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Important PPES Information:

Piney Point families,

PPES has several field trips scheduled in the upcoming weeks. Please remember that all chaperones must be approved SMCPS volunteers. The SMCPS volunteer application must be completed each year.

Spotlight on Special Education: There are so many fantastic things happening in our efforts to support SMCPS students with disabilities. Please use this survey to share your praise, story, or news about successes in your school

Be sure to review this entire newsletter each week as it will provide you with valuable resources and information.

~Mrs. Zeier

Math Updates:

Need a way to get your child more excited about building math skills at home? A deck of playing cards might just be the answer. These types of math card games work for little ones and older kids alike, Playing games provide opportunities to build social skills and as well as practice basic fact fluency. Try a few!

For our primary students (K-2)

Match to Make Eleven - Lay out three rows of three cards each, face up. Then check to see if you can find any two cards that add up to eleven. If so, remove those cards and set aside. Replace them with new cards from the deck. Continue until you run out of cards or cannot make any more matches.

Flip and Add one or Subtract One - There are a few versions of this basic addition and subtraction game. Start with add one or subtract one: Remove the face cards from the deck. Flip a card. If it’s red, add one and say the sum out loud. If it’s black, subtract one and say the difference out loud. Get the amount correct? You get to keep the cards! You can increase the difficulty of each group by changing the amount you add/subtract. Try 5s and 10s as well.

For our intermediate students (3-5)

Turnover and multiply: This game works best in pairs. One person flips two cards from the deck. The first person to multiply (or add, depending on what you want to practice) values correctly and call out the answer wins and takes both cards. Play continues until all the cards are gone, and the winner is the one with the most cards. See example below: 7 x 4 = 28 (7 + 4 = 11)

Declare a Fraction War - War is one of the original math card games, but this version adds a fraction aspect. Players deal two cards, a numerator and denominator, then determine whose fraction is the largest. The winner keeps all four cards, and play continues until the cards are gone.

Parent Cheat Sheets for Math

They didn't do it that way when I was in school! Yes, you are correct. But parents do not stress! We have some help for you. Click on your student's grade level for a guide how you can help at home with your child's math. Math is math, we just teach it a little differently. These guides are here to help you and make night time easier!

Free Math App for parents with visual models you can you click here!

WatchDOGS are fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other father-figures who volunteer for at least one day each year at an official WATCH D.O.G.S.® school. During the day, WatchDOGS may read and work on ﬂash cards with students, play at recess, eat lunch with students, watch the school entrances and hallways, assist with traﬃc ﬂow and any other assigned activities where they actively engage with not only their own students, but other students as well. Many school principals have reported that the mere presence of a WatchDOG dramatically reduces reports of bullying. On the day of their participation, WatchDOGS are given a brief review of their involvement and they wear an official WATCH D.O.G.S. t-shirt with a disposable ‘Dog Tag’ identifying them as WatchDOGS. If you are interested in participating in the WatchD.O.G.S program at Piney Point, please complete the information form below. We will be having a meeting soon to discuss the program and get people registered!

Vacations and other out of town travel are not considered excused absences.

If your family does take a vacation or travel out of town for more than 3 days, while school is in session, we will be able to excuse the absences if your student(s) completes one or more of the activities listed below. The completed activity should be turned in to the office upon the student’s return to school to update the absences to lawful.

Student journal/log
Collection of site brochures with student notes of “I learned…”, “I wonder…”
Student created poster project – showing the learning that occurred on the tri
Student created trifold “advertisement” of visited location

Please note, St. Mary’s County Public Schools encourage parents not to remove students from school for long periods during the school year. Every day of school-based instruction is considered essential for the academic wellbeing of your child.

Our mum fundraiser ends soon! See the pictures from last year- these mums are huge!

Cost: $10 per plant

Colors: There will be an assortment of colors to choose from on pick-up day: yellow, orange, purple, burgandy or white.

Pick up: At PPES on Monday, October 2nd from 4:30- 6:30pm or Tuesday, October 3rd from 4:30-6:30pm

There are three different ways to order:

Send in paper order form to school (cash, check, or Venmo). You can also email this form to piney.point.pta@gmail.com.

Click here to fill out this Google form (and to pay with cash, check, or Venmo): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCVa6yUWsNrDVt7YJQB5HkhoSOWvfNiBajT2vZVRYOQRKP-A/viewform

Click here to pay with a credit card:

https://pineypoint.memberhub.com/store/items/925538?fbclid=IwAR2xiEyU4jH4w7qQMqDG9XKfjTShi9jqcIc_K0cY6HMFANBZxqK3OQWAXO4

Join the PTA

It's time to renew your PTA membership dues!

2023-2024 Membership/Dues Cost: $20

Dues payment link:

https://pineypoint.memberhub.com/

Why join the PTA?

- Your membership dues help us achieve our goals of helping students, teachers, and staff.

-You will receive school updates. Signing up will keep you in the loop with what’s going on at PPES.

-Signing up to join the PTA is not a commitment. We won't force you to volunteer- but we do appreciate all the help we can get! If you join there are also no meetings to attend.

Thank you for your support!

-The grade with the most membership sign ups gets a FREE PIZZA PARTY!

As we plan our return to school for the 2023-2024 school year now is a great time to find your laptop and charger. Please run all of the updates and make sure that it is working order. Chargers are to remain at home.

All SMCPS laptops come with the same responsibility of care and upkeep as any other loaned resources. Textbooks, novels, laptops and chargers can incur a debt if lost or damaged. Please refer to the student accountability newsletter that has been added to our weekly school newsletters.

Birthday Treats

Birthday treats present the potential for allergic reactions for many of our students. They also interrupt instruction. However, we understand that some students enjoy celebrating their birthday with their friends at school. Because of all of these factors, birthday treats may NOT be edible. Gift bags with stickers, pencils, crayons, erasers, and/or other small toys are acceptable. They can also be shared at recess or the end of the day which doesn’t compromise instructional time. Parents who wish to provide birthday treats to a class are asked to notify the homeroom teacher in advance and to drop them off in the front office as early as possible.

Welcome to Piney Point Elementary School!

My name is Ms. Pelton and I am your new school counselor this year. While this is my first year at Piney Point, this will be my fourth year as a school counselor. I am so excited to get to know you and your students!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. The best way to reach me is to email me at klpelton@smcps.org.

Looking forward to a great year!

Ms. Pelton

Please see the attachment and link for more information on the drive-thru flu vaccine for St. Mary's County community members.

Drive-Thru Flu Vaccine for St. Mary’s County Community Members

Vision and hearing screenings will start at the end of September. Maryland law requires all new students and first grade students to be screened. Once the screening is completed you will receive a notification. If your child does not pass the screening you will get a phone call from Nurse Erica.

Please click the link below for information regarding your child's bus number, bus stop location, and pick-up and drop-off times. If you have specific questions regarding bus transportation, please call the Department of Transportation at (301)-475-4256.

For all parents of PreKindergarten and Kindergarten students: An adult must be present at the bus stop when students are being picked up or dropped off. If an adult associated with a PreKindergarten or Kindergarten student is not present at the bus stop at the end of the school day, the bus driver will return the student to the school and the parents will be contacted to come to the school to pick up the student.

SMCPS Calendar Updates

The Board of Education and MSDE have approved the amended 2023-2024 SMCPS Calendar. The new calendar is posted online at www.smcps.org/calendar

The Amended calendar included two virtual instruction days:

Monday, October 9: Asynchronous day: parent conferences/ early dismissal
Friday, March 22: Synchronous day: End of 3rd Marking period/ early dismissal

In addition, due to the change in the Primary Election Day, May 14 is a required school holiday. There will be no school for students on May 14. May 14 will remain a staff duty day. Telework options may be offered as a result of school site use as polling locations.

As a result of the required school holiday, the last day of school will be moved and June 13 will be the last day of school for students. Students will have a two-hour early dismissal on June 12 and 13.

Schoology

Schoology is a very helpful tool and resource for teachers, students, and families. Please ensure that you are able to access Schoology for updates and information from the school and your child's teacher. If you need support in obtaining your Schoology log in information please email schoology@smcps.org for support. Please click Parent Notifications for directions to ensure your notifications are set to receive important information about your student.

Log Into the Schoology Mobile App

If you already have a Schoology account, download the Schoology app from Apple App Store, Google Play or the Amazon App Store. Tap the app icon to open it on your device.

You can use an email address or username to log into the application, depending on how your account was set up:

Log in through your School

Use the keyboard to enter SMCPS. As you type, matching choices populate in the list. The name, ID number, city, state, and zip code for the school should appear below.
Tap the name of your school or organization when it displays.
Use the email address or username to log in to the application, that was sent to you via email from Schoology with an app password. If you are an SMCPS student or teacher this is NOT your SMCPS password.
Tap LOG IN to complete.

If you are able to sign in with Google, and you are an SMCPS student or staff, please use that login process and follow the provided instructions in the prompts.

Want to enable notifications? Please check this document

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