Takoma Park Elementary School
Newsletter
March 23, 2025
Principal Intern Coming to TPES Next School Year
Takoma Park Elementary School has been selected as one of several schools supporting the training of a future principal in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). Ms. Diana Hayden, who currently serves as a Assistant Principal at Highland View Elementary, has been selected as a MCPS principal intern for the 2025-2026 school year. It is an honor for TPES to be considered as a training site for a future principal. This is a testament to the strength and quality of our school community and the dedication of our staff to the continuous improvement of our practices.
The primary goal of the principal internship is to prepare candidates to become highly successful school principals in MCPS. An important component of the principal internship is the job-embedded opportunities for growth. To this end, Ms. Hayden will complete a practicum experience and serve as Takoma Park Elementary’s acting principal from December 2025 to the end of January 2026. During this time, I will be assigned to support a principal intern in a separate school, and another experienced principal will come to TPES to support Ms. Hayden. This experience allows the principal intern to take on and fulfill the responsibilities of the principalship.
In turn, our assistant principal, Mrs. Joi Hollis, will be transferring to Fairland Elementary School effective July 1, 2025. Mrs. Hollis has been a valued member of our team here at TPES. I want to thank Mrs. Hollis for her years of service to the TPES community. Please join me in wishing Mrs. Hollis well as she transitions to her new school community at the end of this school year.
As we embark on this new chapter, I look forward to working with the school community to continue to provide the best possible education and support for our students. I consider it a great privilege for our school to be selected to develop a future MCPS principal. I am sure that all of you will join me in celebrating Ms. Hayden as she embraces her role as a principal intern here at Takoma Park Elementary School. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me directly.
Dr. Gadsden
From Mrs. Hollis
Greetings Takoma Park ES Family,
It is with a mix of gratitude and sadness that I write to let you know that my time as your Assistant Principal is coming to an end. After four incredible years, I am moving on to a new opportunity as a principal intern. I will forever remember the Tremendously Terrific TPES!!! To our sensational students, thank you for filling our hallways with laughter, curiosity, and kindness. Watching you grow, learn, and accomplish so much has been the greatest joy of my time here. You are the heart of this school, and I have no doubt that you will continue to do great things. Keep working hard, believing in yourselves, and treating others with respect. To our stellar staff, I am beyond grateful to have worked alongside such talented and passionate educators. Your unwavering commitment to our students and their success is truly inspiring. I have learned so much from each of you, and I will forever cherish the teamwork, collaboration, and friendships we have built. To our supportive parents, thank you for entrusting us with your children and for being partners in their education. Your involvement, encouragement, and commitment to our school community have made a world of difference. As I take this next step in my journey, I leave with a heart full of memories, appreciation, and admiration for each and every one of you. I won't be too far away so don’t hesitate to write, email, or call. I look forward to seeing all the wonderful things that lie ahead for this incredible community.
With Love, Joi Hollis Assistant Principal, TPES
Calling all TPES artists!
We are accepting submissions for 2 different exciting projects - this year's YEARBOOK COVER and a MURAL for the playground! Please find information about each contest below!
Yearbook Cover
We invite all TPES students to share your artistic talent to design a cover for this year's Takoma Park Elementary yearbook! The theme for this year's cover is "Teamwork at TPES"...please show how teamwork and unity make our school stronger! Please send entries to kaitlin.h.caruso@mcpsmd.net either digitally or as a hard copy by April 9, 2025.
If you are interested in participating in the contest, please create an original piece of artwork (no digital images from the internet please). Entries should be 8 ½”x 11” in size. Artwork should be dark enough to be seen clearly when scanned. Students are encouraged to discuss and plan their entries with trusted adults, but all entries must be original and completed by the student. Submitted pieces should represent TPES along with this year’s yearbook theme of teamwork and unity. Please do not include any identifying information on your artwork (No names please).
All entries must include:
- Full Name of School (Takoma Park Elementary School)
- 2024-2025
- Theme (Teamwork at TPES)
- Correct spelling
- Put student's full name on the back of their entry
Mural Designs
We invite all TPES students to be part of new artwork on TPES property. The mural will serve to beautify an otherwise plain wall and as a welcome sign to the newly installed Nature Walk! The wall is a long rectangle that narrows at both ends and we would love to fill it with nature themed art and lots of color! Likely we will be able to accept a number of ideas and incorporate them all together. Think plants, bold designs, inclusive symbols, and other unifying images. Please use original designs and avoid using words.
Also plan to come to the workday on April 5th (from 1-4 PM) where we will be gardening and preparing the mural surface and again on May 3rd (from 1-4 PM) to continue the gardening and to add color to the mural!
Please submit mural entries either digitally or hard copy to Ms. Archuletta. Email lindsey.n.archuletta@mcpsmd.net for additional information or with questions. The deadline for mural submissions is April 23rd!
We look forward to your creativity!
Parent Input Form
The parent input form is an opportunity to provide input into your child's class placement for the 2025-2026 school year. This spring, our staff will begin the process of developing classes for next year. This work will continue into the summer. Our goal is to make the best student-teacher match possible and we will use the information in this form to help guide our work.
Este formulario es una oportunidad para describir cómo ve a su hijo/a como alumno/a y para compartir con nosotros qué elementos cree que deberían incluirse en el ambiente del aula de su hijo/a para el año escolar 2025-2026. Esta primavera, nuestro personal comenzará el proceso de desarrollar clases para el próximo año. Este trabajo continuará hasta el verano. Nuestro objetivo es hacer posible la mejor combinación de alumno-maestro y utilizaremos la información en este formulario para ayudar a guiar nuestro trabajo.
ይህ ቅጽ ልጅዎን እንደ ተማሪ እንዴት እንደሚያዩ ለመግለጽ እና በ2025-2026 የትምህርት ዓመት በልጅዎ ትምህርት አከባቢ ውስጥ መካተት አለባቸው ብለው የሚያምኑትን ነገሮች ለእኛ ለማካፈል እድሉ ነው ፡፡ በዚህ የፀደይ ወቅት ሰራተኞቻችን ለሚቀጥለው ዓመት ትምህርቶችን የማዘጋጀት ሂደት ይጀምራሉ ፡፡ ይህ ሥራ እስከ ክረምቱ ይቀጥላል ፡፡ ግባችን የተሻለውን የተማሪ-መምህር ግጥሚያ ማድረግ ነው እናም በዚህ ቅጽ ውስጥ ያለውን መረጃ ስራችንን ለመምራት እንጠቀምበታለን።
The 2025 TPES Read-a-thon is here!
We are excited for this fun, school-wide event that gets kids excited about reading!
What: The TPES Read-a-thon is a month-long, school-wide event in which your child reads and sets goals related to their reading. Like in a charity marathon, where runners are "sponsored" for every mile they run, caregivers and others may sponsor students for every minute they read. The pledges collected at the end of the Read-a-thon are donations to the PTA, and these donations provide benefits for students, teachers, and staff at TPES.
When:
We kicked off with a book giveaway on March 7! The Read-a-thon continues from March 8-April 4.
Where: At home or school, your child reads or is read to. This includes audiobooks and another child or adult reading to them.
Who: Anyone (parent, grandparent, family friend, etc.) can sponsor a child. Then you or your child records the minutes read.
Why: Instead of asking children to sell items—like candy or magazines—to family and friends, a Read-a-thon encourages kids to get lost in a book, and supportive adults feel good about encouraging a child's love of reading and supporting the school without having to purchase anything they do not need.
How: Students and their caregivers will record minutes read on provided reading logs. Hand the logs in to teachers every Friday or enter minutes via the online minutes log.
**Can TPES collectively reach our goal of reading 200,000 minutes? We'll be monitoring progress weekly!**
More information will be provided in your student's Dolphin Folder and is available on the PTA website linked here. If you have any questions, email Leslie Hamilton at leslie.jimison@gmail.com.
School Transfer Requests
Student Transfer Application Season Schedule from the first school day in February through the first day in April 2025
Montgomery County parents/guardians who wish to request a Change of School Assignment (COSA) for their children from their home school may begin the process during the upcoming transfer season; from February 3 through April 1, 2025.
Students in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) are expected to attend the school within the established attendance area in which they reside (home school) or assigned in accordance with their Individualized Education Program (IEP). Students may apply for Change of School Assignment (COSA) from the home school, or the school of assignment through the IEP process, based on the following criteria:
When a documented unique hardship is shown: Students may apply for a COSA when extenuating circumstances related to their specific physical, mental or emotional well-being or their family’s individual or personal situation could be mitigated by a change of school assignment.
When a family moved within Montgomery County who wish to continue attending their former home school may request a COSA without demonstrating a unique hardship. Such requests may be considered for a remainder of the current school year only, with the exception that students in Grade 11 or 12 may be granted a COSA to stay through high school graduation.
When a student seeks to attend the school where a sibling will be enrolled in the regular/general school program, or a special education program, during the year the students wants to enroll.
► When a sibling attends a magnet, language immersion or other application program at elementary level, a COSA may be approved to the regular school program for other sibling on a case-by-case basis. Such approval requires consideration of available classroom space, grade-level enrollment, staffing allocations, or other factors that impact the schools involved.
The criteria above regarding siblings do not apply if a boundary change has occurred or if the sibling is in PreK.
Consideration will be given to school capacity and other issues that impact the ability of the requested school to admit new students.
The transfer process begins in the home school, where parents/guardians may request the Change of School Assignment (COSA) Information Booklet through ParentVue. The booklet describes the process, and provides useful information. Beginning the first week of February 2025, the COSA booklet will be available in both English and Spanish. Exempt countywide programs that do not fall under the transfer guidelines are listed in the booklet.
New for the 2025-2026 school year, parents must submit their request for a change of school assignment (COSA) online through their ParentVue portal. The parent making the request will be copied on an email notification sent to the administrative team of the student's current school shortly after the submission; this will serve as their "receipt" of request and will be sent to the email they entered when completing the online form.
For information about assignments for students residing in the Northeast, Downcounty or Middle School Magnet Consortium areas, please contact the Division of Consortia Choice and Application Program Services
240-740-7800 or visit the website at www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/schoolchoice.
For more information about the transfer process, parents/guardians are encouraged to contact the principal at their home school. Non-english speaking students and parents/guardians who may require assistance may contact ASK MCPS to get the information they need by telephone at 240-740-3000. Telephone operators who speak English and Spanish are available from 7:30am to 5:30pm, Monday through Friday. Parents who speak languages other than English or Spanish who call the ASK MCPS telephone line and identify their language will have their questions answered through a telephone interpreter.
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