Lots of awesome things happening at CPMS! If you missed December’s accomplishments, take another look.
Items include:
Photos from Cedar Park Onstage’s production of “The Election”
8th Grade Humanities Meets BEF goal
CPMS First Lego League Robotics Team updates
November'‘s Principal Coffee recap
CPMS Choir video
Volunteering info
Cedar Park's own "Starry Knights" First Lego League Team qualified for the Intel Oregon State Championship Tournament by winning a trophy for 'Core Values,' a judge-tested event, at the regional tournament, hosted by Intel.
To score in Core Values, students are asked to complete a 'challenge puzzle' (without parent/coach help, but as a team) and then are asked a number of questions pertaining to problem solving and resolution using the Core Values. It is one of three 10 minute events.
Due to their high score in this event, as well as creating a research project with prototype addressing a real world problem and solution, and scoring in the top five for the robot game, they were advanced to The Intel Oregon State Championship tournament which is scheduled for January 19th and 20th, 2019 at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.
Thanks is due to Christina Schultz and Luke Unger, the volunteer coaches of team "Starry Knights."
Miss last month’s coffee event with Dr. A? Read on to hear the continuing saga of CPMS news…
MYP Visit
The International Baccalaureate bigwigs are on their way to CPMS this December. Their visit (which has since occurred) is part of the five year reauthorization process that every IB school goes through. Two people from IB central will spend two days meeting with CPMS admins, our MYP coordinator Amy Hattendorf, district reps, and every teacher, as well as check out every classroom. It’s basically an external review team, similar to a high school accreditation process.
What are they looking for? Well, they are interested in reviewing our recent self-study and the instructional strategies, and how CPMS is implementing MYP curriculum. This type of self reflection is invaluable for schools.
And how did it go? Here’s Dr. A’s report:
It's clear that we are aligned with the IB philosophy and that we support and encourage participation for all students. It was also expressly noted that our special education students are part of the MYP and valued part of our school community.
They specifically commended our special education and inclusion policy.
We received several commendations for our collaboration time and dedication to using it for our MYP work.
They were very complimentary about the things they saw going on in the classroom; students were engaged and there was clear evidence of inquiry.
We use a variety of teaching and learning strategies that incorporate a range of resources and technologies.
Our systems for reporting student progress aligns the IB assessment philosophy (which has also made a district wide impact, resulting in our standards-based report card).
Unsure about what IB and MYP even are? Here are a couple ideas to read:
Official IB Website describing MYP (Middle Years Program).
October Principal Coffee Recap: The Secrets are Spilled
Advisories: A Work in Progress
The advisory program at CPMS continues to improve. This year’s change to just once a week proved to be the optimal amount of time and 40 minutes has been better for getting through this year’s defined lesson plans.
However, the move to the afternoon has been less than stellar— kids are too antsy! The leadership council is pondering moving it back to the morning for next school year.
The goal of advisory? A chance for students to maintain a three-year relationship with a staff member. Even the administrators have an advisory group. It’s also meant to be an academic and social experience. The first advisory of each month is dedicated to creating social connection between the kids. The counselors have also put together a cyber bullying lesson to be shared with students.
This month, Cedar Park is running a board game drive in hopes of boosting the options available to advisories. Board games are an awesome way to socialize between students and their advisor.
Cell Phone Policing
Is there any greater challenge than managing a tween’s phone use? Nope. Now imagine regulating hundreds at a time. Can’t even. January’s staff meeting will include a conversation about phones, Cedar Park’s current “off and away” policy, and the results of December’s parent cell phone survey.
Of course, with any change, Dr. A expects there to be quite an adjustment period for all involved-- staff, students, and the wayward parents who text their kids during the school day. (Admit it-- you’ve done it too). The biggest change will be how it affects habits and behavior at lunch.
Transitioning to High School
8th graders will have several options this spring to check out Beaverton or Sunset high schools. Beaverton offers shadow days for rising 9th graders, and Sunset hosts a rather extensive open house. Once the option school window has closed, 8th grade parents can look forward to loads more info regarding open houses, presentations, visits, and forecasting for high school.
Math Options Remain
With Summa transitioning out of Cedar Park, a lot of parents are questioning what that means for their mathematically inclined children not in the Summa program. Other middle schools are in the same boat and are trying out several programs/initiative to boost those students, such as monthly lunch activities, socratic seminars, and extra projects.
Here at CPMS, all incoming fifth graders will continue to be given the opportunity to take a math placement test each spring. Our beginning math program (which all sixth graders take) is already accelerated with students taking Math 6-7. Those that qualify will be moved into either Math 7-8, AGS1, or AGS 2.
Confused with all the acronyms? Let’s break it down.
Math 6-7 and Math 7-8 are part of the CPM program (College Preparatory Math). Parent and student support can be found at https://cpm.org.
AGS 1 & 2 (Algebra Geometry Statistics) are high school level programs. Here at Cedar Park, most students will take AGS1 as 8th graders, with the option to retake it freshman year in high school, though Dr. A expects to always have a class of AGS 2 students. Module support can be found here.
When in doubt? Google the module and check youtube. SERIOUSLY BRILLIANT.
Interesting Nuggets You Would Know if You’d Been There:
The painters have been busy after school! Cedar Park’s hallways and lockers are slowly getting an update of orange and blue.
Thursdays are rep your university days, where kids and staff are encouraged to wear college gear (go Zags!). Tokens will be given out for kids wearing college apparel. This is all a part of the AVID approach-- encouraging college readiness and allowing all our students to imagine themselves on a college campus.
The search continues for a long-term PE substitute. The position is hard to fill since it’s only part time and would mean a sub would be giving up a full day’s work (an unpopular choice). However, another teacher is writing lesson plans to gain more consistency into the classroom, er, gym.
Spiritwear is happening, America! Socks, T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats… it’s all coming soon to boost our halls and school spirit.
The water bottle filter is installed. Cedar Park’s fountains are difficult to upgrade, since the filtered water bottle station requires power. However, most classrooms have a faucet. All BSD schools had their water tested for lead in 2016 and any questionable faucets were upgraded.
Hear a rumor? Contact the admins, even if you aren’t positive on all the details. They need to know what rumors are out there to help stop them and protect students.
BSD’s IT department is hard at work! By the end of the school year, parents should be able to access their student’s search history-- remotely! Yes, yes, little cherubs. We’ll finally see just what you’ve been up to.
And there it is! Look for another Coffee & Tea with Dr. Anderson in 2019!
Beaverton High School is open for shadow visits again this year. Current 8th grade students are welcome to shadow a BHS student for a day.
To start the process, students or parents need to send an email to beavertonshadows@gmail.com. BHS students who support this opportunity will connect with the family directly to arrange the shadow day visit.
Four Week Ski/Snowboard Program for 6th-8th Graders
FEBRUARY 3, 10, 17, 24 (Sundays)
The Cedar Park Ski Bus departs at 6:00 am, leaves Mt. Hood Meadows around 3:30 pm and returns at approximately 5:00 pm. Please note that the drop off and pick up location will be NEAR Cedar Park Middle School this year, however it will NOT be at Cedar Park Middle School.
(Transportation is included in all Trailblazer Program Packages.)
Trailblazer 4 Week Lesson $289
Add On 4 Week All Mountain Lift Ticket $59
Add On 4 Week Rental $74
Add On Season Long Rental $165
Add On Additional Lessons (4 weeks) $64
Trailblazer 4 Week Lift Only $225
Trailblazer 4 Week Rental Only 199
Trailblazer 4 Week Lift And Rental $320
Add Ski Check $8
Trailblazer 4 Week Bus Transportation Only* $90
*(Must have group organizer approval.)
Go to www.skihood.com/GO
Enter GO Code 1163274
Select a Trailblazer Program Package
Complete the registration form and Check out
Print and sign the Medical Release form and turn it in to Laurie Barbis. (This for is required to board bus.)
More questions? Please email CedarParkSkiBus@gmail.com
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A BEAVERTON SCHOOL DISTRICT SPONSORED EVENT
Cedar Park’s 8th grade Humanities teachers are seeking community support to bolster the classroom libraries with historical fiction novels. Currently, this fundraiser is being hosted by the Beaverton Education Foundation (BEF).
This fundraiser would bring in a slew of exciting and quality historical novels into every 8th grade Humanities classroom, an investment that touches every student including ELL, IEPs, 504s, and TAG students, for years to come.
Tricia Parks, a veteran CPMS’ Humanities teacher, describes the present need in the classroom, stating, “Our Humanities course covers three (yes 3!) subjects: History, Reading, and Writing. We are using book clubs to spark interest and discussion amongst our 300 kiddos. While we had a few historical fiction titles, some were not popular/liked AND we need multiple copies per title in order to form proper book clubs. The beauty of book clubs is students have a choice in the title they will read. This means we have a cross section of lower and higher reading levels to choose from.”
Parks also understands the value of having relevant, exciting, and quality classroom libraries and how that sparks students. “I also know through my 28 years of experience, the more a student reads, the more motivated they become to read, (because the skill increases). The better the reader, the better the writer, the better the thinker, and a better informed student is the outcome.”
A full listing of the planned titles are available on the BEF fundraising page. Additionally, this fundraiser is being matched dollar for dollar (up to $500) for the first 96 hours.
CLICK HERE to support this valuable cause. Donations to the Beaverton Education Foundation (BEF) is a tax-deductible donation.