Baltimore Highlands Elementary

2nd - School Reopens

20th - Schools Closed - Martin Luther King Jr Day

24th - Schools Close 3 Hours Early - Second Marking Period Ends

29th - Schools Closed - Professional Day

31st - Coffee Talk with Principal Goldbloom 9-10 am

Dear Families,

I hope you had a great holiday. Happy New Year! We are excited to continue the great work happening at Baltimore Highlands Elementary in 2025. Please join me for Coffee with the Principal on Friday, January 31st to learn about our growth and provide feedback on our School Progress Plan.

This is a friendly reminder that all visitors must check in at the office when they come to the school. Parents are not permitted to walk down the hallways without checking into the office first. Safety is our number one priority, and we appreciate your support with this matter.

We look forward to working together with you to ensure continued growth for all our students.

Mrs. Goldbloom

Pre-K

This month we are going to be learning the letters Rr Bb, Ii, and Kk and the sounds they make. We are going to continue our unit on construction and building. We are going to read many books about problem solving and how to be an engineer. In math, we are going to continue working on 2-dimensional shapes, counting to 20, and building sets to 10. We are also working on counting on and number identification from 1-20 out of order. Please make sure you are sending your child to school with a heavy winter coat, hats and gloves. We try to get outside as much as possible when applicable.

Kindergarten

In Kindergarten, we are focusing on having a "Happy and Healthy Me". This means we will be reading and writing about how to keep bodies clean and healthy as far as germs, how to stay fit and healthy by exercising, having a well-balanced diet and how sleep is so important for having a healthy body. In Math, we will be using what we have learned about adding and subtracting to learn about measuring and money this month. Daily attendance is important in kindergarten because we are now beginning to move at a faster pace with reading and writing, so missing one day is a lot of work to make up the next day to catch up.

Happy New Year!

1st Grade

Happy January! Hope everyone has had a wonderful winter break! In Math, we are working on adding and subtracting on a number line by ones and groups of tens. Please continue to practice adding and subtracting numbers within 10 with your child. We will continue Social Studies with the My State is My Community unit. We will have learned about Maryland human and natural resources found in Maryland and will continue to explore what makes Maryland special. In Phonics, we continue to learn letter sounds and spellings. We will be introducing more vowels such as long vowels and their many spellings. Continue to work with your child on recognizing and spelling words with these letters. In Reading, we have started our fifth module called Now You See It, Now You Don'[t and will be learning about how and why light and dark come and go. In Writing, we will be writing a folktale about natural phenomenons. Hope you have a fabulous month and let us know if you have any questions!

2nd Grade

Reading- In ELA this unit, we will read about famous leaders in history, children who are leaders in their community, and opinions about what it takes to be a great leader. Your child will also write a personal essay about what makes them unique.

Math- In math this unit, your child will estimate, measure, and compare the lengths of objects in inches, feet, and yard. They will also select and use the appropriate tool for measuring the length of an object and measure the length of an object twice, using two different units -- such as inches the first time, then feet.

3rd Grade

Reading- With the start of the new year, third grade will be starting a new unit in reading. Module 5 focuses on teamwork and how we can work together to achieve many things. We will be reading texts about baseball, soccer, and track. Each story focusing on different elements of teamwork. We will be exploring the author's purpose, literary elements, and theme.

Math- In math, we will be continuing Unit 4, focusing on measurement. While the beginning of the unit focuses on time, we will be continuing our exploration of measurement through mass, volume and fractions.

4th Grade

ELA - In January, our 4th graders will listen to, read, and view a variety of texts that expose them to information about the arts. Through a variety of genres that include biographies, argumentative text, informational text and poetry. We will continue to develop our comprehension strategies like Test Structure, Figurative Language, Central Idea, Text and Graphic Features, Elements of Poetry, and Theme. Creating habits of taking notes and annotating the text appropriately will also be a priority this month. This module will allow us to answer the essential question: "How far can your talents take you?". As the module concludes, students will be required to complete an expository essay for a performance task.

Math - This month in Math, our 4th graders will begin Unit 4. We will continue to work on Place Value to 1,000,000 and the Standard Algorithm for Addition and Subtraction. This place value understanding will allow students to see patterns and relationships in the base ten counting system. The students will revisit strategies learned and use those strategies to add and subtract larger numbers, using standard algorithm. Our 4th graders will deepen their understanding of subtraction strategies. We will then transition into Module 3 where we will learn Measurement. This module introduces students to benchmark measurements and relative sizes. Module 4 our students will explore Measurement and Data Analysis.

5th Grade

Reading- In ELA, 5th grade is learning all about the Earth. In this module, students will listen to, read, and view a variety of texts and media that present them with information about the Earth. We will be focusing on persuasive texts in order to provide students with opportunities to identify the author's purpose and audience. This will give students a better understanding of unfamiliar texts. Students will encounter other genres such as realistic fiction, drama and informational text to build knowledge across genres. As students build their vocabulary and knowledge about Earth, they will learn that there are many ways to protect the future of the world around us. Take some time to share some ways students can protect and keep the world around us cleaner and safer!

Math- In Unit 4, students return to the study of multiplication and division strategies, including standard multiplication algorithm. In the first two modules, students investigate a number of strategies that capitalize on their estimation and mental math skills and help them continue to develop strong number sense. In our last unit, students were introduced to standard multiplication and division using the area model and partial products. In Unit 4, students will reinforce the connection between multiplication and division using the area model and ratio tables to help students develop a degree of comfort with long division. Be sure to practice and review standard multiplication and division to ensure full understanding of the skills that will be taught in this unit.

We hope that you all had a great holiday! We are happy to have our students back at school. January is a great time to revisit and discuss our school expectations and our code of conduct and what B.A.R.K. looks like in different settings in the building.

• B - Be prepared
• A - Act responsibly
• R - Respect others
• K - Keep safe

The character strengths that we will be highlighting in our daily morning meetings during January are coping skills, conflict resolution, self-control, and preventing bullying. They will learn more about each strength through a variety of activities, videos, and games. Ms. Phipps and Mrs. Bradham will be teaching classroom guidance lessons on a variety of topics. In Pre-K through 1st grade, Ms. Phipps will be teaching "whole body listening" to help show kindness to their classmates. In 2nd grade, students will identify self-control strategies to improve communication skills. Mrs. Bradham will help 3rd grade students identify positive character traits in themselves and others to recognize and celebrate differences and understand the importance of kindness. In 4th grade, the students will be able to identify the differences between "growth" and "fixed" mindsets. In 5th grade, students will learn the Technology Tail in order to identify strategies to safely use the internet, social media, and other technology.

If you need to contact the counselors, please email or call pphipps@bcps.org (Pre-K-2nd Grades) and bbradham@bcps.org (3rd-5th Grades).

One of the questions we often hear in winter months is, "Does cold weather make my child sick?"

The answer is: not necessarily. Illness is caused by viruses and bacteria, not weather. When indoors, people share germs by coughing and sneezing, and by touching common surfaces. Some viruses may live longer in cold, dry weather which is why they are more common in winter. The most common viruses in winter months are influenza (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19, rhinovirus (common cold) and norovirus (stomach bug or stomach flu). These illnesses spread easily in colder months because people spend more time indoors. More time indoors means more sharing of germs.

While cold weather does not make your child sick, it can lower their ability to fight off these germs. Outdoor play is still important to boost vitamin D levels, promote exercise, and to give kids fresh air. It is important to send your child to school with appropriate clothing on cold days, including a jacket, hat and gloves so they are ready for outdoor play. BCPS does have a cold weather policy and on extremely cold days all students are kept indoors. If your child has a diagnosed medical condition that requires them to avoid cold temperatures based on their doctor's recommendation, please contact the nurse at 443-809-6063 so that we can get appropriate documentation from their pediatrician, and arrangements can be made for your child. More information on winter illnesses can be found here:

https://www.childrens.com/health-wellness/5-common-winter-illnesses-in-kids

It's a brand new year and a fresh start as we roll into the second half of the school year!

With the start of this new year, we want to make sure you are aware of all the resources and helpers in our building who are available to offer support to your family.

Food Access - Our School Food Pantry will re-open on Tuesday, January 21st with our usual hours either in the morning from 9-10 am or in the afternoon from 3-5 pm. For those of you who've never been to the pantry, we are located in one of the 3 trailers behind the school (the one closest to the parking lot). We are open weekly and families may come once a week to select food items. For morning visitors, please check into the main school office before coming to the pantry.

Children's Winter Coats - If you haven't already used the link below to request a coat for your child, you are still able to do so. All the sizes of the coats we have tend to run small, so it is possible that we may not have a coat to fit an older or larger student. If that is the case, we will work to find one. We will let you know either way. Here's the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeW7DC_cFr3dufz_PLyQ3TGo2fd3VUQdav0NvtZclSIYyCCmA/viewform

St. Agnes Mobile Medical Clinic - The mobile clinic will still be available on Wednesdays here at BHES, parked beside the building on Wednesdays from 10 am - 3 pm. St. Agnes has been working to hire a new Nurse Practitioner for the clinic, and one is scheduled to begin in March. Until then, however, there is no medical treatment available in the clinic. The clinic staff can still offer blood pressure screenings, check vital signs, provide education on high blood pressure and diabetes management, offering resources and referrals for additional services and help patients connect with primary care providers and schedule appointments. We are hoping the clinic will be able to resume offering medical treatment soon.

Assistance Connecting to Resources - If you need information or resources such as: applying for SNAP benefits, other benefit programs, energy assistance, eviction prevention programs, health and dental care, health insurance, mental health services, parenting supports, daycare vouchers, coats/clothing or something else, members of our CARE TEAM staff listed below are available to assist:

(Please don't hesitate to reach out if there's anything you need!)

Yolanda Artis, School Social Worker - 443-809-7983 or yartis@bcps.org

Manuela Amorin, School Social Worker - 443-809-7970 or mamorin@bcps.org

Bridget Bradham, School Counselor - 443-809-1053 or bbradham@bcps.org

Pam Phipps, School Counselor - 443-809-2473 or pphipps@bcps.org

Lacie Grisley, School Nurse - 443-809-6063 or lgrisley@bcps.org

Karina Whitaker, Bilingual Health Assistant - 443-809-6063 or swhitaker@bcps.org

Jill Savage, Community School Liaison - 443-809-4006 or jsavage@bcps.org