Hello Greenwood Families,

Fall is here! As we move into the second month of school, we are hard at work here at Greenwood ES, in the thick of the first marking period.

Next Friday, interim reports will be available on ParentVue. Interim reports are intended to provide a mid-marking period report of your child’s progress. They are generated from the graded assignments in each subject. In some instances, a class has not covered all of the concepts to generate graded assignments for each area. In these cases there will be no interim report grade. By the end of the marking period, however, all courses will have grades on your child’s report card.

Cooler days are on the horizon, and we remind you to label, label, label everything with your child's name, as this is the time of year that our lost and found starts to grow.

October is a busy month, which includes some of our first field trips of the year. Keep an eye out for your grade level weekly newsletter for details about the curriculum, notes, and important dates.

We look forward to a wonderful month ahead!

Warmly,

Mrs. Seidel and Mrs. Sinon

This week, students who were at Greenwood last year in grades 3 and 4, brought home their scores from the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP).

The Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) assessments of Maryland College and Career Ready Standards (MCCRS) will build a pathway to college and career readiness by the end of high school, mark students’ progress toward this goal from grade 3 through high school, and provide teachers with timely information to inform instruction and provide student support, as one of many data points gathered.

This year we are focusing on promoting kindness in our school and our community in order to foster a positive and safe place where all feel included and have a sense of belonging.

Every month, students at Greenwood will be engaging in various kindness activities and encouraged to show kindness each and every day. Kindness will also be an ongoing theme for our quarterly Town Hall meetings. We kicked off our first school-wide activity by reflecting on what kindness means to them and being the “I” in KIND.

For the month of October, we will be celebrating National Positive Attitude month. We will be connecting this with the power of a growth mindset and have included this resource for families on supporting children in building a growth mindset. We will also be celebrating National Positive Attitude Month during our Mental Health Awareness/Red Ribbon Week.

Upcoming dates:

• October 16: Unity Day- WEAR ORANGE to promote kindness, acceptance and inclusion

• October 21- October 25: Mental Health Awareness/Red Ribbon Week- Have a Positive Attitude in Making Safe Choices

Online Google Referral Form

Due: Monday, October 21

The Holiday Giving Project has provided Thanksgiving and December holiday assistance to low-income households for over 30 years. A network of social workers, school counselors, and human service professionals refer families in need of assistance. Local non-profits, faith-based organizations, and public agencies serve Holiday Giving recipients, as donations are available. If you and your family are in need and would like to be referred for possible assistance for the holiday season, please complete this google form or consent form that was sent home to families. While a referral is not a guarantee of assistance, the Project helps as many families in need as donations allow.

El Holiday Giving Project ha brindado asistencia durante las fiestas de Acción de Gracias y diciembre a hogares de bajos ingresos durante más de 30 años. Una red de trabajadores sociales, consejeros escolares y profesionales de servicios humanos derivan a familias que necesitan ayuda. Las organizaciones locales sin fines de lucro, las organizaciones religiosas y las agencias públicas prestan servicios a los destinatarios de Holiday Giving, ya que hay donaciones disponibles. Si usted y su familia lo necesitan y desean que los recomienden para una posible asistencia durante la temporada navideña, complete este formulario de Google o formulario de consentimiento que se envió a las familias. Si bien una remisión no es garantía de asistencia, el Proyecto ayuda a tantas familias necesitadas como lo permitan las donaciones.

On Monday, November 11, parents and guardians are invited to visit their child's K-5 classroom to catch a glimpse of what learning at Greenwood looks like each day. We invite those whose last names begin with A-M to join us from 9:30 - 10:15 and those with last names from N-Z to join us from 10:15 - 11:00. Certainly we understand the need to be flexible to accommodate all, but if you are able to adhere to these guidelines, it will help us to reduce the number of visitors in the building at one time. Unfortunately, we do not have the space and the ability to maintain safety for students by having families join us for lunch or recess on this day, which is why we have planned this event prior to our first lunch and recess times.

Although we love your little ones, the open house will be happening during instructional time, and we respectfully request that you make other arrangements for them that morning.

Further details will be sent closer to the day, but for now, please mark your calendars!

**PEP families will receive information about a PEP open house directly from their child's teachers, tailored for the many sections of PEP classes.**

Fall festival celebrations will take place in classrooms on Friday, November 22, in the afternoon. Thank you to PTA Room Parent Coordinator, Ms. Haris, for working to coordinate our room parents. We so appreciate your support to make these celebrations fun for all. Attendance will be limited to the two room parents in each classroom. Teachers will communicate the time of their classroom fall party with the designated room parents.

On Monday, November 25, and Tuesday, November 26, students will be dismissed at 12:55 p.m. to afford time on those days for parent conferences. More details will be shared closer to the day, but for now, please mark your calendar.

October PTA Update

• PTA Meeting- Tuesday, October 1st at 7pm at GES in the media center. Zoom and in person meetings will begin in November.
• Dining Night Out: Tuesday, October 15th at Chipotle.
• Room parent sign up, if you are interested in being a room parent for your child's class, please use this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4CA9AF23A13-51307034-room#/ . Room parents help plan the Fall and Valentine's party for the class and are allowed in the classroom during the party. They can help distribute PTA information to the classroom as well.
• Trunk or Treat: Saturday, October 19th at Greenwood Elementary School- Cars can start decorating at 4pm. The parade will start at 5:30pm and trunk or treating will start, after the parade, at 5:45pm. There will be food trucks this year, Pacha Juice and BarBQue Bueno.
• Movie Night: We have rescheduled movie night for Saturday, October 19th at 6:45pm. The movie will start shortly after trunk or treating.
• If you still need to join the PTA or have any questions, please check out our website:

https://sites.google.com/greenwood-pta.org/greenwood-pta/home

Hope to see you soon at one of our events!

Katie Phillips

President, Greenwood Elementary School PTA

Instruction starts promptly at 9 a.m.

Please be sure to have your students at school prior to 9 a.m., so they can unpack, eat breakfast, and prepare their materials. Student drop off begins at 8:40 a.m., and all students will enter through the front doors of the school. Students who arrive after 9 a.m. will be marked tardy and will miss the start of instruction. Please help us to ensure that every Gator is here and ready for a great day before that 9 a.m. start time!

One final note, please do not leave students unattended on school grounds prior to 8:40 a.m. to ensure the highest level of safety and security for each student. Staff are not outside to provide supervision until 8:40 a.m.

Please call the front office prior to 9:00 a.m. when a child is absent for any reason. If you call prior to office hours, you may leave a message with your child's name, teacher, and the reason for the absence. You can also send an email to your child's classroom teacher and Mrs. Ostrinsky, our attendance secretary, at Susan_A_Ostrinsky@mcpsmd.org. Upon return, please send a note from home about the absence.

Please help us to maintain health and safety for all by keeping children at home when illness is suspected, when a communicable disease has been diagnosed, or when lice nits have been found. A physician's note is required after five consecutive days of absence.

Absence Policy

- AM absent, if student arrives more than 2 hours late

- PM absent, if student leaves more than 2 hours early

- 1/2 day absence, if students are absent for more 2 hours during the school day

absence

- Full-day absence, if students are present for less than 2 hours of the entire school day

absence

Our school day begins promptly at 9 a.m., and students must be unpacked and ready for instruction. If your child arrives after 9 a.m., please escort your child/children into the building to sign them in.

School hours: 9:00 a.m. - 3:25 p.m.

Two-hour delay: 11:00 a.m. - 3:25 p.m. (no recess)

* *Bus routes would shift by two hours* *

On a two-hour delay, doors open at 10:40 a.m.

Early release days: Dismissal is at 12:55 p.m. (no recess)

Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

• The school doors open at 8:40 a.m. to welcome our students. Instruction begins promptly at 9:00 a.m.
• Students who arrive after 9:00 a.m. will be marked tardy and will need to be signed in by a parent or guardian in the main office. Please do not drop off students at the front door at any time.
• Students may eat breakfast in the All-Purpose Room, then head to their classroom to begin instruction at 9 a.m.
• Dismissal begins at 3:25 p.m.

Changes to Dismissal Plans

Please note that changes to dismissal should happen prior to 3:00 pm to ensure there is

enough time for the messages to be relayed to the teachers and dismissal teams. Please

communicate any changes with your child's classroom teacher and our attendance secretary, Mrs. Ostrinsky. Please be aware that teachers may be not be checking email during instruction. As a result, it is very important for the front office (240-740-3420) to be made aware of any change in dismissal routine by 3 p.m.

Walkers will be dismissed first daily.

Car Riders

Students who will be routine car riders will be given a family number card that will need to be displayed in the car window nearest the car loop line. Students will exit to the car loop when their number is called to be reunited with their family vehicle at that time. Please pull up to the end of the walk to maximize the number of cars we can load safely with adult supervision and keep the line moving quickly.

Car Loop

Please enter the car loop by turning RIGHT into the loop from Gold Mine Road. Please DO NOT turn left into the lot. Please go around the block so you can turn RIGHT into the loop. This helps us to ensure the safety of our walkers who have to cross at the car loop!

Please remain in your car, as our staff will assist those students who need assistance. Additionally, please know that staff can not buckle children into car seats. Please teach your children how to do so, or please pull forward into a parking space to do so, to avoid holding up drivers behind you in the loop.

Bus Information

Bus routes for the 2024-25 school year are posted on the MCPS website at the link below. We will continue to use colors to identify the route numbers, and we will communicate those colors matched with bus routes with all families prior to the first day of school. Please contact the Randolph transportation office at 240-740-2608 with questions about bus transportation, routes, and times.

Bus Rider Safety

Please meet students at the bus stop at the end of the day to ensure your child's safe return from school on the bus. If you are not able to meet your child at the stop, please make other arrangements for your child to get from the stop to the home safely.

In the event you or your designee are running late or are otherwise unable to get to the bus

stop, please call the school as soon as possible to have your child held at the school for pick-up. Please call the front office 240-740-3420 before 3 p.m.

We encourage you to review the school bus rules with your child if they are a bus rider so they

are aware of the expectations. Those rules can be found at https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/transportation/rules/a_parents_role.pdf

Please understand that safe student transportation is a joint responsibility. Please remind

your child to look for you before leaving the bus. We look forward to a safe and successful

school year.

Guest Bus Riders

Students may ride only their own bus to and from school. Students are not permitted to

ride to school or to home from school with friends on any other bus.

Meal prices:

There are no changes in meal prices this school year and students who qualify for reduced-price meals will continue to receive meals at no cost. Funds can continue to be added to student meal accounts at no charge by bringing cash or checks directly to the Greenwood cafeteria manager, Mrs. Frias.

Prepayments on student meal accounts can be

made through www.MySchoolBucks.com; note the increase from $1.95 to $2.49 per transaction for the 2024-2025 school year.

• Breakfast: Regular price: $1.30 (All levels)

• Lunch: Regular price: $2.55 (Elementary), $2.80 (Middle and High School)

Breakfast

Breakfast is served from 8:40-8:55 a.m. in the cafeteria.

Lunch Room Seating

All students have assigned seats for lunch where seating includes an allergy-free

table. Please be sensitive to student allergies in your child's classroom

and work with the classroom teacher to support any event or activity that

includes food.

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 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.

Greenwood Elementary School's health room is staffed by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services with a full-time health technician, Ms. Teresa Edwards, and an assigned nurse, Ms. Angela Niemiec.

MCPS schools follow guidance from the CDC, state & local health departments. We strongly recommend, if your child has a fever, diarrhea, vomiting, or other symptoms of illness, that you keep your child home from school.

Required Childhood Vaccinations for Preschool Programs and Schools

The Annotated Code of Maryland (10.06.04.03) requires all Maryland students new to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and those entering Grade 7 provide documentation of required, age-appropriate vaccinations or a medical or religious exemption. This documentation is required within 20 calendar days from their date of admission.

Hard copies of the vaccination records are to be submitted to the Greenwood ES School Health Services health room staff.

More information:

https://health.maryland.gov/phpa/OIDEOR/IMMUN/Pages/back-to-school-immunization-requirements.aspx

Every student will have a chromebook at Greenwood ES for use during the school day.

MCPS will loan a chromebook for home use for those families whose students do not have access to a personal or home device. Families may make this request through this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdDNdqO31soXKLffjcEzgVQ9C2Z2koPm6ifKm7-K77e44ZhAg/viewform

Staff at central office will monitor the requests through the form submissions, will prepare a device, assign it to the student, and will deliver it to the school. The school will distribute it to the student. The home use device is to be kept at home. Requesting the device implies consent of use in accordance with MCPS policy (IGT-RA) and acknowledgement that the Chromebook, software, and issued peripherals are owned by MCPS.

User Responsibilities for Computer Systems, Electronic Information, and Network Security can be found online. Montgomery County Public Schools retains the sole right of possession of the Chromebooks. The Chromebooks are loaned to students for educational purposes for the academic year. MCPS administrative staff retain the right to collect and/or inspect Chromebook hardware or software at any time including via electronic remote access.

More information:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-nfeYkPGdgXdetCwTu2_eM_3XkUZgGCf/view?usp=sharing

MCPS regulation COG-RA prohibits elementary school students from using personal devices (phones, smart watches, etc.) during the school day. Personal devices(phones, smart watches, etc.) may only be used before or after the student day. Students will be asked to keep these devices in their backpacks during the school day. It is advised that students keep such devices at home, if possible.

RESPONSIBILITY/LIABILITY

MCPS will assume no responsibility or liability for loss, theft, or damage to a device or for the unauthorized use of any such PMD.

Please find the policy in its entirety on the MCPS Website.

We love birthdays at Greenwood, and each day on our GGTV morning program, we announce those who are celebrating, and students are invited to come to the office for a birthday pencil. While we do not do any formal in-school birthday celebrations with food or other items, we do make sure that each student feels special on their special day. We do ask that birthday party invitations be sent outside of school, and unfortunately, due to federal privacy issues, we can not provide class lists or contact information.

As we maintain our focus on individual student needs and growth, we will continue to focus on restorative practices. Restorative practices focus on building and maintaining relationships, collaboration, and community between students, staff, and families, affording the opportunity to prevent harm and resolve conflict peacefully, as well as the opportunity to change behaviors and grow.

Volunteers

To afford students the opportunity to settle into the new school year and develop classroom communities, we will begin welcoming volunteers in October. Further details will be shared closer to October.

Montgomery County Public Schools requires school volunteers and partnership agencies to complete certain compliance measures in order to volunteer within our school district.

• Online Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect Training via their myMCPS Classroom/Canvas account

• Background check-dependent upon the type of volunteer service, per the Volunteers regulation

Only volunteers who have met these requirements will be able to volunteer. MCPS will notify the school via list of the completion and submission of these items. The system takes 24 hours after completion to update, so please complete all steps at least 24 hours prior to volunteering. We will not be able to have you volunteer in the building or on field trips until the items are completed and submitted, and the verification shows in the system 24 hours after completion.

Bullying, harassment (including sexual misconduct and sexual harassment), intimidation, hazing, incidents of hate-bias, and concerning issues involving student gender identity are not tolerated in MCPS. We are committed to ensuring our students feel safe, valued, and respected in our schools. Please see the multiple ways you can file a report below.

How You Can Report

October

1 - PTA Meeting, 7 p.m., Media Center

3 - No School

4 - Interim reports available on ParentVue

8 - Instrumental Music begins

10 - Kindergarten Field Trip, Butler’s Orchard

14 - Grade 4 Field Trip, Agricultural History Farm Park

15 - PTA Dining Night Out, Chipotle

16 - Unity Day- WEAR ORANGE to promote kindness, acceptance and inclusion

21- 25 - Mental Health Awareness/Red Ribbon Week

18 - No School, Professional Day

19 - PTA Trunk or Treat and Movie Night

23 - Grade 5 Field Trip, Strathmore

23 - Sherwood High School Athletes’ Visit Grade K and 1

29 - No School for PEP students only

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/calendar/

Email: Jennifer_A_Seidel@mcpsmd.org
Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/greenwoodes/
Location: 3336 Gold Mine Road, Brookeville, MD, USA
Phone: (240) 740-3420
Twitter: @GES_Principal