become negative and hurtful. This week, your child will learn how to identify negative relationships and think about what to do when a relationship turns negative.

FAMILY LESSON QUESTION

Talk to your child about the different kinds of relationships kids have at school. Ask if any seem negative or unhealthy. Discuss what to do when a relationship turns negative.

And next week…

FAMILY LESSON SUMMARY

This week, your child will continue to practice identifying negative relationships.

FAMILY LESSON QUESTION

Talk to your child about the kinds of behavior that signal a friendship needs to end. Ask your child what would be a good way to end a friendship.

December 4 is National Cookie Day and it is also CMS' annual holiday cookie exchange for the staff. Families donate 3 dozen cookies, brownies or bars, place them on a disposable tray and staff are able to choose a variety of cookies to share with their families!

If you can sign up to bring a sweet treat, please CLICK HERE.

THANK YOU to everyone who donates items for our Staff. We appreciate your support!

Our basketball season has started and we are so excited to have students attend the games and cheer on their peers. We do expect that all students go home when school is over at 3:30 then return at 5:30 when the games start. We do not have supervision or open facilities for students to hang out from 3:30 – 5:30. If students report they are waiting to attend the game, we will ask them to leave and return. Thank you for your help with this matter to keep your students safe.

CMS PTA is pleased to announce our business sponsorship program. We offer businesses an opportunity to support CMS students and staff with donation levels.

Red Level, $100

• 1 PTA Community membership
• Logo/website listed on PTA website for one year

Black Level, $250

• 1 PTA Community membership
• Logo/website listed on PTA website for one year
• 1 shout out in both our campus newsletter (1,400+ student families) and 1 shout out on the PTA FB page

CLICK HERE for a flyer with more details or email Jennifer.

The Curtis Cougar family has made a tremendous impact upon our membership goals this year. Currently we are at an all-time high of 538 members! Thank you to all have joined for your amazing contributions! Our goal is to reach a membership number of 708. This represents half the total student enrollment of our school, and will bring an as yet unreached recognition to our school—The [Texas PTA] President’s Challenge award!

It’s NEVER too late to join the PTA. Remember, becoming a member does not obligate you to anything. If you just don’t have the time, your membership purchase still greatly impacts what we as a PTA can do. Membership dollars go toward stocking concessions, the Spring Dance, Valograms, Aim for Success, teacher appreciation and so much more!

Also, don’t forget about the student incentives! Sign up your student to receive an awesome coupon booklet for your students to enjoy throughout the year!

Please help us to reach this amazing milestone for Mrs. Pitcock and Curtis Middle School, and continue to provide great services to everyone along the way!

Curtis PTA has several opportunities to help! The concession stands could really use your help! Thank you to the many parents who have volunteered to take a shift.

• Basketball Concession Stand: Starting in November
• Copy Room
  
• December 4, cookie exchange

For complete details or to sign up, visit www.CurtisCougarPTA.org

You will need to sign in to your account, select My Account in order to see the Volunteer opportunities.

Doing any online shopping this holiday season? Use Amazon's Smile and support Curtis PTA!

AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchase to Curtis PTA when shopping Amazon.

1. Go here: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/

2. Select your charity: PTA Texas Congress 201 Curtis Middle School

3. Bookmark smile.amazon.com

4. Start using smile.amazon.com whenever you want to shop at Amazon!
   

   
   

Be sure to shop through AmazonSmile the next time you shop online. You’re still shopping with Amazon — you’re just doing good while buying what you need!

Please encourage grandparents, neighbors, and friends to support Curtis PTA by shopping through AmazonSmile too.

Allen ISD is once again partnering with the Allen Event Center to host a Toys for Tots collection drive. As you begin your holiday shopping, please consider bringing a new and unwrapped toy to your school between now and December 5. Toys may also be dropped off at the Allen Event Center on Tuesday, December 10 from 5-10 p.m. Thank you for helping a child in need receive a gift this holiday season.

WAY TO GO COUGARS!

You donated 2,281 cans for the food drive sponsored by Student Council and held before the Thanksgiving break.

• 7th grade winning homeroom: Boyce
• 8th grade winning homeroom: Dimoulakis

Thank you for making a difference in our community.

With feedback from campus counselors and nurses, AISD Council PTA has compiled a list of items that are needed at many of our AISD campuses.

Please consider donating and supporting students throughout AISD. These donations will be distributed to the campuses in the district that are in need.

Save a trip to the store and donate by ordering the district approved items via the Amazon wish lists below:

• Click here for Hygiene Products
• Click here for Snacks

Thank you for helping students in Allen!

Want to know what clubs and organizations are meeting? As well as other information that is shared with students? You can read about it by clicking here.

Curtis Middle School is gearing up for the annual City of Allen Rudolph Run. You can register on line.

Be sure to register under Curtis Middle School, so that our school gets credit for your entry.

See a PE teacher if you have any questions. Thanks for your support!

CLICK FOR DETAILS and to Sign Up

You can still order Curtis spirit wear! All sizes of the Curtis Sweatshirt are available for purchase. The t-shirt styles have limited quantities. Sizes and quantities available are updated online.

Orders will be delivered to your student's homeroom teacher approximately 4 weeks after purchase. Please be sure you enter your student's homeroom teacher for easy delivery.

To order, visit CurtisCougarPTA.org, login or set up an account to place your order.

Questions? Please email Jennifer

CMS Students are invited to participate in the International Aviation Art Contest. The art contest involves three levels of voting. The Art work is sent in to the State of Texas, if the art work places it is then sent to the National level for voting. If the art work places at the national level it is sent to the International level. The State of Texas had a winner at the International level last year. There were 359 entries from across the State of Texas which included individual drawings and paintings by young Americans between the ages of six and seventeen.

The aim of the contest is to motivate and encourage children to study aeronautics, engineering and science.

This year’s theme is “Flying Yesterday and Tomorrow”. CLICK HERE for a brochure and more info.

Volunteers who work with AISD student groups and organizations will need to complete a volunteer application. These groups include, but are not limited to, PTA organizations, booster clubs, cheerleading squads, dance squads (athletic and fine arts) and any other AISD student organizations where adults will be working with students other than their own children at AISD sponsored events.

This needs to be done annually and resets on July 1 of each year. Here is the link to get started:

https://www.allenisd.org/Page/214

PTA Facebook Page

PTA Website

Email: ptacommunications.curtis@gmail.com
Website: https://www.allenisd.org/curtisms
Location: 1530 Rivercrest Boulevard, Allen, TX, USA
Phone: 972-727-0340
Twitter: @CurtisCougars