UPDATE October 18, 2006

UPDATE

October 18, 2006

Prepared by

Deanna Duncan, Principal

Kelly Patchen, Assistant Principal

Dr. Richard Beall, Director

On Saturday, Oct. 7, CIS and people around the world participated in the North Carolina Big Sweep. NC Big Sweep was founded in 1987 by Dr. Lundie Spence of the NC Sea Grant College Program. Since 1987, the program has grown and currently has over 220,000 volunteers and has collected over 7.5 million pounds of trash from North Carolina watersheds.

CIS had 67 family members participate in Big Sweep this year. CIS families had an opportunity to clean up in their neighborhoods, at CIS, in Midland or in Harrisburg. Families worked together and documented the amount and type of litter gathered. It was a wonderful time and an excellent example of “Think Globally, Act Locally.” Families can make differences locally that impact global environmental issues!

This year, at the CIS clean-up site, the student that got the dirtiest received the “North Carolina Big Sweep” t-shirt. This year’s

winner was ninth grade student Tyler Sheehy. Congratulations to Tyler and his family!

In addition to recognizing the “dirtiest” cleaner, the CIS Environmental Committee sponsored a school-wide competition. The grade level that had the highest participation would be honored with a “Big Sweep Plaque”. The grade level with the highest student participation was our ninth grade class. Congratulations ninth graders!

Students, staff, and family members chipped in to clean up in and around CIS and Harrisburg.

It’s that time of year. We’re about to start the basketball season. Boys and girls varsity and junior varsity basketball tryouts begin next week Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Oct. 25-27) from 4:00-5:30pm at the school. Please see Mr. Morris if you want to tryout.

If you haven’t joined the crowd at a home soccer game, you’re missing a great community event. This Thursday our coed Comets take the field again at 4:15 versus Countryside Montessori. Admission is free and refreshments are available for purchase.

Please note that all students must be supervised by adults. Parking is available on the north side of the driveway or in the parking lot.

We would like to remind parents/guardians that when picking your child(ren) up from tutoring, after-school clubs, and/or enrichment activities you must come to the classroom and sign them out. This policy is to ensure their safety. We thank you for your support and understanding!

Mark your calendar! The 1^st Annual CIS International Festival, “Window to the World,” is Saturday, November 18^th from 9am-2pm at Rocky River Elementary School. International food, entertainment, fashion shows, displays, activities, and presentations will entertain and educate us all.

Please make plans to join the festivities. If you’d like to assist in organizing the event, please contact Dr. Beall at beallr@ciscomets.org or 704-455-3847 ext. 6.

Last week we needed to bring emergency vehicles to campus at the end of the school day—fire trucks and an ambulance. Their access was reduced by the two lanes of traffic parked for pick-up. They had to enter through the only outbound lane, with other cars attempting to leave at that time. Precious minutes could save or cost a life in some situations.

As a solution to this situation, we will only permit stacking in one lane until 3pm. At that time we will move the cars forward in the order you arrived. This gives us almost an hour of safer, easier traffic flow. Thanks for your cooperation with this new policy.

We want to congratulate the following students for being recognized as September’s Students of the Month at Carolina International School! We are so proud of their accomplishments.

The students are: Alvin Mutongi (kindergarten), Bailey Cullen (first grade), Jacob Viers (second grade), Katelynn Ungemach (third grade), Rachel McMillen (fourth grade), Rachel Albers (fifth grade), Carly Dolniak (sixth grade), Josh Hall (seventh grade), Olivia Bowman (eighth grade), and Savannah Morrow (ninth grade).

Our Students of the Month were recognized during an all-school assembly on Wednesday, October 11th after being selected by our faculty for displaying our four core values consistently throughout their school day.

The Comets coed soccer team charged through a spirit banner to kick off the first game on our new athletic field, versus Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy.

All of our School Sponsored Clubs are full except for Math Club (6^th–9^th), Strategy Game Club (7^th-9^th) and Jr. High Environmental Club. If your child is interested in one of the above clubs, please have them see the club sponsor.

The parent, guardian, or approved carpool driver needs to park and sign their children out from the Club Sponsor in the room that the program is being held. If you do not know where the club is being held, please contact Beth Thompson-Peace before pick up time. It is important to pick your child up on time from the program.

Martial Arts for grades 4^th-9^th and Dance for grades 2^nd-4^th both have openings if your child is interested in participating in these fee-based clubs. Please contact the instructors directly.

Instructors are responsible for collecting fees and communicating directly with the parents. Please do not have your child bring money to the office. Below are the contact numbers for programs being offered this fall at CIS.

In addition to hard copies, we also email a copy of the Update every week to the families. If you have not been receiving an email copy, please call Beth Thompson-Peace 704-455-3847 ext 5543 or email thompsonpeaceb@ciscomets.org.

Orders will be placed on the 10^th of the month and may take up to 30 days to receive them back from the manufacturer.

NO MORE EXCHANGES- As of October 10^th, Charlotte is no longer accepting exchanges for items ordered that are incorrect sizes. Samples are available in the office. Please have your child try on items before ordering. Thank you for your cooperation.

Toddler Polo Shirts- The manufacturer is not able to acquire the toddler size polo shirts until February 2007. If you need to place an order, contact Educational Outfitters at 704-525-3344. They are located at 624 Tyvola Rd in Charlotte.

Our first Scholastic Book Fair will be held from October 25^th thru November 1^st. Please mark your calendar for the following Family Events:

If you are interested in participating on this committee, please contact Charlotte Halperin by email chalperin@carolina.rr.com.

Campbell Soup is no longer accepting the front label of their products. Instead please cut out the UPC label only. If you have front labels, please send them into school as soon as possible. We can still receive credit for them for a limited time. Don’t forget, as an extra bonus, we are offering a school wide competition for all classes. The class with the most tops and labels collected will have the opportunity to throw water balloons at Dr. Beall, Mrs. Duncan and Mrs. Patchen.

This month’s class contest prize will be the opportunity to throw water balloons at Dr. Beall, Ms. Duncan and Mrs. Patchen. The contest will end on October 27^th. Below are the current standings for the contest:

Karen King has organized an “Order Out Lunch Program” for the teachers. The staff has been divided into four groups. Each week a group will have the opportunity to place their order for lunch. Karen will place the order, go to the restaurant and pick up the food and deliver lunch to the teachers lounge. A Donation Can is in the main office if your child would like to make a donation for a teacher or staff member’s lunch.

The girls volleyball team with be playing this Thursday October 19^th at home against First Wesleyn from Hickory, NC. The game will be played at the Mallard Creek Recreation Center at 4:15pm. Please come out and support our Lady Comets! Admission is free! Volleyball Play-Off Games will be this Friday, October 20^th beginning at 4:15pm. The tournament will be held at Countryside Montessori located at 9026 Mallard Creek Rd, Charlotte. Hotdogs, Hamburger, Nachos, Chips, Drinks etc. will be sold at the concession stand.

The Co-Ed Soccer team will play their last home game this Thursday afternoon against Charlotte Prep at 4:15pm. Come out and support our soccer team!

Cathie Elliott has two children at CIS. Hunter and Ashlyn are both in first grade. Her husband, Scott serves on the Capital Campaign Committee. In addition to being a Real Estate Agent for Exit Elite Properties, Cathie also volunteers numerous hours in the office, prepared the Sport Spectator Programs, and is a member of the Welcoming Service Team. Thank you, Cathie, for all you do for CIS.

Thank you all for a great evening last night at McTeacher Night!! I am very pleased to say that we had 144 students from our school come inside McDonalds to participate in McTeacher Night. That does not include the families that went through the drive thru. I would like to thank the parents/guardians for bringing your children out to support our school. I would also like to extend a Special Thanks to all the Teachers and Staff Members that worked or attended last night- Mrs. Bruns, Ms. Wages, Mrs. Reese, Mrs. Kawski, Ms. Duncan, Mrs. Gordon, Dr. Beall, Pam Dulaney, Mr. Lipp, Ms. Persin, Ms. Johanns, Ms. Krauss, Ms. Belachew, Ms. Vielbaum, Ms. Robinson and Mrs. Vinten.