CMS Families,

We hope you are settled into your school routines and everyone is having a great year! It was nice to see parents and caregivers at our open houses. We enjoyed showcasing what your students experience each day here at CMS. If your student did not share with you, Dunk Tank Day was a great success! Thank you to our PTO for sponsoring this fun tradition and Mr. Lauer for organizing and emceeing each grade level assembly! Speaking of the PTO, please be sure you note the information above to receive their communications. You can also see the other graphics above to order your student's yearbook or check out the theme days our student council put together for this spirit week.

We have encountered an increase in situations where families are sending someone other than a parent/guardian to pick up their student from school  during the day for appointments, when students are ill, etc. Safety of our students is our top priority. It is critical you indicate if you are sending someone else to pick up your student from our Front Entrance/Attendance on the note you send in, message you leave with attendance, or in your conversations  with our nurse. If someone other than a guardian attempts to pick up your student, we will not release them until we can confirm approval with you. This may cause your student to be late for their appointment or to not be released early if we are unable to connect with you. In order to avoid this situation for early dismissals, families are asked to fill out this Google Form if they want to indicate someone other than a guardian who will always have your approval to pick up your student (ex. names of grandparents or older siblings).

There are a few items we would like to review with families:

• Students may enter the South Cafeteria door beginning at 7:55am for activities taking place before school. Please note students are not supervised outside if dropped off before this time.

• CMS does not allow students to use cell phones during the school day. One of our roles, as middle level educators, is to help foster social skills. Cell phone use during the school day takes away from that effort. Additionally, cell phone use is distracting during classes. We ask for your cooperation with our no cell phone use policy by not texting your student during the school day expecting a response as they are not permitted to respond. Our house offices are happy to get messages to your student and to allow them to use our phone to call you when necessary.

• On a related note, sick students should go to the Health Office. Please do not arrange to pick up your student without going through the Health or Attendance office. This is a safety concern for us.

We appreciate your partnership as your students grow both academically and socially this year. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to teachers directly. Our guidance counselors are here to help students navigate challenges they may encounter and can be reached by calling the respective house office. Please 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