Principal Message
Dear Cupertino Middle School Community,
Welcome to the 2026–2027 school year! As we prepare to welcome back all of our new and returning students this August, our campus is buzzing with immense pride, energy, and anticipation. This year, we are embarking on a true Olympic Odyssey—a collective journey where every student is a torchbearer of their own potential, equipped with unique goals to achieve, personal milestones to reach, and a resilient mindset to cultivate. At CMS, we firmly believe that our students are the heart of everything we do, and our ultimate gold medal is ensuring that every single child feels an undeniable sense of safety, community, and belonging from the moment they step onto our campus.
In the spirit of the Olympic games, our school theme this year centers on discovering who we are as a community, defining what that looks like in our daily actions, and committing to leaving our school better than we found it. We are launching an incredible array of student-centered initiatives to celebrate this journey together. From our grand opening day quad ceremony and monthly Bear Pride community-building activities, to campus-wide creative projects, our students will be the primary authors of our school culture. We are also introducing newly designed Honey Tokens alongside monthly Bear Paws celebrations to consistently recognize and elevate the positive impacts our students make every day.
Whether our students are innovating in our clubs, mastering rigorous academic concepts, or exploring new creative pathways, our exceptional staff stands ready to guide, support, and champion them through every progressive step of their journey. We are completely dedicated to consistency, equity, and providing robust classroom accommodations so that every unique learner has a clear lane to succeed. We cannot wait to get to know each student personally, to hear their unique voices, and to watch them lift one another up as teammate models.
As part of our commitment to future-ready learning, we are deeply focusing on our Portrait of a Learner framework this year to help students develop the critical skills needed for long-term success. While our students grow across all dimensions of this framework, our school-wide emphasis for the 2026–2027 school year will center specifically on becoming Global Contributors and Resilient Learners. Through this lens, we will guide our students to look beyond the classroom, understanding how their daily actions and collaborative projects impact the broader community, while simultaneously building the perseverance and adaptive mindset necessary to navigate challenges with confidence. By anchoring our daily practices, academic goals, and school-wide recognitions to these two core traits, we are ensuring that every student is equipped to lift up those around them while fiercely pursuing their own personal growth.
Thank you for your ongoing partnership, trust, and shared dedication to our community. Together, let us begin this unforgettable Olympic Odyssey and make this our most impactful, connected year yet!
With gratitude and enthusiasm,
Dr. Alison Zuniga
Principal, Cupertino Middle School