Principal’s Update #15 – January 15, 2016

Dear CMS Families,

For a short week, an awful lot has gone on at CMS!

Huge Thank You to the CMS PTG Not only did they provide a delicious lunch for CMS staff today during our professional day, they also received school committee approval on Tuesday for a gift to CMS in the amount of $7,686 to procure three TV monitors, players and mounts for the Sanborn and Peabody buildings. This will allow us to create a communication and student showcase similar to the one at CCHS. I will be seeking student involvement in creation of the content.

World Cities in 8th Grade Foreign Language Classes at Peabody The city streets were alive and bustling Wednesday morning as parents visited the Spanish and French city building projects at Peabody. Students showed their parents around and answered questions. As we have done each year, a number of projects were sent over to the Concord Public Library and are on display. Please stop by to see them!

Congratulations to the CMS Math Team At Thursday’s meet the Divide and Concord team earned second place, missing first place by just two points. We also had two top scorers at the meet hosted at Peabody: Luke McCrory for the 6th grade, and Edward Shi for the 7th grade. If you have never attended a math meet, I highly recommend it, and that is not just the former math teacher in me speaking. I can only describe it as a “sporting event for math.” The excitement level of the teams and the collaboration over problem solving (only where that’s allowed, of course) make the event a lot of fun.

Rubik’s Cube New England Regional Competition Next Saturday Come to the Sanborn Café 9:30 am – 12:30 pm Saturday, January 23 to see 15 teams from 8 different schools compete to see who can solve the Rubik’s Cube the fastest. The task demands analytical and strategic skills, speed and dexterity. And last year we were the winners!

Configuration Committee Presentation Highlights from 1.12.16 School Committee As shared in my update on Wednesday, there are three key points in the committee’s findings. They are:

  1. No changes in the building organization in the next three years; Peabody and Sanborn will be grades 6-8.
  2. A new master schedule has been completed with a 6-day rotation, 7 periods per day, and daily meetings for academic classes.
  3. Student schedules for 2016-17 will be distributed in the spring.

For full details, see the Principal’s Update sent January 13th and the presentation to School Committee links below.

Principal’s Updates

1.12.16 CMS Configuration Committee School Committee Presentation

UPCOMING EVENTS

Principal’s Coffee: Thursday January 21, 9:30-10:30 am, Peabody Forum

School Advisory Council Meeting: Thursday, January 21, 6:00-7:30 pm, Sanborn Library. Agenda will be posted Tuesday.

Rubik’s Cube New England Regional Competition: Saturday, January 23, 9:30 am -12:30 pm, Sanborn Café

Parent Forums for Review of Configuration Committee Work: February 3, 5-6 pm and February 4, 10-11 am, Sanborn Auditorium

Please enjoy a wonderful long weekend!

Best Regards,
Lynne Beattie, CMS Principal

lbeattie@concordps.org