CINNAMINSON MIDDLE SCHOOL

NOVEMBER DAY CALENDAR

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

1 2 3

4 7 9 14 15 16

17 18 21 22 23 28

29 30

If school is closed for any reason, the day schedule will resume at the point of the last day.

October Students of the Month Each month, Cinnaminson Middle School recognizes three individuals as our

Students of the Month. These students are nominated by their teachers for their

academic achievement and positive attitude. Additionally, each month students

will be nominated who adhere to the core character values of our school. For the

month of October, the focus was on RESPECT.

6th Grade: Kevin Tanczak 7th Grade: Rosemary O’Brien 8th Grade: Gianna Pappas

Congratulations to all!

Faculty Member of the Month In addition to honoring students of the month, CMS also recognizes one staff member each month for his/her contributions to our school. If you would like to nominate a staff member as our “Faculty Member of the Month”, visit the CMS homepage and complete a nomination form.

October Honoree: Will be announced on 11/7—Check the school website after that date.

Special thanks to our Home & School Association for providing gifts to our

student/staff honorees.

Monthly Parent Bulletin November 2016

312 North Forklanding Road Cinnaminson, NJ 08077 (856) 786-8012 FAX (856) 786-1860

Web Address: www.cinnaminson.com/cms Frank Goulburn, Principal

Hamm Kolev, Assistant Principal

November Important Dates

November 8th—Election Day—Schools Closed for Students

November 10th & 11th— NJEA Convention Schools Closed

November 16th—Parent Visitation Day (More Information to follow)

November 21st—Picture Make-Ups

November 23rd—Single Session Day. Dismissal will be at 12:22 PM .No lunches will be served

November 24th- 25th— Thanksgiving Holiday-— Schools Closed

AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK November 14th through 18th

Notes from the

Nurse

Please remember that according to the school health protocol, students are not permitted in school if they have had a fever (100°F), vomiting or diarrhea the day before. Students must be free of the fever (without fever reducing medicine), vomiting and diarrhea for 24 hours before returning to school.

Winter Sports News Basketball tryouts will begin on Tuesday November 15th. Th

coaches will have their pre-tryout meeting with the players on Wednesday, November 9th. At that time, they will get a schedule showing what time their tryouts will be for the first week. Once the teams are selected, each coach will give their players a full schedule for the entire year showing practice times and games.

Wrestling practice will begin on Monday, November 28th. At that time, the coach will give the members all the necessary information they need.

The entire winter sports schedule (games/meets only) is available on the school web site.

Spring sports sign-ups and physicals will be held in late January.

.

Veterans’ Day Ceremony

This month, Cinnaminson Middle School will continue its long

tradition of honoring our nation’s veterans. On November 14th, all 7th

grade students will have a question-and-answer session with

veterans during social studies and all 6th grade students will visit a

military memorabilia display in the media center. November 15th is

“Take a Veteran to School Day”. Any student who would like to

bring a family member who is a veteran or an active duty member

of the military is invited to bring him or her to continental breakfast

at 9:45 AM in the café followed by a veterans’ ceremony at 10:30

AM in the gymnasium. RSVP forms have been

provided and are due by November 9th. In

addition to those students escorting a guest, all

8th grade students will attend the

ceremony. Our students and community

benefit from these events as they are reminded

of the sacrifices of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast

guard members, and merchant marines and their families have

made.

Annual Candy Drive Are you wondering what to do with your

excess candy after Halloween? Well,

wonder no more. Our school will be

collecting candy until Monday,

November 7th. All candies will be

donated to the Ronald McDonald House

and the Providence House. Thank you

in advance for your assistance with this

worthwhile cause.

Important Reminder

Please remind your child to lock his/her belongings/valuables at all times. This pertains to both school and gym lockers. Valuables should never be left unattended!

Bus Policy

If a student needs to go home with another student in an emergency situation, a parent must call transportation for approval. Also, a note is required from both students’ parents. Once the main office receives the notes and gets permission from the transportation department, a bus pass will be issued. No one can ride someone else’s bus without a bus pass.

Home & School News

Yankee Candle fundraiser is currently underway. You can order

on-line through December 31, 2016 at

http://www.yankeecandle.com. Place order under

BG046018Y0 when ordering online; you will be responsible for

your own tax and shipping.

Box Tops For Education: Save those Box Tops and be on the

lookout for our Box Tops for Education contests. Box tops are

also good for prize palooza tickets at the CMS dances. Each Box

Top earns $.10 for CMSHSA! Those dimes can add up fast!

Check out the recent emails about Shoparoo, a quick and easy

way to raise funds for our Home & School Association!

Jane Weilenbeck Annual Holiday Care Drive

Students, faculty, and staff of the Middle School are preparing for the annual Jane B. Weilenbeck Needy Family

Fund, Inc. Holiday Care Drive, which will take place from November 14th through the 18th. In addition to the drive’s

primary function of providing holiday meals for community families, this event also fosters within our students a sense

of social responsibility and community involvement.

Students in each homeroom in the Middle School are encouraged to donate a particular non-perishable food item.

A letter designating the item will come home via each child on or about November 7th. Please look for it!

Faculty, staff, CMS students and other community members may also donate pies and turkeys. If you are willing

to donate a frozen turkey, please contact Shelly Garbe at garber@cinnaminson.com by Nov. 16th. You must be

willing to deliver it to the Middle School on Monday morning, November 21st. (We can't accept frozen turkeys before

then as we have no access to storage.)

Throughout the year, the Fund also provides necessities such as food, clothing, bill payment and household

supplies to those in need. Other assistance includes purchase of book bags and supplies for students at the

beginning of each school year and gift cards presented to families expecting children. Monetary/memorial donations

are gratefully accepted c/o Mrs. Yogita Fratto at Cinnaminson High School. Contact her at

frattoy@cinnaminson.com. Memorial contributions are acknowledged with a card sent to the family of the person in

whose name the contribution is received, so please provide all relevant information when making such a donation.

Make checks payable to the Jane B. Weilenbeck Needy Family Fund, Inc.

This non-profit organization, which is overseen by volunteer faculty and

staff members, was founded by colleagues in memory of Jane

Weilenbeck, who served the community as an educator, guidance

counselor, and Child Study Team social worker for many years.

Looking Ahead…

December 2nd— Read for 2017

December 2nd-9th— Book Fair

December 8th—District Strings Concert 7PM at CHS

December 15th —Winter Concert 7PM at CHS

December 16th—Senior Citizen Breakfast 9:00AM

December 23rd—Single Session

December 24th-January 2nd—Winter Break

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 Day 4 2 Day 5 3 Day 6 4 Day 1 5

6 Daylight Savings Time ends

7 Day 2 Home & School Mtg. 7PM

8 No Students Election Day Curriculum Day

9 Day 3 1st MP Ends

10 No School NJEA Convention

11 No School NJEA Convention

12

13 14 Day 4 2nd MP Begins

15 Day 5 Veterans’ Program 9:45 AM BOE Mtg. 7:30PM

16 Day 6 Parent Visitation 8AM to 2:30PM

17 Day 1 6th Grade Trip

18 Day 2 CMS Dance 7PM

19

20 21 Day 3 Picture Make-ups

22 Day 4 Unity Trip 1st Group 7AM

23 Day 5 Single Session Report Cards Available

24 No School Thanksgiving Day

25 No School 26

27 28 Day 6 Assembly 10:30AM

29 Day 1 Spanish Trip

30 Day 2 Unity Trip to Food Bank

November 2016

AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK

© 2016 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated

November 2016

Good study skills let your tween accomplish more each time she studies—and they prepare her for high school and college. Suggest that she try these different ways to study and stick with the ones that work best.

Rewrite materialAfter your child reviews

notes or completes assigned reading, writing the informa-tion in a different format will help her learn and remem-ber it. She might be creative and make up a song about the parts of the nervous system or write a poem using vocabulary terms. Or she could teach the information to a peer by writ-ing key information on a small white-board or chalkboard.

Picture it Suggest that your middle grader think

of a way to turn information into some-thing visual. That can help her make sense of it. She may draw a picture with arrows to show steps in the water cycle, a bar graph to display income statistics

A+ feedback When your middle grader gives a classmate feedback

(say, on a presentation or a rough draft of a report), encourage him to be posi-tive and honest. First, he could tell what he liked (“Your opening really grabbed my attention”). Then, he should offer suggestions for improvement (“Try adding transition words”). Giving con-structive criticism may help your child accept feedback on his work, too.

Just you and me Carve out one-on-one time with your tween while you tackle your to-do list this holiday season. Write down every-thing that needs to be done, and let her choose some tasks to work on with you. You might, for example, make table centerpieces and napkin rings or address greeting cards together.

Spatial reasoningThe ability to visualize shapes, sizes, and positions of objects is an impor-tant thinking skill. Give your middle schooler practice by having him load the dishwasher, bag groceries at the self-checkout, or pack items in boxes. He’ll have to picture what could go where and how everything will fit.

Worth quoting“Don’t count the days, make the days count.” Muhammad Ali 

Just for fun

Q: Where is the ocean the deepest?

A: On the bottom!

Study smart

for an economics project, or a chart to compare two novels by the same author.

Make your own testsTesting herself on what she learns

will show your student what she knows and what she needs to review. Encour-age her to create a test using old work-sheets or quizzes and her textbook. She can check her answers and grade her-self. Or she could think of and answer essay questions. Idea: Suggest that she team up with a friend and make up tests for each other to do.

ShortStops

Conferences are worth attending Now that your child is in middle school, parent-

teacher conferences may be different from what you’re used to. Here’s what to expect:

■ You’ll get an overview of how your tween is doing in each subject. If you meet with one teacher who shares notes from a team, ask about scheduling a follow-up conference with a particular teacher if you’d like more information or have concerns.

■ You may discover interests or talents you didn’t know your youngster has, and the teacher might recommend electives for next year that let him use and develop these strengths.

■ Find out how your child interacts with teachers and peers. For example, you could ask about how he works with classmates.

Cinnaminson Middle SchoolCounselors - Mrs. Colella, Mrs. Luecke & Mr. Sinn

© 2016 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated

To provide busy parents with practical ideas that promote school success, parent involvement,

and more effective parenting.

Resources for Educators,a division of CCH Incorporated

128 N. Royal Avenue • Front Royal, VA 22630540-636-4280 • rfecustomer@wolterskluwer.com

www.rfeonline.com

ISSN 1540-5540

O U R P U R P O S E

Middle Years November 2016 • Page 2

and family members, and calculate the percentage of votes each state or local candidate receives.

ScienceIn science class,

your middle grader will measure liq-uids for experi-ments, figure out speed and velocity, and graph results.

In fact, most science experiments involve math in some way. Remind him to double-check formulas and calculations on lab reports—just as he would check his work in math class. He will see the connection between what he’s learning in algebra, geom-etry, or regular math class and what he’s doing in science.A jarful of

gratitude Sometimes I feel like

my 12-year-old son, Brock, takes things for granted, like the rides I give him or the Internet I pay for. For example, he won’t be ready when it’s time to leave or he’ll complain that a friend has faster Internet. A neighbor shared an idea her family uses to remember what they’re thankful for, and I decided to try it.

I had Brock cut colored construc-tion paper into squares and stack them near an empty glass jar. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I asked everyone to pay attention to small things they appreciated. Each time they noticed something, they could write it on a square and drop it into the jar.

Before our holiday meal, we are going to pass the jar around and have every-one read a square. Then, we’re going to start a new jar for each month so Brock learns that being thankful isn’t just for Thanksgiving.

How math adds up Math isn’t just for math class. Knowing how to

use numbers will benefit your middle grader in his other courses, too. Share these ideas.

Social studies When your child makes a time line of histori-

cal events or uses coordinates to locate a city on a map, he’s doing math. Here’s a fun way to com-bine math and social studies at home: Encourage him to watch this month’s election-night coverage and figure out which combinations of states would lead to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presi-dency. Or have him hold a mock election among friends

Face-to-face communication can fall by the wayside if your tween sticks to tex-ting or chatting on screens. By actually talking to people, she will build interper-sonal skills and pay attention to the world around her. Consider this advice:

■ Make screens off-limits for every-one—parents included—during meals or while riding in the car. This will get your child talking to the people she’s with, rather than those “inside her phone.”

Tween blues—or depression? ■Q My daughter seems down lately, but I don’t know if it’s normal mood swings or some-thing more serious. How can I tell?

■A Mood swings are a normal part of ado-lescence. But if your child is sad or irritable for more than a couple of weeks—and if it interferes with her regular activities—she may be depressed. Other clues include with-drawing from friends and family, frequent head-aches or stomachaches, or sleeping too much or not enough.

Point out what you’ve noticed by saying something like, “You seem kind of quiet lately.” If she says she feels “angry at the world” or “hopeless,” don’t try to downplay her feelings by saying “You shouldn’t feel that way” or “That’s no big deal.” Instead, listen and tell her you want to help. Then, contact her pediatrician or the school counselor for guidance. Note: If she insists nothing is wrong but symptoms continue, seek help anyway.

Talking without screens ■ If your middle grader participates in

activities after school, she’ll naturally spend more time talking to friends than in texting them. For instance, if she

works for the school news-paper, she will interview class-mates or toss around article ideas with fellow staff members.

Parent to

Parent Q&A