MPS Welcome Back Newsletter
Volume 5, Newsletter 1, August 14, 2023
Welcome message
Dear MPS families-
We are so excited to welcome new and returning students to Middletown Primary School for the 2023-2024 school year! MPS is a great place to come and learn! At MPS we help our students grow and focus on encouraging Safe, Kind, and Hardworking behavior in the school setting.
Our school staff is growing and we are excited to have additional staff to support our students this year. Our entire team at MPS works together to ensure all of our students feel welcomed and that they belong here as an important part of our learning community. Our school days are full of fun and learning and we can't wait to see our students grow this year.
It continues to be an honor for us to serve the students, families, and staff of Middletown! Our Knight Pride is strong and we are so grateful for our community relationships.
Please see important back to school opening information below.
Kindly,
Sandy Fox, Principal
Courtney Borne, Assistant Principal
Shannon Hogeback, Coordinator of Specialized Programs
Important Dates
Thursday August 17th- Kindergarten Information Night (for parents/guardians only); 6:00-6:45 in the MPS Cafeteria.
Monday August 21st- MPS Open House, 1:30-3:00; students and families can meet teachers and visit classrooms! Ms. Dunn's pre-k class will have open house at Middletown High School from 3:00-4:00.
Wednesday August 23rd- First day of school!
School hours are 9:00am-3:25pm. Our front doors open at 8:30am to welcome students into the building.
Wednesday August 23rd- Friday August 25th- Kindergarten students will attend a staggered start schedule. Small groups of students will attend either Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Assigned staggered start days will be listed in your Kindergarten class placement letters.
Regular pre-k students (Mrs. Dunn's class) will NOT attend these days. Parent conference sessions will be scheduled. More details will be included in your welcome letter.
Inclusive pre-k students- 4 year old's (Mrs. Hall's class) WILL attend school beginning Wednesday August 23rd.
Inclusive pre-k students- 3 year old's, both am and pm (Mrs. Figgatt's class) WILL attend school beginning Wednesday August 23rd.
Monday August 28th- All Kindergarten students will attend together. Normal school schedule begins for all kindergarten students.
Monday August 28th - Tuesday August 29th- Regular pre-k students (Mrs. Dunn's class) will attend staggered start. Half of the class will attend on Monday August 28th and half of the class will attend on Tuesday August 29th. Your assigned day will be included in your welcome letter.
Wednesday August 23rd- All regular pre-k students (Mrs. Dunn's class) will attend together. Normal schedule begins for these pre-k students.
Monday September 4th- Schools and offices closed in honor of Labor Day.
Friday September 22nd- Schools closed 3.5 hours early for Fair Day (dismissal will be at 12:00pm).
Monday September 25th- Schools closed; Yom Kippur.
Information Regarding Breakfast and Lunch 2023-2024
Prices are as follows:
- Breakfast is $1.60
- Lunch is $2.65
- Milk only is $0.60.
FCPS does participate in the National Breakfast and Lunch Program. Through this program, meals are offered to qualifying students at a reduced rate or even for free. For more information about this program, please follow this link:
If you would like your student to be able to purchase breakfast or lunch from school, you an load money onto your students account. See the link below for more information.
FCPS Calendar
Volunteering at MPS or any FCPS school
We love having volunteers in our building to help in various ways. Teachers determine if and when volunteers are needed and share that information with families. If you will be volunteering or have been asked to volunteer, it is important to note that you must complete the FCPS volunteer training.
Volunteering includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:
- Working in the school library
- Hanging art work in the hallways
- Making copies for teachers in the building
- Being a mystery reader in a classroom
- Chaperoning field trips
- Helping inside the classroom
If you would like to volunteer in any capacity you must first complete the volunteer training using the link below. Please note it can take up to 72 hours for processing. As you plan your volunteer time, be sure to leave enough time for your volunteer status to be updated.
You only need to complete this one time each school year. Volunteers will not be permitted if the training has not been completed and forwarded to MPS. Thank you for your cooperation as we continue to keep student and staff safety as our number one priority.
Please click below:
https://fcps-volunteers.ezcommunicator.net/edu/fcps-volunteers/login_form.aspx?app=0
Back to School Open House
- Meet your student's teacher
- See your student's classroom
- Drop off school supplies
- Find your student's locker
- Verify and/or update your student's transportation tag
- Take home FCPS back to school paperwork
- Tour the building, including the cafeteria, gymnasium, media center, and art and music rooms
We will have a bus on site to allow students an opportunity to practice getting on and off. Students love visiting the bus!
We are excited to see students and families soon.
School Supplies List
Transportation
New kindergarten students were asked to note a transportation method when they came for the kindergarten screener.
Pre-k students who qualify for transportation were also asked to notate a transportation method when they were enrolled.
Each student will be provided a lanyard for the first 2-3 weeks of school that will note the identified transportation method. You will be asked to check the lanyard at our Open House on August 21st.
It is imperative that every student wears the lanyard to school every day until collected by school staff. This helps our staff ensure the safety of all students.
Please note the following:
- Bus riders- students will be assigned a bus route for the AM and PM.
- Car riders- families will be given an assigned car rider number at open house or during the first days of school. These assigned car rider numbers must be displayed in your vehicle window in order to ensure a correct match. Each family will receive multiple copies and can provide them to others as you see fit. If a car rider number is not displayed, you will be asked to park and come to the front office to verify your identity.
- Walkers and bike riders- families who are truly walking or bike riding to MPS can choose to mark your student(s) as a walker. Please do not mark your student as a walker if you are planning to drive to MPS, park, and walk up to the front door. If you plan to drive to MPS to pick up your student, you will need to go through our car rider pick up process.
- Please Do Not park in the Fire Station Parking lot as those spots are reserved the emergency responders
- We appreciate everyone's cooperation in following our dismissal procedures.
Welcome new MPS staff and MPS staff in new places!
We are excited to welcome the following staff members to MPS and share new roles for current MPS staff:
- Colleen Dunn- Pre-K teacher (moving from kindergarten)
- Ashly Figgatt- Inclusive pre-k 3 year old teacher (moving from Expressions)
- Hope Cramer- Kindergarten teacher (transfer from Hillcrest)
- Julia Prichard- Kindergarten teacher (moving from pre-k)
- Brooke Stone- 1st grade teacher (transfer from Monocacy)
- Christine Anderson- 1st grade teacher (transfer from North Carolina)
- Jennifer Davis- 2nd grade teacher (transfer from Brunswick)
- Valerie Varner- 2nd grade teacher (transfer from Montgomery County)
- Lindsay Danko- 2nd grade teacher (transfer from North Frederick)
- Janice Barrett- Intervention Teacher (transfer from 1st grade)
- Stacy Bokinsky- Guidance Counselor (transfer from Lewistown)
- Shelley Telemeco- Guidance Counselor (transfer from Washington County)
- Jessica Garruto- Expressions teacher (transfer from Special Ed Resources)
- Jennifer Price- Expressions teacher (transfer from Tennessee)
- Nicole Schildt- Speech and Language Pathologist (transfer from Monocacy)
- Melanie Raynor- Music teacher (transfer from New Market)
- Will Smith- PE teacher (transfer from and shared with Tuscarora)
- Brandon Nicklas- Art teacher (transfer from Baltimore and shared with Yellow Springs)
- Julia Maceikis- Art teacher (transfer from and shared with Monocacy)
- Emily Broderick- Administrative Secretary
- Emily Brohawn- SEIA Inclusive pre-k 3 year-old class
- Sarah Hall- SEIA Inclusive pre-k 3 year-old class
- Missy Vierling- SEIA Inclusive pre-k 3 year-old class (transfer from Expressions)
- Caitlyn Chumas- SEIA Inclusive pre-k 4 year-old class (transfer from SEIA general education)
- Elif Eris- Expressions SEIA
- Mary Shatzer- Expressions SEIA
- Kate Wrzesinski- Expressions SEIA
- Alex Moran- Expressions SEIA (transfer from Learning for Life)
- Kate Hollenbeck- SEIA
- Wrentha Graham- School based IA (transfer from SEIA general education)
Middletown Primary School
Email: sandra.fox@fcps.org
Website: www.fcps.org
Location: 403 Franklin Street, Middletown, MD, USA
Phone: 240-566-0200
Twitter: @PrincipalMPS