Parent Resources

I am writing to you with a heavy heart and deepest sympathy for the people of Newtown, CT and the victims of yesterday's tragic incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  While we pray for the victims and seek to understand this event, I realize that you as a parent may be struggling with how to handle talking about this event with your own children.  To this end, I welcome you to set up an appointment to talk to our guidance counselor if you need advice or assistance talking with your children about these events.  If your children are struggling with this and would like to talk to a professional, please encourage them to come to the guidance office.  We will do our best to accommodate any request for assistance that you may have.  

CCMS Students Participate in First Lego League Competition

CCMS Students Participate in FLL Competition

The best way to summarize FIRST LEGO League is to say that it is a robotics program for 9 to 16 year olds, which is designed to get children excited about science and technology -- and teach them valuable employment and life skills. FLL can be used in a classroom setting but is not solely designed for this purpose.

Each Challenge has three parts: the Robot Game, the Project, and the FLL Core Values. Teams of up to ten children, with one adult coach, participate in the Challenge by programming an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing field (Robot Game), developing a solution to a problem they have identified (Project), all guided by the FLL Core Values. Teams may then choose to attend an official tournament, hosted by one of our Operational Partners.

(Taken from:  http://firstlegoleague.org)

Central Cambria Middle School students from the 7^th and 8^th grade Enrichment class competed this past Sunday in the Southwest/Central PA Championship held at Saint Francis University.  Each of our teams won an award. One team (The Devil Dominators) won the “Sticking To It” award and the other team (The Robotic Devils) won “Best Team Spirit.” In the robot programming portion of the competition we placed seventh and eighth out of twelve teams. 

The theme this year was Senior Solutions.  For the project portion of the competition, we partnered with some senior citizens from the Ebensburg Senior Center.  Each team had to come up with an idea for a product that would make seniors’ lives easier. To meet this goal we conducted interviews with the Seniors to determine what problems they faced.  We then chose a problem on which to focus and developed a solution.  The Robotic Devils decided to focus on problems associated with canes. They came up with the “Infinity Cane,” which is a cane that is made to fit the seniors’ needs. The Devil Dominators focused on technology and socialization and came up with the “eZ-TAB”, which is a tablet that is easier, bigger, and clearer for seniors to use.

The opportunity to participate in the FLL Challenge was made possible by donations from The H. F. Lenz Company, Attorney Heath Long, The Central Cambria Education Foundation, and Saint Francis University.  Participation has allowed us to build and refine skills in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and we are grateful for the opportunity.  

December Begins

It is Monday morning as we write this post.  The weather outside is full of rain and clouds, but the mood around the Middle School is bright as the Steelers defeated the Ravens last night and we are now officially into the holiday season with only three school weeks to go until winter break. 

The Devil's Den school store has had a tremendous grand opening over the past two weeks.  The first week the store was open, it was slammed with so many customers that it could have been mistaken for a discount retailer on Black Friday.  Business has been so steady that we have already had to place a second order for items that have sold out.  The store is open every Friday during our Middle School lunch period.

Our Box Tops for Education collection has also seen a tremendous response up to this point in the school year.  In Round 1, our teachers and students collected 7,264 box tops.  As a rough estimate, the school should be receiving around $720 as a result.  The top three classes from Round 1 have enjoyed being dismissed to the lunch line first for the past month as a reward.  So far in Round 2, our classes atop the leaderboard are:  1) Ms. Getz  2) Mr. Stephan  3) Mrs. Ball  4) Mrs. Urbassik  and 5) Mrs. Petre.  Round 2 will end on the last school day in December, and winners will go to lunch first during the month of January.  Thank you for participating by cutting out and collecting box tops from products that you use on a regular basis.  We appreciate the time you give to this.

Mid-term progress reports for marking period 2 will be sent home with your child on Monday, December 10, 2012.  Please look for this when students come home that day.

Box Tops Round 2

Round 2 of our box tops for education contest is underway.  Our current standings are:  1st place - Mr. Stephan's class  2nd - Ms. Getz' class  3rd - Mrs. Urbassik's class  4th - Mrs. Petre's class  5th - Mrs. Dziack's class.  We have some new names atop the leaderboard right now, but as round 1 proved, things can change as we get closer to the end of round 2.  We will find out who has been hoarding their box tops until the end, who has been embellishing their amount collected, and separate the contenders from the pretenders over the next month.  One thing that is certain is that each box top collected allows us to purchase new reading materials to benefit our students, so please keep sending them in.

School Store

The Devil’s Den, Central Cambria Middle School's new school store, is ready to open on Monday.  Mrs. Niebauer's 6th grade enrichment/language arts class has been worked during the first marking period on creating a school store to serve our students.  The class developed and administered a market research survey to determine products and price points our students would be most interested in, researched and selected vendors to provide products, and completed other tasks to get the store set up and ready for its grand opening on Monday.  The store will be located in the cafeteria during lunch period on designated days.  Initial products available are pencils, pens, erasers, locker scents, gum, and other items of interest.  We will also have t-shirts and sweatshirts developed by the Central Cambria Education Foundation available for order.  New products will be added as the year progresses.  Thanks in advance to Mrs. Niebauer and her class for making the new store a reality!

Reading Competition Team Dominates!

Congratulations to our CCMS Reading Competition teams.  Team 1 brought home a third place ribbon by earning 51 points, while team 2 brought home the grand prize trophy by earning 75 points and placing first among the 43 teams in the competition.  Congratulations also go to Danika Polka and Tyler Toth for reading all 42 books required for the competition.  Yes, you read that correctly, 42 books!  Thank you to Mrs. Dziack, Ms. Minor, Mrs. Kemock, and Mrs. Farabaugh for helping with both teams in the competition!

Supply Bus for Hurricane Victims

Help the Central Cambria School District "pack the bus" this week!

The East Coast and its residents have been hit very hard by Hurricane Sandy and they need our help.  Our Central Cambria School District family will be “packing a bus” with needed supplies starting Wednesday, November 7^th through Friday November 9^th.  The bus will be parked in front of the High School on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:30 to 4:30.  Even though the students do not have school on Friday, the bus will still be parked in front of the HS for any additional drop-offs.  Supplies from Jackson Elementary will be picked up Thursday afternoon. We will be taking our “packed bus” to the East Coast on Sunday, November 11^th.   Please read the list below for recommended items. We thank you for your generosity.

Diapers, Baby Wipes

Heavy Duty Trash Liners

Latex Gloves

Coats for men and women

Socks for men, women and children

Toiletries:  soap, razors, shaving cream, toothbrushes, toothpaste

Boots

Bottled Water

Laundry Detergent

First Aid Supplies

Styrofoam cups 8 ounce size

Drinking cups 12-16 ounce size

Decaffeinated beverages

Ground coffee

Chips/pretzels in individual serving bags

Desserts, individually wrapped

Board games – checks, chess, puzzle books

PTSO Meeting

Our Central Cambria Middle School PTSO will be holding a meeting Tuesday, November 13th at 6:00 p.m. at the Middle School.  Any interested parent is welcome to attend the meeting.

Box Tops for Education - Round 1 Results

The results from the first round of our Box Tops for Education contest are in.  Mr. Dziack's class won round 1 by collecting 1,685 box tops.  Mr. Moore's class was 2nd with 1,282, and Ms. Vescovi's class finished 3rd with 1,065 box tops turned in.  In total, we had 15 first period classes collect 7,264 box tops in our first round.  The top three finishers will enjoy being the first three classes dismissed to the lunch line during the month of November.  Thank you to everyone who collected.  Round 2 has already begun, so please keep those collections coming!

Report Cards

Report cards were sent home with all students yesterday.  If you did not receive your child's report card, please contact the Middle School at 472-6505.

Box Tops Update

The deadline for round 1 of our Box Tops for Education contest is Monday, October 29th.  The 1st period class with the most box tops collected by Monday will be permitted to get in the lunch line first for the entire month of November.  At last count, Mr. Dziack's class held the lead, but there were several classes within striking distance. 

Why is this box top collection important?  So far, we have collected about $650 worth of box tops.  This money will be used to enhance our middle school library resources.  With new Common Core State Standards that will take effect in the 2013-14 school year, our middle school reading collection is in need of an update and upgrade.  Each box top collected gets us closer to that goal.  We thank you and your children for participating in the contest each marking period and wish each class good luck as they push toward victory.

PDE Officials Visit Central Cambria

On Thursday, October 25th, Dr. Carolyn Dumaresq, Deputy Secretary of Education, and two other PA Department of Education consultants visited Central Cambria to learn about and receive feedback on the new teacher evaluation system that is being piloted this year.  As you may be aware, all teachers will be evaluated starting in the 2013-14 school year using a new rubric developed by PDE.  The rubric contains 4 broad domains containing a total of 22 components of effective teaching.  Through evidence collected during classroom observations, pre- and post-conferences to discuss performance, and ratings based on a detailed rubric, the new system will provide opportunities to acknowledge each teacher's strengths and identify specific areas for improvement. The overall goal of the new system is to provide meaningful feedback to improve classroom instruction, and thereby increase learning for every student in the Commonwealth.  As the year progresses, we will update our blog readers on the progress of our teacher evaluation pilot program at Central Cambria Middle School.  To watch the news segment from Dr. Dumaresq's visit, follow this link:  http://wearecentralpa.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=408472

Halloween Dance = Great Success

Last evening over 300 of our students gathered for the annual Halloween Dance sponsored by student council.  The evening was successful for a number of reasons.  First, our student council co-advisors put in the time to plan a quality event.  Second, our students were very well-behaved and handled the evening in a mature and controlled manner.  Third, our students were excited and enthusiastic throughout the event.  It was certainly enjoyable to see our kids having a good time to wrap up the last week of the first marking period.

Mr. Dumm Receives McDonald's Grant

Central Cambria Middle School art teacher Brian Dumm was recently rewarded a $500 "Mac Grant" by McDonald's Corporation as a result of a 2012 national campaign seeking educators who implement creative and quality educational lessons.  Mr. Dumm plans to use the grant money to purchase several Wacom digital drawing/painting tablets for the CCMS art program.  Congratulations to Mr. Dumm for his effort to enhance our art program!

It's Friday!

Another week is winding down at Central Cambria Middle School, and it has been a week full of activity.  To summarize:

• On Monday our teachers went through a day of training, the details of which you can read about in Wednesday's blog post. 
• This week was the final week of sales for our student council fundraiser, and students are eager with anticipation to see if they met their quota of selling $35,000 of merchandise.  We hope to have an accurate figure on Monday.
• Our Box Tops for Education contest for the first marking period is heating up.  There are many forms of subterfuge and trickery taking place between our first period classes, with some of them hoarding their box tops to turn them all in at once, and others sandbagging and only turning in portions of their collection at a time in an attempt to fool their competitors.  It is all quite entertaining.  As of two minutes ago, when updated numbers came in, Ms. Vescovi's class remains in the lead, now trailed closely by Mr. Moore, Mr. Dziack, Mrs. Dziack, and Mr. Gilkey's classes.  This is a major shift in the standings from yesterday!  There are rumblings that several teachers are sitting on a hoard of box tops that they will not turn in until the last collection date, so it could be anybody's game!  The winning class will get to go to lunch first every day during the month of November, and will not have to wait in line.  That may not sound like much, but it is a huge motivator for middle school students!
• I have been out and about in our classrooms, conducting walkthroughs since the beginning of September. What I am finding is not a surprise.  We have some really good teachers who are showing some tremendous skills in their classrooms every day.  Additionally, our students are coming to school and getting the job done in the classroom, working hard, participating, answering questions, and showing enthusiasm for learning.  It is no wonder that our PSSA scores are solid after seeing what our teachers and students are doing on a daily basis.  We are always looking to improve, and will continue to do so every day, but it is nice to be starting from a position of strength in many key areas.
• We will have a Halloween Dance on October 25th, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.  Information about ticket sales will go out to students next week.
• Communities In Schools of the Laurel Highlands, the after school program at Central Cambria Middle School, will be holding a coat drive to benefit local families in need of help this winter. Please send donations of lightly used coats to school with your child and have him/her drop them off in room H104 located in the 6^th grade hallway. All sizes from children to adults will be accepted. The homeroom/TAG group with the most coats donated will receive  free passes to the holiday dance.  The drive will begin on Monday, October 15^th and end on Wednesday October 31^st at the end of the day. Donations will be counted and the winning TAG Group will be announced on Friday, November 2^nd. The winning TAG Group will receive their free passes a few days before the dance. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me using the information listed below.
• Please view our parent resources Scoop.it page at http://www.scoop.it/t/central-cambria-middle-school-parent-resources for links to articles and web sites that I have found that may be useful for you as a parent. 
• We are up to 547 page views on the blog.  Thank you for continuing to view and read our blog!
 

Denver Museum at CCMS

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science: LIVE at Central Cambria Middle School - Written by CCMS science teacher, Mrs. Joanna Dickert

In March of 2012, Mrs. Joanna Dickert, 8^th grade integrated science teacher, had the opportunity to present a workshop at the 2012 National Science Teachers Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.  While there she attended over a dozen other presentations and one of those was highlighting the Denver Museum of Nature and Sciences’ distance education program featuring live video conferencing between school classrooms and distinguished scientists from all over the United States. Through this innovative 45 minute program, scientists interact live with classrooms, teaching students about a very specific scientific endeavor.  Current scholarships from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science School and Teacher Programs make these once unthinkable opportunities a reality.  Gianna Sullivan, director of distance learning for the museum, works to coordinate these types of programs to all parts of the United States.  Ms. Sullivan states that, “We put enormous energy, resources and current pedagogy into developing our educational programming so we are thrilled to be able to share these high quality products beyond the reaches of our regional audiences.”

With the professional guidance of PC technician Tom Columbus III of InShore Technologies setting up and testing the specific equipment needed for the students and scientists to communicate back and forth, student inquisitiveness and excitement peaked! The students relish the humor, intelligence and sometimes oddity of the program topics.  September’s program took the students to an excavation dig in Nebraska where the crushed bones of Mammoths, down about 3 meters in the ground, look to prove that man inhabited North America up to 30,000 years before what was once believed.  Lead archaeologist Steve Holen, has taken the simple idea that bones fracture differently before and after death and used that knowledge to determine whether mammoth fossils show pre-death fractures.  If they do, this could possibly mean that the mammoths were hunted and killed by their only predator, humans.  By dating the bones, Dr. Holen can then determine how long ago humans were here in North America.  His studies are showing that humans were here far earlier than expected.  October’s program was presented by Mark Widdifield and was titled “Titan: A Virtual Art Station”.  This fantastic session combined science and art in the form of technical drawings of Saturn’s largest moon Titan.  Through the eyes and hands of an artist, they learned that Titan’s mountains are frozen water and its streams are actually liquid methane.  It is that methane that gives Titan its orange color and why we started with orange paper.  Students signed their drawings and labeled chemical formulas to finish their individual masterpieces. 

The upcoming November program will examine a timely subject, Extreme Weather, talking with a female scientist who chases tornadoes and compiles hurricane data.   Again, this will be a live program.  Mrs. Dickert and her students are looking forward to future programs she can bring to her classroom with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science distance learning programs.

Wednesday Update

During in-service training on Monday, October 8th, our middle school teachers spent the morning learning about the new teacher evaluation process that is being implemented statewide for the 2013-14 school year.  This process involves a comprehensive observation procedure comprised of 22 components within 4 general domains tied to effective teaching.  The system is based on a model that was researched and developed by Charlotte Danielson.  To get teachers acclimated to the new observation process, we will be piloting the observation procedure this year with any teacher who would like to volunteer to go through the process.  So far response has been strong.  Observations will count for 50% of a teacher's annual evaluation, while student achievement data will count for the other 50%.  The second half of our day was spent with each teacher developing a data plan for their classes and sharing strategies to make sure all students can be successful this school year.  We ended the day by narrowing down our Middle School vision statements to two finalists, which our staff will be voting on soon. 

Student Council fundraiser orders and money are due by this Friday, October 12.  The goal that has been set is to sell $35,000 worth of orders.  As of this moment, we are about half way to that goal.  Profits from the fundraiser will go toward funding student activities during the school year.  If we meet our quota of $35,000 sold, Mr. Santini will have to wear Pitt gear, and a blue and gold Pitt mohawk wig, for a day at school.  Here's hoping we finish at $34,999!

For any student who leaves a cell phone on their school bus, from this point forward you can expect to receive the phone back the next day from either the bus driver or our coordinator of transportation.  We do not have staff available to search school buses every evening for missing phones, so this will be the new procedure moving forward.  The best way to avoid this issue is to encourage your child to be responsible for securing their cell phone while on the school bus.

Please continue to cut out and collect Box Tops for Education.  The money we receive from this program will be used to purchase materials for our library.  Send your box tops in with your child to turn in during first period every Friday.  So far, Ms. Vescovi's class leadds with 347 box tops collected, but there are some other classes close behind.  We will declare a winning class each marking period, with the contest starting over every 9 weeks.

Our Halloween Dance is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, October 25th from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.  More details will be coming out about this event.

We are up to 519 page views on our blog, and 19 followers on our Twitter account.  When we get to 30 parents or community members following us on Twitter, we are going to randomly select one of our followers for a prize that I will determine at that point.  For every 10 local followers we get beyond 30, we will draw another winner.  So, if you haven't already, follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with events taking place at the Middle School!

As always, if you have any questions about anything in this blog post or in general, feel free to email me at csantini@cencam.org. 

Resources for Parents - Scoop.It Page

As a service to parents, we have created a Scoop.It page tailored to parents of students at Central Cambria Middle School.  Scoop.It is a web application that allows a curator to create a web magazine from links and articles from any source on the web.  As time allows, we will add to the page on a periodic basis any article or information that we feel might be useful knowledge for our parents to have.  This might include learning apps for mobile devices, strategies to improve your child's health or school performance, or other information that could be beneficial.  Understand that the material added to our Scoop.It page is created by outside authors and sources, and that even though we added it to our page it should not be implied that we are endorsing the ideas, products, or theories contained therein.  It does mean that we deemed the content worthy of adding to the page as a resource or information for you as a parent to consider and do with as you please.  Ultimately, the growth and achievement of all of our students is goal #1 at Central Cambria Middle School, and anything we can do to help get them there is seen as a benefit.  Your feedback is always appreciated, and if you have suggestions or comments about the new page, please email me at csantini@cencam.org. 

To start the page off, we have included articles featuring 50 iPad apps for struggling readers, 50 educational apps for Android devices, and 40 science apps.  There is also an article on the benefits of promoting an active lifestyle for your child, and it's link to educational performance. Check out the page here:

http://www.scoop.it/t/central-cambria-middle-school-parent-resources

Thank you for viewing our blog!

Free Rice - 6th grade Enrichment

Free Rice?

Written By Mrs. Niebauer’s 6^th grade Enrichment Class

One day in Mrs. Niebauer’s class we started using a website which allows the user to answer questions from a variety of academic subjects in order to both gain and demonstrate knowledge and donate rice to the hungry.  What is this website?  www.freerice.com According to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section of the website, Freerice was founded in October 2007 by John Breen.  In March 2009, Mr. Breen donated the site to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).  The WFP is the United Nations frontline agency in the fight against global hunger and the world's largest humanitarian organization, working closely with many other organizations in over 75 countries.  Does the World Food Programme profit?  No, it doesn’t.  The WFP is committed to the cause of ending hunger around the world.  Sponsors make payments directly to the WFP and 100% of the money raised goes to feed the hungry.

          The freerice game is both educational and fun, and actually, a bit addicting.  Players can choose from a variety of subjects including English Vocabulary, Spanish, Famous Paintings, Basic Math, SAT Prep, World Landmarks, and Human Anatomy.  As we played the game we noticed that when we get a question right we donate 10 grains of rice that will go to the hungry. We started to develop some questions.  Is this real? What does 10 grains of rice look like?  How much rice is in a serving?  How much rice are we actually donating in 30 minutes of playing?  We decided to answer these questions by conducting our own research.  Mrs. Niebauer brought in a one pound bag of uncooked white rice.  From the packaging we learned that a serving of rice was ¼ cup.  We each counted one serving of the uncooked grains of rice, then averaged our individual results to discover that in one serving there is approximately 2,711 grains of rice.  Then we went online and played for about 30 minutes.  Again, we averaged our individual totals to determine that the average amount of rice donated in 30 minutes was 3,323, which is about 1 1/5 of a serving. So, half an hour of play really can make a difference in the life of a person in need.  It is our hope that you donate your time to feed hungry communities of people around the world.  Thank you and donate away!

 

Odds and Ends from Week #5

All students received a fundraiser order form today for student council's annual fundraiser.  Proceeds from the fundraiser fund student activities throughout the school year that benefit our students.  The goal of the fundraiser is to sell $35,000 of goods.  If our students reach this goal, Mr. Santini, a proud Penn State graduate, has agreed to wear a Pitt outfit, complete with jersey, blue and yellow mohawk wig, and other Pitt paraphernelia, for a day here at school.  Needless to say, Mr. Santini is hoping we raise $34,999.99. 

Mid-term progress reports were sent home with students yesterday.  Addtionally, a Global Connect call was sent out to inform parents of those reports coming home.  If your child had a grade of D or F in any class, an additional, more detailed progress report was also sent home for that class.  If you have concerns about your child's academic progress, please contact the teacher or Mr. Santini.

The Central Cambria Education Foundation will have a table at the Potato Fest where they will be selling Central Cambria shirts that feature a rhinestone logo.  Additionally, raffle tickets to win tickets to a Steelers game vs. the Chargers in December will be sold for $5 each.  Please stop by and see us if you are going to the Potato Fest.  Foundation proceeds support and enhance educational activities and initiatives that are beyond the scope of our school budget.

Spirit Week takes place next week at the middle school and high school.  Students are encouraged to dress according to the theme for each day next week.  We will end the week with a pep rally next Friday.

Virtual Learning at Central Cambria Middle School

Thanks to Mrs. Joanna Dickert, our 8^th grade students were able to travel virtually to an archaeological dig site in the western U.S. to learn about current research on mammoths and the field of archaeology.  The event was facilitated through the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and their curator & archaeologist, Dr. Steve Holen.  This virtual learning experience was made possible by our IT department through a video call set up in our auditorium.  Included was a discussion of early life forms in North Americ and research methods such as ground penetrating radar, carbon dating, and topographical mapping.  Our students were able to ask Dr. Holen questions in real time, with no delay in response, and learned about his training, profession, and expeditions.  One interesting fact is that we did not have many woolly mammoths in Pennsylvania due to our terrain and vegetation, but we did have many mastadons, which are not common in the west.  Additionally, Dr. Holen's most exciting find was a saber tooth cat on a dig site in Nebraska, something he described as a once in a career event.  Since the program went so well, Mrs. Dickert hopes to continue the series later in the school year on different topics, providing students with similar engaging experiences with just the click of a mouse!

For a link with a video of Dr. Holen explaining his work:  http://www.dmns.org/teachers/distance-learning/scientists-in-action/bone-breaking-science/

Academic Resources for Students at CCMS

The following information about academic resources available to your child will be coming home on Thursday, printed on the back of mid-term progress reports.  As a reader of our blog, you are receiving it early.  Please read this information at your convenience.  If you haven't done so already, please set up an account to view your child's grades through our MMS system. 

·         VIEW STUDENT’S GRADES (Online Resource):

To access a student’s grades, parents/guardians must create an online MMS account. To do so, please contact Kim Kenny at (814) 472-8860 ext. 289 or by email:  kkenny@cencam.org

Once your account is created, you may access the “MMS Parent Portal” by:

1.  Going to the Central Cambria School District’s website:  http://www.cchs.k12.pa.us/.
2. Click on the “MMS Parent Portal” (gray box in the top right corner) or click the “Parents” tab and then “MMS Parent Portal” (along left).
3. Enter your username and password and click “login.”  If you forgot your username or password, please contact Kim Kenny at the contact provided above.

·         COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS (After-School Resource):

Communities in Schools (CIS) operates a free after-school program for middle school students.  The program is located at the middle school and is available Monday through Friday from 2:40 pm – 5:00pm. Students do not have to attend the entire week to be a part of the program.  The program provides a snack, academic tutoring/homework help, and recreational/social activities.  Limited bus transportation is available and parent permission is required in order for students to participate.  Students who are being picked up from the after-school program do not need to stay until 5:00 pm; however, students will need to be signed out by an authorized person listed on the permission form.   If you are interested in enrolling your child in this program, please contact Ms. Ribarich 472-6505 ext. 505.

·         RESOURCE FOR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS AND UPCOMING TESTS (Online Resource):

In an effort to inform parents/guardians of homework assignments and upcoming tests or quizzes, teacher are maintaining individual teacher web pages from which parents, guardians, and students can access assignments, tests, and additional resources.  To view teacher pages, please visit http://www.cchs.k12.pa.us/middle/ and under the “Navigation” section, click on the “teacher pages.”  Select the individual teacher’s page to obtain class-related information.  Each page will vary with content.  This is a useful tool to obtain information in the event of a school absence as well.

 ·         STUDY ISLAND (Online Resource):  http://www.studyisland.com/

Study Island is a valuable online tool that helps to build skills and enrich learning.  Students utilize the program during school hours, but may also access the program at home using their provided username and password.  The web-based program engages learners and enhances skills in Reading and Math.

Follow Central Cambria Middle School events on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ccmsprincipal

·         We will post upcoming school events, links to articles related to education, and other useful information for parents.

For a more detailed description of what we are doing at the middle school, visit and subscribe to our blog at:  http://centralcambriamiddleschool.blogspot.com/

 Questions?  Contact Mr. Santini, Middle School Principal.  472-6505 Ext. 500 or csantini@cencam.org

Box Tops For Education

Many of you may be familiar with the Box Tops for Education fundraiser that our middle school has just kicked off.  For those who are not, let me give you a brief description.  This fundraiser is unique in that we aren't asking you to purchase anything, donate money, or volunteer your time.  All you need to do is look for a small "Box Tops for Education" coupon on boxes of many products that you probably already use on a regular basis.  Simply cut the coupons out of the box and send them in to school with your child.  For each coupon that is collected, the middle school will receive the amount of money indicated on the coupon.  While 5, 10, or 20 cents at a time may not seem like much, when you consider the collective action of 415 students and their families it is plain to see the tremendous potential this program can deliver. 

You might be asking yourself what the proceeds will be used for.  At this time, our plan is to use money from the boxtops fundraiser to enhance our library collection.  Specifically, our middle school literature and non-fiction collections are in need of an upgrade to best prepare our students for the new Common Core State Standards and to maintain works that our students are interested in reading.  All money from this program will go back into providing these types of resources for our students.

What do you need to do?

• View the list of participating products: http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/clip/Brands.aspx
• Clip the coupons from the boxes and packaging of any products you use, or have your child do so. 
• Send the coupons into school with your child each week.  Ask your child to give these to his or her first period teacher.

It really is that simple.  We appreciate any and all support with this project.  If you have any questions, please contact our librarian, Mrs. Criste, at jcriste@cencam.org . 

Mid-Term Progress Reports

Mid-term progress reports will be sent home with all middle school students on Thursday, September 27th.  The front will have a listing of current grades from each class, similar to a report card.  The back will have information on setting up an MMS account, our after-school programs, and other information that is valuable to parents.  Please look for your child's progress report next Thursday!

Reading Competition Team

The Central Cambria Middle School Reading Competition team will be traveling to Bellwood Antis High School for the fall reading competition on Tuesday, November 13. Each member is busy reading and preparing for this upcoming event. Team members will read up to 42 books each and then compete with students from other school districts by answering questions related to the books they read. Mrs. Dziack is the team advisor.

School Store

A group of middle school students, under the direction of Mrs. Niebauer, are developing a business plan for a school store.  The targeted date for the store to open is the first week of November.  These students are currently conducting preliminary research prior to opening the store, including:

• Developing a market research survey to determine products and price points that will appeal to our students and school community
• Researching vendors to provide these products
• Conducting cost-benefit analysis of locally-sourced products vs. outside vendors
• Selection of products that will be sold in the store
• Creating a marketing and branding plan
• Naming the store
• Locating the store within the school and determining when and how often it will be open
• Preparing for the "grand opening" in November

If you have ideas or input for any of the steps related to the development of our school store, please contact us by email at hniebauer@cencam.org or csantini@cencam.org .

Bonfire!

The Central Cambria Football Bonfire has been rescheduled for Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.  You are invited to come out and support the team as they prepare to play Bishop Carroll that Friday.  The bonfire will be held on the old football field behind the middle school.  Central Cambria merchandise will be available for purchase, as well as Pink-Out shirts which will be sold for $10 each.

PSSA Score Reports

PSSA score reports are being sent home with your child today.  Please review these, and contact me if you have any questions:  csantini@cencam.org or 472-6505 and ask for Mr. Santini.

Zero to Hero assembly with Mike Hall

The Middle School welcomed speaker Mike Hall on Tuesday, September 11, to encourage positive attitudes with his motivational Zero to Hero presentation.  Mike shared a few of his inspiring life stories while keeping students AND teachers laughing and able to relate to what he had to say.  He recommended the students to, “Design the life that matters, not the life you want.” He revealed a blind fact that the problem dwelling within the hallways of many schools is not just the bullies themselves, but also the good people who often stand around and let the bullying happen.  Some encouraging ideas Mike left the students with were to 1) Surround yourself with people who have it more together than you do because their positive actions or skills could rub off on you, 2) Tune into voices that bring you up & tune out voices that bring you down; choose more encouraging friends, 3) Evaluate yourself before you judge others.  The students and faculty really enjoyed Mike’s visit and were engaged in his heartfelt assembly. More from Mike can be found on his website at www.mikeisspeaking.com, as well as Twitter and Facebook at www.facebook.com/mikeisspeaking.

Thanks to Ms. Minor, CCMS' Americorps worker, for the write-up!

What is the CDT and why is your child taking it?

What is the CDT?

• The CDT (Classroom Diagnostic Tool) is an online test available for students starting in 6th grade.  There are three separate tests:  Mathematics, Science, and Reading/Literature.  The CDT consists of multiple-choice questions of varying difficulty.  The results of the test provide data related to each student's individual strengths and areas for improvement in each of those content areas.  The questions on the CDT are aligned to the content on the PSSA tests and Keystone Exams. 

What do teachers do with CDT data?

• Teachers will use data from the CDT test to determine the educational needs of their classes as a whole, as well as the particular needs for each individual student.
• From here, teachers will adjust their instruction to address areas where individual students and larger groups of students are showing a need for improvement.
• Teachers can provide further enrichment and acceleration related to areas their students are showing strength.

How many times will students take the CDT this school year?

• Students will take the CDT 2 or 3 times this school year.  The first administration starts this week, with the second happening later in the year.

Does the CDT count toward AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress)?

• The CDT does not count toward AYP as the PSSA and Keystone Exams do.  However, it does provide valuable data for our teachers to use to best meet the specific educational needs of your child.

To find out more information: 

http://static.pdesas.org/Content/Documents/CDT_FAQs_FINAL_APPROVED.pdf

Middle School Football - 4:00 p.m. at the stadium

The Central Cambria Middle School football team, comprised of 7th and 8th grade players, will compete today against Somerset at 4:00 p.m. at the football stadium.  Additionally, our middle school cheerleading squad will be in action at the game.  The kids have been working hard, and would appreciate it if you came out to support them today!

Cross Country Dominates at Bear Mountain River Run Invitational

The Central Cambria Middle School Cross Country teams won the Bear Mountain River Run Invitational this past weekend.  The event was held at Lock Haven University and featured 15 teams from around the state.  The boys placed 5 runners in the top 16, while girls placed all 9 runners in the top 13 including each of the first 7 spots.  Congratulations to our runners on their great victory!

Meet the Teacher Night Overview

Last night's Meet the Teacher Night was a resounding success.  We had 299 parents in attendance, and we thank all of you for coming in to see us.  In case you missed us last night, here are some items that were covered:

• We are developing a list of parent volunteers that we can draw from when we have events taking place at school.  Events could include dances, activity nights, after-school programs, or other things that may arise as the school year progresses.  If you would like to be added to our list, please send me an email.
• The Central Cambria Education Foundation is selling chances to win Steeler tickets.  One chance costs $5 and enters you to win two tickets plus money for parking to the Steelers vs. Chargers game in December.  You can stop by the middle school if you want to purchase a raffle ticket.  All profits go to the Foundation, which supports our students by supplementing and enriching our educational program.
• Parent conferences will be held November 1 and November 8.  We will have more information out as we get closer to that time.
• Our after-school program run by Communities In Schools will begin soon.  If you would like more information or would like to sign your child up, please contact me and I will provide you with instructions regarding sign-up.
• Please subscribe to this blog to receive an email alert any time a new post is put up, and follow our twitter account @CCMSPrincipal.

Meet the Teacher Night

We have had a great start to the school year at the middle school.  The teachers are energized, the kids are excited, and I am soaking in all that comes with the start of a new school year. 

This Thursday evening, August 30th, we will be holding Meet the Teacher Night at the middle school.  The evening will begin at 7:00 p.m.  Parents will have the opportunity to follow their child's schedule and spend about 9 minutes in each class.  Our teachers will review their course syllabus and other pertinent information with you.  Please arrive prior to 7:00 p.m. so you can get into your child's 1st period class on time.

I will conducting a brief meet and greet in the auditorium at 6:30 p.m.  I will provide a brief overview of some initiatives going on at the middle school this year, and answer any general questions you may have. 

We hope to see you here for Meet the Teacher Night!

Student Schedules

Student schedules are printed and available in the main office of the middle school for all incoming 6th, 7th and 8th grade students.  Feel free to stop by during school hours this week to pick up your child's schedule.

Greetings

Hello, and welcome to the official blog of the Central Cambria Middle School.  As your new principal, one of my goals is to help students, staff, parents, and community members engage with our school.  Since it is rare to find a story in the news media that focuses on the many positive things that take place within our walls every day, our aim is to give you a glimpse into what really goes on from week to week in our middle school.  We will post highlights of school activities, interesting lessons, and opportunities for you to get involved in a positive way to support your child's education. 

If you are on twitter, you can follow us at http://twitter.com/CCMSPrincipal. When I post a new blog entry, I will send out a tweet to let you know the site has been updated.  We are also exploring the construction of a facebook page that would be another means of communication with the community.  It would be set up as a business page with alerts, notifications, and information posted as needed.  When that site is constructed I will post a link here on the blog to let you know it is ready to go. 

As the new principal here, a question that I have been asked most often is "what do you do at school in the summer?"  So, to answer that, here is what has been taking place this summer at the middle school:

• The master schedule for teachers was adjusted and completed, and students have now been scheduled for classes.  Many thanks go to Mrs. McDermott and Mrs. Ribarich for their efforts in helping to get this done.
• Our custodial staff, under the direction of Mr. Shaffer, has cleaned every square inch of the middle school so it is ready for students to return.  The building is sparkling, and Mr. Shaffer's team did a great job.
• I reviewed our PSSA results from the 2011-12 school year in order to identify our areas of strength and any weaknesses that we need to work on.  Our PSSA performance this past year was exemplary, so I want to congratulate our teachers and students for their successes in regards to the PSSA.
• We have finalized our personnel needs to make sure all positions are filled and ready to go for the start of school.
• I am currently working on our in-service activities for our teachers next week.
• Last week we held a boot camp orientation for our incoming 6th graders to help them adjust to the middle school.
• I have spent some time over the past month driving around the district to familiarize myself with the geography of our attendance area.  I have been to Vinco, Colver, Revloc and other points north and south of Ebensburg, and plan to continue this until I have covered most of our attendance area.
• Developing and setting goals for the upcoming school year.

Needless to say, the past month and a half has been filled with activity, and I am excited to meet our students and teachers starting next week.  Our first student day is Tuesday, August 28th.  We are putting the finishing touches on student schedules, and when they are completed we will inform parents so you can stop by the school and pick them up.  I hope you all enjoy the remainder of your summer, and we look forward to kicking off the school year!

Mr. Santini - Principal