Takoma Park Elementary School
Newsletter
March 9, 2025
PTA Meeting Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
The Zoom link will be sent on the afternoon of the meeting.
Parent Input Form coming soon!
This form will give parents an opportunity to provide input into their children's class placement for next school year. All students in Kindergarten through second grades should have a completed profile/input form. The second grade information will be shared with Piney Branch E.S. for their consideration. The input form will be shared in the next edition of this newsletter.
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.
PTA Declaration of Support
The TPES PTA stands with our students, our caregivers, our teachers and our administrative staff and their right to provide and receive an education in a safe and welcoming environment.
We will continue to support all of you - regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration or refugee status, disability, religion, or any other identifying characteristic.
Our community's vibrant diversity is what makes us beautiful. We will continue to proudly celebrate our communities of color through events like our upcoming Black History Month Celebration held at PBES. We will continue to proudly support our LGBTQIA+ students and community members by advocating on their behalf.
If there is any way we can improve on these goals, or support you in achieving them, we are always here and as always, encourage your participation.
Pianos for Sale
We are pleased to inform you of an opportunity to purchase a piano for your family. Montgomery
County Public Schools (MCPS) has an agreement with Schaeffer’s Piano Company for families to purchase a piano. See the links for more information.
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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