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.

We're excited to introduce this year's main fundraiser, the Mutual Mustang Fun Run. Our goal this year is to raise $20,000 for laptops for the school to benefit ALL students at Mutual Elementary. MyBooster - Join your fundraiser today!

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. If you are unsure feel free to call the front office in advance to see if you are approved. FYI The CCPS approval process can take anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks.

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

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.

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 character trait of the month, for October is Cooperation/Team
Work.

Teachers and staff will teach and have discussions on the trait throughout the month. please do so at home as well!

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.