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CSMH Virtual Tour for Prospective Families

Go to Video Gallery Added Jan 25, 2021 •

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Eighth grade students Hailey, Maia, Aiden, Mia and Kyle giving a virtual tour of Charter School Morgan Hill to prospective families interested in enrolling their child at CSMH for the 2021/2022 school year.

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Welcome to Charter School of Morgan Hill and our virtual tour.  My name is Hailey and I'll be your student docent today.  It has been a long standing tradition to have our middle school students be tour guides for open enrollment Unfortunately due to Covid restrictions we are not able to have in person tours, however, some my classmates and I are happy to give you a virtual tour of the Charter School of Morgan Hill.  One thing we are proud about is the school has once again been designated a California Distinguished School. We are especially proud of accomplishment because it represents what we can achieve when teachers, staff and parents and community come together to provide an environment where students are able to thrive. We have achieved the designation of California Distinguished award every year we have been eligible.  On top of that we earned the WASC Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation.  CSMH continues at maximum capacity with 650 students and 400 students on the waitlist. This is the school office building where our administrators work.  This building houses the staff room, the health room and the parent teacher workroom. Charter School of Morgan Hill has its own Board of Directors which consists of parents, community members and staff.  They are responsible for the policies making sure our school is following charter and overseeing the finances of our school. Over here we have our middle school wing which houses our 6th to 8th grade students. One fun thing about being a middle schooler is that we get our own lockers, right over there.  In math class, we use textbooks with the same curriculum that prepares students for local public high schools. Math is a subject typically taught with textbooks and worksheets, however, teachers at CSMH expand on instruction beyond the books through projects. For example, 8th graders construct pieces of art using equations and create lines They also drop toys off the gym roof to learn about mass and velocity.  Languange Arts the students learn the students turn Mrs. Sorenson's classroom into a poetry cafe. Poetry can be a unit that the middle school students dread, however, the transformation of the classroom to the Poetry Cafe something for the students to look forward to.  This is just one example of project based learning.  Students brainstorm themes, vote ideas and manage to construct things needed to transform the classroom into a fun engaging environment.  After the cafes completed we learn about different types of poetry and then create and share our own pieces.  During projects like these, we have many opportunities to utilize each other's strengths and work as a team.  Projects like these have a long lasting effect on students because they show that studies can be fun and we can all learn by being involved in what is being taught.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you about my Charter School of Morgan Hill.  I'm now going to hand you off to Maia to continue your tour. Thanks Hailey, hello my name is Maia welcome to CSMH. In middle school students also study history, geography, science, current events and have electives.  In non-pandemic times, some of the electives offered include leadership, art, drama, technology, engineering, yearbook, vet science and Iron Chef which students attend several times a week. At CSMH, there's a big emphasis on experiencing things as opposed to just reading about them in books.  In addition to on campus experiences like Then and Now Day, Ellis Island Day, Election Day and Greek Days, students go on several field trips throughout the school year. Beginning in the fourth grade, students go on their first overnight field trip to the Coloma Discovery School where they learn about the Gold Rush. In 6th grade students attend a week of science camp at Camp Campbell in Boulder Creek then in 8th grade, students take the long awaited field trip to Washington D.C. and the surrounding area. Thanks to contributions to the CSMH Foundation from parents and our community, all field trips are paid in full by the school with the exception of Washington D.C. that being said CSMH is committed to giving all students the opportunity to attend every field trip and therefore scholarships are available to go on the Washington D.C. trip. Community connection is another component that is strongly emphasized at our school. This component refers to a strong sense of community on our campus but also a broader responsibility to care for the wider community. At the local level, every grade does community service projects such as bringing joy through music and art at retirement homes to earning funds so that we can purchase Thanksgiving meals for families in need.  Our school consistently comes together to support the larger community in times of need and crisis.  Another way that we learn to care for the world on a daily basis in through our extensive recycling program students in the 7th grade are responsible for our recycling program.  It also helps educate students in the lower grades with presentations and fun activties. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you about my school, Charter School of Morgan Hill. I would now like to introduce you to  Aiden who will be continuing your tour.  Thanks Maia. Hello my name is Aiden I hope you're enjoying your tour so far. Another factor that contributes to our strong connections is our small class size of 24 students per class with three classes per grade level K-6, there are a total of 72 students per grade. At the middle school levels, students move through a variety of classes throughout their day.  These classes also have 24 students or less. These small classes allow students more individual attention and personalization.  Each student in known and valued as an individual with specific gifts that need to be taken into consideration.  Participation from our parents and community to help teachers to meet the needs of all of our students research shows that children do better in school when their families are involved in their education. Parents have an opportunity to volunteer in the classroom and also outside of the typical school day. Our outdoor farm and agricultural area feature garden beds, composting area, green houses, a chicken coop, pig and goat pens and an apple orchard.  With these resources, students are able to learn hands on about soil, water, natural resources and animal and plant life cycles. All students K through 6th grade have an agriculture enrichment class.  Students in middle school can take it as an elective. Ms. Funke our ag teacher integrates many of the state science standards into these classes. In addition to their regular homeroom classes, students also have enrichment classes in music, art, spanish, P. E. and agriculture with teachers who are solely focused on teaching students in these areas. These classes allow students an opportunity to grow and explore different things that may spark their individual interests.  CSMH has been located on these 11 acres of property for 16 years, with funding from Prop 51 our school will be going through a major renovation starting this summer. Our fields and gym are always busy. We have 650 students in school Kindergarten through 8th grade, we have four P.E. teachers who are solely designated to teaching P.E. and exposing students to a variety of different sports such as volleyball, hockey, basketball, football and soccer just to name a few. Many students have found these opportunities to have inspired them to pursue sports outside of school. We believe it is important to have physical education three times per week to keep our students active and healthy and to promote good sportsmanship.  Our 7th and 8th grade students have P.E. every day.  We have middle school teams in basketball, soccer, volleyball, football and track.  These teams compete against other public and private schools. Students can also in each grade can also participate in the Charter School Olympics which occur every other year.  I'm now going to introduce you to Mia who will continue your CSMH tour.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you about my school. Thank you Aiden and welcome to CSMH My name is Mia This is our new gym built with Measure G funds.  The gym houses many of our P.E. classes Our 7th and 8th graders change out for P.E., each day in our locker rooms.  The gym also has a stage where we have assemblies and classes can do plays and musical performances. Our Middle School dances are also held in our gym. This is our outdoor eating area.  We have a hot lunch program through a company called Choicelunch the company creates meals that are healthier than traditional school lunches. They are made and delivered fresh daily and served in various sizes. There are daily multiple options including vegetarian and non dairy. The Iron Chef elective class for 7th and 8th graders is held in this kitchen. This is our elective room. Nutrition, leadership and other electives are held in our elective room right next to our wonderful library. This building houses some special education classrooms, our art room and technology room.  Our teachers frequently use technology to enrich their projects for example, the 5th grade game board project students designed and printed their games pieces using Tinker CAD and our 3D printers. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to tell you about my school. I would now like to introduce you to Kyle who will be finishing up the tour with you. Thanks Mia. Hello, my name is Kyle I want to share a few examples of the beautiful things that our community can do when we work together even in times when we are not able to physically gather. In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month our community created these art pieces inspired by Hispanic artists Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo. During non pandemic times, we kick off Hispanic Heritage Month with a Back-to-School Fiesta and folkloric dancers. Some of the other annual events that bring our community together include Trunk-or-Treat the Holiday Boutique, World Read Aloud Day, our Fall and Spring exhibitions and Family Fun Fest. We gather as a community to celebrate but we also gather to support one another and the broader community by participating in a variety of community service projects. We have collected candy for troops, hygiene products for families in need, winter coat collections, supplies and funds for the wildfire victims. We've also had major food drives including a Canstruction project.  Grade levels engineered different designs collected canned food and used those cans to build sculptures.  We donated more than 1850 cans of food and 150 bags of rice to local food pantries. Another year, we estimated that the number of cans it would take to go around our 1/8 mile track and donated over 2,500 cans. We are really proud of our school and what it has to offer Due to the pandemic, we are not able to do many of the projects and events that are a part of our curriculum and tradition, this has been disappointing however, it also has provided a real life learning opportunity that our curriculum has and continues to prepare us to handle. We are proud that we have been able to offer in person instruction to many of our students during this pandemic. In addition, our teachers continue to offer a strong distance learning curriculum for our remote learners. We've had to think outside the box and find many creative ways to stay connected during this time including morning announcements, virtual spirit weeks, virtual after school games, activities, school-wide reads, fitness programs and collaborative art projects. These decorative rocks are another example of how our community has used this time while we are apart to beautify our campus and to welcome back students when they return. On this tree, we have some streamers and we call this our wishtree because last week we began a schoolwide read aloud of Wishtree. I hope this virtual tour has given you a glimpse of the amazing place that CSMH is and also shown you how our school continues to carry out our mission statement of using project based learning, strong family involvement and community interaction to develop lifelong learners prepared to be successful and innovative participants in the global community.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you about my school, Charter School of Morgan Hill.

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CSMH Virtual Tour for Prospective Families

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