The Seahawk News

Candy War Update: We have been announcing the totals for the Candy Wars during our morning broadcast. Thank you to Serena Hight who comes in each day and counts the bags! Here's the totals as of Friday, Oct. 11th:

Day 11 Candy War Totals 🍭

Pre K- 1,038

K- 4,480

1st- 3,582

2nd- 1,903

3rd- 1,817

4th- 3,151

5th- 2,765

GATE Families from Ms. Sydnor: This week at SES, the GATE students focused on enhancing our critical thinking skills and understanding their significance. We engaged in logic puzzles and creative tasks to encourage out-of-the-box thinking. Additionally, we deepened our comprehension of multiplication, multiplicative comparisons, and place values, including their representation in exponential form. The highlight, however, was the question of ... Should we be allowed to bring candy into the movie theater?

Pre K and K families: An informative session for Prek and K parents presented by Cari Ebert, a pediatric speech-language pathologist, focused on "The Power of Play in a High-Tech World" is being offered. Flier is attached.

Event info: With the growing influence of technology in our children's lives, it is more important than ever to provide parents with effective strategies for managing screen time. This event will offer valuable insights into balancing technology with play, helping parents enhance their children's creativity, social skills, and emotional well-being in the early years.

- Date: October 18

- Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

- Location: Grace Brethren Church Calvert, 9870 Old Solomons Island Rd, Owings, MD 20736

• We are pleased to share that the FSO has a new Spirit wear shop! Check it out to order your Sunderland SPIRIT wear! https://1stplacespiritwear.com/schools/MD/Sunderland/Sunderland+Elementary+School
• Want your student to receive a letter from Santa? Order between now and November 23rd and receive your letter from Santa postmarked from the NORTH POLE! Thanks to the USPS, we are able to bulk ship letters for our students to Anchorage, Alaska, to be sent from the North Pole in time for Christmas! Don't celebrate Christmas? That's okay, we have a Holiday Letter template from the school to celebrate your student! This one will be mailed from Huntingtown, MD mid-to-late November. Place your order here! https://forms.gle/9zAm236y6ntUsH1w7

Volunteer Opportunities:

• We need some volunteers to help with the Splash Cash cart! This is part of how our students cash in their Splash Cash that they earn as part of our PBIS program. Check out the dates to see if you can make any of them!

  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D48A5AC29A7F58-51868473-splash

• Our October Book Fair is October 18th -25th. We will have it open at the Fall Festival on the 18th! If you are able to help during any of the days, we would appreciate it! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4BAEA822A7FFC61-52233778-book

• The Fall festival is coming!! Share your creative spirit with us and help make it a great festival for all! The flier is below, along with the sign up to volunteer.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4BAEA822A7FFC61-51588352-fall

• We still are seeking Grade Level Reps. Please check out the full description and the link in the FSO section below in the newsletter.

• The annual tradition of the 5th Grade Funhouse is looking for families to participate. This is for all the 5th grade families. Sign up using the link and more information is on the flier below.

  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4BAEA822A7FFC61-51826834-5thgrade

• REPEAT 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)
  

Our 4th Grade team is AMAZING! In 4th grade, students will be learning more about deliberate discourse and they begin analyzing primary and secondary sources to prove or support their thinking. As the year goes on, ask your 4th grader to share more about how they use these skills in class.

Our 4th grade Team includes Pam Carroll, Sarah Berry, Jessica Baker, Marcie Ellis and Liz Starks!

The following link includes events, activities, and opportunities for young people offered by organizations in the community.

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.

https://www.calvertnet.k12.md.us/district-information/community-partnerships-and-engagement/community-events

October is Bullying Prevention Month, and during our Classroom Counseling lessons this month I will focus on bullying and kindness. In pre-k through 2nd grades, I will read “A Little Spot of Kindness” by Diane Alber and students will discuss ways to show kindness. In 1st and 2nd grades, students will also discuss the difference between a mean moment and bullying. In 3rd through 5th grades, students will discuss and explore the differences between teasing, mean moments, and bullying.

Our character trait for the month of October is KINDNESS! Last week we had our character trait assemblies and students discussed ways to be kind. Students of the Month for September were also recognized during the assemblies.

October 16th is Unity Day, please join us and wear ORANGE and help us stand up against bullying.

Volunteers needed for the Splash Cash cart! Our first Splash Cart day is October 16th and we need help during recess so that students can redeem their Splash Cash! See below for the Sign-Up Genius.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D48A5AC29A7F58-51868473-splash

Red Ribbon Week is October 25th – November 1st. Stay tuned for more information!

Each year we collect food for End Hunger in Calvert County. This year we will collect canned goods and nonperishable food items October 28th through November 15th. Each grade level will have a food collection box, and the grade level to collect the most items will win extra recess!

SES has joined with Friendship Community Baptist Church for our HeartFELT (Filling Empty Little Tummies) program. The HeartFELT program provides qualifying students with meals and snacks each weekend. If you would like more information or would like your child to participate in the HeartFELT program, please contact me to sign up.

Danielle Walzer

School Counselor

walzerd@calvertnet.k12.md.us

443-550--9387

Calendar

Oct 7th 6-7pm, FSO Meeting

Oct 18th 5-7pm, Fall Festival - Setup 1-4pm

Oct 23rd-27th, Book Fair

Nov 4th 6-7pm, FSO Meeting

Nov 6th 5-7pm, Military Appreciation Dinner

Dec 2nd 6-7pm, FSO Meeting

Dec 7th 10am-12pm, Winter Wonderland

Jan 6th 6-7pm, FSO Meeting

Jan 15th 815-915am, Breakfast with a Buddy (A-L)

Jan 16th 815-915am, Breakfast with a Buddy (M-Z)

Feb 3rd 6-7pm, FSO Meeting

Feb 7th 6-730pm, Heart Rock Dance

Mar 3rd 6-7pm, FSO Meeting

Mar 14th Talent Show in school

Mar 17th - 21st, Book Fair

Apr 7th 6-7pm, FSO Meeting

April 9th 5-7pm, Military Appreciation Dinner

May 5th 6-7pm, FSO Meeting

May 5th - 9th, Teacher Appreciation Week

June 2nd 6-7pm, FSO Meeting - Elections

Board Members

Samantha Manley, President

Nobert Akas, 1st Vice President

Serena Hight, 2nd Vice President

Niki Moore, Treasurer

Hannah Stanislawski, Secretary

Toni Crabb, Grade Level Representative

Sally Wolfe, Staff Liaison

Family Engagement Matters!!

As parents, we want our children to do well in school and when parents take a more active role in their children’s schooling, children achieve more! Not only do they learn more, they earn high grades and have better school attendance. By partnering with Sunderland and the FSO, you can make sure that their most significant experiences and relationships that happen at home and school are working together to prepare your child for future success.

Grade Level Representatives are a link between the FSO and Sunderland Elementary. Representatives bridge the gap in communication between teachers and parents, as well as encourage parent involvement in upcoming events. The major responsibilities are to bring members into closer contact with the school, to work with both the school staff and parents to promote the work of the FSO and to assist with membership promotion.

Reps will collaborate with teachers to identify how parents can assist with classroom activities while recruiting parent volunteers and delegating volunteer assignments for the grade level. Reps will also get together with the teachers to talk about the various ways and options available for parents to assist with classroom activities, field trips and celebrations for the upcoming year. By developing a list together of volunteer opportunities, parents will be able to communicate in advance which opportunities they can participate in.

Representatives will function as a committee, with the FSO Grade Level Representative Board Member representing them as the chair. Grade level representatives are encouraged to attend the monthly FSO meeting. Funds for their work will be provided in the FSO budget.

A brief bulleted overview of responsibilities are:

● Reps will assist with membership drives for their grade level

● Secure a list of names, phone numbers and email addresses of the parents whose children are in the grade level

● Leave contact information of reps for each family, encouraging them to use the FSO as a resource for assistance and information

● Share information with parents as directed and on a timely basis.

● Invite parents to each FSO meeting and keep parents informed about the FSO

● Recruit parents to assist with school activities as specified by the teacher, principal or executive board.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4BAEA822A7FFC61-44418332-grade

• 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.
  

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 Integrity Responsibility Independence and Trust

Last night, we were able to celebrate Meagan Jeffries, 3rd grade teacher, at the Maryland Teacher of the Year Gala! It was a very special evening celebrating every TOY from across the state. We are honored that Ms. Jeffries was selected to represent Calvert County Public Schools and look forward to the experiences she will gain during the next year in her role! We are proud of you!

• Congratulations to Brittany Mackall, IA long term sub at SES, and her family! Our Seahawk family expanded with the arrival of her new baby boy on October 2nd! Mom, dad, and baby are all doing well. Big sister is head over heels!
• Our Open House events had a great turn out! We appreciate that you took the time to come share some time with your child's teacher and to enjoy the Book Fair!
• This week, we had our grade level assemblies celebrating the Student of the Month for September where we focused on Respect. We reviewed expectations with the students with a challenge for October for each student to consider how they can be KIND to others in school and beyond! We hope that you see more random acts of kindness from your Seahawk! Ask them about it!
• Our annual Candy Wars has started! The Candy drive will run from October 1st to October 15th. The prize is an Ice Cream Party at lunch!