Middleton Moments - Owlet Edition

We have survived our first week of school in the 2024-2025 school year. Thank you all so very much for your patience as we navigate bus routes, parent pick up, and arrival of all our new families to Middleton who are learning the processes and procedures. Each day both arrival and dismissal are getting quicker and running much more smoothly! We will continue to practice next week as we welcome our newest Owls (Pre-K)!

Please be sure to read the Middleton Moments Owlet Edition each Friday night as it contains important information from the school.

Please contact our office (301-753-1749) if you have any questions or need additional information.

Sincerely,

Nicole L. Hawkins,

AMES Principal

nhawkins@ccboe.com

Remember, if you are dropping items off to the school, this can only be done between 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM daily. We appreciate your cooperation with this!

Middleton staff would like to give a shout out to our PTO for helping with parent pick up dismissal. We are grateful for your support!

Students accepted in the CCPS prekindergarten program start school on Tuesday, Sept. 3, after the Labor Day holiday. Welcome Owlets!

Beginning Tuesday, kindergarten students now will enter through the main front doors for the remainder of the school year. Pre-kindergarten will enter on the side for the first week only. Below is a picture as to where they will enter. Thank you!

Our Dual Language Program is off to a great start! Check out our kindergarten class!

Grandparents’ Day is Sunday September 8th this year and the staff here at Arthur Middleton Elementary School (AMES) know how important the role of a grandparent/special person is in the lives of our students. Please join us for Grandparents’/Special Person’s Week at AMES Monday, September 9th- Thursday, September 12th.

Forms will be sent home in English and Spanish. Below is also a copy of the form to complete along with more information pertaining to the celebration.

Middleton has temporary instructional assistant positions available for the 24-25 school year. This position would give the opportunity to work with small groups or one on one. If you are interested, please email Mrs. Hawkins at nhawkins@ccboe.com.

A reminder that student’s passwords will change 4 p.m., Friday, Aug. 30. Students need their password to login to their CCPS-issued laptop or device, Microsoft365 and StudentVue. Any student who is new to CCPS this school year will not have their password reset.

Student password information is in StudentVue accounts under the Student Information menu area (using a web browser on a desktop platform). If using the mobile app, click on the Student Info/Additional Information menu to access the information. The new password is displayed in the same areas of StudentVue. Students are reminded not to share their passwords with others.

All CCPS students are required to have certain vaccinations prior to attending school. The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Center for Immunization has released vaccination requirements for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Charles County Department of Health is holding free back-to-school immunization clinics. A list of requirements and free clinic dates is posted on the school system website. Call 301-609-6835 to schedule an appointment. Clinics are for Charles County residents only. For vaccination requirement questions, call the school health management office at 301-934-7346.

Dear Parents/Guardians:

An essential element of the education process is the safe and efficient transportation of students as they travel between home and school. The success of this undertaking relies on the collective responsibility and efforts of drivers, students, parents, schools, bus contractors, and the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) transportation department. Bus information for the 2024-2025 school year will be posted in ParentVue on Wednesday, Aug. 21. The CCPS Bus Hotline, 301-932-6655, will be active Aug. 26-27 from 6 to 10 a.m. and 1 to 5:30 p.m. Parents and students can also use Where’s the Bus, an app that employs GPS technology, to track their bus while its in motion. Where’s the Bus displays real-time bus arrival and drop off data. The mobile app can be downloaded from the Google or Apple app stores. Included below are answers to frequent questions about online bus information.

What if I do not have access to the Internet?
Contact your child’s school to request transportation information and/or assistance in submitting Transportation Help Tickets.

How do I find my child’s bus information?
Go to www.ccboe.com and click on school bus icon for CCPS Transportation. Follow the links to the School Locator and enter your street number and street name in the appropriate fields. The school eligibility, closest bus stop, bus number, and pick up/drop off times will be listed for this address. Please note: the School Locator will only list school eligibility until route information is posted on Wednesday, Aug. 21. Additionally, School Locator does not include bus information for special needs students, which must be arranged through the IEP process at a child’s school. Information for special needs transportation should be loaded to ParentVue on Aug. 21.

What if no bus stop is established for my address or if there is an issue with the established stop?
Go to www.ccboe.com and click on the school bus icon for CCPS Transportation. Follow the links to Transportation Help Tickets and complete a Bus Stop Concern form. Complete the requested information in as much detail as possible and submit. A transportation representative will respond to your request.

We are moving. What do we need to do to secure transportation at our new address?
If you are moving, please update your child’s school with your new address. The school will then update your address in the Synergy student database. The Synergy database connects with the School Locator nightly and updates any modified records. Please do not use the Transportation Help Ticket portal to update your permanent address.

How do I update my child’s pick up and/or drop off address?
Go to www.ccboe.com and click on the school bus icon for CCPS Transportation. Follow the links to Transportation Help Tickets and complete a Bus Change Request form. Complete the requested information in as much detail as possible and submit. Transportation can modify either the AM pick up address, PM drop off address, or both to align with your before/aftercare needs that follow a Monday-Friday schedule. It is important to make sure your child’s before/aftercare address information is updated using the Transportation Help Ticket portal so that CCPS is always aware of your child’s location in case of an emergency. Please allow at least five (5) business days for the requested changes to be made. Students cannot be transported to daycare outside of the zoned school.

Important information for parents
• All bus pickup and drop off times posted on the School Locator are approximate. Students should be standing at their assigned bus stop five minutes before the scheduled bus arrival time in the morning.
• Students should never cross a divided road to access a bus stop. This includes major highways such as Route 301, Route 228, Route 5 and Route 210, and divided roads within communities such as Quailwood, Pinefield and St. Charles.
• Students should wait for the school bus in a safe and orderly fashion at the assigned stop location.
• Students should wait at their designated bus stop until the bus has completely stopped before moving toward or boarding the bus. Students who must cross the roadway to board the bus should wait on their side until the bus arrives and only cross the road when the red warning lights are activated, and the roadway is clear of traffic.

For more transportation information and resources, visit CCPS Transportation (www.ccboe.com/transportation).

Letter

Please understand that we have grown vastly in size for this school year and we are all working together to accommodate all our additional students and families, and we are aware that we are limited when it comes to parking spaces. We must work together as a Middleton family to ensure the safety of all our students comes first! We appreciate your efforts in this process!

ARRIVAL: All students will enter through the main doors (walkers, drop off, bus riders, and daycare van riders). Doors open at 9:00 AM. All students MUST be in their seats by 9:15 AM or they are considered tardy. Breakfast is served daily from 9:00-9:15 AM. Please ensure our scholars arrive on time daily! If you are driving your student to school, please use the map below (the green arrows) to locate where to pull in and wait.

DISMISSAL: Walkers and Parent Pick Up will be dismissed first starting at 3:45PM. Walkers will exit through the back doors of the school where the gym/cafeteria are located (the blue area on the map below). It is understood that as walkers, these students ARE NOT being monitored by school staff once they leave the gymnasium exit doors for the day. They are instructed to walk home and not linger around the school. Parent Pick Up students will meet their pick up person on the side of the school near the trailers. Signs will be set up by grade level and we ask that parents line up behind their signs. Parking is located in green on the map below. If you have students in various grade levels, you will have to go to each grade level to retrieve each of your students. ONLY adults aged 18+ with a photo ID and that are on the child's emergency contact list will be permitted to pick up their student. NO EXCEPTIONS!! This is for the safety of our students and this is the policy of Charles County Public Schools. Bus riders and daycare van riders will dismiss from the front doors at the end of the school day.

No cars are permitted in the main lot during arrival and dismissal (red area on map below) - we have a lot of students dismissing and coming from various directions during these times. To keep all our children safe, we cannot allow any cars to move through our lot during these timeframes. For the safety of all our students, we ask that you PLEASE DO NOT pull into the main lot of the school. Thanks for your cooperation!

Change in Dismissal? Please notify teachers at least 24 hours in advance of any changes in transportation for your student(s). It is often difficult to have changes made on short notice. While we understand that emergencies occur, we ask that you put in writing any changes in dismissal to the teacher 24 hours in advance. If the teacher DOES NOT respond to your change request as they are engaging in instruction with their classes throughout the day, please notify the following staff members so they can notify the teacher of the change: lstephenson@ccboe.com (Assistant Principal), pmooring@ccboe.com (Assistant Principal), and nhawkins@ccboe.com (Principal).

Late Arrival: Our late bell is at 9:15 AM and students are expected to be in their classrooms at that time. If your student is late to school, please park in a parking space, ring the bell to enter the building, and sign your student in. Thank you!

Early Dismissal: In order to pick your student up as an early dismissal, you must be at the school prior to 3:20 PM. Any parent/guardian arriving after 3:20 PM will be directed to the Parent Pick Up process rather than being granted the early dismissal. Thank you!

The first week of school is in the books! We are thrilled to have all our Owlets back in the building, on time and ready to learn.

The CCPS Code of Student Conduct committee updated the student dress code for the new school year. Students will no longer be permitted to wear any top or shirt that does not fully cover their midriff area.

The dress code emphasizes the role of parents and their responsibility to ensure their child is coming to school each day dressed appropriately. The change is outlined in the 2024-2025 Code of Student Conduct.

This year our theme is "Going for the Gold." Please use the link below to order your Middleton spirit wear. The shop is OPEN and closes on Monday, September 23rd. Items will arrive approximately 2 weeks after the shop closes. Thank you for supporting Middleton Elementary!

https://2024middletonowls.itemorder.com/

CCPS provides students with a learning device. Devices will be handed out to students during the first few weeks of school. Students in grades 4-12 may take learning devices home. Students in Grades 1-3 are issued a learning device for in-class instruction and to use at school. Students in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten are not issued an individual device but will use shared devices in the classroom.

CCPS is launching a new Learning Management System (LMS) this school year called Canvas. The platform is a central location for everything related to classes – course materials, assignments, collaboration tools, a course calendar and more. Canvas enhances the learning experience for both students and teachers and is intended to complement, not replace, face-to-face or live teaching.

Synergy will remain the official CCPS Student Information System (SIS), which means StudentVue and ParentVue will continue to be used for enrollment, course history, student schedules, attendance tracking and grade reporting. CCPS discontinued its use of Synergy LessonVue, also referred to as teacher webpages, this month. CCPS will provide parents with Canvas resources by mid-September, including detailed account login steps and an overview of what to expect.

Due to allergies, students and their parents/guardians are not allowed to bring to school and distribute any outside food products unless the products are commercially manufactured, individually wrapped in single serving sizes, and are marked with the ingredients and the nutritional facts label. Parents/guardians must obtain permission from their child's teacher or school administrator prior to bringing outside food for distribution so that the teacher/administrator can review the timing and impact on the school day, the benefit and fairness to students, and other considerations. Pizza parties/celebrations are not considered birthday treats!

Middleton will again participate in federal and state programs called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) which provides free meals at qualifying schools. All Middleton students will receive free breakfast and lunch this year! All families are encouraged to complete a free meals application. The application is now available for the new school year at https://www.myschoolapps.com/. Benefits begin immediately once a family is approved. Approved benefits from last year end Oct. 10.

For those parents/guardians who are coming in to have lunch with their children, please make sure you are making prior arrangements with your child's teacher. We love having our parents/guardians come in and show our students love and support, but we have increased in size and want to make sure we have plenty of space for all of our guests. Thanks for being flexible!

CCPS uses email, phone call and text message alerts as part of its systemwide mass communication. The platform used by CCPS is School Messenger, which pulls data from the student information and staff data systems.

Parents should have a current phone number and email address on file with their child’s school. Parents must opt-in to receive CCPS text alerts, as standard messaging rates by carriers apply. A cell phone number must be on file with CCPS to receive text alerts. To opt-in, text Y or YES to 67587. To opt-put, text STOP to 67587 at any time.

Please know that while the Middleton staff welcomes communication with our Middleton families, it is always good practice to schedule a meeting with the staff rather than to do an impromptu meeting at arrival and dismissal through parent pick up or by coming into the school requesting to speak with staff. If you personally would like to schedule an in-person meeting with administration, please reach out to them via email at nhawkins@ccboe.com, lstephenson@ccboe.com, and pmooring@ccboe.com and include Ms. Andrews, secretary, on the email at sandrews@ccboe.com. You can also call the school to schedule an appointment with the front office staff based on the availability of administration at 301-753-1749. In addition, our standard operating procedures for arrival and dismissal do not allow us to meet/talk with parents anytime before 10:00 AM daily, nor between the hours of 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM daily. Our main priority at those times are to get all our students into the building for instruction and home safely. Thanks for this consideration!

Attendance is important to us! We want our students here everyday, but we know that they get sick sometimes...

We have a new attendance notes mailbox: AMESAttendance@ccboe.com

Please email all attendance notes to this email moving forward. This is for absences/illnesses, NOT CHANGE IN TRANSPORTATION. Medical notes for the students allow for absences to be excused. Parent notes are listed as illnesses with a note, but do not excuse the absence.

Please click on the attachment to read the AMES Title 1 Parent Compact. The school-parent compact is a written agreement between teachers and parents and provides an opportunity to create new partnerships in your school community. It is a document that explains what families and schools can do to help children reach high academic standards of excellence.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in all activities and programs of educational institutions receiving federal funds, which includes Charles County Public Schools (CCPS). Prohibited sex-based discrimination includes discrimination based on gender, gender identity, or pregnancy. It also includes sexual harassment and sexual assault. Inquiries should be made to a school-based Title IX coordinator, Ms. Katrina Spriggs, school counselor, at kspriggs@ccboe.com, or Ms. Lauren Stephenson, assistant principal, at lstephenson@ccboe.com. Either staff members can also be reached by calling the school at 301-753-1749. Information regarding the process for filing a sexual misconduct complaint and/or supportive measures, can be found on the CCPS website at: https://www.ccboe.com/departments/student-services/section-504title-ix/title-ix

Charles County At-A-Glance Calendar 2024-2025

Charles County Parent Handbook/Calendar 2024-2025

Charles County Code of Conduct

School Supply List