THE BRIDGE TO SECONDARY SUCCESS * VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7 / JANUARY 20, 2016
STATE OF CARROLLTON MIDDLE SCHOOL

1st semester productive, 2nd to be even better
By Dr. Andre Touchard
CMS Principal

As CMS welcomes in the new year, we are excited about where we are headed as a school! The teachers are rested and ready to tackle preparing our students for the second year of the Milestones assessment. Our students have been working hard inside and outside of the classroom.

We have given the STAR assessment to measure student growth in math and reading while the benchmark testing has given us a good indication on where students are in relation to the yearlong curriculum teachings. As we make the push toward our April testing window the students will be ready and focused to have positive outcomes!

Our students are continuing to respond to our PBIS initiative at CMS. We had more than 95 percent participation at our two PBIS celebrations this year. Ask your children about their Trojan Dots and the tickets they earn which they redeem every Friday in our Trojan store. We have also given out more than 500 "Good News Referrals," written by teachers for good things that students have done at any given time. This is an awesome accomplishment with half the year left!!!!!!

I am proud to announce CMS has its first Student Government Association. The SGA was formed to give more voice to our students which will provide great feedback for improving academic achievement. The inaugural association will consist of 20 students from across all three grade levels. They were selected by their teachers to participate. We will have our first meeting soon!

Below are some of the highlights from the first half of the school year:
2016-2017 school
calendar proposed

On Jan. 12, the Carrollton Board of Education approved a proposed school calendar for 2016-2017. The tentative approval allows for a month of public review and opportunity for comment before final adoption, expected in February.

S chool breakfast
boosts academics

With a new year comes new resolutions - and for our students, eating a good breakfast should be one of them.

Research has shown that eating breakfast in the morning makes a significant impact on academic achievement. Our School Nutrition program has worked hard to build a quality breakfast program that offers variety, flexibility and is highly affordable for all students.

Breakfast meals only cost $1 at Carrollton Elementary and Carrollton Middle School. School breakfast is only a dime more ($1.10) at Carrollton Junior High and Carrollton High School. 

Pink Out shirts
pickup is Thursday

Pink Out T-shirts will be available for pickup on Thursday, Jan. 21, at the front office of the school at which the shirt was purchased. The "Pink Out" game is Friday, Jan. 22. The Trojans and Lady Trojans take on region rival Fayette County at home in the CHS gym.

ELC presentation
scheduled Jan. 21

Carrollton Elementary School will hold an informational meeting this Thursday, Jan. 21, for parents and guardians interested in learning more about the CES Early Learning Center, which serves prekindergarten and kindergarten students.

The informational session will last from 5:30-6:15 p.m. in the Early Learning Center Multi-Purpose Room. The entrance to the Early Learning Center is located at the back of the Carrollton Elementary School campus.

Interested parents and guardians are encouraged to attend to hear about the exciting happenings in the prekindergarten and kindergarten programs and to learn more about the registration process. Current Carrollton City Schools parents are asked to pass along this information to others who may be interested.

Families who cannot attend the Jan. 21 presentation may schedule an individual school tour. For more information, call 770-832-2120.

CMS now on Facebook!

Carrollton Middle School has its own Facebook page! The page already has generated a lot of activity and buzz. Please visit it frequently and "Like" it if you haven't already!

Take survey to help
school improvement

Carrollton City schools are participating in the Georgia Parent Survey program and need your help. 

The survey will remain open through Friday, Feb. 26.

Thank you in advance for taking time out of your busy schedule.


Both Carrollton Middle School teams who competed in the West Georgia Regional FIRST LEGO League competition brought back first place trophies in December. The Super LEGO team won first place for Best Presentation and the LEGO Legends won first place for Best Research.
In an effort to welcome our new students into our Trojan family, we held a new student ice cream social.
Our very own CMS Singers held an outstanding Christmas Concert performance of holiday classics.
Our fourth grade had the opportunity this fall to participate in an exciting field trip to the Tellus Museum. The Tellus Museum exhibits open minds and ignites a passion for science. Our students had a blast conducting hands-on experiments with light, sound, magnets and more.
CMS participated in national Red Ribbon Week, which is a campaign that raises awareness of alcohol, tobacco and other drug and violence prevention observed annually in October in the United States. 
CMS picked a day in October to dress in pink to raise awareness for breast cancer.
We give tickets to our students which allow them access to our incentive cart items which are redeemed on Fridays as part of our PBIS program. Last week, almost 1,000 students were invited to the latest celebration!
As part of our celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Havana Son energized CMS students at the Mabry Center for the Arts, exposing students to geographic and cultural themes of Latin America.
In effort to educate our students about the concerning issue of bullying, we participate in the national "We Pledge to Take a Stand Against Bullying Campaign." Each student signed our Pledge Banner and a Pledge card in efforts to take a stand to end bullying.
Our fifth Grade Science Club had the opportunity to take an overnight trip to Camp Wahsega. This trip taught our student about the environment and conservation, while discovering mountain air, clear streams, and rugged trails in the North Georgia Mountains.
CMS academic team captures top trophy

Congratulations to the CMS Academic Bowl Team for earning first place in the first competition of the year on Jan. 14 and to science teachers Cathy Fontenot and Vincent Warner who prepped them for the event! Team members, from left, are Eden Long, Micah Alba, Edward Kenyon, Jake Awbrey, Matthew Basil, Finny McClendon, Mark Zimmer, Alanna Edwards, Sydney Cumby and Alexia Walter. Not pictured is Eric Robinson. We look forward to more trophies to come!
KID'S CORNER
What did you enjoy about the PBIS celebration?


"I loved the movie that we watched and I loved spending time with all of my friends. I liked that they provided us with snacks that I really enjoyed. "

Kristen Young
Fifth Grade




"I loved the movie that we watched. I liked that I could sit by all of my best friends and we were able to eat our snacks and watched the movie at the same time."

Eriyon Jones
Sixth Grade



"I liked traveling to the MAC center. I liked that it was very quiet and laid back and I really enjoyed watching the movie. I got to sit next to all of my best friends."

Ellis Underwood
Fourth Grade