January 2016

Teacher Spotlight :Elizabeth Bramley

Mrs. Bramley teaches 7th grade Englishand earned a Bachelors in English and aMasters in education from LoyolaUniversity Chicago. She also hastraining in teaching English as a secondlanguage. She became a teacherbecause she believes literacy is thefoundationfor life-long success, and shewants to help young people reach theirmaximum potential. In addition toteaching at CMSA, she is a volunteerEnglish language teacher for ExpandingLives, a non-profit organization thatholds young women's leadershipprograms every summer. She lives inthe Chicago area with her husband andson.

Student Spotlight:

CMSA's IMSA Students Make Learning Fun!

Every semester for the last two years, CMSA has partnered with Illinois Math & Science Academy(IMSA) and Passages Charter School to host Funshops for 3rd and 6th grade students at Passages. High school students from CMSA go through a rigorous training in what is called the IMSA Alliesprogram over the course of the year, in which they learn pedagogical and scientific concepts and teachscience to younger children through a series of hands on activities. Earlier this month, 17 CMSAstudents went to Passages and taught 3rd grade students about concepts in rocket science. ThePassages students were aerospace engineers for a day and designed and tested gliders to getspaceships back to Earth safely.

CMSA Junior Wins 1st Prize in Poetry Contest

Student Spotlight:FTC Robotics Team

Our FTC Robotics team is busycompeting in the "Res-QSM" themefor this year's mission. FIRST® RES-QSM is modeled after rescue situationsfaced by mountain explorers all over theglobe. This mission is one of thehardest the teams have ever faced. The Robotitans include Lance Velez,Ethan Schreiber, Roshaan Siddiqui,Jasmine Jathool, Haosheng Lu, EnesCanbolat, Henry Hallie, IsaacAlemaeyhu, Eric Catalan, andAbenazer Mekete. The team's coachesinclude Coaches Mr. Guliyev, Mr.Colak,and Mr. Akgul, and mentorJustin Catalan.

Concept School's Parent Blog

We invite you to read the latest entry inthe Concept Blog. It is about graphic

novels and how they are a perfectalternative for kids of all ages---especially students who find readingchallenging. http://www.conceptschools.org/great-graphic-novels-for-kids/

CMSA Ranks as Level 1+

This is CMSA's second year in a row having a student win first place in this poetry

competition. CMSA junior Lazeria Mitchell won first place in Roosevelt University's Auditorium

Theatre's "Too Hot to Handel" student poetry competition that is held annually in honor of Dr. MLK Jr.

Day. Her poem "It's Not the End," which reflects on Dr. King's vision of the "beloved community," was

one of over three-hundred poetry submissions from students throughout CPS. Two of our other

students, Sidney Hunt and Jonathan Robinson, also submitted poems for the competition and were

given honorable mention. Lazeria performed her poem at the Too Hot to Handel: Jazz Gospel Messiah

performance at the Auditorium theatre for an audience of over 2,500 people. Her poem was also on

display throughout the venue.

It's Not The EndWe all love fun, but what's fun without a fresh new pair of Ones. Right?

No, we can't even save a life, but we can save that dirt, right?We can disown and breakdown others, but not build each other up high, right?

You should know I got youwithout taking one breath

Just know that if my right arm was to break,I would hold you so tight with my left.

I want to see more of the loving and holding handsRather than fighting, shooting,and breaking them bands.The little ones are not even able to take their first step.

One day we're praying over them to walkNext thing you know, we're praying over their body, as they shed away.

You don't have to burn a soul to chase a spiritYou don't have to stab a back to make the pain go away

You don't have to get your butt kicked to loseBecause in the end, you will ALWAYS be the winner if you TRY

and if we all stick TOGETHER, there's nothing a team CAN'T do!

Student Ambassadors Visit Representative Kelly Cassidy

Chicago Math & Science Academy isranked Level 1+ by Chicago PublicSchools. According to their SQRPreport, CMSA students made significantgains in key areas:� Reading growth on NWEA MAP*(grades 6-8) = is in the top 15% ofschools nationally� Math growth on NWEA MAP*(grades 6-8) = is in the top 6% ofschools nationally� Growth of EPAS assessment series(grades 11 PLAN to ACT) = is in thetop 4% nationally� College Persistence Rate (class of2013) = 84.6%� Attendance Rate = 97.3%**NWEA = Northwest EvaluationAssociation & (MAP) = Measures ofAcademic Progress are nationallyrecognized norm-referencedassessments used as one metric in theschool quality equation.Comparison

CMSA Honored as One of the"Best High Schools"

Chicago Math & Science Academy wasawarded a Bronze Medal in U.S. News& World Report's 2015 Best HighSchools ranking. Only 4 charter schoolsin Illinois and 9 in Indiana made the list. Considering there are around 30,000public high schools in the United States,this is truly a great honor andtestament to the hard work anddedication of the CMSA students,teachers, staff, parents, and communitymembers. We are very proud of thisrecognition.

Student Ambassadors along with our Principal visited Representative Kelly Cassidy to bring her up todate on CMSA events and accomplishments. The opportunity to meet our represetantives offer ourstudents the chance to engage with leaders and learn more about what is happening in our state and ourcommunity. We are grateful to Representative Kelly and staff members Matt and Pat for their hospitalityand warm welcome.

CMSA Hosts FTC Robotics Tournament

Twenty-eight teams from Chicago participated in this First Tech Challenge (FTC) "FIRST RES-QSM

Challenge" on January 23. Alderman Joe Moore gave the opening remarks and saluted all the hard

working students who participate in FTC robotics. The 2015-2016 game is modeled after rescue

situations faced by mountain explorers all over the globe. Played by two Alliances of two robots each,

robots will score points by: "resetting" Rescue beacons; delivering Rescue Climbers to a shelter;

parking on the mountain; and parking in the Rescue beacon repair zone or floor goal. Robots may also

score points by retrieving debris from the playing field and placing them in mountain or floor goals, and

also by hanging from a pull-up bar during the last 30-seconds of a match. WOW! This challenge is

more difficult than the one last year RoboTitans!

You Can Help CMSA!Please consider making a difference in

the education of Rogers Park youth with

a tax-deductible donation. We will gladly

accept a check, credit card or you can

use PayPal through the CMSA website.

Your donation will directly help our

students succeed by providing such

things as STEM-related textbooks,

incentives for academic achievement,

equipment for science labs, robotics

kits, etc.

Remember that every donation received

by CMSA gives inner-city youths the

opportunity to fulfill their educational

dreams. Join us as our philanthropic partner incontinuing our excellence in education.You can click the Donate button below.Every dollar makes a difference! Wethank you for your support andgenerosity.

Students Join Forces with CPS to Improve Lunch Menu

Nine students representing all the grade levels and a general cross section of our student populationhave met with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) officials ,area managers, food service managers. andvendors to discuss ways to improve the current lunch menus. CPS offered the Student Committee theopportunity to taste new menus items under consideration. Discussions on what should be on lunchmenus, portion sizes was also discussed. CPS Staff has been incredibly responsive to our studentsand their suggestions. All of our schools in the Concept Network, including CMSA try to bring these kindsof real-world engagement experiences to our students. By doing so, we transform communities,one mindat the time.

Middle School Lady Titans Basketball Team Scores at Loyola

Our Middle School Lady Titans Basketball team enjoyed attending the Loyola Ramblers Women team's

game recently. In addition, the students participated in a half-time audience competition and met the

Rambler players. To cap things off, the legendary coach and Olympic Gold Medal winner Sheryl

Swoopes spoke to our students about her history with Loyola's women team. CMSA's Head Coach

Liam Ratliff and Assistant Coach Elizabeth Bramley took our ladies to the Candlelite Restaurant who

posted a welcome greeting for the team their marquee!

7th Graders Donate to Howard Area Community Center Food Pantry

Our 7th graders took up a collection of food to the Howard Area Community Center's Food Pantry. This

effort was led by teachers Mrs. Bramely, Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Deutsch, and Ms. Johann. Needless to

say, the food pantry was very happy to receive our donations!

Chicago Math and Science Academy7212 N. Clark StreetChicago, IL 60626

www.cmsaonline.netPhone: 773 761 8960 || Fax: 773 761 8961

Phone: 773 761 8960 || Fax: 773 761 8961