CMS Vision Statement: Comfort Middle School will provide differentiated instruction
designed to facilitate the desire to become lifelong learners and productive citizens
through excellence in academics and extra-curricular programs
CMS Mission Statement: Using teamwork with an emphasis on superior performance
in academics and athletics, Comfort Middle School staff and parents will guide our
students to become productive citizens in their community.

Hello! Welcome to CMS!!! I am Ms. Preuss and I am your child’s theatre arts, ESL, or honors math teacher. This is my 11th year teaching at CMS. I am looking forward to working with and getting to know your child this year.

I have worked for Comfort ISD for about fourteen years as a substitute teacher, teacher’s assistant, accelerated reader coordinator, and classroom teacher. I attended Southwest Texas State University and received a degree in recreational administration. I used this degree for over twenty-five years in the camping industry, most recently at Hermann Sons Youth Camps. I volunteered at school when my children, Justin and Katie, were in elementary school. When they started high school, I decided to obtain teacher certification. I received my alternative certification and began classroom teaching in 1999. I live in Comfort and enjoy attending sporting events. I enjoy seeing the kids outside of the classroom in activities they love to do. I am the middle school cheerleader sponsor, UIL coordinator, and one-act play director.

This year I am teaching a variety of classes that include keyboarding, exploring theatre, theatre I, theatre II, ESL, and sixth grade honors math.

Clear communication among the student, teacher, and parent is extremely important for the student to be successful. If your child is having difficulty with math I am available to help him before school and after school most of the time---especially with advance notice. If you need to visit with me about your child I have a conference period from 2:45 – 3:30 daily. Please contact the middle school at (830) 995-6420 to arrange a conference. I also have an e-mail address you may use: melissa.preuss@comfort.txed.net
If you need to visit with me before or after school, please set it up in advance with the middle school office or me. By teaming together we can effectively handle the needs of your child.

In my math classes the students are required to keep a notebook which strenghthens their organizational skills. They will update their assignment page daily for their and your reference.



SUPPLIES
Please try to have these items for next week. We will set up notebooks at that time.
• 3-ring binder (1 inch to 1 ½ inches)
• Set of 5 dividers
• Pencils
• Notebook paper.
We will be using other supplies—scissors, crayons, map pencils, and glue sticks from time to time. Students may use supplies from my classroom if they do not have these.

DISCIPLINE
The discipline plan used in my classroom is set district wide. The expectations posted in my room are the same ones listed in the CMS discipline plan. On occasion I may assign discipline paragraphs before taking the next step of assigning detentions. I do not anticipate problems in this area.

COURSE DESCRIPTOR
The Sixth Grade Math classes will emphasize problem solving, patterns and relationship, numbers and numeration concepts, operations and computations, measurement, geometry, probability, and graphing at the 5th and 6th grade levels.

GRADING POLICY
Tests ------------------------------------------------ 50%
Summative tests
Special Projects (occasionally)
Daily Work ----------------------------------------- 40%
Class Participation
Class Work/ Assignments Completed In Class
Quizzes
Homework------------------------------------------- 10%
Assignments designed to be completed
outside of class (they may be started in class
but will require work outside class time)

***Some assignments may fall in both of the last two categories and may be counted as such. If a student fails an assignment in these categories, he can correct it to a 70 within a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes I will have him correct it or give an alternate assignment. It is the student’s responsibility to come to me to get the assignment.

In the theatre arts program we offer three theatre arts classes. The first class, exploring theatre, is for sixth graders. It is an introductory class that gives the students an idea of what theatre is all about. Theatre I is offered for seventh and eighth graders, where the students begin to develop their voice, stage presence, and become familiar with the production process. The third class is Theatre II-- Productions and is offered primarily for eighth graders after completion of Theatre I. This class works on plays for public performance. We have fun preparing and improving our skills. Pictured above is a scene from last spring's production of "Her Senior Year".

SUPPLIES
For all theatre classes students will need a folder with pockets, paper, and something to write with.

DISCIPLINE
The discipline plan used in my classroom is set district wide. The expectations posted in my room are the same ones listed in the CMS discipline plan. On occasion I may assign discipline paragraphs before taking the next step of assigning detentions. I do not anticipate problems in this area.


GRADING POLICY
Tests ------------------------------------------------ 50%
Summative tests (from the textbook)
Public Performances (for productions)
Daily Work ----------------------------------------- 40%
Class Participation (theatre games)
Rehearsals (for productions)
Stroke lines (memorization --- for productions)
Homework------------------------------------------- 10%
Costume & Props Check (for productions)

COURSE DESCRIPTOR
The ESL class is designed to support your child in the mastery of the English language. We will use Rosetta Stone along with different programs to do this. I will also be available to help your child with work from his core classes such as: math, science, language arts, reading, and social studies.


SUPPLIES

Students will not need any additional supplies for this class. They will use the supplies from their other classes.

DISCIPLINE

The discipline plan used in my classroom is set district wide. The expectations posted in my room are the same ones listed in the CMS discipline plan. On occasion I may assign discipline paragraphs before taking the next step of assigning detentions. I do not anticipate problems in this area.

GRADING POLICY

The majority of the grades in this course will be determined by student participation and from the activities presented in class. I will not assign homework for ESL.