HAPPY NEW YEAR, CMIT-ES STUDENTS, PARENTS, TEACHERS and STAFF!

We have ONLY 8 DAYS left in the 2nd Quarter and look forward to the upcoming learning and events. Our first week of 2016 was awesome with student behavior and attendance. Please remember that TARDIES begin at 7:55 a.m. All EARLY DISMISSALS should be picked up by 2:10 p.m.

Parents, please remember to send students in OFFICIAL UNIFORM with khaki or navy pants or bottoms and ALL, uninterrupted black shoes. During PE, students should wear all black tennis shoes for safety purposes.

Our STEM Fair was a success on January 8, 2016 with 150 participants from Kindergarten through Grades 5! Students showed a great deal of knowledge, hard work and excellent communication as they presented to judges and VIP guests. A SPECIAL THANKS TO CHESAPEAKE LIGHTHOUSE FOUNDATION (CLF) for the creative addition of goggles and lab coats for all of our young scientists at CMIT-ES!!!

A SPECIAL THANKS TO MR and MRS. CALER, MRS. DIXON, and MR. and MRS. SISE for assistance with the STEM FAIR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL and Let's be KEEN in Twenty - Sixteen(2016)!!!

Mrs Respass
Principal

THE CMIT-ES 2nd Annual STEM Fair was held on January 8, 2016. 150 students enrolled in Kindergarten through Grades 5 participated after being selected through the individual classroom judging by teachers and parent volunteers.

Top Finalists For 2016 CMIT Elementary STEM FAIR
***GRAND PRIZE (Upper): Cameron Taylor (5th GRADE)***
***GRAND PRIZE (Lower): Jovan Daisy (2nd GRADE)***

5th GRADE WINNERS:
1st- Sydney Wynn
2nd- Leah Mejia
3rd- Michael Dixon
4th- Justin Mensah
5th- Braylon Talley
6th- Jayden Russell
7th- Benjamin Champion
8th- Sapri Sise
9th- Alyssa Leate
10th- Atoryia Mcallister
MOST CREATIVE- Jacinth Kouadio

4th GRADE WINNERS:
Dailyn Wray- 1st
Ariana Noel- 2nd
Oluwabusoye Okunga- 3rd
Fatima Mosley- 4th
Madison Doster-5th
Camille Crooks- 6th
Malik Capers- 7th
Joshua Burrough- 8th
Geordon Jenkins- 9th
Tony Tinsley- 10th
MOST CREATIVE- Audrey James

3rd GRADE WINNERS:
Brandon Milline- 1st
Alexander Akinmutimi- 2nd
Preston Zachary Ward-3rd
Vea Cordero- 4th
Bryce Albury- 5th
Micah Germain- 6th
Nabiha Mohamed- 7th
Moriah Oshinnaiye- 8th
Morgan Virgil- 10th
MOST CREATIVE- Londyn Byrd

2nd GRADE WINNERS:
1st- Michelle Phillippeaux
2nd- David Green
3rd- Xavier Bowen
4th- Aniya Gallion
5th- Mohammed Ali-Ameen
6th- Evan Smolen
7th- Amaris Tappin
8th- Kaden Brown
9th- Nicholas Derisca
10th- Myles Dixon
MOST CREATIVE- Kamraan Sahibzada

1st GRADE WINNERS:
1st- Sarah Grace Caler
2nd- Lukas Anderson
3rd- Victoria Shim
4th- David Chukwu
5th- Alexis Quarshie
6th- Ava Gill
7th- Brooke Ifill
8th- Arjun Dave
9th- Aubri Ward
10th- Connor Anson
MOST CREATIVE- Dewayne Mosley

KINDERGARTEN WINNERS:
1st- Zane Kelley
2nd- Jessica Magsalin
3rd- Daylin Lamadine
4th- Adrianne Burks
5th- Mikhail Durphy
6th- Ayden Ellerbe
7th- Khaleah Faulkner
8th- Bria Redwa
9th- Kendall Smith
10th- Caleb Bahati
MOST CREATIVE- Alijah Long

HONORABLE MENTION
Cloei Garris (5th)
Maolisa Audet (5th)
Mahalia Dedios (4th)
Ryhanna Mbakop (3rd)
Asai’Yah Edwards (3rd)
Titus Kelly (2nd)
Faith Holden (1st)
Gabrielle Johnson (K)


CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS! Our Awards Ceremony is tentatively scheduled for February 10, 2016.

Thank you to all the parents, judges, volunteers, staff, and students who made the STEM fair possible. Your are appreciated!

Mrs. McCain
Ms. Ahmed
Mrs. Weaver

CLF appreciates your feedback.

Please use the following link, http://tinyurl.com/clf-scs-2015 to access the Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation School Climate Survey. Here is an opportunity to provide input about our CLF schools.

CLF Foundation

Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation Board of Directors voted unanimously to increase its board membership from 7 to 9 effective 2016. The CLF Board will add two parent members from Prince George's County to its Board of Directors. Interested parent candidates wishing to join are required to submit their resume along with a cover letter of intent to the board of directors by January 10th, at the latest. Cover letter items should include various ways the parent candidate believes they will best represent CLF's public charter schools by contributing to the CLF board. Potential candidates are also asked to indicate how many children they have attending CMIT schools and how many years they have been involved with CMIT schools in their cover letter. Please e-mail your resume and cover letter to: secretary@clfmd.org with the subject line: CLF Board Parent Candidate

Board Executive committee will review resume submissions and select five candidates prior to the board meeting. The board will vote to elect two out of these five parent candidates recommended by the executive committee at the January 21, 2016 CLF Board Meeting. The parent board members selected will then serve a one-year term and parent board members may serve for three consecutive terms if re-appointed by a majority board vote at the end of each annual term.

CLF Foundation

Yearbook Club invites you to dress up for Spirit Week.

Monday (January 11, 2016)
COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS DAY- Today is the day to dream about your future! Be college and career ready! Get ready, steady, and get your degree. Today is your day to embrace your college and career goals!

Tuesday (January 12, 2016)
SQUAD DAY- A day to have fun with your friends and choose a theme together. 2 people, 10 people, or have a class theme!

Wednesday (January 13, 2016)
PJ DAY- A day when you can wake up, grab your backpack, and go!

Thursday (January 14, 2016)
BLACK AND WHITE DAY- Today is the day where you can celebrate the colors of the dark and light categories.

Friday (January 15, 2016)
WACKY TACKY TIGERS- Get your stripes, make some whiskers, and R.O.A.R. like the tigers you are!

Please contact Mrs. Breckenridge for more details.
mbreckenridge@cmitelementary.org

Mrs. Breckenridge
Yearbook Club Supervisor

Happy New Year! The PTO wishes all of you happiness and good health in 2016!

Reminder - Don't forget to send in your box tops!

***January Events***

Hospitality Committee Phone Conference on January 14th @ 8:30pm. This is the first planning call for Admin Appreciation and Teachers' Appreciation Week. Dial-In # (605) 475-5950, Access Code: 83606. Your ideas are needed. All are welcome to join the call, except teachers & staff (don't want to ruin the surprise) :-). If you are interested in joining this committee/call or getting more information, please email cmitespto@gmail.com. The email will be forwarded to the Hospitality Committee.

SPIRIT FUNDRAISING NIGHT at Nando's Peri Peri - January 21st from 3 to 8PM at Laurel Town Center. This is going to be a fun night that you don't want to miss! We are looking for a few parents, teachers and/or staff to "man the grill" for a little while during the event. Please email CMITESPTO@gmail.com if you are interested.

Skating After-School - January 29th from 3:00-6:30pm in the CMIT Elementary Gym. Registration and Tickets - Cost is $10 which includes 3 food items. ($2 Discount for PTO Families) Parents are encouraged to send in skates, helmets and pads, if you have them. We are looking for volunteers the day of the event. Contact CMITESPTO@gmail.com to volunteer. Registration form will be sent home very soon. Rental of skates is only guaranteed if the registration form is sent in by the due date.

***February Events***

VALENTINE CANDY GRAMS - Sale Runs February 1-5 - Delivery on February 10th - Look out for the red flyer.

PTO Meeting February 4th at 6:00PM - School Cafeteria

Chick-Fil-A Spirit Night - February 23rd

Winter Dance - February 26th - More Info to Follow

CMITES PTO

January 11, 2016------------------------------------College & Career Readiness Day
January 12, 2016------------------------------------SQUAD Day
January 13, 2016------------------------------------PJ Day
January 14, 2016------------------------------------Black & White Day - Respass is out of the building.
January 15, 2016------------------------------------SRI Testing & Wacky Tacky Tigers Day & November Student of the Month Lunch with the Principal
January 18, 2016-----------------------------------Schools & Offices are Closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 21, 2016-----------------------------------2nd Quarter Ends and Spirit Night at Nando&'s
January 22, 2016-----------------------------------Schools Closed for Students
January 29, 2016-----------------------------------After School Skating Sponsored by PTO

Mrs Respass
Principal

Fabulous First grade scholars enjoyed sharing their models, bibliographies, and stem experiments. We enjoyed learning about which diaper holds the most water, how magnets attract, why sunscreen is necessary, and many other interesting things. Congratulations to those finalists chosen who attended the Stem Fair on Friday night!

Miss Marsh's class winners were: Sean Caldwell, Faith Holden, Hailey Stark, DeWayne Mosley, Brianna Clack, Brooke Ifill, and Alexis Quarshie.

Ms. Rhodes's class winners were: Oluwaseyi Agboola, Ava Gill, Jamel Jones, Jayden Payton, and Cassidy Salisbury.

Miss Starks' class winners were: David Chukwu, Emerald Ferguson, Kendyl Covington, Peyton Thompson, Aubri Ward, Darnell Green, and Connor Anson.

Ms. Hutchin's class winners were: Arjun Dave, Victoria Shim, Joshua Henry, Lukas Anderson and Victoria Archer.

Way to go scholars!!!

1st Grade Team

K-2nd Grade Lego Classes

This week we are learning about the importance of environmental issues and to help students consider how they can contribute to taking better care of our planet. BuildToExpress Lego Set provides our students with the tools to verbalise their complex thoughts, questions, and concerns about our planet. We use BuildToExpress across the curriculum; our students have become very familiar with the process. Each time targeting a specific learning goal. Students always build individual models, but they share their ideas in groups of three.


3rd-5th Grade Lego Classes

Students were already introduced to simple machines such as gears, wheels and axles in the last month. We will continue to use Lego education’s simple machine set to learn about Levers and Pulleys in the upcoming days. The materials promote an enjoyable but challenging classroom environment in which students can develop skills such as creative problem-solving, communication of ideas, and teamwork. The activities lead students to make initial use of scientific method through observation, reasoning, prediction, and critical thinking.

CMIT Elementary LEGO TEAM

Happy New Year!

January will be a very busy month in Physical Education. We will focus on throwing and catching. Students in Grades K-3 will focus on the fundamentals of throwing and catching. Students in Grades 4-5 will focus on applying throwing and catching skills to small-sided games.

Safety Reminder: Please send your child to school with tennis shoes/sneakers on their PE days.

Have a healthy and productive month,

Marquel Hatcher

I am very proud of all the fifth graders who completed a STEM fair project. We are near the end of the quarter. We have a project called "OMG, I have to pay to text to my BFF". This project will be due January 21st. In science we will start learning Earth and Space science Monday, January 11, 2016. Students will take the SRI for Reading this coming week as well. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to learning.

Benora McCain

Transportation: Student Drop Off /Pick Up and Early Departure
Note: The parents/guardians are responsible for the daily transportation of their child(ren). CMIT-Elementary does not provide transportation during student arrival or student dismissal. Please update the authorized person(s),including the bus company or the childcare business, that will pick up your child(ren)by submitting an email or written notice to the School Registrar, Crystal.Dubon@pgcps.org and the Principal’s Secretary, Stefanie.Powers@pgcps.org.

Q: What is the earliest that I may drop off my child?
A: 7:30 a.m.

Q: Where should we drop off students in the morning?
A: All car riders should be driven to the rear of the building and dropped off at the cafeteria entrance. Parents must remain in the car in order to keep the process constant and mobile. Carpoolers that include 3 or more students may be dropped off at the main office entrance along with the bus riders.

Q: What is the earliest time that I may pick up my student?
A: Student dismissal begins around 2:30 p.m.

Q: What is the latest time that I may pick up my student?
A: Student dismissal ends at 2:55 p.m. Otherwise, students will be sent to Enrichment and charged Enrichment late fees.

Q: Where should we pick up students in the afternoon?
A: All car riders should be picked up in the rear of the building at the cafeteria entrance. Parents must remain in the car in order to keep the process mobile. Please notice the flow of traffic and refrain from stopping in the middle of the pathway. If you need to buckle in your students we ask that you do not block the flow of pick up so that we can dismiss all students in a timely manner.

Q: What is the latest time that I may pick up my student for early departure?
A: Students should be picked up from the Main Office no later than 2:10 p.m. To expedite the process, please send an email to the classroom teacher, the receptionist, Mrs. Virgil, EVirgil@cmitelementary.org the School Registrar, Crystal.Dubon@pgcps.org and the Principal’s Secretary Stefanie.Powers@pgcps.org or submit a handwritten note in order to expedite the process. No advanced notice is needed.

Q: What is the process for walkers?
A: CMIT-Elementary does not recognize walkers since there are no residences within walking distance. Please call the Main Office at 240.573.7240 if you have unique circumstances relevant to the pick up of your child. Please consider that CMIT-Elementary does have a student body of 450 and we are unable to accommodate 450 different unique circumstances.

Uniform Policy
Q: How do I order uniforms?
A: All uniform shirts and tops are handled by the Abstractees. Please call 410.360.1527. All khaki or navy uniform bottoms may be purchased at any retail store that sells uniform pants, shorts (except cargo pants), skorts, etc. Full dresses are not allowed for females. The CMIT-ES logo must show during the school day. The website for Abstractees is http://cmit.abstracttees.com.

Q: When will the uniform policy be enforced?
A: The uniform policy will begin during the first week of school. Please ensure that students are wearing a burgundy or royal blue polo until official uniform tops are received prior to September 21, 2015.

Q: When does the student wear the Physical Education uniform?
A: Please confirm the day of the week that the students enrolled in Grades 3 – 5 will have the Physical Education class. Then, students report to school and wear the gym uniform all day. Parents may wish to send the students with wipes for sanitary purposes.

Q: Must the uniform shoe have all black?
A: Yes, the shoe worn with the uniform must be black. Students must also wear uninterrupted black during the Physical Education class. No white, no red or any color besides black should appear in the shoes.

Visitations and Volunteers
Q: How does a parent make an appointment to visit a class?
A: Please email EVirgil@cmitelementary.org to request an appointment. Please allow up to 48 hours for a response to the email. All classroom observations will be limited to 15 minutes.

Q: How does a parent volunteer for classroom assistance, chaperone of field trips, etc?
A: Please email the classroom teacher to express an interest in volunteering. The classroom teacher will contact the parent to establish a date, time, and the nature of the task(s). however, we ask that parents participate in a brief orientation sponsored by the PTO prior to volunteering. Please contact the PTO at cmitespto@gmail.com for assistance.

Parent’s Corner

Parent Teacher Conferences
Q: How is a Parent Teacher Conference scheduled?
A: Please email the classroom teacher to request a conference date. The parent will have no more than 30 minutes to meet with the teacher. The conference date scheduled by PGCPS is November 11, 2015. Any other conference requests must be scheduled with the teacher.

Parent Teacher Organization
Q: When will the Parent Teacher Organization Meet?
A: The PTO is scheduled to meet the first Thursday of the month from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. except when a holiday, school closing and/or early dismissal has been scheduled. The following dates have been designated for PTO meetings: September 3, 2015; October 8, 2015; November 5, 2015; December 3, 2015; January 7, 2016; February 4, 2016; March 3, 2016; April 7, 2016; May 5, 2016; and June 2, 2016.
Student Academic Performance

Q: How do I know if my student is missing assignments and/or homework? How do I follow up on my student’s progress in the class?
A: Please check the School Max website first. If there are further questions, call 240.573.7240 to leave the teacher a voicemail message and/or email the teacher for information on your child’s academic progress.

Q: To whom do I express my concerns about academics?
A: Please contact the teacher first. If the teacher fails to respond, then contact the Program Coordinator, ProgramCoordinator@cmitelementary.org. The next line of communication is the Trespass@cmitelementary.org.

Home Visits
Q: When will the home visits begin?
A: Parents should submit a request to the teacher. A teacher and/or staff member will contact the parent to schedule a date and time that is convenient for the parent and the CMIT Staff. Note: The home visits are scheduled during afterschool hours if you did not experience a home visit during the summer.

Student Breakfast/Lunch

Breakfast/Lunch
Q: What time does breakfast begin?
A: Breakfast is served from 7:30 a.m. to 7:50 a.m. in the cafeteria. Students arriving at 7:50 a.m. or later should have breakfast prior to being dropped off.

Q: How much are the breakfast/lunch?
A:

ELEMENTARY (Kindergarten - 5)
	Daily	Weekly	Monthly
Reduced Price Breakfast	$0.30	$1.50	$6.00
Full Price Breakfast	$1.60	$8.00	$32.00
Reduced Price Lunch	$0.40	$2.00	$8.00
Full Price Lunch	$2.75	$13.75	$55.00

Q: How do I pay for the breakfast/lunch?
A:

METHODS OF PAYMENT
Cash	Send Cash payment to the school cafeteria so your child’s account can be updated.
Online Payments using a debit or credit card	Visit www.MySchoolBucks.com to set up, review, and add money to your child’s account. The account balance follows the student as long as they are enrolled in a Prince George’s County Public School.

Q: Where can I find the menu for the breakfast/lunch?
A: Please click on the link for the School Menu.