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| 2534 Lindley Terrace Rockville, MD 20850 |
Mrs. Robin L. Malcotti, Principal Ms. Nora Jones, Assistant Principal |
Phone (301) 279-8465 Absence Line (301) 279-8545 |
| Fax (301) 279-8545 |
November, 2008 |
Emergency Weather Line (301) 279-3673 |
Calendar of Events
NOVEMBER
5 PTA Meeting— 7 PM
11-12 EARLY Release Day -
- 12:30 DISMISSAL TIME K–8 Parent Teacher Conferences
17 9:15 am 3 – 5 Singer/Songwriter Vistor
10:15 K – 2 Singer/Songwriter Vistor
20 2nd Grade F/T Strathmore Concert
26 EARLY Release Day -
- 12:30 DISMISSAL TIME
27/28 NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING
DECEMBER
2 PTA Meeting – 7pm
4 Lifetouch – Picture Retakes
8–12 SPIRIT WEEK
12 1ST GRADE F/T - Baltimore Aquarium
16 Winter Music Concert 7pm
18 Snow Date - Winter Music Concert 7pm
19 5th Grade FT – In house / Engineer robots
22 3rd Grade Mad Science – Good Vibrations
24-25 NO SCHOOL – Christmas
26 – Jan 5 NO SCHOOL – Winter Break
Dear Lakewood Families and Friends,
As we approach the end of Quarter 1, we want to congratulate all of our students on a job well done! Thank you for all your support and efforts in making our Halloween festivities such a fun and exciting event for our students. Here are a few friendly reminders to keep in mind as we begin Quarter 2………..
At Lakewood Elementary School we are concerned about the large number of students coming into school after the last bell. Lines of 30-40 chronically tardy students each morning are unacceptable. School begins at 8:50 a.m. Any student arriving after 8:50 a.m. is late and must sign in at the office. Please make every effort to get your child to school on time. If you live in a neighborhood served by an MCPS bus, please consider putting your child on the bus in the morning, thus ensuring their prompt arrival.
We thoroughly appreciate all of the parents who volunteer in our classrooms and building helping make each day more wonderful for our children! I do ask that parents who are volunteering for one teacher to resist the urge to pop into other classrooms to visit their other children. Parents are always welcome to help out in classes, but we ask that you schedule your time with us in advance. When the flow of the classroom is interrupted it can be difficult for the children to get back on track. Also, should you need to chat with a teacher about your child, I ask that you make an advance appointment rather than trying to catch the teacher before or after school. In order for the teacher to give you his/her full attention and for him/her to have your child’s needs at the center of his/her thinking, arrangements in advance work best!
Mrs. Robin L. Malcotti, Principal
Gallery Talk: Art News - All Lakewood students go to the art room once a week for 45 minutes. Please make sure that your child dresses appropriately on his/her art day, with clothes that are okay to get painted or messy. We want the art room to remain a haven for creativity and adventures in art, not a place where students have to worry about keeping their clothes clean!
Current creative projects across the art curriculum:
- K: Kindergarten students have been studying the basics of line, shape and form.
- 1st grade has been working on painting the seasons, by the end of the year, they will have painted a portfolio of season landscapes.
- 2nd grade has studied organic verses geometric shapes. They cut and glued shapes into patterns similar to those found in patchwork quilts.
- 3rd grade has been weaving, studying the master weavers of the Navajo tradition.
- 4th grade began “carving” American Hero figures out of cardboard, inspired by the Hopi tradition of carving Kachina figures out of wood to teach their youngsters about the Hopi spirit world.
- 5th grade has been using clay to sculpt storytellers, inspired by Pueblo artist, Helen Cordero.
I thank all the parents who helped volunteer in the art room already this year. I am going to need help putting up and taking down the 4th and 5th grade art show the week of January 20, 2009. If you are interested in helping please contact me at Lakewood.
Jill McCowan
Art Teachers
What’s Happening in ESOL?
We’ve had a great beginning of the year, and are looking forward to an even better second quarter! Please check out the Lakewood ESOL website to have an idea of what your child will be working on in ESOL this quarter. You can access the website by going to the Lakewood Elementary website and clicking on “Staff List” and “ESOL.” Our user name is LakewoodES and the password is esol. Be sure to look at the Montgomery County Public School ESOL webpage also at http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/esol/index.shtm. It offers a lot of valuable information, some of it translated into Chinese, Spanish, Korean, French and Vietnamese. Look for the link to Quick Notes at http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/quicknotes/welcome/english/ which offers translations on more information helpful to parents. As always, please let us know if we can help you or your child in any way.
Have a great month!
Michelle Fishman
Mary Beth Foster
ESOL Teachers at Lakewood
EAGLES’ EATERY - For nutritional and allergens information on our cafeteria menu, please log on to www.mcps.k12.md.us/ then click on the tab “For Parents.” Then find Menus, on the left hand of the page find Menu Information, click Nutrition and Allergy Information.
Parents, please remember to include your child’s birth name (no nicknames) and lunch pin number, (NOT SCHOOL ID#). Please make your checks out to Lakewood Cafeteria and write your child’s complete name and Cafeteria SNAP account on the memo line of your check.
LUNCH MONEY ONLINE— “myLunchMoney.com” is a new service to make prepayments to the cafeteria account that is secure, private and convenient. Simply go to www.myLunchMoney.com to enroll and start using the site to deposit funds into your child’s café account. Once your account is established, you can check balances and fund the account anytime from your computer. Your child’s information is safe and personal and payment card information is protected by the most advanced Internet security. There is a $1.95 convenience fee per transaction. Using myLunchMoney.com is optional for families interested in this service. Should this not be for you, you can still send checks or cash to the school.
PTA CORNER
Please log onto the Lakewood PTA website, www.lakewoodpta.org for updated news and information. In an effort to conserve paper, our newsletters will include messages from the principal and the PTA.
Playground Volunteers Needed
As the 2008-09 school year begins, Lakewood is searching for parent volunteers during the school recess period from 12-1:45 PM on Monday thru Friday.
Attendance Procedures for the 2008-2009 School Year
Tardies: Tardies were a problem for many students last year. It is very disruptive when students come into the building late. We would like to remind parents of procedures to follow when your child arrives late to school. Please do not drop off your child after 8:50 a.m. All children must be signed in at the office by a parent after the second bell rings at 8:50 a.m. Your child will receive a pass allowing them into class. No child will be allowed to enter a classroom without a pass from the office. Thank you for your assistance. We hope to eliminate unnecessary tardies this year.
Attendance Rules: The Maryland State Department of Education has updated their rules on student attendance. The new rules are as follows:
Students will be recorded as a.m. absent, if they arrive at school more than two hours late
Students will be recorded as p.m. absent if they leave school more than two hours early
Students will be recorded as either a.m. absent or p.m. absent, if they are absent from school for more than two hours but less than four hours during the school day
Students will be recorded as full-day absent, if they are present for less than two hours of the school day
Students will be recorded as full-day present, if they are present for less than two hours of the school day
Absences: If your child is going to be absent, please remember to call the absence line (301) 279-8545. If the office is not notified the day of the absence, your child will be marked unexcused. Parents are expected to follow-up each absence with a note to the teacher concerning the reason and date(s) of the absence. All absences longer than three (3) school days require a doctor's note on the first day back in school. Please do not call the school for homework if your child has been out less than three days. All students will be allowed extra time to make up missed work.
Early Dismissal: Parents wishing to take their child from school before the 3:05 p.m. dismissal time must come into the office and sign their child out. Students will only be called down after the parent has arrived. Please do not call the office from your car and ask us to call students in advance. No students will be dismissed between 2:45 – 3:05 P.M.
HALF—DAY EARLY RELEASE: Dismissal time for Early Release Days are at 12:35 PM.
OFFICE PROCEDURES
Parents wishing to volunteer, or visit in a classroom must arrange time with the teacher in advance. Please sign in at the office and take a “Visitors/Volunteer” sticker before going to classrooms.
Non-custodial parents wishing to receive copies of all Wednesday flyers must send a written note to the office with your name and address, your child’s name, and your child’s teacher.
Bus Riding — Our bus drivers have asked that if your child is riding home on the bus with a friend, please bring a note from home for the driver. Some children forget to bring a note and some give it to their teachers, but the bus drivers have told us that without a note, they will not allow friends to ride. Please remember to send a note and to mention to your child that it should be shown to the teacher but given to the driver. Thanks!
Safety Drills – Each year schools are required to practice two Code Blue drills and two Code Red drills. One of the practice drills can be a combination of both Code Blue and Code Red. In addition to these drills, we will be also practicing the Code Blue variation, Shelter in Place. A Code Blue drill is used in weather related or other emergencies requiring students to be in their classrooms under direct supervision. The Shelter in Place drill will be used whenever we need to move the children from their classrooms or if the children are required to remain in the school for a period of time following dismissal. The Shelter in Place is generally used in the event of weather emergencies. The Code Red drill is used to protect again “stranger danger.” This month we had our first “Code” drills. The teacher has discussed these drills with the students.
WINTER WEATHER ALERT!!!!
MCPS INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURES:
Winter weather emergencies, such as snow and ice, may cause disruptions in school operations, including the closure of school, a delayed opening, or an early dismissal. The information below provides procedures used when such disruptions occur. Information also is provided about the weather contingency plan that would add student instructional days to the end of the scheduled school year if schools are closed for more than four days due to excessive weather emergencies.
Closure of School
When schools are closed system-wide, all instructional programs and extracurricular activities in schools are canceled. Private day care providers in school buildings (i.e. KidsCo) may elect to stay open if the schools are closed but the administrative offices are open. In extreme conditions, administrative offices also may be closed.
Delayed Opening
A delayed opening means that schools open two hours later than scheduled. For Little Bennett Elementary, this is 10:50 a.m. All buses operate on the same delayed schedule and, therefore, the pick-up times are two hours later than normal. When elementary schools open on a delayed schedule, the following programs are canceled: Head Start, pre-kindergarten, and other specialized programs or field trips scheduled before 12:00 noon. Parents should continue to check for radio, television, or Web announcements in the event a decision to delay the opening of schools is reconsidered and a decision to close schools for the day is made at 7:00 a.m.
Early Dismissal
An early dismissal means that schools will close 2.5 hours earlier than scheduled. For Little Bennett Elementary School, the early dismissal time is 12:35 p.m. All buses operate on that same early schedule and, therefore, drop-off times are 2.5 hours earlier than normal. When elementary schools close early, Head Start, pre-kindergarten, and other early childhood programs are canceled, as well as any special programs or field trips scheduled after 12:00 noon.
Public Announcements
Information about school operations is announced publicly as soon as possible on area radio and television stations, Cable Channel 60, County Cable Channel 6 or Cable Channel 34—MCPS TV, Outlook, on the Internet at www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org or at Schools-Out.Com, and on a taped telephone message service at 301-279-3673. Emergency e-mail announcements are available by signing up for MCPS Quick Notes on the school system’s home page. If schools are closed or delayed, the announcement is made no later than 6:00 a.m. (or the night before if possible). If schools are closing early, the announcements are made by 11:00 a.m.
Emergency Weather Contingency Plan
An emergency weather contingency plan will add student instructional days to the end of the scheduled school year if schools are closed more than four days because of weather emergencies. The planned school year for students ends on June 14, 2007. However, if schools are closed for more than four days due to weather emergencies, the following schedule would extend the school year in order to add the necessary make-up days:
Weather Conditions and Decisions
The school system uses a variety of sources of information to determine whether to close schools, delay the opening of schools, or dismiss schools early. These sources include actual physical inspection of road and school conditions by transportation officials and other staff at areas throughout the county, and an analysis of independent reports from the National Weather Service and the news media. The most severe weather conditions within the county are used as the basis for decision-making. Consistent procedures are maintained in order to respond quickly to emergency weather conditions and protect the safety and well being of students. All public schools within Montgomery County adhere to the same schedule concerning emergency weather conditions. The decision to change school operations is made by the superintendent of schools or his designee and affects all schools within the school system.
Questions? Contact the main office 301 279-8465
Together We Make a Difference!
