3/9/20 CMS Newsletter

Principal's Message

March 9th, 2020

CoronaVirus Update

Please be assured that we are taking every precaution necessary to keep our community safe in this time of concern. I know Superintendent Harmeier has been sending regular communications home outlining our response to this outbreak. We are in continual communication with the County Office of Ed, the County Health Department and the CDC. We are following every precaution suggested by them and will continue to do so. I also want to share some of the things we are doing at Central.

•This weekend, the entire school (every classroom and every communal area) will be disinfected. Our custodians are working overtime to make sure we clean and disinfect any area our students and staff come in contact with.

•Our students have been shown a video on how to prevent the spread of disease and on proper hygiene.

•Hand sanitizers and spray disinfectant have been provided to every classroom.

•We are communicating all appropriate information with our teachers to keep them up to date with our efforts and have asked them to let us know if they have concerns or suggestions.

•Please read all communications coming out of the Superintendent’s Office

•If your child is feeling sick - remember to keep them home.

Thoughts on Raising a Middle Schooler

This week I find myself having the same conversation with parents over and over again. Frustrated parents keep asking me, “Why is 7th grade so difficult?” I thought I should explore this topic in my newsletter because the truth is, all of middle school is difficult.

I have written about the brain science behind what makes middle school kids tick before and have found it very helpful myself understanding what is going on (or not going on) inside the brain’s of the students. The human brain is our most extraordinary organ, yet in the early teenage years, it seems to fail us. Middle schoolers can be so unorganized and forgetful with clear deficits in executive functioning. Their emotions are completely dysregulated, causing irritability, irrationality and extreme highs and lows. In addition, they can be desperately insecure with every aspect of their lives, comparing themselves to their peers in ways that can be unhealthy. Worst of all, middle school students can be incredibly cruel to one another.

By looking at the maturation of the teenage brain, we can begin to understand why our kids behave in such ways. By age 12 and 13 the prefrontal cortex is not yet fully developed, in fact, it is one of the last parts of the brain to mature. We know that the prefrontal cortex is in charge of regulating emotion, planning ahead, understanding future consequences and managing aggression. Middle school students are particularly bad at predicting outcomes, planning their day, working towards defined goals and suppressing urges. In a way, our kids are experiencing a double whammy, they are experiencing a surge of hormones which they need in order to go through puberty. At the same time, their brains are not yet completely developed.

Given how difficult this is for our children, we need to be ever vigilant in providing them the kind of support, specifically tailored to help our middle schoolers through this tough time of their lives.

The most important thing we can do for our kids is to exercise as much compassion for them as possible. Understand how much they are changing, and how difficult it is for them to be undergoing such significant change. Try to create an environment where your teenager feels safe to communicate with you what is going on with them. This does not happen on its own. You must model this behavior by being as open and communicative with your children as possible. Let them know how it feels for you to see them struggle, or even what it feels like when they are rude or irritable. Most importantly, be a good listener.

Create structure and boundaries. Given the fact that your child is going to struggle with executive functioning, help him or her stay organized. Create routines at home that have built in time for planning, goal setting and organization. Understand the difference between autonomy and independence. Teenagers, need time to grow and learn on their own. Their friend groups are extremely important to them. Having said that, teenagers actually crave structure and clear boundaries. They need some autonomy but are not ready for full independence. This becomes even more important given the access to technology that is ever present in our teenagers' lives. Remember that if you set some boundaries and rules that are not followed, there also must be consequences. Do not be afraid to impose a consequence for misbehavior or a rule that was ignored (just do it with compassion).

Allow your child to fail forward. Do not try to fix everything in their lives. It is extremely important for our children to learn how to sort things out themselves. Watching our kids struggle can be difficult, but it is essential for growth and learning. This is particularly true in social situations. Don’t get involved with the girl drama or the boy drama. Let it play itself out. Allowing our kids to take responsibility for their own actions, helps them understand cause and effect and how to better predict outcomes. Remember that over-functioning parents produce under-functioning kids.

Raising a teenager takes an extreme amount of love, understanding and patience. In order to be this kind of parent, you must always remember to take care of yourself. Parents have a tendency to put the needs of everybody else before themselves. This can cause underlying stress that eventually spills over to other parts of your life. This reminds me of the analogy of the airplane steward reminding us to put on our own air mask before assisting others. If we do not take care of ourselves, we are less effective taking care of others. Being a parent is difficult at any age of a child’s development, but it is particularly challenging to be raising teenagers. Also remember to show some compassion for yourselves; you have the most difficult and the most important job imaginable.

If you are interested in reading more about this topic, below are a few articles I can recommend.

Tom Domer

Principal

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Youth Center Dance

The Youth Center will be hosting a 6th/7th/8th grade Spring Fling Dance on Friday, March 20th from 7:30-9:30 p.m. The Dance will feature FREE pizza, snow cones, henna and games! For more information and to purchase your ticket, visit: bit.ly/springflingdance

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Basketball Clinic

The Carlmont High School Boys Basketball Coaches & Players are running a middle school boys basketball skills clinic on March 22. We'd like to have the attached flyer distributed as part of the Central Middle School weekly announcements to get the word out now and until the clinic date. I've attached a copy of the flyer.

Do you know who we should contact from TL to get this in your regular communications/announcements to parents starting now through the week of March 16th? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

Janet Dahlberg -Carlmont HS Boys Basketball - Parent & Supporter

Raise Your Game

School District News

Measure N Parcel Tax Update

The San Carlos School District would like to thank our community for supporting our local public schools. As of Thursday evening, our Measure N parcel tax had 68.62% yes votes. We are encouraged to see the results and are cautiously optimistic, as there are still many ballots to be counted and we need at least two-thirds (66.6%) yes votes to pass.

We are so grateful for the support of our San Carlos community!

Ability Awareness Week - March 16th-20th

The mission of Ability Awareness week throughout the San Carlos School District is to promote understanding, acceptance and appreciation of individual learning and ability differences through fun, experiential activities.

Students will be engaging in various activities throughout the week giving them a chance to experience what it is like to complete a basic task while having a learning or developmental difference. Students will all have a set of common experiences through activities already taking place on campus to spark discussion, increased understanding and compassion.

Some of the highlights of what happening District wide next week are:

Support Autism Awareness on Thursday, March 19 by wearing light blue!
Support World Down Syndrome Day on Friday, March 20 by wearing fun socks!
District-wide Movie Night featuring, DUMBO! Friday, March 20 at 6:30pm at Heather Elementary MUR. Bring your blankets, sleeping bags and pillows to the MUR.

Time: Concessions open @ 6:10pm, Movie starts @ 6:30pm
Food: Food will be available for purchase in the concession area (most items are $1-2)* We will have food such as, pizza, hot dogs, popcorn, chips and juice boxes available. Fruits and veggies will be provided for free. Concessions proceeds will support PTA.

*Please note: While this is not a drop-off event, feel free to coordinate with other families to share child care.

Ability Awareness week is organized by the SCSD Special Education District Advisory Council (SEDAC) and supported by your PTA Coordinating Council as well as outside sponsors in our Community.

Riley's Run 2020

This year’s Riley Run will be on Sunday, April 19 at 4:00 pm on the upper playground of Brittan Acres. Riley was a friend and classmate of many San Carlos students and we gather every year to honor him. We have a 5K walk/run around San Carlos and all proceeds from the $25 registration fee go to his two favorite charities – Camp Taylor and Children’s Heart Foundation. Riley would have been a junior in high school this year.

Please join us on this special day. For more information, please contact us at [email protected]. The deadline to register and to receive a shirt is March 19 but there is no deadline to simply participate.

Mustang Musings

The CMS literary journal, Mustang Musings, is now available here! Your student can find copies in their English classroom, the library, and in the office. Mustang Musings is compiled by works of art and literature created by CMS students. Enjoy!

PTA News

PTA Meeting - This Wednesday 3/11 at 7pm

Join us for our next PTA meeting to hear updates on Measure N and plans for next year. This is a great opportunity to stay informed, get involved and have your voice heard on important topics and hear from Principal Shelton and Principal Domer. We’ll meet on Wednesday, March 11th at 7pm in the CMS/Arroyo library. We’d love to see you there!

Interested in Serving on Executive Board for Central PTA Next Year?

We are seeking parent volunteers to fill the Central PTA Executive Board for the 2020-21 school year. These leadership roles are vital to the many PTA programs that our students enjoy - we need your support and involvement! Please contact Kate Dickman or Michelle Chang to learn more.

Maverick Jack's CMS / Arroyo Fundraiser March 11th

Grab lunch or dinner for your family at Maverick Jack’s this Wednesday, March 11th and support Central and Arroyo schools!

Maverick Jack’s will donate 20% of the revenue back to our schools. This includes all dine-in and take out orders (door dash excluded) who mention Central-Arroyo school fundraiser when they order.

Walk Audit Volunteers and Input Needed

Your input is needed! Please sign-up using the Google Form link to meet for a walkabout during school commutes with District staff, City officials, and the engineering consultant team to observe school commute conditions. We need 5-10 volunteers per school site. Information gathered during this meeting will help develop a suggested Routes to School map and recommendations for improvements.

https://forms.gle/DFhHyXDK83kpUjUp6

Dates for the walk audits will be

White Oaks-3/18
Heather- 3/19
Arroyo/Central-3/24
Brittan Acres-3/26
Mariposa/TL/SCC- 4/23

SCEF

Thank you, THANK YOU!

A BIG thank you to our teachers, educators, staff and administrators who donate their time and creativity for our online teacher auction. Over $120,000 was raised--amazing! We appreciate the local businesses who supported the auction efforts: Paxti’s, Maverick Jack’s, Blue Line Pizza, Mountain Mike’s, Costco, Target, Laurel Street Arts, Laser Quest, Lulu's on Laurel and Gelataio. And always a thank you to the businesses that support SCEF year-round https://www.scefkids.org/take-action/families/shop-local/

Dwell Challenge Grant matches First Time Donations $1-for-$1

The partners at DWELL Realtors will match any new donations to the SCEF annual fund between February 1 and March 31, 2020, up to $50,000! Dwell Partner, Alana Corso says, “As a parent of 3 children in San Carlos schools, I see firsthand how SCEF works every day to benefit every child in every classroom. We benefit from small classes, amazing music instruction, quality time with librarians, social-emotional support and many other programs. With chronic underfunding from the state of California, the funds SCEF provides help ensure our kids have a well-rounded, robust education."

Find out more at scefkids.org/dwellmatch and take advantage of this unique opportunity to double your impact - scefkids.org/donate

The best way to get your SCEF news is to follow us on Facebook @SCEFkids

Community Partners

Make Plans to Attend the Chickens Ball Variety Show Fundraiser in March

You could be the key to arts education for your child! Gather your friends together and enjoy a night out of live entertainment full of music and laughs! Steeped in Barbary Coast history, the Chickens’ Ball variety show district wide school fundraiser is not to be missed!

Show dates March 13-15, 20-22, 2020
at Mustang Hall, Central Middle School
Buy tickets at www.chickensball.org

GROUP TICKETS! Celebrate the 80th year of our nation's oldest PTA fundraiser with a group of friends! Contact Tim King at [email protected] to purchase Chickens’ Ball group tickets at face value. There's a free opportunity drawing on opening night!

PTA VOLUNTEERS! Concessions help needed for the seven performances, and the Chickens’ Ball Steering Committee is hoping that all of our PTAs will help staff the booths. Please give a little over an hour of your time to sell water, candy, popcorn, etc. There will be costume pieces (feather boas, hats, etc) to wear, and volunteers are encouraged to wear spirit wear from your school! Sign up here: https://signup.com/go/iqpFfdW

Healthy Cities Tutoring: Social Emotional Learning and New Tutor Orientation - March 19, 2020

Does your child say, "I can't do this" or "It's too hard?" How do we help students overcome anxiety about not wanting to fail? Or those that have a hard time sitting still or concentrating? We know positive emotions increase learning. We are thrilled to have Matt Steinborn, School Psychologist in the San Carlos School District and Certified Advanced Nurtured Heart Approach Trainer lead us in our learning. He will share examples of how tutors and parents can use social/emotional learning tools and behavioral tips to help their students. Want to tutor? Arrive early to hear about volunteer tutoring opportunities in our local schools.

March 19, 2020
Central Middle School Library
6:30-7:00pm New Tutor Orientation
7:00-8:30pm Social Emotional Learning Workshop

RSVP: http://evite.me/mp67CCYhtp

Galileo Summer Camp at Arroyo - Registration Now Open!

Galileo Innovation Camp for Pre-K – 10th Graders at Arroyo

Galileo engages every kid with hands-on projects that teach design-thinking and problem-solving skills, all wrapped in big summer fun. Energetic, inclusive staff and world-class curriculum make for a summer that K-8 kids love.

We believe in Innovation For All:

In appreciation for those that work so hard to serve our communities, Galileo now offers an automatic 25% discount to families of school, non-profit, and government workers. This brings the price of our program down to that of a typical parks and recreation program. Visit our website to get discount codes and learn more.
Additionally, we are awarding 15,000 scholarships to K-8th grade students who need additional help to attend our program. It’s a simple 5-minute application and we offer something to everyone. We encourage you to refer families who may benefit from this program. Information on our website.

Learn more: www.galileo-camps.com or 800-854-3684

School Garden Leaders Workshop - March 21st

We hope to see you at our Spring workshop.

Saturday, March 21
9:00 am-12:00 pm, Arroyo School