We had a tough Mr. E. Person!

Our last Mr. E. Person for the semester (and 2019) was a 5th grade Student, Zoey H! The students almost didn't guess her! Good going to those that did- Aksel, Piper and Symphanie!

Students Compete in the Nebraska 'Find Your Genius' Challenge

The “Find Your Genius Challenge” is a state-wide contest over a 7-day period competing through virtual internships.  Several Chadron middle school students partnered with Goodwill of Nebraska and Symphony Workforce to devise a service or product which helps alleviate the emotional or mental distress young people regularly face or help alleviate poverty. The team of Johnnie Reed, Aubrey Milburn, Owen Perkins and Uzziah Schwartz worked on the poverty challenge and will be donating hats, gloves & scarves later this winter. The team of Kenli Boeselager, Ruby Tewahade and Lucy Rischling worked on the mental distress challenge and are developing an "Overcome" room where students can destress. Students worked with advisors from Goodwill of Nebraska and business professionals. Their work was recognized by Symphony Workforce.

Cathy Kaus, Library Media Specialist

CMS Students Donate to Local Food Pantry

The annual CMS Caring for Sharing food drive is in the books and it was a huge success! For the past 10-years, the Chadron Middle School Student Council has organized a canned food drive among the grade levels. This year's goal was to collect 2000 non-perishable food items between December 6th and December 13th. Students brought the collected food to their 1st block classrooms and the final count was done after school on December 13th. CMS students crushed their goal by collect 2942 non-perishable food items that were donated to a local food pantry.

Congratulations to the 6th grade class for winning the class competition with 1073 non-perishable food items. The 7th grade came in a close 2nd with 1051 followed by the 8th grade with 596 and 5th grade 222. Thank you to all of the community members and parents who helped support the service project. A special thank you goes out to the CMS student council students and sponsors for organizing this great service activity.

Go Cards!

MS/HS Winter Concerts - Thurs. Dec. 19th

The Middle School and High School winter instrumental and vocal concerts will be held on Thursday evening, December 19th at the High School Auditorium.

6:00 - Grades 6-12 Band Concert

7:30 - MS/HS Vocal Concert

We hope to see you there!

Head Cook and Sub Cook Career Available at CHS!

Lunch Time Solutions is looking to hire a Head Cook for Chadron High School and a Substitute Cook.  These positions only work the days that we have school so it might be something that would appeal to someone with students.  The application and more information can be found at   www.lunchtimesolutions.com and clicking on Careers.

Brenda Fritzler

Food Service Director, Chadron

Lunchtime Solutions

308-360-0964

b.fritzler@lunchtimesolutions.com

2019-20 CPS Annual Report

New CMS Schedule APP

Check out the CMS Scheduling App that was created by our very own 6th grader, Jace Paopao! It is a great way to stay up-to-date on all of the CMS activities.

CPS Veteran's Day Program - November 11th @ 9:30

The annual CPS Veteran's Day Program will be on Monday, November 11th at 9:30AM in the CHS Auditorium. CMS 8th graders will run the program again this year. Community members are invited to join our students and staff in honoring our veterans.

6th and 7th Grade Health Screening on November 13th

Parents and Community Members

The Chadron School Board recently accepted the resignation, due to retirement,
of Dr. Caroline Winchester, Superintendent of Schools. We are grateful for
Dr. Winchester's service to Chadron Public Schools and wish her well in her future
endeavors. 

As the Board of Education prepares for the charge of hiring a superintendent,
we would value the input of parents and community members. You will have
the opportunity to offer suggestions pertaining to skills, qualities, or characteristics the
candidate might possess in order to be successful in his or her role as superintendent
and your views about the strengths of the school district and community. 

The Nebraska Association of School Boards is assisting the board in the
superintendent search and has scheduled a visit to the district to engage
stakeholders. The board would like to invite you to attend an
information and input session with NASB Monday, October 28th
at 6:00 p.m. in the High School Library, to hear about the

process and ask questions. 

In the event you are unable to attend the visit, you can access the online
survey at www.nasbsuptsearch.org Click on Current Positions Available Click on
Chadron Public Schools Scroll to the bottom of the district web page
Click on Staff and Community District Assessment Survey
Complete the Survey Click on Submit Assessment 

The board would like to thank you in advance for participating in the process. 

Respectfully, 

Chadron Board of Education

Vocal Concert for Grade 6-12 on Tuesday, October 22nd @ 7pm

The fall vocal music concert for 6th-12th grade is on October 22nd at 7pm in the CHS Auditorium.

Chadron Public Library Star Party

CMS Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, September 19, 2019

It's hard to believe, but we are already at the 1st mid-quarter of the school year and that means Parent-Teacher Conferences (PTC)! CMS will host PTC on Thursday, September 19th from 2-7 PM in the CMS Gym. CMS will have a 1:30 dismissal on that day. The rest of the district will have a regular schedule. 

In an effort to reduce lines and minimize wait times, we are asking that parents try to attend at the following times:

2:00-4:00 - 5th and 7th grade parents

4:00-4:30 - Teacher Dinner Break

4:30-7:00 - 6th and 8th grade parents

That said, we welcome and appreciate parent attendance at any time and teachers will be available from 2 PM - 7 PM. Please note that shared staff (Art, Music and 5th/6th Spanish) will be available at CMS from 3:30-5:30 before they have to leave for CHS Parent-Teacher Conferences.

Middle School conferences are different from elementary school conferences in several ways. 

• First, we hope that your child is able to attend conferences with you. Including your child in the conversation is a great way for your students to hear how they are doing in class and learn to advocate for their own educational needs. 
• Second, the conference with each teacher should be brief (5-10 minutes). The intention of the conference is for teachers to provide information to parents about their child's progress in class, for parents to let teachers know of any concerns they have, and to share contact information to simplify communication. If there are issues that need to be discussed, it may not be possible to adequately problem solve during a 5-10 conference. Please set up a separate meeting or communication plan before wrapping up the conversation. 
• Last, instead of meeting with one teacher about multiple subjects, you will meet with multiple teachers about multiple subjects. Ideally, you will have time to meet with all of your child's parents. However, we understand that everyone is busy, so if you are in a time crunch we recommend that you make contact with the teachers in the subjects that you have the most concern, or with teachers who instruct subjects that your student has struggled with in the past. 

For more parent teacher conference tips, check out this article from kidshealth.org.

The school year is off to a great start and we are looking forward to seeing all of our parents and students on Thursday, September 19th.

CMS MAP Testing Schedule

CMS will begin Fall MAP assessments on September 10th. Please view the Fall MAP assessment calendar below to view testing dates for your child.

CMS Picture Day - September 5th

School picture day at CMS is on September 5th. Paper packets will be sent home with kids today. To order online, please go to mylifetouch.com and use the school code CG519342Y0.

CMS Yearbook Info and Parent Letter

Back to School Tips for Parents

The transition from summer schedules to back-to-school routines can be stressful for everyone in the house. The 9 tips provided in this blog post from https://blog.ed.gov/2016/08/9-back-to-school-pro-tips/ may help ease the transition.

The first two tips - Visit the School and Meet the Teachers can be accomplished during our open house on August 12th. The 5th grade student/parent meeting is at 5pm in the gym and Open House for grades 5-8 is from 6-7pm

The school can help with the next two tips - Make Homework a Priority and Prepare a Study Area by having your child attend the CMS After School Program (CMS ASP). The CMS ASP will begin on August 21st and it runs Monday-Thursday from 3:18-5:30. The CMS ASP offers an after school snack, tutoring and homework help in the library and activities. CMS ASP also offers homework help on 1:30 Fridays from 1:30-4:30. Talk to your child about your expectations for homework completion at the CMS ASP and communicate those expectations with CMS ASP staff.

Tips 5-9 - Take Charge of Screen Time, Get Everyone to Bed on Time, Make Healthy Meals, Get a Check Up, and Read with Your Child Everyday are really about at home procedures and routines. It is best to start these before the beginning of the school year so that your child understands your expectations.

Middle School students are at an age where parents often think that their child is old enough to "know what they are supposed to do". I can tell you that is not always true. Most middle school kids need explicit directions, defined expectations and clear boundaries. I promise that they will test those expectations, boundaries and your patience on the regular. Adolescent brains are not fully developed. The prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain that handles executive functioning skills like planning, reasoning and judgement, isn't fully develop in kids until they are in their 20s. So, when your kid screws up, which they will, and you ask, "What where you thinking!" and they respond, "I don't know" they are probably telling the truth :-). This is where consistent consequences come into play.

We are looking forward to working with you and your child to help them have a successful year. Please don't hesitate to reach out to the teachers, the counselor or me if you every have any questions or concerns.

Nick Dressel
Chadron Middle School Principal
nichlas.dressel@chadronschools.net
432-0708

Digital Devices in Teen Bedrooms

Taken from the June 3rd Marshall Memo

In this Education Week article, Alyson Klein reports on a 2019 Common Sense Media
study showing that teens’ attachment to their phones and tablets doesn’t stop at bedtime:
- 29 percent have devices in bed with them all night.

- 39 percent keep them within reach.
- 11 percent have their devices in the room but out of reach.
- 19 percent park them in another room.
- At least 36 percent say they wake up at least once a night to check their devices.
- 32 percent check their devices within five minutes of waking up.

Parents have a similar pattern, with 62 percent keeping technology within easy reach overnight,
but only 12 percent have smartphones or tablets with them in bed.

This flies in the face of the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that
bedrooms should be a “tech-free zone,” and the National Sleep Foundation’s suggestion that
we should have a “digital curfew” at least 30 minutes before bedtime. For teens, ignoring these
guidelines means that many are grumpy and unfocused during the day in school. “Prioritizing
checking their phone over sleep, that is like the worst thing they could actually do,” says
Alaska middle-school principal Jethro Jones. He’s working on getting students to agree to turn
off their phones a half hour before bedtime and not checking them in the morning until they’ve
been up for 30 minutes. In his own house, the adults and four children all put their phones in a
charging station in the kitchen overnight.

“Many Teens Sleep With Digital Devices, Report Finds. Is That Why They Are So Cranky?”
by Alyson Klein in Education Week, May 29, 2019, https://bit.ly/2XmBWK4

Non-Public School Special Education Meeting

CMS Celebrates Mrs. Himan and Mrs. McCartney

Thank you to all of the students, staff, parents and community members who celebrated Mrs. McCartney's and Mrs. Hinman's retirement with us yesterday afternoon. Congratulations Mrs. Hinman and Mrs. McCartney!!

CMS End of School Year Important Dates

May 16th:

• Retirement Party @ 3:30 in the MS Library for Mrs. McCartney & Mrs. Hinman - All are welcomed to attend
• Student Showcase @ 6PM @ CHS

May 20th:

• 5th/6th grade awards during @ 12:10 in CMS Gym
• 7th/8th grade awards @ 6PM in the CHS Auditorium

May 21st:

• 8th grade locker checkout in the morning
• Roll Up day in the afternoon

May 22nd:

• 5th-7th grade locker checkout

May 24th:

• Last Day of School

May 9th - Wear Green for Children's Mental Health Awareness Day

Fine Arts Strategic Planning Meeting - 5/1/19 @ 5:30 in the CO Conference Room

Fine Arts Vision/Strategic Planning Meeting Wednesday, May 1, 2019 in Central Office Conference Room @ 5:30 PM.  Everyone welcome to attend.

Last Day of School Moved to May 24th

Like many school districts in Nebraska affected by blizzards or floods, Chadron Public Schools will extend the school year by three days.

The last day of school for students and staff will now be Friday, May 24th.

Chadron Public Schools had 6 snow days this year, the most days used for at least 20 years.  In 2012, CPS had missed 4 days (two due to August fires and two for snow). 

Friday, May 24th will be an early dismissal for students and staff will check out during the afternoon.  Call the office if you have any questions.

Rural Development Housing Programs

Chadron Community Easter Egg Hunt - Saturday, April 20th

State NHD Results

CMS National History Day

National History Day is an educational program devoted to the learning of history.  
Last fall, students chose a topic related to the annual theme (“Triumph and Tragedy”). and conducted
extensive research using both primary and secondary sources.  After analyzing and drawing conclusions
about their topics’ significance in history, they presented their work in an original project.
The district contest was held March 1st at Chadron State College and on April 6th, the state competition
was held in Lincoln.

Those who competed at the State History Day competition:

Junior Division:
Jodean Chesley
Micaiah Fuller
Thomas Kaus
Blaine Tewahade
Makinley Fuller
Bradd Collins
Noah Brown
Thomas Smith
James Koerber
Lauren Rasmussen
Jace Lien

Those who qualified for National History Day competition:

Thomas Kaus 2nd Place Junior Individual Website

Polish Cipher War:  A Polish Triumph That Could Not Prevent a Polish Tragedy

http://54964883.nhd.weebly.com/

New Social Studies Standards

What do you think our students should know about social studies?  The Nebraska Department of Education has released a draft of the Nebraska Social Studies Standards and would love to hear from you!  The standards provide the framework for what students are expected to know about social studies, and your feedback will help make improvements to the standards before they are adopted.  The survey should take less than ten minutes to complete for each grade level selected.    To complete the survey, use this link:  Social Studies Standards Survey.

4/2 - Dine at Runza and Support Our Local TeamMates Chapter

CMS Spring Assessment Schedule

Parents,

Below is the spring assessment schedule for CMS. As you can see, I tried not to schedule testing on Mondays and Fridays in an effort to improve student attendance during these assessments. Here are a few things that parents can do to help their children do well on these tests:

• Optimize Brain Power by:
• Ensuring that children get a good night's sleep the night before the assessment
• Ensuring that children eat a healthy breakfast the morning of the assessment
• Ease Anxiety by:
• Helping children know what to expect - review assessment schedule with your child
• Ensuring that children are present and on time to school on the day of the assessment
• Encouraging children to relax, stay positive and to do their best
• Reviewing test strategies

Stand Up For Yourself - Training Classes

Would you like to learn how to stand up for yourself in uncomfortable or intimidating situations?
 Do you want to increase your skills in setting boundaries and responding effectively

to verbal or physical aggression?

Come join 88Tactical

in the

Chadron Primary School gym

and learn how to

STAND UP FOR YOURSELF!

**Fri. April 5  6:00 - 10:00 pm Basic Women’s Primal Self Defense  is a class for females age
12 and up  *$60/student *Class limited to 20 *Details below   (This is usually $80/class but local
scholarships from Indivisible Chadron provide 25% tuition/student.)  

**Sat.  April 6, 2:00 - 5:00 pm Youth Anti-Bully & Anti-Abduction is a class for 6-12 year old
girls and boys.  *$45/student *Class limited to 20 *Details below

(This is usually $60/class but local scholarships from Indivisible Chadron provide 25%
tuition/student.)  

Register on line by 3/29/19: https://88tactical.com/ - Civilian Courses:
Combatives & Self-Defense -  Primal Self-Defense - BASIC WOMEN’S PRIMAL SELF DEFENSE
Youth Courses - YOUTH ANTI-BULLY/ANTI-ABDUCTION

This is a community effort to empower our young people.  
Questions? Contact Cheryl Welch at 308-432-3519 or loswelchitos@gmail.com

The Basic Women’s Primal Defense is a 4 hour course taught by instructors with experience
in real world defense.  Students learn situational awareness and practice conflict de-escalation.
This course primarily addresses how to deal with verbal confrontations, but students also learn
some basic moves to defend themselves against a physical attack.  By course completion,
participants will have repeatedly used their newfound skills to assess danger, set boundaries,
and respond effectively to verbal and physical aggression. Students get the chance to use
full-force techniques against a staff instructor donning specially designed protective gear.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Respond effectively to verbal and physical aggression (belligerent people)
• Describe and demonstrate levels of awareness and condition readiness
• Demonstrate how to set boundaries, and control and maintain the “reactionary gap”
• Demonstrate defensive strikes against an unarmed assailant
• Describe and demonstrate what to do following an attack

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Students must be at least 12 years old and have no significant underlying health issues.
The student or parent/legal guardian signing the waiver must have a valid government issued I.D.

The Youth Anti-Bully & Anti-Abduction is a 3-hour course taught by instructors with
experience in real world self-defense. The instructors will teach students how to deal with
bullies in a non-violent manner, and then transition to anti-abduction tactics. Students will learn
life-saving skills, assertive verbal and non-verbal communication, and situational awareness in a
fun, safe and engaging environment. By course completion, participants will have repeatedly
used their newfound skills to assess danger, set boundaries, and respond effectively to verbal
and physical aggression. Students use full-force techniques against a staff instructor donning
specially designed protective gear.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Children ages 6-12 with no significant underlying health issues.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Students who cancel less than 1 week prior to the start of a class will receive credit towards another class
or receive a refund if a replacement participant is found.  “No-Shows” will forfeit 100% of payments and
fees. 88 Tactical reserves the right to cancel any course offered due to insufficient enrollment, weather or
unforeseen circumstances. If this happens, all students will receive a full refund.