Catonsville Middle Weekly Update

Monday November 2 marks the first day of Q2. This is a great time to work with your child on setting SMART goals. Please see the quick video on setting SMART Goals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5hR34g3kLc

Parents/Guardians of students who take the school bus home:

If there is a change in which you want to pick up your child or you want your child to walk home, please contact the front office at (443) 809-0803 before 2:45pm that day.

Otherwise, your child will be dismissed with their assigned bus.

If you would like your child to be a walker or car rider for an extended period of time, please call the front office or email Ms. Hayes at chayes7@bcps.org.

Spirit Wear

Show school spirit by ordering from our school spirit store. See the flyer below for ordering information. The spirit wear store closes on 11/1. This is a fundraiser for CMS, all proceeds will go towards interactive story time and a deeper dive into writing, publishing, and creative career paths with a published author.

2026-2027 Yearbook

Purchasing a Yearbook

Catonsville Middle School yearbooks are now on sale. Yearbooks are $30 with options to add in extras (hard cover, autograph inserts, current events insert, etc.). All yearbooks will be distributed in June.

Link to Purchase Yearbook ID code: 5281927

Share Your Photos for the 2026-2027 Yearbook

CMS wants YOU to be represented in the 2026-2027 yearbook. Use the link below to share your school related photos for consideration in the yearbook. This link will be active throughout the year to add photos of any school related event. Submitting photos does not guarantee their use in the yearbook, but we will use as many as we can. Email sliberto@bcps.org with any questions.
Link to Share Your Photos

From the 8th Grade Team: Mount Vernon Field Trip

The 8th grade will be taking a trip to historic Mt. Vernon, the home of first U.S. President George Washington!

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Time: 8:30AM - 4:00PM (transportation home provided by parent/guardian)

Cost: $40 per student (covers transportation and entry onto the grounds). Payments can be made in cash or using the online payment portal (login info included in the permission slip).

Deadlines:

• Monday, November 4: Permission Slips due (a completed permission slip secures the student's spot on the trip)

• Monday, November 10: Payments due by 3:00PM (cash or online payments only, no checks please)

Chaperones Needed: We are looking for 20 chaperones to attend this trip! Any parent/guardian interested in chaperoning must complete the BCPS volunteer training and submit their completed application and certificate of completion to Ms. Tucci (ktucci@bcps.org) in order to attend.

Permission Slip: Students received permission slips from their history teachers (Mills, Mohilchock, Tucci) this week in class. Parents can download a copy of the permission slip by clicking: ​​Mt Vernon Permission Slip-2026.pdf​​

Please reach out to your child's history teacher with any questions!

November 12 from 6:00 PM-7:30 PM

At CMS, we love to celebrate students who show positive behavior, who come to school regularly, and who put academics at the top of the priority list.

ACT Store

It is the exciting time of year when we once again open our ACT Store as a positive behavior incentive for students. Our store will now be open on Wednesdays during all lunch shifts and run by our fabulous NJHS students.

To keep the ACT Store up and running, we ask for a little help from our supportive community. If you would like to support our students' positive behavior, please see the ACT Store Wishlist!

Calling CMS families,

It's almost time for our first "Literacy Night". Parents and guardians are invited to join us for a night of literacy resource, supplies, and activities to help support your student. Whether you have an avid or reluctant reader, you're sure to find something useful at this event. Reach out to Mrs. Jak (bjakubowski@bcps.org) for more information.

Stop by November 4th from 5-7pm for the following:

• Book Swap table- bring a young reader or adult reader book to swap. Leave a well-loved favorite and/or adopt a new to you book to take home.

• Resources- take home resources on building healthier habits in a digital world, talking about AI and privacy online, tips for finding books your student will love, and other materials to take home to support various contents.

• More to see- create a bookmark, enter a raffle for a cozy book basket, and refreshments for sale to support our girls mentoring group, Ladies of Legacy. The Scholastic bookfair and our school librarian will be onsite to make purchases for your child, holiday gifts, or even your favorite teacher's classroom!

https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/catonsvillemiddleschool

Parent Volunteers

We love parent volunteers, but please remember that parent volunteers need to complete the volunteer training in order to attend field trips or volunteer in the school. Please use this link to access the training and select the Online Application option in Step 2.

If you completed the training for another school during the current school year, we only need a copy of the certificate. Please don’t do the training twice, but it MUST be redone for each new school year. The certificate may be emailed to Ms. Sewell in our front office, csewell@bcps.org.

October Athletics - Winter Sports

Registration for Basketball and Cheerleading is now open. If your student is interested in trying out for one of these sports, they must be registered in the parent/guardian's FOCUS account no later than November 1st. Tryouts begin on Tuesday, November 17th. A current SPORTS physical must be uploaded along with their insurance card. Directions on how to register and sports physical forms are available on the CMS website under the Athletics tab.

A Thank You from the CMS Student Council

The 3rd annual CMS Fall Fest was a huge success! The event was well attended, and the students had a great time playing games, dancing, and having fun with their friends. Special thanks to the families who donated sweets and treats to our event:

• The Bray's

• The Clarkson family

• The Fehr's

• The Franks family

• The Harrison's

• The Esch family

• The Mikel's

• The Ortiz family

We appreciate the support!

Today marked the first event for the school year 2026-2027 sponsored by the PTSA: A Staff Spooky Breakfast. Thank you to Ms. Temple and Ms. Wissman for coordinating the donations and food for our staff. Thank you to all of the parents who donated food or money to make this event happen. Thank you very much and we look forward to a great year of partnership.

Fall Pictures

All students will have their picture taken for the 2026-2027 yearbook during PE classes. Students that do not have PE for Marking Period 2 will have their pictures taken during Health classes.

Students that have PE/Health on B days will have their picture taken on November 4th.

Students that have PE/Health on A days will have their picture taken on November 5th.

If you would like to purchase pictures, please see the links below for an order form or the code to order online. The order forms are for both dates despite only having November 4th printed on them. Students should give their order forms to the photographer at the time pictures are taken.

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  • November 3 – Election Day – Schools Closed

  • November 4 – Fall pictures Day 1 (B Day); Literacy Night 5-7 PM

  • November 5 – Fall pictures Day 2 (A Day)