The Heron

Shout out again to our FSO for showing up at lunch to celebrate our students with September birthdays! Again this year, students' birthdays are celebrated with a visit to the book cart to select a new book. This is always met with much excitement from our students. We hope you enjoy reading these new books with your child!

Huntingtown Elementary School celebrates its 10th year working with Boosterthon for our primary annual fundraiser. The day is here! You can now sign up for our Huntingtown Elementary Fun Run! Our goal is to raise $30,000 for Additional Technology Support. Signing up is easy and free!

We’re only ONE week away from kicking off our Huntingtown Elementary Fun Run fundraiser! We’re looking forward to having fun and building community together to reach our fundraising goals.

Get an overview of our fundraiser by clicking HERE!

Thank you for working with us to make our school stronger. We are grateful for your support!

Please carefully review the HES Open House schedule below. Due to several schedule conflicts, we are adjusting our Open House schedule as noted below. Changes are in bold print.

• September 24th: Grades PK, K, 1, 3 and Grade 4 for Mrs. Gabrielson & Mrs. White's classes only
• September 25th: Grades 2, 5, and Grade 4 for Mrs. Mason & Mrs. Cooper-Oneyear's classes only

Open House is from 5:30 - 6:30 on both evenings. We look forward to seeing you!

Your student will soon be checking out their first school library book of the 2024-2025 school year! For the past few years, the HES Library has lost numerous books due to damage from water bottles leaking/spilling in backpacks. To prevent further damage to our library books, students will be given a clear, plastic drawstring style bag to transport their library books. This “dry bag” will serve as a shield from water bottles should remain in your student’s backpack. When taking library books to and from school, library books should be kept in the dry bag. The dry bag does not need to be brought to the library and should not be removed from your student’s backpack. We are looking forward to a fun and successful year in the HES Library and appreciate your help and cooperation!

September 11th: 2-Hour Early Dismissal

September 12th: FSO Board Meeting, 4:00 PM

September 20th: Boosterthon Fun Run

*September 24th HES Open House from 5:30 – 6:30 for Grades PK, K, 1, 3, & 4 (Mrs. Gabrielson & Mrs. White ONLY) PLEASE NOTE CHANGES DUE TO SCHEDULE CONFLICTS

*September 25th: HES Open House from 5:30 – 6:30 for Grades 2, 5, & 4 (Mrs. Mason & Mrs. Cooper-Oneyear ONLY) PLEASE NOTE CHANGES DUE TO SCHEDULE CONFLICTS

September 27th: Schools Closed for Students and Staff (10 & 11 month)

September 30th: 2-Hour Late Arrival

Each week we rely on a team of volunteers to gather and prepare our Tuesday folders that come home each week. We appreciate that Mrs. Sanford has volunteered to take the lead in coordinating this effort this year. If you would like to help in this endeavor, please email Mrs. van der Heyden (VanDerHeydenA@calvertnet.k12.md.us). She will share your information with Mrs. Sanford. Please remember that you must be an approved volunteer to help with this process.

All volunteers will need to review the volunteer handbook and watch the volunteer training video before completing an Online Volunteer Application, which is found under "forms & applications" on parent tab of the CCPS website. 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 using a laptop or desktop computer.

The student instructional day begins at 8:45 AM. We have a 10-minute student arrival window from 8:35 – 8:45. Buses and car riders will begin unloading at 8:35. If your child is a car rider, please plan to have them to HES within these arrival times so that they may begin their day on time. Arriving prior to 8:45 allows your child to get to their classroom, unpack, check-in, and begin their day with their peers.

The student instructional day ends at 3:30 PM. Again, we have a 10-minute dismissal window which begins at 3:30 and ends at 3:40. Separate information will follow regarding our procedures for car riders in the afternoon. All students must be dismissed by 3:40 PM.

If you plan to drop your child(ren) off by car during our arrival window, please review the attached traffic pattern for student arrival before the first day of school. We have designated bus only and car only lanes as you enter the school lot. To minimize traffic build up on Huntingtown Road which creates a traffic hazard, two lanes of waiting cars are created in the back row of our parking lot, as indicated on the graphic. Alternate merge as you drive around the corner and drive along the curb to drop your children off at the sidewalk near the school. Students should exit the vehicle on the passenger side. To keep our car rider line moving, all adults should remain in their vehicles.

If your child needs assistance exiting, please park and walk your child to the entrance. When a parent or guardian has to get out of their vehicle to assist a child in getting out of their car seat, it delays our ability to unload cars in a timely manner and has resulted in students arriving late to school. We appreciate your cooperation with this expectation.

Please review the traffic pattern to familiarize yourself with the expectations.

Please follow these procedures when picking up your child(ren) each day:

• Complete a Daily Car Rider form, available during student sign-out in the cafeteria.
• Park in any available spot in the parking lot, or in the overflow grass lot adjacent to the ball field. Entrance to this lot is just beyond HES. Parking on the hill between HES and Sleepy Hollow Daycare is not permitted.
• Make sure you have an ID to sign out your child before entering HES, as it will be requested.
• Enter HES using the back door to the school cafeteria. This door will open at 3:20. IF, you need to sign your child out prior to 3:20 (i.e. early dismissal) use the main office. After 3:20, students must be signed-out in the cafeteria.
• Staff will greet you in the cafeteria to assist with student sign-out. Students will be called to the cafeteria for dismissal at 3:30.
• Parents must follow the direction of staff in the parking as you exit to ensure our buses can enter and exit HES in a safe and expedient manner.

• Students may only bring their cell phone/smartwatch with a signed CCPS Elementary Student Cell Phone/Smartwatch Registration Form on file at the school.
• Registered cell phones/smartwatches must remain completely powered off (not on vibrate or silent mode) and inside the student’s book bag, locker or cubby throughout the entirety of each school day, unless other storage arrangements are made with the teacher.
• Once approved for school, students may use their cell phone/smartwatch on the bus or school-chartered vehicle, but use must not be disruptive or cause a distraction to the driver at any time. Sound must only be audible through headphones. Phone conversations are prohibited.

A variety of flyers are available that include activities and opportunities for our CCPS families. These flyers are accessible on the CCPS website, and a link is provided above, by clicking on the title, "Community Events".

This past summer, the CCPS elementary principals collectively worked to create an Elementary Parent Handbook. This handbook is a resource that provides a variety of information related to school practices and policies. This does not replace the CCPS Code of Student Conduct, which is available electronically on the CCPS website. The complete handbook is accessible below, but be aware of a few changes:

• While we recognize some parents might like to visit and have lunch with their child at school, we will no longer continue this practice. The lunch period is a part of our students’ school day where they learn and practice a variety of social skills. This time provides them an opportunity to build their independence and confidence in initiating and engaging in conversations with their peers. We appreciate your understanding.
• We are also making a change in our birthday celebrations at school. Due to an increase in food allergies, we will no longer accept food items (i.e. cupcakes, cookies, etc.) to celebrate birthdays at school. If you choose to send in something to celebrate your child’s birthday at school, consider non-food items such as fidgets, pencils, stickers, donating a book to the classroom library, a classroom game for indoor recess, etc.