Greetings CMIT Family! As you've probably heard, all Maryland schools are closed until April 24th due to COVID-19 and the attempt to limit the spread of the virus. These are unprecedented times, and therefore, call for unprecedented efforts to ensure the continuation of learning for our students. PGCPS is implementing a plan in which CMIT will participate. CMIT is here to assist in anyway possible to ensure that our students get the best access to an education possible. The plan has two phases. Phase 1 (March 30 - April 8) - 3rd Quarter ended March 30. Students to complete all assignments assigned between 3/16/2020 and 3/27/2020 as instructed by teachers by Friday, April 3rd at 3:00pm. Any missing assignments from 3/16 to 3/27 will be entered as "Exempt" and will not have a bearing on a student's quarter grade. - No new assignments will be assigned between Monday, March 30th through April 13, 2020. - Distribution of Chromebooks took place Friday, April 3rd at CMIT North Middle School to those in need. CMIT North Middle School distributed over 100 chromebooks to ensure every student has access to distance learning. - Teachers attended training this week on Distance Learning and online conferencing tools. - Teachers have until April 8th at midnight to complete 3rd Quarter grades. April 9 - April 13: Spring Break Phase 2 (April 14th - April 24th) - Students will attend virtual classes live or via recording each day. (Schedule to be provided next week) - Students will complete assignments by the due dates provided by teachers. - Students will earn a Pass (P) or Incomplete (I) grade at the conclusion of the 4th quarter. Final grades will represent a letter grade from the first three quarters and an explanation included on all transcripts that fourth-quarter grades were earned remotely. As more information becomes available I will share with teachers, parents, and students as soon as able.

Andrew Brauer, Principal

Students, In this time of quarantine, we all could use a little entertainment. We ask that you submit writing that we can turn into student featured articles. It can be on anything that you want to share. It can be a poem.... It can be a creative story.... It can be a recipe .... It can be on your thoughts about the world .... It can be news that affects our school community ... We only ask that you write your ideas clearly, check your work for spelling and punctuation errors. Include a photo of yourself. Yes, it can be from your phone. For our news, thoughts and creative writers, the piece should be no less than 100 but no more than 500 words. Please submit to jscreven@cmitacademy.org The student who submits the most articles, during our quarantine, will get a Chick-Fil-A gift card from Mr Screven upon our return.

James Screven, Assistant Principal

Hello Parents/Guardians, Please click the link below for the list of summer school and/or extracurricular activities information for students PGCPS will be offering this summer. Students who will be recommended for summer school will be contacted via letter in the coming weeks. If you have any questions regarding this blog please contact Mr. Johnson, Guidance Counselor, for more information at yjohnson@cmitacademy.org Click on link: https://www1.pgcps.org/summerschool/#Positive%20Day%20Camp

Yurhance Johnson

Hello Parents/Guardians, Prince George's County has raised money for families who are in need of assistance called the Prince George's County COVID-19 Hourly Employee Relief Fund. From the funds raised, from the money raised PGC will give $200 EPG Cash Cards to Prince George’s County residents who have been laid off due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. A priority will be given to those who were making less than $19 an hour. The $200 will help those who are between their last paycheck and government assistance. Prince George's County hope that the $200 dollar's will be used to pay for a family meal, groceries, gas, or a bill. I have attached the flyer to this blog. Please click on the flyer for more information and steps to acquiring the gift card. Thanks Sincerely,

Attachment(s)

Yurhance Johnson

Ms Curry wanted to make sure all students had access to google classroom for her classes. Please be mindful of the following classroom codes for all taking health second semester. She asks that you please follow all directions and adhere to due dates. Any questions please contact Ms. Curry at dcurry@cmitacademy.org 6th A Day: gdjjalb 6th B Day: yx56exp 7th A / B Day: foiw6yu Thank you

James Screven, Assistant Principal

Greetings to all parents and students, My hope, first and most importantly, is that all are safe and healthy. Last week, we learned that the school closure will continue at least until April 24, 2020. With an additional four weeks out of school, the required expectation will be distance learning. I, along with all the rest of my colleagues, have been working to learn and begin to implement distance learning platforms and methods. Earlier this week, I received training on using Google Meet. I have already implemented the use of Google Classroom for homework, essay, and assessment submissions throughout the 2019/2020 school year. Students have also received daily updates on missed classwork assignments through Google Classroom. As a result, I have concluded that the most seamless and intuitive online learning tool to utilize for my RELA classes is Google Meet. Some of my colleagues have implemented the use of other distance learning platforms in a live feed format that is recorded for viewing at a later time. I will implement Google Meet ONLY as a recorded lesson method of instruction. I would like to preemptively respond to some of the questions you may have about the rationale leading to my decision. While live feed instruction ideally is an exciting way of delivering instructional material to students, the method is not without various issues which, in some cases, we have only recently learned about such as "Zoombombing." Furthermore, there are some ambiguities and uncertainties about parental consent and other legal matters that school system officials are still working out. I will deliver instruction by recording my computer screen only and the students will hear my voice guide them through the lesson. I will attempt to address most of the questions students may have about the three areas of focus--reading, writing, and language--through the video recorded instruction. Students will be required to view the video and complete two assignments I post on Google Classroom. The two assignments will be due two days after the video lesson is delivered. The CEO has directed RELA teachers to deliver instruction on Mondays; consequently, both RELA assignments will be due Wednesday mornings by 9:00 a.m. After viewing the instruction on the video, students who are in need of further guidance, they will be able to direct their questions in an email to jconde@cmitacademy.org between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. I will respond to relevant questions as quickly as possible. The administration at CMIT has directed teachers at CMIT to provide a balance of assignments according to the grade categories on SchoolMax; therefore, the two assignments will include one assignment that will be in the classwork category and one that will be in the homework category. Because the CEO has given a directive that only two assignments be given in what I believe is an attempt at not overwhelming students with a daunting number of assignments, I will restrict the number of assignments to only two; however, to meet the CMIT administration requirement of a balance in the three categories for RELA, I will give students a quiz the subsequent Monday morning to include selected response questions on the material they learned the previous week. The quiz is not an "assignment" but instead a brief assessment of the material covered. The assessments will not be as comprehensive as the weekly tests they completed prior to the school closure, but I will be able to determine how much of the material the students have absorbed throughout the previous week. I will open the assessment at 9:00 a.m. and it will remain open until 1:00 p.m. when I will close the quiz and the Google Form will not longer be accessible by students. Distance learning instruction will begin Tuesday April 14, 2020. I will finalize third quarter grades after today as the CEO has extended the time students have to complete the work they were assigned to complete between March 16-March 27. Students were instructed to complete an essay by March 27. The time was extended until April 3, 2020. I will check any new submissions after Friday April 3, 2020. When published, the fourth quarter grade will not be a letter grade; instead, it will appear as either pass or incomplete for RELA. Please let me know if you have any questions about anything I covered. Thank you for your cooperation in this trying time. We as teachers have always depended on you to ensure that learning continued throughout the day before the school closure, but in this time of distance learning, we will become even more dependent on you to ensure students are on task and participating in the learning process. I truly appreciate you taking a more active role in your students' learning process. Best regards and stay safe,

Mr. Conde RELA 7 Teacher

In these extraordinary and unprecedented times we can all agree that everyday people have become heroes. I want to recognize the teaching staff of CMIT, who have in many cases gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that a continuity of educational services were delivered, even when their own personal situations made that a challenge. Please join me in extending to the CMIT teaching staff a round of applause. They certainly deserve our respect and thanks.

James Screven, Assistant Principal

During our Chromebook pickup on Friday April 3rd, I noted that many parents did not have the opportunity to read the agreement. Please find that agreement link below, so that you are familiar with your responsibilities for the borrowed equipment. Please note that the Chromebooks lent are not PGCPS property, but have been instead recently been purchased by Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation for use by CMIT students. Therefore, they are not easily replaced. We ask that you and your student please take extra care in their handling. Thank you.

Attachment(s)

James Screven, Assistant Principal

It is vitally important that parents stay connected for timely updates. 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.

Andrew Brauer, 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.