The Seahawk News

Welcome to the 2025 School Year at Sunderland! What an amazing Peek at Your Seat event! It was so good to see everyone and hear about the summer adventures! We truly believe the students are the heartbeat of a school and love the energy that students bring when they return to our "nest"!

I am Pam Myrick, the principal at SES. I am very honored to serve the Sunderland community and work with our outstanding team of educators. We are an inclusive community where all students can thrive!

My early years were spent in West Virginia, then my family moved to Chicago when I was in high school. My experience as a young child in WV was filled with lots of love from the community and wonderful educators who left a lasting impression on me. They captured my love of learning that is still a part of me today. I was immersed in a very diverse community when I lived in Chicago where I gained a great appreciation for other cultures and sought to learn as much about all of my new friends, as possible! I hope our Seahawks acquire a love of learning while at SES. There is a big world out there waiting for them!

I have been a resident of Huntingtown for 21 years now. In May of 2024, I got married and gained 3 bonus children to add to my daughter and son. My husband, Tom, is a retired police officer from Prince George's County and works for the Navy. My daughter, Marissa, is in her first year in Baltimore County schools as a school psychologist while my son, Hunter, is in his senior year at Baylor! Sic 'Em Bears! The photo is from Marissa's May graduation from Baylor! We are a house of Terps and Bears! Hunter will be applying for programs to become a physical therapist. We have been active within the county youth organizations and other non-profits within the community because we believe that it takes a village to raise a child, and it is important to give back to the community.

As part of our PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) and MTSS (Multi Tiers Systems of Support), students are taught the expectations for being respectful, responsible, ready to learn and accepting of differences. Throughout the school, students are recognized with Splash Cash which they can redeem. Our school has focused on offering opportunities or experiences instead of solely offering trinkets or "things". For example, students paid Splash Cash to help Ms. Bozman with the PM announcements or students paid to be a helper in the Pre-K classroom. Our goal is for our students to value this service to others and continue to strengthen the importance of community service and helping others. Each class is partner with another class as Flock partners! This is to help establish a sense of community across our school and for students to work with others towards a common goal. Ask your child about their flock color!

We work in collaborative teams at SES in all aspects of our school. Our Leadership Team is no exception. Amanda Merillat is our Assistant Principal and partner in leading the school. Courtney Simmons is our Instructional Support teacher who works with teachers to ensure all students are growing academically and monitors our performance data. Danielle Walzer is our School Counselor who is a resource for students and families with social emotional needs and much more! They will share more about themselves in next week's news. I could not ask for a better team of passionate educators to guide our school! Michele Shade, School Counselor, has taken on a new adventure and will not be back as SES this year, but she will always be a part of our SES family!

Thank you for supporting our efforts and we look forward to an amazing year as we serve the SES community! ~Pam Myrick, Proud SES Principal

We are thrilled to welcome the following Seahawk Staff to our SES family:

• Lindsey Patten, Secretary
• Amanda Thompson, Instrumental Music/Band (Janet Gross retired!)
• Maria Van der Vossen, General Music on D Day for 2 classes
• Mallory Reading, 5th Grade (Welcome back to Ms. Reading!)
• Kristine Gutherie, Technology Integration Specialist
• Karen Lewis, IEP Clerk (Linda Kovacs retired!)
• Amy Mace, School Psychologist (Welcome back Ms. Mace)
• Alison Zick, Speech Language Pathologist - 3 days a week
• Shulamis Grossman, Speech Language Pathologist- virtual 2 days a week
• Larissa Johnson, Head Start Instructional Assistant -4-year-old program
• Tymia Prince-Wiseman, Head Start Instructional/Bus Assistant- 3-year-old program

• IMPORTANT: If you want to attend any IN-SCHOOL event such as VIP Day, Career Day, Field Day, field trip chaperones, etc you will need to be a registered approved volunteer. This is for safety of all students. Each of the special events that we have within our school day allows for you to engage with the students. You are not kept separated, instead, we have interactive activities and will need all adults (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc) who plan to attend to be an approved volunteer. The process takes less than 10 minutes. Please register as a VOLUNTEER. Become a Volunteer - Calvert County Public School District (calvertnet.k12.md.us)
  
• Pre K and Kdg Staggered start info is: Staggered Start Schedule: Head Start, Pre K, Kindergarten (finalsite.net) Please review the information through the link. You will receive an email from your child's teacher to schedule a conference where your child gets to meet the classroom staff and more. Conferences will be held on August 27th and 28th. Half the class, last names A-L, will attend school on August 29th and while students with names M-Z do not attend. On August 30th, the M-Z students will attend while the A-L do not. On September 3rd, all students attend. This allows the students to meet others and learn some routines. The teacher will introduce them to their morning routine and their cubbies, etc. Your classroom teacher will discuss which staggered start date your child will attend.
  
• Open House is scheduled! Pre K to grade 2 will be on September 24th from 5:30-6:30PM. Grades 3-5 will be on September 25th from 5:30-6:30PM.
• CCPS Parent Information- There is a great deal of information on the Parent website: Parent/Guardian Information - Calvert County Public School District (calvertnet.k12.md.us)
• Online payments for the Seat Sack and the agenda book can be found at our school website: Home - Sunderland Elementary (calvertnet.k12.md.us)
• Laptops: All 3rd -5th graders will receive a laptop for school use. Students will be using the device at school. Laptops will not be sent home for use. Homework assignments will not require computer use.
• SES Parent Handbook: Please review the attached SES Parent Handbook. It contains a great deal of information to help you better understand our school's procedures and routines that support a safe, organized school for all. A paper copy will be sent home the first week of school for you to keep.

• We welcomed several new Seahawk families into our nest on Friday! Attached below is the Powerpoint with information we shared. Please do not hesitate to contact the school with questions after viewing the information.

• You will receive a folder of information this week with forms to return to school. The Student Code of Conduct is electronically being sent this year. Please review it with your student. The Statement of Understanding must be completed for all students. It states that you have reviewed the expectations for school and reviewed the Code of Conduct with your child. A copy will be sent home in the folder this week. Here is The Student Code of Conduct: Code of Conduct - Calvert County Public School District (calvertnet.k12.md.us) If you want a paper copy, please email Ms. Patten at pattenl@calvertnet.k12.md.us

• CHANGE: If your child has a device (cell phone, tablet, smartwatch) in their backpack, it must be registered with the school. It must be turned OFF, not just silenced in school and placed in their backpack. It may not be used during the school day. No pictures should be taken on the bus. Hoods are not permitted to be worn in the school. See the poster below.

• The Welcome Back to the Cafeteria letter provides information from Child Nutrition.

• The Blessing of the Backpacks event flier is below. We hope to see you!

• On the first day of school, our staff will be tagging the student’s backpack to be a bus rider or daily car rider. If your child is only being a car rider due to late registration, please let us know. We will tag them as a daily car rider until a bus is assigned for them. We would then change the tag to a bus tag.
• For Pre K and K families: Please rest assured that we have all hands on deck to make sure students are able to learn their path to their class. Teachers and assistants will be meeting students in the hall to assist them and give them clues to helping to find their class each day. The students do an amazing job within the first week!
• If you registered after 8/15/24, you may not have an assigned bus yet. They have worked on route assignments, and you should hear from transportation by the end of next week.
• Daily Car Riders must complete the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/UtcfJihh7H
• This information will be used for Tuesday's sign out. This form is to be completed for those who will be Daily Car Riders only. By listing adults to pick up, you are giving that adult permission to pick up your student. We encourage all students to ride the bus.
• Please tell your child that they will NOT have their name called. They are to dismiss when they hear Daily Car Riders are dismissed. This list will be shared with the teachers, too.
• Please have your ID at all times when entering the school to pick up your student. You will need to have your ID out to show the staff, even if we know you!
• Daily Car Riders: One adult will be expected to come into the cafeteria to sign out their Daily Car Rider student(s). We will open the exterior cafeteria door at 3:50PM (1:50PM on Early Dismissal Days) to allow for students to be signed out. Promptly at 4:05PM (2:05PM on Early Dismissal Days), Daily Car Riders will be called to the cafeteria. You and your child will exit. When you sign in, you will be given a card signifying how many students you are picking up. You will turn in your card as you leave the cafeteria. If an adult is not present by 4:05PM (2:05PM on Early Dismissal Days), the student will be sent home on their assigned bus.
• If your child is a bus rider and needs to be picked up due to an appointment, please arrive at the front office before 3:45PM (1:45PM on Early Dismissal Days).Our office staff and duty staff start preparing for Daily Car Riders and bus dismissal at 3:55PM (1:55PM on Early Dismissal Days) We have a 10 minute bus window to dismiss between 600-700 students so we will need to keep our focus on the dismissal process.
  
• We will permit Non-Daily Car Riders but we are still not able to accommodate Drop in, Surprise Car Riders. For Non-Daily Car Riders, you MUST send a paper note, NOT AN EMAIL, with your child, EACH day that you plan for them to be a car rider. Please let your child know that they must dismiss with the Daily Car Riders at 4:05PM when announced. We will NOT call individual students down for dismissal. Please do not send a note saying “every Tuesday” instead, send a note every Tuesday. We can not expect teachers to keep up with all students’ special request schedules. We ask that you send a paper note each day because there could be a sub in the class instead of the teacher.
  
  

  Please complete the survey questions below by Monday, August 26th by noon so that we can be prepared for dismissal the first day of school. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Myrick at myrickp@calvertnet.k12.md.us

EVERYONE must reapply for being a volunteer. The system was cleaned out and you must reapply. Remember, if you want to be a chaperone or work events, you must be approved. If you are an employee of CCPS, you still need to complete the volunteer process for participation in events at school.

Even if you are not sure if you will be able to attend anything, please sign up early. Here’s the CCPS link of info:

Become a Volunteer - Calvert County Public School District (calvertnet.k12.md.us)

• Morning Arrival Window: 9:15AM -9:25AM
• Instructional School Day - 9:25AM – 4:05PM
• Afternoon Dismissal Window: 4:05PM car riders; 4:10-4:20PM Bus Riders
• School Colors - Blue and White – Friday Spirit Days- Classes are assigned a Flock color as well. More to come on that!
• School Mascot/Motto -“SPIRIT” the Seahawk -Sunderland Promotes Independence Responsibility Integrity and Trust