The Tiger Times

Dear Amazing Tiger Families and Community,

What an absolutely incredible week we've shared together! I am overflowing with pride and joy watching our Tiger community come alive. With Peace as our Character Word of the Month, I'm inspired by the wise words of the Dalai Lama: "World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion." This week, our Tiger community demonstrated this beautifully, through collaborative conversations at Chat & Chew, sharing cultural dishes with generosity at the Cookbook Extravaganza, and students graciously presenting their STEM projects. When we approach each other with compassion, respect, and kindness, we create peaceful environments where everyone flourishes. Let's continue cultivating inner peace that radiates outward to our entire community!

☕ Thank You for Chat & Chew Success!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for 2nd Quarter Chat & Chew: Leveling Up with Principal Lewis! It was absolutely wonderful to share ideas, collaborate, and hear your thoughtful perspectives on our school's progress and goals. The engagement, questions, and feedback you provided were invaluable and truly demonstrate the strength of our partnership.

I'm genuinely excited about the progress we're making together and look forward to maintaining this incredible momentum as we continue our journey through the school year. None of this would be possible without the incredible support, dedication, and active involvement of our amazing families and staff. We are truly LEVELING UP!

Missed a session? Access the complete presentation here: [Chat & Chew Presentation]

Thank you for your valuable input and enthusiastic participation. I'm excited to see everyone again at the end of 3rd quarter for our next Chat & Chew session!

🍽️ Cookbook Extravaganza - Sensational Success!

Huge shout out to Ms. Washington and our talented 4th & 5th graders who shared their creative recipes and delicious dishes at the Cookbook Extravaganza! It was truly sensational, the food was absolutely delicious, and the presentations were outstanding!

Thank you to all the families who came out and had the chance to taste the wonderful variety of American and international foods our young chefs prepared. The cultural diversity, creativity, and culinary skills on display were remarkable!

Ms. Washington, thank you for this magnificent idea and for running with it so brilliantly! Your dedication to engaging students in creative, meaningful learning experiences through literacy and culture is truly appreciated. This event perfectly demonstrated how learning can be joyful, delicious, and community-building!

💯 100th Day of School - A Major Milestone!

We also celebrated a very special milestone on Thursday, February 19th, our 100th Day of School! What an incredible achievement for our Tiger community!

It was absolutely great to see our students dress as 100 years old—the creativity was DEFINITELY there! Our school transformed from CMIT South Elementary to CMIT South Nursing Home for the day! From gray wigs and wrinkles to canes and walkers, our Tigers pulled out all the stops to look like centenarians. The hallways were filled with adorable "elderly" Tigers, and the laughter and joy were contagious!

Beyond the fun costumes, it was wonderful to see students participate in meaningful mathematical activities exploring the number 100, and reflect on all the amazing learning and growth that has happened over these first 100 days. From counting to 100 in different ways to celebrating 100 acts of kindness, our Tigers demonstrated how much they've learned and how far they've come

🔬 STEM Fair - Our Tigers Soared!

We ended our week with the STEMTastic 3rd Annual STEM Fair, and our students absolutely SOARED!

Watching our Tigers articulate and discuss their projects, explain scientific concepts, and share their career aspirations with such grace, poise, and confidence was incredibly moving. These young scientists demonstrated not just academic knowledge, but also communication skills, critical thinking, and genuine passion for STEM learning.

Huge shout out to:

• Our brilliant student scientists who worked so hard on their innovative projects

• Mr. Holloway, Science Department Chairperson, for your phenomenal leadership and dedication

• Families who supported project development at home

• Community members who attended and encouraged our young scientists

What a phenomenal job, everyone! You've inspired us all and shown what STEMTastic excellence looks like!

💻 Virtual Learning Planning & Preparation

Thank you for your continued flexibility as we navigate this historic winter weather season.

PGCPS is preparing for the possibility of virtual learning in the event of another major storm this winter. If virtual learning becomes necessary, students may use personal devices at home to access their instructional materials.

Important Virtual Learning Information:

📅 If Virtual Learning is Announced:

• Check ClassDojo for your child's virtual learning schedule and Google Meet link

• Virtual learning will operate on a 2-hour delay schedule

• Students will not log in until 10:00 AM

🖥️ Accessing Virtual Learning in Canvas:

Step 1: Access Clever

• From PGCPS Chromebook: Select Clever from the Chromebook Toolbar

• From Personal Device: Navigate to pgcps.org/students and select Clever

Step 2: Select Canvas from the Clever Dashboard

Step 3: Select your Canvas Course

Step 4: Locate Google Meet

• Elementary & K-8: Select Google Meet from the Resources tab of the course

Step 5: Click the Join button for the scheduled Google Meet

📋 Detailed Instructions: Elementary and K-8 Accessing Google Meet Directions

Remember: We are Leveling Up the STEMTastic Way! Let's continue spreading peace through compassion, celebrating our Tigers' brilliance, and building a community where everyone feels valued and supported!

With Peaceful Tiger Pride and Endless Gratitude,

Grade Level Blurb:

Students had a great week of celebration. They had a great time on the 100th day of school. It was great to see all the “old people” in the building that day. Also, we celebrated HBCUs and it was wonderful to see so many students with their goals for what comes next in education. Lastly, students got to see both science experiments from 2-5 and STEM careers from k-1 at the science fair.

Here are some virtual books to go along with Black History Month. Kindergatern Newletter Black History Month Virtual Library. Once in the powerpoint, you should be able to click on a book that your family finds interesting and it will take you to a youtube read aloud of that book.

Students are losing their personal belongings. Please label all items, sweaters and jackets especially, so that students will know what belongs to them. Please use simple reminders to help students learn to become and stay responsible for their own items. Also please continue to practice tying shoes and turning sleeves of jackets from inside out to the correct way with your scholars.

When your child has been absent please communicate to the teacher and complete the online document submission form, because we are not taking paper notes: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lp2fJsfDLjWNINllvX10OKjiGDn443yAB8Hq8BMBa-E/viewform

IMPORTANT KINDERGARTEN DATES-

February 27-Dress Down: BET Awards; Students are invited to dress as if they are attending the BET Awards in a school appropriate way

February 27: Black History Month Program K-2nd 8:30am

March 2: Read Across America

March 9: Spring Picture Day

March 11-13: Spring Book Fair

March 20: School now operates on normal schedule

March 27: K-2 Spring event, hosted by the PTO

Reading Updates:

Reading Updates:

Finish UNIT 3 Week 1 and start

UNIT 3- Week 2: Gingerbread Man/ Cornbread Man

Essential Question: How are two versions of the same story alike and different?

• Phonological Awareness: Initial and Final Sounds; Segment and Blend Phonemes

Blend and Segment: Onset and Rime

• Phonics: Constant sounds initial /V/ and middle short vowel sound /U/

• High-frequency words: any, come, play

• Unit Vocabulary: choose, explain, meaning, character

Learning Goals:

• Learn about folktales, fairy tales and explore themes of a story

• Visualize details from a story

• Compare and contrast the similarities and differences between two stories

• Find details in a text

• Capitalization for the beginning of a sentence

• Verbs and pronouns

• Story elements: characters, setting, plot

Math Updates:

Topic 6: Understanding Subtraction

Essential Understanding: What types of situations involve subtraction?

• Show numbers in many way

• Express smaller parts of a bigger number with actions

• Represent subtraction as taking away from numbers up to 10

• Practice using an subtraction equation

• Show subtraction using number lines, ten frames and pictures

Vocabulary: minus, take away, equal sign, take apart, left over, patterns

Science Updates:

TOPIC 4: Changes to the Environment

Experience 3: How do People protect their environment?

• Review living vs non-living things

• Inquiry about the relationship between people and where they live.

• Demonstrate the relationship between the needs of people and the places they live, which together make up a system.

• Describe habitat relationships using relational language and simple adjectives.

Vocabulary: environment, system, model, change, recycle, reuse

Social Studies Updates:

Chapter 4 : Geography of the Neighborhood

Essential Question- What is the world like?

• Understand different places and areas that are around us

• Look into the into a map as a tool

• What is a globe?

• The parts of a map

• Analyze how we interact with jobs that help the community and the location of places

Vocabulary: street, community, neighbors, map, neighborhood, globe, legend

Health Updates:

February Topic: Going to the Doctor and Dentist

• Describe the difference between a doctor and a dentist

• Encourage confidence in the doctor’s or dentist’s office by discovering what happens when getting a checkup.

• Demonstrate respect for bodies and our teeth

• Explain why it is important to make healthy decisions

Vocabulary: doctor, dentist, teeth, help, and care

Grade Level Blurb:

Thank you for another great week and for your continued partnership and support! We truly appreciate all that you do to help make our classroom community so successful.

Field Trip Update:
Our rescheduled trip to the Air and Space Museum will take place on March 6, 2026. We are so excited for this special experience and look forward to sharing it with all of our wonderful chaperones. Thank you in advance for your time and support!

Chromebook Reminder:
Please continue to ensure that scholars come to school each day with their Chromebooks fully charged. These devices are imperative to a successful and productive school day.

Academic Update: Scholars completed the Unit 3 Reading Assessment this week. We are proud of the effort they’ve shown and look forward to reviewing their progress!

Reading Updates:

We are excited to begin our new unit titled “Making a Difference.” This week’s story is a biography, where scholars will learn about a real person who made an impact. As we read, we will focus on:🔎 Identifying text structure❓ Asking and answering questions about the text.These skills will help scholars better understand nonfiction texts and think more deeply about what they read.

Phonics Focus:
Our phonics lessons will concentrate on closed syllable words. Scholars will practice recognizing and reading words where the vowel is followed by a consonant, helping to strengthen decoding and fluency skills.

Math Updates:

We are continuing to work through Topic 4 in math. Scholars are learning how to add multiple two-digit numbers using strategies that help make the process easier and more efficient. One key strategy we are practicing is “making a ten.” This strategy helps scholars break apart numbers to create friendly tens, making addition quicker and more accurate.

We are focusing on:
🧠 Flexible thinking with numbers
📝 Showing our work clearly
✅ Checking our answers for accuracy.

Keep encouraging your scholar to explain their thinking when solving addition problems — this builds confidence and strengthens understanding! 🌟

Science Updates:

Get ready to dig deep! We are officially kicking off our next science unit: Earth’s Changing Surface. From the slow crawl of glaciers to the sudden shake of an earthquake, we’ll be exploring the powerful forces that shape our planet.

To get our junior geologists excited, here are a few simple activities you can try at home:

🏠 Home Science Connections

• Backyard Scavenger Hunt: Take a walk around the neighborhood. Look for cracks in the sidewalk caused by tree roots or areas where rain has washed away soil. These are real-world examples of Earth changing right under our feet.

• Documentary Date Night: Watch a short clip on volcanoes or landslides. Ask your student: "Do you think this change happened quickly or slowly?"

By observing these changes at home, students will have a great head start on our classroom investigations. We can’t wait to see what they discover!

Social Studies Updates:

As we enter the final week of Black History Month, our classroom has been buzzing with inspiration! We have spent the last few weeks honoring the incredible legacies of Black historians, scientists, artists, and activists who have shaped our world.

To keep the momentum going at home, here are a few ways your family can revisit these stories and spark meaningful conversations:

🏠 Family Conversation Starters & Activities

• The "Dinner Party" Game: Ask your student: "If you could invite one person we learned about this month to dinner, who would it be and why?" This is a great way to see which stories resonated most with them!

• A "Living Room" Museum: Encourage your child to create a small "exhibit" using a drawing or a "fact card" about their favorite historical figure. They can give you a guided tour of what they’ve learned.

• Black History Playlist: Listen to some influential Black musicians together—from the jazz of Duke Ellington to the soul of Aretha Franklin. Talk about how their music makes you feel and the era they lived in.

• Quote of the Day: Pick a famous quote from a leader like Maya Angelou or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and discuss what it means to your family today.

• Kitchen Inventions: Many everyday items were created by Black inventors (like the improved ironing board by Sarah Boone or the refrigerated truck by Frederick McKinley Jones). Look around your kitchen and see how many "hidden" histories you can find!

Celebrating these achievements doesn't have to end when February does. We look forward to a powerful final week of learning!

Grade Level Blurb:

The students enjoyed their field trip to George Mason Center for the Arts. The show was lively and the students were engaged. Many thanks to our chaperones! Please make sure the students are coming to school with a charged chromebook and necessary school supplies. We want all students prepared for the day’s instruction and activities. Continue reading to see what our classes accomplished this week.

Reading Updates:

This week, we began our second historical fiction story, Granddaddy’s Turn, which tells the story of a family’s trip to the ballot box. Students focused on identifying the narrator, analyzing character feelings, and using text evidence to explain how the time period influenced events in the story.

Social Studies Updates:

In Social Studies, we learned about the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and discussed unfair practices like literacy tests and poll taxes that once prevented many citizens from voting. Students explored how laws changed over time and why those changes were important.

In Word Study, we reviewed prefixes and practiced identifying common abbreviations while building vocabulary connected to our learning.

We are so proud of the thoughtful conversations and strong critical thinking happening in our classroom!

Math Updates:

Our third grade mathematicians are moving right along in topic 10. Using patterns to solve problems with multiples of 10. Please continue to work on the multiplication facts as they are the key to so many of our third grade math skills.

Science Updates:

In Science, the students explored experience 3 in topic 5. This lesson covers adaptations and survival when there are environmental changes. We will continue this topic into next week with a few activities. We enjoyed visiting the STEM Fair showcase and supporting our third grade classmates who were chosen to represent us in the fair.

Health Updates:

We took another week to explore and discuss genes. The students watched a Bill Nye the Science Guy video which allowed them to see cells, genes, and chromosomes using a microscope. Bill gave good practical comparisons to help the students extend their understanding of genes.

Please keep an eye on the skies for any potential winter weather. Check your teacher’s class dojo for work instructions in the event of inclement weather. Enjoy the weekend!

Grade Level Updates:

Greetings Team 4Ward,

Warm greetings to each of you. We hope this message finds your household well. We are so proud of our students that are participating in the schoolwide STEM Fair. We enjoyed our student’s projects and their inquiry minds to see answers to questions. Each teacher has set up Google Meet within the homeroom Canvas. Whenever there is virtual learning your scholar will login using the schedule shared by school. We will use Google Meet links. We have shown and practiced with our students how to access the Meet through Canvas.

Field Trip

4th Graders are going on a field trip to the Publick Playhouse on Tuesday February 24, 2026. We will watch a musical performance about the first two Black Olympic gold medalists, and the challenges they overcame to reach their goals.

To prepare for the trip please ensure your scholar:

• Is in uniform

• Brings their bag lunch

• Has their computer

• Has their backpack

Many class activities use online tools. A charged computer ensures your child can fully participate in lessons and complete assignments. Our students also need a pair of wired headphones to complete activities and for testing. Students who arrive on time are better prepared for learning and reduce classroom disruptions. Please plan to have your child at school a few minutes early each day. A healthy breakfast helps students focus and have energy for learning. School breakfast is available daily until 8:00 when students arrive in the morning.

In our classrooms, we will be working on a variety of assignments and projects designed to challenge and inspire them. I encourage you to check in regularly with your scholar about what they are learning.Your support at home is greatly appreciated and makes a significant difference in their academic success.

Thank you for your ongoing support in your child’s learning journey. We are grateful for the partnership between home and school — together we help every student thrive.

Warmly,

Team 4Ward

Important Upcoming Dates:

• 4th Grade Field Trip to Publick Playhouse Tuesday February 24, 2026

Fourth Grade Information:

i-Ready:

i-Ready is a computer based math and reading program that is available for all of our scholars. Scholars have completed their diagnostics and are working on programs based on their areas of need. This program will be available all summer for students to continue to utilize in both reading and math. Please help your child complete at least 45 minutes of math and reading to grow their abilities.

Absences:

This is a friendly reminder that late work is only accepted if a student has an excused absence! If a scholar is absent and does not bring a note they will earn a 0 on the assignment that was missed. Please read the reminders to ensure that you are partnering with your scholars to make them successful for school. If a scholar leaves early or arrives late to school and it is not excused they will earn a 0 for all work that is not completed.

If your scholar is absent, please complete the CMIT South ES Absence Google Form within 3 days of your scholar returning back to school. https://forms.gle/euXzCpDvNGbLwb8U6 In order for students to receive make-up work you must provide a note stating; the student’s name, the date of absence, and reason for absence. Work is provided to students upon their return to school with an absence note.

Communications:

Students must bring their agenda book each day. Teachers will note the agenda book and it should be signed nightly by the adult at home.

Please allow up to 48 business hours for all responses to emails and Classdojo messages. Teachers are not actively monitoring their emails during the day because we are engaged in instruction. Emails are not monitored over the weekend or in the evening hours when teachers have gone home. If the message sent relates to dismissal changes please call the school directly to leave a message with the front office.

Grading:

Please check Synergy weekly to see scholar’s updated grades. Canvas is a Learning Management System in which scholars utilize to complete assignments and get access to materials.The grades entered in Synergy are those that will be used to calculate progress reports and report cards.

It is imperative that work is complete and turned in on time in order to receive full credit. Our district has set policies regarding assignment completion and make-up assignments. Only students that have an excused absence will be given an opportunity to receive and complete missing assignments.

Uniforms:

We are a uniform school. Students must be in the proper uniform each and every day. Students are expected to have mostly black shoes. They may wear a navy blue or school logo jacket or pullover during class. Students will be asked to remove any jacket or sweater that is not following the uniform policy. Students are not allowed to wear Crocs on school grounds.

Reading Updates:

We are in Volume 2 of our textbooks Unit 4: Impacts. Within this unit students will explore diverse literature styles from all over the world.This year writing is a main focus within our school. As we enter the second quarter scholars' our focus for writing will be to expand their sentences using adverbs and adjectives. Moving forward we expect that students will write complex sentences with multiple dependent clauses.

This Week:

This week students read two myths “Pandora” and “Race to the Top.” A myth reflects human beliefs about why and how the world is the way it is. Both of these stories will explain the how and why something happens on the Earth. Students will seek to answer: How can being disobedient cause problems. As we read the stories we determined the common theme that is shared between the two texts. Students were able to compare and contrast characters across the texts.

Next Week:

This week students will read two myths “Pandora” and “Race to the Top.” In both these myths a common theme was found around good overcoming evil. Students this week will continue to focus on the characters of the stories and how their actions led to the events of the myths. Students will also have an opportunity to create their own myth story that explains how something in nature came to be. To close out the week we will also have a story assessment and we will also complete a word study assessment on homophones.

Math Updates:

As we return from the break, we will continue with our Multiplication Focus. This week and next in Math, scholars continued working through Topics 3 and 4, focusing on using strategies and properties to solve 1-digit and 2-digit multiplication problems. Please continue to build math fluency through repetition of basic math facts to build speed and math confidence.

Please encourage scholars to practice their facts at home using Prodigy, IXL, i-Ready, and XtraMath to boost automatic recall. A few minutes of daily practice goes a long way!

Science Updates:

In Science, scholars are focusing on STEM Fair presentations! This week we took time to showcase each scholars’ hard work with an in-class STEM Gallery walk, touring each board exploring the different STEM topics. Next week, we will begin STEM presentations and choose our top 3 classroom representatives for the STEM Fair.

In addition to the STEM Fair, in Science we will begin our next topic, Human Use of Energy. In this topic, scholars will describe how fuels humans use for energy are derived from natural sources. They will learn that some of these resources are renewable over time, and others are not, and that human use of these energy resources can affect the environment in multiple ways.

Social Studies Updates:

This week, students reflected on their 4th Grade American History Museum by completing a written response. They were asked to thoughtfully explain what they learned, describe their chosen historical figure or topic, and reflect on why it is important to American history. This activity helped students strengthen their writing skills while deepening their understanding of historical events and people.

Grade Level Updates:

Good afternoon Fifth Grade Families,

We are looking forward to another exciting week of learning! Please review the important updates and academic focus areas below.

Field Trip Reminder:

Our field trip is scheduled for next week. All students are expected to wear their school uniform on the day of the trip. Please ensure your scholar arrives on time and prepared.

Also, CMIT South Middle School is excited to announce that we’re launching the R.I.S.E. Summer STEM Experience—a 4-week learning opportunity centered on Reaffirming strong academic habits, Igniting curiosity and engagement, supporting scholars as they Soar through meaningful learning experiences, and empowering them to Excel as they head into the new school year.

Reading Updates:

Students will be analyzing characters in texts, learning Latin roots to strengthen vocabulary, and using text evidence to support their ideas in opinion writing.

Math Updates:

• Mr. Barr’s Class: Students are working on Topic 4, Lesson 3: Multiplying Decimals by Whole Numbers, focusing on place value and accurate computation.
  

• Ms. Jenkins’ Class: Students are finishing multiplication of decimals and will begin dividing decimals, building on their understanding of place value and decimal operations.

Social Studies Updates:

Students will begin Chapter 5: The Declaration of Independence, where they will learn about the events, people, and ideas that led to America’s independence.

Health Updates:

Students will learn about the respiratory system, including labeling a lung diagram and understanding how healthy lungs function. We will also discuss how harmful substances, such as smoke, can damage the lungs.

Thank you for your continued support in helping your scholar succeed. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

The Fifth Grade Team

General CARTS Messages:

Due to weather related closing and delays affecting class times, there will be a limited amount of grades in CARTS for progress reports. Specifically, Art, P.E., Music, Technology, and LEGO. Thank you for your understanding!

Please remember to check your student's Canvas assignments and Synergy grades regularly!

Art:

Our 4th grade students are doing amazing work on their metal embossing designs! Here is one from Mrs. Weldon’s class. These photos show a design by Jodie L. after her embossing is finished, but before a patina (a type of finish. We made a pseudo one with a Sharpie marker) and after the patina.

2025-2026 School Calendar

School Meals

School Violence Resources and Support

PGCPS TV

CMIT South ES Enrichment Program

Vendor Managed Child Care

Parent Handbook

Students’ Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.

Synergy ParentVUE Support for Parents and Guardians

Student Absence Form