Crabapple MS Staff-Update
Feb. 2
February 2- Home Basketball Game vs. Holcomb Bridge
February 2- Write Score Testing Window Opens
February 4- District AVID Visit
February 6- 7th Grade February Fun Fest 4:30-6pm. Additional details will be messaged out this week.
February 9- Home Basketball Game vs. Ridgeview
February 10- Scoliosis Screening for 6th and 8th Grade (AM Connections). Additional details will be messaged out this week.
February 11- Home Basketball Game vs Elkins Pointe
February 16 and 17- No School for Students
February 19- MLK Jr. Awards Assembly and Reception
Here is the Weekly Staff Points Report for January 23-29 (at 6:00pm). We had 81% Staff Participation again this week!
Thank you to everyone who caught up from last week as well!!! A BIG shout out to the three people who contacted me about their paper systems for keeping track of points!!!
Coming Soon to the PBIS Store: Stress balls are coming to the PBIS Store in February! Stock is limited, and students may only purchase one stress ball at a time. Please remember that if any PBIS Store prize becomes disruptive to your classroom environment, you are well within your rights to take up the item for the class or have the student put it away.
Relationships Best Practices Reminder: Give Verbal Acknowledgement of Empathy (Be Respectful) Middle school-age students are going through some of the most intense brain changes the human body experiences outside of infancy. They are being inundated with all sorts of new information and emotions that their brains are not yet ready to process without help. A simple “I hear you” or “That sounds frustrating” shows empathy and keeps communication open, even when the frustration seems less significant to our fully developed, adult, more-ready-to-process-emotion brains.
- Device Update: We have several students waiting on a replacement device right now due to low inventory within the district. We hope to get a shipment in soon and will get devices out as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience with the situation and support of these students in the meantime.
- February Media Center Programming:
- Contest for Students and Teachers: DesignYourOwnOlympicMedal.pdf
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 🎉
Casey – 4th
Harlow – 8th
SECRET CUPID WEEK
Would you like to spread the love this February? Join us for Secret Cupid Week (February 9 – 13)! Participants will receive the name of a colleague to secretly surprise with small treats throughout the week. (Monday - Thursday: Gifts should cost between $2 and $3. Friday: A final gift valued at $10) If you’d like to participate, please complete the form below by Feb. 3rd. SECRET CUPID WEEK – Fill out form
IS THAT YOUR MATE?
We hear all the time about your fur babies! Email Ms. Ess a picture of your fur baby, and let’s see if we can match them with the correct partner. Prizes will be awarded to the top three match makers. Pictures are due by Feb. 6th.
STARS & STRIPES DAY (school-wide spirit day)
In celebration of the first day of the Winter Olympics, staff and students are encouraged to show their support for Team USA by wearing red, white, and blue on February 6th.
Information shared in previous staff newsletters.
District AVID visit, Wednesday, 2/4- Classroom visits wanted!
Our AVID district director and zone superintendent will be visiting CMS on 2/4 for an AVID site visit. They would love to visit classrooms and see AVID strategies in action. The visit will be from 11:30 AM-1:00 PM. If you will have students during this time and would like to showcase the great AVID work you are doing in your class, please email Maggie at nelmsmr@fultonschools.org by Friday, 1/16. You can also nominate a teacher who you know if teaching college and career readiness skills and may not volunteer themselves.
AVID Recruitment
AVID recruitment for rising 7th and 8th graders will begin late January/early February. AVID 8th graders will be visiting 6th and 7th grade homerooms to deliver the recruitment PPT presentation. This will most likely occur during the 1st week of February, though the application will likely be shared with families and teachers prior to that week. If you know of students who fit the criteria below, please have a conversation with them and encourage them to apply. You are welcome to email their parents as well.
AVID target group:
-Respectful
-Performing "in the middle" (2.0-3.2 GPA)
-Might be first generation college student
-Might be low income
-Motivated to succeed/willing to be held to a high expectation
-Lacking organization/time-management skills
-Needs academic support via small group tutoring to reach full potential (might include skills support)
Looking for engaging texts to build literacy skills in your content?
As an AVID school, we have a membership to AVID weekly, a resource that provides awesome, relevant, and engaging texts and lessons that content area teachers can use to enrich their curriculum and incorporate WICOR strategies while teaching literacy. If you'd like access to these lessons, please email Maggie, and she will create an account for you.
To support our continuing work with using the AVID 5-Step Notetaking Process and teaching it to students, Ms. Wiggins and Ms. Salvatore have printed and laminated a poster outlining the AVID 5-Step Notetaking Process so your students will have a constant visual reminder. We would like every staff member to have a poster with this process posted in your classroom. The posters we printed will be passed out at GL meetings next Wednesday. If you already have your own visual outlining the AVID 5-Step Notetaking Process, you may continue to use it if you prefer it to the posters we printed.
If you do not already have a visual for this process, please be sure to get a poster and hang it up next week. Extras will be available in the Media Center if you are absent on Wednesday.
As we begin our second semester, please see below for a reminder regarding mandated reporter responsibilities and DFCS reports. Also, if you are a NEW staff member and did not complete mandated reporter training with Ms. Cairo this year, please contact me via email: cairot1@fultonschools.org.
- All FCS Employees are mandated reporters
- A DFCS report is to be completed within 24 hours
- Completed a DFCS report in good faith you are immune from liability
- DFCS reports are kept confidential by the agency
- When completing the triplicate form:
- White: remains with the reporter
- Yellow and/or Pink: One copy to the principal and one copy to SSW
- Provide to appropriate staff within 24 hours
- When completing via email or portal
- Email the form: CC on the email with the report: principal, assistant principal, school counselor, and SSW
- Portal entry: Please print a copy for the principal and SSW
- DFCS concern:
- Please DO NOT put in writing, contact SSW or a school counselor to follow-up
- Do NOT submit a SWARM
- If there are questions regarding DFCS, feel free to contact SSW, our school counselors, or an administrator
- Triplicate forms are housed with SSW, school counselors, and all administrators
- SSW Request: If the reporter confirms to receive the email stating the status of the case (screened-in or screened-out) please forward to SSW so that I can retain for filing records, follow-up on the status of the case with appropriate partners and admin.
- All Staff/Teachers are required to assist with PM duty and will be dismissed over the intercom by 4:25.
- School Working Hours are from 8:25-4:25.
- Be sure to contact your G/L administrator if you need to leave prior to being dismissed.
- Please see new rotating schedule and assigned posts for "holding locations" below that goes into effect on Tuesday, January 27.
Roswell Woman’s Club Applications are open. Deadline to apply is 3/6/2026. https://roswellwomansclub.org/grant-applications-educators-2026-open/
The Roswell Woman’s Club continues its longtime support of education in the community. Professional Educator Grants are awarded based upon a number of criteria including need, purpose, and overall impact of the funding. Professional Educator Grants are awarded to teachers in Fulton County schools north of the Chattahoochee River, at all levels of education, from elementary through high school. In 2025, Roswell Woman’s Club distributed 38 educational grants benefiting teachers and students in 23 Fulton County schools north of the Chattahoochee River.
To aid for ongoing, consistent support for our students and families, SSW will have change of schedule, beginning week of February 1st 😊
New Schedule
- Monday: EPMS
- Tuesday: EPMS
- Wednesday: CMS
- Thursday: CMS
- Friday: EPMS
The Crabapple Middle School Governance Council is offering Impact Grant Opportunities. These grants should support the faculty, students, and staff in achieving EXCELLENCE in all areas of the curriculum. Grant monies are available for qualifying projects, programs, or clubs to help support innovative and creative learning opportunities for the students at our school.
- GRANT APPLICATION: Please complete and return the Grant Application to Amy Schroder. There is NO deadline. The grant window will close in the spring when the funds must be spent or when the funding runs out!
- SGC Funds cannot be used to purchase food or gift cards.
- The SGC will review all applications, and funding will be voted on during our monthly SGC meetings. Funding is determined by the number of students impacted and first come basis. Proposals will be accepted as long as funds are available.
- The amount of student impact should directly correlate to the amount requested.
- All costs must be included in the grant application budget, including those funds which supplement the grant/project from existing funds.
- Include any shipping and handling fees and all taxes in grant monies requested. Grants are awarded for a specific amount, and any costs incurred after the award has been granted will not be covered.
- Applications must be clearly written, detailed, and include specific descriptions.
- Orders must be placed within 30 days.
- Application linked here: 25-26 CMS SGC Grant Application.docx
- If you have any questions, please see Amy Schroder or Emily Mimbs.
If you have completed your TKES midyear and you still have the paper copy of mid-year analysis, please put it in Stephanie’s mailbox.
January 12 - February 26 Wida ACCESS Testing (Daily Schedules & List of Students participating will be provided).
2nd Semester
Jan 26-TKES Mid Year & Student Leadership Update
Jan 19- Five-Step AVID Note Taking Process and School Social Worker Schedule Change
Jan 12- Bookkeeper Update and Mandated Reporter Refresher
Jan 5- AVID Update and New Dismissal Process
1st Semester
December 15- Grades and Staff Digital Accessibility
December 8- Holiday Concerts, POTY/TOTY Nominations, MLK Awards Nominations
December 1- Holiday Countdown Calendar and Underground Spirit Week
November 17- Student Attendance Update and Facilities Reminder
November 10- Building Events Procedure and Grading Reminder
November 3- Bookkeeper News and Veterans Day Reminder
October 27-PBIS Halloween Celebration and 504 Need to Know
October 20-Parent and Student Payment Directions and School Pictures
October 6- PBIS Staff Assessment Survey and Canvas Support Update
September 29- Revised Morning Help Session Process and Q1 Grading Update
September 22- TKES Goals and COPPA Update
September 15- Extended Learning and RTI Update
September 8- TKES Reminder and Student Attendance Update
September 1-Clubs and Teacher Mini Grant Update
August 25- Grading and AM/PM Procedure Update
August 18- PBIS, Centegix Badge, and BOY Media Center Update
August 11- Vanguard, Yearbook, Handling Medical Emergencies Follow-up.
July 30 -Important Dates for the Year, PBIS resources, Staff Handbook, Duty Schedules, Master Schedule, and Substitute Information
July 25 - Summer Need to Know Information