Curtis Chronicles

I’m sure you are longing for normal to return just like we are. We miss seeing your kids during the day and getting to see them interact with us and their peers at school. Our support is here for you through all of this as we all continue to adjust to our new normal. We hope that your families are all safe and well and stay that way through this situation.

Congratulations to Amanda Su, CMS Teacher of the Year!

We are very proud to have Mrs. Su represent Curtis Middle School. Mrs. Su does a great job teaching our orchestra classes and being a leader on our campus. We are so blessed to have her working with our students!

At-Home Learning and Grades

As your students are getting onto Canvas and working on assignments, please tell them if there is anything they are struggling with to let their teachers know. We are being flexible with learning and due dates for everyone. Our teachers are working on fixing links, videos, etc. on their end so students can access the material. We know it’s not perfect, but we are doing our best as fast as we can to make it easy for you and for our students. Please reach out with any questions you have as well. Our teachers want to help and they are willing to in any way they can. Please don’t stress about grades. We are looking for students making progress and we will continue to support every student to do so.

Counseling Support

Our counseling team is providing support for dealing with this type of situation through our webpage. They have supports for parents and students as well as opportunities to sign up to visit with them when needed.

Counseling Support Link

Social Emotional Learning

Our Social Emotional Learning lessons will continue through a new module in Canvas for students. Our counselors will be putting lessons and videos there for students to access and provide thoughts and comments on. These lessons will be specific to dealing with the situation we are in and ways to handle the stress that can go with it. If you need any help, please reach out to our campus counselors for support!

WIFI

The district has added points of contact at each campus to increase wifi coverage. If you are struggling to connect, you should be able to use district wifi from the parking lots of all campuses. Please remain in your car, but look for a sign with a wifi signal on it for the door the point of contact is available. At Curtis, ours is in the front parking lot.

Please use this link if you need technology help: Technology Support

Facilities

All AISD facilities are closed for business in order to support social distancing and containing the virus. Please remind your students to help us with social distancing by not jumping fences or trying to get into those closed facilities and playgrounds. We appreciate your support with that and realize it’s a very tough time and kids are restless.

Meals

The district will continue to serve meals at Rountree and Boyd Elementary schools. One update that has come from the state is that parents can pick up meals without the students present if they have proof of enrollment. For secondary students, an ID badge will work for that. (Other forms could be letter of enrollment, report card or attendance record.)

District Information

Please refer to the district web page for updated information and support. Allen ISD is committed to continuing to serve our community with excellence, even during these unprecedented times.

To support AISD and the City of Allen, please be sure to complete the 2020 Census to ensure federal funding for schools in areas such as student nutrition, special education and title program funding.

Allen ISD Coronavirus Information Page

2020 Census

We are all in this together and will support each other through this. Please let me know if you need anything or have any questions.

Well wishes to each of you and your families,

Sonya Pitcock, Principal

Curtis Middle School

Curtis PTA's nominating committee is accepting nominations for the 2020-21 Curtis PTA board. If you are interested in serving our students, staff and community through a position on the PTA, please see link for more details including the nominating form. The deadline has been extended to Friday, April 10.

PTA is specifically in need of a treasurer to serve for 2020-21. There is training available and many good resources for help.

Thank you for your consideration. CLICK HERE for details.

Despite the school closures, Curtis PTA will still be drawing for Airpods on May 6. All those who are members of Curtis PTA by May 6 will be entered. Want more chances to win? Simply sign up more family members. Your spouse and students can all be members. CLICK HERE to join.

Thank you for being a member of PTA and an advocate for our students.

Questions? Email Jill, VP Membership, CurtisMS.Membership@gmail.com

This incentive is made possible by the Allen Council of PTAs.

Taken from Love & Logic Newsletter, click here for more.

With the kids home all day, now might be a good time to take a tip from the best teachers.

I have been working with teachers for over 65 years. I've learned from them, I've supervised them, I've observed them as a consultant, and I've noticed that they all have one thing in common.

What is that? It's routines.

The best run classrooms depend on routines. These teachers start the year establishing routines that include how we greet each other in the morning, where we put our stuff, how we move from one place to the other, how we take out our books and materials, how we put them away and clean up, how we line up, how we ask questions, etc. They lock these routines in with practice.

These teachers know that the more routines the class has, the fewer discipline problems they will have to deal with. Kids feel safer, calmer and are more focused, and as a result there is more time spent on learning and less time spent dealing with problems.

Do yourself a favor during these trying times. Establish and maintain routines for the home. Set time schedules regarding getting up, dressing, eating, learning time, snack time, TV and screen time, chores, fun, play, and exercise. And, of course, bedtime. Be sure to include age-appropriate breaks from online learning and plenty of family relaxing. These are tough times.

You'll be surprised. Your kids can handle this. They will thrive on it. Many parents discover that they tend to expect much less of kids than what they can really handle. But, expect that they may rebel for a short time. That will go away if you consistently hold them to the routines and schedules.

It's important to remember that this works best when we involve the kids in setting these schedules. Sit with them, plan it out, and negotiate this together.

This usually fails and households become war zones when the parents simply announce, "There are going to be some new rules around here." I know it's tempting, but don't fall into that trap.

It's very possible that you may all look back on these times as something that tightened the love and bonding in your family.

Curtis PTA is pleased to announce this year's Lifetime Membership recipients. This award recognizes individuals for outstanding service to children and youth. They will be honored at the Lifetime Membership banquet in April.

Anthony Arnold

Anthony has been at CMS for the past 7 years as an assistant principal and has been in education for over 25 years. Mr. Arnold not only serves Curtis students, but many students from other campuses in summer school as well. Mr. Arnold builds lasting relationships with students and they often come back to say hello and thanks. Mr. Arnold helps students grow as they face their mistakes and learn from those and he celebrates their successes with them. Mr. Arnold encourages students daily and challenges them to be their best and truly has the confidence in them that they can be successful. Mr. Arnold builds relationships with families as well and supports them through the learning curve of middle school! We are proud to have Mr. Arnold as part of the Curtis team.

Beth Bradley

Beth has served as the president of Curtis PTA this year. She leads with grace and has a calm, thoughtful demeanor. She is always organized, always knowledgeable about what is going on inside the PTA, and always ready to jump in and lend a helping hand. Her leadership has helped develop the Curtis PTA into a more cohesive board, and because of her support, we have achieved many milestones throughout this school year. Beth is also active in the community serving on both the Elementary and Council of PTAs. She is an advocate for all students and a great resource. We are grateful for all she has done for Curtis PTA.

Jennifer Mesquita

Jennifer Mesquita has been an essential part of the Curtis PTA during her first year on the board. As Ways & Means chair, she has gone above and beyond for the Curtis PTA this year. She started working on spirit wear last spring and spent many hours over the summer and during the start of the school year organizing and selling spirit wear. In addition, she has devoted countless hours to concessions and implemented the business sponsorship program. She reaches out to engage others to help volunteer and does all of this with a smile. She is creative and thoughtful and we are grateful for all she has done for Curtis PTA.

Stephanie Mooney

Stephanie, while new to Allen, has been in education for over 20 years. Ms. Mooney is our current 7th grade assistant principal. Her dedication to serving others is evident in all she does. Ms. Mooney takes pride in getting to know our students and families and searching for the best ways to support them through middle school. Ms. Mooney supports and works with our teaching staff to improve our instructional practices and to help our campus grow to best support all our students’ learning needs. Ms. Mooney is ready and willing to serve in any way she can to promote the campus and the district and we are so proud to have her at Curtis Middle School.

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.

Congratulations to our latest Citizenship Awards recipients. These awards are given out to our teachers, staff, and parent volunteers that give their time and effort to support our schools.

Tijuana Knox: Tijuana volunteered to work numerous concession shifts during the basketball season and did so with a smile. We are so thankful for the time she gave to the Curtis PTA.

Carol Teplick: Carol has been a wonderful volunteer at Curtis this year. She has staffed so many of our concession nights and is a tremendous help. She is so sweet to all the students and is so giving of her time.

Katie Brown: Mrs. Brown is a Texas history teacher who works diligently to serve our campus daily! She works closely with her team, her department and our leadership team to learn and be sure to support our students the best way we can. Mrs. Brown is always positive and solution oriented. She is a true asset to our campus.

Liz Sanchez: Mrs. Sanchez is our campus technician serving every device on our campus! Mrs. Sanchez works with PTA and our campus to make sure news is published for parents and information is sent out in a timely manner. Mrs. Sanchez supports all our needs on campus and can fix anything! We are blessed to have her at Curtis to support our students and families!

Do you shop on Amazon? 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.

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