September 30 Update for Families

September 30, 2022

Please note: This article was originally posted during a previous school year. Information and/or dates from past events
may be not be relevant for the current school year.

The following message was sent to CMCSS families on September 30, 2022.

Good afternoon, CMCSS families,

Please see below for a few updates and reminders.

Anti-Bullying Month

October is anti-bullying month, and CMCSS’ theme this year is “Lead With.” Our goal is to center around the concept of conscious actions. We can all choose to lead with the values of kindness, respect, honesty, gratitude, and empathy. Throughout the month, check out our social media for posts and videos about the campaign.

Families, please join us in having conversations with your students about bullying prevention, which can start with simple acts of kindness. Everyone can do something to help, and we must partner to prevent bullying. Bullying prevention must begin at home and will be reinforced in our schools. As a community, we must be examples for our youth to lead with kindness, respect, honesty, gratitude, and empathy next month and throughout the year.

Students and adults are expected to immediately report harassment, intimidation, bullying, hazing, assault, or any other threatening or unsafe behaviors to any administrator, teacher, school resource officer, school counselor, or other school or district personnel. For more information, refer to the CMCSS Student Code of Conduct or the District’s Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Hazing Policy. Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), CMCSS cannot share specific disciplinary actions taken against students, but the Student Code of Conduct provides the possible consequences of each founded offense. In addition to disciplinary measures per the Student Code of Conduct, students could face criminal charges from law enforcement.

Impact Aid

Federal Impact Aid is set up for school districts where federally owned lands (such as Fort Campbell, government buildings, TVA power plants, subsidized housing, etc.) are located. Its intent is to help offset the lost property taxes that would have been collected if businesses or privately owned residences were located there instead. Click here for a letter from Fort Campbell Garrison Commander Col. Jordan about this important survey.

After Fall Break, families will receive links to an electronic survey. The survey is confidential and has no effect on personal taxes or on those who live in subsidized housing. We ask all families to please complete the survey by November 15, 2022.

Parent and Guardian Survey

In the coming days, all parents/guardians will receive links via text and/or email to complete the annual parent/guardian survey. Last year, we received around 11,000 responses, but we would love to hear from all families. The survey takes just a few minutes to complete, and we ask all families to please complete the survey. Your feedback is extremely important and helps our schools and the District as a whole improve our services.

Social and Emotional Learning Resources

In the 2021-22 parent/guardian survey, almost two-thirds of families indicated that addressing social and emotional learning (SEL) should be a top priority for CMCSS. All schools continue to assess and address the resources and supports available to ensure they meet students’ social and emotional needs. CMCSS’ SEL resources and supports are aligned with state laws and the Tennessee Department of Education’s social and personal competencies and school counselor model and standards.

As stated by the Tennessee Department of Education, “social and personal competencies are not an additional, required instructional item added to the already busy agendas of teachers and administrators. Instead, they should be viewed as a process of weaving skills together to form a rope, in which the strands represent new social and personal skills woven tightly with academic skills to make students stronger.”

CMCSS will provide social and personal competencies instructional resources for teachers. The District has engaged educators to review multiple resources and provide feedback. After vetting by educators, the next phase is to engage families in the review process to help inform the District’s selection of resources.

Mr. Matt Slight, Director of Social and Emotional Learning, has set up SEL curriculum review and feedback sessions. At these sessions, families will have the opportunity to review resources, learn more about how SEL resources will be utilized, and provide feedback. These are open sessions, and families can arrive anytime within the timeframes below.

Meeting Dates, Times, and Locations:

• Monday, October 17 – 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Central Services South
• Tuesday, October 18 – 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – Northeast Middle School
• Thursday, October 20 – 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – New Providence Middle School

StopFinder Pilot

To improve communications about transportation services, the Operations, Technology, and Communications departments are collaborating to pilot the StopFinder application at a few schools. StopFinder seamlessly integrates with the service the District uses for bus routing to provide parents/guardians with bus locations, messages, updates, and alerts in real-time.

The pilot will begin at a few select schools at different levels in different geographical regions of the community after Fall Break. Families at those schools will receive additional information. After testing the application, receiving feedback from families, and making necessary adjustments and improvements, CMCSS intends to roll the application out to all families next semester.

Fall Break Reminder

As a reminder, Fall Break is a little over a week away. Schools will be closed October 10-14. We hope everyone has a safe, relaxing, and fun break!