Tiger Times Community Newsletter

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1/20- NO SCHOOL- MLK Jr. Day

1/24- Half Day- School dismisses at 12:45pm

1/28- Multicultural Night 5-6:30pm

1/29- School Closed for Students- PD Day

2/3-2/7 - PTA's Valentine Pencil Gram Sale

2/6 - Report Cards Distributed

2/6 - Food Pantry

2/6 - PTA Family Game Night

2/7 - 2nd and 3rd Grade and Ms. Porter's class - Field Trip to Science Center

2/17 - Schools and Offices Closed for President's Day

Session 2 begins 2/4

Continues on Tuesday and Thursday unless schools are closed or there is an early dismissal.

Session 2 ends on 1/27

Session 2 begins on 1/7 and ends on 2/11.

Begins on 2/5 and ends on 3/26

Session 2 begins on 1/9 and ends on 2/13.

Dates being updated soon

Jan 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th

BCPS has used 2 of the 3 inclement weather days. We are allowed to have one more inclement weather day. If there is a fourth day or more, it will become a virtual learning day.

If this occurs...

• the online/virtual school day will begin for students at 10:45 a.m. and end at 3:45 p.m.
• Students in grades PreK-5 will log onto Google Meet using their own BCPS Chromebook for live instruction with their teacher.
• Martin Boulevard must take attendance on these virtual learning days. Students in grades K-5 are all expected to log-on to join their class and be counted as present.
• Class schedules were sent home with students in their folder. The schedule and much more information will be posted in your child’s Homeroom Course on Schoology.
• All MBES students will have lunch and recess break at the same time: 1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Students will practice logging into Google Meet in school with their homeroom teacher. During Library class, Mrs. Taylor will also review expectations for safely using Chromebooks at home.

• The Google Meet link is https://meet.google.com/ and it is located under the BCPS links tab. Then they will need to type their class code into the box that says, “enter a code.”
• If we reach 4 or more snow days, and BCPS announces that schools are closed, Martin Boulevard will send out a message that day to remind students that it will be a virtual learning day.
• All this information will be posted in your child’s Homeroom Course on Schoology.
• Mrs. Whitmore, Ms. Sargent, and Ms. Porter’s classes, please also follow the plan/instructions these teachers have sent home.
• It would be helpful for your child to have paper and a pencil available to use. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher through email or Talking Points.

• Check into the front office with your driver’s license or state ID to obtain a visitor badge. Always wear your visitor badge. If a staff member inquires about your presence in the building, make them aware of your name, who you are visiting, and let them know if you need assistance finding the room you are visiting.
• Only visit the rooms you have made an appointment to observe. If you wish to visit a special area class or a second teacher, an appointment needs to be made in advance with that staff member.
• You should only be in classrooms or instructional areas that have a teacher present. If the room is empty, please return to the office so someone can locate the class for you.
• Visitors are not to interact with other students in the classroom or hallways, this includes taking pictures and videos that include other students. This is for the safety of students and visitors.
• We are unable to accommodate visitors during lunch. We would ask you to schedule your visits with this in mind as you will not be permitted to join the student you are observing for lunch.
• We encourage visitors to find other arrangements for younger siblings when you are visiting the classrooms. Visitors can not interfere with the instructional program.
• In the event you need to use the restrooms during your visit, adult bathrooms are located near our cafeteria, in the kindergarten hallway, and upstairs in the 5th grade hallway, and marked as such. Refrain from using student bathrooms during the school day with children present.
• At the conclusion of your scheduled visitation time, return to the office to sign out and exit through the front of our building.

Again, we thank you for your partnership in ensuring a safe and orderly environment for all students and staff while you are visiting Martin Boulevard Elementary School!

Who loves playdough? You can make homemade playdough to help strengthen the small muscles in a child’s hands and fingers by forming playdough into shapes and letters. https://www.familyeducation.com/entertainment-activities/arts-crafts/sculpting/the-best-tried-and-tested-playdough-recipes

Encourage children to write in meaningful ways such as making a list or writing/drawing a card to mail to someone. Mrs. Whisner and Dr. D would love to respond to letters from our learners!

Parent Access to Focus and Schoology

Parents are able to log in to Focus, BCPS’ Student Information System, and Schoology, BCPS Learning Management System. Parents will need to create a parent account with the same e-mail address they provided to their school to sign up. Parents must be marked in Focus as having educational access to gain access to their student’s information. It will take up to 30 minutes to gain access to Focus and up to 48 hours to access Schoology. There is a link within Focus that will take parents directly to Schoology. If a parent clicks the Schoology link before the connection is established, the parent will receive an error message. Parents can contact their child’s school to resolve any issues with this process.

For directions on how to access the parent FOCUS portal please click: https://baltimore.focusschoolsoftware.com/focus

The directions for creating a parent account if you have not already done so can be found here:

https://www.bcps.org/tech_support/creating_a_parent_account_for_focus__schoology

Martin Boulevard's School Progress Plan includes goals to make sure families have access to our Math and ELA curriculum so parents can support their children at home. Bridges is the name of our Math curriculum. When you clink on the link you will see the Bridges Family Support page. There is a picture below that can help.

All grades K-5 are nearing the end of Unit 2 and will be in Unit 3 in the beginning of November. See how you can help support them at home!

Don't forget - 4th grade Advanced Math uses the 5th grade curriculum!

We also have a link that can help connect our 5th grade Advance Math students and families to some Grade 6 Illustrative Math curriculum resources.

As stated above, Martin Boulevard's School Progress Plan includes goals to make sure families have access to our Math and ELA curriculum so parents can support their children at home. HMH is the name of our English Language Arts curriculum. When you clink on the link you will see the list of Modules and links to Family Letters for each Module 1-6.

There are important updates from the BCPS Department of Information Technology. Per BCPS policy, during the 2024-2025 school year, each student and that student’s parents/guardians will be financially responsible for damage or loss to any Chromebook or other device assigned to the student. As an instructional tool, there is no initial cost for a student to receive a Chromebook or other device. Families are only financially responsible when there is avoidable damage to the device. Fees related to repair or replacement of a damaged device are outlined according to the repair cost chart. Click the box below for English or Spanish information.

All potential volunteers, whether they be family, community members, or staff, must complete the volunteer application and participate in an orientation/training session annually beginning on July 1st. All volunteer training expired on June 30th.

Please visit BCPS website for application and training information.

https://cos.bcps.org/departments/communications/family_and_community_engagement/b_c_p_s_volunteers

Parent University offers resources, videos, workshops, and system updates to support the needs of your family. Our program goals align with the BCPS Compass: Our Pathway to Excellence - Focus Area 4 - Community Engagement and Partnerships. Visit bcps.org/parentu for more information.

We even have our own Newsletter! Follow this link https://www.smore.com/g5tn6-partnerships .