For the most part, arrival and dismissal procedures are going very well. A big thank you to all that are following procedures and contributing the safety of our students and community. Currently, dismissal is taking approximately 15 minutes from the time the dismissal bell rings at 2:55pm. There has been a growing number of vehicles parking along Frost Place to pick-up students. This area is a No Parking Zone. Vehicles should not be stopping, parking, or picking up students in this area. There has already been one vehicle vs vehicle accident and traffic backups due to those parked vehicles. Police will be monitoring the area. All students that are picked up by personal vehicle are to be picked up in the rear of the building where staff members are stopping and directing traffic for safety. In the interest of student safety this is not negotiable. Please support the larger CMIT community by following pick-up procedures.

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Andrew Brauer, Principal

Our first group of CMIT Newsletter Student Staff Writers posed for a photo opportunity. The student staff will contribute to newsletter sections "Student Thoughts" and "Teacher Spotlight" . From Left to right are, Bridget Adams, Janaia Adams, SeAnna Daye, Hailey Johnson and Amy Moscoso. Please see their first article written by Bridget Adams detailing Constitution Day Events.

James Screven, Assistant Principal

Below you will find the club descriptions and selection form for the 2019-2020 school year. Please discuss the club selections with your student and fill out the form by Wednesday, 9/25/19. Students and parents will be notified of which clubs students are in by Wednesday 10/2/19. Clubs assignments will be based off of students' choice priority and how many students have signed up for a particular club. Clubs will officially start on 10/7/19 https://forms.gle/UGsWYeexavUh6y57A

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CMIT Administration

Dear Parents, We are getting settled into the new school year and students are starting to complete homework, classwork, and assessments. It is beneficial for parents and students to check SchoolMax to keep on top of grades and see their progress. If you do not have an account, click on this link https://family.sis.pgcps.org to follow the steps to register for an account If you already have an account but you are unsure of what your password is or are locked out, please contact Mrs. Linnenkamp (jlinnenkamp@cmitacademy.org) to regain access to the family portal. Have a great week!

CMIT Administration

Students in the 7th grade that have not submitted proof of their Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis vaccine (Tdap) and Meningococcal vaccine (MCV) , will be excluded from school on September 23, 2019. These immunizations are required for all 7th grade students in the State of Maryland. Students still in need of these immunizations should contact the Prince George's County Health Department, your local urgent care center, or your local Minute Clinic. Please remember to bring your most recent shot record to any appointments. Documents can be emailed to nurse@cmitacademy.org, faxed to 301-560-3461, or sent to school with your student. Thank you all for helping keep our students healthy and ready to learn.

CMIT Nurse

Students Be Mindful of Your PRS Points. Tiger Days Are Coming!

James Screven, Assistant Principal

The 8th graders are scheduled to attend JA Finance Park in the beginning of November November 4th: Adelphi, Princeton, and Duquesne November 5th: Caltech, Grambling State, Arizona State, and Elon We will need at least 20 parent and community volunteers each day to make this trip success for our students. Students will begin the finance park curriculum in their social studies and math classes in late October and will continue until they visit Finance Park. If you are interested in learning more about the Finance Park curriculum, click on this link: https://www.myja.org/financepark/ PLEASE NOTE: Parents and other volunteers do NOT need to have their fingerprints on file with PGCPS in order to volunteer at Finance Park. Parents and volunteers will transport themselves to the site an hour before students to receive training. If you are interested in volunteering on the day that your student is attending Finance Park or you know someone that would be interested, fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/6ZTDmVGddNL9oCT47 If you have any questions, contact Mrs. Linnenkamp at jlash@cmitacademy.org

Mrs. Jessica Linnenkamp

Parents it is time, once again, for our much loved Parent Workshops and Expo. Come and meet with family friendly vendors, here to present you with choices for your child. Hear speakers discuss topics important to you as the parent to a middle schooler and hear from other parents who may be experiencing the same things as you. Meet with clubs and find events you and your family may be interested in particpating in. Lastly, stay for our barbecue and meet with administrators and other families to network and make connections to our community. We look forward to seeing you there October 19th, 2019 at CMIT Middle School from 9-1:00, Barbecue to follow. Doors open at 8:45

James Screven, Assistant Principal

The students have just finished a full week of analysis, grammar, and vocabulary. They analyzed an excerpt from Helen Keller's autobiography and they have begun practicing identifying and correcting grammatical errors. This week was focused on sentence fragments. In two weeks, students will begin to identify and correct run-on sentences. For literature, students will read The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez. The story will continue the quarter theme entitled "Facing Adversity." Students will analyze the theme of the story and how the conflict, characters, and repeated ideas contribute to the theme. This story will lead students to the literary analysis task students will be expected to complete later in the quarter. Students will be asked to write a continuation of the story in a sequel. As you students read for leisure, making inferences of possible subsequent events and predicting what will happen after a certain point in a story will help prepare them for the literary task.

Mr. Conde RELA 7 Teacher

Dear Parents, Attached is the information summary for all of chapter 9. We will be starting Section 9.2 The Pythagorean Theorem next week. Feel free to work with your child on this section. Mr. Ephraim

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Ubon Ephraim

What is Character Education? Character Education is a learning process that enables students and adults in a school community to understand, care about and act on core ethical values such as RESPECT, JUSTICE, CIVIC VIRTUE, CITIZENSHIP, and RESPONSIBILITY for self and others. Character Education is an umbrella term loosely used to describe the teaching of children in a manner that will help them develop variously as moral, civic, good mannered, behaved, non-bullying, healthy critical successful, traditional, compliant or socially acceptable beings. THE SIX PILLARS OF CHARACTER EDUCATION ARE: 1. TRUSTWORTHINESS 2.RESPECT 3. FAIRNESS 4. RESPONSIBILITY 5. CARING and 6. CITIZENSHIP What makes a person qualify for and/or considered to have 'GOOD CHARACTER?' A person that is considered to have 'GOOD CHARACTER' exhibits attributes such as: 1. RESPECT 2. INTEGRITY 3. HONESTY 4. COURAGE 5. LOYALTY 6. FORTITUDE and other important virtues that promote good behavior and habits. Integrity: the state of being whole and undivided........ The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral uprightness, ethics, virtue, decency, sincerity, truthfulness and trustworthiness. Fortitude: courage in pain or adversity... courage, bravery, endurance, resilience, moral fiber, strength of mind and strength of character. THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD CHARACTER TRAITS: If you want good success in life, you must develop good character traits. So, what are good character traits and why are they so important? Our character is much more than just our reputation. Reputation is only what others see and think about you/us. Our character is who we really are., even when no one is watching. Let's revisit the Six Pillars of Character, again. TRUSTWORTHINESS, RESPECT, FAIRNESS, RESPONSIBILITY, CARING, and CITIZENSHIP........ Make sure that your CHARACTER is great. Having good CHARACTER means that you have such admirable traits as HONESTY, RESPONSIBILITY and COURAGE. Why is it beneficial for you to have GOOD CHARACTER? Being honorable and honest in the work you do and in your relations with others are essential in your life. OUR CHARACTER TRAITS ARE WHAT DETERMINE HOW WE RESPOND to the SITUATION and CIRCUMSTANCES WE EXPERIENCE IN LIFE. Our overall character is made up of specific individuals traits, or qualities, that are different for each individual. It is those character qualities, those character traits that determine how a person will respond in any given situation. For example, someone who has the character trait of alertness is more likely to be a better, safer, driver than a person who does not see or recognize the potential dangers around him (carelessness). A person with a strong character quality of truthfulness is much more likely to accurately report the facts in a given situation than a person who tends to be characterized by deceptiveness. A person with the character quality of tolerance will be more accepting of others----less prejudiced. RESPONSES DETERMINE RESULT Success or failure in any situation depends, more than anything else, on how we respond to the event and circumstances we face. Therefore, it is our character that determines our success. Of course, that doesn't mean that "good" people will always experience more success and others that tend to produce 'failure.' The question is, what are the 'good' character qualities and how can we strength them, and what are the 'bad' qualities and how can we get rid of them? HOW DOES CHARACTER AFFECT OUR LIVES? What are the character qualities, or character traits, that make up a person's character? How are they being built into a person's life? Can they be changed? There could be many lists of 'character qualities,' or 'character traits." If you and I each made our own lists, we would probably both include words such as HONESTY, INTEGRITY, DEPENDABILITY, LOYALITY, ENTHUSIASM, and etc. Of course, there are many other qualities that could be added to our lists. For example, HONESTY really consists of several more basic qualities - TRUTHFULNESS, DEPENDABILITY, DILIGENCE, and etc. Therefore, when we work on becoming more honest, we do so by becoming more truthful, more dependable, more diligent and etc. A good list of character traits would consist of at least forty-nine specific qualities or traits. Having such a list of character traits allows us to focus on specific qualities in order to build the "good character traits' into our lives. Breaking character down into its basic elements allows us to focus on building specific qualities into our lives. For example, we may feel we are in the quality of "ALERTNESS," so we can concentrate on becoming more alert to what is going on around us. As we work on strengthening specific good character qualities, our overall character is improved and our responses to the circumstances we face will become better. We will have more "success." It has been said that CHARACTER is the foundation for all true success. A person may have money, position, or power, but unless he has "good" character he or she is not considered to be truly successful. Our character is what really determines our success in any area of life. Our character qualities guide our responses to the situation and circumstances we face in our lives. They are why we do the things we do and they are why we do things the way we do them. How er respond to the various things that come up is what determines the result we get, so our success really depends on our character. That is why it is too important that we work on developing good character traits. CHARACTER TRAITS, as opposed to personality traits, are based on beliefs (that Honesty and Treating others well is important...or not).. Personality can be defined as a combination of mental behaviors and traits or qualities like thinking pattern, feeling and acting.. Character is often used to define a person's integrity, such as upstanding character or his character is lacking. Character is actually a set of behavior traits that define what type of person you are.....Personality, on the other hand, is defined as the traits with which you were born (with as they develop) LIFE-SKILLS What are the 7 essential LIFE-SKILLS every child needs? 1. FOCUS and SELF-CONTROL 2. PERSPECTIVE TAKING (a particular attitude toward or of regarding something - a point of view) 3. COMMUNICATION 4. MAKING CONNECTIONS 5. CRITICAL THINKING 6. TAKING ON CHALLENGE 7. SELF DIRECT, ENGAGED LEARNING EXAMPLES OF LIFE-SKILLS: ADAPTABILITY, ANALYTICAL, APOLOGIZING, ASKING FOR HER HELP, BODY LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CONFIDENCE BUILDING. PRINCIPLES OF CHARACTER EDUCATION - LIFE-SKILL Your character is defined by what you do, not what you say or believe.... Every choice you make helps define the kind of person you are choosing to be....... Good character requires doing the right thing, even when it is costly or risky..... You don't have to take the worst behavior of others as a standard of comparison for yourself. You can choose to be better than that... What you do matters, and one person can make a big difference......... The payoff for having good character is that it makes a better person and it makes the world a better place......

Sincerely, Dr. Sullivan-Williams, Ph.D. (aka Dr. BB) Senior Certified Life Skills/Character Education Instructor

Please see AoW #1.3 attached...due THURSDAY, 09/26 since we are off school on the 27th :) Adults -- I dare you to share your television-watching experiences (and how they have morphed with the ability to STREAM shows/movies) with our students! What WAS your routine as a child or teenager? Has it changed in the last few years?

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Danica Justsen, NBCT

The objective of this lab was to practice the scientific method, measurements and effective science communication in the form of a lab report (Claim, Evidence Reasoning) Students were challenged to evaluate the claims of liquid dishwashing soap manufacturers by measuring the size of bubble-domes that can be created by using solutions of the various brands.

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Emmanuella Nhyirani

Another busy week is in our rear view! We've procured our first 84 "vocab words" (roots), completed MAP-R testing, reviewed and discussed data from both MAP-R and the SLO assessments. Honors students have set up their e-portfolios (please ask to see them! They'll be works-in-progress all year, and hopefully beyond!). We've discussed Howard Gardner's 9 Types of Intelligence, and students have learned what their end-of-unit project will be. Students will be collecting notes/ideas as we progress through this unit to prepare for their project (a podcast on one aspect of Human Intelligence)...so anything they see online or elsewhere should be bookmarked/saved for a reference. If you see anything relevant, please share it with them! In the upcoming week... We'll begin our first novel! PLEASE make sure your scholar has his/her copy! Grambling State University: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper Honors English 8: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Our first vocabulary quiz will be on Monday, 09/23. Students should be familiar with ALL 84 roots! They can use their notecards to study for short/review for short periods of time in the car, on the bus, or while waiting between activities. Root words linked here: https://d3jc3ahdjad7x7.cloudfront.net/1Wfu6ZLa3Dx2jxFtkGxgyFP5iVqUQNJ2yWyEqNu6ljtNEkJ1.pdf Students will be given a "reading calendar" with tentative (but mostly accurate) discussion and quiz dates. Please help make sure they're on track with their reading by discussing the novel with them and checking for annotations on the calendar's page numbers/due dates. Reading the book alongside them and discussing your opinions of it (the characters, the plot, the author's style/word choice, aspects of Human Intelligence you can identify) will help them be more comfortable with the more profound concepts presented in the work and prepare them to discuss their opinions in class. THANK YOU to the parents/guardians who have sent your "million words" assignment. You'll see this in students' grades in the upcoming week. If you haven't done it...you still have time! Please send in your thoughts/comments about your scholar at your earliest convenience. ...a side note for parents only: As a parent myself, I was intrigued by the title an article recently shared on social media: How Your Brain Stops You From Enjoying Motherhood—And How to Fix It (https://happyyouhappyfamily.com/enjoying-motherhood/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Struggling+to+enjoy+life+as+a+parent%3F+3+quick+fixes+for+you&utm_campaign=Newsletter+-+Enjoying+Motherhood+v2%3A+Resend) I believe it applies to ALL parents/guardians, not just mothers...and it discusses how our BRAINS deal with stress, fatigue, etc and rob us from really enjoying time with our children in meaningful ways. I think as busy adults we can all probably relate...if you have the time, it's a good read and relates to our current unit of study -- Human Intelligence (and the limitations thereof). Have a great week!

Danica Justsen, NBCT

The PTO invites you to join us for the 1st PTO Meeting of the School Year! You can expect to hear about our proposed budget as well as our goal of operating with two separate Executive Operation Boards (one to support the High School and one to support the Middle School). To read the new proposed by-laws visit www.cmitnorthpto.org. Date: Thursday, September 26, 2019 Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm Location: CMIT Middle School Cafeteria, 6100 Frost Place, Laurel, MD 20707 Call in Option Below: 1. Dial In to the Conference (United States): (515) 606-5356 Access Code: 531867 International Dial-in Numbers: https://www.freeconferencecall.com/wall/cmitnorthpto#international 2. Join Online Meeting: Online meeting ID: cmitnorthpto Online meeting link: https://join.freeconferencecall.com/cmitnorthpto Online Instructions: At the scheduled date and time of the meeting, dial in to the conference line. When prompted, enter the access code followed by hash (#). To join the online meeting, click the online meeting link and follow the prompts. To Join the PTO please visit http://www.cmitnorthpto.org/join-online.html For questions please contact the following: General - information@cmitnorthpto.org Membership - membership@cmitnorthpto.org Fundraising - fundraising@cmitnorthpto.org

Thank you, CMIT North PTO

CMIT Community - Please help us provide events and activities for all students at CMIT North Academy Middle School by supporting this important fundraiser through the ordering and selling from a variety of gift items and frozen foods. NOTE: Items are being sold by Middle School Students. High School Supporters interested in purchasing items that are not connected with a Middle School Student should email information@cmitnorthpto.org. SALE ENDS: Thursday, October 10, 2019 - Please turn in all money and order forms by this date! DELIVERY: Mid November. We will give you a one-week notice of exact date. *************** Deliveries MUST be picked up on the date provided. We have no place to store perishable items and cannot be responsible for orders not picked up on the delivery date. *************** MONEY COLLECTION: We accept cash, checks or money orders payable to CMIT North PTO. Please put student's name in the memo area on all checks. Please make sure money turned in matches amount due (count twice)! NOTE: There is a $25 returned check fee. IMPORTANT - INFORMATION -Please keep PINK copy of order form. You will not receive a copy back with your order -Return the WHITE and YELLOW copy with your order -Be sure SELLER Name (student) is on order form and order total matches money turned in -Please, NO DOOR TO DOOR SALES, just to relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers

Thank you, CMIT North Fundraising Committee

This past Tuesday, September 17th, was Constitution Day, a holiday set up to commemorate the signing of the constitution at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17th, 1787. The constitutional convention met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. The United States Constitution that emerged from the convention established a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to conducting relations with foreign governments. Under the reformed federal system, many of the responsibilities for foreign affairs fell under the authority of an executive branch, although important powers, such as treaty ratification, remained the responsibility of the legislative branch. After the necessary number of state ratifications, in 1789, the US Constitution came into effect and has served as the basis of the United States Government ever since. During the speaker's presentation, students went over some of the more predominant articles and rights of the constitution, including the 1st amendment, freedom of speech, religion, the press, and assembly. The 2nd amendment, the right to bear arms, the 4th amendment, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the 8th amendment, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. Students also got to vote on certain topics by saying whether they were for or against the claim. Topics included weather-or-not students should be allowed to carry guns, if they should be allowed to vape, and if Nikki Minaj should retire. The powerpoint presentation that was displayed in the cafeteria also defined voting. The key principles, along with the amendments that covered voting we taught to the students. These were the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments, and are the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or any state on account of race, colour or previous position of servitude, the right for a woman to vote, the law forbidding poll tax, and the right to vote for 18 year olds respectively. Quoting the presentation, "In the United States, the process of voting is the formal action of Americans choosing who will represent them. Many people have sacrificed and died for the right to vote."

Bridgett Adams, Student Staff Writer

Consider getting your fingerprints done early in the year so that you will be ready to volunteer or chaperone a field trip for the remainder of this school year. Volunteers must have their fingerprints done and submit them to the front office. Volunteers must also complete a series of short training videos and submit the certificates to the front office as well. Please see the flyer attached with dates, times, and locations where you can get your fingerprints done! You can access the training videos at this link: https://pgcpsvolunteers-md.safeschools.com/register/34a37d70

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CMIT Administration

PGCPS has partnered with the Maryland Partnership for Prevention, to allow students and staff to receive a flu shot in school. The company will send a nurse to our school to deliver the vaccine. I have included the link to access the consent form and the fact sheet. Flu Clinics will be held in November. In order for a clinic to be offered at our school, a minimum of 30 students/staff members must consent to participate no later than October 18, 2019. Don't delay...sign up today! Link to Online Consent Form - www.vaccineconsent.com Vaccine Information Statement - https://tinyurl.com/HoCoFluVis

CMIT Nurse

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.