The Week Ahead

Table of Contents

• CMS At Home Events!

• Negative Annual Leave Balances

• Grade 3 Water Walk

• World Cup ‘25

• EOY Testing Updates

• Spring Reading Challenge!

• Upcoming Author Visit for Grades 1-5

• Summer Programming Hiring Updates

• Social Committee Updates

• CMS Legal Records Management Policy & Updates

• Clothing Support For Students (MHES PTA)

• CMS Good News Submissions

• Reminder: Atrium Clinic for Staff

• MHES 24-25 Yearbook

• FAC Notes & Updates

• Updates & Information

CMS At Home Events!

The At Home in CMS team is excited to share two opportunities for this Saturday, April 26. Join us on Teams for our second webinar this spring, What's the Score? Test Your Credit Score Knowledge presented by the State Employees Credit Union. Are you working on increasing your credit score to become mortgage-ready? Join us to take an in-depth look at credit scores, how they are determined, and factors contributing to your score. RSVPs are encouraged but not required. Please register here.

Additionally, our partners at True Homes are hosting an open house at Dukes Ridge, a brand-new development located at 4420 Denver Avenue. In partnership with Truist, True Homes has set aside four homes just for CMS teachers, who may also be eligible for an extra $30,000 Truist grant on top of House Charlotte and Doorway to Prosperity down payment assistance, totaling more than $100,000 of down payment assistance. 

True Homes is opening their event early exclusively for CMS from 11am-1pm. 

Negative Annual Leave Balances

Any employee with a negative annual leave balance will have charges deducted during the April and (if needed) May pay periods. If there are sufficient earning in the April Pay Period, the entire balance will be deducted in April. Any balance remaining after the April pay period, if necessary, will be deducted from the May pay period.

For biweekly paid staff, negative annual leave charges will deducted from May and June pay periods, beginning with the first pay period in May.

Questions about this should be directed to the payroll department at 980-343-1839.

Grade 3 Water Walk

Third grade is having a water walk on Friday as part of our Ugandan Water Project.  If you have any clean gallon jugs, please send them in to any 3rd grade classroom by Friday. Just FYI, we will be on the track Friday morning between 9:45 and 10:45. 

World Cup ‘25

We are excited to kick off the World Cup this upcoming week, as our Manatees in certain grades get started with iReady testing. Please use the link below to learn more about the World Cup!

EOY Testing Updates

Ms. Mulherin has created a testing calendar for the school that covers all the testing as we approach the end of the 2024-25 SY. Please be patient with errors that may be in this schedule, there are a lot of testing sessions to juggle and navigate. Note that all staff members that will be involved with the testing are on the calendar, so you will be aware if typical supports or groups are unable to occur—we know the massive impact testing has schoolwide and we are sorry for this interruption. Thank you for all your feedback on the testing input survey—Jennifer really tried to implement your feedback into the scheduling for your specific grade level.

The testing calendar is presented in two ways. The first 9 tabs represent all the tests being administered school-wide by week. The second 6 tabs are grade specific tabs that lay out more like a monthly calendar.

NOTE: WEDNESDAY, MAY 7TH will be our EOG Testing Training after school. All teachers and support staff are required to attend and will be dismissed based on involvement in testing. Please plan to stay until 4:45 PM so that we can get through all the training information.

Spring Reading Challenge!

Copies of the spring reading challenge are in your boxes! Please hand them out to students on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. The challenge works like a Bingo board – make a line of four items in a row and return it to the library for a prize. Students can return them in the mornings during open checkout until April 25th, so they can use the boards throughout spring break to encourage reading then, too. Prize structure for students:

• Four boxes completed in a row: one prize

• Blackout board (all boxes completed): two prizes!

Mrs. Carpenter encourages you to participate along with your students and share what you’re reading with them! Sharing your love of reading with kids inspires them to love it even more. Teachers/staff who submit a blackout board can choose a $5 gift card as a reward! Mrs. Carpenter put extra copies for any staff who want to participate on the counter in front of mailboxes in the workroom. Please let Mrs. Carpenter know if you have any questions, and happy reading! 🌺📚🌷

Upcoming Author Visit for Grades 1-5

From Mrs. Carpenter: On Wednesday, April 23^rd, we’ll be hosting nonfiction science writer Kevin Kurtz. He’ll be here during 1^st-5^th grade enrichment classes, so your schedule won’t be impacted beyond enrichment. All 1^st-5^th grade students will need to be dropped off at and picked up from the library on that day. For 1^st & 2^nd grades, he will center his presentation around what plants and animals need to survive in a habitat. For 3^rd-5^th grades, he will focus on Adaptations, Ecosystems, and Food Web relationships.

In media classes starting with the next A day, classes will be introduced to his nonfiction works and we’ll read A Day in the Deep, a story in verse that starts at the top of the ocean and highlights what you find as you dive down to the bottom of the ocean. During the following week, students will do an activity in makerspace also designed to get students ready for Kevin’s visit.

 You can see a list of Kevin’s complete works here: https://www.kevkurtz.com/books/

If you’d like to spend some time in your classroom talking about his visit or about his work, feel free to use any of the following resources. This is all from Kevin:

• I have five free eBooks (Uncovering Earth's Secrets, Into the Crater of Doom, Where Wild Microbes Grow, and How to Read a Rock Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) for elementary and intermediate students about the seafloor science and exploration conducted by the research ships of the International Ocean Discovery Program. The eBooks are available as PDFs that can be opened on any computer or tablet and projected on an interactive whiteboard or screen. They can be downloaded for free here: https://joidesresolution.org/for-educators/node2998/

• Arbordale, the publisher of six of my books (A Day in the Salt Marsh, A Day on the Mountain, A Day in the Deep, A Day in a Forest Wetland, Sharks and Dolphins, and Living Things and Nonliving Things), has free teaching materials on their website for each of my books. The materials are all correlated with state standards. They are found on the right side of each book's page by clicking "Teaching Activities." Here is one example: http://www.arbordalepublishing.com/bookpage.php?id=DayDeep

• My website has a variety of free resources that expand on the learning experience of reading my books: www.kevkurtz.com.

  • My blog is written for older elementary students and explains science concepts related to my books in entertaining ways:  http://www.kevkurtz.com/his-blog/

  • I have a page on my site called More Fun Stuff where students can view a video gallery of short, kid-friendly videos that supplement my books, including a video of illustrator Erin Hunter creating a painting for A Day in the Deep, visit pages that describe my experiences working with scientists, and more!  http://www.kevkurtz.com/more-fun-stuff

Summer Programming Hiring Updates

On behalf of the CMS Human Resources and the Summer Programs planning team, we are sharing information about the 2025 Summer Programming options. Summer Programs will occur during the month of July. Information about specific programs and school sites can be found here: 2025 Summer Programs Information.

Eligibility: To work in a Summer School Program, the following eligibility requirements must be met:

• For Alternatively Licensed teachers, you must have current N.C. Teaching Licensure and be highly qualified in the appropriate area beyond June 30 for certified positions at the time of the recommendation.

• Must NOT have received a Performance Counseling letter, Corrective Action or on a Directed PDP at any time during the 2024-25 school year.

• Must work the duration of the program including any professional development requirements.

• Must be a full-time, continuing employee for the 2025-26 school year.

• Employees with pending resignations will NOT be considered.

Professional Development 

As part of this Summer Programming, teachers will have the opportunity to attend a required Professional Development session prior to the start of the summer program. We’ll dive into essential training, share best practices and align on program goals. 

This Professional Development opportunity will last two to four days, depending on your subject area, and will pay a stipend. There will also be an extension of this learning through job-embedded Professional Development throughout Summer Programming. This combination of hands-on development and pre-program preparation ensures that you’ll be fully equipped and confident to make a lasting impact on your students this summer and next school year!

Social Committee Updates

CMS Legal Records Management Policy & Updates

This legal alert provides information impacting every CMS employee when they create, share, and destroy records. Public records policy and law affects everything from emails, to text messages, to lesson plans, and beyond. Because records management is a part of North Carolina law, make sure you are aware of the following wildly important facts that are linked below.

Clothing Support For Students (MHES PTA)

The PTA understands the importance of having clothing items readily available in classrooms to address students’ needs quickly and discreetly. This ensures that if a student has an accident and needs a change of clothes, they won’t have to walk to the front office in wet or soiled clothing to access the Manatee Care Closet.

The MHES PTA is committed to minimizing classroom interruptions and supporting you in addressing these situations effectively. To help, we will help provide essential 2-4 sets of clothing items that can be kept in your classrooms. To request clothing for your class, please complete the form linked below:

You can use this form to restock as needed throughout the school year. Since this is a work in progress, we may adjust the form based on your needs and feedback. While the MHES PTA will do its best to fulfill all requests, please understand that our ability to gather and distribute these items depends on donations, volunteer support, and available funding. We respectfully ask for your patience as we work to meet these needs.

We also strongly encourage you to remind families to include a change of clothes in their child’s backpack, regardless of grade level. The PTA will share this reminder in our weekly updates to help ensure students are prepared for unexpected situations. Thank you for your unwavering dedication to our students. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or if you have additional needs.

CMS Good News Submissions

Share good news with CMS Communications!  Did you win an award? Have a colleague you'd like to give a shout-out to? Or maybe you have a classroom strategy you think is unique? Let us know! We'd love to hear from you.

Reminder: Atrium Clinic for Staff 

As a reminder, our Atrium Virtual Health Clinic isn’t just for students—staff can utilize it as well! If you need to see a provider, please reach out to Rick and/or Nurse Haley.

MHES 24-25 Yearbook

Drop your pictures from this year in this folder so that they can be shared in our MHES yearbook!

FAC Notes & Updates

Previous FAC Notes

• March 2025 FAC

• February 2025 FAC

• January 2025 FAC

• November/December 2024 FAC

• September/October 2024 FAC

Here are the notes from the Performance Area Advisory Council (PAAC) and STAC:

• February STAC Notes

• Feb. 13 PAAC Meeting Notes

• Jan. 9 PAAC Meeting Notes

• Nov. 6 PAAC Meeting Notes

Updates & Information