China Spring Middle School

CSMS Newsletter

Parent & Student

Week of March 3rd- March 6th

FROM MR. ELLIS

• david.ellis@chinaspringisd.net.

• Please follow this link if you’d like to donate to the FIGHT LIKE A COUG St. Jude Challenge in Honor of Emily Stephens! Dr. Pitts, Deputy Superintendent, is representing her as a St. Jude Hero in his next marathon run! We’d love for you to donate! https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=6221953&pg=personal&fr_id=155690&copy_link_share&copy_link_share

• IXL Challenge

  • At 7:30am on Monday, February 10th, CSMS began participating in an IXL challenge. 7th grade students are competing against each other and 8th grade students against each other. The goal is to answer as many grade level, subject level questions correctly between Feb. 10th and March 16th. This challenge is done OUTSIDE of class instruction time. Students can win prizes with the top prize being a brand new set of Apple AirPods; one pair for the top 7th grade student and one pair for the top 8th grade student.

  • Students have been given the rules and regulations and any student working on them during class hours, can be disqualified. Any cheating or AI answers will also result in disqualification. We are hoping to supplement the learning in the classroom outside of the school building with this challenge. Winners will be announced at our Spring Assembly on March 27th.

• Spring Dance is Approaching! On March 27th from 6-8pm we will have a Western Themed Spring Dance in the CSMS Gym! Tickets are $10 and you MUST meet the following to be able to attend:

  • No more than 3 days ISS/OSS

  • No DAEP placements

  • Class Dues Paid $20

  • All Library and Cafeteria Fines Paid

  • All Cell Phone Fines Paid

  • You must have served Saturday School make up time for any excessive tardies.

  • You must be above 90% attendance for the school year and if not, you MUST have served makeup time at Saturday School.

• CSMS is ALL about teaching and learning. Please make sure your student is coming to school prepared with necessary materials, including their iPad. Please reach out to your child’s teacher(s) should you have any questions. 

• Attention Parents: Students who attend a MS extracurricular event must NOT be roaming the school during the event. All students wanting to attend can remain in the gym or at the stadium but must not wander through CSISD facilities or the school campus. Students not obeying this rule will be sent home. This is for the safety of all students and spectators who attend CSISD sporting and/or extracurricular events. Parents, please understand that students should not be completely without parental supervision at games in the stands and bleachers. If students violate the code of conduct during an extracurricular activity, it might necessitate you taking them home from the game. If you drop your student off, please be available to take a call from an administrator should we need to get a hold of you due to circumstances that happen in the stands or bleachers. 

• NO THIRD PARTY DELIVERIES ACCEPTED ON CAMPUS i.e. (DoorDash, UberEats).  Parents, we appreciate your cooperation because it has helped us create a much safer environment for students at school.

• CELL PHONES PROHIBITED at CSMS.  Student cell phones must be off and stored in a backpack or purse.  Should a student need to communicate with a parent/guardian via their personal cell phone, he or she should ask for permission to go to the office to call or text his/her parent. Cell phones distract from the teaching and learning that must take place each day. Thank you for keeping your cell phone put away.

• Please remind your student to charge their iPad every night and bring it to school fully charged and ready to go. 

• Dress Code Reminders - The full copy of the CSMS Dress Code can be found at chinaspringisd.net by going to the middle school page and looking under the Handbook link.  Some of our most common dress code violations are wearing shorts that are too short, wearing pajamas to school, changing hair color to an unnatural color (like green or blue or Ferrari red).  Parents, please remind your children that blankets and pajama pants are both against the district’s dress code.  Please ensure that your child is coming to school in school-appropriate attire each and every day to avoid being dress-coded.  If a student is in violation of the dress code, they will be given an opportunity to correct the issue.  If this is not done in a timely manner, he or she will remain in ISS until the dress code issue is resolved.  Thank you for your cooperation.

FROM MRS. BARTEE

• sbartee@chinaspringisd.net

• Lunch/Cafeteria Expectations

  • All students are expected to enter the cafeteria and be seated.

  • Coach Earp or another cafeteria monitor will release tables to get in line or go to the microwaves.  Students must stay seated until their table is released.

  • E-hallpass must be used to request a restroom pass.  Monitoring the restrooms ensures student safety.

  • Lunch monitors bring trash cans around for students to throw trash away.  There is no need for a student to get up to throw trash away.  If a student needs to throw something away after a trash can has already been brought by, they may throw their trash away when the bell rings.

  • Students are expected to stay seated unless they have permission to get up.

  • Students not complying with cafeteria rules will be escorted to a lunch detention classroom to serve out the remainder of their lunch period with Mrs. Bartee or another lunch detention teacher.

  • Students who are repeatedly assigned to lunch detention will be eligible for in-school suspension.

  • Please encourage your child to comply with lunchroom expectations.

• PLEASE NOTE:  Several CSISD campuses have different start times due to transportation needs.

  • Primary Campus Start Time – 7:50am

  • Elementary Campus Start Time – 8:00am

  • Intermediate Campus Start Time – 8:00am

  • Middle Campus Start Time – 7:55am

  • High Campus Start Time – 7:55am

• Attendance

  • Attendance is taken every day during every class period.

  • School starts at 7:55am.  If a student is more than 20 minutes late to school, he/she will be marked absent for first period.

  • When you know your child will be absent, please call the school office AND email Mrs. Palmer (spalmer@chinaspringisd.net) to notify us of his or her absence.  This will keep you off of our call list for that day when we call absent students.

  • Every absence needs to be documented in writing with the front office within  (3) school days of the student returning to school.

  • Attendance warning letters will be sent home once a student reaches three (3) unexcused absences.  Additional warning letters will be sent home after five (5) unexcused absences.  Once a student reaches seven (7) unexcused absences, Mrs. Bartee and Chief Wachsmann or Officer Rocha will require parents to meet with them at the middle school in person to discuss truancy prevention measures and to make a plan for improving school attendance.  After ten (10) unexcused absences, truancy charges will be filed against the parent, and Judge Richardson will contact the parent to schedule a court hearing.

• Weekly Attendance Update – It is our goal at China Spring Middle School for our average daily attendance rate to be at or above 97%.  This past week, we met our attendance goal with an average daily attendance rate of 97.39%!  This is amazing!!  Thank you for all you do to ensure your children come to school every day for every class period!

  • Monday, February 24

    • 7th grade – 97.35%

    • 8th grade – 98.81%

  • Tuesday, February 25

    • 7th grade – 96.89%

    • 8th grade – 96.05%

  • Wednesday, February 26

    • 7th grade – 96.89%

    • 8th grade – 98.42%

  • Thursday, February 27

    • 7th grade – 96.44%

    • 8th grade – 98.02%

  • Weekly Average

    • 7th grade – 96.89%

    • 8th grade – 97.83%

    • Campus – 97.39%

FROM OUR PARENT VOLUNTEERS

We wanted to communicate  all the plans for the 2024-2025 school year so you can plan accordingly. Please see the dates and additional info below.

• Catered Teacher Appreciation Lunch 5/8/25

Randomly throughout the year we will ask for monetary donations to stock popcorn, sodas, and water all year for the teachers and staff.
If you want to donate $75 now you will be done for the year. You can drop cash or check (CSMS) at the front office or Venmo, Kristin-Clements-4. Otherwise, we will send emails leading up to the event and you can donate then, if you can!

Thank you all so much for helping to make these events possible for our students and teachers! 

Amanda Talbert, parent volunteer

Kristin Clements, parent volunteer

FROM MRS. MCADAMS, School Counselor

• amcadams@chinaspringisd.net

• If you have any questions about Section 504, please contact Mrs. McAdams.  

• Please contact me if your child has any counseling needs. 

• Course Selection Forms for 7th Graders for NEXT year- Mrs. Bartee and Mrs. McAdams will be going into classrooms to go over information for next year in History classes.  The students should be bringing those home for you to sign. 

• Bullying can be verbal, physical, through social exclusion, or via digital sources.

• NJHS- We had our 1st introduction meeting last Wednesday.  It was great to see the kids building on teamwork, and expectations were gathered for behavior, academics, etc.  The 7th grade will be able to sign up for an officer position in April through their Schoology.  We are in the works of planning our 8th grade NJHS field trip in May.  More information to come.  

• If you are being bullied or someone you know is getting bullied please report it to Mrs. Bartee or Mrs. McAdams.

FROM MRS. PALMER,  Registrar/Attendance Clerk

• spalmer@chinaspringisd.net

• DUES: Class Dues are $20 - we accept Cash or Check made out to CSMS or you may pay online through Myschoolbucks.com - Store, Browse All, Class Dues.

• If you have an absence excuse note for your student, you may email Mrs. Palmer or bring the note to the front office.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• 03.06.2025 – Kona Ice available for purchase during lunches

• 03.06.2024 – MS Cheer Tryouts

• 03.10.2025 – Start of Spring Break

• 03.27.2025 – Spring Dance

BELL SCHEDULE