Beacon Bulletin

It was so great to welcome all of our PPES Beacons back to school. We have had a FANTASTIC first 2 days at Piney Point! Our students have settled back in and have been practicing the PPES 3R's - Respect, Responsible, and Ready to Learn.

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

Mrs. Zeier

We are so excited to announce that this year PPES is a Class Dojo school. Please be sure to join your child's class to receive important classroom and school updates. Also, we are unable to process any changes in transportation requests through Dojo. Please continue to email those to Ms. Worsch in the front office. Let's see if we can get 100% of our families on Class Dojo!

This year we will be purchasing field trip t-shirts for all of the students in the school. Please be on the lookout for the size order form coming home in the blue Tuesday Parent Communication folder. Please return the form to school before September 13th. These are for PPES students only! If we don't receive a form from you we will do our best to guess your child's size. It is an expectation that students wear their shirt on all field trips unless otherwise noted. They can also wear them on school spirit day Fridays.

On Tuesday, August 27th, you child will be brining home a blue Beacon Communication folder. Please collect the information in the folder and return it to school the next day. We will be sending home the folders weekly filled with important school and classroom information.

Ready to sign up for Band or Orchestra? Enrollment will open this week through September 8th for grades 3, 4, and 5.Scheduling for band & orchestra will be a little different at Piney Point this year. Third graders will still have two alternating orchestra pull-out lessons each week, but Fourth & Fifth graders will choose their music Specials class this year: Band, Orchestra, or General Music (Chorus is still a pull-out lesson).

• August 30th- Hat Day Spirit Day
• September 2- No school- Labor Day
• September 6th- PTA Meeting 8 am
• September 11th- Red, White and Blue- Spirit Day
• September 13th- PTA Ice Cream Social 6-7pm
• September 19th- 2 hour early dismissal
• September 19th- Farmer Day Spirit Day
• September 20th- No School for students- Fair Day In-services
• September 27th- Paint Night 6-7:30 pm
• October 3- Fall Picture Day

1. Be sure to look up your child's bus number, bus stop, and approximate times. The HERE COMES THE BUS app will allow you to track the bus. Please remember these are approximate times.
2. The first few days, buses will take longer to arrive on their return routes as we need time to check and double-check that all 500 students are on the correct bus. Thank you in advance for your patience!
3. PreK & Kindergarten Students -To ensure safety, a responsible person (at least 13 years old) must be on time to meet the bus at the bus door at the assigned stop for Pre-Kindergarten and/or kindergarten students. This includes morning and midday loading along with midday, afternoon, and evening unloading. Please see the letter below for additional information.

Dear Families of PPES PreK and K Students:

Welcome to a new school year! We are excited to have your young Beacon at PPES. The safety of your student is of the utmost importance. This includes the bus ride to and from school. In order to support our dedicated bus drivers in achieving this goal, please review the St. Mary’s County Public Schools procedures on dropping off Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students at bus stops in the afternoon:

To ensure safety, a responsible person (at least 13 years old) must be on time to meet the bus at the bus door at the assigned stop for Pre-Kindergarten and/or kindergarten students. This includes morning and midday loading along with midday, afternoon, and evening unloading.

When a responsible person is not available to receive a Pre-Kindergarten and/or Kindergarten student on a return trip home, the driver will return the student to the school. Parent(s)/legal guardian(s) will be notified by the principal to come and pick up their child from the school. The school administrator will discuss this concern with the parent(s)/legal guardian(s).

If a second incident occurs, the child will be returned to the school and the parent(s)/legal guardian(s) will be notified to pick up their child at school. The regulation will again be reviewed with the parent(s)/legal guardian(s). The school administrator will mail a follow-up letter to the family indicating that a third incident may result in the loss of transportation privileges.

If a third incident occurs, the child will be returned to school. Parent(s)/legal guardian(s) will be notified to pick up their child at school. Transportation privileges will be revoked at that time. A written notice will be mailed to the family by the principal.

Please review this information in the SMCPS Student Handbook. Feel free to contact the Transportation Department or Ms. Smith, PPES assistant principal, overseeing buses, at -alsmith@smcps.org with questions on these procedures.

If you have not already done so, please complete the meal benefit application if you think that your family may qualify. If you do not qualify or choose not to fill out a form, your student has the option to purchase breakfast and/or lunch each day. Payment may be in the form of cash or check payable to PPES, or by creating a My School Bucks account. Pease see link below for the application and My School Bucks link.

Click here to check your child's breakfast/lunch balance and add money to their account

If you are planning on volunteering regularly for your classroom teacher, you will need to complete the SMCPS Volunteer application. However, if you are volunteering as a chaperone on a field trip, you do not need to complete the application. You will need to sign in and out at the Main Office using your state issued ID. If you do not have your ID you will not be permitted to enter the school or chaperone on a trip. We have a 100% ID CHECK, NO EXCEPTIONS! There is no application fee for school volunteers. Parental involvement is a key component to student success. Thank you for your support.

Hello! My name is Sarah Weinberg and I’m thrilled to be the new counselor at Piney Point Elementary School for grades K-5. It was wonderful meeting so many of you at the Open Houses on Wednesday! As a former Frederick County resident, I am loving the late summer breeze of St. Mary’s County and cannot thank you all enough for making me feel so welcomed! I cannot wait to help your precious students with any problem that they may encounter, including anxiety, social skills issues, depression, grief, future planning, and more.

As the Beacons reacclimate to their school routines, we are working schoolwide to promote positive behavior expectations and a school climate of acceptance and warmth. I will be in each classroom at least once per month to deliver character education. In September, we will begin or continue to build upon our Steps to Respect Curriculum, which teaches skills that will allow students to make friends, and to identify and report bullying incidents when they occur in the school and even in the community.

New students will be invited to participate in a special activity occurring the second week of school, where students will become better acquainted with all that is PPES and we will help to calm our nerves about being the new kids on campus. I am hoping that as a new employee I will be able to model adapting to new situations and a growth mindset, and that we can form connections as newcomers to a vibrant school community!

Later in the fall, there will be an opportunity for some children to participate in a social skills/friendship based small group that would happen weekly at lunch time. Permission slips will be sent home and parents/guardians notified at that time. Stay tuned for more details.

Feel free to contact me at any time:

Sarah Weinberg

School Counselor

Piney Point Elementary School

Email: sjweinberg@smcps.org

301-994-2205

Click on the link below to visit her classroom

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HcrlfP4B9up3NXuq8pwFCQofd1wopaY8X43Wg1x0ZE4/edit?usp=sharing

Medications occasionally need to be administered to students by our nurse during the school day. Please see the attached guidelines. Students can not transport medication of any kind to school including over the counter medications. All medication must be brought to school by a parent, guardian, or other authorized adult. Please call the school nurse if you have any questions.

What to 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.

SEND ME BACK TO SCHOOL WHEN...

• My symptoms have significantly improved or resolved.
• I haven't had a fever for 24 hours and have not had any fever-reducing medication.
• I haven't thrown up or had diarrhea.
• If antibiotics have been prescribed, I have been taking them for at least 24hr.

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 the sniffles 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).

Schoology is a very helpful tool and resource for teachers, students, and families. Please ensure that you are able to access Schoology for updates and information from the school and your child's teacher. If you need support in obtaining your Schoology log in information please email schoology@smcps.org for support. Please click Parent Notifications for directions to ensure your notifications are set to receive important information about your student.

Birthday treats present the potential for allergic reactions for many of our students. They also interrupt instruction. However, we understand that some students enjoy celebrating their birthday with their friends at school. Because of all of these factors, birthday treats may NOT be edible. Gift bags with stickers, pencils, crayons, erasers, and/or other small toys are acceptable. They can also be shared at recess or the end of the day which doesn’t compromise instructional time. Parents who wish to provide birthday treats to a class are asked to notify the homeroom teacher in advance and to drop them off in the front office as early as possible.