Eighth Grade Promotion planning is underway. Ms. Lesley Brinton, lbrinton@cmitnorthpto.org, is the PTO Committee Chairmen for this event. Ms. Brinton is looking for parent volunteers to be members of this committee to support our 8th grade students. Please contact her if you have availability and would like to help. The date for 8th grade promotion will be set once PGCPS updates our school calendar with any make-up days due to in-climate weather. In an effort to promote attendance at the end of the school year, the promotion is traditionally the last full day of school. We expect the updated calendar to be released later this month (March). The PTO Committee is also working to plan an additional social event for 8th grade students. Details will be available as plans are confirmed with vendors.

Mr. Andrew Brauer, Principal

Parents and Guardians, I had the opportunity to meet with a representative from Prince George's County Police Department to discuss student safety and traffic concerns during our dismissal times. As a result of that conversation, starting 3/1/2019, a traffic officer will be on site to direct vehicle and pedestrian traffic at the intersection of Sweitzer Lane and Frost Place. Please be aware that they will also issue citations for illegally parked vehicles in posted non parking areas. This arrangement was made with student safety in mind as this is our first priority. You may experience a change in traffic patterns based on the officer's assessment of safety needs. Please be prepared and cooperative with the officers assigned to serve our community. Thank you for your understanding and continued support as we continuously strive to provide the best environment possible for your scholars. Follow Us on Twitter @CMIT_Middle Respectfully, Mr. Andrew Brauer Principal Chesapeake Math & IT Academy Middle School - North

James Screven, Assistant Principal

On behalf of the Science Olympiad team, an enormous thanks to parents, guardians, teachers and all those involved for helping us to stay on top of the competition and qualify for the State Competition on March 30, 2019. The competition was stiff with twenty nine schools competing. Even though we were competing for the first time and with big league schools, we still took home 2 medals and two ribbons. The Science Olympiad will continue to practice every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm. We will also practice on Saturdays from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Parents please continue to provide “brain food” for the students as they put forth tremendous effort for their event.

Gemma Y Bognot CLARKE, Ph.D Grade 8 Science Teacher School STEM Fair Coordinator Science Olympiad Coach Science Department Chair

Yearbooks are now available for order at ybpay.lifetouch.com. The Yearbook ID Code is 12970819. Prices start at $25. There are several packages available. Paper forms are available from your students. If using a paper form, checks should be made out to CMIT North PTO.

Amy Sumor, Yearbook Adviser

This year, we decided to expand on last year's contest by asking each class to decorate their hallways to celebrate the achievements and recognize the sacrifices and journey of African Americans . This year's theme was "African migrations". Whether the project include the Middle Passage, the Underground Railroad from the south up to Canada, the migration of African Americans to the north's industrial cities in the late 19th century or today's immigration from Africa, South America and the Caribbean, the students had to be creative and provide a visual message that described that journey. The students did such a wonderful job that judging was very difficult, even given our grading rubric. The effort, their conveyance of message, the concepts and accuracy was too close to call between the 6th grade and 7th grade hallways. Therefore, Mr. Brauer, Ms. Linenkamp and myself have declared a tie between the 6th and 7th grade. Congratulations to our 6th and 7th grade students who participated. For their effort and win, they will receive a pizza party and PRS points. Join me in congratulating the winners.

James Screven, Assistant Principal

This Spring join CMIT for our Spring Parent Workshop Series and Expo. Representatives will be here from, ECMA Karate/Taekwondo, Mathnasium, Kuk Sool Won Martial Arts , i9 Sports, CMIT Band, Science Olympiad, Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation, CMIT Cheerleaders, Drama Club and many more. Signing up your child for a CMIT club at this event will give them preference over students signing up during fall club registration. the only exception to this would be cheerleading and band, which have specific requirements. Workshops will cover Locking Down Your Child's Electronic Devices, Preparing Your Student for High School and Beyond, Unraveling the High Stakes Testing Mystery, Understanding Your Parental Rights: Grading. An invitation will go out via email shortly and an RSVP is required to attend.

James Screven, Assistant Principal

Wonderful news, the college trip has been approved by PGCPS! We will be going to Hampton, William and Mary, and Christopher Newport University. Please see the full itinerary below for details. The cost of this trip is $265 which includes transportation, lodging, all activities, and food. A non-refundable $65 deposit is due by Friday, March 8th on myschoolbucks. The remaining $200 will be due on March 22nd. A student's spot will be reserved when the deposit is made. This trip is first come first serve. All permission slips can be returned to Mrs. Linnenkamp If you are interested in chaperoning, please contact Mrs. Linnenkamp or indicate your interest on your child's permission slip. We have room for 11 chaperones. A hardcopy of the permission slips will go home with students on Monday, March 4th

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CMIT Administration

Where: Skate Zone When: March 21, 2019 Cost: $32 (includes activities, lunch, and transportation) Payment Due: March 11, 2019 on My School Bucks Important Information: - Students can wear casual clothes - Lunch is included - Permission slips can be turned into Mrs. Linnenkamp

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CMIT Administration

The CMIT Athletics Department will be hosting a Students vs. Teachers basketball fundraiser game. It will be held March 29th @ 1:30 PM at CMIT High School. This is a 2 hour early dismissal day, therefore transportation will need to be provided for pickup. Tickets for the game will be $3 for student and $5 for adults. Participation cost is $12 per person , which includes a t-shirt and guaranteed spot on the team. The last day to sign up and pay is March 15th . Please see Ms. Colston for payment.

Ronina Spence

Have you ever been taught by your students? Well, I have. It was one of the most memorable experiences I have had, thanks to the creative and academically inclined grade 7 students. When we were approached by our assistant principal, Mr. Screven to decorate the Grade 7 hallway, Ms. Crespo and I, were hesitant because we have limited knowledge about the topic given to us, “The Underground Railroad”. However, seven seventh graders turned the school paradigm upside down by leading the way to re-teach teachers and students the history of these events by means of decorating the hallway to tell about their journey. Carolyn Silva, Giselle Coplan, Qaiyah Dawson, Emnet Theodros, Jasmyne Wilson, and Dailyn Wray created a vision by sharing a different approached to learn history. The Underground Railroad was a network comprised of people, African Americans, along with European Americans, who offered shelter and aid to escaped slaves from the South. It developed as a convergence of several different clandestine efforts. The exact dates of its existence are not known, but it operated from the late 18th century to the Civil War, at which point its efforts continued to undermine the Confederacy in a less-secretive fashion. Harriet Tubman was the most famous conductor for the Underground Railroad. For more information see the link below. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad

Gemma Y, Bognot CLARKE, Ph.D Grade 8 Science Teacher School STEM Fair Coordinator Science Department Chair

The Grade 8 students taking HS Honors Biology are planning to take the spotlight by creating twists on classic looks of craft is turning trash into threads. In the next six weeks they are going to make a dress out of trash bags and other recyclable materials and dress up our model skeletons in science. The entire result must looks like it came straight off the runway. Proving that inexpensive items can produce high-end fashion. Moreover, the Grade 8 Life science students will prove their engineering ability by making a miniature or a diorama that incorporates the following topic: 1. Greenhouse effect 2. Rainwater harvesting 3. Energy Conservation 4. Recycling 5. Improving Soil Quality 6. Climate Change 7. Air Quality 8. Renewable energy 9. Water purification 10. Waste management 11. Balanced ecosystem 12. Habitat Model 13. Population growth 14. Organic Garden These quarter project foster opportunities for the students to developed knowledge and skills about challenges & problems they may face in the real world.

Gemma Y Bognot CLARKE, Ph.D Grade 8 Science Teacher School STEM Fair Coordinator Science Department Chair

Due to an oversight, our own Kaden Boone was not recognized for his achievement during this years STEAM Fair award presentations. Kaden, an 8th grader, won 3rd place for the engineering category with his "Wind Mill Power" project. His project had him create a working wind mill and explain how it generates power. We as a community want to congratulate Kaden on his achievement and wish him continued academic success

James Screven, Assistant Principal

WANTED! COLLEGE ATHLETES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The NATIONALLY Acclaimed program “Guiding the College-Bound Athlete” Is coming to CMIT North HS - Cafeteria Tuesday, 3/26/19 - 7:30 PM FREE PIZZA & DRINKS at 7:00 p.m.  Learn how to get RECRUITED  How to become Academically Eligible  How to get a SCHOLARSHIP or Grant  How to setup COLLEGE visits  Why start as early as 9th Grade For Athletes & Parents grades 8 - 12 Attendees will receive a FREE SAT/ACT Prep DVD valued at $350! * Limit 1 per family / S&H not included

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MS Athletic Department

Dear CMIT Families, Please go to the link listed below and donate. Any amount is acceptable. However, please note, not all donations have to be monetary. All donations will go to MS & HS sports teams uniforms, equipment, transportation, and new budgets for the athletic department. Thank you for your participation and contributions. CMIT Academy Athletics Donations www.myschoolbucks.com

MS Athletic Department

Dear CMIT families, CMIT North Girls Basketball teams are hosting an International Women's day clothing drive to donate clothes for the less fortunate. Clothes are being accepted from February 25, 2019, through March 8, 2019. We are accepting, gently worn clothes, all sizes, and genders, no stains, tears, broken zippers, missing buttons, etc. Drop off for materials will be held in CMIT highschool lobby as well as CMIT middle school lobby. All items will be donated to local shelters. Donations are highly appreciated, Thank you! -CMIT Girls Basketball team

MS Athletic Department

The High School girls have done it again, capturing this year's county title. We, at the middle school, want to congratulate the girls on all of their hard work and persistence in showing the county that CMIT, is a force to be reckoned with. Congratulations to the athletes, coaching staff, volunteers, supporting parents and the whole school community. Hats off to Coach Abdi Mohamed, Coach Kiara Colston and Coach Erica Dubose, Job well done.

James Screven, Assistant Principal

Please review the attached to discover ways you and your family can support the CMIT North PTO!

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Thank you, CMIT North PTO

Dear Parents and Guardians, Prince George’s County Public Schools is committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for all students. To this end, we want to make you aware of a potentially dangerous internet trend targeting young children called the “Momo challenge.” When using Whatsapp and YouTube and some other online resources, a scary avatar named Momo interrupts videos and challenges children to complete a series of bizarre and potentially dangerous tasks and upload evidence they were completed. On the final day of the challenge, children are encouraged to win the game by committing suicide. Children are threatened throughout the challenge with harm or sharing their personal information online if they do not complete the tasks. We are partnering with families to raise awareness of this online threat. Please discuss the challenge with your child and use online safety practices that include not accepting invitations from strangers or taking part in anonymous challenges. We encourage you to allow electronic device usage in shared family spaces. Please monitor your child’s social media accounts and online activities, and install parental controls and filters. Please see the attachment for additional information regarding this App. Additionally, we will be doing a workshop at this Spring's Parent Workshop and Expo that addresses monitoring and controlling your child's devices should you need help or advice in doing so. Please see the article in this issue relating to the parent workshop for details on the event. Thank you for your continued support of CMIT North MS Administration. Special thanks to Mr Rob Jones, who suggested we reprint this article from our sister school CMIT South MS. It really does take a village.

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James Screven, Assistant Principal

Parents please be aware that an update to the PGCPS calendar has just been made. On March 11th there will be a 2 hour early dismissal from school. This change is due to a negotiated agreement between PGCPS and PGCEA. Please be prepared to make adjustments to your schedule or inform your bus company of the change.

James Screven, Assistant Principal

We have noticed the proliferation of head gear starting to creep into the student uniforms and wanted to let parents know that head gear is limited to blue, black, orange or white stretch head bands only. The only exception is if the head gear is for religious observance. However, No tied head bands or head wear, multi-colored headbands, bandannas,hats or visors are allowed to be worn as part of the uniform. Please make sure your child stays in compliance so that our uniform continues to represents pride of school and achievement.

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, along with CLF staff. We 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 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.

Q: Do you offer everything the big middle and high schools 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, boy's softball, boy's baseball,  boys and girls track/field at the high school. With that said we recently (2017) won the girls county basketball championship and made it to the playoffs in soccer. Our High school recently opened a multi-million dollar, state of the art gym complex. 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. Services hours are delivered by special education teachers but are limited to literacy and math courses.