CMS Families,

We hope you and your students are enjoying the signs of spring lately! We have about three more weeks left in Quarter 3 and then we will be in our final quarter when we return from April break. We will also share our final exam schedule around that time once it is finalized. At this point, we anticipate exams starting around June 18th, with our last day of attendance being June 24th. 

Getting back to March, students have been busy in Headquarters (homeroom) competing against other homerooms in basketball (6th grade), Jenga (7th grade), and penny hockey (8th grade). This week's grade level assemblies celebrate our tournament winners and highlight themes of sportsmanship and integrity. 

During our assemblies, we are also addressing the uptick in energy drinks we are seeing in school. We ask that parents support our efforts to encourage the consumption of water during the day and avoid sending your student to school with these highly caffeinated products. Our student handbook states that energy drinks are not allowed at CMS. Students with energy drinks or pouches will be asked to dispose of them. Please see this article about the health dangers these drinks pose for our students.

A few reminders from last month's newsletter in case you missed it: 

• We realize our arrival and dismissal can be a hectic time in our parking lots. We are excited that the December Capital Project vote passed and, as a result, we will have a redesign of parking lot in 2026. We ask that drivers follow traffic rules and go slow when driving on campus. We have had a few issues recently with people driving through crosswalks or driving too fast. 

• Our February assemblies included a midyear review of general behavior expectations - including proper conduct on the bus, in the halls, and in the cafeterias. This is also the time of year where we see an increase in behavior incidents in common areas like the hallway and buses. The infractions are not typically serious but we ask for your help reminding students of school appropriate behavior/language, to keep their hands to themselves, and respect the building. 

• CMS has an electronic policy where students are not allowed to interact with their cell phone devices during the school day. We ask families to assist with this policy by not texting your students during the school day. If you have a message to get to your student, our house offices are happy to relay the information. 

• While the decision to buy a cell phone for your student is a personal one, it is important for us to remind families of the pitfalls middle level learners experience as a result of cell phones and social media. Middle school is a time where students are working on independence - which often includes testing boundaries and practicing their social skills. Families who choose to give their students devices are encouraged to monitor the cell phone usage daily in order to support their child’s social development and have discussions regarding appropriate use of technology. It is important for us to emphasize that student cell phone use is the responsibility of parents. However, we do intervene if your student’s actions on their device or social media have an impact on the school day which include, but are not limited to, threatening comments or harassment of other students.  

Be sure to check out the other “buttons” and sidebars below which include our "Who Should I Call?" cheat sheet and CMS Resource Guide for Families.

Thank you,

Ashley Dreibelbis

Principal