October 4, 2006

UPDATE

October 4, 2006

Prepared by

Deanna Duncan, Principal

Kelly Patchen, Assistant Principal

Dr. Richard Beall, Director

We have all been saddened by the tragic events in three of our nation’s schools in the last week. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all, that their communities can regain the sense of safety and security that is so essential to academic success.

There are 100,000 schools in the US, with more than 50 million students. Schools are still the safest place for children, other than home. At CIS, safety is never far from our minds, and is a responsibility shared by everyone who comes to our campus. Our School Safety Committee is chaired by Rick Halperin, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer, long time school resource officer, and great resource to us. The committee insures that policies and procedures are in place to protect our children and staff. Its task—and all of ours—is to safeguard our school while maintaining the unique, open, welcoming environment we all enjoy.

We want to thank our parents/guardians for your cooperation with this early dismissal and professional development day. These are precious opportunities for our staff to develop new skills, meet with families, and complete other training. We appreciate this time to devote to their growth.

Can you picture 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners in one place, speaking to an audience of over 3,000 cheering youth? Three of our students can and they’d like to share their experience with you at the next PTSO meeting on Thursday, October 5^th, at 6:30pm. There will be two presentations to choose from:

· “Junior High and High School at CIS” by Mrs. Duncan, important information for anyone who hasn’t attended before.

· “PeaceJam 2006: Our Meeting with 10 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates” by three CIS 9^th graders and Dr. Beall

The fundraiser for the ninth grade students ends on Wednesday October 11. If you have not yet purchased a Citipass book, please do so now and support your local ninth grader. These books offer tons of saving. Use it two or three times and get your money back. Citipass books are available in the office. Thanks for your support.

When CIS applied for our charter, we planned to offer a College/University Preparatory High School diploma. Anticipating our addition of 9^th grade this year, the Academic Standards Committee (a standing committee of the CIS Board of Directors) spent much of 2005-2006 designing our high school program. Their decisions were based on the requirements for a College/University Prep diploma. Below are the North Carolina requirements for this diploma:

In the spring of 2006, the CIS Board of Directors approved additional local requirements for high school graduation at Carolina International School. These requirements were recommended by the Academic Standard’s Committee. They are:

Large traditional high schools have other diploma pathways besides College/University Prep. However, because of our size and our charter application, we will only be able to offer one pathway in our high school. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dee Duncan. Let’s help our students strive for success and happiness!

As you fill in dates on your 2006 calendar, Big Sweep wants you to note a new date for the annual statewide Big Sweep cleanup. For the most counties, the 2006 North Carolina Big Sweep will be Saturday, Oct. 7^th and CIS will sponsor 3 locations for CIS Big Sweep participants. Our school community can choose between: CIS campus, Midland area and Harrisburg city area.

North Carolina Big Sweep is an award-winning 501(c)(3) nonprofit for litter-free watersheds. It was initiated in 1987 as a coastal cleanup called Beach Sweep. The event expanded inland and was renamed Big Sweep in 1989 and became the nation's first statewide waterway cleanup. In its 19-year history, almost 220,000 volunteers have retrieved over 7 1/2 million pounds of debris from North Carolina's watersheds.

More information will be sent home next week, but please help us participate in this wonderful event. Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 7, 2006 from 9:30 – 11:30 AM.

On the first Friday of each month (unless otherwise announced) CIS students can enjoy Casual Dress Days. Although the clothing may change, it is our hope that the students’ focus will remain on academic progress. To minimize distractions, the CIS Board of Directors approved the following guidelines for Casual Dress Days:

• No clothing with reference to drugs, violence, sexuality, or other inappropriate language or graphics

• Students who have Physical Education on Friday should wear appropriate clothing or bring a change of clothes.

• If clothing does not meet the above guidelines, students must call home for alternative clothing to be brought, or use clothing from lost and found.

We have another historic event at CIS this Thursday with our first home soccer game, and hope many of our students and parents/guardians will attend.

PLEASE NOTE: Every CIS student must be supervised by a parent/guardian at the game. The school will not assume supervisory responsibility for students there without a parent.

Parking will be a challenge. Please use the gravel area on the north side of the driveway—and be patient with our first experience with this.

All families are encouraged to attend the PTSO meeting this Thursday, October 5^th at 6:30pm. The first half hour the PTSO will be conducting monthly business and the second half hour parents will have the opportunity to hear a presentation on Peace Jam or The Jr. and High School Curriculum. We look forward to seeing everyone Thursday evening!

CIS will be offering Dance, Martial Arts and Mad Science paid Enrichment Programs for the 2006-2007 School Year. Please see the attached flyers and schedule for further information.

Please review the attached flyer regarding School Sponsored Clubs. If your child is interested in participating, please return the forms to the club sponsor by this Friday, October, 6^th.

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.

Please come join us tomorrow, Thursday, October 5^th beginning at 9:00am(please do not arrive before 9:00)at the Fire Station on the corner of Rocky River Road and Robinson Church Road to sort the latest batch of PE Uniforms. If you are-able to help out contact Charlotte Halperin by email at chalperin@carolina.rr.com or by phone-at 704-503-0753.

Please have all orders in by October 10th to insure receipt of your items before January 1st. If you have exchanges please contact Charlotte Halperin by email chalperin@carolina.rr.com or by phone 704-503-0753. Do not just drop off in the office without contacting me please, your items could get lost. Also, we have samples in the office for the PE uniforms and the Polo -Shirts; please use these samples so you don't have to worry about exchanges. Thank you for your patience and support.

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.

Parents we need you to help our school by collecting labels and box tops. Our school has the opportunity to acquire educational materials for our school in exchange for labels and box tops. We buy the products anyway, so why not take a few seconds to clip the labels and box tops. 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.

Thank you to all the parents/guardians that are participating with the Teacher Encouragement Service Team. This team is responsible for many programs including:

Teacher’s “Order Out” Lunch Program-which enables the teachers to order lunch once a month and have it delivered to their classroom. If you are interested in sponsoring a teacher’s lunch, please contact Karen King at 704-598-5072 or email k-king@pobox.com.

Teacher’s Secret Pal – This program is designed for a “secret pal” to encourage their “secret teacher” at least once a month. Annemarie Irons would like to thank all the parents who have volunteered to participate in this program. There are a few staff members that are in need of a secret pal, please contact Annemarie Irons at 704-455-7140 or email annemarieirons@hotmail.com if you would like to participate.

Special thanks to all the families that came out on Saturday to help maintain the trails and get the Soccer Field ready for the first home game.

Dr. Beall, Earl King, Chad Irons, John Muse and Bob Honer (not pictured) filled in bare areas on the soccer field.

Here are some of the volunteers that participated in the Kindergarten Trail Maintenance Work Day. The trails are ready for the teachers to safely take the students on while fulfilling their Environmental Curriculum.

Ms. Morton, The Whipple Family, Mr.Emery and family (not pictured), Mr, Mutongi, Mr. Vinten, The Rowe Family, The Jenkins Family, The Peace Family. Ms. Morton’s mother is also not pictured.

Please join me for a Volunteer Drop-In Reception on Friday, October 11^th at 9:15am. Come enjoy a cup of coffee, bagles, donuts, muffins and fruit. We will meet under the shade structure. I look forward to seeing all of our wonderful volunteers.

I would like to meet with all the room parents on Friday, October 11^th at 10:15am. Please contact me at thompsonpeaceb@ciscomtes.org or 704-455-3847 ext. 5543.

As mentioned above the CIS Comets Soccer Team will host their first home game this Thursday against M.R.S.A. Karen King will be organizing a concession stand for all home games to raise money for the athletic fund, which will help fund the maintenance of our brand new athletic field!! I am asking everyone to make a small donation to the concession stand so that every item sold will result in 100% profit. Whether you would like to donate an item such as a case of water/gatorade/soda, or make a small cash donation and let someone else handle the purchasing is up to you, every bit helps. Items for the stand include: hot dogs, nachos, soda, water, Gatorade, chips candies etc. Feel free to stop by after school that day to cheer on your soccer team and enjoy a treat from the concession stand. Anyone interested in donating please contact Karen King at 704-598-5072 or email k-king@pobox.com.

Holly Plescia has three children at CIS. Audrey is in kindergarten, Luke is in the second grade and Jayne is in the fifth grade. Holly volunteers with CIS in many capacities she is a room parent, tutors kindergartners, helps with the administration in various areas and teaches yoga for the staff. Thank you Holly for all you do for CIS.

Last week in the volunteer of the week section, Lauren Halperin was noted as being a 5^th grader instead of a 6^th grade.