September Message

Greetings CMS Families,

Each morning I look at the calendar to confirm my suspicion that the month of September is almost over! We have had a terrific start to the school year! We are looking forward to seeing all of you at our Curriculum Night this Thursday, September 25^th. The evening will begin in Homeroom/1^st period at 6:30 pm. Your child will bring home their schedule today for you to follow. If for some reason you don’t have it just stop in the main office when you arrive and we can give you a copy. This year we will have our Scholastic Book Fair, sponsored by our terrific PTO, open during Curriculum Night. Please stop by the café to browse or buy and sample one of our cookies from our cafeteria. You can also order a book online by clicking here.

Speaking of books, the entire faculty and staff at CMS read a great book this summer called Focus by Mike Schmoker. An entire section of the book examines the importance of what the author calls “authentic literacy.” Schmoker quotes two researchers who succinctly describe the value of reading; “Think of literacy as a spine; it holds everything together.” Further, he makes a clear recommendation that every student should read 20 books per school year. If we look at the demands of the middle level schedule, it is probably not possible for all 20 books to be read exclusively here at school. As a point of reference, ask your child how many books they read last school year. The start of the school year presents a perfect opportunity to establish new habits. A consistent but short burst of independent reading time each night, perhaps a minimum of 15 minutes, will go a long way in getting every child to the 20 book mark. In the blogs to follow I’ll give other suggestions for how we can strengthen the literacy spine in all our students. Looking for a good book to start the nightly habit? Click here for the list of the 2014 Newberry Award Winners.

Your child’s first interim progress report will be available for viewing in Schooltool on October 8^th. I will send a ParentLink notification that day to remind you. We will only be printing the 10 week report cards this year. If you would like a paper copy of the interim progress report please email Nancy Boise at nboise@westgenesee.org and she will be happy to mail you one.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any questions at 672-3159 or by email at blozier@westgenesee.org.

We Celebrate Learning!

Beth

Principal's Back to School Message

Dear CMS Families~

It’s official…the Ferris wheel is spinning on the midway which means that our summer vacation is almost over! If you missed our locker night last week, don’t worry. Just look at your “pink sheet” to find your child’s homeroom number. Report there on the first day of school and the homeroom teacher will have the locker combination. You should have received our mailing two weeks ago, but I thought I would remind everyone of our opening week schedule:

Sept. 2^nd – First day of school – 10:10 a.m. dismissal

                        Please bring $5 for a planner and the “pink sheet” to school.

                        Lunch is now $2.65 per day.

Sept. 3-5^th – 2:10 p.m. dismissal – There will be no Interaction Time except for students participating in the play or athletics. IT will begin for all other students on Sept. 9^th.

During the first week of school our bus drivers work very hard to become familiar with our students and their individual routes. Please have your child outside a few moments early and allow for a later arrival home than is stated on your bus route letter. By the start of the first full week of school the kinks tend to have worked themselves out. Should you have any questions, please call the Transportation Department directly at 487-4576.

I would like to welcome the following faculty and staff to the CMS school community:

              Kim Dunham – part-time Speech

                   Dom Fruscello – Team 7/8M Social Studies

                   Jamie Welch – part-time Special Education 7/8

                   Pam Ciarla – Team 6 Special Education

                   Brian Donahue – 7C Science

                   Mackenzie Cartner – 7/8M Mathematics

Beth 

Principal's July Message

Happy summer greetings everyone!  I am sad to tell you that I saw the telltale sign that our summer is coming to an end…New York State Fair tickets went on sale at Wegmans this week! Lest I miss out on my fair share of Gianelli, I got right in line to purchase my tickets. By now I hope your children have had a chance to relax and spend some time outside on these beautiful days that we sure earned by enduring this past winter. Please feel free to tell them that Mrs. Lozier sent a blog reminding them to start their summer reading book! I know that for some of our children, the summer read can feel like a chore. I often get calls from parents when the reading list goes home asking “how many” of the books does their child have to read. My answer is simple: All of them and then some! We only “require” one book. That’s a shame really, especially in light of what we know about how the simple act of reading impacts student achievement. There is simply nothing more powerful than reading. To be truly effective a daily dose and a wide variety of genres is best. This steady exposure to vocabulary, ideas and places can’t be replicated in any other way and has an incredible multiplier effect over time.

Several years ago our son, Nate, interviewed with a small start-up company in San Francisco. During the course of the conversation the founder started talking about the book Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Nate casually mentioned that it was one of his favorite books growing up. On his first day of work at that job, the founder mentioned that he hired him because they shared a similar fondness for that book. (Nate reminded me that I gave it to him when he was in middle school.) I was reminded of this story today because Nate is interviewing again! I started thinking about science and books and remembered that the National Public Radio program Science Friday (a great thing to listen to in the car-it is on FM 89.9 every Friday from 2:00-4:00 pm) has a summer reading club. I checked it out and found some titles that would be of high interest for middle level students:

Letters To A Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson

The Pulitzer Prize winning biologist writes about his career and science in 21 letters to his students. Each is illustrated and covers topics ranging from the stars to the depths of the ocean.

Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin

The Amazon Review says that, “This is essential reading for anyone who’s ever owned, cared for, or simply cared about an animal.” Grandin may be well-known to you; there was recently a movie made about her life as a person with autism.

The Way To Go (Moving By Sea, Land and Air) by Kate Ascher

This is the most recent title in a series of books about “how things work.” The review from Slate.com really caught my eye: "Is it possibly to write a stunning book about infrastructure? Kate Ascher’s books are bliss... Using gorgeous graphics and clear, simple, language, Ascher explains the infrastructure and engineering marvels around us."

I just ordered all three titles from Amazon…I can’t wait to read them! I hope that one (or all) will be of interest to your child!

We Celebrate Learning!

Take care,

Beth

May Message

Dear Families,

As the month of May begins, I wanted to take the opportunity to update you on life here at CMS. The NYS Common Core testing concluded today. By the end of next week we will have given make-ups, collated booklets for scoring and boxed up remaining materials. Despite the controversy of this year’s testing cycle, I think it is important to take a moment to recognize the characteristics of a learner that were quite visible in your children.  I saw our students persevere and persist, go into the testing with a positive attitude and bring a high level of engagement to the task. We have two more NYS assessments to give; the Common Core Algebra Regents on June 3^rd and the NYS 8^th grade Science Assessment on May 28^th and 29^th (lab) and the written on June 2^nd.

This morning I stopped in on the review session for our algebra students. While our math department chairperson, Mrs. Heil, assisted one group I noticed hands go up at another table. I approached the group with some trepidation...my high school algebra course happened a LONG time ago. After nailing the question about tangents, the wind was quickly taken out of my sail. I was unable to think through the next step even after looking at some of the good attempts the students had made in the review book. I was starting to think, “If only I could look this up on YOUTUBE.” Within less than two minutes the girls and I had watched the video on my phone which culminated in a collective “aha moment” and the completion of question #30 in short order. I don’t think it will be too long before we change our perspective of smart devices in schools. We are obligated to put all tools at our students’ disposal and allow them to solve their problems in the most efficient way possible. We need to set the expectation that they will use these devices appropriately while they are engaged in meaningful learning.

Our annual school budget vote will take place on May 20^th at West Genesee High School. The polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Please take the opportunity to vote! You can learn about the 2014-15 school budget by looking at the Fact Sheet or attending the Budget Public Hearing on May 7^th at 7:00 p.m. at the High School Library. You can also attend the presentation just after our May 5^th PTO meeting (6:30 p.m.) at 7:00 p.m. in the LGIR at the High School. Speaking of our (fabulous) PTO, we have several open positions for next year. We will be voting at our May 5^th meeting. If you would like to discuss any of these positions please call me or email our president, Mrs. Barbara Soper, at bsoper@twcny.rr.com.  You can learn a little about these open positions by reading the descriptions below.   

Co-President - This position has a 2 year term. This position will work directly with the PTO President. One year as Co-President and one year as President. 

Treasurer - The position has a 2 year term. This position is responsible for compiling monthly treasurer reports and presenting them at the PTO meetings. Responsibilities include, but not limited to, writing all checks, paying all bills, preparing tax paperwork, maintaining proper records to ensure records of all monies spent is accountable for. 

Corresponding Secretary - The position has a 2 year term. This position includes going to CMS a monthly basis to check for any correspondence. This correspondence may include thank you notes, requests, etc. Responsible for attending all PTO meetings to present correspondence.

I look forward to seeing you on our athletic fields (if the rain EVER stops), concerts and other events in the coming weeks. Don’t forget, we have a 10:10 a.m. dismissal for students on May 16^th for our Teacher Workshop Day.

In the meantime take good care~

Beth

We Celebrate Learning!