Good morning, everyone.  

It's March already! 

8th-grade students will present their Defense of Learning (8th-grade Capstone project) coming up on May 19th and 20th.  This week, I'll be helping in 8th-grade Language Arts Focus class with Maggie Stevens and assisting students with first steps of their presentation.  They will presenting their oral defenses of learning during the school day to their teachers, admin, and community members.  

Students enjoyed the house assembly on Friday.  We loved hearing the band play! This assembly was the first student-led assembly!  Our Lighthouse Team members did a fantastic job!  

This month, students will be completing their FINAL on-demand writing piece and taking their FINAL Benchmark assessment.  A student's BENCHMARK score has a 96% correlation to what they'll score on the Kentucky State Assessment.  Please encourage your student to do their best when it comes time.  I'll provide you the specifics/dates next week!

                             CCMS Vaccination Clinic on March 10th

The health dept. will be here March 10th. Our nurses sent home a paper packet for immunizations.  They will only administer what is required for the student to be up to date per CDC requirements, which is Hep A, Tdap, and/or Meningococcal. If you initial the first page, the health department will also administer the HPV vaccine. This is an optional vaccine. The second and third pages of the packet need to be completed in order for the health department to administer the vaccines to the student. If you currently do not have insurance, the immunizations are still available and free--just  "No" on the top of the second page. These forms need to be completed and sent back by March 1st. The clinic will be held on March 10th.

Team lead contacts for info or concerns:

5th grade: kelly.simmons2@carroll.kyschools.us

6th grade: tonya.hash@carroll.kyschools.us

7th grade:  maura.vandenbark@carroll.kyschools.us

8th grade: katie.schoborg@carroll.kyschools.us

Academics:  What are students learning this week? 

Ask your student about their morphology work going on in Mr. Underwood's, Mr. Roberts's, Mrs. Smith's, or Ms. Stevens's Language Arts FOCUS class!  What is morphology?.....................

• Morphology can be a game-changer for middle school readers — especially in grades 5–8 where texts shift from narrative to heavy academic vocabulary.

• Here’s how morphology will help our students at Carroll County Middle School:

1️⃣ Unlocks Big Academic Vocabulary

• Middle school content areas (science, social studies, math) are packed with Greek and Latin roots.

• When students know:

bio = life

graph = write

therm = heat

• They can decode:

biography

thermometer

geography

thermal energy

Instead of memorizing hundreds of words, they learn word-building systems.

2️⃣ Improves Reading Comprehension

• Many comprehension breakdowns happen because students don’t understand key vocabulary.

• If a student sees:

unpredictable

They can break it down:

un (not)

predict (say before)

able (capable of)

Now they don’t skip the word — they understand it.

That builds confidence and fluency.

3️⃣ Supports Struggling Readers

• Morphology gives students a strategy when phonics alone isn’t enough.

Please note that CCMS Dress Code states that students should have NO ENERGY DRINKS at school.  Thank you for your continued support!

We have submitted our Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) to the Kentucky Department of Education.  Here is a look at the plan and what will be our driving forces for this school year.  Modifications and tweaks will be made as necessary.