Dear Parent/Guardian, As the charter operator of your child's school, Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation (CLF) would like to receive your feedback about your experience with the school. We are conducting a short parent survey and asking for candid feedback about your child's school. Please use the link below to take the survey. Please disregard this reminder if you have taken the survey already. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/surveyCLF The survey will take approximately 3 minutes to complete and it is anonymous. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. Sincerely, Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation 6151 Chevy Chase Dr. Laurel, MD 20707 T. (301) 776.2300 Website: CLFMD.ORG

Andrew Brauer, Principal

CMIT North MS TRAC Bridge Teams once again made history at the TRAC Bridge Builder Invitational. Students from our TRAC Bridge teams received their trophies and prizes last Tuesday, March 22, 2022. These were awarded by CMIT North Middle School Principal Mr. Andrew Brauer. Students shared their experience before they were awarded. The awarding was followed by a pizza treat by their adviser. TRAC Bridge Builder Invitational 2022 was held at CLF Headquarters on February 5, 2022 and all our teams ranked 1 to 4 in the 7th-8th grade level category. TRAC Bridge Challenge is designed to allow students the opportunity to develop a Truss Bridge that will be tested for strength-to-weight ratio. Participating students both from middle school and high school conducted the performance bridge test. Each member of the team received a trophy and a prize like architecture legos, buildings and bridges structures, and metal bridge for first to fourth placer. Engineering Bridge Tigers (EBT) composed of 7th graders, Samuel Aqua, Jamal Bah, and Redate Theodros, won first place. Tiger Construction Inc (TCI) composed of 8th graders, Joseph Tinio, Martin Simon-Ebughu, and Christian Medina, won second place. In addition, TCI is a National Finalist in the TRAC Bridge Challenge and they will compete in the finals by presenting and showcasing their project online via zoom Meet on March 29th with the participation of the judges. DMV Dominators (DMV-D) composed of 8th graders, Kamraan Sahibzada, Andreas Rubio Larios, and Christian Sopa, won third place. Immaculate Engineers (IE) composed of 8th graders, Farris Ogba, Ousman Sise, and Nana Aniagyei, won fourth place.

Mrs. Crespo-Montano Science Teacher/TRAC Advisor

The yearbook club has been working diligently to create a memorable yearbook for our students this year. Our site is up and running so order yours now! Orders will be accepted until April 25th. The information to purchase can be found below. Website: ybpay.lifetouch.com Our Yearbook ID: 14671622

Jessica Linnenkamp - Yearbook Advisor

If every house has its own blueprint, Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the blueprint of life. DNA contains instructions that direct the activities of the cells, and ultimately, the body. Scientists isolate DNA for a variety of reasons that include genetic testing, body identification, and analysis of forensic evidence. Life Science and Biogeochem students were excited and successfully isolated DNA from a strawberry using common household materials such as liquid detergent, salt, rubbing alcohol, and a coffee filter.

Mrs. Crespo-Montano Science Teacher/TRAC Advisor

Parent Workshop - Last week's Parent Workshop was Phenomenal!! Missed it?? No Problem!! Replay the recording here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bPaaYZnIEYJ81Gne-ClEOOjCFrYdS4oJ/view?usp=drivesdk ============================================= Fundraisers - The following are our current fundraisers: Spirit Wear Fundraiser - Please support this year's Spirit Wear Fundraiser by using the following link: https://fancloth.shop/XCJKL. Sales will continue thru March 31st. A portion of the proceeds support our work together to enhance and enlarge the educational experience for our scholars. Easter Honeybaked Ham Fundraiser - Just in time for Easter, purchase a HoneyBaked Gift Card to purchase your ham (or any other Honeybaked meal item) to shop online, order from the HoneyBaked catalog or at any Honeybaked location nationwide. And the most satisfying part? 20% of your purchase goes directly to support the fundraiser. Purchase traditional or electronic HoneyBaked Gift Cards for yourself or for gifting from our fundraiser page: https://honeybakedfundraising.com/fundraisers/CMIT_North_MS_Easter_Fundraiser. Fundraiser only runs through April 18th so buy yours today!! Share the link with family and friends so they can support, too! ============================================= Committee Meetings - The following are the upcoming committee meetings: *Teacher Appreciation Committee - April 7th @ 6pm *8th Grade Promotion - April 7th @ 7pm ============================================= Join the PTO - Pay your dues by **April 1st** and your student will earn a casual dress day!! Membership is our biggest fundraiser and the best way to keep you connected to the Tiger community. Your membership dues help us to support our Students and Teachers throughout the school year and beyond. Dues are $10 per family per school year and donations of any amount are welcome and encouraged 😊. Please pay the $10 dues for your family by using our QR Code above, via the following PayPal link: http://paypal.me/cmitnorthmspto by choosing Payment Type: Friends and Family (to avoid incurring a fee) and entering your Name and Email in the payment message (*very important*), or in the PTO Dues Box in the Front Office using the envelopes sent home with students (*new!)

Thank You, MS CMIT PTO

Parent/Guardians, As you know, CMIT is a uniform school. We do this so that academics and not clothing items, which are viewed by students as items of status, don't become the focus. Students are expected to wear their CMIT polo shirt (blue or orange), with khaki or solid navy pants, and all black shoes (shoe soles, the body of the shoe, laces, and logos are all solid black). Students may wear their CMIT blue hoodies, sweatshirts, and jackets with the embroidered CMIT school logo. Please understand that if your student is found in violation during weekly uniform checks, we will adhere to the Mandatory School Uniform Policy Disciplinary Procedures (located in the Uniform Policy document- https://cmitacademy.org/middleschool/uniform-policy/). Disciplinary procedures may include (but are not limited to), parent/guardian contact, parent/guardian request to come to school with the needed item, or student placed in the alternative learning environment (if proper uniform is not provided) where they could complete their work for that day. P.E. Uniforms: Please ensure your student has their uniform on for the days they have PE (2-3 times a week depending on their schedule). Students who are not properly dressed in their PE uniform will complete an alternative assignment for that day and will not be able to participate during the physical portion of class. This will count as the grade for that day. The CMIT PE blue shirt and BRANDED CMIT uniform shorts or sweatpants are the only uniform that is acceptable to wear on the days your scholar has PE. Please be aware that if your scholar has health this semester, they are expected to wear their regular CMIT uniform everyday. Thank you for your cooperation and support!

Ms. Nekesa Matlock, Assistant Principal

Parents and Students should be aware that we are a zero-tolerance policy school for cell phones. Cell phones should be kept in lockers during the instructional day. Cell phones hanging out of the front or rear pockets of pants or coats or that ring during class will be confiscated. The first confiscation of phone, the student can pick up in front of the office. If multiple confiscations occur the parent will be required to pick up the phone from the front desk. Please help us assure an environment that is about learning. Parents wishing to contact their students can do so by calling the CMIT office at 301-350-6051. The student will then be given a pass, by the teacher, to receive the phone call. This is in accordance with CMIT policy.

James Screven. Assistant Principal and Editor.

Dear Parent/ Guardians Students face many challenges that we did not when we were teens. These include exposure to inappropriate images/pornographic images, hate speech, cyberbullying, physical threats, psychological harm, and online predators. In this day of mass cellular communication it is important to recognize that we, as parents, are the front line to their safety. The best safeguard for parents is monitoring what children see, say, and do online or while on mobile devices. However, many parents do not know how to go about monitoring. Below are some important tips for monitoring your children. Please keep in mind, each technique mentioned is only as effective as your consistent employment of them. Keep and save your children's passcode and passwords to enter their phone, email and protected applications and web sites. Keep these in a secure physical space that can be referred to if need be. Randomly check them to see if they have changed, which can be an indicator of a child trying to hide behavior. Check their messages, chats and emails for inappropriate conversations, bullying, threats or grooming (behavior of a predator that seeks to gain trust.) Check their browser history for inappropriate websites and/or adult themed content. If you’re unsure of how to check your child’s history use google to search for directions on how to search a web browser. Check Photos for inappropriate selfies or downloaded images. Remove any applications that you find inappropriate for the age group. Below is a list of social media applications that you should check randomly and regularly. Applications to Monitor Facebook Instagram Reddit Steam SnapChat DropBox Hangouts Group Me Discord TikTok Kik Tumblr If monitoring is difficult and time consuming you can purchase monitoring services such as, Bark (for either IPhone/IOS or Android) see www.bark.us Pros: very comprehensive Cons: alerts you after the fact Qustodio (for either Android or Iphone/IOS) see www.qustodio.com Pros: Cheaper than Other services, Cons: Best on IOS 14 or higher Canopy (for either Android or IPhone/IOS environment) see www.canopy.us Canopy App Pros: Filters inappropriate content and reports inappropriate searches, chats and viewing Cons: Most expensive service $24 per month We hope this helps you in your endeavors to protect your child. Mr. Andrew Brauer, Principal Mr. James Screven, Assistant Principal Ms Nekesa Matlock, Assistant Principal

James Screven, Assistant Principal

Q: Is CMIT North MS a public school? 

A: Yes We are a public charter school who is staffed by PGCPS teachers and administration, and support staff who work along side of a limited CLF staff. We have access to PGCPS support but also benefit from additional guidance, management and financial support from Chesapeake Light House Foundation, whose educational concept this school is based on. 

Q: Do siblings get preference in applying to CMIT?

A: The process of gaining entry to any charter school in Prince George's County is through a lottery. However, siblings of already attending CMIT students are weighted differently during the lottery process. This different weighting gives preference to siblings. 

Q: What makes CMIT different then any other school in the district? 

A: Although we are a PGCPS public charter, we are given some autonomy over curriculum. This autonomy allows us to fast track students, who are academically ready, through selected high school courses in math, foreign language, science and technology. It is that fast tracking that opens up opportunity to more advanced  coursework on the college level while still in high school.  Additionally, we offer students supports and enrichments to every student, not available at most schools. Lastly, we are a uniform school which takes away the distraction, the competition and the social stratification that is brought on by non uniform dress in a school. 

Our test scores oustrip not only county averages but also state avaerages. This, along with other metrics has made us a 5 star school. 

Q: Do you offer everything the big middle and high school's offer? 

A: Unlike many school in Maryland, we do not have a  full spectrum offerings in sports.  Instead, our focus is on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics). Therefore, our sports offerings are more limited.  We offer, boys and girls soccer, basketball, girl's softball, boy's baseball and club lacrosse in the middle school. Additionally, boys and girls basketball, track/field and volleyball at the high school level. With that said we recently (2017) won the girls county basketball championship and made it to the playoffs in soccer. Our high school opened a multi-million dollar, state of the art gym complex, competitive with all schools of their size. The middle school has also added an indoor gym space.  Lastly, we do offer special educational services, but becuase we are a school of choice, the amount of service hours we can provide is limited to 7.5 hours a week, split between literacy and math. Services hours are delivered by special education teachers but are limited to literacy and math courses.