The Tiger Times

Dear CMIT South Elementary Families and Friends,

The final week of school is officially here, and we have crossed the finish line of the 2025–2026 school year! I want to extend my deepest appreciation and warmest encouragement to all of our phenomenal students and our deeply dedicated parents. Together, we have navigated an incredible year of learning, growing, and achieving. You should all be immensely proud of the progress made this year!

As we bid farewell to the school year, we center our hearts around our final character word, Integrity. As our scholars transition into summer, let’s leave them with this beautiful reminder:

"The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively." — Bob Marley

Whether our Tigers are at home, on vacation, or helping out in the community this summer, we know they will continue to carry themselves with the honesty, kindness, and strong character they practiced all year long.

💙 Happy Father’s Day & A "Paw-Some" Turnout!

As we dive into the summer holidays, we want to send a very special and heartfelt Happy Father’s Day to all of our incredible CMIT South dads, grandfathers, uncles, stepfathers, godfathers, and male mentors!

We also want to celebrate the fact that our Donuts for Dads & Dudes event held on Tuesday, June 16th, was an absolute success! We were thrilled to see over 160 incredible men pack the room. Dads, grandfathers, uncles, godfathers, brothers, and mentors all came out to stand tall for our students. It was a truly beautiful morning dedicated to honoring you and showing our deepest appreciation for the vital roles you play in our community. Thank you for your strength, your guidance, and for being the ultimate examples for our kids! 🍩✨

🤝 A Heartfelt Thank You & Warm Welcome to Our PTO Leadership!

As we close out an incredible school year, the CMIT South Elementary Administration and Staff would like to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to our outgoing Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) board members.

We extend a massive thank you to these phenomenal leaders for their endless hours of service, unwavering dedication, and the profound love they poured into making our school community thrive:

• Dr. Jeanine McCannon – President of Operations

• LaTonya Brown – President of Outreach

• Lauren Gueye – Vice President of Operations

• KeVon Marshall – Vice President of Community Engagement

• James McClelland – Vice President of Finance

• Stacey Winningham – Vice President of Communications

• Natasha Thomas – Treasurer

• Rashida Jacob – Secretary

• Ericka Herbert & Chandler Madison – Teacher Liaisons

Your hard work behind the scenes directly impacted our scholars' success, and we thank you for your incredible legacy of service!

🌟 Welcoming Our New 2026–2028 PTO Executive Board!

As we look to the bright future of CMIT South Elementary, we are absolutely thrilled to officially welcome our newly elected 2026–2028 PTO Board Members! We are excited to partner with you to keep "Leveling Up the STEMtastic Way" over the next two school years.

Please join us in welcoming and supporting our new leadership team:

• Stacey Winningham – President of Operations

• Jennifer Epps – President of Outreach

• Lauren Gueye – Vice President of Operations

• Ronnyne Bannister – Vice President of Community Engagement

• Nichole Walker – Vice President of Finance

• JaTia Walker – Vice President of Communications

• Nicole Epps – Treasurer

• Amber James – Secretary

• Erika Herbert & Keisha Pearson – Teacher Liaisons

Thank you to our incoming board for stepping into these vital roles. We look forward to an amazing partnership ahead!

📐 Launching the IXL Summer Skill Challenge!

Don't let the "summer slide" slow down your scholar! We are thrilled to officially kick off our IXL Summer Skill Challenge to keep our Tigers' minds sharp, engaged, and ready for the upcoming school year.

• Challenge Dates: July 1, 2026 – August 24, 2026

• Weekly Leaderboards: Keep an eye on ClassDojo at the end of every week to see which classes and grades are leading the pack!

🍕 Incredible Prizes Up For Grabs:

• The Grand Grade-Level Prize: The entire grade level that masters the highest number of skills over the summer will win a massive Pizza Party when we return to school in the fall!

• The Top Scholar Prize: The number-one individual skill masterer in every single classroom will receive an exclusive grand prize!

🔑 Need Login Details?

We want every single Tiger to participate! If you do not know your child’s IXL login credentials, please send an email directly to Principal Lewis at t.lewissimmons@pgcps.org. In your email, please make sure to include your child’s full name and grade level so we can send their details over promptly.

Fuel those engines, log on, and let the summer learning begin! Ready, set, ROAR!

☀️ School's Out for Summer!

We made it! School is officially out, and summer vacation is finally here! 🥳🎉

It has been an absolute honor to serve, lead, and watch your children thrive every single day. From our academic triumphs and creative art showcases to our championship sports seasons, our community has truly Leveled UP in every single way.

To our amazing staff: thank you for your endless dedication. To our parents: thank you for your unwavering partnership. And to our incredible Tigers: thank you for bringing your joy, curiosity, and brilliant minds to our building every day.

🌿 Wishing You a Safe & Wonderful Summer

Please take this time over the summer months to relax, recharge, and make unforgettable memories with family and friends. Keep reading, keep exploring the world around you, and most importantly, stay safe!

We look forward to seeing our returning Tigers refreshed and ready to conquer the next grade level in the fall (Tuesday, August 25, 2026), and we wish our departing 5th graders the absolute best as they soar into middle school! We will have Peek at your Seat, Monday, August 24, 2026. More information is coming soon.

Have a safe, joyful, and absolutely wonderful summer vacation! 🐯☀️🐾

Warmly,

Tauheedah N. Simmons-Lewis
Your PAWW-rific Principal
CMIT South Elementary School
Home of the STEMTastic Tigers 🐯

Welcome to Summer Break,

We have attached the link for the PGCPS Summer packets below, these do not need to be turned in to the first grade team. We are giving to link for scholars and families to use as a resource to continue participating skills over the summer.

Also, as we come to the end of the wonderful school year, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support and partnership throughout this academic journey. Your involvement and dedication have been instrumental in fostering a positive and enriching learning environment for our students. This year has been filled with growth, challenges, and countless achievements. Your support at home, whether through helping with homework, attending parent-teacher conferences, or encouraging your child to do their best, has played a crucial role in their success. Together, we have worked to help students meet their academic and personal goals and we are so excited to see them move on to 1st grade.

We are incredibly proud of the progress and accomplishments of our students. Watching them learn, grow, and thrive has been a rewarding experience, and we are grateful for the trust you have placed in all of us to guide them through this important phase of their education. Thank you for your open communication, your involvement in school activities, and your constant encouragement. Your partnership is vital to our school community, and it is through this collaborative effort that we create a supportive and nurturing environment for our children.

As we move into the summer break, we encourage you to continue fostering a love of learning at home. Engage in reading, explore new activities, and enjoy quality time together. These experiences will continue to build on the foundation we have established throughout the school year. We look forward to seeing all of our friends next school year and wish you and your family a restful and enjoyable summer.

Love,

Dr. Hughes, Ms. Moncrieffe, Ms. Mamman, Ms. R. Lewis, Ms. Day, Ms. Windsor, Mrs. Gilbert, Ms. Young and Mr. Jones

We Made It to the Finish Line, Second Grade Families! 🌟

Can you believe it? Just like that, our incredible second-grade journey has officially come to an end! It feels like just yesterday we were welcoming your children into our classrooms, and now we are sending them off as rising third graders.

We are so incredibly grateful to have spent this year helping your scholars learn, grow, and prepare for the next big level in their lives. We have made so many unforgettable memories together this year. From the focused determination of our spelling bees to the excitement of our field trips, and the pure joy of our celebrations throughout the year and park picnics, we have truly cherished every single moment with this amazing group of kids.

☀️ Keeping the Momentum Alive This Summer

While summer is absolutely a time for rest and play, we encourage you to take a little time over the break to keep the learning alive. Reading together, practicing quick math facts, or exploring the outdoors are great ways to ensure they continue to grow into the brilliant, capable individuals we know they can be.

Thank you for your endless support, partnership, and dedication this year. We couldn't have done it without you. Have a safe, happy, and wonderful summer—third grade, here they come! 🎓✨

Greetings Team Third Grade,

Well, we’ve concluded the final chapter in our third grade story. We hope it was a “stemtastic” year for all and a lot of great memories were made along the way. We are very proud of our students and their accomplishments. Now, it’s almost time to open the book to chapter one of your new fourth grade story!

Until that book opens, keep the learning happening. Here are a few ways to make summer learning fun and engaging.

Our students should always be reading a book for pleasure. Be certain to visit the library or book store to pick out a few special summer themed books. Consider suggesting as much nonfiction and informational texts as possible. These texts really help boost comprehension and critical reading skills.

Learn about new and faraway places and plan the “ultimate” vacation. Try reading about new hobbies or sports. Students love graphic novels so those are fine but encourage a few other genres as well.

Summer Math might include making sure your students have mastered their multiplication facts and have maintained their progress. Try cooking, baking, and measuring projects with your student. Practice money skills while shopping or try planning a vacation with a budget. Card and dice games or scavenger hunts are good ways to tie in math. Use sidewalk chalk to practice problems. Use license plate numbers to work up some math problems.

What can the students do for Science during the summer? Anything nature related…the students really enjoyed fishing on our last trip. Try going to the zoo and learning about animals or visiting museums and finding the fossils on exhibit. Any activity with measurement, graphing, and estimation is good. Try sink or float experiments at the pool or kitchen chemistry projects (then you are bringing in math and science!). STEM projects are always a hit, or visit the Lego Discovery Center.

If you are trying to support your student who loves social studies, go to a local museum. We have quite a few to consider. Again, the library is a good place to find topics of interest. Discuss the election process which is very prevalent in the news. Take a trip to Williamsburg or the Frederick Douglass historic site.

What about health topics for the summer? Healthy eating with meal planning or sun safety are two important topics. This is yet another way to tie in cooking. Completing a homemade fitness circuit or obstacle course is a fun outside activity. Learning about plants, especially poison ivy, is another possibility.

There are endless possibilities for summer adventure! Thanks for your help and support throughout the year!! Now, enjoy and be safe!

Greetings Team 4Ward,

I hope that message finds you well. Although we have come to the end of the road, just know that learning continues. Team 4Ward wants to thank you all for your continued support, dedication, advocacy, hugs, and kind words you have shown this year. We are proud of the effort that was shown by our students this year. We hope that they continue to show integrity as they move through the rest of their educational journey. Finally we hope that you have enjoyed your experience in 4th grade and have memories to cherish.

As our scholars enter their final year of elementary school please continue to have discussions with them around your expectations for behavior and work completion. These talks are more important than ever since expectations and requirements will increase for them in middle and high schools. If you can connect with parents at the middle and high schools to get a better understanding of what is on the horizon.

⛱️Plan for Summer:

Summer break is fast approaching and this is the time to plan how your scholar will continue to grow. i-Ready and IXL will be available to our students throughout the summer. Also take some time to look into the different offerings given by the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System. Students should have at least 45 minutes of practice in math and reading weekly. Begin planning now how your scholar will reach this goal each week. The county also releases an enrichment packet for the four major subjects that can be used.

Warmly,

4th Grade Team

🌟 Farewell, Fifth Graders! 🌟

Dear Fifth Grade Students and Families,

As we close out another amazing school year, our hearts are filled with pride and gratitude. It has been a joy watching each of our students grow academically, socially, and emotionally throughout the year.

To our fifth graders—congratulations on your promotion to middle school! This is a tremendous accomplishment, and you should be proud of all the hard work, perseverance, and determination you have shown. From classroom lessons and projects to field trips, Spirit Week, and our promotion ceremony, we have shared many wonderful memories together.

As you prepare for this exciting new chapter, remember to continue believing in yourself, working hard, and striving for excellence. Middle school will bring new opportunities, challenges, and adventures, and we know you are ready to succeed.

Please continue to practice your multiplication facts, read daily, and utilize resources such as i-Ready and IXL throughout the summer to keep your skills sharp and prepare for sixth grade.

To our families, thank you for your support, encouragement, and partnership throughout the year. Your involvement has played an important role in your child’s success.

Fifth graders, we will truly miss you! Although you are leaving elementary school behind, you will always be a part of our school family. Keep reaching for your goals, stay curious, and never stop learning.

Have a safe, fun, and relaxing summer!

With love and best wishes,

The Fifth Grade Team

From all the CARTS team:

We wish you all a happy, healthy, and creative summer!

Make a masterpiece, build a usable bridge from blocks, create a cool flyer about a piece of internet history, plant a garden, walk at least 3 miles every day, and of course READ, READ, READ!

See you in the Fall!

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