I hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday and are now busily preparing for the upcoming winter holidays. It was wonderful to see so many families in November during Parent-Teacher Conferences, the PTA meeting, at the Book Fair, and our Family Reading Night.
On November 5th Ashburton students participated in our first annual ‘Walk for the Homeless’. Students learned many age appropriate facts about homelessness and the importance of being an involved citizen to help stop the homelessness in Montgomery County. Good news - If you ordered a t-shirt it finally arrived. The Fannie Mae Foundation sends their apologies for the back orders on the t-shirts. Thank you for supporting this meaningful event.
We are getting ready to help our third, fourth, and fifth grade students prepare for the Maryland School Assessment (MSA), which will be administered in March 2010. The Maryland State Department of Education uses the test results to determine whether Ashburton meets the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) needed to be satisfactory in meeting the goals of No Child Left Behind. I know that many families plan for vacations and doctors appointments well in advance so I wanted to provide you with the testing windows so you can plan accordingly: MSA testing will be held for grades 3, 4, and 5 from March 8-17. Additionally, MSA Science for Grade 5 only, will be given on May 5-6, 2010. Mark your calendars for TN2 testing for grade 2 on April 26-30, 2010. The LAS LINKS window for all ESOL students, April 6-26; dates for specific grades will be sent at a later time.
Many students have been arriving late to school each day, which has a significant impact on the educational program. School starts at 8:50 a.m. and children are marked late if they enter the classroom after that time. Children miss critical instructions and organization for the day when they come in late. Please make every effort to send children to school on time and plan to keep afternoon appointments to a minimum. Teachers plan instruction until the end of the day. Also, please remember that we follow a ‘Kiss and Say Goodbye’ policy, which means students should be dropped off at the front or back door and proceed to the classroom on
their own. Once students are in the classroom teachers need to have their full attention on students. It is not a time for conferences with the teacher. If you would like to conference with a teacher you can send a note, email, call, or schedule an appointment. We appreciate your cooperation in following these requests to ensure the best possible learning environment for your children.
The office will be closed over Winter Break from December 24 through January 1st. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to seeing you at our many events throughout the month of December.
Sincerely,
Charlene Eroh
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