Eagle News

As we ended the first quarter last week, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for your unwavering support. Our students have worked incredibly hard in reading and math, showing their dedication to learning and demonstrating the core principles of SOAR every day. Thanks to the generosity of our PTA, we’ve also enjoyed several fantastic assemblies and field trips, enriching our students’ school experience and bringing learning to life in unique and engaging ways. The staff has also enjoyed the monthly Teacher Appreciation celebrations.

Last week, we ended the month of October on a high note with our vibrant Character Day Parade and celebration! The energy and creativity were wonderful to see, and it was a joyful way to celebrate as a school community. Thank you for all that you do, and let’s continue to make this a year to remember!

We will publish the next Eagle Newsletter on Wednesday, November 20, 2024. However, if you would like to read back issues of the Eagle News Newsletter, you can find this year's published newsletters on our school's website under the heading 'Announcements and Newsletters.' If you have questions between now and then, please contact me at Toi.Davis@pgcps.org or 301-985-1898.

This is a reminder that students are to be in their classroom when the bell rings at 7:45 a.m.. Teachers will mark students who arrive after 7:45 a.m. as tardy. It's also important that families send a note to the homeroom teacher no later than 3 days after a student's absence providing the reason for the absence. All absences without a note will receive an unexcused absence code.

The PGCPS Office of Communications and Community Engagement will continue to deliver timely communication that achieves our goals of safety, equity, and excellence.

Communication Tools

The Office of Communications and Community Engagement uses five key tools to reach audiences:

School Messenger

○ Email

○ Text/SMS

○ Robocall

Websites

○ PGCPS (www.pgcps.org)

○ PGCPS en español (www.pgcps.org/es)

Newsletters

○ Engage PGCPS (families and communities), weekly

○ Acción PGCPS (Spanish-speaking families and communities), weekly

○ Partner PGCPS (business, faith-based and nonprofit

groups), monthly

Social media

○ Facebook (@PGCPS)

○ Facebook en español (@PGCPSenespanol)

○ Twitter (@PGCPS, @DrMonicaCEO)

○ Instagram (@PGCPS)

○ LinkedIn

○ YouTube

PGCPS-TV

○ Verizon 38

○ Comcast 96

○ YouTube

○ Video-on-demand

Grade levels have started planning field trips for students, but we need parent volunteers. The county expects a ratio of 1:4 for students in Pre-K and K and a ratio of 1:10 for students in grades 1-5. The county also requires that half of the chaperones must be PGCPS employees. If you are interested in volunteering, please use the link below to start the process or come to tonight's Fingerprinting Night.

The steps for the approval process are below.

The volunteer approval process must be completed for each academic school year. To reinstate your SafeSchools account for SY '24-25, you will need to complete an updated registration form which can be found by clicking this LINK.

Returning Volunteers renewal applications can be completed in just four easy steps!

1. Use the email address you originally registered with and your existing volunteer identification number (VIN) to complete your application for the 2024 -2025 school year.
2. Click the green plus + sign below the Register Volunteer column to enter/edit your volunteer details that may have changed from the previous school year.
3. Read and sign the disclaimer statement.
4. Submit your application.
5. You will receive an email from SafeSchools in approximately 48 hours with the training plan for SY '24-'25.

The first quarter Honor Roll Assembly will be Tuesday, November 26, 2024. Students in grades 2-5 will earn Principal Honor Roll, Honor Roll, and/or Eagle effort awards. Grades 2-3 will have an in person assembly at 8:00 a.m. Grades 4-5 will have an in person assembly at 8:50 a.m.

Please see the PGCPS expectations for Honor Roll per Administrative Procedure 5121.1 below.

1. The purpose of the honor roll program is to recognize and honor elementary students who have attained outstanding academic success. The district-wide Honor Roll is designed to provide positive reinforcement that inspires all students to strive even harder and perform at their highest level in all subjects. All schools will implement this honor roll system that recognizes students for high academic achievement at the end of each marking period during the school year. Schools are required to recognize students for performance at two (2) levels: Principal’s Honor Roll and Honor Roll.

2. Students in Grades 2-5 who qualify for each level of honor roll will be identified by the Department of Student Applications based on grades entered on student report cards in elementary schools. The following criteria will be used to identify students at each level

• Principal’s Honor Roll: Students with at least a 4.0 GPA.
• Honor Roll: Students with at least a 3.0 GPA or higher.

Please ensure students are dressed appropriately for outdoor recess. Parents can click the button below to read Administrative Procedure 6130 - Guidelines for Outdoor Activities and Playground and Recess Supervision for further information.

We use the criteria below to determine when there will be indoor recess.

"Recess, other outdoor activities, and Physical Education
should be considered for an inside activity if the following
conditions exist:
(1) Temperature with or without a wind chill factor is
below 32 degrees.
(2) Definite rain, sleet or snow with accumulation.
(3) Soggy, wet conditions.
(4) Heat temperatures that fall within the categories for a
Code Orange, Code Red or Code Purple. See
Attachment 1, Chart for Heat Designations."

1. Parentvue

   ParentVUE is the portal that allows parents and guardians to view information about their student, including classroom assignments and scores, attendance, transcripts, graduation status and more.

   
   

   A PGCPS ParentVUE account is used to view this information. Parents/Guardians can also update their phone numbers and/or emergency contacts within ParentVUE.

   
   

   With Parentvue, PGCPS will no longer provide a printed copy of reports cards for quarters 1, 2, and 3.

   
   

   Click on the links below to review resource guides for accessing attendance, the gradebook, and quarterly grades.

   
   

   Attendance

   Gradebook

   Grades (Quarterly Progress reports and Report cards)

   ParentVUE User Guide

   ParentVUE User Guide (French)

   ParentVUE User Guide (Spanish)

   
   

   
   

   Media Center News

   Students have reviewed EBOOKs during media. An ebook is an electronic book, a printed book made available in digital form via a device with internet access. Many of you access ebooks via a tablet, IPAD, computer, kindle, smartphone etc.. Several of the databases on destiny.pgcps.org provide access to ebooks for Prince George’s County Public School (PGCPS) students free of charge. Some are in multiple languages and some of the databases will read the text to the student.

   
   

   A variety of topics are covered in fiction and nonfiction. This is an excellent resource for students and allows them to explore literature in another format that may be more engaging to them than the printed text.

As always, if you have concerns or questions, please contact Mr. Clark at aclark@pgcps.org.

Happy November UPES Family!

Can you believe school has been in session soon to approach 3 months and we have been off to a fantastic start believing we will finish the same? Hopefully, you have had time to take in the beautiful seasonal changes taking place all around you. People know many things about November. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind for many is Thanksgiving. However, November is also ...

1.Native American Heritage Month

https://youtube.com/shorts/fioLEoJOs_g?si=DMi8ef6R-CpGgydm

2. Epilepsy Awareness Month

https://youtu.be/MBfJozL7qHM?si=NkbM7xLvAQ4PhfOo

3 Early Childhood Mental Health Awareness

https://youtube.com/shorts/HESc-w5bCi0?si=PDMHd3ooyR-Amclz

4. International Stress Awareness Day- Occurs the first Wednesday in November every year

5 Self-Care Week - November 18-24

https://youtu.be/LY4i5CSn7AA?si=1ArDapMyAosAMAaa

6. National Healthy Skin Month - Our skin is the largest organ of our bodies and plays a very important protective role

https://youtu.be/5T3UozUTnPM?si=I4gss4Pz5MS7fi3S

7. Hunger and Homelessness Month
Homelessness and food insecurity form a critical intersection that severely impacts public health.

Things To Remember

1. The Dentist is coming next month on December 18th and the 19th

2. Hazel Health is available to all right here at our school. Please sign consent forms so that your child can receive a visit if needed and can stay in school if treatment permits.

3 If there are ever any concerns or questions, I am available by email, phone, and in person.
My office hours for in-person visits are between 7AM-7:45 AM AM and 2 PM-2:45 PM.

Warm regards

Nurse Jackson

Deborah Jackson RN,BSN

School Nurse

2024-2025 PTA Executive Board

President: Kara Mundy

Co-Vice Presidents: Julia Rupert and Bernadette Jerome

Treasurer: Megan Brisch

Secretary: Merlyn Torres

Visit our website (https://www.upespta.com) to learn more about the PTA, how you can get involved, and to join the UPES PTA Listserv.

Have a question, suggestion, want to join a committee, or looking to reach out to the PTA team? Contact us: UPESPTABoard@gmail.com

Committee Updates (Volunteer Opportunities)

Teacher Appreciation

Now that the weather has turned cooler, let's treat our teachers and staff to a chili lunch Monday, November 11th! Our hope is that with many adults off for the Veterans Day federal holiday there is capacity to help us out.

We are asking for volunteers to make chili at home and bring in warmed chili in a crockpot. Don't cook chili yourself? No worries, we also need toppings, bowls, and spoons.

Sign up here https://signup.com/go/nxshcMV

Please contact Michele Pintur at mpintur@gmail.com with any questions.

Thank you for your support!

Feather Our Nest Fall Fundraiser

The UPES PTA’s second inaugural “Feather Our Nest” Fall Fundraiser is here. Now through Nov. 22, make a donation to help the UPES PTA fund programming and initiatives that make our school thrive. It’s never been easier for parents, family, friends and neighbors to support the school community. Check out our flier for more information and visit https://tinyurl.com/upesfon24 to donate.

Did you know that tutoring support is available to our students 24/7? Pear Deck Tutor connects students with highly qualified tutors for 1:1 support, whenever and wherever they need it the most. This resource is available and can be accessed via Clever for ALL PGCPS students.

To find additional information (including a tutorial) about Pear Deck Tutor, click here. It is beneficial to both you, your students and their families to take advantage of this opportunity to receive additional support not only in mathematics, but in any subject area.

Monday, November 11-Veterans Day- School is open for students on time

Wednesday, November 20-PTA Meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, November 26-Honor Roll Assemblies (in person), grades 2-3, 8:00 a.m., grades 4-5, 8:50 a.m.

Wednesday, November 27-Friday, November 29-Thanksgiving Holiday-Schools and offices closed

1. School finder...know what school your child belongs to… Buscador de escuelas... sepa a qué escuela pertenece su hijo... http://gis.pgcps.org/schoolfinder/

Registration requirements...know exactly what you need to register your child... / Requisitos de inscripción... sepa exactamente qué necesita para inscribir a su hijo...

https://www1.pgcps.org/registration/

2. Lunch...apply for free/reduced meals... / Almuerzo... solicitar comidas gratuitas/reducidas... https://www.myschoolapps.com/ |

Email: upark@pgcps.org
Website: https://www1.pgcps.org/universitypark/
Location: 4315 Underwood Street, University Park, MD, USA
Phone: 301-985-1898
Facebook: facebook.com/UniversityParkElementary-PGCPS
Twitter: @UPSoaringEagles