September 8

CMITN492 / September 8, 2023

The JV and Varsity Volleyball Team Win Against Laurel HS!

CMIT North HS Platforms and Parent Access:

Hispanic Festival

Sunday, September 17, 2023

Lane Manor Park

7601 West Park Dr., Adelphi, MD 20783

M-NCPPC, Department of Parks and Recreation presents the annual Hispanic Festival!

Join PG Parks and Recreation on Sunday, September 17, 2023, 8:00am - 6:00pm at Lane Manor Park for their Annual Hispanic Festival. Assist staff with setup/breakdown, youth games, inflatables, arts & crafts, and other fun activities. Various shifts available.

This volunteer opportunity is approved for Prince George's County Public Schools student service learning hours.

Pre-registration pgparks.com/volunteer at is required to volunteer.

Contact the Volunteer Services Office at 301-446-3313 for more information.

The Service Learning Hours Form is here.

Hello Class of 2024 and Families!

On Friday, September 1st, I went into College Summit 12 classes to speak with our seniors about the college application process, including many resources available to them that will make their process more organized and efficient.

Here are the highlights!

• 24 hours are required to graduate, but CMIT seniors who apply to 4-year universities usually have closer to 50 hours by the time we submit their applications
• Senior Service Hours for college application transcripts are due by October 10th
• The average number of college applications per senior is 6-7 (no need to do less than 4 or more than 10) and students should consider their data (SAT/GPA) when finalizing their college list
  
• College Reps are coming starting in late September! Students can see which schools are coming on the SY24 College Rep Visit Calendar
• Students should be following up with their Recommendation Letter writers within the first two weeks of school (ASAP)
• Seniors are encouraged to use the College Application Checklist to stay organized throughout their process
• Seniors will use a Materials Request Form for ALL of their requests this year (college applications, on-site admissions, scholarships, etc.) - the request must be made at least 3 school days prior to a submission/pick-up deadline
• Students are responsible for sending SAT/ACT Scores and college-level transcripts on their own
• The FAFSA and MSFAA will open in December this year - it is crucial that students apply!
• Applying to scholarships is SUPER IMPORTANT - the average aid award last year was about $14,000 a year

Dr. Gaudette will be available on Thursdays from 3:00-4:00pm for seniors who need help with any of their application components. Prior to September 28th, students must request to stay after school with Dr. Gaudette - starting September 28th, students may simply attend NHS Tutoring in the Media Center for assistance.

Questions? Email me at ngaudette@cmitacademy.org.

Sincerely,

Dr. Gaudette

Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance. When your scholar is absent, a parent or guardian must fill out the following link: https://forms.gle/9X5351eb268gP6mT8 A parent written or doctor’s note MUST be UPLOADED directly into the form. Parents or guardians who call or email to notify the school of an absence will still be asked to complete the form. If you are experiencing technical difficulties with uploading the note, please contact Mrs. Fermin at the front desk via phone contact 240-767-4080 or cfermin@cmitacademy.org immediately to ensure timely submission of all notes and to avoid absence being considered UNEXCUSED.

Absence from school, including absence for any portion of the day, shall be considered lawful only (excused) for the following reasons: *Death in the immediate family (i.e., parent, guardian, brother, sister, grandparent) of extended family and close non-relative.

*Illness of the student. The principal requires a physician’s certificate from the parent/guardian after three school days.

*Court Summons

*Observance of a religious holiday

*Mental Health Day - Students may receive as an excused absence one (1) day of absence in each semester of each school year for a student’s mental health needs. A note from a physician to excuse a student’s absence for mental health needs is not required.

Family vacations and/or visiting relatives out of state/country are NOT lawful reasons for absence. Attendance at non-CMIT educational activities MAY be excused upon pre-approval by the principal. Families should contact the front desk to obtain an excused absence request form. This form must be returned to the front office at least one week prior to the planned absence.

Make Up Work: Late or make-up work will not be accepted unless the absence is an EXCUSED absence and a form has been completed within 3 DAYS upon your student’s return to instruction. Once the note is submitted online, it is the STUDENT’s RESPONSIBILITY to request makeup work from their teacher(s). The front desk will NOT notify teachers regarding make up work. Please take note that every day the School Communication System (SCS) calls all households to inform parents regarding your child’s tardiness and attendance issues. For questions or concerns related to your student absences or tardiness, please check SchoolMAX to see what attendance or tardiness has been entered by the teacher. If there is a question or concern about a specific class, please contact that specific teacher.

For all other concerns, please email cfermin@cmitacademy.org.

Tardiness Policy Students will be officially tardy to school if they are not in their prospective classrooms at 8:05 am. If your student arrives at school between 8:05 - 8:15 am, they will be accepted through the cafeteria doors. At that time they will be issued an E-Hall tardy pass to their first period class. The time and code of T will be reflected in SchoolMax. Students who are tardy after 8:15 am should enter through the main doors to sign in and receive a tardy pass to class. Sometimes there are highway closures, weather conditions and traffic delays that may cause many students to be tardy. At that time, it will be to the discretion of the school principal to excuse ALL tardiness within a reasonable time frame for that specific day. Please keep in mind that it is of great importance to us that your student arrives safely to school and we are aware of these incidents that do occur from time to time. As defined in PGCPS AP 5113, a student is chronically absent if the student has been enrolled in a school for at least 10 days and is absent 10% or more of the school days while enrolled at that school. A student is habitually truant if the student has been enrolled in a school for 91 or more days in a school year and is unlawfully absent from school for a number of days or portion of days equal to or in excess of 20% of the school days within any marking period, semester, or year. There may be legal consequences when a student is habitually truant.

We are two weeks into the school year, and our students should now be settling into their classes and making their way through the curriculum. Balancing several classes and multiple subjects can be overwhelming, but it does not have to be. Equipped with the skills necessary to maximize their time and prioritize activities, students can make this year a successful one to improve their grades and ultimately their chance of success in their future endeavors. The Princeton Review is holding sessions for all high school grade levels, but it will be important to note that all students should be aware of how important grades are for college admission and how important effective study skills are to afford them the necessary grades. Encourage our students to attend by using the links in the attachment or by using the QR code in the flyer. Wishing everyone a successful start of the school year and sustained success throughout the year!

Encourage our students continue to engage in random acts of kinds throughout the week. Here are some great suggestions and encouraging quotes for the week of September 11:

September 11

Kindness Act Suggestion: Share a funny joke with a friend.

Kindness Quote: "For attractive lips, speak words of kindness." --Audrey Hepburn

September 12

Kindness Act Suggestion: Turn your negative thoughts into gratitude.

Kindness Quote: "The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good and how he treats people who can't fight back." --Abigail Van Buren

September 13

Kindness Act Suggestion: Share a positive video.

Kindness Quote: "Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness." --Lucius Annaeus Seneca

September 14

Kindness Act Suggestion: Resolve to be less judgmental in your day to day life.

Kindness Quote: "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." --Aesop

September 15

Kindness Act Suggestion: Invite a classmate you don’t know to sit at your table during lunch.

Kindness Quote: "When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people." Abraham Joshua Heschel

Hello parents, Please complete the following form https://forms.gle/NBgkSWNGeRdHJHeA8 as soon as you can, to ensure that we have accurate emergency contact information on file for your student. We will not allow students to be picked up by other family or friends without your written permission.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our school @ 240.767.4080 or cfermin@cmitacademy.org

Currently Mr. Elrod's Government classes are analysing a case study from Harvard Business School about efforts to bring the secret ballot to California in the 1890s. The students are annotating this challenging text, with the end goal of crafting a position paper where they advise the then Governor on whether or not he should support the reform bill. Students will then participate in a full class discussion where they work through the facts of the case and debate the proper response from the Governor. At the end Mr. Elrod will reveal to the students what actually happened and the classes review some of the longer term impacts of the case.. Students will complete two to four of these cases over the course of the year depending on what section of government they are taking. More information on the Case Method Institute can be found at www.cmi.org.

AP Government and Politics and AP US History courses taught by Mrs. Cunning.

We are now at the end of our second week of school. Whereas we spent much of last week getting to know our students and reviewing rules and procedures, instruction is now thoroughly underway. I have been energized by classroom visits where I am routinely observing teachers engaging students in lessons and students responding in kind. It is a wonderful sight to see.

In four short weeks, we will be halfway through the first quarter and looking at progress report grades. I encourage you to make a habit of checking Canvas and SchoolMax to monitor your student's progress or set aside dedicated time for them to come to you with updates. If you notice your student needs support, we have a whole team of that waiting for them. They should start by reaching out to their teacher.

Lastly, I cannot thank you enough for sending your students to us in uniform, with clear backpacks, working Chromebooks, and a readiness to learn. If we can keep the momentum that we are building, we might surprise ourselves this year.

All the best,

Ms. Colandrea

9th + 10th Grade Assistant Principal

It is officially time to get SGA back up and running for this new school year. The SGA advisors will be Ms. Upshaw and Ms. Kelsey.

We will host an informational presentation during all lunches next Thursday, September 14. For 10-12 grade students, in order to qualify to be a part of SGA you must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and no disciplinary action on your record. 9th grade students that are interested in joining must have a recommendation from at least 2 current teachers and also no disciplinary action on your record.

SGA begins September 28! Cannot wait to hear some of your ideas and get to planning for the year!

On Tuesday, the 5th of September, Team Illusion submitted their first entry for the Virtual RobotX Competition. This competition takes place at the Sydney Regatta in Australia. This year we are competing virtually, so far, in a field of 12 high school and college teams. The contest has us programming a 16-foot catamaran to be a research vessel, carrying out 8 autonomous rasks among the regarra's docks. If we can work out the dynamics, we will compete again next year, in person, in Sydney.

This week Chemistry class students investigated the chemical change demonstration "Reaction in a bag" and wrote their observations like color change, bubble formation temperature change and completed CER form. They have started POGIL group activity. They discussed and shared the ideas in the group and presented the group's ideas to the class. They read scientific articles and watched videos about a real case, "Flinn's Water Crisis"