Mrs. Bush
Embedded Files
Principal's Update
Principal's Update
Hello CIS Families!
We hope all of you had a safe and fun Homecoming Weekend!
Fall is here! We hope all of you had an amazing September. It is hard to believe we are already approaching the end of the first quarter. Thanks so much to the Central Community for a great start to the 2023-2024 school year!
Trojan Trot
Thanks to the individuals who put so much time and effort into the Trojan Trot, it is safe to say that the Trojan Trot has become one of my favorite days of the school year!
We cannot thank PTO and the Trojan Trot Committee enough for their hard work and dedication to the Trojan Trot PTO fundraiser. The amount of time and effort spent planning each part of the fundraiser does not go unnoticed, and we are so thankful.
DESSA
As part of our ongoing commitment to understanding and supporting our student's academic and social-emotional development, Central District 51 administers the DESSA Mini for each student each year. The Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) Mini is a brief, eight-question, standardized tool teachers use to screen students for social and emotional competencies. This process helps us to identify children who may benefit from additional instructional or behavioral support and enables educators to design targeted interventions accordingly. Teachers completed DESSA Minis during the week of September 25.
DESSA assesses eight social-emotional competencies including: Self-Management, Relationship Skills, Self-Awareness, Optimistic Thinking, Personal Responsibility, Social Awareness, Decision Making, and Goal-Directed Behavior.
The Central Intermediate School CENTRAL Code is aligned to these social-emotional competencies:
C - Capable (Self-Management)
A student who controls their emotions and behaviors
A student who completes tasks in new or challenging situations
E - Empathetic (Relationship Skills)
A student who displays socially acceptable actions
A student who maintains positive connections with others
N - Noble (Self-Awareness)
A student with a realistic understanding of their strengths and limitations.
A student with a consistent desire for improvement.
T - Thoughtful (Optimistic Thinking)
A student who is confident, hopeful, and positive regarding themself and their life situations in the past, present, and future.
R - Responsible (Personal Responsibility)
A student who is careful and reliable in their actions.
A student who contributes to group efforts.
A - Aware (Social Awareness & Decision Making)
A student who recognizes her/his impact on self and others
A student who uses cooperation and tolerance in social situations
A student who problem-solves by learning from others and previous experiences.
A student who uses their values to guide actions
A student who accepts responsibility for his/her decisions
L - Lead (Goal Directed Behavior)
A student who takes initiative of tasks of varying levels.
A student who is persistent in completing tasks of varying levels.
If you have any questions about the DESSA Mini or social-emotional learning, please contact me!
Cell Phones
As a reminder, students are not allowed to have or use cell phones during the school day unless permitted by a staff member. Please note that page 38 of the 2023-2024 Student/Family Handbook has been updated to reflect this policy. The handbook outlines the expectations and consequences for cell phone use at school without permission.
Quarter 1 Dates
The end of Quarter 1 is approaching quickly! Please see the Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 dates below for your convenience:
Friday, October 20: End of Term 1
Monday, October 23: Term 2 Start Date
Friday, October 27: Term 1 Report Cards Published on Skyward
Friday, November 17: Term 2 Midterm
Friday, December 22: End of Term 2
Friday, January 12: Term 2 Report Cards Published on Skyward
ROCK (Rewarding Outstanding Central Kids)
The first CIS ROCK is right around the corner and will take place on Friday, November 3! Our amazing CIS Activities PTO Team will send detailed information later this month.
Invitations for ROCK will go out later this month via Skyward Family Access, so please be on the lookout. Students with no detentions related to behavior or tardies will receive an invitation to ROCK.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with questions or concerns!
Sincerely,
Ericka Bush
ebush@central51.net
Ms. Martin
Assistant Principal's Update
Assistant Principal's Update
Reminders:
We are off to a great start to the school year! It's moving quickly and we are headed into cooler temperatures. Please remind your children to bring a coat and warmer clothes to school. If you are in need of resources to provide your children of these items, please reach out to the CIS office.
As a reminder, please do NOT park on Eagle or Bobolink when you drop off or pick up your child. If you choose to park in the parking lot and drop off/pick up your child, please walk with them through the parking lot. As drivers are moving through the parking lot, it can be difficult to see children walking. We want to keep all students and family as safe as possible. We appreciate your cooperation!
Reporting Incidents:
CIS students' safety is our top priority! We are committed to maintaining a safe and inclusive school environment for all. To achieve this, we encourage all students to actively participate in our efforts to keep our community safe.
Whether it's related to safety, bullying, or any other issue that affects your child, we want to hear from them. Their reports can make a difference. By reporting incidents promptly, your child helps us take proactive steps to address issues, prevent future incidents, and create a safer school for everyone. As a reminder, your child's information will be treated with the utmost confidentiality, and can remain anonymous if they choose.
Thank you for encouraging your child to report incidents to their teachers, counselor, or principals. Together, we can build a school community where students feel respected, safe, and heard!
Mrs. Brosch
Counselor's Corner
Counselor's Corner
Happy Fall! It's that time of year where everyone finally feels like we are in the swing and routine of school! On Wednesday, September 27, CIS had our first CENTRAL Code Assembly! A picture of the students who were recognized is located below! It is our 2nd year using CENTRAL Code as our school-wide SEL framework. It is always fun seeing the students' excitement during the assemblies.
Our focus was on recognizing students for Capable. The skills we are aiming to encourage by focusing on Capable are perseverance, self-discipline, goal setting, and being self-motivated. For October, we will begin our focus on Empathy. October is also anti-bullying month. I've included a parent resources below.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at kbrosch@central51.net.
Parent Resource:
Nurse Martin
Nurse's Notes
Nurse's Notes
It's a Good Time to Get Your Flu Vaccine
Influenza (flu) viruses typically spread in fall and winter, and peaks between December and February. Getting vaccinated in the fall can lower your chances of getting the flu and/or reduce the severity of the flu.
The CDC recommends that people ages 6 months and older get a flu vaccine by the end of October. Even if you wait until after October, the vaccine will still be beneficial and provide protection. Find Flu Vaccines here.
Mrs. Perko - Reading
Skill Building
Skill Building
Disengagement and Lack of Motivation?
Are you naturally good at everything the first time you try it? For most humans, the answer is no. As adults who have well established routines and perhaps predictable work in our lives, it may be tough to remember how it feels to be faced with new ideas all day. Students are exposed to new learning multiple times a day in diverse subjects. Some of those subjects could be a struggle for students to embrace. Either they aren’t truly interested, there is a significant challenge or they lack prerequisite skills for quick mastery. If students struggle often in one area, they can begin to see failure as personal, pervasive, and permanent! How can we as adults intervene before learned helplessness sets in? Disengagement and poor motivation are strategies to deal with the emotions from perceived failures.
The temptation for adults is to end the struggle. Providing help at home with academics is amazing. The student must be allowed to struggle in a safe environment. “Struggle” is the key word. Let them struggle. Let them know you struggle. Discuss struggles you may have experienced as a student. Help them break the task into smaller chunks so they can feel success. Celebrate their failures as learning opportunities. Remind them their brain grows when they are challenged, not when they do something they can already do well.
THIS IS TOUGH. As we teachers help struggling students daily it is tempting to do too much for them or forget to celebrate their efforts over their perfection. Parents and educators can constantly grow in healthy interaction with children.
We are part of a very special learning community. We have amazing families at CIS who love and support their children. Let’s also try to see from our childrens' perspectives and remember how bombarded they are with new thoughts each day! Together we can engage and motivate!
For more information here is an article to
https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-counter-learned-helplessness/
We are here to help with Math and Reading
Mandi Perko, Reading Intervention, mperko@central51.net
Elizabeth Hahn, Math Intervention, ehahn@central51.net
Mrs. Hahn - Math
8th Graders Attend the Career Expo
8th Graders Attend the Career Expo
Mrs. Clarke - PE
Mrs. Lang - PE
Physical Education & Health
Physical Education & Health
We have had a great start to the year in our PE and Health classes. We will continue to be outside as much as the weather allows us to, so please remind your students to make sure they are prepared for the temperatures, especially those that have class in the morning when it can be a little bit cooler.
Please check with your child to see if they have a pair of tennis shoes at school that can be worn if they do not wear appropriate PE shoes to school.
Mr. Godinez- Health
Mr. Betson - PE Paraprofessional
PTO
PTO
Hello from PTO!
The PTO would like to thank all students, staff, parents, admin, and local businesses for all of the help to make this year’s Trojan Trot another amazing success. We did it! A huge thanks also goes out to all of the volunteers that make this happen. Jessica Gibson-James and the team pulled it off again! Let us know if you would like to be involved with the planning for next year.
ROCK will be happening November 3rd, so keep an eye out for more information regarding that fun event.
Spirit wear orders should arrive in about 2 weeks.
Happy Halloween!
Mrs. J. Uftring
Student Council
Student Council
Student Council is so excited for all who bought Trojan Army shirts and passes (passes still avaiable). Thank you for supporting our Central teams and promoting school spirit.
Our next donut day will be Wednesday, October 4th. All donations go to a local charity of student choice.
October 20th will be our first 7th and 8th grade dance of the year. More information to come.
Mrs. Heffta
Library News
Library News
81The Fall Scholastic Book Fair will be October 16 - 19 in the Holford Lobby from 4-6 pm. We are excited to open the fair during Study Hall October 17 - 19! We earn Scholastic Dollars for every purchase and we use the dollars for new books and reading incentives.
We are in need of volunteers!! Please use the link to sign up for an hour time slot. High school students looking for volunteer hours are welcome.
Volunteer Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050B44AFAE2EA2FC1-44327616-cisscholastic#/
Book Fair Site: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/cgs
Mrs. Youngman
Central Care Club
Central Care Club
The Central Care Club is well underway this year and we are already making a difference! Eighty-one seventh and eighth graders signed up to be a part of CCC this year. Many of these students are student helpers in all areas of the school. They are helping in the office, the library, classrooms (primary and intermediate), collecting recycling and more.
We are continuously collecting nonperishable items and toiletries for WHIP (Washington Helps its People) and currently have a competition underway between the 5-8 grade homerooms. The homeroom that collects the most items by the end of the quarter will have pizzas delivered for lunch! Please send items in with your child or drop them off at the office. We appreciate any donations. WHIP leadership has told us repeatedly how much Central donations help. Because of our donations throughout the year they are able to buy meat and dairy products for the families in need.
Our top five homerooms as of 9/28/23:
Mrs. Demmel homeroom: 120 items
Mrs. Lawson's homeroom: 101 items
Mrs. J. Uftring: 77 items
Mrs. Youngman: 68 items
Mrs. Hardesty: 66 items
Please be on the lookout for information on Coats for Kids, Community Day, and our traditional Adopt a Family through the Salvation Army for the upcoming Christmas season. These are all events that will take place this semester.
Mrs. Randolph
Music
Music
We are making some great music together. Fall Concert October 10th.
For the choir newsletter, please click HERE.
8th Graders Practicing Stick Height with Mr. Berkshier
8th Graders Practicing Stick Height with Mr. Berkshier
Important Dates:
Important Dates:
October 3
ILMEA Audition Deadline (Video) Submissions
4-8 Cross Cat Classes to Farmington High School
Girls Basketball Tournament @ Home
October 4
Girls Basketball Tournament @ Home
Early Dismissal @ 1:51 PM
October 5
4-8 Cross Cat Classes to Eureka College
Girls Basketball Tournament @ Home
October 6
Teacher Institute Day - No School
October 7
Cross Country Sectionals
October 9
Columbus Day - No School Attendance
Girls Basketball vs WMS
October 10
Fall Choir Concert & 6th Grade Art Show
October 11
Girls Basketball vs Metamora Grade
Early Dismissal @ 1:51 PM
October 12
4-8 Cross Cat Classes to Blue Ridge Farm
October 16 - 20
Fall Book Fair
October 16
7/8th Grade Boys Basketball Tryouts
Girls Basketball vs Eureka Middle
October 17
Girls Basketball vs Beverly Manor
October 18
Early Dismissal @ 1:51 PM
October 19
Girls Basketball @ Tremont
October 20
End of Term 1
October 23
Fannie May Fundraiser Kick Off (Orders due November 3)
Girls Basketball @ Germantown Hills
October 24
CPS Picture Retake Day
Girls Basketball @ DeeMack
October 25
Girls Basketball vs Bloomington JH - 6th to follow
Early Dismissal @ 1:51 PM
October 26
4-8 Cross Cat Classes to Wildlife Prairie Park
October 27
4-8 Cross Cat Classes to Mended Hearts Stable
Term 1 Report Cards Released
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