White Marsh Elementary School

Welcome Back! I hope you had a wonderful break!

The Bears have a busy last marking period of school, and this week is no exception! Our 4th and 5th graders will begin state testing this week, and 3rd grade will follow in a few weeks. Please make sure their laptops are charged nightly, and they have a good breakfast on testing days!

Monday is the last day of Spring Break; school resumes on Tuesday. The PTA will meet on Tuesday at 6:30 pm; all parents are invited to attend. On Wednesday, our 5th graders begin ELA testing, and we also have the Bear Crawl! Wednesday afternoon marks the first of the Spring Running Club sessions. Please plan to pick up your student at the gym door promptly at 4:20 pm, and have a photo ID.

**Buses may run a little earlier on Wednesday! We have a lot of students staying after for Running Club, so the bus runs may be a bit shorter on the ride home.

Thursday marks the first day of ELA state testing for our 4th graders! It is also Spring Picture Day! Forms were sent home before break; see the flier below for more information.

Have a great week!

This week, we will have the Bear Crawl for those students with Perfect Attendance (Bell to Bell) in March! Students will get to crawl like bears and ROAR down our hallways! Please be sure to check your students' attendance on HAC. If they have an absence that you feel should be excused to allow them participation in this event, email Mrs. Steele with the date(s) and the reason for the absence by Tuesday, April 11.

There are several SMCPS calendar changes that have been made.

These changes involve the early dismissal days on April 21 and May 12.These days are now virtual instruction days. Students will work from home on their computers on these days. Students in Kindergarten, First and Second Grade will bring home their devices on Monday, April 17. Check to be sure they can locate their charger!

Because we did not use any snow days this year, the last day of school for students will now be Friday, June 9, 2023.

All WMES students will be expected to work virtually on April 21 and May 12. Our students will all begin with a Google Meet at 9 am, followed by independent work in Schoology. As it was originally an early release day, students should not plan to work more than 4 hours. Please be sure to have read all communication from teachers about these days.

Helpful hints:

Google Meet codes follow a pattern: wmes followed by Grade Level followed by first letter of teacher's last name.

Examples:

Mrs. Feustel's Google Meet code will be: wmeskf

Mr. Arnold's Google Meet code will be: wmes2a

Students have become familiar with Google Meet and Schoology, and links to both are on their Clever page. Students in K - 2 have their SMCPS username and password taped to their laptop. Most older students have this information memorized.

Running Club starts on Wednesday, and will run for 6 weeks. Thanks to Mrs. Hancock and our volunteers for making this happen. It is loved by our students, and is a great source of physical activity and team building skills!

A reminder that all students must be picked up promptly at 4:20 at the exterior gym door. Parents should plan to bring a photo ID. If someone else is picking up your student, you must let the Main Office know!

Spring Picture Day is Thursday, April 13, 2023.We will take class and group pictures, and students will have an opportunity for individual pictures. Students must bring the form on Picture Day, or bring the confirmation if paying online.

Applications for STEM 6 are now open! Any current 5th grader interested in joining the STEM academy at SRMS should submit an online application prior to the May 5th deadline. Information about the STEM academy and the online application can be found on the Academies page of the SMCPS website.

It is almost time to order your 2023 - 2024 WMES Yearbook! Orders will be online only, and can be placed April 12 - 26. Look for the flier to be sent home in Wednesday folders the week we return from Spring Break.

Thank you for the donations! We received enough for each classroom, but we could still use more.

Apr 18 Dress for Success Day!

Apr 18 Character Tea

Apr 19 Report Cards Distributed

Apr 19 Purple Up! Day

Apr 20 PTA Spirit Night- Rita's

Apr 21 Virtual Instruction Day

Apr 22 Earth Day

Apr 26 Online Yearbook Sales end

May 2 Grade 1 to Elms

May 3 WMES- Math MCAP Begins

May 3 PTA Meeting, 6:30

May 10 PTA Popsicle Social/Book Swap

May 11 Kindergarten to Elms

May 12 Virtual Instruction Day

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

May 29 Memorial Day Holiday

May 30 - Jun 6 Book Fair!

Jun 2 Field Day

Parents and guardians should be mindful of all debt that their students accrue throughout the 2022-2023 School Year. Student debt could take any one of the following forms:

• Lost/Damaged Computer Devices

• Lost/Damaged Textbooks

• Lunch Debt

Parents/Guardians play a key role in monitoring not only their student's actions but also their fiscal responsibilities regarding lost/damaged issued devices (such as computers and textbooks) and/or food purchases made by your child in our school cafeteria. Payment can be made in the form of cash or check and should include your child's five-digit Student ID# (e.g., #12345). For further convenience, families may also pay by credit card online at http://www.myschoolbucks.com/. All questions and concerns should be directed to the school bank or the principal's secretary.

Band and Strings Rehearsal Schedule:

A Week: Wednesday and Friday

B Week: Wednesday and Thursday

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

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!

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

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.

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 must also complete a site based training session. Thank you to all of our parents and guardians that have completed these sessions. There are no more training sessions scheduled this school year.

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