Clearspring Howl

It was truly amazing to see everyone on Friday at sneak peek. The new school year energy could be felt in every hallway. Tomorrow is the first day of school and with that comes a lot of emotions. Please know that we are ready to support every child that comes through our door, some with tears but most with smiles of excitement for the new year.

As a community this year we will be focusing on being "BRIGHT AND BOLD: RADIATING EXCELLENCE; EMBRACING CREATIVITY." We invite you to be a part of this year in whatever ways you can. Our goal is to make memorable experiences for your students and your families and hope you will join us throughout the year as we work to provide as many community experiences as possible.

The car line at Clearspring can get pretty busy at drop off and pick up. Please make sure you paying attention so we can move through the line as quickly as possible. Though the doors to the school building are in the middle of the circle we are asking that you pull all the way around the circle to the first open sidewalk area so that we can get as many cars in as possible at a time.

No one should be parking in the handicap spots (without a handicap tag) and walking students across the carpool line in the morning. Additionally, students will not be dismissed from the side doors to parents who park in the parking lot and walk up to retrieve them. PLEASE stay in your car and follow the car line. Safety is our number one priority, if everyone sticks to the plan the car rider line goes very quickly.

Please find information regarding transportation to and from school below.

Department of Transportation Letter (English) (Spanish)

What you should know about riding the bus (English) (Spanish)

2024-2025 Clearspring Arrival Bus Routes

2024-2025 Clearspring Departure Bus Routes

2024-2025 Clearspring Magnet Arrival Bus Routes

2024-2025 Clearspring Magnet Departure Bus Routes

In accordance with COG-RA, elementary students are allowed to use personal mobile devices before or after the school day. They are prohibited from using them during the school day. We strongly recommend that personal mobile devices are not brought to school, students will not be allowed any use of them during the day.

Students should not be told by families to communicate via a mobile device throughout the day, and we ask families to refrain from texting to calling student mobile devices. If you need to contact your student for any reason please call the office at 240-740-2580 and we will be happy to get a message to your student.

If a student is found to be using a personal mobile device during the day they will be reminded about the regulation and be asked to turn it off and put it away. If the same student is found to be using the device a second time, the classroom teacher will take possession of the device until the end of the day and return it. If a student still continues to use the device, the office will take possession of the phone and a parent will be responsible for picking it up.

If you have any questions regarding the MCPS Personal Mobile Device Regulation please reach out.

Lunch is provided at a cost of $2.55 per meal. The application for free and reduced meals is below.

• MySchoolBucks is an optional service for parents to view recent purchases and make prepayments to a student's school meals account for breakfast, lunch, and à-la-carte meals online, using a credit or debit card.
• Parents can manage their child's school meal payments by creating a secure online account.
• Payments to student accounts through MySchoolBucks is an option and not a requirement.
• Please note that there is $2.49 transaction fee charged for each credit/debit card payment made with MySchoolBucks. Funds can continue to be added to student meal accounts at no charge by bringing cash or checks directly to school cafeteria managers.

FREE AND REDUCED-PRICE MEALS SYSTEM (FARMS) APPLICATIONS Apply online NOW so students receive free meals on the first day of school! Households meeting identified federal income standards are eligible for free school meals. MCPS encourages all families who may be eligible, to apply. To receive this benefit, a new FARMS application must be completed every school year. Please submit the online FARMS application through www.MySchoolApps.com. Students not newly qualified for free meals will be charged the following meal prices. Only one application is needed for all students in a household.

Meal prices: Breakfast—$1.30; Lunch—$2.55 (Elementary), $2.80 (Middle and High) Students who qualify for reduced-price meals will receive meals at no charge!

Students use their MCPS ID number when receiving a meal, so confidentiality is maintained and no child is overtly identified as receiving free or reduced-price meals. Funds can continue to be added to student meal accounts at no charge by bringing cash or checks directly to the school cafeteria managers. There will be an increase in the transaction fee from $1.95 to $2.49 per transaction associated when adding funds to student meal accounts using the online My School Bucks software. For more information and How-To videos, visit the Division of Food and Nutrition Services (DFNS) website: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/foodand-nutrition/meal-payments/#FARMS MORE INFO HOW TO VIDEOS

Thank you so much to our amazing PTA and our PTA President, Cheryl Dickinson and Vice-President/VP of Fundraising Natalia Ayquipa for a delicious Back-to-School BBQ for our staff on Friday. Mr. Currence brought out his giant grill and the staff had a fantastic time spending some time together before the year gets started.

September - Spirit Wear Sale Begins

• 16- Jimmie Cone Spirit NIght
• 17- PTA Meeting (Hybrid) 7pm-8pm
• 25 - Spiritwear Sale ends

October

● 2- Urban Air Fundraiser 4-8pm

● 11-17- Book Fair

● 15- Book Fair Night Hours until 7 and Food Truck Spirit NIght

● 25- Talent Show

● 27- Trunk or Treat- 2pm -3pm

Don't forget to joing the PTA this year. We look foward to working together with our amazing PTA to continue to make memorable experience throughout the year. You can reach out to your PTA Board anytime with comments, questions, suggestions Clearspring.PTA@gmail.com

Visit the website: https://ClearspringPTA.com/

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