Dear CMIT South Elementary Students, Families, Staff, and School Community,

As we wrap up the first quarter of the school year, I am excited to share some of the incredible happenings in our school and the achievements that our school community has experienced in the past week.

Celebrating the Conclusion of the 1st Quarter

We have successfully completed the first quarter of the school year, and I couldn't be prouder of the dedication and hard work displayed by our students and staff. The progress and growth we've witnessed so far are truly remarkable, and it sets a fantastic tone for the rest of the year. Keep up the excellent work! From attendance to completion of assessments and students knowing where their goals are this 1st quarter is certainly setting the bar for where we will go throughout out the 23-24 school year.

Empass Anti-Bullying Assembly for K-3 Students

Empass, a renowned organization specializing in anti-bullying initiatives, recently conducted an empowering and educational assembly for our Kindergarten through 3rd-grade students. The assembly focused on promoting kindness, and empathy, and building a safe, inclusive environment for all students. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Empass for their engaging presentation, which will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on our young learners. Thank you to Ms. Chandler, our professional school counselor, for utilizing this activity for our younger students. Last week our 4th and 5th grader students also engaged with anti-bullying assemblies as we strive for students to understand that “Kind is cool”.

Men Make a Difference Day

Our "Men Make a Difference Day" was a great success! We welcomed fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other male role models to spend the morning at our school, supporting students during arrival, and sharing some of our highlights of fatherhood and the impact we have on our families. By engaging with our students and showcasing the importance of male involvement in education I know students and our volunteers were uplifted. It was a day filled with mentorship, support, and inspiration. We appreciate all the men who took part in this wonderful event and helped create positive memories for our students.

Safety Concerns and Support

We have had several issues with our bathroom facilities not being used the correct way. Students are not supervised in the restroom but we expect that when they go into the restroom it is for the intended purpose, they wash their hands and then return to class quickly, quietly, and without causing any disruptions. Students should use paper towels and tissue appropriately as well as get all bodily fluids in the correct toilet or urinal. We have been making too many calls for bathroom clean-ups after student misuse. Families, please review with your students bathroom expectations.

Kudos to our 4th and 5th-grade students during their lunch who are demonstrating leadership by meeting expectations. They were able to earn free seating, lunch bunches outside, and Tiger paws for their efforts. 1st grade is very close to that mark as well. My hope is that 2nd and 3rd-grade students with parent volunteer support during their lunches can meet the same expectations for behavior, cleanliness, and following directions to be silent during the last 10 minutes of lunch. If any volunteers would like to come in and support Kindergarten lunch please complete the necessary steps to be a registered volunteer as the youngest tigers struggle to open items packed in their lunches.

Charter School and Specialty Program Lottery

The window is open now until February 9th for specialty programs including charter schools. The lottery is the only way for students to gain enrollment into our school. Once enrolled students can matriculate from K-12 grade at CMIT South. We encourage everyone if they would like their child to be a part of the Tiger family to enter the lottery. We will have an open house on the following dates for interested families;

Thursday November 16, 2023

Thursday December 16, 2023

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Newest Podcast Episode Release

We are excited to announce the release of our latest podcast episode, "Eye of the Tiger" In this episode, our 4th grade Podcast team reviews some of the events from October and looks forward to the upcoming quarter. Students and staff discuss various topics related to education, student life, and more. It's a fantastic way to get an inside look at the thoughts and experiences of our school community.

Listen here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-0dd0GO37GUr2pulaUNivo-A9McWMaV5?usp=sharing

Fall Festival Success

Thank you to the best PTO in the world our Fall Festival last Saturday was another great success. Thank you to the families, vendors, and guests that came out. We had perfect weather and an action-packed day filled with candy, food, fun, and lots of great costumes. These are the moments that build community and we look forward to even more events throughout the year.

As we move into the second quarter of the school year, let's continue to support and encourage one another, fostering an environment of learning, respect, and unity. Your involvement, whether as a student, family member, staff, or member of our school community, is what makes CMIT South Elementary a special place.

On a personal note, I would like to extend my heartfelt thank you for your recognition of National Principals Month. My biggest joy is seeing growth in students and to see our staff, families and students see that and celebrate that for me was amazing. I was truly touched and appreciated each kind word, smile, hug, handshake, and token of appreciation. Wishing you all a wonderful and restful weekend. Remember there is no school for students next Friday, November 10, 2023, for staff Professional development.

Sincerely,

Ronald A. Miller, Jr

Principal

Chesapeake Math & IT Academy South Elementary

Tuesday, October 31st our Kindergarten-3rd grade scholars were able to participate in an anti-bullying prevention assembly. It was fun and interactive, the students learned how to deal with bullying through stage plays and games. It was a great way to end our Bullying Awareness Month.

Upcoming Lessons

Starting next week and throughout the months of November and December, I will be meeting with all students regarding personal safety. It is a county-mandated topic that all Professional School Counselors have to address. The purpose of the lesson is for students to develop the ability to judge between appropriate and inappropriate touch, learn assertive self-protection skills, and identify the people whom they can ask for help. I recognize that personal safety can be a sensitive topic. I want to ensure that parents are aware of the conversation that will take place. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out.

• Thank you to all of our Kindergarten families who supported our school in making the Candy Wars, Book Character Day, Pumpkin Projects, and Fall Festivals a success. Next week, we will be conducting our very own pumpkin project in class. We will be completing a pumpkin investigation while reviewing the steps of the scientific method and discussing our senses and matter. Information about the new monthly project was included in the homework packet. Students will be creating a family tree to celebrate those special relatives or loved ones that they are thankful for. We look forward to seeing all of your amazing projects. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your scholar’s teacher.

  
  

  ASYNCHRONOUS HALF-DAY (11/3)- All scholars will work from home on this day and complete assignments virtually. Students will have a few reading and math iXL assignments to complete that will be assigned on the day of. Students are expected to complete this work by 12:00 p.m. to be marked present on the day.

  FIELD REMINDERS- We are so excited about our upcoming field trip to the Maryland Science Center. A huge thank you in advance to everyone who will be chaperoning our trip to make it a success. Please ensure that students and chaperones are at school by 8 a.m. We will be eating lunch on-site at the Science Center, so lunches from home should be sent in a disposable bag, with no glass containers/bottles, and no food that needs to be heated up. All students should wear their gym uniform, including a gray T-shirt. Thank you for your assistance!

  
  

  IMPORTANT KINDERGARTEN DATES-

  NOVEMBER 9: Field Trip

  NOVEMBER 10: No school for students

  NOVEMBER 22-24: Fall Break

  DECEMBER 1: Family Tree Project due

  
  

Families, Thank You for your concerns for Mrs. Wright. She is well. Principal Miller has shared a letter informing you that Mr. Jones will be the teacher. Welcome to the beginning of Quarter 2. Many of the concepts and skills that were taught in the 1st quarter are ongoing and so you will notice that students are doing work they already learned. That’s fine…for example, math skills require practice to build fluency, hence the need to repeat. Skills and concepts across reading also cross-cut into other content such as science and social studies.

Learning is not contained in a box. Please support and encourage scholars to read informational text. This helps to build critical thinking and prepare them for writing to explain their answers to problems they solve.

Reading Updates: Identifying the main idea and supporting details in informational texts. Learning will also include foundational skills. You will notice this as homework comes home next week. We will be reading The Life of a Frog. This weekend, show students how to research the topic. They can write down words, and short sentences that include the facts on frogs. Next week, as they read, they will learn more as they make connections with the text.

Read up about frogs here…

Facts on Frogs

Draw your best-looking frogs with your children. Write down facts and send them to school to share with us.

1st Graders are readers! Help us grow…

Happy End of the Quarter Everyone! Thank you parents and students for all of your hard work. As we reach the end of the quarter, students will be reflecting on their performance, celebrating achievements, and making a plan for areas of growth. The second grade field trip is next week November 9, 2023. Be sure that you have already communicated with your homeroom teacher if you need a bagged lunch from the cafeteria. All students should come dressed in uniform on this day.

Reading Updates:

We are now in Unit 2 Nature Wonders in reading! This week we will continue to work on Informational Text, focusing on key details in a text. Our text this week is ‘A Home on the Prairie’

Our spelling words will focus on vowel digraphs with Long a: ay, ai, ea.

Math Updates:

We are wrapping up Topic 3- adding within 100. Your class should be testing this week. Please review daily Quick Checks and utilize additional resources to practice. Please review the following strategies with your scholar: hundreds chart, number line, break apart, and compensation. You can give any equation within 100 and have scholars solve using one of these strategies.

Science Updates:

We will be transitioning back into our SAVVAS curriculum for Topic 2- Changing Matter. Please continue to work through your STEM Fair project and work through the steps of the scientific method.

STEM Fair procedures, materials, and variables should be turned in on November 8th. Students should have already received feedback on their questions and hypotheses.

Social Studies Updates:

We are working through Topic 2 - People, Places, and Nature.

Health Updates:

The focus for November is “Let’s Eat” where we will focus on the importance of healthy eating habits.

Happy End of the Quarter Everyone! Thank you parents and students for all of your hard work. As we reach the end of the quarter, students will be reflecting on their performance, celebrating achievements, and making a plan for areas of growth. The third grade field trip is next week November 7, 2023. Be sure that you have already communicated with your homeroom teacher if you need a bagged lunch from the cafeteria. All students should come dressed in uniform on this day.

Reading Updates:

In Reading, we are exploring a new informational text called Living in the Desert. Our Reading Strategies will focus on paying close attention to text and graphic features and using text evidence to respond to comprehension questions. Finally, students are practicing using proper subject-verb agreement.

Math Updates:

We are moving our way through Topic 4 which focuses on using multiplication facts in order to divide. To support students, they should be working on their multiplication facts at home.

You should have received directions for the topic 4 pick-a-project. Please be on the lookout for an official due date. We have also started our fact fluency quizzes this week and we are excited to see students master their facts.

Science Updates:

We have started topic 3 which focuses on weather. Our essential question is “What are ways to reduce the impact of hazardous weather?”

STEM Fair procedures, materials and variables should be turned in on November 8th. Students should have already received feedback on their questions and hypotheses.

Social Studies Updates:

In Social Studies, tigerscare discussing Earth’s Natural Resources. Students are learning to differentiate between agricultural and industrial resources. Students should connect their knowledge to real world examples and look for ways to conserve resources at home.

Health Updates:

The focus for the month of November is “Let’s Eat” where we will focus on the importance of healthy eating habits.

We have finished our terrific tenth week of school! We have now reached the end of the 1st quarter. We are very proud of how strongly our scholars finished the first quarter. A special shout out to Ms. Ramesy’s class for winning the Tiger Surprise for October! All of our scholars ROARED in the first quarter. We want to also thank the men who gave their time on our annual Men Make a Difference Day!

Fourth Grade Reminders:

As the weather changes, it is imperative that students come to school prepared for outdoor recess or outdoor P.E. A suggestion would be to dress scholars in layers so they can remove outer layers as they get warmer.

Scholars should come to school each day with a fully charged Chromebook. As a STEM school technology is utilized in all classes and students are completing assignments digitally.

Scholars must have a reusable water bottle. We do not have water bottles to provide to students nor do we have cups to provide water. Scholars can refill their water bottles at one of the filtered water fountains that are provided around the school.

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 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.

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.

This week: Students began reading a new text “Barbed Wire Baseball.” In this biography we learned about the real life of Zeni, a Japanese American who was sent to an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Students are seeking to answer the question: How can a person influence the place they live? This week’s skills we worked on were the skills of monitoring our inner conversations, vocabulary, and the text structure of chronological order. Students have also received spelling words and will have spelling homework. The spelling words this week have the prefixes (en-, em-, mis- ). Spelling words have been given to students and are also posted on the Reading Canvas class.

This week in Math students completed subtopics 2-3 Adding Whole Numbers and 2-4 Adding Greater Numbers where students strengthened their knowledge of adding numbers up to a million. Students also began working in sub topic 2-5 Subtracting Whole Numbers where students are learning how to subtract whole numbers up to million using standard algorithms and estimation.

Please check Schoolmax and Canvas with your scholar to ensure completion of assignments.

This week: We brought a close to this chapter by answering the question: How does geography affect the way we live? Students identified natural features, climates, natural resources, and adaptations humans have made to the land of the five regions of the United States. Students completed a brochure on one of the five regions of the United States. Students used the information that they gained in their readings of Chapter 1.

Next week: Students will begin Chapter 2. In this chapter, students will study the history of America and the people who played a role in this history. We are seeking to answer the question: How have we changed and how have we started the same during our history? At the end of the chapter, students will create a research project about a person who played a large role in the history of the United States of America.

Hi everyone!

We are moving right along in 5th grade! Please check the assignment calendar on our Google site to see what upcoming assignments students may have. We have been having tests, quizzes, and homework, so we want to make sure students are keeping up with their work. Quarter 1 is officially over! 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

We have officially made it through our first quarter of 5th grade! We are so proud of all of our students and we can’t wait to continue the year progressing together! Online report cards are coming out soon and physical copies will be sent home later in November!

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 are in November focusing on our character trait, gratitude! We want to show gratitude in any way we can!

Students are in the first unit of Science, in lesson 3 which is about properties of matter. Homework will be posted on the assignment calendar as we get started so keep an eye out!

Students are in the first unit of Health which is about first aid.

Music:

Greetings,

In music class 3rd-5th have been learning about the following kinds of notes: whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes. We will spend some time on this topic so the students can get comfortable recognizing each note and accurately demonstrate different rhythms with these notes.

Updates from the Art Room!

A new quarter means new concepts! While in Quarter 1 we focused a lot on elements of design (the building blocks of art), in Quarter 2, you’ll see our young artists using the principles of design (how the building blocks are organized in the artwork) more intentionally. Below you’ll see the Quarter 1 bulletin board.

2023-2024 School Calendar

School Meals

SchoolMAX Family Portal

Fall Learning Information
School Violence Resources and Support

PGCPS TV

Vendor Managed Child Care