Parents, if you are an expert in a field that you think would benefit our community, then we need you! We are looking for parents to present at our Virtual Parent Workshops in November. These are usually 30-40 minute discussions on topics that educate our parents on topics that enhance their parenting and benefit our children. This is designed to make our parents parenting a middle schooler. Topics such as: Cyber Security and Keeping Your Children Safe Teaching Your Children Financial Responsibility The Middle School Mind. Saving for College Interpreting High Stakes Testing Social Media and Bullying Or anything else you think would be of use or interest to our community. Please contact the PTO at MSPresident@cmitnorthpto.org or andrew.harman@pgcps.org

James Screven, Assistant Principal

Hello, Families! I haven't been able to post to the newsletter in a couple of weeks -- so sorry about that! But I wanted to take a few minutes to recognize some of our outstanding students and the hard work they are doing! The following 7th and 8th grade Honors RELA students will receive virtual raffle tickets for Quarter 1, because over the past couple of weeks, in one way or another, they have shown they are tenacious, thoughtful, and eager to learn and help others! 7th grade Students of the Week: Oreoluwa Adebisi is a leader, utilizes mature diction, and puts forth amazing effort in projects! Thank you for your meaningful work and sharing! Davina Bokwala consistently participates and maintains an upbeat attitude for our class. Thanks for your energy and positivity! Kamraan Sahibzada is willing to share his background knowledge that relates to our book (and the culture/language references therein), and he consistently participates openly in class. We appreciate you, Kamraan! Annelyn Webb participates fully in class and shares her insights about our readings. She is a careful reader who can discuss minute details of the book and show us why they matter to the overall picture. Thanks so much for all of your contributions thus far, Annelyn! 8th grade Students of the Week: Grace Omoregbe is a mature leader in our class, facilitating group projects, sharing of materials, and discussions. Thanks for being a role model and guide for our class. Myles Hagans is consistently prepared to share ideas about our readings and doesn't become frustrated when peers ask him to further explain ideas. He is willing to "break down" more challenging concepts we discuss for anyone who needs help, and he ALWAYS has his camera on (which makes it easy to get to know him and see his daily engagement)! Thank you for being so open and helpful! Charles West consistently reads and comes to class prepared to share his thoughts and work. His writing demonstrates a solid effort. Thank you for being so consistent! Samuel Adenola reads and puts thought into interpreting our text. He can clarify others' thinking when it is not as clear or accurate as is ideal, and he thinks critically about all we do. Thank you for promoting the learning of all of us, Samuel! CHALLENGE: Can you recognize these students by their Bitmojis?

Danica Justsen, NBCT

The first virtual Saturday Academy will be held on Saturday October 17th. Parents must sign their scholars up to attend Saturday Academy. The first sign up form will be sent out on Tuesday, October 13, 2020. Once the Saturday Academy sessions are full, the sign up form will be closed. Parents must fill out the sign up form each week. The sign up form will be sent out every Tuesday by 3pm. Saturday Academy sessions are not homework help sessions but skill building sessions that students can use to fill in learning gaps and to enrich learning advancement.

Ms. Wake

Below are tips shared from parents that they use to help their scholar during distance learning: 1) Having a dedicated space for school ; Wear uniforms a few some days just to help put the student in the right frame of mind. 2) Set daily routines. Provide dedicated work space with all materials within arms reach. Implement use of calendar/agenda book. Check google classroom daily. Check in to make sure they are focused and on task. Provide daily praises. Go over notes. Study. Ask questions to ensure they fully understand. Have them reread instructions several times for understanding. Instruct them how to properly advocate for themselves. Ask questions for better understanding. 3) My scholar complained about headaches from looking at the small screen. Therefore we purchased a monitor to be used. Now the headaches are minimal. We use the post-it presentation easel sheets and put them on the wall. My scholar is "visual" and putting the sheets on the wall, helps with keeping up with what needs to be done (in addition to Google classroom). We also use it to solve homework problems (i.e. math). 4) Take notes during class, in case students have questions to the lessons that they didn't understand. Have a journal for each class for organization and do practice lessons after school is over to make sure that they comprehend with the material. 5) I wrote my scholar's class schedule and posted it on the wall. I put an additional monitor for my scholar to make it easier to see the material of the classes and the explanation of the teachers at the same time. 6) We use a calendar and consistent wake up times and make a check off list of what assignments are due AND when due. (Sometimes it is harder for my scholar to decide which to do first unless due date is noted). 7) Finding methods that work specifically for your child. Have them adhere to a schedule, encourage note taking, designated quiet space for learning. 8) Get up on time and prepare as if you are going to an actual classroom. Be attentive & focus and take notes. Sit at a desk and chair. 9) My scholar keeps a notebook at the workspace to jot down reminders for assignments that may need to be completed before 3pm. 10) I just try to remind my scholar to keep up with his work., encourage him to ask for help, and practice everyday. 11) Ask scholar, over dinner, to provide 1 thing learned to discuss and check schoolmax every Friday. 12) Working in a quiet environment and removing cellphones while class is in session. 13) Try to assign practice problems using a big white board. 14) Try to assist my scholar when needed. Thank you to those parents that shared your distance learning tips.

By parents for parents Shared by Ms. Fagan

While I do not manufacture extra credit...sometimes the opportunity presents itself authentically. Our novel, Amina's Voice, has a lot of cultural allusions that are "untapped" or left for readers' research. This week I posted two extra credit options for 7th graders reading this novel that can be done any time in October and submitted via Google Classroom. Here are the descriptions for each: 1 -- FOOD! Try out any of the traditional foods mentioned in our novel, Amina's Voice (Pakistani or Korean). There are several references made throughout the book, so you've got options. You can order it from a restaurant or (even better!) make it with your family. To receive the extra credit, you'll need to submit 3 things: --at l east one picture of you with/eating the food! --a short description of the food/dish in your opinion (like a review...what flavors were dominant? did you enjoy it? to what might you compare it?) --the recipe you used or the restaurant menu from which you ordered (a screenshot is fine) 2 -- LANGUAGE AND CULTURE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2kv56OxM50 What can you learn about the CULTURE of our main character and her family by watching the video? (What does the WAY Urdu phrases are formed / translated show about the culture of the speakers?) What scenes in the novel specifically relate to something in this video?

Danica Justsen, NBCT

Hello, Families! Here's what we've been up to lately... 7th grade Honors RELA finished their first novel, Amina's Voice. They also completed their first major group project, an Objective Visual Summary of a few chapters out of the novel. These projects were amazing -- they developed visual scenes with several working elements, included direct quotes that stood out to them, and linked to information where we could learn more about the cultural references the author makes. They collaborated successfully in groups...it was a big success for most of our students! If you haven't seen their latest project, please ask to see it! 8th grade Honors RELA is finishing their first novella, Anthem, this week and will take the final quiz for it next Wednesday. They also completed Objective Visual Summaries for several pages of the novella and also worked well together (mostly). I am encouraged to see their collaborative, creative, and critical thinking abilities as we are soon moving on to more complex texts. Coming up next... 7th and 8th grade will compose their first formal essays this year (7th grade will focus on the big idea of courage and how it is represented in Amina's Voice, and 8th grade will focus on identity as it is presented in Anthem). The specific prompts will be posted in Google Classroom this weekend so students can preview them/work ahead if they choose...but we'll officially begin working on this on Thursday of the upcoming week. Please ensure your learner has the next required text so we can begin reading it in the coming weeks. 7th grade: La Linea by Ann Jamarillo (we will collaborate with Senora Cantrell...so they'll need this book for both classes) 8th grade: 12 Angry Men (the original drama/script by Reginald Rose) These will both be texts that are difficult to read and annotate online, so a hardcopy is very suggested. Have a wonderful weekend! Looking forward to meeting some of you at PT Conferences on Monday.

Danica Justsen, NBCT

Hello Parents, I am looking forward to meeting some of you on Monday October 12 during parent/teacher conferences. Quick note: Please be on time for your appointments and prepared with your question. The time line is tight and in efforts to be respectful of everyone's time I will start and end the meetings on time. I would advise that you take a look at your students School Max grades before attending the meeting, it may answer your questions or spark some questions. Also be mindful I do not accept late work. If a student has a lawful absence they will receive the missed work from me and be excused for missing class. If the student is absent and it is not a lawful absent they will receive a 0. See you soon!!!

Mrs. Curry

Hello Students & Family, Hope all is well!! I just have a few of reminders. 1. When emailing me, please indicate the students' full name, college and grade level. 2. Please check SchoolMax for weekly updates. 3. If you are late more then 15 minutes to zoom I will not let you into class and that will be an unlawful absences and you will get a 0 for that days lesson. Lawful absences will be given work by me. Have a great one!!!!

Mrs. Curry

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.