Hello, 8th Grade Families! On Friday, January 31st, several staff and students from the high school visited the middle school to talk to 8th grade students about their transition into the 9th grade. Although the time was short, it was a pleasure for us to start getting to know them. We met with them for approximately one hour to discuss high school expectations and opportunities including the Information Technology Early College (ITEC) program, Advanced Placement coursework, clubs, and athletics. During the presentation, students received information about how to apply for both the ITEC program and AP courses and received some important deadline information. For your reference, you can find the presentation we shared with students, including staff contact information, at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/rbkbrex Attached you will find a letter from Mrs. Andrew and Ms. Gaudette explaining scheduling, ITEC applications, and AP applications. ITEC applications and AP applications are also attached for your convience. We are excited to begin this journey with you and your students. Respectfully, Ms. Colandrea - tcolandrea@cmitacademy.org - 9th grade Assistant Principal Mrs. Andrew - candrew@cmitacademy.org - ITEC Ms. Gaudette - ngaudette@cmitacademy.org - AP and Scheduling

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Casandra Andrew

Cells are the basic unit of life and make up all plants, animals, and bacteria. It is the molecule that controls everything that happens in the cell. Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) contains instructions that direct the activities of the cells, and ultimately, the body. If every house has its own blueprint, DNA is the blueprint of life. Life Science students 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 Bridge Advisor)

Dear Parents, I have attached an overview of the content in Chapter 7. Also, I have attached vocabulary flashcards. Please have your child go over the vocabulary words daily.

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Mr. Ephraim

Next PTO Meeting is March 12th @ 6:30PM. JOIN THE PTO MEETING IN-PERSON IN THE MS CAFETERIA OR ON FACEBOOK LIVE!! FRIEND US at CMIT MS PTO on Facebook and join us LIVE for the PTO Meeting on Thursday, March 12th at 6:30PM **Parents- Make sure to leave a comment with your name and student’s college in order to be counted for the contest. Teachers- Make sure to put your name and the colleges that you represent so they all get a point! ** The February 13th PTO meeting is up on our Facebook page for you to view. You must Friend CMIT MS PTO to view the meetings. PTO CONTEST Bring Your Parent PTO Meeting Pizza Contest CONTINUES and we are now adding TEACHERS!! Teachers please join the meeting either live or in-person to earn points for the colleges that you represent. PTO Newsletter - The PTO sponsored the "Bring Your Parent to the PTO Meeting" Pizza Party Contest on February 13th. The College that had the highest parent participation at the February 13th PTO Meeting wins a Pizza Party! Parents could attend either in-person or via Facebook Live. AND THE WINNING COLLEGE IS…… NO ONE☹- There was a 3-way tie amongst: • Baylor • Northwestern & • Purdue THE CONTEST CONTINUES TO MARCH 12th To submit agenda items for the PTO meeting, or send questions please email-MSinformation@cmitnorthpto.org

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Thank You, MS CMIT PTO

Need a Passport? CMIT Academy Middle School families can come out on Saturday, February 29th from 10AM to 2PM, to apply for a new passport or renew an old one. This event is for the entire family! The United States Postal Service is offering full on-site services for this event. This event is a courtesy to the community to enhance community engagement and develop relationships. There is no added fee for this convenience other than the normal passport fees required by the Department of State. Passport pictures will be taken at the event. For more information on passport requirements and fees, please visit: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html Passport Fees- Passport Fees Chart_Acceptance Facility_JAN2020.pdf Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/seME5h9EbBavzGeWA *The PTO will be selling refreshments while you wait to support your Middle School PTO initiatives.*

Thank You, MS CMIT PTO

Air Pods are one of the latest products from Apple and are a hot product amongst the kids . Like all Apple products, these audio devices are expensive and require a certain level of responsibility to own them. We dissuade parents from sending their student to school with these expensive items, since they are often lost or misplaced. According to Nique.net, a well respected technology blog, the number one cause for lost or stolen Apple products is negligence, leaving items unsecured in public places. The number of air pods lost weekly at CMIT has reached a feaverish point. The requests for using the school camera system to search for these items has overwhelmed the administrative team. These requests are tying up administrative time and resources and are impacting our ability to carry out our mission of improving instruction for the students. From this moment on, the responsibility for securing these items and keeping track of them must be placed upon the student. If students choose to bring these items to school they must take responsibility for properly securing them at all times. If lost they must retrace their steps to find them, or check with the front desk to see if they were turned in to lost and found. We can no longer use school resources, such as the school camera system and administrative time to search for these items. We strongly urge parents to encourage students to leave these expensive and easily misplaced items at home or if they must bring them to make sure they secure them in their lockers with their cell phone before school starts.

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.