CMS Families,

It is great to be back in the school routine! Students have adapted quickly to their schedules and are cruising around the school with ease. If you feel your student is struggling with anything at the start of the year, do not hesitate to reach out to their guidance counselor or teacher(s). Speaking of communicating with us, be sure to note the “button” below with a link to our "Who do I call?" handout. We recommend printing out or bookmarking this page and keeping it handy! Please be sure to put CMS as a contact in your phone if you have not done so already at (716) 407-9200. 

Today, we held our grade level assemblies to review expectations for the year. It is our way of going through the CCSD Code of Conduct and CMS Student Handbook. Below is a summary of some of the reminders/information we went through with students in addition to general school appropriate behaviors and expectations:

• Middle School:  May be difficult for your student (or you!). Students can be consistently inconsistent during this phase of life. It is often a time where academic demands are increased, students are trying to find more independence, and relationships with their peers are sometimes hard to navigate. All of this happens while the adults in their lives expect them to build resilience, show empathy, and make the right choices! While it doesn't feel great, conflict is a natural part of the middle level years - it is how students build their socialization skills. Parents and caregivers can best support students at home by providing clear and consistent expectations, monitoring devices/social media access, and modeling/coaching students on social skills. If you or your student is struggling with the middle years, do not hesitate to reach out to the house office.

• Threats: We want to emphasize that safety is our top priority. Students are being reminded, during assemblies this week, that threatening comments will be taken seriously. Please be sure to talk about this issue with your student(s), including what they say and do outside of school. Comments or jokes related to threats, even when made in jest, can lead to significant disruptions, investigations, and consequences. 

• Drink Policy: *NEW* this year for CMS is a revised drink policy to ensure we have students consuming only water throughout the day. Students are not permitted to consume energy drinks, pop, etc. during the school day. There are drinking fountains throughout the school for student use. In addition, there are water bottle filling stations. Students may carry a water bottle with them to maintain proper hydration throughout the day. Only water may be carried by students between 7:50 am - 3:35 pm. Drinks purchased in the cafeteria must be consumed there and not taken out of the cafeteria.

• Cell Phone Policy: Dr. Frahm communicated information regarding the district's updated Internet Enabled Device Policy at the start of school. This type of policy is not new to CMS as we previously had a no cell phone rule during the school day (8:58am - 3:35pm). The major change for us this year, with the new state law, is that students must store their devices in their lockers. 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 and 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. If your student is sick, they should go to the nurse's office and not text you directly. The nurse will contact with families should a student need to go home ill.

• Digital Pass System: Clarence High School started using a digital pass system last school year and it worked well. We piloted this process with some of our 8th grade teachers last spring and we also found it to be beneficial. SecurlyPass enables administrators, teachers, and staff to monitor hallway activity, set location limits, and control the number of passes at any given time. The system tracks how long students are out of the classroom and alerts staff if students exceed time limits or don't check in at their destinations. This improves safety and security while reducing classroom disruptions. This system does not physically track students, but makes the process of traditional paper "yellow passes" digital. While it is a helpful management tool, it is also a great safety feature as it allows us to know where students are if they are not in the classroom should we need to find a student quickly. 

• Bus Behavior: Bus transportation is a privilege. Students who do not meet the expectations of bus behavior may lose that privilege. Students are expected to remain seated, maintain an appropriate noise level, and behave as they are expected to while in school.

• Dress Code: Clothing items must be appropriate and safe for school. Hats and hoodies are not allowed. Clothing items should not be threatening or promote violence, drugs/alcohol, or have inappropriate or suggestive language. Extremely brief, small, and see-through garments are not appropriate.

• Walkers and Bikers: Students who walk or bike must have a note on file in their House Office. Please contact your student's House Office ASAP if your student is allowed to walk or bike to school. If we do not have a note on file, they will likely be stopped and asked to ride the bus or call home. Motorized bikes of any kind are not allowed on CMS property.

• Chromebooks: Students should come to school each day with a charged Chromebook. We encourage you to establish a routine where the device gets charged each night. Please be sure your student takes care of their device. Any personalization of the devices should not be permanent or damage the device. Our district device policy states that students and families are responsible for damaged devices. 

We ask that you take a minute to look over our traffic pattern information. We recognize drop-off and afternoon pick-up can be busy and hectic here at CMS. Much of it is out of our control as we are unable to control traffic on Greiner Rd. It is critical to arrival/dismissal that drivers are patient and follow the proper procedures. Parents may drop off students using the front loop beginning at 7:55 am. Students will be housed in one of our cafeterias until the building opens at 8:45 am. Students dropped off before 7:55 am will not be supervised. There is a long-term plan to fix our traffic situation in the next capital project. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience and safe practices during arrival and dismissal.

Thank you for sharing your student with us each day. It is our pleasure to help guide them through their middle level years. We realize that this time of life may come with some challenges, but we are here to help. Please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Thank you,

Ashley Dreibelbis

Principal

PS - Please be sure to check out the other “buttons” and sidebars below which includes other helpful information. The CMS Resource Guide is a middle school handbook for families and has helpful videos for using our digital resources Schoology and PowerSchool.