Yearbook Order Forms - Due 3/24/2015

Order forms and money for CCMS yearbooks are due this Tuesday, March 24th.  There will be no orders or money accepted late, and we will not have extra copies for sale when the yearbook arrives in May.  The cost for the new, full-color yearbook is $20.  Please get your yearbook order in tomorrow!

Mid-Term Newsletter - March 2015

Mid-Term Newsletter - March 2015

We are at the mid-point of the third marking period.  It has been an interesting winter, as the weather has disrupted most of our weeks so far in 2015.  Despite this, our students and teachers continue to persevere and keep the educational process moving forward.  Here is some information for parents about what we have been doing this winter at Central Cambria Middle School:

CCMS NEWS:

v  The third and final round of our Box Tops For Education contest is underway, and ends later this month.  We have been able to purchase a variety of new library books with the money collected in the first two rounds.  Thank you for your participation!

v  CCMS once again participated in Hoops for Heart, a fundraiser for the American Heart Association.  Through a variety of activities, culminating in a faculty vs. student basketball game, the middle school was able to raise over $6,000 for the American Heart Association.  Thank you to Ms. Getz, Mr. Klezek, and Mrs. Lashinsky for their effort in coordinating this great event. 

v  Our First Lego League robotics teams, under the direction of Mrs. Niebauer, presented their projects to Mr. Santini prior to their competition in February.  Each team had to come up with an innovative solution to a problem they chose.  The robotics competition was disrupted by weather, but the teams are looking to stage an exhibition later this spring.

v  Parents are reminded to check teacher webpages on the middle school website for a listing of their child’s homework.

v  The Central Cambria Jr. High wrestling team was recently chosen as the District 6 Class AA Team of the Year, and coaches Brian Reynolds and Ted Castel were named Coaches of the Year.  The team finished 20-5 despite forfeiting 5 of the 18 weight classes.  The team had top 5 finishes at several tournaments.  Congratulations to our wrestlers and coaches for a job well done!

v  Student clubs were recently reintroduced to the middle school schedule.  Most students now have a club assigned one day per six day cycle during 9^th period.  The project was taken on by Mrs. Lashinsky, a 6^th grade language arts teacher who is currently pursuing her principal’s certification at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  We surveyed students to determined their interests, then surveyed teachers to see what types of clubs they were interested in facilitating.  We then matched students to one of their top three choices to create the new club schedule.  Examples of our new clubs include Cooking Club, Book & Movie Club, History Club, Fitness Club, Math Club, Photography Club, and a host of others.  Stay tuned in coming months for updates on these activities.

v  PSSA testing for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 begins on April 13^th.   

v  The spring sports season has begun.  Good luck to all of our student athletes as they begin their seasons.

v  CCMS recognized Read Across America Week with a variety of activities.  Students participated in a daily Dr. Seuss trivia contest.  Several language arts classes read to students at Cambria Elementary.  So far this year, Central Cambria Middle School students have read over 1,500 books (not including textbooks) for a total of over 75 million words.

v  CCMS Student Council is sponsoring a Movie Night on Friday, March 27^th.  Please see the flyer and parent permission form which will be sent home with students soon!

v  Mrs. Lashinsky has been facilitating a reading / language arts Breakfast Club every Wednesday morning this school year.  Any student may attend the club from 6:55 – 7:25 on Wednesday mornings.  Breakfast is provided, and students practice reading and writing skills through activities in the club, such as their weekly Word in the Hallway.

v  We are setting up an after school math tutoring group.  If you feel your child is in need of extra help in math, please contact Ms. Asashon at lasashon@cencam.org.

v  For the first time in its history, the CCMS yearbook will be in full color.  We have contracted with Herff Jones to produce this year’s yearbook.  Mrs. Urbassik has taken over as our interim yearbook advisor.  She will be assisted by students in her photography club in assembling the yearbook. 

v  Ms. Wissinger, our Americorps worker, has been busy planning our Fit & Fun Day for the last week of school.  We will have a number of guest presenters in the morning, followed by outdoor activities in the afternoon.

v  The Photography Club is in need of equipment.  If you have a gently used digital SLR or digital point and shoot camera, digital storage cards, or lenses that you no longer use, please contact Mrs. Urbassik at lurbassik@cencam.org.

v  The CCMS book fair was held in late February.  Students had a wide range of books to choose from.  Proceeds from the book fair go directly to our library.  Thank you to Mrs. Criste for organizing this event, and for our volunteers who assisted with it.

v  The Central Cambria football team recently held its annual Lift-A-Thon.  Our players have been working hard in the weight room in preparation for this event.  Thanks to coach Corrente and his staff for putting this event together.

CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION UPDATE

v  Our teachers are working hard to use technology effectively in their classrooms under the direction and support of our new K-12 technology coach, Mr. Strittmatter.  Our laptop carts and computer lab are booked every day as teachers experiment with new technology resources to engage their students and enhance learning.  In January, we rolled out our first cart of Google Chromebooks, and it has been used on a consistent basis ever since.  Teachers are experimenting with lessons designed around Bring Your Own Technology, using Google Docs on a consistent basis, and finding new tech resources to use with students.

v  Teachers have received training on several technology applications during the 2014-15 school year.  The latest of these is Google Classroom.  Math teachers will be learning about apps for math during our March professional development day.

v  Since the beginning of the 2013-14 school year, we have increased the number of student computers less than five years old from zero to 125 at the middle school.  We will continue working to increase this number in future budget planning.

v  Our Bring Your Own Technology initiative has started on a small scale, with individual teachers planning lessons to incorporate student devices and apps to enhance student learning.  An example of this was a lesson using the Kahoot app, which allows the teacher to track student responses to questions instantly and turn a practice quiz into a class competition. 

v  CCMS Social Studies teachers have begun the process of selecting a new textbook and teaching resources for grades 6, 7 and 8 social studies.  Our current books have significant age and wear, and lack up to date electronic teaching tools to enhance lessons.  Several textbooks have been reviewed so far.  We hope to have a recommendation for purchase this spring so that we can purchase materials in time for the 2015-16 school year. 

v  The purchase of new social studies textbook resources will complete the process of updating resources and materials for our four core subject areas.  We will now shift our attention to refining our curriculum in these areas, and investing in our exploratory courses in future budgets.

v  Two middle school math teachers, Ms. Minor and Mr. Kochinsky, attended training in the summer of 2014 at St. Francis University through the MSP-RAMP grant.  This two-week intensive algebra institute requires these teachers to collaborate with participants from other schools and create lessons using concepts learned through the training.  This has paid dividends in the classroom as these skills have been transformed into engaging lessons for our students.

v  CCMS Science teachers have been working through their new textbooks and creating updated curriculum modules to accompany these new resources.  For the 2015-16 school year, hands-on science activities will be incorporated into each unit.  Our science teachers are currently planning for these activities, including development of a list of supplies and equipment we will need to implement these labs.

v  In planning our 2015-16 schedule, we are looking to include a lab block for science and social studies one day per six-day cycle.  In this plan, students would attend science and social studies one period a day for four of the cycle days, and have a two-period block of science on one day and the same for social studies on the opposite cycle day.  This will provide the same amount of instructional time as students currently have in these classes, but will provide opportunities for extension activities every six days.

v  For updates from my observations and walkthroughs in classrooms, please check out the CCMS Twitter page at www.twitter.com/ccmsprincipal. You do not have to be a member of Twitter to view the tweets and pictures that are posted.  We have high-quality instruction taking place in our classrooms, and this provides a glimpse into some of the great things that are taking place.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

3/20  Mix it Up Day

3/27  CCMS Movie Night

4/1    End of 3^rd Marking Period

4/13  Beginning of PSSA testing

Field trip dates and details will be announced in our next newsletter, and posted on our blog.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

v  Thank you to the Central Cambria Education Foundation for its continued financial support of enrichment projects and activities for our students.  Visit cceducationfoundation.org for more information.

v  Thank you to the Nutrition Group for providing the raw materials and ingredients for our Cooking Club

v  Thank you to our Student Council advisors for the time they put in to organize and plan events for our students

v  Thank you to our teachers and staff for their continued pursuit of excellence in education. 

DONORSCHOOSE.ORG:

Over the past two years, CCMS teachers have posted several projects on the www.donorschoose.org website.  Projects have included new class sets of calculators, science equipment, and other items that enhance student learning.  Our thanks and appreciation go to those who have contributed, and to the teachers who have taken the initiative to create projects on the site.