International Events
It’s a special weekend for international learners.
On Saturday, sixty countries will be represented at UNC-Charlotte’s annual International Fair, from 10am – 6pm in the Student Activity Center. The event and parking are free. There will be cultural music and dance performances, costumes, displays, and lots of international cuisine. For more information, call 704-687-2410.
Sunday is the 14th Annual Latin America Festival from noon to 7pm at the Mint Museum of Art, 2730 Randolph Road. Admission is $5 per adult, $3 for children 9-12, free for children under 9. Parking is available near the Museum and at CPCC with free shuttle bus service. The event features many performances, displays, exhibits, and delicious food. For more information, call 704-531-3848.
Book Fair!
The Usborne Book Fair is off to a great start, thanks to the hard work of Cathie and David Price and the Media Center Committee. Parents can visit the Book Fair in the Media Center Monday-Thursday afternoons from 4-6pm and on Friday morning from 9:30-noon.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
You should receive a note from your child’s homeroom teacher inviting you to schedule a Parent-Teacher Conference next week. The teachers will offer these at the times of their choice: before and/or after school and on Friday afternoon. You may also request a telephone conference. The conferences may also extend into the following week.
Picture Day!
This Monday is School Picture Day. We’re asking that all students wear one of the approved shirts from our uniform policy, but not necessarily the Special Event shirt. We will require that for the Class Pictures in January. We have had requests for more casual dress for Monday, but because these pictures will go in cumulative files and possibly a yearbook, we want to maintain the uniform policy. In the spring there will be an individual portrait taken and students will be permitted to wear clothes of their choice.
After a School Absence…
When you child returns to school from being absent, please be sure he/she has a note from you with the date(s) of absence, the reason, and parent contact information. For example:
“Please excuse John/Joan from being absent on Sept. 28. He/she was home sick. If you have any questions, please contact me at 704-000-0000.”
Written communication will allow the School Office to categorize the absence as “excused.” No note = “unexcused.” If students miss 20 or more days in a school year, they must submit an appeal to retain credit. If there are many “unexcused” absences, it is more likely that credit will be lost.
Electronic Devices
CIS students should not bring CD players, cell phones, or other electronic devices to school, unless requested by the teacher.
School Closing Information
We just received word that when inclement weather occurs, information about Carolina International School will be announced on WBTV and on their sister radio stations, WBT and The LINK, and on wbtv.com. We expect to hear from other media in the next few weeks. Until further notice, we will continue to go with Cabarrus County school system’s decisions on school closing.
Grocery Donation Programs
The following groceries will make a cash donation to CIS if you mention our number when you make a purchase:
Harris Teeter: 561
Bi-Lo: 8868
Lowe’s: 8755
Food Lion: doesn’t give us a number, but you can link your card at www.foodlion.com
We are also saving Harris Teeter milk caps, Campbell’s soup labels, box tops for education, and Tyson’s 123 labels. These can be delivered to the School Office.
Enhancing Our Campus
The Campus Development Committee has its monthly meetings the first Tuesday of each month, including next Tuesday at 7pm at the School Office. Parents who have an interest in campus beautification, landscaping, playgrounds, planning and design are encouraged to attend.
The following article was published in the Charlotte Observer, Cabarrus Neighbors edition today, Sept. 30, 2004, with pictures.
New school starts year after multiple delays
Carolina International School up and running at Harrisburg campus
GAIL SMITH-ARRANTS
Staff Writer
HARRISBURG - After a series of delays and temporary sites, Carolina International School finally is operating at its Harrisburg campus.
The school, Cabarrus County’s first charter school, initially planned to open Aug. 16 but had to keep pushing back the start date because of rocks, sticky clay soil and heavy rain at the site.
The school started classes at its Hickory Ridge Road campus Sept. 16 after operating for various periods at the old Harrisburg Town Hall, a warehouse, a business, Frank Liske Park, the Charlotte Sports Center and even a theater at Carolina Mall.
“It’s been a long and arduous path,” school Director Richard Beall said.
Some parents pulled their children out of the school because of the delays.
Sharon Moore, who lives in Charlotte’s University area and has three children at the school, admitted she was concerned about the problems in opening but tried to think long-range.
“The school’s international and environmental focus, its stable location, its eventual growth to 12th grade and its strong leadership are what had attracted us to CIS in the first place, and none of that had changed in spite of the delayed opening,” Moore said.
“Good things often happen to those who wait,” she said.
Real international focus
The school has 320 students; about 60 percent are from Mecklenburg and the rest are from Cabarrus and other counties. Charter schools receive state funding and can be run by parents and others in the community.At Carolina International, students, teachers and administrators finally are settling in, although the school still doesn’t have a sign at the road yet.
The campus consists of mobile units clustered around a courtyard. Within three years, Beall hopes to have a permanent building and outdoor educational areas on the heavily wooded 36-acre property south of Harrisburg.
Dee Duncan, formerly lead teacher at the School for Environmental Studies in the Cabarrus County Schools, is the charter school’s assistant director and has a child attending kindergarten there.
Duncan envisions butterfly gardens, nature trails and wetlands maintained by students.
“My hope is to have a school that looks like an outdoor education center on the outside,” she said.
Duncan, who has traveled to Africa on teacher exchanges, notes that two Ugandan teachers will be visiting the school in October.
The school’s international focus can be seen and heard.
During a physical education class outside, teacher Scott Morris played tag with seventh-graders against a backdrop of flags from different countries.
In Crystal Smithers’ music class, third-graders were singing about universal togetherness.
“Beyond the borders of nations, feel the beating human heart. In the common choir of creation, will you sing your part?” the children sang, some rocking with the beat.
Smithers’ students already have learned how to say “hello” in nine different languages.
Emilee Buytkins, 8, said she enjoys the music class and the school.
“The teachers come from different countries. We can learn their cultures and what they used to do in their country.”
Journe Gilbert, 8, said students get to do various things after school, such as sing in the choir.
After-school involvement
Lisa Albinus of Concord, who has two children at the school, is coordinating that after-school enrichment, such as choir, chess and private lessons.
She said she likes the small feel of the school, the parent involvement and individual learning plans for students. The international focus, she said, is a huge draw.
“I want my kids to know there’s more than our back yard and middle-class America ... that people in Uganda are our neighbors as well.”
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Gail Smith-Arrants: (704) 786-2185; gsmith-arrants@charlotteobserver.com.
Dr. Richard Beall, Director
Carolina International School
8810 Hickory Ridge Road
Harrisburg, NC 28075
Telephone: (704) 455-3847
Email: info@CarolinaInternationalSchool.org
www.CarolinaInternationalSchool.org