White Marsh Elementary School

It's another busy week at White Marsh! This week is Bus Driver Appreciation Week. We are so thankful for amazing bus drivers here at WMES! Also this week, we will have a Mobile Aquatic Science Lab visiting our school. Students will have an opportunity to visit the lab for a variety of Science related lessons!

Only a handful of parents have completed the Impact Aid Forms and Emergency Information. Please see the information below; this should be completed by all families by November 14. Teachers and staff may reach out to you to ask that this be completed. You may access the forms through Home Access Center (HAC). Please reach out to the Main Office if you need assistance with your HAC login and password.

Tuesday is Fall Picture Day. Please see the information below regarding picture purchases.

Wednesday is the start of our Book Fair! This is one of our favorite activities, because the Bears love to read! Also on Wednesday is Unity Day. This is a nationwide recognition day where students are encouraged to unite for kindness, acceptance and inclusion, and stand against bullying. Students are encouraged to wear the color orange on Wednesday. A reminder that there is NO Running Club on Wednesday; Running Club will resume next week on October 25.

Thursday features the return of DJ Pink at our School Dance! Almost half of our student population has turned in a form to stay for the dance. A reminder that students should be picked up promptly at 4:30; you will need to have a photo ID.

Friday is a 2 hr. Early Dismissal Day. (It is not a virtual day; students should come to school on Friday.) WMES will dismiss at 1:45 on Friday.

Have a great week!

It is Bus Driver Appreciation Week! We have some of the best drivers in SMCPS! Please take a minute to thank them for getting our Bears to and from school safely every day!

Our schools are heavily impacted by federally connected students – those parents/guardians who work on federal property in Maryland, live on federal property in Maryland, and/or are active duty military personnel. Because of this impact, we receive federal grant funds to operate and maintain our schools and enrich school programs. To receive these funds, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) requires us to survey each student to determine eligibility. SMCPS is encouraging all parents/guardians to please take the time to access and complete the Impact Aid Survey Form online, located in the Home Access Center (HAC). Once logged in, directions to access the online form can be found HERE. A video with instructions is available HERE. The form can now be accessed in Spanish by clicking on the Globe in the top right-hand corner once the form has been started. The deadline for the online submission of Impact Aid Program Survey forms is November 14, 2023.

Online Emergency Information Update Forms are now available through the student’s Home Access Center (HAC). Once logged in, directions to access the online form can be found HERE. A video with instructions is available HERE. It is vital that all information is updated in eSchool. The deadline for the online submission of Emergency Information Update forms is November 14, 2023

The week of October 23 - 27 is Red Ribbon Week. See below for the themes of our Spirit Week!

Band and Strings students are asked to bring their instruments to school every Wednesday! Sincerely, Mr. Guy

Oct 23 - 27 Red Ribbon Week- Theme Week!

Oct 23 - 25 Book Fair

Oct 24 PTA Boo Thru 5 - 6:30 pm

Oct 25 Last Day of Book Fair

Oct 25 Running Club

Oct 27 2 hr Early Dismissal

Nov 1 Running Club

Nov 1 PTA Meeting, 6:30 pm

Nov 6 Food Drive Begins

Nov 6 WMES Site Based Volunteer Training, 9:30 am

Nov 7 Report Card Distribution

Nov 8 Running Club- Last Day!

In order to volunteer and/or chaperone at WMES you must do the following annually:

1) register to be a SMCPS volunteer

2) attend a WMES Site Based Volunteer Training.

The SMCPS Volunteer information can be found on the WMES Family Links document, and the next WMES Site Based Volunteer Training can be found on the WMES website by accessing the calendar.

St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) is requesting your permission for your student to use the Internet and other computer resources in school. It is important that you and your student review this information. Click here to access The Acceptable Use Agreement.

Please remember that our school day begins at 9 am and ends at 3:45 pm. Early sign-outs and late arrivals contribute to missed instruction. In addition, students need to be present all day, every day, in order to participate in the Bear Crawl each month. Please support the importance of the academic day by only having your student miss school when absolutely necessary.

I (Principal Steele) had the privilege of meeting with all students recently. We talked about expectations for school, and our school rules: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Ready to Learn. We also talked about the reasons we were called the Strong and Mighty Bears, and that it takes hard work to earn that title. Another important component of our discussion was student attendance. They learned that one missed day of school equals about 7 hours of instructional time lost. They were able to calculate that just missing 2 days per month it would add up to about 20 days or 140 hours of missed instruction! WMES is working to address our chronically absent (missing 10% or more of instructional days) population. Thank you for your support!

Be looking for a paper version of the WMES Family Handbook to come home the first week of school. In addition, we have created this electronic version of the WMES Family Handbook for you to view. It has important information about school policies and practices, including Volunteer Information, Breakfast and Lunches, School Celebrations, and more!

We have created a document for families with links to important system and school information. Check out this link and be sure to bookmark it! We will update it periodically so that you can have quick access to needed information.

If you would like to chaperone or volunteer in any way, you must be an approved SMCPS volunteer. You must re-apply every year. In addition, WMES requires all volunteers to participate in a Volunteer Training each year prior to working with students. Once scheduled, those trainings are on the WMES School Calendar. Trainings last approximately 20 - 30 minutes.

For our new families, and reminders for our returning families-

There are lots of ways we will communicate with you. Once school begins, you should receive a weekly email with the WMES Smore Newsletter for the week. (It will come on Sunday evenings; contact the Main Office if you don't receive the newsletter.) Be sure to review it every week; it is kept up to date with important information for you and your student. We also communicate via Twitter, and our PTA has a facebook page. If you have not elected to receive texts from SMCPS, please do so! This is our fastest way to communicate in the event of a delayed bus, or other important information. Finally, our teachers also have a variety of ways to communicate with our families; you will receive more information the first week of school.

• Student Laptops and Chargers

• Accountability Newsletter

• Print and Resource Accountability for SMCPS Students

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.

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.

Julia Steele, Principal

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