Beacon Bulletin

Piney Point families,

WOW! We only have 9 more days of school. Our calendar is jam packed with end of the year activities. Our 5th graders will be participating in their annual canoe trip this week and Friday is FIELD DAY!!

• Early dismissals- Parents we ask your help with early dismissals from school. We must have a note from you stating that the child is going to be parent pick up. Please do not call or email the school after 3:15pm asking to change your child's form of transportation for that day. It is a HUGE disruption to dismissal when we have to find your child and either take them off a bus or put them on the bus with a bus pass. I understand that sometimes it is a reward to get picked up at school but we ask that you meet your child at the bus stop and then do your fun activity. We have worked very hard this year to teach dismissal procedures and as stated before makes it incredibly difficult to change. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
• Watch DOG Dads- Thank you for all you have done for us this school year. We would like to invite you all to participate in our Field Day activities on May 31st. Following Field Day, we will be having a small celebration for helping us keep a "float" this year. Please be sure to RSVP by the 28th. The celebration will begin at approximately 1:15 pm in the counselor's office.
• There are so many fantastic things happening in our efforts to support SMCPS students with disabilities. Please use this survey to share your praise, story, or news about successes in your school or department!
• School Kits- We have partnered with SchoolKidz again this year to offer School Kits for the upcoming school year. Please see the attached information regarding pricing and online ordering. You may begin ordering now. Once you place your order, the kits will ship directly to school over the summer and will be delivered to your child's teacher. To order, go to www.shopttkits.com and enter our school code: 42479. Orders are due June 5th!

Be sure to review this entire newsletter each week as it will provide you with valuable resources and information.

~Mrs. Zeier

SMCPS Food Services will be providing "to-go" meals for the summer at LHS, CHS, OES, and SRMS offering 5-day meal pick-up on Mondays starting June 10th. Parents must pre-register their children by filling out the form linked below or bringing them to the site when they pick up meals. SMCPS will also be operating Lunch and Learn and Lunch at the Library, more information to follow. Summer Meals Registration Link

St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) will begin to accept Pre- Kindergarten 4 Applications on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future allows for families with children who are 4 years old on or before September 1, 2024, to apply for full-day Pre-Kindergarten. All families are welcome to apply; however, income is the primary qualifier for eligibility. All applications will be screened and identified on a System of Tiers.

The SMCPS website, www.smcps.org, has information and guidance for completing the 2024-

2025 Pre-Kindergarten Application. You may also contact us using the helpdesk form, call 301-

475-5511 ext. 32285, or email Mrs. Charlottis Woodley, Director of Parent & Family Engagement, at cmwoodley@smcps.org. Spanish language assistance is available.

All schools will hold open registration beginning Monday, May 6, 2024, which will continue -throughout the summer. Students who are currently enrolled in SMCPS Pre-K do NOT need to re-register. Current Pre-K students will rollover to kindergarten, unless they are an out of district transfer student.

Parents of children who will be five years old by September 1, 2024, should register at the school assigned to their physical address during the open enrollment period.

Parent(s)/Legal Guardian(s) may go to the school assigned to their legal address to complete

the registration paperwork. Children are not required to be present for registration. Required

documentation includes evidence of birth, proof of residency, a copy of the child’s immunization record, and any court papers regarding custody of the minor child. Parent(s)/Legal Guardian(s) must also bring photo identification when registering their child.

Each elementary school will conduct open enrollment for the children residing in their zone.

Information regarding which school serves your residential area is provided by the Department

of Capital Planning at SMCPS - Find a School by your address or 301-475-4256, option 6.

• May 27th- No school- Memorial Day
• May 29th-Kindergarten to Elms
• May 30th- Kindergarten to Elms
• May 31st- Field Day and Watch DOG event
• June 6th- 5th grade Luau
• June 6th- 2 hour early dismissal-- last day for Pre-k
• June 7th- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL- 2 hour early dismissal
• June 13th- June 25th- report card posted on HAC

The SMCPS Board of Education approved an amendment to the 2023-2024 SMCPS Operational Calendar. The revised calendar posted to www.smcps.org/calendar.

As a result of the fact that SMCPS did not use any of its inclement weather days built into the calendar, the final day for the 2023-2024 school year has been adjusted.

• The final day for students will be Friday, June 7, 2024.

SMCPS and SMC R&P have partnered to offer the new Summer Sports Academies. Campers will be instructed by area high school coaches. Camps are held Monday -Thursday. Click below for more information. Registration begins March 1st. Don't miss this opportunity.

• https://www.stmaryscountymd.gov/recreate/camps

• https://www.stmaryscountymd.gov/docs/thescoop.pdf

The Maryland School Report Card provides information about our school's performance for the 2022-2023 school year. You can find a link to our school's SY23 report card by visiting the Quick Links on our school's website. In addition, you can view the January 11 presentation to the Board of Education about system-wide data or visit www.smcps.org/about-us for additional information

Shiny Pineys are back!! Each day, teachers will give out 1-3 Shiny Pineys to students who stand out showing respectful, responsible, and ready behavior. Those students will then put their Shiny Piney in a special box in the office. On Wednesdays and Fridays, Mrs. Zeier will pull out a few Shiny Pineys and those students will get to pick out a special prize! As the year comes to an end, encourage your child to get the Shiny Pineys and continue to follow our three R's - respectful, responsible, and ready!!

• • SMCPS Reading Language Arts Information and Resources

    • Explore the site and the Benchmark Advanced curriculum. Choose your child’s grade level on the right-hand side of the site for grade specific resources and information including articles, websites, and online books.

    
    

    “One of the most impor­tant roles that par­ents can play in their child’s edu­ca­tion is sup­port­ing and nur­tur­ing their child’s read­ing abil­i­ties and love of read­ing.”

    
    

    Here are a few tips to help readers:

    1. ENCOUR­AGE WRITING - Encour­age your child to write thank-you notes, let­ters, jour­nal entries and sto­ries about their dai­ly life and expe­ri­ences. If your child is uncom­fort­able writ­ing, sug­gest that he or she cre­ate a com­ic strip.

    2. BUILD LIT­ER­A­CY WITH OTH­ER ACTIVITIES - Enjoy puz­zles, mazes, cross­words and oth­er games, which enable your child to build lit­er­a­cy skills while hav­ing fun.

    3. PART­NER WITH TEACHERS - If your child is strug­gling with read­ing and writ­ing, work with teach­ers to under­stand their approach to lit­er­a­cy and ask how you can help at home. Find ways to extend school lit­er­a­cy lessons when you’re home or out with your child.

    4. LEAD BY EXAMPLE - Show your child that you love books, read­ing and writ­ing — and that you partake in these activ­i­ties every day.

    Review this article for more tips - 10 Ways Parents Can Support Reading At Home

    
    

    Playing games is a great way to provide additional practice with early reading skills. Here is one game you can play at home.

    
    

    Go fish

    This game is good for early fluent to fluent readers.

    
    

    To make:

    Select ten to 20 words from a book (or books) the child is reading. Print the words clearly and boldly on separate 3x5 inch index cards, making pairs of each word. (Children may help by copying the words you write.) Two to four players can play this game.

    
    

    To play:

    
    

    Shuffle and deal three to five cards to each player. Place the rest of the deck face down. Players take turns asking each other for a card to match one held in his or her hand. If the opponent has a matching card, it is given over, and the first player takes another turn. If the opponent does not have a match, he or she says “Go Fish” and the player draws from the remaining deck of cards, and the next player takes a turn. Each time a player has a match, he or she reads the words, and puts down the pair, face up. Continue the game until the cards are all used up.

    Instead of matching words, rhyming words can be used. In this case, players ask for “a word that sounds like ‘night’…” At the end, the child can earn extra points by dictating or writing additional words that rhyme with the base words, or creating “silly” sentences using the rhymes.

    
    

    Note: This game can be adapted to use with older children, or more advanced readers: variations can include vocabulary practice such as using homonyms (words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings: cent/scent; dear/deer, etc.), or contractions (can’t; cannot, etc.).

    
    

    Here are more games parents or tutors can use to help young readers practice word recognition, spelling patterns, and letter-sound knowledge. - 6 Games for Reading

    
    

Need to purchase a laptop charger?

You can do one of two things:

1. Email your child's teacher or the Library Media Specialist Mrs. Anderson (lwanderson@smcps.org) that you wish to pay for the missing laptop charger. A fine then can be assessed so that you can pay using My School Bucks, sending in cash, or a check (made out to SMCPS).

OR

2. Go directly to the DELL store. You can purchase directly from their website and have it shipped to your home.

Ensure one of these links is being used:

www.dell.com/mpp/smcps (click Shop Recommended Solutions to get to the discounted power cords)

www.dell.com/mpp/smcps-chargers (leads directly to the purchasing portal)

If you purchase from Dell, please make sure that you label the charger with the student's first and last name before sending it to school. If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher or the Library Media Specialist Mrs. Anderson(lwanderson@smcps.org).

Former PPES student completes Eagle Scout Project- a rack for our canoe materials!

Our spirit rock is open for rentals! The cost to rent is $25 per day and you get to paint the rock. The rock can be rented to celebrate birthdays, teachers, sports, accomplishments, or to spread any positive message. Click here to learn more: https://m.signupgenius.com/... Email the PTA for questions: piney.point.pta@gmail.com.

It's time to renew your PTA membership dues!

2023-2024 Membership/Dues Cost: $20

Dues payment link:

https://pineypoint.memberhub.com/

Why join the PTA?

- Your membership dues help us achieve our goals of helping students, teachers, and staff.

-You will receive school updates. Signing up will keep you in the loop with what’s going on at PPES.

-Signing up to join the PTA is not a commitment. We won't force you to volunteer- but we do appreciate all the help we can get! If you join there are also no meetings to attend.

Thank you for your support!

Evening Counseling: SMCPS is once again offering School-Based Counseling Support in the evening for SMCPS students. Counseling support focuses on the following areas: Healthy Relationships, Social Skills, Self-Esteem, Stress Management, Worry, Sadness, and Emotional Regulation. Services will be located at Margaret Brent Middle School and Greenview Knolls Elementary School on Tuesday evenings from 4-7:30 p.m. Please complete the Parent Contact Form for Evening Counseling to request services.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. The best way to reach me is to email me at klpelton@smcps.org.

Looking forward to a great year!

Ms. Pelton

Hello Families!

The school based health clinics has updated their website with a new link to register students. The link can be found at https://smchd.org/sbhc/ and then you would click the blue button that says "Click Here to Enroll now for Faster Service". The school based health centers are a great way to see a provider without the long wait times at urgent care! See their website for more information. They will be open ALL summer for your convience.

Please click the link below for information regarding your child's bus number, bus stop location, and pick-up and drop-off times. If you have specific questions regarding bus transportation, please call the Department of Transportation at (301)-475-4256.

For all parents of PreKindergarten and Kindergarten students: An adult must be present at the bus stop when students are being picked up or dropped off. If an adult associated with a PreKindergarten or Kindergarten student is not present at the bus stop at the end of the school day, the bus driver will return the student to the school and the parents will be contacted to come to the school to pick up the student.

Email: tbzeier@smcps.org
Website: https://ppes.smcps.org/
Location: 44550 Tall Timbers Road, Tall Timbers, Maryland 20690, USA
Phone: 301-994-2205