Mark Your Calendars

Spirit Week Returns at CMS – March 23rd-27th

Our favorite week of the year is finally here! CMS Spirit Week is sponsored by our Student Council who determine our theme and prizes. This year students will have an opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for 50 cents each during all lunch periods. On Thursday, March 26^th, one lucky ticket will be drawn and the winner will get to be Principal For The Day! All money collected will be donated to a local charity. Teachers will also be nominating students who they think best exemplify the theme of each day. Those students can win either an iTunes or Destiny gift card. Don’t miss out on the fun! Our theme for each day will be:

                Monday – Twin Day

                Tuesday – Character Day

                Wednesday – Pajama Day

                Thursday – Sports Day

                Friday – Blue and Gold Day

 Our annual spring Scholastic Book Fair will take place on March 24-26^th. Students will attend during their English class and be able to revisit during their lunch period. We have many high-interest, young adult titles, including Insurgent, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, old classics like The Guinness Book of World Records. The books are very reasonably priced with no book marked more than $14.00. This is a great opportunity to buy a book to help your child make progress on our 10 Book Challenge. Research suggests that children should read 20 books as a minimum each school year. Click here for more resources to use at home.

Olweus Class Meeting

Tomorrow, March 20^th, will be a 10:10 a.m. release day for all middle level students so that teachers may engage in professional development. We will use our time that we have students to have our Olweus class meetings to focus on the topic of humanity and community. Thank you to everyone who has donated toiletry items for us to donate to the Samaritan Center. Students will watch a short clip about the center that you can view here. Our class meetings are planned by our teachers with a focus on helping students see the world through another’s eyes and to help build a compassionate and kind character. Please help us to extend this conversation at home by asking your child about the class meeting.

We celebrate learning!

Beth

December Principal's Message

Dear CMS Families~

It seems as though the new trend is for us to have a snow day prior to the winter break or even before the official start of Winter! The break this year is somewhat longer than our usual length; two full weeks! We try to be respectful of the time off and not assign homework or major projects, but we do encourage a daily commitment to reading for a minimum of 20 minutes. We know, not only from the mountains of research, but also from our experience working with children, that the more children read the more they learn to love to read. The hardest part is finding just the right book. Below are my suggestions for some books that might be of interest to your child. All are available on Amazon or your local library.  

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe – Did you know that in that past 12 years movies based on the Marvel comics have grossed $5 billion in the U.S. alone! The author interviewed over 150 current and former employees at Marvel and tells the history of the genre’s rise in American culture. The New York Times named this book as one of their editor’s picks. You can read their review of the book here.

Zoom: How Everything Moves: From Atoms and Galaxies to Blizzards and Bees by Bob Berman – When you think about it, our world is full of natural motion. Berman examines the “how” of motion starting with the earth’s rotation, to the trajectory of a baseball and everything in between. The Amazon review of this book says the author writes “with an entertaining style and a gift for distilling the wondrous.”

Think Like a Freak by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner – A follow-up to their first book Freakonomics, the authors explain how we make decisions and how to sharpen our thinking skills. The book reads like a great story and is completely accessible for a middle-level student.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – This is one of the best loved books of all time but one we never seem to read anymore. The story is set during the Civil War and paints a vivid picture of family hardship and the bonds of sisterhood.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – The classic story of the true meaning of Christmas is well-known to all of us mainly through the many film versions. The book, however, is so much more poignant and moving. Think your children are too old to be read a story? Try this one…the Lozier children all-time favorite. (I love the version illustrated by Roberto Innocencti.)

On behalf of the entire CMS faculty and staff, I wish you and your children a happy and restful holiday season.

We Celebrate Learning!

Beth

Principal’s Message

Greetings CMS Families,

Believe it or not, we are already in the second week of the second quarter! On Friday your child brought home their first 10-week report card. Schooltool is an effective resource for tracking academic progress. It is best when students check for themselves on a regular basis. Should you need help with an account please email our secretary in the Guidance Department, Nancy Boise, at nboise@westgenesee.org. 

The start of the new quarter is the perfect time to get your child to think about their own learning. “Thinking about one’s thinking,” is known as metacognition. This process reaps great benefits especially as students enter a period of greater independence. Here are some questions from The Vanderbilt Center for Teaching you might work through with your child. You can even model how to process these questions by thinking aloud your own responses: 

  o   What about your test preparation worked well and what should you remember to do next time?

  o   What did not work so well and how can you adjust that behavior for next time?

  o   What support do I need to do homework effectively? What works best for me?

  o   What are my strengths as a learner?

  o   What class do I find most interesting?

As we look toward the holiday season, our students will start several service learning projects directed by our Student Council. We will be sure to keep you informed by posting these projects on our announcement page. Want to see the action at school each day in real time? Follow us at twitter.com/CamillusMiddle.

SPOTLIGHT

The Camillus Optimists sponsor a student award each year for two 8^th grade students at each middle school. The CMS students are Katherine McManus and Phillip Martin. 

The award recognizes students who are responsible, polite, trustworthy, respectful and diligent in their school work. They will be recognized at the annual dinner this evening. Our 8^th grade mathematics teacher and department coordinator, Mrs. Becky Eassa, will be awarded the Optimist Teacher Award tonight as well. We are thrilled that Mrs. Eassa, Katie and Phil will represent the best of West Genesee.

We Celebrate Learning!

Beth

P.S. – Have a child interested in science? The Most features an informal discussion with a scientist, engineer or technologist every month during the school year. The talks are aimed a middle level students.

DANCE, DANCE, DANCE

Our next dance and open gym is this Friday from 6:30-8:30 pm. Admission is $5. Have time to chaperone? Please email Kristin Corcoran at Kristin.corcoran1@gmail.com. Mark your calendar for the remaining dances: January 16, March 27 and April 17. 

From the PTO

Mark your calendars now for our next meeting on January 5, 2015 at 6:00 pm. This meeting will be held in the East Hill Elementary school library. Our principal will be giving a short presentation on the status of the building and student achievement. If you haven’t already joined the PTO, now would be the perfect time! We can use everyone’s support of the terrific programs here at CMS. You'll find a membership form here or simply send $6 and your name in an envelope to school with your child.

Curriculum Night and Upcoming PTO Meeting

Dear CMS Families~
Many of our teachers reported standing room only in their classrooms last night! Your attendance at events like our Curriculum Night helps to build an important bridge between your child’s two most important worlds; home and school. All of us at CMS hope to form and sustain this valuable relationship. We are always available to meet with you to discuss your child’s experience here at school. Simply call our guidance office at 672-8381 to schedule an appointment or email you child’s counselor.

Our first PTO meeting of the year will take place this coming Wednesday, October 1st, at 6:00 pm in our library. We will have sweet treats along with an opportunity to hear about our wonderful committees. The effects of having such a supportive PTO are felt daily here at school. From the Scholastic Book Fair that was held this week to the Staff Appreciation Luncheon in May, we can always count on our families to volunteer and make these events happen!

We Celebrate Learning!
Beth
Beth Lozier-Principal