Eagle s Perch. March Robin L. Malcotti, Principal Nora Jones, Assistant Principal

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1 Eagle s Perch March 2016 Robin L. Malcotti, Principal Nora Jones, Assistant Principal Office Phone: Health Room Weather Line: Lakewood School website: Principal s Message: Hoping that the snow is behind us for the year and we have nothing but sunny skies!!! We want to give a sincere thank you to our Asian community members and other Lakewood families that made our Lunar New Year Luncheon such a wonderful celebration. Thank you to all of you for your time, your effort, and your talent of excellent cooking! We are so thankful that you include us in this annual event. We want to also thank our fabulous PTA and their efforts in sponsoring our first Lakewood dance. Our students and their families had a blast! We also want to thank all parents for their involvement in our annual Valentine s Day parties. The parties were a great success and our students had a fantastic time. Also, we want to remind parents and other future Lakewood parents that our kindergarten orientation will be held on Monday, May 9 th and Tuesday, May 10th. Children who will be 5 years old on or before September 1, 2016, will be eligible to enter kindergarten in August If you have a child entering kindergarten, please give the school office a call. Reminder to current kindergarten parents: there will be no kindergarten classes on these two days. All staff will be involved with the orientation. The month of March is full of many events. Please be sure to check out our school calendar as well as our PTA newsletter for important reminder announcements. Our spring break is March 25 th to April 3 rd. Have a relaxing and fun-filled break! Best Regards, Ms. Malcotti

2 Notes from around the Lake LUNCH and RECESS Now that Spring is on the way, we need to remind all that: We will have OUTDOOR recess any day where the temperature and wind-chill index are above freezing. Please ensure that your child has a jacket that he/she will wear. Many children remove their coats upon going outside. If they have a favorite sweatshirt or team jacket, they may more likely keep it on. We have between 175 and 200 children at each lunch and recess period. We have five paid staff that are assigned to these sites. When we have concurrent lunch and recess, the five recess / lunch aides are divided between the cafeteria and the playground. Parent volunteers are welcome at any of these times. All are expected to circulate the cafeteria or the playground and be available to all children. We hope to see you soon! ARRIVAL in the AM As one who is frequently on the carpool curb in the morning, I see it is time for some safety reminders. Most of you are very safe and comply with these guidelines. You may drop off your children anywhere along the sidewalk. It is safest for children to exit on the passenger / curb side. We do not permit cars to pass those ahead, whose children are still exiting their cars. This is a HUGE safety risk. Do not race when no cars are in the carpool lane ahead of you. If you are in a hurry, please park in the staff lot and walk your child to the end of the lane. Cross your child to the sidewalk at the stop sign by the kindergarten lot. DO NOT walk your children through the line of cars in the carpool lane. Safety is not something we take for granted. Your children are precious to us. Sincerely, Nora Jones

3 Important Dates Mar. 2 Books and Bagels Mar. 11 Pizza/Bingo Night Mar. 15 Grade 3 Mad Science Mar. 22 Lakewood Science Fair/STEM Night Mar. 24 Professional Day No School for Students Mar Spring Break Media Center News! We will be putting in a MakerSpace in the library in the near future! MakerSpaces are a way to support STEM and STEAM (the extra A is for the Arts). Thanks to everyone s generosity during the Book Fair, we were able to purchase some activities to help develop science and engineering skills. These include: Build It: Circuit Madness, PowerClix Frames, PowerClix Organics, PowerClix Solids, and Texco Building sets. I would love to add LEGO activities to the MakerSpace. So, if you wish to weed out your LEGOs, please donate them to the library for use in the MakerSpace! Some important reminders. Please do not use the bus lanes during morning drop off and afternoon pick up. No student is allowed to bring anything from home to play with at lunch/recess. Please remind your child to leave their items, such as Rubik Cubes, at home. We want to prevent personal items from getting lost, taken or broken. In addition, remember that all electronic devices must remain at home; or if your child has permission to carry a cell phone, it must be powered off and in the backpack. -

4 Procedures Review Birthdays are celebrated in the classroom without food or drinks; children come to the office for birthday pencils As per MCPS policy, we do not hand out birthday invitations in the classroom and are not allowed to release student names and addresses for mailing home invitations. Please do not ask your child s teacher for help. Please prearrange all classroom visits. Please do not drop in a classroom unannounced. All parent/teacher conferences must be scheduled with the teacher in advance. Please do not show up at school and ask to speak with a staff member unless it is an emergency. Even 5 min. chats can run into a teacher s planning time and disrupt her day. A teacher may not look busy, but every minute of her day is scheduled ahead of time. The school day begins at 9:00 a.m. Any child arriving after that time is marked Tardy. We have had an exceptional number of students arriving late; please put your child on the bus to make sure they arrive on time. The back-up at the car pool line is not an excused Tardy. Please remember that all changes in a child s dismissal require notifying the teacher in writing. We cannot take a child s word for a change in plans. Please do not call the office to change plans unless it is a true emergency. Transportation does not transport students for play dates. Please do not ask for a bus pass unless it is a true child care emergency. Please notify the office if your contact information has changed: If you have moved, a copy of your new proof of residency is required for your child s file; if your phone numbers have changed please make sure the office and health room have the new numbers. We have had several sick children whose phone numbers are no longer valid. Please make sure all persons eligible to pick your child up from school are listed on the Student Emergency Information form.

5 EpiPen Use for Severe Allergic Reactions A new Maryland law (Epinephrine Availability and Use) Requires all school districts in Maryland to establish a policy that authorizes school personnel to administer auto-injectable (EpiPen) epinephrine to a student who is determined to be, or perceived to be, in anaphylaxis, a sudden, severe life-threatening allergic reaction. Under this policy, EpiPens must be administered regardless of whether the student has a known severe allergy that causes anaphylaxis, or has a prescription for epinephrine. As part of the mandated requirements, training will now be provided to all staff members on the signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis, and training will be provided to selected staff members in every school on the procedures for administering EpiPen autoinjectors to students suffering from anaphylaxis. Please contact the Department of Student Services at for more information. Dr. B s 13 suggestions for morning Drop-Off traffic: 1. Try and teach your child to ride the bus. 2. Leave early especially on bad weather days. 3. Drop off your child anywhere along the drop-off zone Things move faster when several cars unload at the same time. 4. If you are not going through the carpool lane, please park in the staff lot. Children must be walked to the sidewalk. 5. If you park at the Church, do not cross the parking lot, you must walk on the sidewalk. 6. Plan ahead so your child can get out of the car without you. 7. Keep close to the car in front of you. 8. If your child is upset, close the door and park. 9. When ready, return to use the drop off lane. 10. Stay in ONE LINE. NO PASSING, NO EXCEPTIONS. 11. Do not use your cell phone while driving. 12. Avoid conversations with teachers / parents while in line. 13. Reconsider having your child take the bus.