UPDATE September 27, 2006

UPDATE

September 27, 2006

Prepared by

Deanna Duncan, Principal

Kelly Patchen, Assistant Principal

Dr. Richard Beall, Director

All classes will dismiss at noon on October 4^th for our staff’s first Professional Development Workshop this year. After-school care will not be offered on this and other early dismissal days: November 29, February 7, and May 2.

We are rapidly approaching the end of our first term “Who We Are” and the mid-point of our first trimester. Parents please watch for your child’s homeroom teacher to send home information regarding scheduling parent-teacher conferences October 2-6. We consider it an honor and privilege to work with our students and look forward to discussing each child’s growth and progress with you.

Parents/guardians of our JHS students should look for their children’s Progress Reports later this week. These will give families an assessment of how the individual students are doing in mid-quarter. The 1^st quarter ends on October 20^th and Report Cards for the 1^st quarter will be sent the week of October 23^rd.

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. If you haven’t heard this overview of our long-term plans, we encourage you to attend.

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

Our ninth graders are selling Citipass books as a fundraiser for their trip to Ireland. The books are bigger and better than ever and include Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, and York Co. They are only $25 and give you lots of money saving coupons to restaurants, home improvement stores, entertainment, and more. If you or someone you know wants to purchase one, please contact Troy Bunch or Cathy Hayes. buncht@ciscomets.org 704-455-3847

Don’t miss this! Take the whole family to the 31st Annual International Festival at UNC Charlotte from 10 AM to 6 PM this Saturday, September 30^th, in and around the Barnhardt Student Activity Center.

Come experience the sights, sounds, colors, and foods from groups representing many countries and cultures around the world. Admission is free. Rain or Shine. See http://ifest.uncc.edu for more information.

The 16^th Annual Latin America Festival comes to Charlotte on Sunday, September 31^st from noon-7pm. Enjoy Latin American musicians, arts, crafts, cuisine, and dance performances from more than 20 countries.

The event is at the Mint Museum of Art, 2730 Randolph Road. Tickets are $5 adults; $3 children.

Come listen to African drumming, Celtic music and other international songs at Cabaret Night on Friday, Sept. 29 at the McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square. To reserve tickets, call 704-332-7746, ext. 118. For more information about the Boys and Girls Choirs, visit www.StPetersChoirs.org.

Our students in grades K-4 will be participating in Cabarrus County’s Traveling Bookmobile this year at our school. The bookmobile is a traveling library that comes to our school every other Friday from 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm. Our next visit from the Bookmobile is slated for this Friday, September 29^th.

In order to accommodate everyone, we are going to alternate dates of visits by homeroom colors. Students in the GOLD K-4 classes (Ms. Morton, Mrs. Medina, Mrs. Batra, Ms. Johanns, and Mrs. Kawski) will have the opportunity to visit the bookmobile on Friday, September 29th and then again on Friday, October 27th. The BLUE K-4 students (Ms. Wages, Ms. Patsiavos, Mrs. Bunch, Ms. Bishop, and Ms. Ruff) will visit the bookmobile again on Friday, October 27^th. If you have any questions about the Bookmobile, please call Mrs. Patchen at 704-455-3847 ext. 7. Happy Reading!

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.

Next Thursday, October 5^th, we will compete on our athletic field for the first time, with our Comets soccer game versus Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy at 4:15. Be a part of school history and root on the Comets!

They are creative, fun, and faster than walking. But the wheels attached to children’s running shoes are also a hazard in a school environment. We will require all students with shoes like this to remove the wheels while they are in school. Thanks, parents and guardians, for your cooperation with this policy.

Chinese teachers Ms. Ju (with 2^nd grader Nicole Franaszek in traditional dress) were among our international faculty who presented peace greetings in their native languages.

7^th grader Josh Hall thrilled our school with his talented interpretive dance performance on the freedom of peace.

Many of the classes prepared beautiful displays of their individual and collective wishes for peace in the world.

Grant writer and CIS parent Julie Paul, CIS Board of Directors Chair Rick Halperin, and Dr. Beall perform the official ribbon-cutting ceremony for our new shade structure, constructed with an $8,000 grant from the American Academy of Dermatology.

I would like to recognize Debbie Wiesler for her vision and organizing this fabulous cookbook for our school. I would also like to send a special thanks to all the parents/guardians, students, teachers and staff members that contributed recipes for “The International Gourmet” cookbook. The recipes have been sorted and sent to the publisher. We are looking forward to receiving them in time for our International Festival on November 19^th. I would also like to recognize Debbie Wiesler for her vision and organizing this fabulous cookbook for our school.

After school programs will begin the second week of October. Next week, a schedule will be sent home with the students detailing all options available for the 2006-2007 school year. I hoped to have this information available today, but unfortunately day and room assignments are not complete for all the programs at this time.

Mrs. Remsburg would like to thank everyone who expressed interest in the Earth Savers Club. The club has reached it maximum number of students and is currently running a lengthy wait list. If you previously registered for Earth Savers, we look forward to seeing you at the October 5^th meeting.

The Welcoming Service Team will meet under the new shade structure on Friday, September 29^th at 2:15pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Please have all orders in by October 10th to insure receipt of your items before Winter Break. If you have exchanges please contact Charlotte Halperin by e-mail chalperin@carolina.rr.com or by phone 704-503-0753. Please, 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.

Information is coming soon for the 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade students interested in trying out for Basketball this year. CIS will offer at Girls’ Team, Boys’ Junior Varsity and Boys’ Varsity teams.

The collection of labels and box tops has begun. Our goal this year is to collect over 6000 Campbell Soup Labels, Box Tops and Tyson Labels. Our school will earn money to buy supplies for the classrooms and physical education department. We all buy the products anyway, so take 30 seconds to cut the top or label and place them in a bag to send to school. 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.

The volleyball game against Heritage has been canceled for Friday, September 29^th. The next home game at Mallard Creek Recreation Center will be Tuesday, October 3rd at 4:15pm against Countryside Montessori School. Go Lady Comets!

Wow! What a fantastic turn out for our first Spirit Night of the year. I enjoyed seeing the students and meeting the parents/guardian. Thank you for your participation. Mrs. Kapp’s class won gift certificates for the most attendance.

Our Fall Scholastic Book Fair will be held on October 25^th thru November 1st in the music room. Further information about times of operation will be coming soon. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Charlotte Halperin at 704-503-0753 or chalperin@carolina.rr.com.

Charlotte Halperin is the mother to Lauren, 5^th grade, Sarah, 8^th grade, and her oldest daughter, Merry, who lives in New Jersey. Her husband is Rick Halperin, who is the Chair of the Board of Directors for CIS. Charlotte is the PE Uniform Goddess! She is responsible for finding the vendor, making the order forms and sorting thousands of uniforms in her home over the summer. In addition, she also coaches the Volleyball Team, heads up the Athletic Committee and organizes the Book Fairs! Thank you Charlotte for all you do!

Join the Kindergarten Teachers, Ms. Morton and Ms. Wages for a work day from 9:00am – 12:00pm. They will be clearing out trails and working on the K- 2 playground. Please bring your gas trimmers, ant killer, round up, rakes and other tools. Also, please dress in long sleeves and pants to avoid the elements.

It is very important for our school to keep records of all volunteer hours. Please make sure you are checking the volunteer box when you sign into the office. Are you helping your teacher or the school from home? We still need your volunteer time record. Please send them in your child’s folder addressed to Beth Thompson-Peace. We are applying for several grants in which we need this information. As an added bonus, once a person accumulates ten volunteer hours, they will earn a ticket on the bulletin board in my office. Every two months, a person will be drawn to win a door prize.

The Athletic Service team is selling ad space in the Athletic Spectator Programs to raise money for equipment. They will be distributed at every home Co-Ed Soccer, Girls’ Basketball, Boys’ JV Basketball and Boys’ Varsity Basketball games. Approximately seventy five programs will be printed for each event. All the ads will be printed in black and white on 8 ½” by 11” paper. The cost per ad is as follows:

If you are interested in advertising, please contact Beth Thompson-Peace at 704-455-3847 ext 5543 or thompsonpeaceb@ciscomets.org.

The Soccer Team will hold a car wash this Saturday, September 30^th from 9:00am until 1:00pm at the Bojangles on Rocky River Road by I-485. Please come support our Comets Soccer Team!