Welcome Back to School Newsletter

Email: stacey_m_brown@mcpsmd.org
Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/pagees/
Location: 13400 Tamarack Rd, Silver Spring, MD, USA
Phone: 240-740-7560
Twitter: @WTPagePenguins

Good Evening Page Families,

This summer was extremely busy and noisy with the ongoing construction projects at Page ES. The portables were successfully relocated and the new Health Room suite and isolation room is almost complete. Around the building there was also work to add steel beams to the Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms to ensure the roof on that side of the building will be strong enough to connect the new addition. There was also work in the ceilings to connect the gas line, heating and air ducts, and to extend the wiring throughout the building. Also during the entire month of July, the off-site local summer school program (LSP) at Galway ES was a huge success due to the hard work of Mrs. Dean, Ms. Hedley and the entire Page Summer School Staff. The ILT team found a few days to meet off-site at Fairland ES to determine the upcoming instructional plans for the year by digging deeper into the district's strategic priorities and plan, which is below.

The superintendent, Dr. Monifa B. McKnight rolled out the three pillars of the district’s Strategic Plan; Academic Excellence, Operational & Professional Excellence and Community Engagement. She also aligned the Strategic Plan to include the following priorities:

• Engaging Our Stakeholders and Rebuilding Trust

• Organizing Schools and Workplaces for Health & Social Emotional Wellness

• Focusing on Equitable Teaching and Learning

Teacher Reveal Cards

Again this year students will receive a postcard in the mail with a scratch off sticker revealing their 2022 - 2023 classroom teacher. Postcards were mailed out this week (August 22nd). If you did not receive a postcard we will have classroom lists during Open House, so families can find out the name of the teacher/s.

Open House Friday, August 26th

Parents and students will be invited to an in-person Open House on Friday, August 26th. Families with last names starting with the letters A-M will attend Open House from 1:00 - 1:45 PM and families with the last names starting with N - Z will attend the Open House 2:00 - 2:45 PM. During the Open House Page Penguins will “meet and greet” with Ms. Brown, Mrs. Dean their new classroom teacher and other staff members.

If you missed Kindergarten Orientation the slide show is available on the Page Website - link to Kindergarten @ WT Page

Have a great last week of Summer!!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at Open House on August 26th!

Ms. Brown

Principal

Friday, August 26th - W.T. Page Open House - 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Saturday, August 27th - MCPS Back-to-School Fair on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Westfield Wheaton mall.

Monday, August 29th - First Day of School

Monday, September 5th - Labor Day Holiday - No School for Students and Staff

Tuesday, September 13th - K -2nd Back-to-School Night @ 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Wednesday, September 14th - Early Dismissal @ 12:55 PM

Thursday, September 15th - 3rd - 5th Back-to-School Night @ 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Monday, September 26th - Holiday - No School for Students and Staff

Friday, September 30th - Early Dismissal @ 12:55 PM

As you know, with a new school year comes changes and new opportunities. Below, we have provided a list of staff members who will not be returning to Page, moving grade levels or positions at Page, and new staff members. We would like to give a fond farewell and best wishes to departing staff members and a warm welcome to the new staff members that will be joining us this year.

We send a fond farewell and best wishes to:

Sra. Margarita Enriquez - Immersion Kinder Teacher and Sr. Jesus Enriquez - LTS - Moved to Texas

Mrs. Vanetta Mingia - Kindergarten teacher - Retired from MCPS

Ms. Rachel Daugherty - 1st grade teacher - Baltimore Charter School

Sra. Cynthia Caudillo- 1st Immersion teacher - relocated to South Carolina

Sra. Mercedes Valaparla - 1st Grade Immersion teacher relocated to Pittsburg, PA

Sra. Mayra Rosenblatt - 4th Grade Immersion teacher - On Military Leave and relocated to Virginia

Ms. Karin Lett- 5th Grade Teacher - relocated to New Orleans, LA

Sra. Claudia Cedillo - 5th grade Spanish Immersion - DCPS Charter School

Sra. Leidy Benavides - Spanish Immersion team leader - MCPS CESC as a Learning and Achievement Specialist

Mr. Joe Grundy - PT PE - Greencastle ES

Ms. Katelyn Shafter - Paraeducator - Part Time PEP teacher at Wayside ES

Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Gomez - LPN and Triage Room Monitor - moved to a job closer to home.

Moving Positions at Page ES:

Ms. Katelyn Serra - 2nd grade teacher moving to 5th grade teacher

Ms. Lili Bell - Academic Intervention Teacher moving to Special Education teacher

Ms. Cherell Gillette - Classroom Monitor to TPT and Lunch & Recess Aide

Ms. Valerie Palmer - PT Counselor to FT Counselor @ Page ES

Welcome to Page ES:

Srta. Julietta Murguia - Kindergarten Immersion Teacher

Ms. Lauren Day - Kindergarten (EA) Teacher

Ms. Keissy Alfaro- 1st Grade (EA) Teacher

Sra. Orietta McPhun - 1st Grade Immersion Teacher

Sra. Sheila Montes (LTS) - 1st Grade Immersion Teacher

Srta. Ashley Paulino - 3rd Grade Immersion Teacher

Srta. Kiara Montalvo- 4th Grade Immersion Teacher

Sra. Emelina Hoyos - 5th Grade Immersion Teacher

Sra. Mary Carmen Memenza - Spanish Immersion team leader

Sra. Rubia Lizama - LTS 5th Grade Immersion and Intervention

Ms. Eileen Russell - PT Art (no longer a LTS – (she a permanent Art teacher)

Mr. Hisham Breedlove - PT Music Teacher

Mrs. Vanetta Mingia - LTS - PT PE

Mr. James (Tony) Deane - Rovering Security Assistant for NEC Elementary schools (Mr. Deane will be at Page approx. 1 time a week.)

Ms. Felecia Frazier - TPT - 4th Grade Para

Mr. Ali Sheriff - TPT - 2nd Grade Para

Ms. Tierra Riggs - Health Room Tech

TBA - TPT - SPED Para

Please complete the following Transportation Home Form 2022 - 2023. Kindergarten - 1st grade families will also complete the 2022 Transportation Cards for their child during Open House. We want to ensure we know how students are getting home during the first week of school and beyond. We ask that your students wear their transportation cards on their backpack so that dismissal staff can assist students with getting to their appropriate dismissal location. There is also a PDF below of the 2022 Transportation Card if needed.

Updated (8.24.22) Transportation for Page ES Local and Immersion Bus Routes. Please visit William Tyler Page Website - Back to School Links

Here the first day of school arrival procedures

First day of school is Monday, August 29th.

Parents please make sure all students have information regarding how they are getting home the first day of school. (bus, car, walker or KAH) Parents please ensure you have completed transportation home Google Form found below in this newsletter.

First Day Arrival Procedures.

Doors open at 8:30 and students ONLY will go to the following areas and meet their teachers. There will be staff stationed throughout the building to assist student to their locations. Kindergarten students will be lined up at the arrival locations (car riders, bus riders and walkers) and brought in groups to the cafeteria to meet their teachers.

Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades - APR (Cafeteria) -

3rd English Academy Only - Go straight to classrooms upstairs

3rd (SI), 4th and 5th grades - Gymnasium

Staff members will be in the lobby to direct students to their arrival locations.

At 8:50 a.m. students will be escorted to their classrooms by their teachers.

No breakfast is served on the first day of school.

• Masks are still available for students upon request, however are not required

• COVID-19 Rapid test kits are still available upon request for families. During Open House we will have Rapid test kits for families that would like to test their child prior to the first day of school.
  
  
• If your student test positive for COVID-19 they must remain home and isolate for at least 5 days. Day 1 is the first full day after symptoms started in symptomatic persons or the first full day after the person tested positive if asymptomatic.

• Schools will not be required to have a designated triage (isolation) room, provided students who have tested positive for COVID-19 while in school can mask and have appropriate supervised space to distance from others while waiting for prompt pick-up.
  
  
• Close contacts will no longer be required for vaccinated or unvaccinated students and staff who have been exposed to an individual with COVID-19. Instead, the CDC recommends masking for 10 days, and testing for COVID-19 after at least 5 full days from exposure (starting day 6). Instead, the CDC recommends masking for 10 days, and testing for COVID-19 after at least 5 full days from exposure (starting day 6).

• Weekly asymptomatic PCR screening testing (CIAN/Genesense) has been discontinued for the upcoming school year.

Health Suite and Kindergarten classrooms- With the first day of school fast approaching Keller Construction in partnership with the MCPS construction team is in the final stages of the health room suite. The doors have been put in, the tile has been installed, the room is painted, and the furniture will in place by Friday. The ceilings in the kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classrooms are in place and teachers have almost completed setting up those classrooms.

Bathroom Trailer - A bathroom trailer has been placed near outside of portable 4 - 13. (See picture below.) The bathroom trailer has wood laminate floor, backsplash, flushing toilets', urinals, a sink with running water and stalls. There are three separate locking doors restrooms in the trailer (handicap/adult, one with 4 stalls and one with two stall with two urinals'. During open house families will be able to visit the bathroom trailer to check it out.

Safety fence and partitions - This week Keller Construction will be installing construction fencing with screening around the construction site. Partitions will be placed at the following outside doors to ensure students do not enter the construction site: Courtyard doors, kindergarten playground doors, art room door, and first grade hallway doors.

FARMS applications must be completed each school year. New for the 2022 - 2023 school year students in Maryland who qualify for reduced-price meals will not be charged for meals. The application for FARMS is online and has been updated for the new school year. Apply using www.MySchoolApps.com; this is the preferred application method. You can also apply online using the QR code.

You may read the full message here: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/publicinfo/community/school-year-2022-2023/Community-Update-20220818-ThingstoKnow-final.html

MCPS shared the Reopening Guide for the upcoming school year. It contains the latest guidance concerning COVID-19 and outlines what to expect in curriculum and instruction, tutoring, grading, support for students, staff and families and more. Read the full guide here or visit the guide website.

The four key handbooks and guidelines developed for students of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) have been revised for the 2022-2023 school year. In order to ensure a safe, productive, and positive learning environment, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) publishes two documents that help students, parents, and staff and understand school rules and regulations; the expectations for student conduct; and the possible consequences for violating the rules.

Attachments

• A Student’s Guide to Rights and Responsibilities in MCPS

• Student Code of Conduct

• Guidelines for Respecting Religious Diversity

• Guidelines for Student Gender Identity

Parents and guardians are encouraged to review these documents with children so that our students understand their rights and responsibilities and the district’s expectations for student conduct. If you have questions, please speak to the administration at your school.

August 7, 2022 - WT Page Summer Update #2

July 24, 2022 - WT Page Summer Update