The Greencastle Gazette

Principal's Message: September 29, 2024

Here is some important information for you to review this week:

1. Hybrid PTA Meeting on Tuesday, October 1 @6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place in the Multipurpose Room OR you can join via Zoom using this link.

2. No School for Students and Teachers on Thursday, October 3.

3. Acting Assistant Principal Introduction: Welcome to Mrs. Tracy Winfrey-Edwards! She will serve as our acting Assistant Principal while Mr. Johnson is on extended leave starting Monday, September 30th until Friday, November 1st. Her welcome message is below.

4. Message to families with students in portable classrooms. See our message below introducing our facility aide, Mr. Jahdiel Lawrence, and reiterating his role to ensure the safety of our students traveling in and outside of the building. In addition, this is a reminder to check in with the Main Office before entering the portables. You must have a Visitor's Badge before entering the building -- that includes the portables.

5. Assumption of Risk Form for After-School Activities: If your student is participating in an after school club/activities, please complete this form:

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I hope you had a great weekend and we look forward to seeing you promptly at 8:40 a.m.

Mrs. Dean

Principal

Mark Your Calendar - IMPORTANT DATES

September 15 - October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month
Tuesday, October 1: PTA Hybrid Meeting @6:30 p.m. (Multipurpose Room & Zoom)
Tuesday, October 1 - Saturday, October 5: PTA Double Good Popcorn Fundraiser
Thursday, October 3: Non-Instructional Day; No School for Students and Teachers
Thursday, October 10: Virtual MCPS Magnet Program Parent Meeting @6:30 p.m.
Friday, October 18: Professional day for all staff; No School for Students
Monday, November 4: Grading and Planning for the end of term; No School for Students
Tuesday, November 5: General Election Day—Schools and offices closed; No School for Students

Welcome Message from Mrs. Tracy Winfrey-Edwards, acting assistant principal

Monday, September 30 - Friday, November 1, 2024

My name is Tracy Winfrey-Edwards and I am a retired MCPS administrator. I come with 30 years of teaching, learning, and leading experience and have served in many roles throughout my tenure in education. I have taught almost every grade from Kindergarten - 7th grade and have been a special educator, reading specialist, instructional specialist, consulting teacher, staff development teacher, principal intern, supervisor of literacy and most recently, as the assistant principal at Glenallan Elementary School in MCPS. I have been given the honor of serving the Greencastle School Community for a short period of time. While here, my role is to support Greencastle’s vision, mission and core values to maximize the learning experiences of all students. Being an assistant principal is one of my all time favorite jobs as it gives me the opportunity to work in partnership with parents and teachers to impact the academic success of children. ☺

Outside of work, I am a wife and mother. I have been married to my husband Richard for 29 years and we are the proud parents of 3, two girls, (Morganne and Jordann) and a son (Aaron). They are 26, 23, and 21 respectively. We love Maryland and are happy it is our home.

I look forward to working with all of you!

Message to Families with Students Located in the Portable Classrooms

Thank you for trusting us with the safety and education of your children. This is a privilege that we respect and work hard to achieve each day. Some of you have recently expressed your concerns regarding student safety and security in the portables. We take your concerns seriously and have enhanced our security measures to better serve our children.

We are excited to introduce Mr. Jahdiel Lawrence, our Greencastle Elementary School facility aide. Mr. Lawrence’s primary role is to support student movement around our campus, particularly in the portables. He is dedicated to ensuring that all students are supervised and safe at all times.

To increase our ability to monitor activity around campus, we have installed several additional security cameras throughout the interior and exterior of the property. These cameras are monitored by the administrative team throughout the day to help maintain a secure environment for our students.

We are also working closely with our office staff and teachers to ensure that families and visitors are consistently vetted, and that students are safely dismissed into their guardians' custody.

We welcome parents and community members to volunteer and partner with us during arrival, dismissal, and recess to ensure we have even more adults supporting the supervision of our students. Your involvement is greatly appreciated as we work together to create a safe and nurturing environment for our students.

***SPECIAL NOTE: If you have a meeting with a staff member located in the portables, you MUST check in with the main office and get a Visitor's Badge first. ***

Thank you for your support!

Attention Grade 5 Parents! MCPS Middle School Options

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) offers enriched and accelerated programming in local middle schools and regional middle school magnet programs (Grades 6–8).

The Middle School Magnet Consortium (MSMC) is interest-based and is composed of three magnet-themed middle schools which include, Argyle, A. Mario Loiederman, and Parkland middle schools. Grade 5 students are eligible to apply beginning this fall on the MSMC website, and placement is by lottery. Read more about the programs at each school and the MSMC timeline here.

There are two criteria-based magnet programs located both Upcounty and Downcounty. The programs in our region include both Humanities and Communication (Eastern Middle School), and Math, Science, and Computer Science (Takoma Park Middle School.) For more information, click on the Frequently Asked Questions link.

Mrs. Dean is hosting a virtual Grade 5 Magnet Program virtual meeting on Thursday, October 10, 2024 @ 6:30 PM. More information and a link will be shared soon.

MCPS Things to Know

Things to Know

Bells Mills, Woodfield Elementary Schools Win National Blue Ribbon Awards Bells Mill Elementary and Woodfield Elementary Schools have been recognized as 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education. They are the 44th and 45th MCPS schools to receive this distinction.

ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org

A Word from Our PTA President, Mrs. LaKeisha Carroll

**School Spirit Wear Update**

Thank you to everyone who placed their School Spirit Wear orders! We can’t wait to see you showing off your Greencastle Gear!

**Double Good Fundraiser**

We’re excited to announce a new *Double Good* virtual fundraiser! It’s 100% contactless, we keep 50% of all sales, and products ship directly to the buyer. We’ll each create a Pop-Up Store to sell delicious, award-winning Double Good popcorn. Prices start at $11 for Signature Bags (5 cups each) and $31 for Curated Collections.

**Fundraiser Dates:**

October 1, 2024, at 5:00 PM – October 5, 2024, at 5:00 PM

**Before the Fundraiser Starts:**

1. Download the Double Good app (available for free on iOS and Android)

2. Enter our event code: **COPDHI**

3. Create your Pop-Up Store

Need help setting up? We’ll offer support at the next PTA meeting!

**PTA Meeting**

Join us for the next PTA Meeting on **Tuesday, October 1st at 6:30 PM**. The meeting will be held both in person and via Zoom.

**Volunteers Needed for the School Dance!**

We need volunteers for the School Dance on **October 25th** to help with decorations, crowd control, concessions, and more. If interested, please email us at GreencastleESPTA@gmail.com.

**Cheer Madness**

Cheer Madness kicks off this week! Parents of enrolled students will receive detailed information from the Cheer Madness Coach.

**Kaizen Karate**

Kaizen Karate is still accepting sign-ups until **Monday, September 30th**. https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/mdkfu/page/class-registration?classId=250519&subProgId=17429

**PTA Membership**

Can we reach our goal of 100 members by October? We’re currently at 84 members and we’re confident we can do it! https://fspta-00024724.givebacks.com/store?limit=21&live=true

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