Bushy Bear Tales

Molly Ketterer, Principal
Terri Via, Assistant Principal

Email: molly_ketterer@hcpss.org
Website: http://bpes.hcpss.org
Location: 14601 Carrs Mill Road, Woodbine, MD, United States
Phone: (410) 313-5500
Twitter: @hcpss_bpes

The excitement is building to welcome back 600+ students for our new school year! We have so much planned in the next week and hope to see you all! Please closely review the times for coming together with parents for Back-to-School Presentations and coming together with students for Orientations and Open House!

August

• 28 BTS Night for RECC (Kleinschmidt only) 4:00 p.m.
  
• 28 BTS Night Admin/PTA Presentation I 5:00-5:30 p.m. in the Cafeteria
• 28 BTS Night for 3rd, 4th & 5th Grade 6:15-7:00 p.m.
• 28 BTS Night Admin/PTA Presentation II 7:00-7:30 p.m. in the Cafeteria
• 30 RECC Open House for AM students 9:30-10:30 a.m. in RECC Classrooms
• 30 RECC/Pre-K Open House for PM students 1:30-2:30 p.m. in RECC/Pre-K Classrooms
• 30 Kindergarten Orientation & Open House @ 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Cafeteria
• 31 New Family Orientation 1:00-2:00 p.m. in the Media Center
• 31 Open House for 1st-5th Grades 2:00-3:00 p.m.

September

• 3 SCHOOL CLOSED: Labor Day
  
• 4 First Day of School
• 10 SCHOOL CLOSED
• 11 Parent Volunteer Orientation @ 9:30 a.m. in the Cafeteria
• 11 Parent Volunteer Orientation @ 6:00 p.m. in the Media Center
• 11 PTA Meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center
• 14 Welcome Back Picnic from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on the Blacktop
  
• 19 SCHOOL CLOSED
• 27 Team & Room Parent Orientation @ 9:30 a.m. in the Cafeteria

For Grades 1-5:
When you enter your child's Back-to-School Night Presentation on Tuesday, August 28t , you will receive an index card with their teacher's name on it.

For Kindergaten:
When you attend your child's Kindergarten Orientation on Thursday, August 30th, you will receive notification of your child's teacher.

You will also receiving notification of your child's teacher through Synergy next Wednesday morning. In order to receive that notification, please ensure your Family File information is entered or update. Please see below.

HCPSS Connect is open to update your Family File. This information is very important! Please take time to do this before the first day of school.

You will be asked to update or provide the following information:

• Parent/guardian contact information. Please provide the most current contact information.

• Emergency contacts. Who do you want to pick up your child in case you cannot?

• Medical information

• Arrival and dismissal procedures. How will your child arrive to school and be dismissed on a daily basis? Additionally, provide what procedure your child should follow in case of an unscheduled early closing of schools.

• Media coverage. This includes students being photographed for ACE awards.

• Data confidentiality.

• PTA directory. What information do you want included in our BPES PTA Directory?

This year, many of Bushy Park's bus routes will be the same. You will notice, however, that many of the numbers of the bus will change. Pay close attention to the number of your bus and to the route described in Bus Locator.

If a change is to be made in your child’s usual dismissal procedure, such as a bus rider who will now be picked up by the parent, please notify the office through a Green Note. This allows the staff and your child to be notified of the change and its details. It also documents your intent for the change and gives time to ensure that all safety procedures are followed.

The Green Note was created as a way to provide safeguards for the following:

• Documentation of the reason for student absence.

• Documentation of alternate dismissal procedure:

• Student being picked up early and documentation of who will pick them up.

• Student attending an after school activity.

• Student being picked up by car rather than riding the bus.

• Student riding another bus for daycare purposes.

The Green Note has proven to be a reliable and valuable tool to monitor the safe comings and goings of 600+ students. Since every student is able to be a bus rider, the Green Note helps us document the exceptions. It also helps to forecast changes in a child’s usual schedule.

It is urgently requested to have all green notes brought in at the beginning of the school day. Green notes are collected by homeroom teachers and sent to the office in the morning.

The office staff sorts green notes based on their purpose. Having them first thing in the morning helps us keep your child safe and ensure an efficient response to your request.

Here are some examples of how we monitor and support your family after receiving Green Notes for the following reasons:

• Aftercare Program (Our staff ensures your child checks-in with the aftercare coordinator each day.)

• After School Activity (These are submitted each day of attendance to the activity.)

• Change in Transportation (For example, when a child will be a car rider rather than bus rider)

• Early Pick-Up (Our office will be prepared to more quickly call down your child.)

In order to keep the process of accounting for alternate arrival and dismissal for our students, we ask the following:

• Please strive to send a Green Note in the morning with your child.

• If you need us to respond to an emergency that occurs after the start of the school day:

• Call the office prior to 2:45 PM. and describe your situation. An Orange Note will be completed to respond to your request.

The Orange Note has been created as a way to provide safeguards for the following:

• Documenting a request that has been phoned in by a parent after the school day has begun and prior to 2:45 p.m.

• Documentation of an emergency alternate dismissal procedure:

• This will include verification of permission for alternate activities or a different person picking up your child. This person would need to be on your Emergency Card to ensure their safety.

Mrs. Ketterer and Dr. Via will receive a copy of each orange note in order to be notified of the emergency needs and to be responsive should anything in addition be needed.

Bears Moving On:

We thank the following staff members for their service to our Bushy Park learning community and wish them well as they begin a new chapter in their lives.

Katie Bezold- Miss Bezold moved from serving as a fifth grade teacher to second grade teacher at Hanover Hills ES!

Sharon Davis- Mrs. Davis will be joining Miss Bezold at Hanover Hills ES where she will be serving as the Speech-Language Pathologist for the RECC program.

Paula Grapes- Mrs. Grapes served as our 0.2 Occupational Therapist and served our K-5 caseload in one day! Our staffing moves to having a 1.0 occupational therapist serve the entire building.

Sarah Melvin- Mrs. Melvin moved to Pointers Run as one of their full-time technology teachers. She had served as our 0.4 tech teacher.

Kathleen Rimlinger- Mrs. Rimlinger has stepped away from teaching during the summer. She served as our Instrumental Music Teacher. We have collaborated with the HCPSS Instrumental Music Department to bring on two new staff members to teach Band and Strings.

AJ Rosenthal- Mr. Rosenthal has moved to serving in the regional position of Adapted PE Teacher. He has been our point person for inclusive practices. Now he will be working with Fulton and areas in the southern end of HCPSS.

Casey Sauter- Ms. Sauter served as our special educator for Grades 4-5. She moved on to a general ed position in Montgomery County for next year. She is closer to her future home and will be teaching 5th grade!

Alison Schwartz- Miss Schwartz has accepted a 1.0 vocal music teaching position at Waverly ES where she has been 0.6 for three years. She moves on from her role of being 0.4 with us.

Cheryl Stair- Mrs. Stair moves on from BPES after years of being a part of the RECC Team! Our staffing moves to having a 1.0 occupational therapist serve the entire building. Mrs. Stair will remain in RECC and serve at Waverly ES!

Sam Stitely- Miss Stitely was surplussed as our 0.4 media teacher. She has been hired full-time in Carroll County as their only media specialist.



Bears Moving Within:

We celebrate these changes Bushy Park Staff are making this year to grow professionally!

Sue Appler- Mrs. Appler is moving from serving as a 3rd to 2nd Grade Paraeducator. She and Mrs. Fagan are switching positions and will share their expertise and ideas.

Vicky Fagan- Mrs. Fagan is moving from serving as a 2nd to 3rd Grade Paraeducator. She and Mrs. Appler are switching positions and will share their expertise and ideas.

Michelle Sauro- Ms. Sauro moves from serving as a special educator for Grades K-2 to RECC and Pre-K.

Alison Stumpfl - Mrs. Stumpfl is moving into the role of 2nd Grade Team Leader this year. She had served in that role in her previous school.

Judeth Tittle- Mrs. Tittle moves from serving in RECC last year to the role of our special educator for Grades K-2.

Tim Wilson- Mr. Wilson is moving into the role of 4th Grade Team Leader this year. He had served in that role in his previous school.

Photo: First Row (from Left to Right)
Teresa Roberts, Kerry Phelps, Elahe Montaser, Christina Love, Rebecca Hurlock, Jen Cherry, Rabia Ahmad, Christy Netreba.

Photo: Second Row (from Left to Right)
Ryan Csajko, Kara Esmond, Kristi Nester, Breanne Shaw, Emily Warner, Kendra Thomas


NEW BEARS COMING TO BUSHY PARK

We are excited to welcome new staff members! Read to learn more about our newest Bears!

Rabia Ahmad- Miss Ahmad is coming as one of our three Speech Language Pathologists. She will be mentored as a Clinical Fellow by HCPSS Mentor Deb Mathias.

Jen Cherry- Mrs. Cherry will serve as our 0.5 Band Teacher this year. She has served as the 1.0 Band/Strings Teacher at Clarksville ES. She will partner with our 0.5 Strings Teacher Judson Deitrich. They are both teaching at Bushy Park and at Clarksville.

Ryan Csajko (pronounced Jake-o)- Mr. Csajko is coming from Stevens Forest ES where he served for one year after coming to Howard County from New York. He has ten years of experience in teaching PE.

Judson Deitrich- Mr.Deitrick will serve as our 0.5 Strings Teacher this year. He comes to us from teaching in Baltimore County. He will partner with our 0.5 Band Teacher Jen Cherry. They are both teaching at Bushy Park and at Clarksville.

Anu Gopalan- Mrs. Gopalan is our new student support position. She will be working with special ed students in K-5.

Rebecca Hurlock- Mrs. Hurlock is one of our two Regional ALS teachers. She comes with experience working in her Masters program in Delaware. Her work focused on early learners with special needs.

Christina Love- Ms. Love is our new 1.0 Occupational Therapist. She will be working with students across our ALS, RECC and K-5 programs to support their goals.

Cimarron Ludwig- Mr. Ludwig is coming as one of our three Speech Language Pathologists. He will be with us one day a week and will be at Tridelphia Ridge the remainder of the week.

Elahe Montaser- Mrs. Montaser is one of our ALS paraeducators. She comes to us with special ed experience from working in the ALS program at Thunder Hill ES.

Kristi Nester- Mrs. Nester is coming as one of our three Speech Language Pathologists. She is returning from leave and will be working with us two days a week.

Christy Netreba- Mrs. Netreba is one of our ALS paraeducators. She comes to us with special ed experience from working at Harpers Choice MS.

Kerry Phelps- Mrs. Phelps will serve as our 0.4 Music Teacher. She will also partner with Manor Woods ES as their part-time music teacher.

Teresa Roberts- Mrs. Roberts is one of our two Regional ALS teachers. She comes from working at Talbott Springs ES where she served as an ALS teacher across many grade levels.

Breanne Shaw- Mrs. Shaw is one of our ALS paraeducators. She comes to us with special ed experience from working at Bollman Bridge ES

Kendra Thomas- Mrs. Thomas is one of our ALS paraeducators. She comes to us with special ed experience from working in the Regional Program at Waterloo ES.

Emily Warner- Mrs. Warner is one of our ALS paraeducators. She comes to us with early childhood experiences in private school and private daycare

The supply list for the 2018-18 school year can be found on the main page of our school's website.

We encourage you to drop off your school supplies during Open House on August 31. Please be sure to clearly label your child's supplies.

Click on the link below to learn more about how this graphic was generated and how the valuable information parents offered is used!

http://bpes.hcpss.org/news/2017/07/parent-consideration-cards-offer-amazing-input-2018-2019

Our Fall Book Fair's theme is:

" Enchanted - Let Your Imagination Grow!"

Please visit the Book Fair in the Mini Auditorium

during the following hours:

Monday, September 24 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Tuesday, September 25 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Wednesday, September 26 3:00 pm – 7:00pm Raffle Night

Thursday, September 27 8:30am – 12:00 pm* and 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm

*Special morning hours for Book Fair. Visitors may ONLY visit the mini auditorium.