Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Great Start to The New Year!!!

It's been a great start to the 09-10 school year! The 6th grade students are adapting well and are getting lockers open and to class on time. Our 7th and 8th grade students are displaying excellent leadership skills are are modeling appropriate behaviors to our 6th graders. All our schedules have the wrinkles ironed out we are all adjusting the the new travel pattern with our steps. :-) Things are definitely off and running... in a positive direction!
I want to thank all of our parents for their support of CMS ! You've been great in connecting with our faculty and displaying a caring and interested approach to education. Together we will make a difference for your children. Everyone is important to us at Central Middle School. As I like to say, "Everyone is someone at CMS". Have a great year and thanks for your efforts to make the 09-10 school year a special one for your children and our staff.

Terry Hogenson, Principal

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Thinking Ahead for Next Year - No Bags Allowed in Classrooms

In the 09-10 school year, Central will be instituting a "No Bags in The Classrooms" rule. Students may still bring bags to school, but once they are at CMS the bags must stay in their lockers. We will allow small pouches for students to carry (5" X 9"). Bags which are brought to school must fit comfortably in our lockers.

Why the rule? Safety is our primary reason. Student bags often don't fit well under student desks. Staff and students trip on them and they cause a hazard for evacuations. Further, some students hide items in them that they shouldn't have in school and this will decrease their opportunity to haul such items around. In a strange way, the bags don't help organizational skills, but act in the exact opposite fashion. Students take everything with them and don't make appropriate choices on what is needed.

What about passing time? We will be increasing passing time from three minutes to four minutes to allow students time to go to their lockers between classes. This will help to eliminate the need for students to haul around all their items throughout the day. Physically, some of our students struggle carrying all their items and this creates issues with back strain and potential falling/tripping.

This rule will go into effect for the 09-10 school year, but we wanted to prepare parents, so that you may make appropriate decisions when purchasing school supplies for next year. Thank you for your support and understanding!

SPANISH VERSION

En el año escolar 09-10, la escuela central instituirá una regla de " No usar bolsos en el los salones". Los estudiantes pueden todavía traer bolsos a la escuela, pero una vez que están en el CMS las bolsas deben permanecer en sus armarios. Permitiremos que los pequeños monederos para que los estudiantes lleven (apprxiamente el tamaño de las cajas (bolsa de lápiz). Los bolsos que se traen a la escuela deben caber confortablemente en nuestros armarios.

¿Por qué la regla? La seguridad es nuestra razón primaria. Las bolsas de los estudiantes no caben bien debajo de los escritorios del estudiante. El personal y los estudiantes se tropezón con ellos y causan un peligro para las evacuaciones. Además, algunos estudiantes esconden artículos en ellos que ellos no deben traer ala escuela y éste disminuirá su oportunidad de cargar tales artículos alrededor. De una manera extraña, las bolsas no les ayuda organizarse, pero acto opuesto de la manera.
Los estudiantes toman todo con ellos y no toma decisiones apropiadas en cuál son necesarios.

¿Qué sobre el paso de tiempo? Aumentaremos el tiempo a partir de tres minutos a cuatro minutos para darles tiempo a los estudiantes para ir a armario y de prohibir a estudiantes de ir a sus armarios durante las clases. Esto ayudará a eliminar la necesidad de que los estudiantes traigan todos sus artículos a través del día.
Fiscalmente, algunos de nuestra estudiantes luchan con que lleven todos sus artículos y éste crea problemas adiciónales con la espalda y de caerse.
Esta regla entrará el efecto por el año escolar 09-10, pero quisimos preparar a los padres, de modo que usted pueda tomar decisiones apropiadas al comprar las fuentes de escuela para el próximo año. ¡Gracias por su ayuda y comprensión!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Tardiness to Class - English & Spanish

8th Grade Parents and Caregivers,

At Central Middle School we’ve always had policies dealing with tardiness to class, but recently this has become a larger issue. More students are abusing the passing time and coming in significantly late to class. After repeated warnings, students still meander in late. Therefore we are going to be giving students 20 minute detentions [3:15 PM – 3:35 PM] for coming in tardy to class. This is similar to what West Middle school has done for the entire year. We are hopeful that this will help make students more accountable for getting to class on time. If more restroom time is needed, students should go to their upcoming class period first, request permission from the teacher, and then go to the restroom. Hopefully this clarifies our adjustment in procedure.

Sincerely

M. Hogenson


Padres y guardián del 8vo grado,

En la escuela secundaria de central hemos tenido siempre una policía de tardanza a clase, pero esto se ha convertido en un problema muy grande. Más estudiantes están abusando del tiempo de paso y están entrando perceptiblemente tarde a clase. Después de advertencias repetidas, los estudiantes todavía entran tarde a clase.
Por lo tanto vamos a dar a estudiantes 20 minutos de detenciones [3: 15 P.M. - 3:35 P.M.] por llegar tarde a clase. Esto es similar a lo que la escuela secundaria del West ha hecho por el año entero. Esperemos que esto ayude a hacer a los estudiantes más responsables de llegar a tiempo. Si mas tiempo se necesita para ir al baño, los estudiantes deben ir a su período próximo de la clase primero, piden el permiso del profesor, y después van al baño. Esperamos que esto aclare nuestro ajuste en procedimiento.

Sinceramente,

M. Hogenson

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Thanks to the Muscatine Literacy Coalition & Bi-State Literacy Council

Central Middle School wants to extend its appreciation to the Bi-State Literacy Council and the Muscatine Literacy Coalition for their continued generosity to our sustain Silent Reading Program (SSR). Once again, they've stepped forward with a donation of books for our classrooms! Thanks for being a fantastic educational partner/supporter!!!