White Marsh Elementary School

We had a great first week back- the Bears returned with a bang! They are working hard, and continue to show a Strong and Mighty work ethic!

This week will be a full week of school. Tuesday is our very first Dress for Success Day! See more information below! Our Joe Corbi's Fundraiser continues this week. Students should have received the flyer last week in Wednesday folders. A reminder that all orders should be submitted online, and the last day for orders is January 20. At this time, the delivery date is set for Feb 6. More information will follow, but orders will need to be picked up that afternoon between 4 - 6 pm.

It's hard to believe, but we are almost at the mid-point of the school year! The second marking period ends on January 27, 2023. Please make sure your student does not have any missing assignments.

Before Winter Break, some of our 4th grade Bears expressed interest in having a day where they "Dressed for Success"! Rather than just limit this to one group of students, we decided that it would be fun to invite the entire school to participate! Some studies have shown that students dressing in a professional attire at school performed better academically! Therefore, we invite our students to dress up a bit on these days. It is entirely optional! Please note- this is not meant as a costume day; dressing up may include a suit and tie, dresses, and fancy shoes.

Some of our staff will Dress for Success on these days, too. We can't wait to see our Bears even more Ready to Learn, Respectful, and Responsible!

The first Dress for Success Day is Tuesday- January 10. This week! We are excited for this! If you want to mark your calendars, future Dress For Success Days are:

February 7

March 14

April 18

May 16

The weather is getting colder! Please be sure that students come to school dressed appropriately especially with a coat for outside. Recess is 30 minutes, and we want our students to be dressed for the weather.

Please consider joining the PTA; the membership form is here.

Jan 16 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; Schools Closed

Jan 27 Professional Day, No School for Students

Jan 27 End of 2nd Marking Period

Feb 7 Dress for Success Day!

Feb 7 PTA Meeting, 6:30 pm

Feb 7 Report Cards Distributed

Feb 6-10 PTA Pencil Grams Sale

Feb 10 2 hr. Early Dismissal

One of the goals in the SY 22-23 WMES School Improvement Plan is attendance. Parents can view student attendance at any time by accessing the Home Access Center. You will need your logon and password to access HAC. Please contact the Main Office if you need this information.

Absences can be reported with a note sent in to the Main Office, or by clicking the link on our website. Please refer to the SMCPS Student Handbook for more information about Attendance.

In an effort to communicate with parents and keep you informed about student absences, we send home letters every marking period to those students with 5 or more absences. We understand that a variety of illnesses continue to surround us, and appreciate your communication with Nurse Parrish, teachers, and the Main Office about your children's health.

Band and Strings Rehearsal Schedule:

A Week: Wednesday and Friday

B Week: Wednesday and Thursday

A reminder that all Volunteers (including Field Trip Chaperones) must be approved through SMCPS. Beginning this year, this will be an annual requirement. At WMES, those volunteers being asked to support students and teachers in the building will be required to complete a site based training session.

Any volunteer with an interest in supporting classroom activities, Field Day, Book Fair, copying/laminating for teachers must attend the WMES Volunteer Training Session prior to working with students. Please note- participation in the Training Session does not ensure that you will be needed to support an individual classroom. Teachers will reach out to you if school based volunteers are needed.

Future training dates are less than 30 minutes long, and have been added to the WMES event calendar.

ALL students in SMCPS must have a completed Acceptable Use Agreement on file for School Year 2022-2023.

Elementary (PreK-5th) Link: https://bit.ly/22022-2023_Elementary_AUPForm

From the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE)-

Chronic Absenteeism: Students are chronically absent when absent 10% or more of the school days while enrolled at that school. For example, a student who is registered to attend a school for 30 days and who is absent 3 of those 30 days is considered chronically absent.

WMES will follow up with chronically absent students through the Pupil Services Team, Pupil Personnel Worker, and the Department of Student Services. In order to reduce the number of our students with Chronic Absenteeism, incentives to encourage good attendance include participation in the Bear Crawl, Running Club, and School Dance.

Schoology New Parent/Guardian Provisioning: New Schoology parent/guardian accounts will be created in the coming weeks. We hope to have accounts created and parents/guardians connected to their students in Schoology by Friday, September 2nd. Parents that have difficulty accessing their pre-existing accounts should contact schoology@smcps.org and include the student name and ID number for troubleshooting.

Student Resource Accountability: Students are responsible for the care and upkeep of all of their SMCPS assigned resources: print and technology. The student accountability document is also linked in this SMORE.

SMCPS Text Alerts are a great way to get information quickly. They are not sent often, and usually only in the event of an unexpected school delay or closure. On occasion, WMES will send a text alert about a late bus, substitute bus, or school event. Click the link for information about registering for text alerts.

Email: jwsteele@smcps.org
Website: schools.smcps.org/wmes
Location: 29090 Thompson Corner Road, Mechanicsville, MD, USA
Phone: (301)472-4600
Twitter: @wmes_smpcs