White Marsh Elementary School

This is a full week of school for the Bears! Thank you for supporting all of our activities last week. The Joe Corbi's pick up went well, and the PTA Pencil Gram Sale was a big success!

This week, the Robotics Club will meet on Tuesday. Happening on Wednesday is our next Character Tea. Congratulations to our students for being recognized for being Focused and displaying Fairness. You can find a full list below.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, February 23rd. Our Primary students (Kindergarten, First and Second grades) will present their Winter Concert! The concert will begin promptly at 10 am in the gym. That same evening is a PTA Family Fun Night from 5:30 - 7 pm. See the poster below.

Have a great week!

Congratulations to the following students for being focused:

Nora S.

Brady B.

Savannah C.

Mason F.

Ezra D.

Aiden M.

Cassidy N.

Francisco T.

Jase K.

Leia S.

Shayla P.

Keya S.

These students are being recognized for fairness:

Edesia S.

Micah Y.

Lillian Y.

Zane P.

Emily L.

Haylie B.

Jacob F.

Gannon C.

Chase G.

Ashton S.

Austin R.

Kurt E.

We are proud of you, Bears!

Please encourage our Bears to read at home every night, if they are not doing so already. In our data reviews this past week, we looked at student growth in reading. Many students are making good progress, but overall, we could all use more practice especially with reading fluency. I told the Bears that a good goal would be to read at least 15 minutes every night, and they can read anything- books, magazines, recipes while helping someone cook, graphic novels...anything! For our younger Bears and those with reading difficulties, they can look at books and take a "Picture Walk" and practice the letter sounds of words in front of them.

Other reading activities can include:

• Reading with a Parent or Family Member
• Listening to Someone Read
• Partner Read
• Phone a friend (literally!) and read with him/her
• Read to a family pet
• Audiobooks

There have been some recent changes to the lunch menu. Click here for the most up to date information.

Academy applications will open on Wednesday, March 29th, and close on Friday, May 5th. All students interested in applying for STEM 6 will need to submit an online application within the application window. Late applications will not be accepted.

On Wednesday, March 29th, SMCPS academies will hold a Virtual Open House. Students interested in attending an academy program in SMCPS are welcome to attend in order to learn more from program teachers and students. More information to come.

You may have noticed receiving an email earlier this week with a link to this newsletter in Schoology. Events have also been added to the Schoology event calendar. Did you know that parents can access Schoology? We will continue to post links to the Smore and school events in Schoology. It is our hope that we can transition to having this resource be a one stop shop for your information. As your students get older and proceed through middle and high school in SMCPS, it will become very useful tool for you to monitor grades, assignments, and other information. Here is a link to the Schoology Parent Resources site, which can provide lots of helpful information!

The weather is getting colder! Please be sure that students come to school dressed appropriately especially with a coat for outside. Recess is 30 minutes, and we want our students to be dressed for the weather.

Please consider joining the PTA; the membership form is here.

Feb 20 Presidents' Day, Schools Closed

Feb 21 Robotics Club, 3:45 -4:30

Feb 23 Winter Concert- Grades K, 1 and 2, 10 am

Feb 23 PTA Family Fun Night, 5:30 - 7 pm

Feb 28 Robotics Club, 3:45 - 4:30

Mar 1 PTA Meeting, 6:30 pm

Mar 3 Professional Day; No School for Students

Feb 23 Winter Concert- Kindergarten, First and Second Grade- 10 am

Feb 23 PTA Family Fun Night- Game Night! Time 5:30 - 7 pm

Mar 3 Professional Day; No School for Students

Mar 6-10 PTA Penny Drive

Mar 8 - 15 Grade 5- State Science Testing (MISA)

Apr 3-10 Spring Break

Apr 12 PTA Spirit Night- Rita's

Apr 13 Spring Picture Day

May 10 PTA Popsicle Social/Book Swap

May 25 Spring Concert- Band, Strings, Chorus 10 am

May 30 - Jun 6 Book Fair!

Jun 2 Field Day

One of the goals in the SY 22-23 WMES School Improvement Plan is attendance. Parents can view student attendance at any time by accessing the Home Access Center. You will need your logon and password to access HAC. Please contact the Main Office if you need this information.

Absences can be reported with a note sent in to the Main Office, or by clicking the link on our website. Please refer to the SMCPS Student Handbook for more information about Attendance.

In an effort to communicate with parents and keep you informed about student absences, we send home letters every marking period to those students with 5 or more absences. We understand that a variety of illnesses continue to surround us, and appreciate your communication with Nurse Parrish, teachers, and the Main Office about your children's health.

Band and Strings Rehearsal Schedule:

A Week: Wednesday and Friday

B Week: Wednesday and Thursday

A reminder that all Volunteers (including Field Trip Chaperones) must be approved through SMCPS. Beginning this year, this will be an annual requirement. At WMES, those volunteers being asked to support students and teachers in the building will be required to complete a site based training session.

Any volunteer with an interest in supporting classroom activities, Field Day, Book Fair, copying/laminating for teachers must attend the WMES Volunteer Training Session prior to working with students. Please note- participation in the Training Session does not ensure that you will be needed to support an individual classroom. Teachers will reach out to you if school based volunteers are needed.

Future training dates are less than 30 minutes long, and have been added to the WMES event calendar.

ALL students in SMCPS must have a completed Acceptable Use Agreement on file for School Year 2022-2023.

Elementary (PreK-5th) Link: https://bit.ly/22022-2023_Elementary_AUPForm

From the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE)-

Chronic Absenteeism: Students are chronically absent when absent 10% or more of the school days while enrolled at that school. For example, a student who is registered to attend a school for 30 days and who is absent 3 of those 30 days is considered chronically absent.

WMES will follow up with chronically absent students through the Pupil Services Team, Pupil Personnel Worker, and the Department of Student Services. In order to reduce the number of our students with Chronic Absenteeism, incentives to encourage good attendance include participation in the Bear Crawl, Running Club, and School Dance.

Student Resource Accountability: Students are responsible for the care and upkeep of all of their SMCPS assigned resources: print and technology. The student accountability document is also linked in this SMORE.

SMCPS Text Alerts are a great way to get information quickly. They are not sent often, and usually only in the event of an unexpected school delay or closure. On occasion, WMES will send a text alert about a late bus, substitute bus, or school event. Click the link for information about registering for text alerts.

Email: jwsteele@smcps.org
Website: schools.smcps.org/wmes
Location: 29090 Thompson Corner Road, Mechanicsville, MD, USA
Phone: (301)472-4600
Twitter: @wmes_smpcs