We would like to invite parents to join us for the 2nd Parent Information Night of the year this Thursday, November 5th. The topic of this workshop will be “Everyday Mathematics”. Led by Ms. Mercier and Mr. Chalupa, we will provide an overview of the program and the underlying philosophy which guides it. To help illustrate the program, parents will be engaged in hands-on activities that their students may experience.

And, we will be teaching parents the algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as taught through the program.

Please join us! Thank you to the OPG for sponsoring these Parent Information Nights!

We want to encourage all families to attend our annual International PotLuck this Saturday, November 7, from 5-8. This is one my favorite events of the year. Everyone brings a dish and then spends the time eating amazing food and connecting with folks in our community! This year, there will also be entertainment.

Thank you to the Community Relations Committee for their efforts in pulling this event together.

This Saturday, November 7, from 2:30-4:30, the Greening Committee will be sponsoring a Rain Barrel Workshop for any interested CNCS families. There will be a sign-up table at dismissal this week.

On Saturday, our City Neighbors Flag Football Team played a good game that went down to the final seconds. In those final seconds, our team lost 19-13. However, our team is going to the playoff tournament next Saturday at Bluford Dru Jemison. The games will start as early as 9:00 am, but specific times are yet to be determined.

We wish our team luck!

City Neighbors started having Grand Conversations two years ago. In essence, a “Grand Conversation” is a simple and fun way for children and families to come together, read, and discuss a great book. The conversations build upon family literacy and a strong sense of school community. This fall we have more than 40 families in grades 2-5 signed up to participate. There will be another chance in the spring to join in.

The Grand Conversation books we read sometimes connect to the grade level curriculum or social studies theme as in 3rd grade’s The Birchbark House (Native Americans) or 4th grade’s Everything on a Waffle (Food). Sometimes the books are chosen just because they are a great read and suit a particular age level.

How does a Grand Conversation work? Free books are distributed to families who sign up to read. At home, families read aloud to their child, read with their child, or take turns reading the book. After a month or six weeks, we hold an evening potluck supper and lively book conversation. Our first book discussion is in third grade tomorrow evening, November 3 at 6:30 pm. Happy Reading!

Today, we had the opportunity to welcome two groups of folks to City Neighbors Charter School.

U.S. Congressional Staffers
Today, we welcomed a group of staffers from our U.S. Congress who are visiting Baltimore. They are visiting Baltimore because they consider Baltimore a model of an urban school system in positive transformation. We were selected as one of their site visits by the Baltimore City School Board as a model of innovation and educational excellence.

Towson University Students
Towson University will be using the City Neighbors Middle School as a training ground for their arts educators—with a specific focus on content area arts-integrated.

Today, we welcomed four teams of prospective teachers who will be working with our teachers to develop and implement arts integrated lessons in math, science and social studies. The prospective teachers observed classrooms and met with our staff to develop an area of focus. From their meeting and observation, they will design six arts-integrated lessons and then actually teach those lessons to our students.

This is an honor for City Neighbors to be chosen as a field site. And, this is just another step forward in our growth as arts-integrated educators and our school’s reach beyond our walls. Thank you to all the teachers — Ms. Davis, Ms. Jagusch, Mr. FitzSimons and Mr. French — who are participating in this effort!

We would like to invite parents to join us for the 2nd Parent Information Night of the year on Thursday, November 5th. The topic of this workshop will be “Everyday Mathematics”. Led by Ms. Mercier and Mr. Chalupa, we will provide an overview of the program and the underlying philosophy which guides it. To help illustrate the program, parents will be engaged in hands-on activities that their students may experience. And, we will be teaching parents the algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as taught through the program.

Please join us! Thank you to the OPG for sponsoring these Parent Information Nights!

The next Coffee with Mike has been re-scheduled from this Wednesday and will now be held on Friday, October 30th at 8:30. Coffee with Mike is a time for conversation, brainstorming, questions and answers and community. I hope you’ll join me!

Last week, we held our student elections for school President and Vice-President. The President, besides being a voice for the students at City Neighbors, also serves as a voting member of the City Neighbors Board of Directors.

The election was very close with less than ten votes separating the three candidates. We are pleased to welcome Sadie Macdonald as our Student Council President and Michael Leach and Jared Mantegna as co-Vice-Presidents. Congratulations to all three candidates for running and to everyone in the student body for participating in the democratic process!

It’s that time of year again! There’s no better way to prepare for the Holiday season than to fold origami lanterns in the spirit of charity! These lanterns have become our signature work of art and are a successful fundraiser. We need hundreds to be prepared for our craft sale at the Creative Alliance on December 6th. Volunteers, please pick up your papers at the school office. For those who would like to learn, a folding party will be announced!

On Tuesday, October 13, Ms. Jagusch and the fourth through eighth grade science students welcomed a baby Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) to the science room. The little “terp” weighs in at only nine grams and is about the size of a half dollar.

Our terrapin is part of a “head start” research program being run by
scientists at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the MD Department of Natural Resources. This program takes eggs collected from Poplar Island in the Chesapeake Bay and delivers them to around 30 Maryland schools where they spend the winter in the classroom. This prevents the terrapins from hibernating and allows them to grow faster than they would in the wild. The research is trying to determine if the larger head-started terrapins are less vulnerable to predators such as herons and raccoons and therefore have a higher survival rate. During the school year, students will weigh and measure the terrapin at regular intervals and report their data to scientists via the internet.

Stop by to meet this interesting addition to our school!

We want to thank everyone for their understanding and patience in regards to yesterday’s emergency closing. We also want to thank the Board and all of the parent reps for their partnership in getting the word out regarding the closing.

The heat is now fixed and we should be good to go. Thank you to Epiphany Lutheran Church and Pastor Bill for working so diligently to resolve this problem as soon as
possible.

We will be working with North Avenue later this year to determine whether we will have to make up this day at the end of the year. We will keep you posted.

The next Coffee with Mike will be held on Wednesday, October 28th at 8:30 am. Coffee with Mike is a time for conversation, brainstorming, questions and answers and community. I hope you’ll join me!

City Neighbors has been selected by North Avenue as a site visit for staffers from our United States Congress as a model of innovation and school improvement in Baltimore City. Our visitors will be here next Monday morning, October 26, at 10:00 am to see our school in action!

Though we have shared many of the revised policies through the Summer Newsletter or the Monday Mailer, we had some glitches in getting the Parent Handbook completed.

It is now completed and should be attached to this Monday Mailer. Please read this document carefully as it contains not only a good overview of our philosophy and practice, but elemental policies that help our school going. If you have any questions after reading it, please feel free to contact Mike at mchalupa@cityneighbors.org.

Don’t forget to sign up for the CNCS email announcement list! Navigate to www.cityneighbors.org and click on the link at the top of the home page. Keep current on News from the school office, the Board of Directors and committee events.

As many of you know, a few years ago, our City Neighbors students led an advocacy effort to improve the lunches at City Neighbors and across the city.

Their journey spurred the improvement of lunches at our school, the arrival of our new lunch staff, and new initiatives across the city. They have been featured on the radio and on the front page of The Baltimore Sun.

Their journey is not over. On Thursday, the head of food services of Baltimore City, Tony Geraci, has been asked to testify before a subcommittee of Congress. He has asked our student advocates to join him and provide their own testimony on Capitol Hill! So, this Thursday, our City Neighbors students will go to Washington DC and testify!

This is a great story on how people—and children– can make a difference in the world. We are very proud of them!

With all of the information and concern regarding the H1N1 Virus, we just wanted to take a moment to inform everyone of the precautions we’re taking at City Neighbors.

Starting last week, we have begun a nightly disinfectant of common areas—faucets, phones, keyboards, door handles and other places.

We have hand sanitizers in the lunch room, in the main office, in the classrooms, and outside the nurse’s suite for regular use by everyone.

We have developed an internal protocol for suspected H1N1 cases that may be discovered at school. This protocol, developed by BCPS, will isolate any child exhibiting typical symptoms until they can be picked up.

We will be teaching proper coughing and sneezing etiquette, hand-washing, and other safety precautions in our classrooms.

Here, we will be following every suggested precaution to keep our school clean and healthy.

You can help too:

• If your child is sick with fever, please keep them home for 24 hours after the fever breaks. And, if your child will be out for the day, please call and let us know why.
• Please re-enforce proper coughing and sneezing etiquette, and hand-washing at home.
• And, please come out on Saturday morning’s Workday from 8-12 to help provide an extra disinfecting and cleaning to our classrooms and common spaces!

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Mike or our Nurse’s Assistant, Ms. Teayna Washington.

Our first trimester progress reports will be sent out by mail this Friday, October 9th.

Progress reports are sent to students who are struggling in a particular area or who are in danger of failing. These progress reports are an important tool of communication.

Many progress reports will request a conference. If your child receives a progress report and there is a request for a conference, please follow up as soon as possible!

We are thrilled to announce that Towson University will be using the City Neighbors Middle School as a training ground for their arts educators—with a specific focus on content area arts-integrated.

In November, we will be hosting four teams of prospective teachers who will be working with our teachers to develop and implement arts integrated lessons in math, science and social studies. The prospective teachers will be meeting with our staff to develop an area of focus, they will design six arts-integrated lessons, and then they will actually teach those lessons to our students.

This is an honor for City Neighbors to be chosen as a field site. And, this is just another step forward in our growth as arts-integrated educators and our school’s reach beyond our walls. Thank you to all the teachers — Ms. Davis, Ms. Jagusch, Mr. FitzSimons and Mr. French — who are participating in this effort!