The Principal’s Panther Press (The P3)
Welcome the Principal’s Panther Press (The P3) WELCOME NOVEMBER!!! BELL SCHEDULE 11/3-11/7 Monday Periods 1-6
Tuesday Periods 1-3-5
Wednesday Periods 2-4-6
Thursday Periods 1-3-5
Friday Periods 2-4-6
2:30 dismissal
2:20 dismissal
1:35 dismissal
2:20 dismissal
2:20 dismissal
CCMS IS REDESIGNATED AS A SCHOOL TO WATCH! Last week, we had our visiting team from the California Schools to Watch committee. In order to become a STW™—TCS model middle school, applicants must have met or exceeded the Academic Performance Index (API) school wide growth target for three of the previous five years (2008–09 to 2012–13). School administrators must conduct a self-study evaluation and complete an extensive narrative application. A team of middle grades experts then reviews each site. In order to retain the designation, each school is re-evaluated every three years. For more information on each school's API score and California Standards Tests (CSTs) results, please to go CDE’s School and District Report web page at www.cde.ca.gov/getschoolreport/ Culver City Middle School has been a STW-TCS school for 11 years and was among the first schools in the national program to be re-designated a fourth time. We will receive our award in Sacramento in February. The CCMS team has worked so hard and we are so excited for this distinction! COUNSELORS BEGINNING CA COLLEGE GUIDANCE INITIATIVE Did you know that research shows that student make their decision about going to college in the 7th grade? It is why we really want to begin early college education at CCMS. Through our partnership with the CA College Guidance Initiative, CCMS will begin to educate students about their post secondary options! We want students to choose their path and know what steps they need to take in order to reach their goals. Starting Nov 18th counselors will be teaching students to login into their CCGI accounts. We would like all students to use good Internet safety and invite their parents to login with them. Please write parent email addresses in your student's time tracker so they can send a CCGI invite when they login with their counselor
CCUSD TEACHERS ARE GETTING VOICEMAIL!!! Last week, our phone lines were down as CCUSD was upgrading the phone systems. Our teachers have voicemail which means that you will be able to communicate with them directly! YAY! We want to open the lines of communication and ensure that any concerns are addressed directly. Please feel free to call teachers or send them a voicemail if you have any questions or concerns. Please allow them 24-48 hours to get back to you. If you have additional questions or concerns after you communicate directly with the teacher, then please contact your school counselor or one of the assistant principals. Our goal is to work together as a team and we are excited to work with you and your child! QUARTER ENDS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31 The first quarter ended Friday, October 31st. Teachers will be inputting grades for a week after and report cards will be sent home to families shortly there after. If you have any questions regarding quarter grades, please feel free to email teachers directly to get clarity, as a resource to help your child improve or to thank them for all of their hard work (they like that one a lot!!). PANTHER ACHIEVEMENT WORKSHOPS ROLLING OUT DECEMBER 1 A few weeks ago, CCMS was in the process of making decisions about how they were going to spend their PAWs time. We have now begun the process of rolling out our tutorial and enrichment for the year. This week, we trained our teachers. Starting November 10th, we will be going out to classrooms to train students. To start, all students must have their Time Tracker. We will be using the Time Tracker as a communication tool for students so they know where they need to go. If your child has misplaced their Time Tracker, please look for it or you can purchase another one for $6 in the front office. Students who do not have their Time Tracker during PAWs will receive an automatic Friday detention. All students received a Time Tracker during the first week of school. This is the first key component. PAWs is three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday). Tuesdays and Thursdays will be academic time and Fridays will be enrichment. All students have an opportunity for an enrichment offering because we really want all students to connect to something that they enjoy at school. Enrichment will be at the minimum a quarter long commitment. In theory, students will have three choices for enrichment. Teachers have been working hard identifying essential standards to teach in classes as well as common assessments to use student data as a way to reflect on their teaching practice. As a result, they are able to identify which students need opportunities for reteaching, more time on a project, reflection, student conferences, or maybe just some hints on their homework. These students will get a stamp in their time tracker and will be required to attend that teacher’s tutorial. If a student has more than one stamp (meaning stamps from multiple classes), there will be one subject that is the priority for the day—that subject trumps all others and students must attend that priority. It will be announced each day so students don’t have to remember! If students have no stamps from their teacher (meaning they are doing really well), they can attend any “open tutorial” that is offered. Open tutorial can be any class that teachers will be offering that could include test review, test correction time, homework assistance, the library, computer lab or the Panther Plaza (outside eating area) to get a start on homework or do school service hours as a peer tutor. Students who do not have stamps will have choice as to where they want to spend their time. We are in the process of putting together a video and documents to help families understand PAWs. We are so excited to get this off the ground! We will be one of the few schools in our area that will offer both tutorials and enrichment and our teachers are so excited to be able to have MORE time with students. More details will be coming, please stay tuned!
CCMS ROLLS OUT SCHOOL WIDE BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS AND THE PANTHER PAWTIQUE! This past week, counselors and administrators have done classroom presentations to talk to students about school wide behavior expectations—things that students are expected to do in all areas of the school (see attached). We want all of the students to understand what is expected of them and be able to meet those expectations everyday. For those students who continuously meet expectations and for those who go above and beyond, students will be awarded Panther Point tickets, a tangible version of the Panther Point. Students will be able to cash in tickets at the Panther PAWtique (not to be confused with a boutique!) when it opens in November. We have an array of things students can cash in for, including school supplies, student store cash, spirit wear, and gift cards, to name a few. We are excited about the PAWtique and hope that students keep their pledge to meeting expectations and having Panther PRIDE! PTSA REFLECTIONS CONTEST Enter one or more of the 4 categories: Visual Arts, Creative Writing, Photography and Film production. The Deadline for entries is Nov 14th. All Art, Photo and Film entries will be in the school exhibit. Check the website for rules http://www.33rdpta.org/id50.html. Entry forms will be available in the office next week.
AFTERSCHOOL TUTORING AND BINDER BUDDIES AVAILABLE AFTERSCHOOL Tutoring in ELA, Math, and other subjects is available. We HIGHLY encourage all students to attend to ask questions, get homework done and take ownership of their learning!!!! WE NEED LUNCH VOLUNTEERS!! We are looking for any parent volunteers who are interested in helping out during lunchtime! Currently with over 1500 students and five adults, we just can’t be in enough places all at the same time. We would love for parents to help us manage the food lines, remind kids to throw away their trash when they are finished eating and help us with overall supervision. If you are interested in doing lunch volunteering, please contact Lelah Pealer at
[email protected] or (310) 842-4200 and let her know which day(s) you are available and we would really appreciate the support! DISMISSAL CCMS has many opportunities for students after school. It is the expectation that students will move swiftly to their after school program or home when the bells rings at the end of the day. Please make arrangements for your child to be picked up or find a good after school option—students, especially on Wednesdays cannot be unsupervised on campus. Thank you for all of your support. We look forward to seeing you at one of the CCUSD events! Have a wonderful weekend! Sincerely, Your Proud Principal Dr. Linsey Gotanda