The Seahawk News

Wow! What a busy summer that went by very quickly! We are always excited to be preparing for the return of our Seahawks! We look forward to officially opening the 2024-2025 school year next week but wanted to get some information to all current Seahawks! We still have many families registering for school and can't wait to see everyone!

Each year, we review our data and explore our strengths within our roles to make the best teams in all Calvert schools to better serve our students at Sunderland! We are data driven and targeted to meet the needs and emphasize the students' strengths too. We promote growth in all of our Seahawks, both students, staff and families.

We look forward to seeing our students in grades 1-5 at the Peek at Your Seat drop in window. This will allow you to bring supplies and meet your teacher. More details are below. For our Pre k and K students, you will have a Staggered Start which allows you and your child 1:1 time with the teacher in your child's class. More information is below, as well.

The Supply Lists are listed on our website, and I have attached the link for your convenience. More information will be sent in the Saturday newsletter next week. We still have many families registering and will repeat information.

We have many new Seahawks in the nest and we are still adding some folks, too! Please review the list below and stop by at Peek at Your Seat to welcome them to our school!

You will receive The Seahawk News weekly on Saturday at 3:00PM. I encourage you to make a commitment to read it each week. On a typical week, it takes about 5 minutes to read and review and you will be well informed. More information for the cafeteria and technology will be in the next newsletter. Information is in the attached SES Parent Handbook.

Our school mascot, SPIRIT, is looking forward to seeing all the students and staff soon and so are we! ~Pam Myrick, Proud SES Principal

We are thrilled to welcome the following Seahawk Staff to our SES family:

• Lindsey Patten, Secretary
• Amanda Thompson, Instrumental Music/Band (Janet Gross retired!)
• Maria Van der Vossen, General Music on D Day for 2 classes
• Mallory Reading, 5th Grade (Welcome back to Ms. Reading!)
• Kristine Gutherie, Technology Integration Specialist
• Karen Lewis, IEP Clerk (Linda Kovacs retired!)
• Amy Mace, School Psychologist (Welcome back Ms. Mace)
• Alison Zick, Speech Language Pathologist - 3 days a week
• Shulamis Grossman, Speech Language Pathologist- virtual 2 days a week
• Larissa Johnson, Head Start Instructional Assistant -4-year-old program
• Tymia Prince-Wiseman, Head Start Instructional/Bus Assistant- 3-year-old program

• Teachers will send an email to all students to welcome you and identify themselves as your child's teacher for the year. This will occur on Wednesday, August 21st by 5:00PM.
• New Family Orientation is on Friday, August 23rd from 9:00-10:00 for families new to SES in grades 1-5. This will include a school tour and you will be able to end in your child's classroom. Pre K and K students will have individual conferences for more information about the school during the staggered start schedule.
• Peek at Your Seat is scheduled for Friday, August 23rd. The drop in window is from 10:00 to 11:00 for students in grades 1-5. This provides a time where students and families can meet the teacher, see the classroom and drop off some supplies, if needed.
• Pre K and Kdg Staggered start info is: Staggered Start Schedule: Head Start, Pre K, Kindergarten (finalsite.net) Please review the information through the link. You will receive an email from your child's teacher to schedule a conference where your child gets to meet the classroom staff and more. Conferences will be held on August 27th and 28th. Half the class, last names A-L, will attend school on August 29th and while students with names M-Z do not attend. On August 30th, the M-Z students will attend while the A-L do not. On September 3rd, all students attend. This allows the students to meet others and learn some routines. The teacher will introduce them to their morning routine and their cubbies, etc. Your classroom teacher will discuss which staggered start date your child will attend.
• Open House is scheduled! Pre K to grade 2 will be on September 24th from 5:30-6:30PM. Grades 3-5 will be on September 25th from 5:30-6:30PM.
• CCPS Parent Information- There is a great deal of information on the Parent website: Parent/Guardian Information - Calvert County Public School District (calvertnet.k12.md.us)
• Online payments for the Seat Sack and the agenda book can be found at our school website: Home - Sunderland Elementary (calvertnet.k12.md.us)
• Laptops: All 3rd -5th graders will receive a laptop for school use. Students will be using the device at school. Laptops will not be sent home for use. Homework assignments will not require computer use.
• SES Parent Handbook: Please review the attached SES Parent Handbook. It contains a great deal of information to help you better understand our school's procedures and routines that support a safe, organized school for all. A paper copy will be sent home the first week of school for you to keep.
• Please register as a VOLUNTEER. If you want to attend any IN-SCHOOL event such as VIP Day, Career Day, Field Day, field trip chaperones, etc you will need to be a registered approved volunteer. This is for safety of all students. Each of the special events that we have within our school day allows for you to engage with the students. You are not kept separated, instead, we have interactive activities and will need all adults (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc) who plan to attend to be an approved volunteer. The process takes less than 10 minutes. Become a Volunteer - Calvert County Public School District (calvertnet.k12.md.us)

• On the first day of school, our staff will be tagging the student’s backpack to be a bus rider or daily car rider. If your child is only being a car rider due to late registration, please let us know. We will tag them as a daily car rider until a bus is assigned for them. We would then change the tag to a bus tag.
• For Pre K and K families: Please rest assured that we have all hands on deck to make sure students are able to learn their path to their class. Teachers and assistants will be meeting students in the hall to assist them and give them clues to helping to find their class each day. The students do an amazing job within the first week!
• If you registered after 8/15/24, you may not have an assigned bus yet. They have worked on route assignments, and you should hear from transportation by the end of next week.
• Daily Car Riders must complete the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/UtcfJihh7H
• This information will be used for Tuesday's sign out. This form is to be completed for those who will be Daily Car Riders only. By listing adults to pick up, you are giving that adult permission to pick up your student. We encourage all students to ride the bus.
• Please tell your child that they will NOT have their name called. They are to dismiss when they hear Daily Car Riders are dismissed. This list will be shared with the teachers, too.
• Please have your ID at all times when entering the school to pick up your student. You will need to have your ID out to show the staff, even if we know you!
• Daily Car Riders: One adult will be expected to come into the cafeteria to sign out their Daily Car Rider student(s). We will open the exterior cafeteria door at 3:50PM (1:50PM on Early Dismissal Days) to allow for students to be signed out. Promptly at 4:05PM (2:05PM on Early Dismissal Days), Daily Car Riders will be called to the cafeteria. You and your child will exit. When you sign in, you will be given a card signifying how many students you are picking up. You will turn in your card as you leave the cafeteria. If an adult is not present by 4:05PM (2:05PM on Early Dismissal Days), the student will be sent home on their assigned bus.
• If your child is a bus rider and needs to be picked up due to an appointment, please arrive at the front office before 3:45PM (1:45PM on Early Dismissal Days).Our office staff and duty staff start preparing for Daily Car Riders and bus dismissal at 3:55PM (1:55PM on Early Dismissal Days) We have a 10 minute bus window to dismiss between 600-700 students so we will need to keep our focus on the dismissal process.
  
• We will permit Non-Daily Car Riders but we are still not able to accommodate Drop in, Surprise Car Riders. For Non-Daily Car Riders, you MUST send a paper note, NOT AN EMAIL, with your child, EACH day that you plan for them to be a car rider. Please let your child know that they must dismiss with the Daily Car Riders at 4:05PM when announced. We will NOT call individual students down for dismissal. Please do not send a note saying “every Tuesday” instead, send a note every Tuesday. We can not expect teachers to keep up with all students’ special request schedules. We ask that you send a paper note each day because there could be a sub in the class instead of the teacher.
  
  

  Please complete the survey questions below by Monday, August 26th by noon so that we can be prepared for dismissal the first day of school. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Myrick at myrickp@calvertnet.k12.md.us

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)

• Morning Arrival Window: 9:15AM -9:25AM
• Instructional School Day - 9:25AM – 4:05PM
• Afternoon Dismissal Window: 4:05PM car riders; 4:10-4:20PM Bus Riders
• 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