Author: Heather Braswell-Ho

Let’s make the holiday season extra sweet for our amazing teachers and staff! The annual CJMS staff cookie party is scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, and we need your help. At the cookie party, the teachers and staff will get to pack a box of delicious baked goods to enjoy. We need about 130 bakers to have enough cookies/treats for all teachers, staff and bus drivers. 

Please click HERE to sign up to bake or help with the event. Don’t have time to bake? No problem!

Click HERE to make a donation, and we will buy the cookies on your behalf.

Thanks so much for your support! We couldn’t do this without our wonderful Cabin John families.

On December 1, MCPS released four additional boundary options for the Crown/Damascus Boundary Study (Options E-H). As with the four proposed in October, changes are proposed that will affect Cabin John and its feeder schools. CJMS PTSA prepared the following summary to help our community understand how MCPS proposes to use the Crown site and the proposed changes to Cabin John and the current feeder schools under each option. 

Summary of Proposed Options Impacting Cabin John MS and Feeder Schools

What should I do?

• Review the online mapping tool to understand how you may be affected, particularly in options where there is split articulation.
• Learn more about these options by watching a recording of this week’s virtual meeting.
• Learn more about the positions of your individual communities by reviewing advocacy efforts of your elementary school and high school.
• COMPLETE THE SURVEY TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO MCPS by January 9, 2026. We have heard from MCPS and the Board of Education that meaningful feedback matters!
• If you have questions or want to share comments/concerns, reach out to Debbie Fleischer at president@cabinjohnptsa.org. 

The Cabin John Middle School PTSA is proud to participate in the 2025-2026 National PTA Reflections Program.

We are now accepting submissions for this year’s theme: “I Belong!” 

Display your creativity via Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, or Visual Arts.

For details, submission forms, contest rules, and questions, please visit: https://cabinjohnptsa.org/reflections-arts-program/.  

Submission Deadline: Friday, December 5, 2025.

We are thrilled to invite you to join our official Cabin John MS PTSA WhatsApp Community!

We understand that timely communication is key. That’s why we’ve added this new community as an easy way to share urgent updates and reminders, complementing our existing PTSA communication channels. Check out ways you can stay connected:

• New – WhatsApp: Get instant time-sensitive PTSA announcements delivered straight to your phone or computer. Note: WhatsApp Download & Registration Required Before Joining
• Cougar Clips Weekly Newsletter: Our go-to resource for Weekly PTSA news, updates & event information
• Membership Toolkit: Provides access to our PTSA Directory, Spirit Wear Store and Membership Registration & Donations
• CJMS PTSA Website: Our central hub for PTSA information, documents, policies, and key resources (Note: Refresh cache to see latest updates)
• CJMS Facebook Group: Provides a more interactive space where parents and members can ask questions, share resources, and engage in community discussions
• CJMS Facebook Page: A venue to share announcements and information with the broader school community

Click Here Or Scan the QR Code to Join Our New WhatsApp Community

*WhatsApp Download & Registration Required Before Joining

Holiday Helping Hands Program

This holiday season, the Wootton PTSA’s Holiday Helping Hands Program is currently sponsoring 4 Cabin John families. Our program relies on donors from the Wootton community, and we need your help! The program supports students attending a Wootton cluster school (and their siblings). For more information, visit woottonptsa.org/holiday.

How you can help:

• Purchase a gift from a child’s Amazon registry (see document links for remaining needed items). Please also fill out this form, which lets us know which child you are shopping for, in case we have questions.
• Donate a gift card (see document links for gift cards that are still needed – use this form to sign up and for more details)
• Donate cash and we shop for you (Venmo @WoottonHoliday, PayPal & Zelle nbossert8@gmail.com; you can email Nikki at this address or holiday@tswoottonhs.org, or text her at (239) 247-9944, to confirm receipt of funds)

Kind regards,
Jen Eisenfeld and Nikki Bossert
Co-founders, Holiday Helping Hands Program

For more information, check out our FAQs page, which is posted on our website. And feel free to reach out to us at holiday@tswoottonhs.org with any questions. You can also follow the link here, for more details.

Cabin John Middle School PTSA held its first-ever Giving Tuesday campaign this year, and it was a success! Thanks to the generosity of our community, we surpassed our $2,500 goal, raising $2,560 by midnight.

A heartfelt thank you to our 43 donors whose support makes a meaningful difference. Your contributions help us provide academic support, enrich student life, and show our teachers how much they are appreciated.

Missed Giving Tuesday? There’s still time to donate! Every contribution strengthens our school community and helps us continue offering valuable programs for students.

With gratitude,

CJMS PTSA Board of Directors

We gratefully acknowledge the following donors who made their donation public: 

• Ahbaims Family
• Azoff Family
• Bell Family
• Fleischer Family
• Ying Guo
• Huang Family
• Hsu Family
• Kalantaris Family
• Amanda Klueger
• Soomin Lee
• McClellan Family
• Riemer Family
• Nada Saleh
• Stephens Family
• Surafeal Family
• Tekeste Family 
• Tonse Family
• Sandhya Vasan
• Lucia Visus
• Kelley Yager

Dear CJMS Families and Friends,

December 2nd is Giving Tuesday, and together we have an opportunity to make a real difference for every student at Cabin John Middle School. The PTSA is aiming to raise $2,500 to support Cabin John, and we can reach this goal only with your support.

Your donation directly fuels programs that brighten our school community—academic resources that inspire curiosity, student activities that build connection, and staff appreciation efforts that remind our educators how valued they are. Every contribution, no matter the amount, helps create a stronger CJMS for our students. Fundraising donations have tailed off in recent years and we need your support to maintain the level of programming that fuels Cabin John – funding for after school clubs, the school play, evening programming at outdoor education, and more. 

If Cabin John has made a positive impact on your family, we hope you’ll consider giving back. Together, we can empower our students and show what a caring, committed community can achieve.

Please donate here: Giving Tuesday Campaign

With gratitude,

Debbie Fleischer

CJMS PTSA President

The Cabin John Middle School PTSA is proud to participate in the 2025-2026 National PTA Reflections Program. 

We are now accepting submissions for this year’s theme: “I Belong!” 

Display your creativity via Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, or Visual Arts.

For details, submission forms, contest rules, and questions, please visit: https://cabinjohnptsa.org/reflections-arts-program/.  

Submission Deadline: Friday, December 5, 2025.

MCPS will be releasing additional boundary study options next week for public comment. Please review the maps and online tool when available to understand how your neighborhood may be affected. Community feedback is critical! MCPS is planning to hold additional engagement sessions:

• Monday, December 1, 2025, 7:30-8:15 p.m.  Virtual (Zoom Webinar Link)
• Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 6:30 – 8:30 pm In-Person (Gaithersburg High School)
• Thursday, December 4, 2025, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.  Virtual (Zoom Webinar Link)

The Cabin John Book Fair wrapped up last Friday and raised more than $1300 for the CJMS Media Center! We were thrilled by the new vendor — Bookworm Central — for the quality and variety of books provided. Thanks to everyone who shopped the book fair, particularly those who bought items for teachers off their wishlists. Mark your calendars for April 2026 for our spring book fair! 

We would like to shout out Alex Downey, Dawn Bowman, and Amanda Klueger for organizing this year’s fair! And thank you to the PTSA board members and parent volunteers who helped staff the fair throughout the week.