Excited for the 2019-20 school year to start? Here’s what you need to know!

July 8, 2019

When does school start?

Wednesday, Aug. 7 is the first half day, and Friday, Aug. 9 is the first full day.

How do I register my child?

If your K through 12th-grade student is new to Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools or is transferring between schools, enroll online by visiting https://enroll.cmcss.net.

New this year, the CMCSS Enrollment Center, located at 430 Greenwood Ave., is open M-F, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., throughout the calendar year when district offices are open. The Enrollment Center serves as a centralized location for parents and guardians to register their children and obtain documentation, resources, and support for the enrollment process. Parents and guardians are able to complete the registration process at the Enrollment Center, including the ability to submit important registration documents such as birth certificates, health forms, statement of residence, etc., which will be scanned and sent electronically to the school at which the child is zoned.

Parents and guardians still have the option to complete the enrollment process at their child’s zoned school when buildings are open and staff is available during the school year. High School offices open on July 16. Elementary and Middle School offices open July 18.

What school supplies will my child need?

A great way to start the school year is to have your child prepared. Below you will find a link to a list of supplies needed for elementary students. The supplies will be collected and stored for classroom use. Depending upon usage, at some point during the school year, students may need to replenish their supplies. Additionally, sometimes teachers may request other items depending on the curriculum.

https://portal.cmcss.net/iso.aspx?doc=ELS-F033.pdf

Middle and High Schools have a greater variance in supply lists, so it’s best to wait until students receive the list from their teacher.

Tennessee Tax-Free Weekend

The state of Tennessee’s annual sales tax holiday is held every year, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the last Friday in July and ending at 11:59 p.m. the following Sunday night. During this weekend, certain goods may be purchased tax free. The 2019 tax-free holiday weekend begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 26 and ends Sunday, July 28 at 11:59 p.m.

What is tax free?

• Clothing: $100 or Less
• School Supplies and School Art Supplies: $100 or Less
• Computers: $1,500 or Less

How will we learn about School Bus information?

Bus routing information will be emailed to enrolled students on the evening of July 22. Routing information for the 2019-20 School Year will be available on the website beginning Tuesday, July 23.

If you have questions, please call (931) 358-4089 for more information.

Please make sure that your child is at the bus stop five minutes prior to the posted time. Call (931) 358-2006 for information regarding cold weather, rain routes, and sub buses. Weather route information also will be displayed on the main cmcss.net website. For parents of younger children, please ensure they either know their address or have it written down for them in a safe place. Also, caution your child to not get off the bus if the stop is unfamiliar to them.

Bus Rider Eligibility

State Law

T.C.A. §49.6.2101 allows students living 1 1/2 miles beyond their assigned school is provided transportation.

CMCSS Qualifications

K-5 students qualify if they live 1/2 mile or more beyond their assigned school. Students in grades 6th-12th qualify if they live 1 mile or more beyond their assigned school. Students must attend the school for which they are zoned. For an exception to school attendance zones, a Special Request for Transfer must be made to and approved by the Student Services Department. Transportation will not be provided to students whose Special Request for Transfer is approved or to those students who apply for Open Enrollment (a window for application is announced in January of each year). In certain situations, such as high school college and career academies, limited transportation options may be available for enrolled students.

When is open house?

Elementary School Open House, or “Back to School Night,” is Tuesday, Aug. 6.

Middle Schools will have Open House Aug. 15 and High Schools’ will be Aug. 22. Times for all Open Houses will be from 5-7 p.m.

When is freshman orientation?

Ninth graders will be contacted regarding their orientation. Six of the seven high schools will hold Ninth Grade orientation on Aug. 5 from 7:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.. Rossview High School freshmen focus will be July 30 and 31 from  9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

When and where are 2020 graduations?

All ceremonies will take place at Austin Peay State University in the Dunn Center.

Thursday, May 21

Middle College at 10 a.m.

Adult Education at 1 p.m.

Montgomery Central High School at 4 p.m.

Kenwood High School at 7 p.m.

Friday, May 22

West Creek High School at 4 p.m.

Rossview High School at 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 23

Clarksville High School at 9 a.m.

Northwest High School at 12 p.m.

Northeast High School at 3 p.m.

How do students use technology?

CMCSS is pleased to provide 1:1 laptops to students in grades 4-12 for personal use to enhance their college and career readiness. Software is provided and integrated with the classroom curriculum to help develop computer literacy at an early stage. Students in grades K-3 use classroom-based technology.

For more information on 1:1 laptops, please visit https://www.cmcss.net/laptops/.

How are inclement weather days decided?

The Chief Operations Officer (COO) takes as much time as reasonably possible to make a recommendation to the Director of Schools. We always err on the side of caution to ensure the safety of students. To make a good recommendation, the COO looks at weather data, and has transportation and operations staff checking the road conditions all over Montgomery County. He also is studying radar, as well as attending the national weather service briefings, and calling the forecasters. Sometimes the decision is easy. The more difficult decisions come with the timing or the significance of the event which don’t allow to make a clear decision. When that happens, parents will be kept informed of the status of a closing decision.

To learn more, please view this Focus video: https://cmcssfocus.net/2015/03/16/cmcss-snow-days/

What is the makeup plan when students miss days for inclement weather?

1. The first five days missed by students will not be made up and will come from stockpiled student days.
2. The sixth day missed and subsequent days will be made up as available:
a. January 6, 2020 (staff development day)
b. February 17, 2020 (Presidents Day)
c. March 3, 2020 (staff development day)
d. Early release day on March 13, 2020 will be converted to a full day with thirty minutes added to eight additional school days to equal one day.
e. Thirty minutes added to twelve days not to infringe upon the state testing window to account for one make up day 3.

Make up for days missed beyond this plan will be determined as circumstances require.

Approved by the CMCSS School Board on July 9, 2019.

How do stockpile days work?

From year to year, parents, staff, community and media request explanation of what a stockpile day is and how they work.

The law allows for 13 days to be stockpiled by students. Students stockpile days by going 30 extra minutes each day. Teachers do not stockpile days. The district chose years ago, with input from teachers and administrators, to use four of the stockpiled days as staff development which left nine student stockpiled days. A few years ago, again with teacher and administrator input, three early release days were added. This accounts for one more day to be subtracted from the nine which then leaves eight days from the 13.

The Board will forgive five days of the eight for students. Subsequent days would need to be approved by the Board for makeup or not.

It is prudent to make up the lost days as teachers have stated that they never have enough time with the students. Making the days up gives more time for teacher and student interaction and addresses the teachers¹ concern of time with students. Student achievement is impacted by student-teacher interaction.

In years past, we have made up days in a variety of ways, and usually, that was dependent upon how many were lost and the time of year the inclement weather occurred. Other school districts do make up the days, but they may not make up all of them and may not have the days allotted for staff development.

How do I know when there are unplanned school closings?

Throughout the year, bad weather sometimes impacts our area during the night or early morning, making it difficult to make a school closing announcement in the afternoon or early evening. In an effort to help parents prepare, the Communications Dept. will make a call to all stakeholders the afternoon or evening before an anticipated weather event that could cause the closing of schools. This is to let stakeholders be aware of the possibility, and alert them to make plans “just in case.”  If schools will be closed, you can expect a call the following morning (between 5 and 5:15 a.m.) as you have in the past. If you do not receive a phone call, schools will be open. If the information about a school closing is known earlier than 5 a.m., information will be posted to the CMCSS website, the CMCSS Facebook page, Twitter, and released to Nashville TV stations and local media. When weather moves in early enough to make the decision on the afternoon/evening before, we will continue to follow our procedure of sending out a notification then.

How does CMCSS address bullying?

To distinguish bullying-related acts from other inappropriate behaviors, CMCSS defines bullying as: (a) harm occurs through an intentional act; and (b) a power imbalance exists; and (c) the accused enjoys carrying out the action; and (d) the accused repeats the behavior, often in a systematic way; and (e) the target has a sense of being persecuted or oppressed and is hurt physically and or psychologically. Bullying-related acts may include: Actions of engaging in reprisal or retaliation against any person who reports, who is a target of, or witness to a bullying-related act, or any person with reliable information about a bullying-related act; or actions in which one falsely accuses another of having committed a bullying-related act as a means of reprisal or retaliation or as a means of a bullying-related act.

What is the attendance policy?

Student Attendance The Compulsory School Attendance Law in Tennessee (T.C.A. §49-6-3001) requires children (ages 6-17 inclusive) to attend school each day. Students who accumulate five (5) days of unexcused absences will be required to participate in a conference with their parent/legal guardian and may be referred to Juvenile Court according to the CMCSS Progressive Truancy Intervention Plan (STS-P010). The following are official or adequate excuses that should be turned in to the Attendance Secretary in the school office:

• Medical note (doctor, dentist, hospital, etc.) for which the student was a patient
• Court note for which the student was required to be in court
• Funeral notice (obituary/funeral program of a family member)
• Military deployment paperwork-for military dependents, TN Law (T.C.A. 49-6-3019) allows the following for out of country deployments:
  • 1 excused absence when the parent leaves for deployment
  • 1 excused absence when the parent returns at the end of deployment
  • Up to ten (10) days excused absences when the parent is home from the deployment for Rest and Recuperation
  • In addition, local policy allows up to five (5) consecutive days of excused absences (either before or after the deployment) when the parent deployment is less than twelve (12) months
  • Military paperwork/documentation MUST be provided to the school for these to be excused.
• Parents or legal guardians may submit notes for students to be excused up to five (5) days per school year, for any reason. To be excused, notes must be provided by the parent or legal guardian, and received by the school within five (5) school days of the absence.

For high school and middle school classes, an absence per class is defined as missing ten (10) or more minutes of the class period. Make-up work: (Including suspension and remandment) Upon the first day of returning to school, it is the student’s responsibility to make contact with the teacher(s) regarding make-up work. During the school year, make-up work must be completed within a number of days equal to the number of consecutive days of the absences. A grade of “0” shall be entered into the teacher’s grade book for any missing work until the assignments have been completed and turned in.

Out-of-school suspensions shall be deemed unexcused absences.