Many parents are electing to have their children walk from CMIT. If you choose to do so, please follow these protocol: 1. Complete a Walker's Permission Slip and turn into Front Office. (See link) 2. Students must dismiss when Walker's are called over the announcements. 3. Walker's must have transportation arrangements off CMIT property. (Students cannot be picked up anywhere along Front Place).

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Mr. Andrew Brauer, Principal

Thank you to all of our parents and drivers that have been so patient with us as we open the new school year! You help make CMIT North Middle School a safer place for our scholars. Please continue to adhere to the traffic patterns on the attached Traffic Flow Map. We are continuously working with those unaware of the procedures to ensure they are informed and comply. Some key points: 1. Only students of commercial bus and van riders are permitted to exit to the bus lot. 2. Student Walkers must have a signed permission slip on file and be picked up off property. 2. All other students are required to be picked up in the rear of the school building. 3. Do not pick up your student on the side of the road, round-a-bouts, or other parking lots. 4. Respect and obey the requests of school personnel directing traffic. Dismissal time is at 2:55pm each afternoon. On Thursday and Friday, student pick up was complete by 3:10. That's 15 minutes for 550 students to get to their lockers, exit the building, and for vehicles to exit the school grounds. Additionally, after school programs have begun allowing traffic congestion to be reduced. We appreciate your patience. As these procedures become routine the process will become even more efficient.

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Andrew Brauer, Principal

The Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation (CLF) invites you to participate in their annual Culture Fest on November 3rd. This year a celebration of culture, cider, cocoa, music, games, local vendors, silent auctions, raffles, and student performances will be included. CLF needs your help in getting the word out to family, friends, and your individual networks. Please share the attached letter with any and all interested parties. If you know of licensed vendors interested in reserving a space, donating Silent Auction item/s, or have any questions please contact: Mark J. Sutherland Community Partnerships Director Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation T. (301) 776.2300 x.104 E. msutherland@clfmd.org

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CMIT Administration

Picture Day is October 17th. Order forms were sent home this week. You can also order online with the following information: www.mylifetouch.com Picture Day ID: MJ018426q0

CMIT Administration

The Practice SAT (PSAT 8/9) for 8th grade students will be given the morning of December 5, 2018. This test comes from College Board and provides indicators in many areas. PSAT 8/9 is used for: 1. Acceptance into PGCPS Specialty High School Programs (Science and Tech, Aerospace Engineering, etc.) 2. Provides areas of strengths and growths for which to improve in an effort to be prepared for the SATs. 3. PSAT 8/9 is also a predictor of success in High School Honors Courses and AP courses at CMIT High School, and is one piece of data used for placement (amongst others). CMIT North Middle School prepares students for the PSAT 8/9 through the standard curriculum and does not stop to prepare solely for the test. Parents are encouraged to utilize the following resources in their spare time to practice and prepare. Khan Academy https://www.flipsnack.com/ehall/khan-academy-student-accounts-set-up.html PARCC/PSAT standards in Khan Academy: Use the links in the document to go directly to Khan Academy that focus on these topics. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zTi4_T3WZuEgaycxZzE50c-EOzhJMXTOPid07j7vd6w/edit?usp=sharing

CMIT Adminstration

Dear Parent, Great news! Our school has partnered with Smile Programs…the mobile dentists to offer in-school dental care. Sign up your child today at www.myschooldentist.com. Even better, dental care is usually at no cost to you. All insurance is accepted including Medicaid and CHIP. For those without insurance, a low cost self-pay option is available. Convenient and comfortable Our in-school dental program saves you time and provides a safe and comfortable place for your child to receive gentle dental care from licensed local professionals. Dental care includes a complete dental exam, x-rays, cleaning, fluoride and sealants when necessary, and in some cases, restorative care such as fillings. Dental care for a healthy life Children who see a dentist regularly may have fewer health issues like: • Early tooth loss caused by dental decay • Gum disease • Heart disease • Impaired speech development Help keep your child healthy, in school and learning. Simply go to www.myschooldentist.com.

Nurse Anthony

On Saturday October 13th from 10am-12pm we will be holding our first parent workshops. The topics of the workshops were determined by parents and discuss issues that parents want to know more about. This year we have the honor of having a secret service special agent discuss internet dangers and ways in which you can keep your child safe. How many of us really know what are children are doing on the electronic devices, even if we check them frequently. Additionally Mr. Avsar, High School Assistant Principal and College Coordinator will run a group discussion on what you can do to start the process of building your child's college resume, an important part of the college application process, beginning in middle school. Lastly, our own Mr. Jonson will discussing the adolescent brain and behavior. He will shed light on why your child seems so different in middle school than they were in elementary. It will be a great way to learn about your child's experience in the middle school world and what you can do to make it safer, more productive and happier. Refreshments will be served. If interested please refer to the sign up link below. Please note that because the nature of some of the presentations maybe graphic and not suitable for children, we ask that students not accompany their parents to this event. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0444AEAC29A7F94-fall

James Screven, Assistant Principal

Students in Life Science learned the cell organelles and their functions, and biological level of organization. They completed their cell packets and these are due on Monday. They will have their test about this lesson this Monday. Students in Physical Science learned how to classify and measure matter. They experienced to classify matter through an activity where they were given mixture with 4 components. They designed a method to separate the given sample into its 4 components and identified if the sample is an element, compound, or mixture at each stage of separation. They measured the volume of the cylinders through water displacement method and calculated density, and determined the relationship between mass, volume, and density through the "Density Lab" activity.

Natalie Crespo-Montano MS Science

Another Poe narrative read, and we're almost ready to compose first formal literary analysis essay! We have read three short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and we will be watching his biography to understand the inspiration behind all his creepy/disturbing tales. Then we'll outline and compose our essays, conduct revision sessions, and submit final drafts! Writing is a long process, so please support our students by reviewing their work and making notes of where they might revise/edit to improve their written work. Getting parent or adult feedback (aside from Mrs. Justsen) will be a requirement for draft #2 of this essay. We will begin reading Anthem by Ayn Rand in the next couple of weeks. I have copies of the book students can borrow; however, if they wish to annotate the novel, they are welcome to purchase their own copies or print the text from the internet (it is a very short novella). We'll read the first chapter together to get them started with Rand's difficult style, and the remainder of the novella will be independent reading. We are continuing our study of our 84 selected Greek and Latin Root Words. Students should continue to review these roots and will be quizzed every Monday until they become "Root Rulers" ("experts") on these roots. Students should KEEP THEIR NOTECARDS in a Ziplock bag or envelope for the entire year and will submit them at the end of each quarter for an additional homework grade. Ultimately, students should maintain their SAT vocabulary notecards through the 11th grade, when they take the SAT (and continue to add to their stacks as they participate in SAT prep courses, discover new words in their reading over the next few years, etc). Many students and CMIT families attended the Baltimore Book Festival last weekend -- THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS FUN EVENT! It was great to see some students at the event and to hear about all the books they got autographed, the authors they met and spoke with, and the books they and their families brought home! Attached are some of the students' pictures. If you did not attend, no worries -- there's another event this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) in Baltimore: The International Poe Festival! Please see this link and attend if you can: https://poefestinternational.com/ If students take selfies at the event, they can earn extra credit toward Quarter 1 grades! The event is completely free, including parking! Thank you to every parent/guardian who has written "A Million Words or Less..." I am LOVING the opportunity you've given me to learn about your children. If you have not submitted your "homework assignment," please do so when you have time! Because of the field trip and other interruptions next week, the Article of the Week #1.3:" Why Shouldn't We Pay Student-Athletes?" will be "continued" until this coming Friday (10/12). This is a complex article that requires some adult assistance in seeing "all sides" of the argument, so please continue to support our students by discussing it with them. An extension activity (posted in Google Classroom) for the week is to find and annotate/respond to an article (or podcast) with a differing point of view/argument than the one presented in this AoW. Here is the original AoW: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/03/23/596132113/why-shouldnt-we-pay-student-athletes

Danica Justsen, NBCT

Biology students from Middle schools got excited with microscopy. The following objectives were utilized: 1. Practice proper handling of the light microscope. 2. Learn the names and functions of the light microscope parts. 3. Acquire skill in using the light microscope by carefully following all directions. 4. Prepare a wet mount. 5. Locate objects under medium and high power magnification. The laboratory involved secondary level coursework using light microscopes from basic to advanced observations. Students demonstrated the importance of basic microscopy techniques to identify and differentiate human to animal hairs, cheeks cells to onion skin cells and the letter. A microscope allows scientists to investigate worlds that are otherwise too small to be seen As the students shown the basics of the light microscope and some simple techniques such as color prep for microorganisms (pond water), summary of the history of the evolution of microscopy was first presented and contextualized in the history of Sciences.

Gemma Y Bognot CLARKE, Ph.D Grade 8 Science Teacher Science Department Chair

Hello Parents, We have had a busy last couple of days in the technology classroom. From creating comic strips, to learning about technology systems and the components of a system to taking keyboarding lessons. In the upcoming weeks we will continue to explore technology in a way that the kids can understand more about a system and how it works. We listed out the inputs and outputs of a technological system and created technology projects that explain all about it. The kids are enjoying the fact that they get to share about how they use technology and they love to explain their individual projects in front of the class. Some students have brought in flash drives to save their work so that they can have it even after they leave my class. Please feel free to send your child in to class with a flash drive. The flash drive doesn't need to be 4GB or more. A 1 GB flash drive is fine. Over time the students will develop a portfolio on their flash drive and they can look back over all their work and enjoy their progress. Please ask your child at home what they have been learning about in technology. Ask them if they can explain a technological system. 💻

Mrs. Conde-Technology

Dear Parents and Students, Please see below information for the Middle School Cheerleading interest Meeting for the 2018-19 season; When: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 Time: 3 pm to 4:00 pm Location: Middle school cafeteria Pick up time: 4:00 pm SHARP This meeting should be attended by those who are interested in trying out for this year's middle school cheer team. In order to try-out for the Cheer team, a player must have a physical exam form completed. Below is a link to the forms that must be completed. Please complete all registration items and upload a scanned copy of your physical to http://www.formreleaf.com Steps for completing registration on FormReLeaf can be found on thehttp://cmitacademy.org/middleschool/physicalexamination/ Instructions document. If you have specific questions about the meeting, practice, competition dates and times, please contact the program head coach. Cheerleading - Sabrina Bond secretary@cmitacademy.org If you have any other general athletic related questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at msathletics@cmitacademy.org We look forward to seeing all of you at the meeting. Thank you,

MS Athletic Department

THIS WEEK SCHEDULE : Baseball and Softball Hyattsville vs CMIT - North 10/08/2018 5:30 PM -Away Ogle vs CMIT - North 10/09/2018 5:30 PM -Away CMIT - North vs Orem 10/11/2018 5:30 PM -Home CMIT NORTH Baseball and Softball Home Field Address Montpellier Park 12741-12749 Laurel Bowie Rd, Laurel, MD 20708 https://goo.gl/maps/6bMGSDxku5p

MS Athletic Department

As our membership campaign continues we encourage all parents and staff members to join the PTO to support the important work that we do. The 2 step process can be found by visiting the link below. Use this direct link to join online: http://www.cmitnorthpto.org/join-online.html Thank you, CMIT North PTO Membership Committee membership@cmitnorthpto.org

CMIT North PTO

PGCPS has an App you can download on your phone and get daily updates on Grades, Attendance, Alerts and more. Go to https://www1.pgcps.org/bbapp/ to see how to get the Blackboard App.

CMIT Administration

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.