Tiger Times
COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER January 2024
M. Abdelshafie
D. Alvarado Guevara
C. Ayala Guardado
S. Bradford
E. Birch
A. Bongiovanni
L. Bongiovanni
K. Butler
K. Chavis
K. Chavis
B. Chiodo
L. Clark
D. Cole
C. Escobar
M. Ferrera Rodriguez
G. Garcia
I. Garcia
J. Grant
A. Guardado Gonzalez
O. Hernandez Martinez
O. Henson
L. Hicks
S. Holley
S. Hull
S. Hull
C. Justis
L. Karume
J. Kirkpatrick
J. Kordulak
L. Laraib
M. Lyles
M. Mason
K. Martinez
J. Mejia Miranda
D. Melkonyan
K. Mendiola
M. Mendiola
M. Pineda Ramos
D. Portillo Velasquez
A. Ramnarine
L. Reyes Alvarado
J. Reynolds-Squires
D. Rivera Ramirez
J. Rodriguez
J. Sanusi
A. Saroopchand
I. Saroopchand
D. Scriber
N. Scriber
L. Stepan
S. Taylor
S. Thomas
S. Thomas
L. Theisen
A. Udemadu
E. Vasquez Claros
Y. Vasquez Claros
E. Vasquez Lopez
A. Watkins
S. Willis
D. Wonokay
Important January Dates at Martin Boulevard
Jan. 16 - Art Club 4th/5th Grade
Jan. 17 - Student Council Meeting - 8:00am
Jan. 18 - Battle of the Books Club - 8:00am
Jan 18 - Art Club 3rd Grade and YogaMouth
Jan 19 - 3 HR Early Dismissal - End of 2nd Marking Period - Dismissal begins at 12:45
Jan. 23 - Art Club 4th/5th Grade
Jan 23 - Updated End of 2nd Marking Period
Jan 24 - Student Council Meeting - 8:00am
Jan. 24 - Field Trip for 2nd, 3rd, and Ms. Porter's Room
Jan 24 - After-School Band and STEAM club
Jan 24 - PTA meeting - 6:00
Jan 25 - Battle of the Books Club - 8:00am
Jan 25 - Art Club 3rd Grade and YogaMouth
Jan 29 - (Report Cards posted to Focus Parent Portal) - Updated - Report Cards available Feb. 5th
Jan 30 - Art Club 4th/5th Grade
Jan 30 - Shared Decision Making Team Meeting in Library - 4:00
Jan 31 - Student Council Meeting - 8:00am
Jan 31- After-School Band
How will I see my student's report card on Monday, February 5th after 4:00?
https://www.bcps.org/tech_support/creating_a_parent_account_for_focus__schoology All report cards for students in Grades 1-5 will be posted on Focus Parent Portal. If you want a paper copy, please call the office, 443-809-0158, and request a paper copy to be sent home. The email address that is connected to your Parent Portal account is the email that you used to register your child at Martin Boulevard. If that email has changed, please update our office with your correct email address.
More information for parents can be found on the BCPS parent website.
Snow Days? Closed? 2 HR Delays?
This link will give you more information about how BCPS makes decisions about Snow Days or 2 Hour Delays - Emergency Notifications, School Closings And Delays
As forecasts are calling for the potential of wintry weather, we want to remind the Team BCPS community about our Virtual Inclement Weather Day Plan for the 2023-2024 school year. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is providing local school systems with the option to repurpose inclement weather days as virtual school days. MSDE has approved the BCPS Virtual Inclement Weather Day Plan for the 2023-2024 school year. The BCPS plan is to transition to virtual school days after the school system has had three inclement weather closures.
After those three full-day closures, when inclement weather is forecasted, BCPS leadership will monitor the weather forecast and families will be notified if BCPS transitions to virtual learning that day. Students will be reminded to bring devices, chargers, and other instructional materials home. Staff will also be asked to prepare lessons and materials.
Community Corner
Mrs. Schwinn's role is to be a bridge between the community and school to give our students the best learning environment and improve their success!
Any questions for Mrs. Schwinn? Feel free to reach out!
Parent Resources for Math
All grades K-5 are nearing the end of Unit 3 and will be in Unit 4 for the next few weeks. See how you can help support them at home!
Don't forget - 4th grade Advanced Math uses the 5th grade curriculum!
Access Math Units and Family Resources
Additional Math Resources for Parents
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.
Parent Resources for ELA
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 1-3.
All grades K-5 are nearing the end of Unit 1 and will be in Unit 2 for the next few weeks. Grades 1-5 should begin Module 3 in the last few days of October. See how you can help support them at home!
A message from Mrs. Geppi:
Please click on the link to connect to your students Artsonia Account! https://www.artsonia.com/connect/DNNF8ZDC .
Here you will be able to see artwork from your students as soon as it has been created. Students will not be taking home artwork all year long, often their work is hanging in the building or on display in a show. Artsonia allows for students and families to enjoy their work in the meantime.
Email Mrs. Geppi with any questions at awindwer@bcps.org.
BusWhere App
The Office of Transportation announces the county-wide implementation of BusWhere, a location tracking software that allows subscribers to see bus locations in real time on a mobile phone or computer. Via the BusWhere app, subscribers may opt to receive notification as the bus is approaching a designated bus stop or if there is a significant issue causing a delay.
On or about October 2, 2023, you should receive an email invitation directly from BusWhere to create an account.
Please visit the main BCPS webpage for additional information. https://www.bcps.org
Dismissal Changes - Reminder
If your child will have a dismissal change, we ask that you send them in with a written note. If you need to call and make a dismissal change, please try and call before 3:15. We have a lot of moving parts at the end of the day and students move to different areas for dismissal. We know it is not always possible, but any effort at getting this dismissal change information to us as early as possible would be helpful. All permanent changes in dismissal need to be in writing.
How Do I Stay Connected?
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MBESBCPS/
Follow us on our school website: https://martines.bcps.org/
Follow us on Twitter: @MartinBlvdES https://twitter.com/MartinBlvdES
CHANGES ARE COMING TO MEDICAID IN MARYLAND!
If you have a child with Medicaid please read! Medicaid renewals won’t be automatic this year. Check in to make sure your contact information is up to date, so that you can receive important notices on any changes to your health insurance.
Please keep your info current and keep yourself insured.
To get started, log in to your account at: MarylandHealthConnection.gov/Checkin or call 855-642-8572
Martin Boulevard PTA
Welcome to December!
We are aiming for 100% parent/guardian membership! When signing up for the PTA, it doesn't mean you have to come to every meeting! We encourage meeting participation, but we know that it might not be possible each month. You could support an evening event or just make the donation! The money goes towards all of the events for the students and staff throughout the year.
- PTA membership is $10.
Sign up here: https://mbesptatigers.memberhub.com/store
Message to Familes/Caregivers regarding Student Damaged Devices
Destruction and/or vandalism of school property is a Category II offense. This includes the destruction of technological devices. The student's responsible use of technology/internet is described in the 2023-2024 BCPS Student Handbook.
Specifically, it indicates that students shall be held responsible for the appropriate use of BCPS technology and will be subject to disciplinary action for any violation of the Technology Acceptable Use Policy (TAUP). Students are required to be safe, secure, and responsible digital citizens when using BCPS electronic devices, networks, and the internet.
Acknowledgment of the Student Handbook indicates that students agree to the following:
Protecting school property and understanding that vandalism is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing, modifying, or destroying equipment, programs, files, or settings on any computer or technology resource.
Questions regarding this information should be directed to the following individual(s):
Dr. Kevin Roberts, Director
Office of School Climate and Culture
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