The recent events at our capitol in Washington DC have all of us on edge. We all have many questions and so do our scholars. On Thursday and Friday of last week social studies teachers were provided direction on facilitating a safe space for students to ask questions and have discussion around what they may have seen on tv or social media related to the protests and riots at the capitol building. Politics is always a sensitive topic. As a former social studies teacher I can tell you that it is our goal to always remain neutral and act as facilitators of discussion. When current events of a sensitive nature occur it is our responsibility to recognize the opportunity to use the event as a "teachable moment" and facilitate discussion with students that is appropriate for their age. I encourage parents to have conversations about these events at home with their children to find out how they are feeling and what they are thinking. We all have questions, lets explore them together. In addition to the educational aspect of the events, we also have a counselor, Mr. Johnson (yurhance.johnson@pgcps.org), on staff that is available should any student be experiencing anxiety or stress.

Andrew Brauer, Principal

As we promised to return with good news, CMIT North MS received two 2nd place and one 3rd place medal from NCS Invitational Science Olympiad. We have started the Science Olympiad invitational competitions last month and the Science Olympiad team made a great job on December 12 at the National Cathedral School Virtual Invitational Science Olympiad competition. CMIT MS has ranked 2nd place in both Disease Detectives and Dynamic Planet events and ranked in 3rd place Game On event.

Esra Kocaslan-Inci Science Department Chair

2021 Black History Month Content Creator Challenge All submissions received before January 29th, 2021 will be entered into a prize raffle! Join Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation (CLF) in the celebration of Black History Month by participating in the 2021 Black History Month Content Creator Challenge! This year’s theme focuses on African Americans who have helped to tell the story of American Life. We challenge ALL students to step into the role of a newspaper/ magazine editor. Students are tasked to create a 8x8 newspaper/magazine cover highlighting significant African American Content Creators (writers, journalists, reporters, photojournalists, poets, film makers, artists ,etc.) along with a 280 character or less description of their cover. All submissions must be sent to CLFPR@CLFMD.ORG. Please remember to include your project name and “BHM Challenge” in the subject line of your submission. You must include your NAME, GRADE, and SCHOOL in the body of your submission email. CLF will post student projects throughout the month of February to celebrate Black History Month. Be sure to keep an eye on our news feeds to see what projects appear! We encourage all participants to include the social media handle of the group or individuals that inspired you! Any projects submitted after January 29th will still have a chance to be shared on social media, but unfortunately will not be included in the prize raffle! Challenge Rules: To be entered in the raffle all submissions must be sent to CLFPR@CLFMD.ORG by January 29th All descriptions should be at least 140 characters, but shall not exceed 280 characters All newspaper/magazine covers must be 8in x8in. Scoring Rubric: Comprehension (20 points) How well does your publication cover reflect a thorough comprehension of the topic? Does the image provide visual clues/text to support the student’s topic selection? Organization (20 points) Is the cover easy to read? Is there a logical flow when looking at the publication cover? IS a title clearly displayed? Cohesion (20 points) Does the cover read as a whole work of art integrating text, images and other elements? Is the cover eye catching? Creativity (20 points) Use of diverse resources, language and style, creative angle? Writing (20 points) Correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure. Transfer of Rights: Each applicant and his/her parent or guardian must agree to give all rights to the submitted artwork, including copyright, to the Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation. This transfer of rights will allow CLF, at a minimum, to reproduce, distribute, and display your artwork. The winner’s submission may be duplicated in various mediums and used to promote Black History Month. Warmest regards, Community Partnerships Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation 6151 Chevy Chase Dr. Laurel, MD 20707 T. (301) 776.2300 Ext.#104 F. (240) 547-2571 E. CLFPR@CLFMD.ORG www.clfmd.org

CLF Community Partnerships

The end of the 2nd quarter is Wednesday, January 27th. Check your student's schoolmax to get an idea of how they are performing and make sure there are no concerns to be addressed. If you have any concerns regarding your student's grade, please do not wait until the last day of the quarter to address it as it becomes more difficult to resolve issues as the quarter comes to a close. Contact the teacher to address your concerns and if it is not resolved, email your student's administrator. As a reminder, the 6th grade administrator is Mrs. Linnenkamp (jessica.lash@pgcps.org) and the 7th/8th grade administrator is Mr. Screven (james.screven@pgcps.org) There are documents under the technology resource tab on www.cmitacademy.org that will assist you in monitoring google classroom as well as a step by step guide for the SchoolMax Family Portal.

CMIT Administration

Students will be taking the MAP test Wednesday, January 27th. Specific session times will be sent to students and parents the week before the assessment. Students will not be expected to complete asynchronous assignments on this day and their participation in MAP will count as their attendance. A make-up session will be offered for students who are absent.

CMIT Administration

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL !!!! Looking forward to a BIGGER & better New Year, even though we started off a little rocky lets continue to have positive vibes for the rest of the year. Just a few reminders to the students: Wednesday, January 13 8th grade Chapter 6 Test 7th grade Chapter 9 Test Finial Test will be B Day January 22 8th grade chapter 7 7th grade chapter 1 A Day January 25 8th grade chapter 7 7th grade chapter 1 Remember just showing up to zoom does not give you credit. Showing up and completing the work done together and submitting on time is what gets you the grade. Special Shout out and extra classwork points to ALL my Friday January 8th B Day classes on perfect attendance!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.