MES Family Newsletter

CCPS Volunteer Application

Families are encouraged to become active participants in their child’s education. Throughout the school year, many opportunities are provided for family participation and involvement. All adults attending for special school-based events where adults will be interacting with the students that occur within the school day MUST be APPROVED VOLUNTEERS. This is to ensure the safety of all students since the adults will be within the school and engaging with all students within a classroom.

If you are visiting the school for business purposes such as, register, withdrawal, drop off medication, meet with a teacher for a conference, where you will not interact with the student population, you are not required to be an approved volunteer, but must be scanned through Raptor to ensure safety of all students and staff as a Visitor. You will be accompanied by a staff member during your time in the school.

Both Volunteers and Visitors are to report to the front office at the building you are visiting, be prepared to sign in with the Raptor registration system and wear a badge while on school grounds. During the instructional day, we request your support in fulfilling our responsibility to maintain a safe environment which is focused on learning and minimizes distractions. Classroom visits are to be scheduled in accordance with the CCPS visitation policy.

Become a Volunteer

Calvert County Public Schools uses Raptor for visitors and volunteers to sign in and sign out. All volunteers will need to review the volunteer handbook and watch the volunteer training video before completing an Online Volunteer Application. Volunteers must be approved before they may begin service as a volunteer in any school buildings. Please note, the procedures for policy 8123 states that all volunteers must be at least twenty-one years of age unless he/she is the parent of a child in school.

The Online Volunteer Application works best on a laptop or desktop computer. Completing an application on a mobile device will not properly submit and could cause an issue with your application being received and/or approved.

1. Read the volunteer handbook.
2. Watch the volunteer training video below.
3. Complete the online application. Be sure you receive receipt that you submitted your application.

Did you always want to know what the dress code allowed or how to contact the office? Visit our new Parent Handbook filled with MES & CCPS information.

Annual Student Update Parents/Guardians are required by the school system to update the Annual Student Information for each of their children at the beginning of every school year. Accurate information is critical! You will be notified to verify information online. Please provide the names and phone numbers of at least three other adults that staff can contact if your child becomes ill or in an emergency.

Attendance, Tardiness, & Early Releases Regular attendance at school is vital to your child’s educational development. School attendance laws in the State of Maryland require that children attend school regularly; students absent 10% or more of the total number of enrollment days are considered to have chronic absenteeism.

In accordance with CCPS Students’ Rights & Responsibilities Attendance Policy, schools will monitor student attendance, collaborate with families experiencing attendance concerns, provide resources and develop plans as appropriate. Students who are chronically absent will be considered for retention. When students are absent, you will receive an automated phone call to alert you to the absence.

Lawful absences: If a student is absent due to illness, or another legitimate reason, they must bring a written note signed by the parent or legal guardian, or a doctor’s note if they have been seen. The note must be sent in within three days of the absence.

Make-Up Work Requirements: It is the responsibility of all students, whether the absence is lawful or unlawful, to obtain and to complete the work provided by each teacher. All make-up work will be graded in accordance with the regular classroom grading policy if it is completed within the established timeline. Generally, students will have one day to make up work for each day of absence. Teachers are not expected to provide schoolwork before absences.

Tardiness (Late Arrival) & Early Release & Parent Pick-up All students arriving after the school start time MUST BE SIGNED IN by an adult in the school office. Students arriving after the start of the school day will be considered tardy. Students leaving before the end of the school day will be identified as having an early release. Please note: Unless it is a school or system wide emergency, parents must provide written permission for anyone to pick up their child from school. A written note is required each time your child is picked up by someone other than the parent or legal guardian, even if the person is listed on the Emergency Form.

Mutual Elementary families,

Soon you will be able to register for our Mutual Elementary Boosterthon. Our Boosterthon Fun Run will be held on October 11th. EVERY visitor must be a CCPS approved volunteer to attend. Please visit the CCPS website and complete your approved volunteer application.

Our goal is to raise $20,000 for School laptops and PTA funded events for our MES students and staff.

FYI- Any adult that plans to attend Boosterthon MUST be an approved volunteer with CCPS for MES. This process can sometimes take several weeks for the approval process to be completed.

PLEASE complete your volunteer application today. If you are not an approved volunteer, you will be provided a designated area to be a spectator and will not be allowed to interact with students.

I hope everyone is off to a great start this school year!

Just as a reminder, PTA membership must be renewed on a yearly basis. If you have not signed up to be a PTA member for the 2024-2025 school year, please do so at your earliest convenience. THANK YOU to those who have already joined for the 2024-2025 school year!

If your membership has expired and/or you do not wish to renew, you will no longer receive e-mail communication from the Mutual PTA after September 30, 2024.

For your convenience, I have included the link to our Givebacks membership page below where you can purchase either a single or dual membership.

Givebacks

Thank you!

Kim Cardwell

PTA President

Medications occasionally must be administered to students by our school nurse, Nurse Pope, RN. According to Maryland state guidelines, any medications – including over the counter medications – must have a “Physician’s Authorization Form” on file in the health room before they can be administered at school. They must be in the original container and have the child’s name on the bottle. Medications must be brought to school by the parent or guardian. Cough drops are also to be given to Nurse Pope who can provide them to your child as necessary. Nurse Pope will be glad to answer any questions you may have concerning this policy.

Requirement from the Maryland Department of Health: Kindergarten through 5th Grade students need proof of two Varicella (Chickenpox) vaccines. A parent/guardian must confirm that an appointment has been made for any school-required vaccine by the first day of school in Sept. 2024. If the child has not received the vaccine by the 20th day after school begins, the child will not be allowed to attend until proof of vaccination has been received by our school nurse.

Illness Information:

If your child should become sick or injured at school, he/she will be sent to the school nurse. Nurse Pope will call home to share any injuries from the neck up. Nurse Pope will assess and address minor injuries, headaches, stomach aches, etc. and send students back to class unless she determines that a phone call home is appropriate and necessary. In the event your child needs to leave school, he/she will be made as comfortable as possible until you arrive. Please notify the school of any changes to contact or emergency phone numbers

RETURNING TO SCHOOL AFTER AN ILLNESS

A student may return to school:

• 24 hours after a fever breaks (without the need/use of fever reducers)

• 24 hours after vomiting or diarrhea has ceased.

• 24 hours after starting an antibiotic (i.e., for Pink Eye, impetigo, and strep)

• Following head lice clearance by school nurse

• Following ringworm when exposed area is covered, and the nurse is notified of medication follow-up.

MEDICAL CONCERNS

In the event your child develops new medical concerns or experiences an injury that results in crutches, a wheelchair, or activity restrictions, please contact the school nurse. A doctor’s order clarifying the restrictions should also be shared with the school office.

ILLNESS SCREENING GUIDANCE

Screening is the responsibility of all families and staff members to self-assess for symptoms of an infectious illness such as COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and gastrointestinal infections before entering a school bus or CCPS facility.

• Staff and families should follow testing recommendations for anyone experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
• Staff and families should notify the school when diagnosed with a suspected or confirmed communicable illness including a positive test for COVID-19.
• Any staff member or student who has been exposed to COVID-19 should follow testing recommendations at day 3-5 following an exposure.
• Any individual with symptoms of illness are encouraged to consult a health care provider when needed.
• If unsure if it is safe for an individual to report for work or school, consult with school administration for staff or the school nurse for students.
• If a student becomes ill with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 while at school, the student must be sent home as soon as possible. Testing is recommended and they can return to school when symptoms have improved with no fever for at least 24 hours without medication. Masking is recommended upon returning from positive COVID test for 5 days from positive test or start of symptoms.
• If a staff person becomes ill with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 while at school or during the school day, they must stop immediately, notify the building administrator, and the staff person is to leave the building immediately. Testing is recommended.

• Please click here to visit the CCPS School Health Program page.
• Please click here for the CCPS Health Services Handbook for Families
• Please click here for the latest guidance for COVID.

https://calvertcounty.as.me/SLVFluClinics

MES Open House Nights- Come out and learn more about your child's classroom and teachers.

Grades PreK- 2 Tuesday, September 24 @ 5:00pm

Grades 3-5 Wednesday, September 25 @ 5:00pm

2024-2025 Join Band QR Code.docx

Student birthdays are very exciting and will be recognized by the classroom teachers and staff. We kindly request that, due to increased allergies, students with diabetes and other health concerns, non-food items such as pencils, stickers, trinkets, etc. be sent in to share with the class rather than cupcakes or other snacks. Please communicate with the teacher in advance if you are planning on sending items in to celebrate your child’s birthday.

Lunch is a social time for all students to interact and share social time with their classmates. Our schools have limited space to accommodate adult guests for lunch with students. If you should wish to have lunch with your student, please inform the front office in advance. We ask that parent/guardians be an approved volunteer and only share food with your own child. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate guests for lunch on special event days or early/late arrivals/dismissal.

iREADY Diagnostic

During the next few weeks, students will participate in the CCPS iREADY math and reading diagnostic assessment. Once completed teachers will be able to share students' strengths and areas of focus in both academic areas. Feel free to reach out to schedule a parent conference early to discuss your child's focus areas this year! READY for great learning!

Each Tuesday your student will bring home a folder with all their weekly work or assignments. In addition, any newsletters or CCPS information that is printed will be included. Please review and remove all the information in the folder and return it every Wednesday. If you have additional questions don't hesitate to reach out to your teacher.

If you plan to pick up your child EVERY day from school and they will Not be riding the bus this school year, please complete the car rider form below and return it to the office.

If you need to pick up your child early for an appointment, we ask that you please do so PRIOR to 3:00pm as the office gets very busy just before dismissal.

Please note when you need another adult/friend or family member to pick up your child you must submit a note in writing to the front office in advance. We do not accept requests by phone. The person picking up MUST provide an ID.

If you need additional information related to someone other than guardian picking up your child don't hesitate to reach out to the front office or administration.

Car Rider Form

Mutual is a PBIS school! Exciting things to come this school year with PBIS so be on the lookout for more information.

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive behavioral interventions and supports. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a proactive system approach to help parents and school staff create and maintain a safe, supportive, learning environment, promote positive life skills and behaviors so that all children can succeed in school. PBIS is an approach that helps schools proactively teach students about expected behavior and provides supports to encourage positive choices.

Mutual’s PBIS at a glance

Mutual Elementary has a school motto which define our expectations for students, they are…

· SHOW kindness

· WORD hard

· STAY safe

PBIS is a schoolwide approach with interventions and supports that recognize students for meeting behavior expectations and following school rules. As one of our many approaches, we are going to focus on a character trait of the month. A different for each month character trait is selected and discussed through out the month as a part of character education. At the end of each month, teachers will nominate a student to be recognized as someone who showed to be a great example of the character trait.

Our first character trait of the month, for September is “Responsibility.”

Teachers and staff will teach and have discussions on responsibility through the month of September, please do so at home as well!

Join me in earning cash for our school by using the Box Tops app. It’s an easy way to make a difference. All you have to do is buy Box Tops participating products (like Cheerios!) and scan your grocery receipt. Box Tops are worth $.10 each and they add up fast! Twice a year, our school receives a check to help pay for whatever we need - equipment, supplies or experiences the kids love!

Use this referral code AOX74IL0 when you sign up and you’ll get 20 Bonus Box Tops when you scan your first receipt now through 05/31/2024, while supplies last! Download the Box Tops for Education app here: https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=AOX74IL0

For information about family events and youth activities taking place in our community, visit www.calvertnet.k12.md.us/flyers. Please note: These events and activities are not sponsored by the Calvert County Board of Education or Calvert County Public Schools. We provide equal opportunities to outside agencies to distribute materials that offer opportunities to students and/or their parents, but that permission should not be considered a recommendation or endorsement by the school district. It is important to note that hardcopy flyers will not b

Nondiscrimination Statement

Calvert County Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, ancestry or national origin, familial status, marital status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or genetic information in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:

• Director of Student Services
• Director of Human Resources

443-550-8000

For further information on notice of non-discrimination, visit the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Assessment System at: https://ocrcas.ed.gov or call 1-800-421-3481.

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Anti-sexual, Anti-racial and Anti-disability Harassment Statement
Discrimination can manifest itself in behaviors such as bullying, harassment, or intimidation of individuals.

Calvert County Public Schools does not tolerate any form of harassment including, but not limited to, sexual, racial, or disability. Any individual (student, employee, or community member) who believes that he or she has been subjected to any form of harassment is encouraged to report the allegation of harassment. Students, parents, and community members may report allegations of harassment to: Ms. Cecelia Lewis, Director of Student Services, Calvert County Public Schools, 1305 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678

Employees may report allegations of harassment to: Mr. Zachary Seawell, Director of Human Resources, Calvert County Public Schools, 1305 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678.

Calvert County Public Schools is committed to conducting a prompt investigation for any allegation of harassment. If harassment has occurred, the individual will be disciplined promptly. Disciplinary actions for students found to have engaged in any form of harassment may result in suspension or expulsion. Disciplinary actions for employees found to have engaged in any form of harassment may result in suspension or termination.

Calvert County Public Schools encourages all students, parents, employees, and community members to work together to prevent any form of harassment.

For further information on notice of non-discrimination, visit the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Assessment System at: https://ocrcas.ed.gov or call 1-800-421-3481.

Calvert County Public Schools Antiracism Statement

Calvert County Public Schools explicitly denounces racism, bullying, discrimination, white supremacy, hate, and racial inequity in any form within our school community. Furthermore, CCPS will not tolerate the values, structures, and behaviors that perpetuate systemic racism.

Each member of the district, individually and collectively, is responsible for creating and nurturing a safe, antiracist learning environment where each student, staff member, and community partner is a respected and valued member of the CCPS community.