Principal s Newsletter Mrs. Wanda Coates, Principal

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1 S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary School We Are McAuliffe. Embracing Equity, Diversity, and Excellence Principal s Newsletter Mrs. Wanda Coates, Principal Volume 5, No. 1 August, 2015 Our Vision: A community school where parents and staff work together as partners for the development of the whole child. Our Mission: A partnership of parents and staff preparing our children for the future. Dear Parents, Guardians, and Families, Welcome to a New School Year! On behalf of the teachers and staff at S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary, I am happy to welcome you back to school for the school year. I hope you all had a wonderful summer. I would like to extend a warm McAuliffe welcome to our new kindergarten parents and to our new families who have registered over the summer. Please feel free to stop by or call to let us know if we can assist you in any way to help you and your children become better acquainted with our school and community. I know you will find our school to be a caring and responsive place where the staff and community work together as partners. I m looking forward to a wonderful new school year. As many of you know, our offices were relocated to Matsunaga Elementary over the summer. We quickly realized that the saying, There s no place like home is really true! We missed being in our building and hope to return home the week of August 10 th. Our school leadership team spent the summer reviewing student data in a variety of ways to help us determine our instructional focus the coming school year. As a result, we will continue to focus on ensuring our instruction matches how our students learn best. To be exact, our instructional focus will be Instruction matched to student strengths and needs in a culturally diverse and equitable teaching environment. We will be committed to spending time with each student to help us determine their particular student s strengths and needs. Our school theme this year is We Are McAuliffe. Embracing Equity, Diversity, and Excellence. I look forward to seeing many of you at our Open House on Friday, August 28, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. More information on the open house and our schools operations and procedures are outlined below. Please do not hesitate to contact me or anyone in the main office with any questions, problems, compliments, or concerns. I have an open door policy and welcome any comments you want to share, positive or otherwise. (301) wanda_p_coates@mcpsmd.org. 1

2 School News and Updates First Day of School The first day of school is Monday, August 31, We look forward to welcoming all students to the first day of the school year. Staff Changes Mr. Lord has moved from 3 rd grade and will now be teaching 4 th grade Mrs. Chidakel has moved from 3 rd grade as well and will now be teaching 4 th grade Mrs. Brown has moved from 4 th grade back to 3 rd grade Mrs. Baker has moved from 1 st grade to kindergarten. Staff Departures The following staff members will not be with us this coming school year because they have moved on to different places and positions. Best wishes to the following staff members who are moving on: Meredith McNerney, Assistant Principal Tiffany Johnson, Reading Specialist Shannon Mitchell, 3/4/5 LAD teacher Pam Grant, kindergarten teacher Vickie Galloway, fourth grade teacher Viktor Gyorffy, part time ESOL teacher Jason Smith, part time PE teacher Judy Buschman, paraeducator Trisha Boswell, part time art teacher Samantha Lalley, part time music teacher Andrea Carter, Pupil Personnel Worker Francois Jean, building service worker Welcome to Our New Staff Members Susie Prin Alexia Friedberg Marisa Kocum Carmen Acosta Jason Boeltner Principal Intern *more information about our new administrator will be sent in the first Thursday folder Reading Specialist 3/4/5 LAD teacher Part time Art teacher Pupil Personnel Worker 2

3 NEW School Hours!! Office hours Grades K-5 8:00-4:30 p.m. 9:00-3:25 *all students enter the building at 8:40 for school-wide free breakfast Morning announcements will begin promptly at 9:00. Any student not in their seat in their classroom is considered tardy at that time and will need to come to the office to sign in. Of course we will make concessions for tardy students during the first few weeks of school as we try to get back into a routine. Organization Plan Based on present staffing allocations and student enrollment, our classroom organization for the school year will be as follows: Pre-K/Head Start 1 class Kindergarten 6 classes First Grade 6 classes Second Grade 6 classes Third grade 4 classes Fourth grade 4 classes Fifth grade 4 classes K-2 LAD 1 class 3-5 LAD 1 class Lunch/Recess Schedule Due to the change in school hours, we have adjusted our lunch/recess times to include the 10 extra minutes of school. We, as a school will implement 10 minutes of DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time to each grade level to account for this time difference. This will occur before or after lunch or recess. Please find this year s lunch/recess schedule below. Lunch Recess 11:00-11:30 Headstart N/A 11:40-12:10 5 th grade 11:10-11:40 5 th grade 12:00-12:30 2 nd grade 11:30-12:00 2 nd grade 12:20-12:45 3 rd grade 12:45-1:20 3 rd grade 12:30-1:00 4 th grade 12:00-12:30 4 th grade 12:45-1:15 Kindergarten 1:15 1:45 Kindergarten 1:00-1:30 1 st grade 12:30-1:00 1 st grade 3

4 School Procedures and Policies The items listed below are procedures you may find helpful to ensure a smooth opening to the school year. Who is My Teacher? Where is My Classroom? Students will receive a personalized postcard from their teacher the week before school starts to let them know who their teacher is and where their classroom is located. If for some reason you do not receive a postcard from a teacher, class lists will be posted in the front hallway during Open House on Friday, August 28 th and staff will be available to help on the day of the Open House and the first day of school as well. Open House We will welcome our students, parents and guardians to meet their teachers and find their classrooms on Friday, August 28, 2015 from 8:30 to 10:00. At this time your child will have the opportunity to find their classrooms, drop off classroom supplies, and meet their teacher. Please join us. Please bring a completed arrival dismissal sheet from this packet with you to Open House. Arrival Procedures Students should arrive at school between 8:40 and 9:00. If your child needs to arrive to school sooner than 8:40, BAR-T Daycare is available for both before and after school care. They also have drop in care should an unexpected emergency arrive. Supervision by school staff is not available prior to 8:40 and students dropped off before then will not be monitored. Breakfast will be served in every classroom every day so it is imperative for students to arrive to school on time. When students arrive at school they will be allowed to go directly to their classrooms at 8:40. Bus Riders -Children who ride the bus should plan to be at their bus stop a minimum of 5 minutes prior to the expected arrival time of the bus. Students are expected to wait in an orderly fashion as they wait for the bus. Students should not be running around at the bus stop and participating in horseplay with their friends. Bus routes are included in this newsletter. Please be sure to read the bus route pick up and drop off times and locations carefully. All bus riders will be dropped off at the main entrance of the school and enter the building through the main doors. Kindergarteners riding the bus will be assisted to their classrooms by bus patrols during the first week of school. Car riders - If you plan to drive your child/children to school, please be sure to adhere to the painted lines and arrows in our parking lot. The uphill driveway is a two-way driving lane. Please do not cross the double yellow line driving in to or out of our parking lot. Please pull all the way down to the cones when you enter our driveway. This assures that the maximum number of vehicles can drop off at the same time and makes the line move faster. Kindergarten car riders will be met by patrols and escorted to classrooms during the first week of school. Safety Patrols Student safety patrols are assigned to school buses and posts along the walking route to school. The patrols have been carefully screened and selected for the purpose of modeling safe and appropriate behavior for our students. Our safety patrols assist students with crossing streets, or 4

5 entering and exiting school buses, and demonstrating positive behavior to and from school. It is not the job of the safety patrol to discipline the students. If there are ever concerns about unsafe practices or conditions, please report concerns to our safety patrol sponsors, Mr. Tim O Connor or Mr. Matt Lord. Walkers -Walkers should enter the building through the kindergarten entrance when they arrive at school and then head directly to their classroom. These doors are locked at 8:40 and all students must enter through the front doors. The first day of school is an exciting day for staff, students, and parents. Please help make our job easier by encouraging your child to go to school how they normally would, so they can get used to this routine. If your child is a walker, please try to avoid the long goodbye. Please give your child a kiss and hug and wish them a great first day of school but try not to linger. The longer you stay, the harder it is for us to remind the students how excited they are to be back at school! If you will not have the opportunity to attend our Open House, please come to the front hallway where we will have class lists posted as well as staff to help you and your child find out the name of their teacher and the location of their classroom. All students will take care of ordering lunch or putting their lunches away in the classrooms. If your child is late to school on the first day, please come to the main office and we will help you and your child get off to a great start. After the first week of school, I ask that parents not walk students directly to the classroom. In light of safety concerns and issues, staff will ask parents to say goodbye at the entrance. This helps your child or children gain confidence and independence. Arriving Late to School Students are considered tardy if they are not in their classrooms by 9:00. Students who arrive at or after 9:00 must sign in at the office, no exceptions. Please, never take your child directly to the classroom at or after 9:00. Dismissal Procedures Please always notify the office in writing of any changes in your child s way of getting home. If you have a last minute change, please contact the office and let us know. We appreciate a 30 minute heads up whenever possible. As you can imagine, dismissing 650+ students at the end of the day is quite a task. Kindergarteners All kindergarten bus riders will be picked up from their classrooms by a safety patrol and escorted to the front hallway to wait for their buses to be called. They will wait with their assigned patrol. Bus Riders - Students who ride a bus home will wait in their classrooms until their buses are called. We will call one or two buses at a time. We always give a first call, second call, and final call to students riding buses to ensure they do not miss the bus. Car Riders - When you pull up to the pickup lane, please give the staff members on duty your child s name. All car riders will wait in an assigned area in the school until their car arrives. Staff on duty will walkie-talkie to another staff member and your child will be escorted to the car. I know you are excited 5

6 to see your child at the end of the day and may sometimes but please be patient and kind to the adults on duty. This is a very difficult job! Walkers Walkers are dismissed just before the carpoolers and should exit the building immediately when they are called. Walkers are not to hang around the building when they leave the building, as this sometimes confuses the staff on duty when walkers get mixed up with the car riders. If you or a sibling of a student is picking up a walker, please meet them at the kindergarten doors. Due to safety and security concerns and the protection of your children, we do not allow parents to enter the building at dismissal to pick up students. This is very important and we appreciate you adhering to this safety precaution. No students should linger after school to visit with teachers and/or friends. We dismiss over 650 students daily in a short amount of time so it is important that students understand the procedures. Thank you in advance for your support. Parent Communication Connect-Ed I use the computerized telephone calling system weekly to notify parents about important events and/or issues related to school. Please expect a Sunday night message from me weekly to tell you about any important information needed for the upcoming week. The Connect-Ed system is designed to enhance school communications and increase parent participation in school activities. We will be making an effort this year to send the Connect Ed messages in English and in Spanish. This automated system is also used to inform you if and when your child is absent from school. Monthly Principal s Newsletter The monthly newsletter sent to parents can be found on our website. Due to our increasing student population and desire to be eco-friendly and conscious, we will no longer send a paper copy of our newsletter home with each student. We will always have paper copies available in the office should you need a paper copy. August 28 Open House 8:30-10:00 am 31 First Day of School Important Dates September 1 PTA 6:30 pm 3 Kindergaten Back to School 4 Celebrate McAuliffe 2:15 in the Gymnasium 4 PTA Back to School 7 HOLIDAY - Labor Day - School and offices closed 8 Back-To-School Night, Grades 7:00 pm 9 Back-To-School Night, Grades 7:00 pm 14 NO SCHOOL for students and teachers 23 NO SCHOOL for students and teachers Please see the attached calendar for important dates for the school year. 6

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