September 15

CMITN493 / September 15, 2023

Hello, 9th + 10th Grade Families!

We continue to have an exciting time this school year even as the days are getting shorter and the work is in full swing. We believe that your involvement is crucial to student success, so please make a note about these upcoming opportunities:

• Back to School Night (in-person): Thursday, September 21st from 6pm to 8pm
• 9th + 10th Grade Family Meeting (virtual): Thursday, September 28th from 6pm to 7pm
• 9th + 10th Grade Coffee with Counselor + AP (virtual): Friday, September 29th in the morning (Time TBD)

Please check your email in the coming week for additional information.

Ms. Colandrea

Assistant Principal, 9th + 10th Grades

Greetings CMIT Students and Families,

We are thrilled to invite you to our annual Back to School Night, which will be held in-person on Thursday, September 21st, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM EST.

Back to School Night is a wonderful opportunity for parents to connect with our school community, get to know our dedicated administrative team, and gain insight into your child's educational journey for the upcoming year.

Here are some important details for the evening:

Date: Thursday, September 21st Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST

Agenda:

6:00 PM - 6:10 PM

• Welcome

• Join us in the school gymnasium for a warm welcome from our administrative team.

6:15 PM - 8:00 PM

• Follow Your Child's Schedule

• Parents and students are encouraged to follow your child's schedule, just like a typical school day. You'll visit each classroom to meet the teachers and gain valuable insights into the curriculum and classroom expectations. Please bring or have access to your child's class schedule to make this process smoother.

• Lunch Period - Meet with Our Professional School Counselors

• Our dedicated Professional School Counselors will meet with parents and students in the cafeteria during students' lunch periods. They play a crucial role in supporting our students' academic and emotional well-being.

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend Back to School Night on September 21st. We believe that your involvement in your child's education is essential for their success, and this event is designed to foster a strong partnership between home and school.

If you have any questions or need further information, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's grade-level administrator.

We look forward to seeing you at Back to School Night and working together to make this school year a fantastic one for your child!

-CMIT Admin Team

Let's encourage one another to be kind this year, or even kinder than we normally are. If we wish to eliminate negative and hurtful thoughts and behaviors, the negative thoughts and behaviors must be replaced with positive ones; otherwise, we will continue to interact with one another in ways that are unkind and unproductive. If you wish to improve your interpersonal relationships, try one or all of the following suggestions for the week of September 18 and reflect on the kindness quotes by journaling:

September 18

Kindness Suggestion: Hug a loved one. Make it a long hug!

Kindness Quote: "The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been kindness, beauty, and truth." --Albert Einstein

September 19

Kindness Suggestion: Write a kind note and place it on the bathroom mirror.

Kindness Quote: "Life is mostly froth and bubble; two things stand like stone: kindness in another's trouble, courage in our own." --Adam Linsay Gordon

September 20

Kindness Suggestion: Compliment someone on something other than their clothing or looks

Kindness Quote: "Kindness can transform someone's dark moment with a blaze of light. You'll never know how much your caring matters. Make a difference for another today." --Amy Leigh Mercree

September 21

Kindness Suggestion: Change three small things about your routine that will help the environment.

Kindness Quote: "Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate." --Albert Schweitzer

September 22

Kindness Suggestion: Skip the meat and eat fresh veggies today.

Kindness Quote: "Ask yourself: have you been kind today? Make kindness your modus operandi and change your world." --Annie Lennox

Student Attendance Policy School attendance plays a major part in student achievement. Being chronically absent or missing 10% of the school year (about 18 days) for lawful or unlawful reasons can drastically affect a student's academic success. School achievement begins with regular attendance. Parents/guardians must ensure that all school age children in their care are in school on time daily.

Additionally, school personnel must communicate any attendance problems or concerns to parents/ guardians in a timely manner. Parents are required to send a signed written note with reason for absence. If the absence is law- ful, the student will receive missed classwork and assignments. Documentation may be requested for absences of three or more consecutive days. Students Reporting Late to School It is imperative for students to be on time at the beginning of the school day. The official school attendance documentation is recorded during this time. Schools are required to admit students to school regardless of the time they arrive. (However, students who arrive late to school must report first to the appropriate administrative office to obtain a late pass before being admitted to any classroom or other area of the school). This pass must be shown to all of the student's teachers as the student reports to each class during the day, as well as to teachers of any missed classes during the next school day. If the student does not obtain and show the pass to all teachers, the tardy will be UNEXCUSED.

Additionally, for the tardiness to be excused, students are required to bring a note from the parent/guardian explaining the reason for the tardiness. Lawful Absence Absence from school, including absence for any portion of the day, shall be considered lawful only for the following reasons:

• Death in the immediate family

• Illness of the student. The principal may require a physician's certificate from the parent/guardian of a student reported absent for illness at least three school days. If the absences reach six days, a physician's certificate will be required. If needed, access is available at a Prince George's County Public Schools Wellness Center.

• Pregnancy and parenting related conditions.

• Absences due to labor, delivery, recovery, prenatal and postnatal medical appointment.

• Absences due to an illness or medical appointment of the student's child. After four days of such absences during a school year a physician's note may be required.

• A parenting student is allowed a minimum of 10 days excused after the birth of a child.

• Absences due to legal appointments related to family law.

• Court Summons

• Hazardous weather conditions that would endanger the health or safety of the student.

• Work approved or sponsored by the school, the local school system, or the State Department of Education, accepted by the Chief Executive Officer or the school principal, or their designees, as reason for excusing the student.

• Observance of a religious holiday

• State of emergency

• Suspension

•Lack of authorized transportation (This shall not include students denied authorized transportation for disciplinary reasons.)

• Health Exclusion

•Other emergency or set of circumstances approved by the Chief Executive Officer or his/her designee

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.

Hello CMIT Seniors and Families!

College Application season is upon us and your Seniors have already started accomplishing a lot!

Below are some resources and updates for you to know what has happened so far:

• Made decisions on their postsecondary plans
• Set goals for the year (academic, personal, career, and postsecondary)
• Set up their College Application Checklist (which should have been shared with their parents/guardians!)
  
• Talked about HBCUs and the "Common Black College Application"
  
• Finalized their college lists and added the lists into Naviance
• Made their requests for Teacher and Counselor Recommendations
• Worked on Senior Brag Sheets for their recommenders
• Set up their CommonApp account and started completing sections within it

What's next?

• Throughout the next two weeks in September, students will finalize their college essays and write all of their application Short Answer questions
• In Early October, students will update their Resumes and ensure that their written responses are ready for College Application submission

Questions? I'll be hosting sessions during Back to School Night to answer questions! See you there! (You can also feel free to email me!)

Sincerely,

Dr. Gaudette

Hello Parents and Guardians,

My name is Mrs.Conde and I will be teaching Art 1, Art 2 and Computer Graphics.

Here is my email mconde@cmitacademy.org. Message me if you have any questions and would like to reach out.

Below are images from our progress in classes.

Reminder: Make sure that students come to school with a sketchpad, charged CMIT approved Chromebook and a attitude for greatness.

Dear students, parents, and guardians,

Saturday, September 16, 2023, from 9 am to 1 pm: Mathmagician Team Club starts

Ms. Esra Keskin,

Math Contests & Competitions Coach

The CMIT North Combined Debate Team has begun our practice and competition season for the '23-'24 School Year!

Our first regional tournament for returning Debaters is September 28-30th and our first local tournament for new debaters is Saturday October 14th. We meet to practice every Thursday in room 211 at the high school, with Ms. Matson, from 3-5 pm. We're excited to have all our Tiger debaters back and can't wait to get some new faces on the team. CMIT North Middle students may join practice and tournaments with parental permission and as long as they can be at the high school by 3:05 on Thursdays for practice.

Email jmatson@cmitacademy.org for more information or to get a complete tournament and practice schedule for the school year.

Team Illusion continues to prepare for its virtual competition on October 5th. Students have learned how to pilot the unmanned surface vessel using its thrusters and are now working on getting data from the sensors. Of primary interest is the brutal GPS receiver, the only tool available to provide the absolute location of the vessel.

We also have access to an inertial measurement unit to pick up the attitude of the vessel, but that can't tell us where we are. The team is also working on the vehicles for the Vex competition. We are planning on two events this year, one on the 4th of November and one on the 19th of November if we can get slots there. We won't know what is going to be available for the FIRST Robotics Competition until next week. All in all, a good start for the year.