Seahawk News
October 21, 2023
Sunderland Promotes Integrity, Responsibility, Independence & Trust
New This Week
- Thank you to our fantastic team of FSO families who supported the Fall-A-Palooza and made it a success! We could not do what we do without YOU! We appreciate all your organization, set up, mischief making and clean up that everyone did! #BESTFAMILIESARESEAHAWKS
- All bus evacuation drills have been completed for the fall. Our school team did an amazing job being efficient and teaching the safety measures to the bus riders!
- CogAT testing is this week for ALL 2nd graders and some students in 3-5. If your child is being assessed, a letter went home. This assessment was pushed back a week from its previous date.
Alert to Improve/Referrals: We have been seeing more behaviors that relate back to poor decision making that could have been easily avoided. Please take time to read and review the Student Code of Conduct. It went home at the beginning of the year. Students in grades 4-5 had an assembly to review the rules, expectations, and consequences earlier this year. We follow the Code when making all decisions. Alert to Improve is a minor incident referral (level 1 infractions and a warning) and Referrals (Level 2 infractions and if there have been multiple incidents). For all referrals, our administration staff will call you to let you know what occurred and have we managed it. Copies are sent home or emailed depending on the time of day.
Respect and Kindness Assembly: We held PBIS assemblies to refresh students on expectations in school. We reviewed expectations with all students and celebrated the students of the month for September. They were the exemplary models of Respect in September. All students were recognized and celebrated. Students have been challenged to do something different than they have been doing to spread kindness and respect. Can't wait to see who we will be celebrating for October!
Behavioral Health: Please review all the resources in the Counselor's Corner below!
From CCPS: We want to hear from you!
Parent, student, staff, and community input is vital as we develop a new 5-year Strategic Plan for Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS). Please complete the survey by November 5, 2023, and share your thoughts on the profile of a graduate, strengths, focus areas, and future outlook for the District. The survey is being conducted by Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, a third-party firm, to ensure that responses are kept anonymous.
Click on the link below to begin the survey. To change the language of the survey, use the drop-down menu located at the top of the survey webpage.
PBIS at SES
The photo across the header this week is of our Flock Partners- Ms. Williams' 3rd grade and Ms. Walton's kdg class. They enjoyed their special activity together!
See the calendar for the Splash Cash Cart days and Celebrations!
♥️Volunteers♥️
EVERYONE must reapply for being a volunteer. The system was cleaned out and you must reapply. Remember, if you want to be a chaperone or work events, you must be approved. If you are an employee of CCPS, you still need to complete the volunteer process for participation in events at school.
Even if you are not sure if you will be able to attend anything, please sign up early. Here’s the CCPS link of info:
Become a Volunteer - Calvert County Public School District (calvertnet.k12.md.us)
General Information about Sunderland Elementary School
· Instructional School Day - 9:25AM – 4:05PM
- Arrival window for cars and bus: 9:15AM-9:25AM
- Dismissal window for Daily Car Riders- 3:50PM-4:05PM
- Dismissal window for bus: 4:10PM-4:20PM
· School Colors - Blue and White – Friday Spirit Days- Classes are assigned a Flock color as well. More to come on that!
· School Mascot/Motto -“SPIRIT” the Seahawk -Sunderland Promotes Independence Responsibility Integrity and Trust
See the attached information regarding meals and more!
Counselor's Corner
From Ms. Hilton and Ms. Shade: October 21, 2023
• October is Bullying Prevention Month and our classroom counseling lessons will focus on kindness, empathy, and respect! We will continue to read books from the Little Spots Series by Diane Alber in addition to activities related to our grade-level themes.
• Our Character Trait of the Month of October is KINDNESS! We will continue to teach, emphasize, and reinforce the importance of kindness within our school community throughout the month!
• Dates to remember:
o 10/23 – 10/27 - Red Ribbon Week; please see the attached flier for spirit week themes!
o 10/16 – 11/8 – End Hunger in Calvert County! We will collect non-perishable food items for End Hunger in Calvert County. The grade level with the most items donated will win a surprise!
• Arundel Lodge now has a psychiatric urgent care. Please see the brochure attached for more information.
• Blue Sails Counseling and Consulting Inc. has new owners and the therapists are accepting new patients at this time. These outpatient counseling services accept most insurance and they have one therapist who also takes Medicaid.
Blue Sails Counseling and Consulting Inc. also run social skills groups for adolescents. Please see the attached fliers for more information.
• Calvert County Mediation Center is offering FREE Family Transitions Triple P classes. These are classes for families that are navigating with co-parenting. Each class is 2 sessions and of 3 hours each from 5:30pm-8:30pm and held at the Prince Frederick location. The dates for sessions are - Nov 1 and 2, & Dec 6 and 7. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
• Calvert County Child and Adolescent Supportive Behavioral Health Services resource guide - https://www.calverthealth.org/_pdf/lbha/resguide.pdf. This guide was designed to help parents and caregivers navigate and find information regarding the different behavioral health treatments and services available for children and adolescents residing in Calvert County, Maryland.
• The hostile incidents taking place in Israel and the surrounding regions may have caused distress and concern, particularly among students with family ties or cultural connections to the impacted areas. Please review the following resources and guidance on how to support your students impacted by the recent conflicts.
· Resources
· Common Sense Media - How to Talk to Kids About Violence, Crime, and War
· New York Family - Talking to Kids about the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict
· UNICEF - How to talk to your children about conflict and war
· Verywell Family - Talking to Your Kids About War
• Should your family need assistance with school supplies (now or during the school year), please contact your child's classroom teacher or counselor.
Michele Shade, School Counselor, Last Names A-K, shadem@calvertnet.k12.md.us 443-550-9474
Danielle Hilton, School Counselor, Last Names L-Z, hiltond@calvertnet.k12.md.us 443-550-9387
Calendar of Events
Please note that new items are added to the calendar as they are planned. It includes updated field trips and other events.
Attendance Notes
- When a student is absent, doctor notes should be sent within 3 days of the absence. If you need to email the note, please send attendance notes to sesattendance@calvertnet.k12.md.us This email will be monitored by Ms. Bozman. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Community Resources and Fliers
The following link includes events, activities, and opportunities for young people offered by organizations in the community.
These events and activities are not sponsored by the Calvert County Board of Education or Calvert County Public Schools. We provide equal opportunities to outside agencies to distribute materials that offer opportunities to students and/or their parents, but that permission should not be considered a recommendation or endorsement by the school district.
Repeated from Last Week
The FSO sponsored Candy Wars will end on Tuesday. Tuesday is the last day to send it in.
Candy Wars Totals as of Friday 10/13
Pre-k 1,518
K- 3,199
1st- 2,170
2nd- 3,695
3rd- 3,125
4th- 3,651
5th- 2,108
Total- 19,466 pieces of candy
Testing Updates
The CogAT testing window has been switched to October 23-November 3rd. All students in 2nd grade will take CogAT. Students in grades 3,4, 5 who are new to our school or have not taken CogAT before will also test. All students who are going to be assessed received a letter this week. CogAT measures students’ learned reasoning abilities in the three areas most closely related to success in school: verbal, nonverbal, and quantitative.
- Check out Counselor's Corner for upcoming activities that include Unity Day and Red Ribbon Week!
- Bus evacuations for the Fall have begun. This is the safety drill we practice with all buses and students who ride. Please review the attached bus safety fliers that shares safety rules of the road for buses.
- 5th Grade Families:
- Students in 5th grade will participate in the family life and human sexuality component of the health curriculum. Typically, this takes place in February of each year. Parents will receive an opt-out letter outlining what is taught in Family Life and Human Sexuality. Teachers will email this letter through Home Access Center (HAC) or place it in the student’s weekly folder. Any parents who would like to excuse their child from family life and human sexuality topics, should return the letter to the teacher. We encourage parents to speak with the teacher to further understand what is being taught and to determine if there are specific elements in which you would want your child to participate. Students who are excused from family life learning objectives will receive appropriate alternative learning in health education outside of the health classroom. If you have any questions regarding the curriculum, please contact your child’s teacher. You can find the letter here: Fifth Grade Family Life Opt Out Letter (finalsite.net)
- Please remember to complete the Federal Impact Aid form that CCPS emailed.
- Field Trip Chaperones: We are not able to have chaperones swap places once you are signed up for a field trip. We have had several situations where mom has signed up to chaperones, then dad shows up because mom couldn't make it. In some situations, one is an approved volunteer and the other is not. We usually have more than enough volunteers for field trips so if you are a selected chaperone and are unable to make it, please contact the teacher immediately so she can choose the next person. We appreciate everyone's efforts!
- On October 14th, there will be a partial annular eclipse (about 35 - 40% coverage) visible in Calvert County. It is not safe to observe the sun directly during this time without special lenses or using a viewer. Safe viewing instructions can be found here. The partial eclipse will be visible from noon to 2:39 pm on October 14th in our area. There will be a total eclipse that we will see at 80% coverage in April. As that one will occur on a school day, there will be resources and activities for students and teachers to support safe viewing.