Eagle News

Thank you to everyone for joining us at last week’s Honor Roll Assembly—it was wonderful to celebrate the achievements of our outstanding students together! With just 12 days until winter break, the school is bustling with learning and joy. While our classrooms remain focused on education, we’re also taking time to embrace the season with exciting events like assemblies, class parties, PBIS Club Day, and more.

A special thanks to our amazing PTA for sponsoring next week’s hot chocolate bar for our hardworking teachers—it’s gestures like these that make our school community so special.

As a gentle reminder, even during this festive season, it’s crucial for students to arrive at school on time each day. We’ve noticed an increase in tardiness, and your help in ensuring punctuality is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your continued support as we make these last days before break both meaningful and memorable! Lastly, please note that Winter Break will begin at 10:40 a.m. as we dismiss students 3 hours early.

We will publish the next Eagle Newsletter on Wednesday, January 8, 2024. However, if you would like to read back issues of the Eagle News Newsletter, you can find this year's published newsletters on our school's website under the heading 'Announcements and Newsletters.' If you have questions between now and then, please contact me at Toi.Davis@pgcps.org or 301-985-1898.

Please join us as we celebrate 10 Days of Cheer. Please see the calendar below. Dressing up according to each days theme is optional for students.

This is a reminder that students are to be in their classroom when the bell rings at 7:45 a.m.. Teachers will mark students who arrive after 7:45 a.m. as tardy. It's also important that families send a note to the homeroom teacher no later than 3 days after a student's absence providing the reason for the absence. All absences without a note will receive an unexcused absence code.

As a reminder Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a process which UPES uses to instill behavior and allows for a positive school experience from all students and staff. Students are acknowledged and rewarded for displaying positive behavior. Students earn Dojo points for making good choices throughout the school day. Students who do not display appropriate school behavior might need a staff member to intervene in order to get back on track. Each month, the students who earn enough Dojo points are able to attend the monthly Club Day event. This event allows students to participate in a club of their choosing from the offered list that month.

Club Day is this Tuesday, December 17, 2024. Students need 16 Dojo points to attend club day. Ask your child about their points.

The PGCPS Office of Communications and Community Engagement will continue to deliver timely communication that achieves our goals of safety, equity, and excellence.

Communication Tools

The Office of Communications and Community Engagement uses five key tools to reach audiences:

School Messenger

○ Email

○ Text/SMS

○ Robocall

Websites

○ PGCPS (www.pgcps.org)

○ PGCPS en español (www.pgcps.org/es)

Newsletters

○ Engage PGCPS (families and communities), weekly

○ Acción PGCPS (Spanish-speaking families and communities), weekly

○ Partner PGCPS (business, faith-based and nonprofit

groups), monthly

Social media

○ Facebook (@PGCPS)

○ Facebook en español (@PGCPSenespanol)

○ Twitter (@PGCPS, @DrMonicaCEO)

○ Instagram (@PGCPS)

○ LinkedIn

○ YouTube

PGCPS-TV

○ Verizon 38

○ Comcast 96

○ YouTube

○ Video-on-demand

Grade levels have started planning field trips for students, but we need parent volunteers. The county expects a ratio of 1:4 for students in Pre-K and K and a ratio of 1:10 for students in grades 1-5. The county also requires that half of the chaperones must be PGCPS employees. .

The steps for the approval process are below.

You must complete the volunteer approval process for each academic school year. To reinstate your SafeSchools account for SY '24-25, you will need to complete an updated registration form which can be found by clicking this LINK.

You can complete Returning Volunteers renewal applications in just four easy steps!

1. Use the email address you originally registered with and your existing volunteer identification number (VIN) to complete your application for the 2024 -2025 school year.
2. Click the green plus + sign below the Register Volunteer column to enter/edit your volunteer details that may have changed from the previous school year.
3. Read and sign the disclaimer statement.
4. Submit your application.
5. You will receive an email from SafeSchools in approximately 48 hours with the training plan for SY '24-'25.

1. Parentvue

   ParentVUE is the portal that allows parents and guardians to view information about their student, including classroom assignments and scores, attendance, transcripts, graduation status and more.

   
   

   A PGCPS ParentVUE account is used to view this information. Parents/Guardians can also update their phone numbers and/or emergency contacts within ParentVUE.

   Click on the links below to review resource guides for accessing attendance, the gradebook, and quarterly grades.

   Attendance

   Gradebook

   Grades (Quarterly Progress reports and Report cards)

   ParentVUE User Guide

   ParentVUE User Guide (French)

   ParentVUE User Guide (Spanish)

   
   

   
   

   Media Center News

   Students have reviewed EBOOKs during media. An ebook is an electronic book, a printed book made available in digital form via a device with internet access. Many of you access ebooks via a tablet, IPAD, computer, kindle, smartphone etc.. Several of the databases on destiny.pgcps.org provide access to ebooks for Prince George’s County Public School (PGCPS) students free of charge. Some are in multiple languages and some of the databases will read the text to the student.

   
   

   A variety of topics are covered in fiction and nonfiction. This is an excellent resource for students and allows them to explore literature in another format that may be more engaging to them than the printed text.

As always, if you have concerns or questions, please contact Mr. Clark at aclark@pgcps.org.

Things To Remember

1. The Dentist is coming to University Park December 18th and 19th.

2. Hazel Health is available to all right here at our school. Please sign consent forms so that your child can receive a visit if needed and can stay in school if treatment permits.

3 If there are ever any concerns or questions, I am available by email, phone, and in person. My office hours for in-person visits are between 7AM-7:45 AM AM and 2 PM-2:45 PM.

Nurse Jackson

2024-2025 PTA Executive Board

President: Kara Mundy

Co-Vice Presidents: Julia Rupert and Bernadette Jerome

Treasurer: Megan Brisch

Secretary: Merlyn Torres

Happy Thanksgiving All!

We hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving break! As we wrap up the year, we’ve got lots of reminders and updates for you, including details about our December teacher appreciation event, spirit wear, warm coat drive and Azalea Classic.

Please note: There is no PTA meeting in December, and our January meeting (1/15/25) will be virtual—stay tuned for more details!

Visit our website (https://www.upespta.com) to learn more about the PTA, how you can get involved, and to join the UPES PTA Listserv.

Have a question, suggestion, want to join a committee, or looking to reach out to the PTA team? Contact us: UPESPTABoard@gmail.com

Committee Updates

Teacher Appreciation: Hot Chocolate Bar – Dec 11

Please join us this month appreciating our teachers and staff by bringing in items for a hot chocolate bar! These are all easy to grab at the grocery or while out shopping this holiday! This is the first of two December events, so please keep an eye out for the next sign up.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805094BACAB28A7FF2-53525974-teacher

Thank you for your support!

Please contact Ann Cybele Hirschhorn at achirschhorn@gmail.com with any questions.

Helping Hands Committee: Warm Coat Drive – Dec 13

It’s time for our annual Warm Coat Drive! ONLY A COUPLE MORE COATS NEEDED! Help ensure every student has a warm coat this winter by donating gently used or new coats.

Sign-Up Link:
Warm Coat Drive Sign-Up

The PTA will also provide hats and gloves to go with each coat. Thank you for supporting this important cause!

Spirit Wear: Store OPEN through Dec 20

The Spirit Wear Store is OPEN! Please visit our store to place your orders for Spirit Gear! New this year are beanies and flannel pajama pant options.

Click here: University Park Elementary School 2024 | The Final Touch

Please note that all orders are due by December 20, 2024. Orders will go into production and be shipped after the order deadline. Delivery will be in early to mid-January.

ALL PRE-K and KINDERGARTEN students get a FREE t-shirt courtesy of the PTA. Those t-shirts are ordered on behalf of the students and will be delivered with the spirit wear orders!

Azalea Classic: Registration OPEN! – May 10

The race is still months away, but don't forget to add May 10 to your 2025 planner, so you don't miss our Azalea Classic 5K, 1-mile challenge run, and 1K fun run. For those that really want to check something off the to-do list, registration is now live!

Visit www.AzaleaClassic.com for a link to the registration page.

More information on sponsorships and a call for volunteers will be coming soon

Did you know that tutoring support is available to our students 24/7? Pear Deck Tutor connects students with highly qualified tutors for 1:1 support, whenever and wherever they need it the most. This resource is available and can be accessed via Clever for ALL PGCPS students.

To find additional information (including a tutorial) about Pear Deck Tutor, click here. It is beneficial to both you, your students and their families to take advantage of this opportunity to receive additional support not only in mathematics, but in any subject area.

• Friday, December 20-Early Release Day for students-Dismissal at 10:40 a.m.

• Friday, December 20 @ 10:40 a.m. Winter Break begins

• Monday, January 6-School resumes

• Monday, January 20-Martin Luther King Jr, Holiday-Schools and offices closed

1. School finder...know what school your child belongs to… Buscador de escuelas... sepa a qué escuela pertenece su hijo... http://gis.pgcps.org/schoolfinder/

Registration requirements...know exactly what you need to register your child... / Requisitos de inscripción... sepa exactamente qué necesita para inscribir a su hijo...

https://www1.pgcps.org/registration/

2. Lunch...apply for free/reduced meals... / Almuerzo... solicitar comidas gratuitas/reducidas... https://www.myschoolapps.com/ |

Email: upark@pgcps.org
Website: https://www1.pgcps.org/universitypark/
Location: 4315 Underwood Street, University Park, MD, USA
Phone: 301-985-1898
Facebook: facebook.com/UniversityParkElementary-PGCPS
Twitter: @UPSoaringEagles