UPDATE

February 28, 2006

Prepared by

Deanna Duncan, Principal

and

Dr. Richard Beall, Director

Our 4^th and 7^th grade students will participate in the NC Writing Assessment on Tuesday, March 7^th. The make-up date is Wednesday, March 8^th. Students should get a good night’s sleep and eat a healthy breakfast. They should have 2 sharpened #2 pencils.

NOTE: We still need eight proctors to assist in the administration of the test. If you can volunteer, please contact Cathy Hayes at hayesc@ciscomets.org or call her at 704-455-3847 ext. 1. Training will begin at 9:00am on March 7^th and the test will be administered from 9:30-11:00.

Blood donations are a gift of life, and 33 people made their contributions at our first blood drive on campus, organized by the 7^th Grade and teacher Ms. Bonisteel as a community service project. Red Cross workers praised our students and school for the orderly and enthusiastic environment. Special thanks to the CIS teachers and parents who donated blood!

Ms. Bonisteel kept her smile while donating blood. The Red Cross set up in our multi-purpose room and acquired 33 donations.

The Book Fair committee is happy to announce that it's time for the Book Fair again!! It will arrive on campus March 15th and be here until March 22nd. The schedule is listed below. We had a tremendous fair in the fall and hope to do it again! We need volunteers so if you can help please contact Charlotte Halperin at chalperin@carolina.rr.com.

Wed 3-15-06 Book Fair arrives. Set up in the morning and then open for teachers’ preview from 12-5

Thurs 3-16-06 Student preview day from 9-3. We will have the Book Fair open from 8:30-4:00 for purchases etc.

Wed 3-22-06 Limited hours from 8:30-9:30. Book fair will be packed up for pick up after 9:30.

CIS Ladies are invited to ‘06’s first Ladies Night Out on Thursday, March 9^th, at the George Washington Bookstore & Tavern in downtown Concord. Come around 6:30pm for dinner and they will have live music later, around 9pm.

Our school calendar has “Student Presentations” scheduled for March 6-10, but these are being postponed due to the NC Writing Assessment required that week. All classes will have Student Presentations from April 10-14, the week before Spring Break. Please mark your calendars.

Classes will be dismissed at noon on Wednesday, March 8^th, for teachers’ curriculum development time.

* We ask that parents remain in their cars during pick-up and drop-off. Our staff members can assist your children in getting in and out of vehicles with their bookbags, and can open and close doors and tailgates.

* We also ask that you not use cell phones while in the pick up area. Children can move quickly and we all want to insure their safety by staying fully alert. Thank you!!

Good news! Guided by the dedicated work of Julie Paul, Chair of our Grant Writing Service Team, CIS has received an $8,000 grant for protective awnings from the American Academy of Dermatology’s Shade Structure Program! We’ll have more information soon about use of these welcome funds. Congratulations, Julie and the Grant Service Team!!

Wouldn’t you love to have a day as your boss? Two of our students got their time behind the desk and around campus as Director and Principal for a Day. Their parents had the highest bids for these positions during the silent auction at our 2^nd Annual Winter Bazaar last December.

This week, Cameron Tanner, 3^rd grade son of Mari and Chip Tanner, took Dr. Beall’s shoes for a day as Director. He did morning announcements, visited classes, and got a big cheer when he declared “No homework for third grade classes!”

Last week 6^th grader Jackson Baxter was Principal for a Day, and became very proficient at morning announcements, checking for hall passes around campus, and as office help.

Mr. Jackson Baxter read to his brother Jonathan’s Kindergarten class as part of his Principal’s role.

We’ve quickly accumulated another mound of lost and found items, including many nice coats, pants, sweatshirts. Instead of donating these items to charities, we will place the items in the courtyard this Thursday and Friday for our CIS families to take free of charge. Please check the lost & found closet BEFORE Thursday if you are missing any items.

Last Saturday our Board of Directors conducted our third annual lottery for admission to CIS in 2006-7. We had 444 applicants, a huge increase over last year. Families were notified by postcard this week.

More than 110 CIS students have joined the Read Across America events this week. They pledge to read as many minutes as possible, and can participate in essay and poster competitions. Reading log sheets need to be returned to their homeroom teachers by Friday morning to count toward prizes. The deadline for the essay contest is Wednesday, March 1^st, and for the poster contest, Thursday. There will be guest readers coming to classes this week, as well as special activities planned by individual teachers for their classes. We want to thank 2^nd grade Teacher Assistant Tammi Remsburg for organizing and coordinating this special school-wide activity.

This is the first Friday of the month, so students will have casual day this Friday, March 3. The next casual day is on March 17^th due to spring pictures being taken that day. Please note this on your calendars.