Walter and Lois Curtis Middle School

Curtis PTA Newsletter Issue 3/2016-2017 October 6, 2016

Principal’s PostThank you to our PTA for providing the Red Ribbon

Assemblies for all our students. The students love these

interactive assemblies each year with a powerful message and

fun too. We wouldn’t be able to have these without the

support of our PTA members.

Also, congratulations to our very own Mandy Baker, District

Secondary Math Spotlight Teacher for September! Thanks for

all you do, Mrs. Baker!

We are going to try something new this year to get more

parent input on how we are doing. We will have Curtis

comment cards at the front desk and at the check in area for

parents to provide any feedback for us when visiting our

campus. We will also have a Curtis comments link on our

webpage for parents to share positive kudos, great ideas or

comments. We want to partner with you as our community to

better serve our students and families. So be looking for our

new Curtis Comments cards and link! We look forward to

hearing from you!

We are still looking for a business representative for our

Campus Improvement Team. We meet once a month after

school to look at progress on our goals, address new ideas to

improve our campus and will prepare a comprehensive needs

assessment in the spring to prepare for 2017-2018! If you

are interested in becoming a part of our team, please contact

Sonya Pitcock – Sonya_Pitcock@allenisd.org.

Thanks!

Sonya Pitcock

Important Dates

Oct. 10: Student Holiday/Staff Development

Nov. 1: Deadline - Rudolph Run app so school gets credit

Nov. 2: Reflections entries due

Nov. 4: Picture Retakes

Nov. 7: Parent Preview for AIM 6:30-7:30pm cafeteria

Nov. 15: AMC8 Testing 3:45-4:45pm

Dec. 3: Rudolph Run

Thank you to all of our Curtis parents, staff, and students

for a great Scholastic Book Fair! It was a tremendous

success and we appreciate your

support.

It is time once again for the Texas PTA Reflections Program.

What is Reflections? It is creativity expressed through the arts!

Works are judged by their creativity, originality, and interpretation of

the theme, “What is Your Story?”

Students may submit entries in the following

categories:

LiteratureMusic CompositionPhotographyVisual ArtsDance ChoreographyFilm / Video Production

Students may enter as many times as they like in a single category or

may enter in multiple categories if they choose.

Entries are due no later than Wednesday, November 2nd, and should be

dropped off at the Curtis Library.

You can pick up entry forms and rules for each category in the library

or they may be downloaded from the Curtis Library Reflections page.

In addition, at least one member of the entrant’s household must be a

member of the Curtis PTSA. (The student may be the PTSA member.)

For more information, see Mrs. Hawkins or Mrs. Young in the Curtis

Library.

So tell us – or show us: What is YOUR Story?

The CMS PTSA is proud to announce our upcoming Spirit Wear Fundraiser with Moonlight Threads. We will have new designs made just for our Curtis parents and students. There will be blingy shirts, sport

parent shirts, long and short sleeved, polos shirts and ball caps.

We are looking forward to unveiling this new spirit wear soon! Order forms will come home with your students in the next couple of weeks. There will also be order forms in our next newsletter as well as online ordering

available.

November 7th will be our annual Parent

Preview for AIM for Success presentation.The preview will be in

the Curtis cafeteria from 6:30 – 7:30 pm.

Allen ISD will be using a new system called Peachjar to post community flyers online and distribute them electronically. As part of the

district's efforts to be more environmentally friendly and to reduce costs, the school district is transitioning from paper to electronic flyer

delivery for community flyers from non-profit groups. (Look for the Peachjar logo soon).

Starting this month, flyers from area non-profit organizations will be sent electronically. Once approved, flyers will be emailed to all parents

and posted online. Paper flyers from outside organizations will no longer be distributed. Curtis Middle School and our organizations will also

have the option to use the new Peachjar system.

Several advantages of the new system will include:

- Parents in grades K-12 will now have access to flyers from community groups online

- Parents can access the information on any mobile device or home computer for up to a month after the posting

- Organizations will be able to attach links for registration and sign up forms to their postings

- Parents will be able to opt out of the email portion of Peachjar and simply use the online link at their convenience

- The cost to non-profit organizations will be significantly less than printing flyers for 10,000+ students

- Allen ISD is setting a good environmental example by reducing the amount of paper going home. Last year over 1 million pieces of paper

were sent home from outside groups

For more information about Peachjar please visit their website.https://www.peachjar.com/

RetakesFridayNov. 4

Picture Retakes

Picture retakes will take place

Friday, November 4th

in the

Library. Pictures will be retaken

for the following reasons:

students who were absent on

picture day, had their eyes

closed, were out of dress code,

or who purchased a picture

package and are not satisfied

with their picture. Students who

did not purchase pictures and

just don’t like their picture will not

have the opportunity to have it

retaken. Retake order forms will

be available to pick up in the

main office beginning Monday,

October 24th

.

Save the Date: Group/Club

Picture Day is Wednesday,

November 30th

. Please keep this

in mind when scheduling

appointments for your student.

We don’t want anyone missing

out on their club pictures!

Group/ClubsWednesday

Nov. 30

Rudolph Run – December isn’t that far away and you don’t want to miss out on the annual Rudolph Run! Be sure to register by Nov 1st and put Curtis as your child’s school so we can get money back

for our PE programs!http://www.cityofallen.org/1711/Rudolph-Run

Rudolph Run

Joining the CMS PTSA just got easier! Follow the directions below:1. Go to www.joinpta.org2. Choose Allen ISD3. Choose Walter and Lois Curtis Middle School PTSA4. Fill out your personal information.5. Pay $10 to join per family member. We are looking forward to having you as part of the Curtis Middle School PTSA!!

If you have any questions about membership, email us at curtisptsapresident@gmail.com

Please see attached in

this newsletter:

VFW essay contest

applications