CENTRAL DAUPHIN MIDDLE SCHOOL
The Principal’s Page / April 2015 Edition
Mr. Jeffrey S. Matzner - Principal
PTA
Mark your calendar for the spring social being
held Friday, April 24th! Contact Anne
Fitzpatrick if you would like to help with the
social (afitz5000@aol.com).
Thank you to all the parents and Tammy B.
who donated sweet treats for the teachers and
staff for April!
Thank you to everyone who supported the
Gertrude Hawk Fundraiser. We sold over
$12,000 worth of candy - that's a lot of
chocolate! We would like to send out a special
recognition to Zeena R. who was our highest
seller with almost $1,000 in sales!
Zeena earned a flat-screen
TV! WOW! Thanks again to all!
Please join us for our next PTA meeting,
Monday, April 13th we will be presenting the
new budget for review and introducing our new
Executive Board.
NURSE’S CORNER
If your child is on provisional enrollment due
to immunizations, please turn in proof of
immunizations as soon as possible. The
deadline for this is April 27th. Students that
have not turned in proof of immunization(s)
will not be permitted to attend school on this
date and absences will be unexcused.
Attention to 6th grade parents- to meet the
immunization requirements for 7th grade, your
child will need to have proof of two additional
immunizations. In 7th grade, all students will
need to have a tdap (tetanus) and MCV
(meningitis) vaccine or proof that they have
had these vaccines. Notices will be sent home
closer to the end of the school year as a
reminder.
PSSA TESTING DATES
English/Language Arts – April 13-16
Math – April 21-23
Science (8th Grade Only) – April 28-29
**Tests will be given in the morning each day.
**NO Education Trips will be approved for
days we are testing.
FROM THE MAIN OFFICE
Lost & Found is growing out of control at
CDMS. If your student is missing a sweatshirt,
jacket, planner or lunch box please have them
come to the office to look though the massive
stack. Parents are also welcome to come to the
office to look through things themselves.
STUDENT COUNCIL
The CDMS Student Council is entering its most
busy time of the year. We are currently in the
middle of our fundraiser, Clash of Cash (Penny
War last year). Clash of Cash will take place
from February 20th - March 5th. To this date
we have made over $300. After Clash of Cash
we will begin to prepare for 2015/2016 CDMS
Student Council Elections. We will also be
getting ready for our 8th grade combined
(with Linglestown Middle) Social and 4th
Annual CDMS Talent Show. We look forward
to building the final memories, to what has
already been a great school year here at CDMS.
CDMS QUIZ BOWL
CHAMPIONS!!!!
Congratulations to the Central Dauphin Quiz
Bowl team for competing in the Penn State
Academic Bowl tournament on March
24th. The Rams dominated the quarter finals
and semifinals by at total score of 44 to
2. However, CD had to face the returning
champions from last year, Harrisburg Math and
Science Academy in the finals. CD took control
early and never looked back as they hammered
out one of the most convincing wins in the 26
year history by a score of 15 to 1 in the
finals. Way to go Rams! The quiz bowl team
was made up of: Naveen N., Asna R., Mikala
G., Natalie T., Morgan M. and Enas K. The
team was coached by Mr. Patterson and Mrs.
Robinson.
CDMS YEARBOOK
Yearbook Update: The online sales of
yearbooks have concluded, but we have
received a few extra copies. To purchase one,
bring either $25 in cash or a check made out to
Central Dauphin Middle School to Mr. Hilbish.
They will be sold on a first come, first served
basis.
CDMS SCHOOL STORE
Student Store: The CDMS school store is a
great place for students to pick up school
supplies. We have everything from mechanical
pencils to post it notes. In addition, there is
spirit wear such as tie-dyed sweatshirts, short
sleeve T-shirts. Draw string back packs and
everything for locker organization!
CENTRAL DAUPHIN MIDDLE SCHOOL
The Principal’s Page / April 2015 Edition
Mr. Jeffrey S. Matzner - Principal
CDMS BOOK FAIR
A Scholastic Book Fair is being held from
May 4 - 8 in Room 303. Students will visit the
fair with their language arts teachers. Orders
can also be placed online by following the book
fair link on the school webpage. All books that
have been ordered online will be delivered to
our library and distributed to students from
there. Proceeds from the book fair will benefit
our library. A handout and brochure with all the
details was sent home with all students. Thanks
for your interest in promoting books and
reading at CDMS! Questions may be directed
to Mrs. Boran, librarian.
APRIL CALENDAR OF EVENTS
03-06 NO SCHOOL – Spring Break
08
3rd MP Report Cards available on
Home Access Center
13
PTA Meeting @ 7PM – CDMS
LIBRARY
13-16 PSSA Testing All Grades E/LA
21-23 PSSA Testing All Grades Math
24
PTA Spring Social 7-9PM
28-29 PSSA Testing 8th Grade Science
TEAM HIGHLIGHTS
Gray Wolves – Social Studies – We are just
finishing learning about Canada. Students
recently went through the voting process to
choose their classroom Prime Minister. This
helped students to compare the government of
Canada to the United States of America. Our
test will be on April 17th. Language Arts –
PSSA preparation is in full force. Students are
preparing for next week and are doing a great
job. We are also starting “Where the Red Fern
Grows”, wrapping up poetry/figurative
language, and working on grammar. Science We just finished our unit on Matter in Science
class. The students are busy learning about the
8 characteristics of Life. They will soon be
using microscopes to examine microscopic life.
Math – We will be starting chapter 10 on
volume. We will be learning about surface
area and volume of three dimensional
figures. They have a formula sheet that they
may use at any time. As always, math help is
offered every day during fourth
period. Another reminder: you can log onto
ConnectEd with your child’s user name;
CDfollowed by their student id and the
password for all students is Student1.
Red Phoenix – SOTM- Congratulations to our
Students of the Month- Brandon P. (Rm 108)
and Abigail D. (Rm 205). These two students
have been great examples of the people we
have on the Red Phoenix. LA/RD: We have
dived into our Poetry unit, where the students
are learning about the literary elements of
poetry and how to analyze the poetry they read.
They are learning about all types of figurative
language along the way. We will be continuing
to learn about Poetry. We are also reviewing
test taking strategies for the upcoming PSSA
Test on April 13-16, 2014. Science: We are
beginning the unit from Cells to Organisms.
Students will be learning about living things,
the basic unit of life, and many other topics.
They will be learning how to utilize
microscopes to identify the 8 characteristics of
life as well as many different living and
nonliving things. Social Studies: We just
finished up our Chapter 4 (Canada) unit. Our
next destination is Mexico. The students will
learn about the physical, political, economic
and cultural regions of this area focusing on
comparing and contrasting. Math: We are
moving through our studies and will soon
splash into Volume and Surface Area, as well
as Statistics and Probability. These two units
definitely encompass all that we have learned.
From adding and subtracting, to multiplying
and dividing, and how to represent and read the
data that we are given.
Blue Dolphins – Congratulations to our Blue
Dolphins Students of the Month: Maahin P. and
Nithika R. In Science we have learned what
makes something living and now we will began
to explore living organisms under the
microscope and learn all about cells! In Mrs.
Klick’s Language Arts we have finished Red
Fern Novel and will continue on in Theme 3,
Growing Up. In math we have just concluded
calculating the area of various shapes. We will
be taking a look at box and whisker plots
before moving on to calculating the volume of
different shapes. In Mr. Neagley's Language
Arts class we are exploring the perfect tenses of
verbs, learning about inferences, and will soon
begin the novel "Tuck Everlasting." In Social
Studies, students are beginning to study
Canada. In Miss Hostetler's Language Arts,
we will explore Theme 3, Growing Up. We
CENTRAL DAUPHIN MIDDLE SCHOOL
The Principal’s Page / April 2015 Edition
Mr. Jeffrey S. Matzner - Principal
also will be starting the novels Tuck
Everlasting and The Phantom Tollbooth in the
very near future.
Red Raptors – The Red Raptors would like to
congratulate Stephanie B. and Clayton S. for
being selected as Students of the Month for
March. In World History, we are finally
wrapping up our unit on Rome. We will spend
a few weeks studying the early middle ages
(the Germanic tribes, Vikings, British Isles, and
the Franks), then we will move onto Feudalism.
The students will see what it was like to live in
the medieval time period, research a famous
medieval person, and construct a model. If you
have spare cardboard (cereal boxes, empty
paper towel and toilet paper rolls, small tissue
boxes) that you’d like to send in for the kids to
use to help them construct their models, it
would be greatly appreciated! In English class,
we have started our unit on the Oral
Traditions. Students will be reading various
fables, myths, legends, epics, and folktales.
In Pre-Algebra, we will be finishing our series
of sections on Statistics and Probability. For
the remainder of the school year, we will be
focusing on concepts to prepare us for Algebra
1. In science class, students are working on the
next to last unit of the year, Ecosystems. They
will be working on various activities
throughout the unit and organizing them into a
portfolio. The unit will end with the students
watching the movie "Medicine Man" that will
show both the positive and negative impacts
that humans have on the ecosystems around the
world. In Academic Literacy we will be
traveling to Africa via the book Bulu.
Gold Stars – The Gold Stars would like to
congratulate the students of the month, Nate C.
and Jamie W. In Math, students are currently
working on statistics and probability. This
includes measures of central tendencies, listing
possible outcomes, and determining the
likelihood of an event. In the next unit we will
be solving equations with multiple steps; for
example, equations with variables on both
sides, equations with grouping symbols, and
inequalities with multiple steps. In English, the
Gold Stars will be studying Oral Traditions,
which include myths, legends, and fables. The
students will also have the chance to write their
own Tall Tale. For several weeks, Mr.
Dougherty's classes have been competing in an
Academic Decathlon. For the entire
competition is has been a back and forth
struggle between Athens (Period 5) and Sparta
(Period 1). Out of nowhere, like a phoenix
from the ashes, Knossos (Period 8) has
emerged as a contender. The final competition
will commence soon, stay tuned! In science the
Gold Stars finished up the evolution unit with a
cross-curricular skin color lab that they then
discussed in Mrs. Smith's Academic Literacy
class. They have moved on to studying about
ecosystem interactions and have some projects
coming up related to that.
class, the students will be starting a unit on
Factoring. All Algebra students were given a
Keystone Preparation Manual that they are to
be working on in order to prepare themselves
for the Algebra Keystone Test which will be
given on May 13th and 14th. All of the
solutions can be found on Mr. Drahovsky’s
Moodle site. In Earth Science, the students will
be putting the final touches on plate tectonics,
blowing the top off volcanoes and shaking
things up with earthquakes. In History class,
the Union is breaking apart and Civil War is
imminent. We will be researching different
aspects of the Civil War over the next several
weeks and reporting on our findings. English
class is completing a unit on poetry. Soon we
will be delving into the novel, working on a
differentiated, self-directed study. In
Responding to Reading, the students will be
applying the reading strategies they have been
learning about all year long. We will soon be
reading a class novel that highlights the
historical events of the civil rights movement in
the United States. In addition to reading the
novel, students will read and research
supplemental material about civil rights
events. Finally, the students in Responding
will be designing, creating and writing an
original piece of literature that incorporates the
characteristics of a published book.
Green Clovers – The students of the month for
the Green Clovers are Amelia L. and Dylan
H. In Geometry class, the students are starting
a unit on Circles. In Intro to Algebra class, the
students are learning how to multiply and
divide monomial expressions and in Algebra
Silver Lions – In Geometry, students are
investigating the properties of circles. In
Algebra, we are preparing for both the PSSA’s
and the Keystone Exams. We are beginning
Chapter 8 with factoring quadratics. In Intro to
CENTRAL DAUPHIN MIDDLE SCHOOL
The Principal’s Page / April 2015 Edition
Mr. Jeffrey S. Matzner - Principal
Algebra, we are also preparing for the PSSA’s
that will begin the week of April 13. In English
class, we have been practicing impromptu
writing skills by completing in-class, timed
essays. We will be ready for the PSSA tests!
We also started a poetry unit that will consist
of student presentations of an analysis of a
poem. We will continue to work on our writing
and preparing for the transition to high school
by reading more complex texts of both fiction
and non-fiction.
In Science, we are currently studying the
causes and effects of earthquakes and
volcanoes. We will then explore the properties
of rocks and minerals. The year will end with
studying earth’s water systems.
The Silver Lions have just embarked on their
Civil War unit. Students will breakdown the
causes and look at the goals, strategies,
strengths, and weaknesses of both sides. A
guest speaker along with a project will
supplement this unit.
Soaring Eagles – Scott C. earned March
Student of the Month!
Creative Arts - The Sixth Grade Chorus, right
off their outstanding concert at the PA State
Capitol on March 30th, is busy preparing for
their spring concert. The choral portion of the
program will feature songs from popular
movies such as Hop, Shrek and Lion King.
Come out and support the CD Middle Band,
Chorus and Orchestra on May 11th.