Beacon Bulletin

Piney Point families,

• May 6th - 10th is Teacher Appreciation Week. We're excited to celebrate our exceptional teachers and honor their hard work, dedication, and commitment to our students' success. They go above and beyond every day to inspire, educate, and nurture our children, shaping not only their academic growth but also their character and values. If you signed up to donate any snacks for our teacher please send those in no later than Monday May 6th!

• At Piney Point Elementary School, we're fortunate to have such dedicated and involved parents like you who understand the invaluable role teachers play in our children's lives. Your ongoing support and generosity empower our teachers to continue making a profound impact on our children's lives, and for that, we are truly grateful.

• Attention 5th grade parents!- On May 8th @ 8:15 am we will be having another Parent Committee meeting the Luau this year. If you can not attend please feel free to join us via the Zoom link below:
• Zoom: https://smcps.zoom.us/j/92752227350pwd=TE1HMjJDU3dIWVc1TzkwR1ByT282QT09
• Kindergarten Registration will open May 6th- You may stop by the school to pick up a packet or make an appointment if you need assistance.
• While attendance at school everyday is so important, we really need all intermediate students at school for our MISA (science grade 5) and MCAP (ELA and Math grades 3, 4, 5) state testing in March, April, and May. Parents and guardians, please write down these dates now to ensure students are here at school for these important days:
• Grade 4 &5 Math- May 6, 8
• 3rd Grade MATH MCAP is May 9, 13, 15, and 16th

Be sure to review this entire newsletter each week as it will provide you with valuable resources and information.

~Mrs. Zeier

Teacher Appreciation Week is just around the corner, and we're excited to honor the incredible educators who make a difference in the lives of our students every day. We're planning a week full of special events to show our gratitude for their hard work and dedication.

Your support and generosity are what make our school community truly exceptional

SMCPS Food Services will be providing "to-go" meals for the summer at LHS, CHS, OES, and SRMS offering 5-day meal pick-up on Mondays starting June 10th. Parents must pre-register their children by filling out the form linked below or bringing them to the site when they pick up meals. SMCPS will also be operating Lunch and Learn and Lunch at the Library, more information to follow. Summer Meals Registration Link

St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) will begin to accept Pre- Kindergarten 4 Applications on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future allows for families with children who are 4 years old on or before September 1, 2024, to apply for full-day Pre-Kindergarten. All families are welcome to apply; however, income is the primary qualifier for eligibility. All applications will be screened and identified on a System of Tiers.

The SMCPS website, www.smcps.org, has information and guidance for completing the 2024-

2025 Pre-Kindergarten Application. You may also contact us using the helpdesk form, call 301-

475-5511 ext. 32285, or email Mrs. Charlottis Woodley, Director of Parent & Family Engagement, at cmwoodley@smcps.org. Spanish language assistance is available.

All schools will hold open registration beginning Monday, May 6, 2024, which will continue -throughout the summer. Students who are currently enrolled in SMCPS Pre-K do NOT need to re-register. Current Pre-K students will rollover to kindergarten, unless they are an out of district transfer student.

Parents of children who will be five years old by September 1, 2024, should register at the school assigned to their physical address during the open enrollment period.

Parent(s)/Legal Guardian(s) may go to the school assigned to their legal address to complete

the registration paperwork. Children are not required to be present for registration. Required

documentation includes evidence of birth, proof of residency, a copy of the child’s immunization record, and any court papers regarding custody of the minor child. Parent(s)/Legal Guardian(s) must also bring photo identification when registering their child.

Each elementary school will conduct open enrollment for the children residing in their zone.

Information regarding which school serves your residential area is provided by the Department

of Capital Planning at SMCPS - Find a School by your address or 301-475-4256, option 6.

Our Boosterthon Beacon Bolt Fundraiser was a huge success this year! Thank you to all who made donations to help our school. We have big plans to use those funds for field trips, assemblies and field trip t-shirts for our students. What a great day to be a Beacon!

• May 8th- 5th grade Luau Parent Meeting 8:15 am
• May 10th- 2 hour early dismissal
• May 10th- PTA Paint Night 6:15 pm
• May 14th- No school-Election Day
• May 17th- Beacon Boogie Playground Event 5:30 -8:30 pm
• May 21st- Band and Chorus Concert 6:30 pm
• May 22nd- 3rd grade to Anne Marie Gardens sponsored by Art Fundraiser
• May 23rd- Strings Concert 6:30 pm
• May 23rd- 4th grade to Calvert Marine Museum
• May 24th- 4th grade to Calvert marine Museum
• May 27th- No school- Memorial Day
• May 29th-Kindergarten to Elms
• May 30th- Kindergarten to Elms
• May 31st- Field Day and Watch DOG event
• June 6th- 5th grade Luau
• June 6th- 2 hour early dismissal-- last day for Pre-k
• June 7th- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL- 2 hour early dismissal
• June 13th- June 25th- report card posted on HAC

The SMCPS Board of Education approved an amendment to the 2023-2024 SMCPS Operational Calendar. The revised calendar posted to www.smcps.org/calendar.

As a result of the fact that SMCPS did not use any of its inclement weather days built into the calendar, the final day for the 2023-2024 school year has been adjusted.

• The final day for students will be Friday, June 7, 2024.

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

The Maryland School Report Card provides information about our school's performance for the 2022-2023 school year. You can find a link to our school's SY23 report card by visiting the Quick Links on our school's website. In addition, you can view the January 11 presentation to the Board of Education about system-wide data or visit www.smcps.org/about-us for additional information

Each quarter, we set a school-wide goal of how many Piney Points we want to earn. For the third quarter, our goal was to earn 10,000 Piney Points. We are excited to share that our students have earned 10,057 Piney Points this quarter!!! In order to celebrate our students' achievement, all students will get to participate in a fun activity in the coming weeks. Some example activities include extra recess, technology time, movie, dance party, ect. We are so proud of our Beacons!

• “One of the most impor­tant roles that par­ents can play in their child’s edu­ca­tion is sup­port­ing and nur­tur­ing their child’s read­ing abil­i­ties and love of read­ing. As the poet and children’s author Emi­lie Buch­wald has said, ​“Chil­dren are made read­ers on the laps of their parents.”

  
  

  Here are a few tips to help readers:

  1. READ EVERY DAY - Find a time to read with your child every day. Even a brief dai­ly com­mit­ment can con­vey that read­ing is an impor­tant pri­or­i­ty for you.

  2. MAKE A SPACE FOR READING: Cre­ate a com­fort­able, con­sis­tent place in your home where you can read togeth­er, enjoy books and chat about them. You might even make it a place where food and drink are wel­come — these sig­nal that read­ing can be a social activity.

  3. MAKE READ­ING SILLY - Don’t be afraid to get sil­ly. Read­ing should be fun. Meet your child where he or she is, and don’t insist on ​“seri­ous” or ​“clas­sic” books. Sil­ly books, comics, ani­mé or oth­er art-dri­ven books are a good way to get many chil­dren inter­est­ed in read­ing. If pos­si­ble, act out or sing the words of sto­ries or find oth­er ways to enjoy books.”

  Review this article for more tips - 10 Ways Parents Can Support Reading At Home

  
  

  1. Practice Reading with Games - Concentration

  To make

  Select five to ten words from a book (or books) the child is reading. Print each word clearly and boldly on separate 3x5 inch index cards, making pairs of each word. (The child may be able to help you by copying the words you write.)

  To play

  Shuffle the cards and place them face down in neat rows. Take turns turning up two cards at a time and reading the words aloud. If the two cards match, the player keeps them and takes a second turn. If they do not match, the cards are replaced face down and the next player takes a turn. Play until all the cards are matched. The player with the most pairs wins. If the child has trouble recognizing a word, say the word — do not ask the child to “sound out” the word. The purpose of this game is to build automatic recognition of whole words.

  You can control the difficulty of the game by the choice and number of words used: for very beginning readers, choose meaningful words that are visually distinctive: “ghost”, “dark”, “sister”, and keep the number of words low. For a more challenging game, include some words that are less distinctive: “when”, “what”, “this”, “that”, but be careful not to overwhelm the child.

  Variation 1

  Instead of matching pairs, you can use rhyming pairs: look, book; dark, park.

  Variation 2

  This game can also be used to build letter recognition and letter/sound association. Paste or draw simple pictures on one set of cards; and on the other set, print initial consonants to go with the pictures. For example, paste the picture of a dog on one card, and write the letter “D” on a matching card.

  Note: This game can be adapted to use with older children, or more advanced readers: variations can include vocabulary practice such as using homonyms, (words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings: cent/scent; dear/deer, etc.) or contractions, (can’t; cannot, etc.).

  SMCPS Reading Language Arts Information and Resources

  • Explore the site and the Benchmark Advanced curriculum. Choose your child’s grade level on the right-hand side of the site for grade specific resources and information including articles, websites, and online books.

Need to purchase a laptop charger?

You can do one of two things:

1. Email your child's teacher or the Library Media Specialist Mrs. Anderson (lwanderson@smcps.org) that you wish to pay for the missing laptop charger. A fine then can be assessed so that you can pay using My School Bucks, sending in cash, or a check (made out to SMCPS).

OR

2. Go directly to the DELL store. You can purchase directly from their website and have it shipped to your home.

Ensure one of these links is being used:

www.dell.com/mpp/smcps (click Shop Recommended Solutions to get to the discounted power cords)

www.dell.com/mpp/smcps-chargers (leads directly to the purchasing portal)

If you purchase from Dell, please make sure that you label the charger with the student's first and last name before sending it to school. If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher or the Library Media Specialist Mrs. Anderson(lwanderson@smcps.org).

• May 10th- Partner Paint Night
• May 17th- Beacon Boogie Playground Event 5:30pm

Our spirit rock is open for rentals! The cost to rent is $25 per day and you get to paint the rock. The rock can be rented to celebrate birthdays, teachers, sports, accomplishments, or to spread any positive message. Click here to learn more: https://m.signupgenius.com/... Email the PTA for questions: piney.point.pta@gmail.com.

It's time to renew your PTA membership dues!

2023-2024 Membership/Dues Cost: $20

Dues payment link:

https://pineypoint.memberhub.com/

Why join the PTA?

- Your membership dues help us achieve our goals of helping students, teachers, and staff.

-You will receive school updates. Signing up will keep you in the loop with what’s going on at PPES.

-Signing up to join the PTA is not a commitment. We won't force you to volunteer- but we do appreciate all the help we can get! If you join there are also no meetings to attend.

Thank you for your support!

Evening Counseling: 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.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. The best way to reach me is to email me at klpelton@smcps.org.

Looking forward to a great year!

Ms. Pelton

Hello Families!

The school based health clinics has updated their website with a new link to register students. The link can be found at https://smchd.org/sbhc/ and then you would click the blue button that says "Click Here to Enroll now for Faster Service". The school based health centers are a great way to see a provider without the long wait times at urgent care! See their website for more information.

What Do You Do If Your Student Is Ill?

While school attendance is vital to your student’s education, a sick child belongs at home. Please review the Sick Day Guidelines below to assist you in making that decision

KEEP ME HOME IF...

• I have a temperature higher than 100°F.
• I'm throwing up or have diarrhea.
• My eyes are pink and crusty.

SEND ME BACK TO SCHOOL WHEN...

• My symptoms have significantly improved or resolved.

• I haven't had a fever or fever-reducing medication for 24 hours.

• I haven't thrown up, had diarrhea or had medications to control these symptoms for 24 hours.

• If antibiotics have been prescribed, I have been taking them for at least 24 hours.

CALL THE DOCTOR IF...

• I’ve had a temperature higher than 100°F for more than 2 days.

• I've been throwing up or having diarrhea for more than 2 days.

• I've had cold symptoms for more than a week and they aren't getting any better.

• I still have asthma symptoms after using my asthma medicine (and call 911 if I'm having trouble breathing after using an inhaler).

KEEPING YOUR STUDENT WELL

• Hand washing is the number one way to stop the spread of disease. Twenty seconds of soap and water scrubbing before meals and after bathroom breaks is a great way to start this healthy habit. Encourage this practice at home.

• Ensure adequate exercise and rest periods.

• Provide proper nutrition, including a good breakfast.

• Encourage good daily hygiene, including brushing teeth.

• Review the rules of safe play.

Please click the link below for information regarding your child's bus number, bus stop location, and pick-up and drop-off times. If you have specific questions regarding bus transportation, please call the Department of Transportation at (301)-475-4256.

For all parents of PreKindergarten and Kindergarten students: An adult must be present at the bus stop when students are being picked up or dropped off. If an adult associated with a PreKindergarten or Kindergarten student is not present at the bus stop at the end of the school day, the bus driver will return the student to the school and the parents will be contacted to come to the school to pick up the student.

Email: tbzeier@smcps.org
Website: https://ppes.smcps.org/
Location: 44550 Tall Timbers Road, Tall Timbers, Maryland 20690, USA
Phone: 301-994-2205