White Marsh Elementary School

The Bears are so excited for the eclipse on Monday! Information was shared on Friday about student participation in activities for Monday; it is also shared below in case you missed it.

On Tuesday, the PTA will meet at 6:30.

Report cards will be available on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Running Club for K, 1 and 2 will meet. Students should be picked up with a photo ID promptly at 4:20. Please plan to walk around the side of the building to pick them up from the gym.

Thursday morning at 9:30 a WMES Site Based Volunteer Training will be held in the Cafeteria. This is one of the last opportunities to complete this training this school year. If you plan to volunteer for any end of year activities, you must be an approved SMCPS volunteer and have attended the WMES training this school year.

State assessments will begin on Friday. Our 5th grade students will begin this testing in the area of ELA. Please make sure students come to school well rested, and with a charged laptop. Friday is also a Spirit Day- wear blue!

As a reminder, the yearbook sale continues, and will end Friday, May 3, 2024. See the link below.

Have a great week!

Principal Steele

Please note- when signing out a student from school you will be asked to present your photo ID every time.

Congratulations to the WMES Math Teams! They participated along with many other elementary schools in this year's Math Challenge. We are so proud of you!

As you know, a partial solar eclipse will occur on Monday, April 8, 2024. The Bears are excited to learn more about solar eclipses and experience this firsthand. In each of our classrooms, students will be learning about and discussing this phenomenon. Our school has purchased approved solar eclipse glasses for each of our students. They are ISO and CE Certified.

If you do not wish for your student to participate in outdoor learning activities during the partial solar eclipse, please notify your child’s teacher by Monday, April 8, 2024.

• Applications for STEM 6 will open on April 2 and close on April 30, 2024. No late applications will be accepted. The online application will be found on the Academies page of the SMCPS website.

• The annual Academy Open House will be held virtually on Wednesday, April 10th starting at 5:30 pm. More information is available via the Academy Open House Google Site.

SMCPS and SMC R&P have partnered to offer the new Summer Sports Academies. Campers will be instructed by area high school coaches. Camps are held Monday - Thursday. Click below for more information. Registration begins March 1st. Don't miss this opportunity.

• https://www.stmaryscountymd.gov/recreate/camps

• https://www.stmaryscountymd.gov/docs/thescoop.pdf

Field Hockey Camp

Basketball Camp

Apr 17 Running Club (K-2)

Apr 17 PTA Spirit Night- Rita's of Charlotte Hall

Apr 19 Purple Up! Day

Apr 19 2 hr. Early Dismissal

Apr 24 Running Club (K-2)

Apr 25 Fifth Grade Field Trip

Apr 25 Elementary All County Honors Jazz Concert, LHS

Apr 30 Second Grade Field Trip

May 1 PTA Meeting, 6:30 pm

May 6-10 Teacher Appreciation Week

May 8-22 School Kidz Online Sale

May 9 Kindergarten Field Trip

May 10 2 hr. Early Dismissal

May 14 Election Day; No School for Students

May 15 PTA Family Fun Night, 5-6:30

May 16 School Dance

May 23 Spring Concert (Band, Chorus, Strings) 10 am

May 28-30 WMES Book Fair

May 31 Field Day!

The Maryland Special Education Parent Involvement Survey for SY24 is now available for parents to complete. If your child has an IEP, please complete the survey.

Band and Strings students are asked to bring their instruments to school every Wednesday! Sincerely, Mr. Guy

SMCPS is once again offering School-Based Counseling Support in the evening for SMCPS students. Counseling support focuses on the following areas: Healthy Relationships, Social Skills, Self-Esteem, Stress Management, Worry, Sadness, and Emotional Regulation. Services will be located at Margaret Brent Middle School and Greenview Knolls Elementary School on Tuesday evenings from 4-7:30 p.m. Please complete the Parent Contact Form for Evening Counseling to request services.

SMCPS has put together a list of commonly used resources so that families have a better understanding of what they are and how they are used in our schools. Take a look at the SMCPS Instructional Terms and Resources.

In order to volunteer and/or chaperone at WMES you must do the following annually:

1) register to be a SMCPS volunteer

2) attend a WMES Site Based Volunteer Training.

The SMCPS Volunteer information can be found on the WMES Family Links document, and the next WMES Site Based Volunteer Training can be found on the WMES website by accessing the calendar.

St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) is requesting your permission for your student to use the Internet and other computer resources in school. It is important that you and your student review this information. Click here to access The Acceptable Use Agreement.

Please remember that our school day begins at 9 am and ends at 3:45 pm. Early sign-outs and late arrivals contribute to missed instruction. In addition, students need to be present all day, every day, in order to participate in the Bear Crawl each month. Please support the importance of the academic day by only having your student miss school when absolutely necessary.

Be looking for a paper version of the WMES Family Handbook to come home the first week of school. In addition, we have created this electronic version of the WMES Family Handbook for you to view. It has important information about school policies and practices, including Volunteer Information, Breakfast and Lunches, School Celebrations, and more!

We have created a document for families with links to important system and school information. Check out this link and be sure to bookmark it! We will update it periodically so that you can have quick access to needed information.

• Student Laptops and Chargers

• Accountability Newsletter

• Print and Resource Accountability for SMCPS Students

From the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE)-

Chronic Absenteeism: Students are chronically absent when absent 10% or more of the school days while enrolled at that school. For example, a student who is registered to attend a school for 30 days and who is absent 3 of those 30 days is considered chronically absent.

WMES will follow up with chronically absent students through the Pupil Services Team, Pupil Personnel Worker, and the Department of Student Services. In order to reduce the number of our students with Chronic Absenteeism, incentives to encourage good attendance include participation in the Bear Crawl, Running Club, and School Dance.

SMCPS Text Alerts are a great way to get information quickly. They are not sent often, and usually only in the event of an unexpected school delay or closure. On occasion, WMES will send a text alert about a late bus, substitute bus, or school event. Click the link for information about registering for text alerts.

Julia Steele, Principal

Email: jwsteele@smcps.org
Website: wmes.smcps.org
Location: 29090 Thompson Corner Road, Mechanicsville, MD, USA
Phone: (301)472-4600