Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School

14516 Nadine Drive

Rockville, MD 20853

Main Office: 240-740-3260

School Website: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/barnsleyes/

Parent Handbook: https://secure.smore.com/n/4cuaf

Happy New Year to all of our Barnsley community! I hope you all had a joyous and special holiday season with plenty of time to relax and enjoy family and friendships. Thank you to all of the parents who dropped off goodies and treats to the main office before our winter break. We appreciate you very much!

I am excited to introduce our new WEEKLY Bear Bulletin. In lieu of the monthly Bear Bulletin via Smore, I will be sending a weekly newsletter via Smore to keep everyone up to date on the most recent news, updates, school events, celebrations, etc. I hope our community finds this communication enhancement beneficial in our larger communication. I always welcome your input and insight into our communication structures. If you have any further ideas, please contact me.

This week we have a full week of learning although Mother Nature may have other plans for us as there is quite a bit of snow in the forecast! Please ensure that you are signed up for MCPS Emergency Information. Please see below for more information. In addition, please see the Important Calendar Reminders section for upcoming events for the month.

Office Staff:

Christine (Chris) Robertson, Principal

Gillian Jablonski, Assistant Principal

Danielle Jones, Administrative Secretary

Candice D’rozario, Attendance Secretary

Office Hours

8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Staff Hours

8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

School Hours

Students Enter the Building/Breakfast

9:10 a.m.

Instructional Hours

9:25 a.m. to 3:50 p.m.

Early Dismissal Time

1:20 p.m.

English:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org//siteassets/district/calendar/2024/2024-calendar.pdf

Spanish:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/calendar/2024/2024-calendar-sp.pdf

Please use this new link to find the Barnsley ES lunch menus each month.

Congratulations to our staff who won our Snowmen Scavenger Hunt!

Thank you to our PTA for organizing our first cultural arts assemblies!

Thank you to all of our families who donated grab & go bags for staff! We appreciate all of the goodies!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Z9h8G76yo8ikbhE3M6Y4A0ylyINePUc0zYKIEivHlXg/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h5fFpsmd3qCQWvG-Wzf0v9SZggRF-3PJRjbT1OKuOV4/edit?usp=sharing

Please see attachment.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oDNOh5okpxeWZo9UzUoPWlhornekJhrKsF3m1pQLRc8/edit?tab=t.0

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uq4-DFiyHt-aJy-SGpvteuNpvDma2sdVIRNSxnjGt3c/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jwvPkLHyoSBch3iLgzzBzncPwSb2JfXIlfB9DkDXvmk/edit?usp=sharing

We are thrilled to announce that we have hired a new paraeducator to support our Special Education students. Mr. Darion Caldwell will be starting Monday, January 6th. Mr. Caldwell is a graduate of MCPS and has previous experience working in various positions in MCPS, including paraeducator and long term substitute positions, and we are excited to have him join us!

We have entered another testing season. During the months of January and February, LVBES will be administering MAP testing for students in grades K-5 and ACCESS testing for our EML students in grades K-5. Students in K-2 will be taking DIBELS assessments (reading) and MAP-P (math).

Students in grades 3-5 will take both MAP-M (math) and MAP-R (reading). It is very important that students are at school for these assessments. If you have any questions about the dates, please contact your child's homeroom teacher. Thank you for your support with this.

As the weather begins to get colder, please know we do go outside almost every day. We stay inside or go inside when weather does not allow for recess due to rain or temperatures and/or wind chill go below 30 degrees. Sometimes we may begin outdoors and shift to indoors if the weather changes. We try to go outside as often as possible. Please make sure your child is ready with the appropriate weather gear such as a coat, hat, and gloves.

For more information about the MCPS guidelines for recess, please visit the website: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/facilities/safety/playground/#recesstemp

We are excited to welcome volunteers to support our students! Please know to volunteers must complete the mandatory online voluntary training, sign in at the main office. Currently, we are providing opportunities for lunch support; however, we are working closely with our Instructional Leadership Team to develop a menu of items for each grade level where our parent volunteers can be more helpful. We will share this information as soon as it is finalized.

More information about MCPS volunteering requirements: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/student-leadership/volunteer

LVBES Lunch Volunteer Sign-up

With winter weather just around the corner, remember that MCPS offers numerous ways to learn about school closures, delayed openings and early dismissals when there is inclement weather. Learn more about how weather decisions are made and how to receive information about any changes. Please see codes for more information.

1. Bacterial infections caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae increased in the United States since late spring and have remained high. People with pneumonia caused by M. pneumoniae can seem better than expected for someone with a lung infection. With mild symptoms, people may not stay home or in bed. Thus, the phrase "walking pneumonia" was coined. Please see attached for the fact sheet, Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection. To best protect yourself and others from these bacteria, practice good hygiene by washing your hands often and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. For more resources, please see: Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Infections Have Been Increasing | NCIRD | CDC

In accordance with Maryland State Law students in Montgomery County Public Schools are screened for possible vision and hearing problems. Trained hearing and vision screeners will be screening students new to MCPS, students in Grades K and 1st grade and students referred by teachers because of possible signs of hearing or vision problems. The screeners will be at Lucy V. Barnsley ES on Jan 24, Jan 27, and Jan 28.

Children who do not see clearly or are unable to hear what their teacher and classmates are saying have a harder time learning at school.

You will receive a referral form, via US mail, to take to your child’s doctor if your child fails the screening. If your child is already under care for a hearing or vision problem, or you do not wish your child to be screened at school because of conflicts with your religious beliefs, please notify the school nurse in writing.

If your child wears glasses or contacts, they should wear them every day and bring them to the screening.

School based vision screenings may not detect every vision problem. To learn more about possible vision problems and symptoms or health conditions that may require additional evaluation go to Montgomery County Government’s website at this link:

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/HHS-Program/PHS/SchoolHealth/HearingVision.html

Contact your school’s nurse if you have questions about your child’s screening.

Please join us for our first PTA meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, January 7th, 7:00-8:00 pm via Zoom. Join Zoom (Meeting ID: 893 1395 6130 /Passcode: LVBES).

Our next PTA fundraiser will be on Wednesday, January 15th from 4:00-8:00pm at Chipotle in Rock Creek Village Center! 25% of sales will support Barnsley PTA. We are excited for this fundraiser at a NEW LOCATION at the new Chipotle in our neighborhood (near Safeway)! Don't forget to mention BARNSLEY at the register or use the online code 3C6DYVK for pickup. Also, save the date for our Skating Night fundraiser at Cabin John Ice Rink, on Saturday, February 1st, 6:30-8 pm. Please see the latest PTA newsletter for more updates.