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CC Griffin Family Newsletter
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5 - Science Benchmark (8th Only)
6 - Makeup Picture Day
7 - Breakfast with Santa (Central Cabarrus)
10 - ELA Benchmark
10 - Science Fair
11 - Math & Math 1 Benchmark
13 - All Grades Dance
17 - Band Concert 7pm
20 - Early Dismissal
23-Jan 3 - No School
Jan. 7 - Open House (more info to come)
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Dear Griffin Family,
I hope you had an enjoyable break. For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope it was special in every way. As we head into December and Winter Break, I am thankful for our truly amazing staff, scholars, parents, and greater community. I want to encourage our scholars to continue to work hard and attend school every day. Parents we also need your support. We are asking that you ensure that your child is completing and submitting assessments in a timely manner. Working together we can ensure that all of our scholars have a successful school year. A great way to keep up with your scholar’s grades is by utilizing PowerSchool. You can use your child’s login information or get a parent login from the school office. Please also visit our Parent Sign In page for more information. I’m also happy to report we are working to increase school spirit at Griffin, we will have our first PEP Rally in December, and our Staff vs. Students basketball game on December 20th. This will give us an opportunity to cheer on our athletic teams!
Our theme this school year, is an “Expectation of Excellence” to help create an “Expectation of Excellence” it’s extremely important to me that you are aware of the different events going on at C.C. Griffin, so please take time and look over our school calendar and make plans to join us for some upcoming events like our PTSO Meeting at 5:30 pm on December 2nd, our Chorus Concert at 6:30 pm on December 10th, our Band Concert at 7:00 pm on December 17th, our SIT meeting at 7:30 am on December 17th and our Piano Jury on December 18th and 19th during the school day. Also, please save the date of January 7th, this will be our 2nd Semester PTSO Family Open House from 6:00 pm-7:30 pm.
Recently, I came across an article titled, 10 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in Middle School please click below to view the article:
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Thank you for your continual support of C. C. Griffin Middle School and please reach out to me if you have any concerns or questions. I can be reached by email at Orlando.robinson@cabarrus.k12.nc.us and by phone at 704-260-6410. |
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Families this is a safety update from Principal Robinson:
The safety of our scholars is very important to me. Parents of our scholars who walk to school please partner with us and have a conversation with your child. It has been reported by several bus drivers that scholars who walk to and from school are walking on the yellow line and jumping back and forth in front of the buses as they pass by. The drivers are very concerned about this issue and are worried that a scholar may get hit by one of the buses.
Please partner with us and have a conversation with your child about the importance of not playing on the road as buses pass by.
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What's Happening Around CCGMS
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Just a friendly reminder for your child to begin putting finishing touches on his/her Science Fair Projects. Science Fair is required for 6th and 7th grade, and it is optional for 8th grade this year with this year’s focus being the newly revised 8th Grade Science EOG test. |
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December 5th - Science
December 6th – Make-up Testing
December 9th- Make-up Testing
December 10th - ELA
December 11th - Math and Math 1
December 12th - Make-up Testing
December 16th - Make-up Testing
- Please charge chromebooks each night.
- Please provide headphones for your student if you would like for them to use the Read Aloud option on the Math and Science test.
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Boys’ basketball and 8th grade cheer tryouts will be held on January 6th, 7th, and 8th. Check the specific sport’s website for times. Dragonfly must be completed before the student can try out. Dragonfly link can be found on the CC Griffin athletic website.
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Dear Cabarrus County Stakeholders,
As we plan for the future, we value your input on the programs and magnet themes that will best serve our students and community. Your feedback is essential in helping us enhance our offerings and ensure we are meeting the diverse needs of all learners. Please take a few moments to share your thoughts and ideas, so together we can create the best possible educational experiences for our students. This survey will close at 11:59 P.M. on Wednesday, November 27, 2024. To begin the survey, click the link below.
Families this is a safety update from Principal Robinson:
The safety of our scholars is very important to me. Parents of our scholars who walk to school please partner with us and have a conversation with your child. It has been reported by several bus drivers that scholars who walk to and from school are walking on the yellow line and jumping back and forth in front of the buses as they pass by. The drivers are very concerned about this issue and are worried that a scholar may get hit by one of the buses.
Please partner with us and have a conversation with your child about the importance of not playing on the road as buses pass by.
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Our first community partnership meeting will occur on January 16th. More information will be forthcoming. If you know anyone who owns a business or if you have a relationship with a business owner or faith-based organization, please provide Mr. Robinson with their contact information, he would love to connect with them. |
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Please remember to pay your student’s fees(s)! All owed fees must be paid to be eligible to attend extracurricular activities (e.g., dances, movie nights). Every Cabarrus County student must pay the Instructional Supply Fee of $20. Art students pay $5 (6th grade), $10 (7th and 8th grade) or $20 (Advanced Art 8th graders). All Band students have a $20 fee. Chorus and Piano students pay $10 (6th grade) or $20 (7th and 8th grade). You can pay all of these fees at www.k12paymentcenter.com, or by check or cash. Thank you for helping us provide students with the supplies they need to be successful!
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December Happenings in the Library:
12/6 Makeup Picture Day
12/10 Science Fair
12/13 8th Grade Memoir Celebration “Cookies & Cocoa”
12/18 Living & Learning Event
Notices have been distributed to all students who have overdue and/or lost books. Please know that all fees must be paid before a ticket can be purchased for the All Grades Dance on 12/13.
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Dear CC Griffin Families,
We thank you and your family for being our valued partners as we work together to educate and support the children in our district. Cabarrus County Schools’ Destination 2025 strategically outlines the district’s goals and objectives to attend to all the social, emotional, and wellness needs of all students. Over the next several weeks, we will be asking all 6th through 8h grade students to reflect on their own mindsets and approaches to learning via an online survey they will be completing at school. Students will complete the survey on December 3, 2024. Results will be available after Winter Break. The survey is available in the student's native language.
The Student Wellness Survey should take 15-20 minutes to complete. You may view all survey material posted on the CCS website. All students are encouraged to participate in the survey, as their responses along with teacher feedback will provide important insights into their experiences and help our schools promote the well-being and success of all students.
If you have any questions about the student wellness survey, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Dustin Huffman, MSW LCSWA, School Social Worker at 704 260-6420.
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ELA: Students are working on their Q2 Reading Challenge. They are to read an entire book. After break, students will complete a PBL debate of a school problem. To begin Unit 5, we will be doing in class research on the Holocaust. ALPS students will read The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller. We have enough for class sets, but students are unable to take the books home. You can purchase the book if you would like your scholar to have a copy at home.
Math: We will be completing unit 5 as we wrap up decimal division. Students will be asked to compute without the aid of a calculator. Quizzes we take will not allow calculator usage. to ensure your scholar's success, please follow their weekly progress in Delta Math. We will continue to use exit tickets as precursors to quizzes.
Social Studies: Students will be completing the Ancient Egypt unit test on December 3rd. Sixth graders will be viewing their classmates' pharaoh projects and documenting their accomplishments they are known for. Ancient India will be the focus for the month of December. They will start with important vocabulary that will be used throughout the unit. The focus will then be on the geography, religion, achievements, government, economics, and finally social structure. Since it is a short unit, there will not be a unit test, but rather small quizzes each week.
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ELA: This month in ALPS we are completing our cross-curricular unit on the Industrial Revolution, highlighting the negative impacts through analyzing A Christmas Carol and primary source documents. In other ELA classes, we are beginning a mini poetry unit and will focus on analyzing poems from Langston Hughes and Edgar Allen Poe.
Math: Students have an opportunity to raise their grade (in case you were looking for extra credit) by completing a Benchmark Prep homework assignment on DeltaMath for a formal/test grade. It is due December 11th. Seventh grade students will wrap up their Probability Unit while AMPS students wrap up Exponents. Both groups will begin working on Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities next.
Science: :Currently, in 7th grade science, we are learning about cells and how they form tissue that forms organs. We are also taking time to work on and discuss the Science Fair projects that we started at the beginning of the year. The Google Slides for the Science Fair are due December 17th.
Social Studies: In Social Studies in December, after inspecting and sniffing various spices to find out “What’s the big deal about spices?” most of us decided that European explorers found spices worth their weight in gold. We will continue to examine the effects of the Columbian Exchange on the global economy and societies. We will learn about the tragedies of the deplorable parts of history which enslaved Aboriginal Americans and expanded the slave trade to the Triangular Trade Route which forced African people to America to be enslaved. We will move towards the Era of Enlightenment and maybe even see some Industrial Revolution by the end of the month.
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8th grade science-This month in science we are learning about the advantages and disadvantages of various energy sources and discussing when and where each resource would be worth the tradeoffs. We will be learning through a PBL where students must design a town around a specific energy resource and present the advantages, disadvantages, and costs of the energy resource they chose.
Social studies- We are finishing up slavery and making our quilts. We will be talking about the Civil war and reconstruction here in December. We also will be reading the book Night John, that ties into the civil war. During this unit students will be doing a choice board and one pager to understand the battles and what was all going on in the civil war.
ELA-Students will be completing their personal Memoir and presenting them at our annual cookies and coco on Dec 13th to friends and family each block. In addition students will examine memoirs in literature in a Memoir Book Poster project highlighting the stories of those they read about this quarter.
Math-Over the next month, our math curriculum will focus on linear functions, calculating slope, and solving systems of equations. Expect to see a lot of graphs, grids, and coordinate points along the way.
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When your student is absent, please click THIS LINK to access absence form. This should be completed for all absences. The form for educational opportunities is also found at this link.
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Click here to apply for free & reduced lunch benefits. We encourage all parents to apply, just in case you qualify for meal benefits!
LINQ Connect opens July 22nd for families to begin applying for free or reduced meals for the 2024-2025 school year.
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CCS Policy Code 4318 Student Use of Electronic Devices
- Elementary School: Students are not allowed to utilize electronic devices from arrival on campus through departure from campus. Students are required to power off and securely store their cell phones away from their person throughout the school day.
- Middle School: Students are not allowed to utilize electronic devices from arrival on campus through afternoon dismissal. Students are required to power off and securely store their cell phones away from their person throughout the school day. Students engaged in after-school activities will have access to their electronic devices for communicating with parents/guardians.
- High School: Students are not allowed to utilize electronic devices during instructional time. Students may use electronic devices during non-instructional times which may include arrival/dismissal, breakfast/lunch, and class change. During instructional time, students are required to power off and securely store their electronic devices away from their person.
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CCS is continuing to use this school bus tracking app. Parents can track their student's bus location on this app. Currently the messaging portion is not active yet, so if a sub bus is running it won’t show the sub bus number or info. But otherwise should be working to track regular buses.
Here are some links to get started using this app:
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Meal Payments on LINQ Connect
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What is LINQ Connect?
LINQ Connect is a secure, online portal that allows families to:
• Make an online payment to their student’s meal account
• Remotely monitor their student’s accounts
• Set up automatic recurring payments
• Set up low balance email message alerts
• Submit an online application for free and/or reduced meals
• View online breakfast and lunch menus
How do I get started?
2. Verify your Account: Verify your account by clicking on the email verification link sent to your email address.
How do I add my children to my account?
You will need to add your student to your LINQ Connect account. Click on + then Type and complete the information to link your student. You will need to complete this process for each student you wish to add.
Where can I get more information or help?
Please see the attached FAQs for both desktop and app versions of LINQ Connect. Contact Maria Antunez in the Cabarrus County School Nutrition Department at (704)260-5554 for further information..
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How to Set Up Parent CANVAS Account
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See directions linked here to set up Parent Account for CANVAS. Parents can see classroom information & resources on CANVAS.
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Angeline Fields - 6th Grade
School Counselor: angeline.fields@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
Rebecca Phillips - 7th Grade
School Counselor: rebecca.zacharias@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
Erin Britt - 8th Grade
School Counselor: erin.britt@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
Dustin Huffman - School Social Worker
dustin.huffman@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
Abryanna Vidot - School Psychologist
abryanna.vidot@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
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