The Tiger Times

Dear Amazing Tiger Families and Community,

As we approach this beautiful Thanksgiving season, my heart is absolutely overflowing with gratitude for our incredible Tiger family! This week has been a powerful reminder of what makes our community truly special; your generous hearts, your selfless giving, and your unwavering commitment to supporting one another. Witnessing the outpouring of love and compassion throughout our school has been nothing short of extraordinary. You are living examples of gratitude in action, and I couldn't be more proud to be part of this remarkable community!

As we conclude our month celebrating Gratitude as our Character Word of the Month, I'm inspired by the beautiful words of Brené Brown: "I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness; it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude." This week, we've witnessed extraordinary moments everywhere…in every donated gift, every kind gesture, and every act of generosity. When we pause to recognize and appreciate these blessings, we discover that happiness and abundance surround us always.

🎄 Angel Tree: Claws for a Cause - Gratitude in Action!

CMIT South ES is showing Gratitude and appreciation in the most beautiful ways, and I am absolutely amazed by our Tiger community's generosity!

Angel Tree Update:

Thank you to everyone supporting our Angel Tree: Claws for a Cause! The claw tags went off the tree so quickly—what an incredible demonstration of our community's caring spirit! Your willingness to help Tiger families during the holiday season embodies everything we believe about gratitude and giving back.

🚨 Important: If you selected tags #2, #8, or #12, please reach out to Ms. Chandler at dchandler@cmitsouthes.org for coordination.

Remember: Return all UNWRAPPED gifts and wrapping paper to the designated drop-off station by December 15th.

💝 Special Thank You to Our Community Heroes

To Our Anonymous Tiger Grandma: Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for generously providing grocery store gift cards to our families! Your kindness and compassion are making a real difference in the lives of Tiger families during this holiday season. Your anonymous giving reflects the purest form of gratitude—sharing blessings without seeking recognition. You are a blessing to our community!

To Mr. Holloway and Partner Families: Thank you for your incredible partnership in providing food baskets to our families! Your dedication to ensuring that every Tiger family has food on their table during the holidays demonstrates the true meaning of community care and thanksgiving. This collaboration is truly amazing and represents exactly what I love to see in our Tiger family—neighbors helping neighbors, families supporting families, and community members lifting each other up!

This is what gratitude looks like when put into action! When we share our blessings with others, we create a ripple effect of kindness that touches countless lives.

👕 Dress Down Day - Tuesday, Tuesday, November 26th

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, students are allowed to dress down on Tuesday, November 26, 2025 before we begin our holiday break!

Dress Code Guidelines:

Please wear appropriate attire

Clothing should be school-appropriate and comfortable

No offensive language, images, or inappropriate messages

Follow general dress code expectations for modesty and safety

Let's celebrate the season with Tiger spirit and style!

🦃 Thanksgiving Break Schedule

No School: Wednesday, November 27th - Friday, November 29th, 2025 due to Thanksgiving Holiday Break

Take this time to rest, recharge, and create beautiful memories with your loved ones. Reflect on your blessings, express gratitude to those who matter most, and return ready to finish the semester strong!

We look forward to seeing all our Tigers back on Monday, December 2, 2025!

🛍️ Shark Tank Holiday Bazaar - Save the Date!

The Shark Tank Club is hosting an exciting Holiday Bazaar to showcase our young entrepreneurs and celebrate student business ventures!

Event Details:

Date: Saturday, December 14, 2025

Time: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Location: CMIT South Elementary School

Calling All Vendors!

Would you like to be a vendor and support our Shark Tank scholars? Vendor tables are available for $50.

• To Register as a Vendor: Contact Club Coordinator Ms. Pinkard at mawerdi.pinkard@pgcps.org

• Special Feature: We will also offer FREE HAIRCUTS during the event!

Let's make this event a tremendous success for our scholars in Shark Tank! Come show off your business, support student entrepreneurs, and enjoy a festive community gathering. More information and sign-up links coming soon!

Thank you for making CMIT South Elementary a place where gratitude isn't just taught—it's lived every single day. Your generosity, kindness, and community spirit inspire me beyond words.

Happy Thanksgiving to our entire Tiger family! May your holiday be filled with love, laughter, delicious food, cherished memories, and hearts overflowing with gratitude.

Remember: We are Leveling Up the STEMTastic Way! Let's continue living with grateful hearts, supporting one another, and creating a community where every Tiger experiences the extraordinary blessing of belonging.

With Grateful Tiger Pride and Endless Gratitude,

📢 Important Notice: Upcoming Personal Safety Lessons

Dear CMIT South Elementary Parents and Guardians,

Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) requires all schools to provide age-appropriate lessons on personal safety for students in Kindergarten, 2nd grade, and 5th grade each school year. These lessons are designed to help students recognize unsafe situations, build confidence in setting boundaries, and understand how to seek help from trusted adults.

Over the next few weeks, our school counselor will begin delivering these lessons starting with Kindergarten, followed by 2nd and 5th grade. Each grade level’s lesson will be developmentally appropriate and presented in a sensitive, supportive way that empowers students without causing fear.

Topics may include:

• Understanding personal boundaries
  

• Identifying safe vs. unsafe situations
  

• Knowing trusted adults
  

• Learning how to advocate for themselves
  
  

Please know that these lessons are aligned with PGCPS guidelines and school counseling standards to ensure student safety and well-being.

If you have any questions about the lesson content or schedule, please feel free to contact me directly. Thank you for your continued support in helping us keep all students safe and informed.

From the Reading Specialist’s Desk 📚✨

As we head into Thanksgiving break, I want to wish all of our families a restful and joyful holiday! This is a wonderful time to slow down, connect, and—of course—squeeze in some cozy reading together. Even a few minutes a day can help children maintain the great progress they've made this fall.

Here are a few simple ideas for keeping reading fun over the break:
• Read together anywhere: in the car, while waiting for dinner, or before bedtime.
• Let your child choose: books, magazines, recipes, or even directions for a game. Choice builds enthusiasm!
• Talk about stories: Ask what surprised them, what they learned, or which character they liked most.
• Model reading: Kids love to see the adults in their lives enjoying books, too.

Thank you for all you do to support your young readers. I’m grateful for this wonderful community and look forward to all the growth and discoveries ahead. Have a happy Thanksgiving! 🦃📚

Grade Level Blurb:

Students had a great time camping in Kindergarten. This week Kindergarten will be reviewing topics previously taught. As it will be a short week with a long break, we will give out a new homework assignment on December 1. During the break please have students practice on i-ready and Lexia to practice skills.

HAVE A GREAT BREAK!

IMPORTANT KINDERGARTEN DATES-

NOVEMBER 26-28- Fall Break

DECEMBER 5- National Baltimore Aquarium

DECEMBER 19- 3 hour early dismissal

DECEMBER 22-31 Winter Break

Grade Level Blurb:

Thank you to all who contributed to our end-of-the-first-quarter celebration 🎉. Your support is greatly appreciated, and our scholars truly enjoyed it! 😊 As we head into a short week, there will be no homework packets going home this week 🗂️. Homework will resume when we return from break.

Over the break, please have your children continue working on their i-Ready and Lexia lessons 💻📚. Thank you for your continued partnership! 🙌

Enjoy your break!!

Grade Level Blurb:

Team Third Grade had another busy week of learning! The students especially enjoyed the Science Guys presentation on electricity and magnetism. It was very interactive and highly engaging. Additionally, many of the concepts learned in our Science classes were reviewed.

Reading Updates:

Students are working on compound words. The students are also completing close reads of realistic fiction and persuasive texts. They continue to work on responding to writing prompts and designing anchor charts for their notebooks. Additionally, students have been practicing sentence and paragraph structure.

Social Studies Updates:

In Social Studies, the students are learning about the three types of economic resources: natural, capital, and human resources.

Math Updates:

Our students are working on telling time to the nearest minute. Some of the students are working in Topic 2 as we begin the long process of memorizing our multiplication facts.

Science Updates:

In our Science classes, our students are working on electricity and magnetism and some students have started the life cycles and traits topic.

Health Updates:

The students continued to work on healthy eating habits in Health this week. It’s the perfect time of year to review our eating habits as many of us are getting ready to partake in a big feast in a few days! Some of the students have a project due prior to break.

The Team would like to remind our families that next week is a short week. School is only in session on Monday and Tuesday. We would like to wish all of our third grade families a “Happy Thanksgiving!” We hope you enjoy the family time and are able to do a little resting and relaxing!

The Science Guys Presentation:

Grade Level Blurb:

Greetings Team 4Ward,

I hope this message finds you well. It’s a joy to partner with you as we support your child’s learning. We are grateful for the care and effort you bring to our classroom community every day. 4th Grade will have our Gratitude Brunch on Tuesday November 25, 2025. Teachers have shared ways on their Class Dojo for you to support our class celebrations.

Many class activities use online tools. A charged computer ensures your child can fully participate in lessons and complete assignments. 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.

Educationally Yours,

Team 4Ward

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Thanksgiving Break November 26-29, 2025 - Schools Closed

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.

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.

Reading Updates:

We are moving into 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' writing will increase in frequency and length. We are expecting them to write at least 8 sentences per essay. How they organize and how clearly they share their points and ideas will also be important in scoring their writing.

This Week:

We concluded the text of the week, a collection of traditional tales from around the world called “Can You Guess My Name?” In this collection of tales students read about characters that make bargains with other characters to guess their name. Students read the text closely in order to describe the characters and determine how these traits lead to the events that happened in the story. Students composed an opinion essay this week about which one of the characters from the text was the easiest to trick. We also had our Word Study Assessment for this week on Greek and Latin prefixes auto-, anti-, trans-, and amphi-. Students also learned the elements of an opinion essay and began to generate ideas for their opinion essays.

Next Week:

We will use the time to make up work and focus on having and showing gratitude and other Thanksgiving themed activities. When we return from Thanksgiving Break we will begin reading the tall tale “Thunder Rose.” In this tall tale students will read about a girl with special powers that uses them to help others. We are seeking to answer the question How can being different be an advantage? Students will annotate the text and make connections as they read. Students will also identify themes or lessons that are given within the tale. Our word study this week will be suffixes -able, and ible.

Math Updates:

This week 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. Students practiced identifying whether numbers were prime or composite, used multiplication facts to create pixelated art, and engaged in fluency warm-ups to build speed and confidence.

Students are also strengthening their understanding of the Distributive Property, Area Models, and partial products, which help them solve more complex multiplication problems. We will continue within Topic 4 after the Thanksgiving Break to deepen their conceptual understanding before shifting into division.

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 completed their in-class virtual field trip with the Owens Science Center, where they learned about waves, cosmic objects, and how scientists gather information. Students showed excellent participation during the lesson, asked thoughtful questions, and demonstrated strong digital citizenship, only a few minor behavior issues were noted in the chat.

After the field trip, scholars worked in teams to create group anchor charts showing what they learned about waves, patterns, and how objects in space interact. This week, students will continue exploring Topic 2: Waves and Information, beginning with the Lighthouse Waves Activity. They will observe waves in action, identify amplitude, wavelength, and patterns, and then create their own comic strip using key vocabulary to demonstrate understanding.

Students also have a video and quiz assignment for “When Cosmic Objects Collide” to complete at home. This supports their deeper understanding of how waves transfer energy.

Social Studies Updates:

This week, students read The United States Becomes a World Power and explained how the nation grew into one of the world’s most powerful countries after the Civil War. They discussed key factors such as industrial growth, new technologies, stronger transportation systems, and increased involvement in global affairs. Through their discussions and written responses, students demonstrated an understanding of how these changes transformed the United States into a leading world power.

Next week, students will complete gratitude activities to explain what they are grateful for. They will reflect on the people, experiences, and moments that matter to them and share their ideas through writing and class discussions.

Grade Level Blurb:

We had a great week of learning!

📢 Announcements

• Baltimore Aquarium field trip has been approved!
  Permission slips will go out soon.
  

• Please make sure students read daily and practice IXL every day for Reading, and Math.
  
  

Reading Updates:

Students listened to and analyzed an informational text. They also practiced identifying open and closed syllables.

Social Studies Updates:

Students continued exploring early American colonies, focusing on interpreting details, building understanding of subject-verb agreement in language arts connections, and learning about French and Dutch colonizers in North America.

Math Updates:

• Ms. Jenkins’ Class:
  We are finishing Topic 1: Understanding Place Value and will take the assessment on Monday.
  
  

• Mr. Barr’s Class:
  Students are working on Topic 1-5: Comparing Decimals.
  
  

Science Updates:

We are wrapping up our unit on Matter in the Ecosystem. Students explored how matter moves through food chains and food webs, learned about the role of decomposers, and practiced explaining how matter is transferred between plants, animals, and the environment.

Health Updates:

Students learned about making healthy choices by substituting unhealthy foods with healthier options.

General CARTS Message:

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

Music:

We’re so excited about the coming holiday! We are very thankful for so many things. Have fun over the break by finding songs that talk about thankfulness or being grateful.

P.E.:

This week we worked on our catching skills! These skills are necessary for balance and hand-eye coordination.

Library/Media:

This week in Library/Media:

K- Focused on various homophones

1st- The 1st graders became songwriters

2nd- 5th- Discussed topics for "The Great Debate”

LEGO:

Here are photos of our “Boomtown Build Challenge”!

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