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August 2008
Dear
Stone Mill Parents:
It’s hard to believe we are ready to begin another school
year! The Building Services Staff has
worked hard on the building, and it is beautiful! The school has been cleaned and buffed and
is ready for you to come back. J
Getting ready for a new school year is so exciting! Plans are underway for an academically
challenging and socially enriching experience for each and every one of our
students. We will continue to support
the children in working to their full potential during class, lunch, and
recess through our emphasis on the Stone Mill Expectations and through the
Pillars of Character in our Character Counts! Program. All members of the staff at Stone Mill
will be working closely with the children to assist them in becoming
exemplary students and citizens.
I look forward to seeing all of you again and meeting the
new members of our community.
The entire staff is looking forward to a wonderful year of
working in partnership with you. We
encourage all parents to take an active role in the school and to communicate
regularly with the staff at Stone Mill.
We will still be using our wonderful, automated, phone communication
system where we call families about important events at Stone Mill. So, if you get a recorded message from
Stone Mill, please stay on the line to hear the updates. J
After a short greeting from our Assistant Principal, Joyce
Budman, important informational items about the
opening and operation of school for the upcoming year will follow. Please read carefully as there have been
changes made since last year. Should
you have any questions, please contact the office at (301) 279-4975.
Sincerely,
Kimberly A. Williams
Principal
Dear Stone
Mill Elementary
School Family,
I am so excited to continue as a part of the learning
community at Stone
Mill Elementary
School!
Stone Mill is a very special place, and I am so glad to be here for
another wonderful year. I know that
this year will bring great learning and much enjoyment to our children. I look forward to seeing the children
striving each day to meet and exceed their goals.
Sincerely,
Joyce P. Budman
Assistant Principal
OPEN HOUSE ON MONDAY,
AUGUST 25, 2008
The
annual Open House for K – 5 students and parents will be on Monday, August 25, 2008 from 2:00 –3:00
p.m.
Grade K-5 students 2:00 – 3:00 P.M.
AM PreK (PEP) 1:45 – 2:15 P.M.
PM PreK (PEP) 2:30 – 3:00 P.M.
The Open
House is a time for students to see the school, meet their teachers, find
their new classrooms, and meet some of their classmates. Teachers will be available to greet
students, but will not be discussing programs. A formal presentation on curriculum for all
classes will occur at our Back-to-School
Night, Tuesday, September 2, 2008, at 7:00 P.M. immediately following the PTA
meeting at 6:30. (The PTA meeting
will be in the All-Purpose Room and the classroom presentations in the
individual classrooms). The grade
PreK-2 presentations will be from 7:00-7:45 and the grade 3-5 presentations
will be from 7:50-8:30.
KINDERGARTEN PARENT
INFORMATION MEETING-Monday, Aug. 25th
We will be holding a short (11:30-12:00)
informational parent meeting for parents new to Kindergarten. We will be discussing name tags, first week
information, etc. and children do not need to attend.
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) require
that parents of children who have been accepted as part of the Early Entrance
to Kindergarten attend an additional meeting to learn the expectations for
the year. Please plan to stay an additional
15 minutes (12:00-12:15) with our Kindergarten Teachers.
CLASS ASSIGNMENTS
This year
we will be posting class assignments on our home page. The children will be listed by first name
and last initial. You will be able to
see the entire class when you visit the site!
The classes will be posted by 4 pm on Friday, August 22nd. If you don’t have access to a computer, you
can either visit the public library or call the school office beginning
Friday at 4. Our web address is:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/stonemilles/
ENROLLMENT
Summer is
a busy time at Stone Mill as we continue to enroll new students and say
goodbye to children who are moving. If
you have new neighbors who have not yet enrolled their child(ren), please encourage them to come by the school office
as soon as possible.
LUNCH PROGRAM
School
lunch menus are sent home in monthly bulletins, are published in local
newspapers and are available on the web.
Free and/or reduced price meals (FARMS) are available for eligible children. Eligibility guidelines will be sent home
the first week of school. Parents
interested in FARMS should complete the pre-stamped application form and mail
it to the school lunch office.
See the
attached “Cafeteria News” regarding the computerized cash register system
(SNAP) and the first week’s menu. You may make deposits to your child’s
account on Thursday, August 21 – 8:00 A.M. –12:00 P.M. The menu on the first day of school will
be Personal Pizza, Café Burger and Grilled Cheese Pocket. The meal prices this year have been
increased since last year. They are as
follows:
Student lunch - $ 2.40 Breakfast - $ 1.30
Reduced Lunch Price -
0.40 Reduced breakfast 0.30
Student milk - 0.60
Nut and Seed Free Table - This year we will again be having a
“Nut/Seed Free” table in the cafeteria.
Children who have life-threatening allergies to peanuts, tree nuts
and/or seeds will be able to sit at this table daily. The children can have non-allergic friends
sit with them at the table, but the friends’ lunches must be peanut, nut and
seed free for that day. Should your
child have an allergy and you would prefer your child to sit with his/her
class, simply send a note to the office letting us know.
TRANSPORTATION
As many
of you have heard, there have been some changes with transportation so that
budget dollars can be provided for classrooms. Bus
routes have changed since last year, so please look carefully at the attached
schedule. Children who live within
1.1 miles from the school and have a safe walking route to the school do
not receive bus transportation.
MCPS does not permit children who are “walkers” to instead go to a
nearby bus stop and take that bus to school.
MCPS also does not allow children to cross a street in order to board
a bus. For example, the first stop on
bus route #5309 is listed as, “10416
Darnestown Road –
RSO.” RSO stands for right side
only. Children who live on the
opposite side of the street are not to cross the road in order to receive bus
transportation. Last year there was
some difficulty with too many children riding buses to avoid walking, and
MCPS Transportation is considering distributing bus passes to those children
assigned to each bus. Any child
needing to ride a non-assigned bus in order to visit a friend after school
for a play date will need a written note from home that will have to be
approved and signed in our main office once it is determined that a seat is
available.
Parents
who drive their children to school can begin dropping them off starting at 8:55 A.M. NO adult supervision will be present prior
to 8:55. It is essential that
children be safe in the front lot, so please drop your child off on the
sidewalk between the orange cones. Children
should NOT be discharged in the lot.
They should only be discharged onto the sidewalk at the car circle. We
do not want children to have to walk among moving vehicles. Please remember that we have two lanes in
the car circle: one for dropping children off and one for leaving the
lot. After your child is dropped
off safely onto the curb, please pull into the outside lane so that other
cars can move up and we can unload as many children as possible. For the safety of the children please
NEVER move the barrels at the end of the lanes. We need to keep traffic flowing in a
predictable and safe pattern. Finally, all children are to be safely
transported as above. Stopping,
dropping up or picking up children on the side street, Quietwood Drive, is not allowed.
KINDERGARTEN TRANSPORTATION
With
full-day Kindergarten, no special transportation is provided for our
Kindergarten students. However, safety patrols will be on duty to assist
walking children in crossing intersections.
All children, including
Kindergarten students, who live in areas where bus transportation is
regularly provided, may ride the buses (see above). Walkers should walk with peers, and very
young children should find an older, school-aged buddy to walk with.
Since the
transportation of students is a very complex operation for the first few
weeks of school, I encourage you to wait with your child for the bus to
arrive, to be at the designated stop when the bus returns, and to allow ample
waiting time until the schedule has been refined.
LETTER TO STUDENTS
Please
share the attached letter with your child.
SCHOOL HOURS
The Stone
Mill instructional day officially begins at 9:15 A.M. Children
will be permitted to enter the building and move to their classrooms at the
9:05 A.M. bell. If your child is a
walker, please assist him/her in planning what time to leave so that he/she
arrives between 9:05 and 9:10. If you
drive your child or your child takes a bus to school, he/she will be
permitted to enter the building as early as 9:05. Should a bus or walker arrive slightly
earlier, the children will be asked to wait in grade level lines at the front
door until the prescribed time. There
is no adult supervision earlier than 8:55, so please have your walkers arrive
on time rather than early. Children
being driven to school can begin to arrive at 8:55. The car circle is pretty empty between 8:55
and 9:05. All students entering after
9:15 A.M. will need to be signed in by a parent or guardian.
SCHOOL BEGINS TUESDAY, AUGUST 26,
2008.
The
regular school hours are as follows:
9:05 - Students
enter classrooms.
9:15 - Instruction begins.
11:00 – 2:00 Lunch/recess (Each class has one hour for
lunch and recess).
3:25 Walkers and car circle dismissed.
3:30 Bus riders dismissed.
PEP HOURS
PEP
Classic 9:00-11:30
and 1:00-3:30
PEP, INC 9:00-12:00
and 12:30-3:30
Beginnings
Program - 9:00 - 2:00 P.M.
EARLY DISMISSAL DAYS
All K-5
students will be dismissed at 12:55 P.M. after lunch.
IMMUNIZATIONS
If we do
not have a copy of your child’s immunizations, please bring the information
to school as soon as possible. Students in grades K-5 are required to
have two measles immunizations.
FUNDING UPDATE
Our
Community Superintendent, Dr. Sherry Liebes, wanted
to ensure that all families in the cluster receive the following message. She
asked us to include it in our summer mailing so that families would know what
was happening during this budget year.
“We appreciate the funding and support the Montgomery County Public
Schools (MCPS) has received from the County Council in these tight budget
times. However, the funding MCPS
received was less than the Board of Education’s requested amount. As a result of this current financial
situation, it may become necessary for staffing changes to occur in some
schools if enrollment comes in below projection and doesn’t justify the
staffing that was allocated. MCPS
staffing allocations are based on projected enrollment. We certainly hope that at the beginning of
the school year our actual enrollment matches the projected enrollment. If there is a need to make an adjustment in
staffing based on actual enrollment, I will do my best to minimize the impact
of these necessary adjustments. I will
keep you informed and alert you of any changes that may occur at our
school.”
That being
said, should you know anyone who has moved into our area and has yet to
enroll, please encourage them to do so immediately. Lower numbers in our classrooms could
result in a reduction to our teaching staff.
STAFF UPDATE
We have
some exciting changes on our staff. Starting
in the main office, working with Mrs. Bayer this year is our new nurse, Ms.
Janice Kimball. She will be in our
building 1 or 2 days each week to support our families and Mrs. Bayer. In our PEP program, Ms. Benu
Singh had been only temporarily assigned to our Beginnings class and we were
lucky to be able to find a permanent spot for her in the Classic class when
Ms. Usha Ohri
retired. Moving from third grade to reading
initiative is Mrs. Donaldson, from second grade to third is Ms. Pollinger (formerly Damelin)
and from reading initiative to second grade is Mrs. Purdham. We are very excited to welcome Ms. Lily
Huang (one of our fabulous parents) as one of our new second grade
teachers! Mrs. Huang has taught most
of the grades and subjects between first and seventh grades, and she has
finally agreed to leave middle school and come to Stone Mill. Joining the third grade team is a new
teacher, Ms. Kim Mathewes. Ms. Mathewes
completed her teaching degree at the University of Maryland,
student taught at Fallsmead, and substitute taught
in various schools in the county last spring.
You will be amazed at her skill and dedication to excellence! Congratulations to Ms. Bontz who became
Mrs. Lee this summer! Unfortunately
for us, she is pursuing her counseling degree and has left the school system
in order to do so. Joining the fifth
grade team is Ms. Tabitha Paschall. Mrs. Paschall
hails from the Midwest where she was a math specialist/math coach in Missouri and prior to that was a 4th and 5th
grade teacher in Kansas. With her experience, you can be sure she is
ready for our students in Math B! In
the area of specialists, Mrs. Petersen who taught part-time ESOL has been
assigned to another school and we welcome
Ms. Chen
Chiu. Ms. Chiu is a veteran teacher in
MCPS and is looking forward to supporting our ESOL students in their quest to
advance their speaking and language skills.
Ms. Haas has transferred to another school closer to home, so Ms.
Ellen Crandall who is a very skilled and veteran MCPS art teacher will be
working with our younger kiddies and we will be sharing her with Cold
Spring. Our media specialist, Mrs.
Young, has transferred to a middle school so that she can be with her four
children each afternoon. In her place,
we welcome Ms. Anita Blank. Mrs. Blank
has been a very successful teacher in our county and has recently earned her
degree in school library science. You
will love her energy and enthusiasm!
Our cafeteria assistant, Mrs. Jih, has been
promoted to be the café manager at Potomac Elementary! Now helping Mrs. Webb will be Ms. Ang Trieu from Kennedy High School. In building services, we were very excited
to have the hiring freeze lifted and be able to welcome Ms. Brenda King to
join us each evening! Mrs. King has
already been working hard to help us be ready for the new school year. At the time of this letter, I am still
interviewing for a part time PE teacher as Ms. Emmell
has received her own school and is the now a full
time middle school PE teacher. Finally, we have the exciting news portion
of our staff changes! Congratulations
to Ms. Giannone who was married in July and is now
Mrs. Tabor! Congrats to Mrs. LaDuca
who welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Drew Camden LaDuca, in late June and to
Mrs. McKenna (our Pupil Personnel Worker) who welcomed a stunning baby girl,
Regan Elizabeth, in late July! I know
everyone is awaiting the long overdue news about Mrs. Carmi’s girls, but as
of today, they are still not born!
Mrs. Carmi is doing great, and the babies are getting bigger every
day. I will let everyone know as soon
as they are born.
PATROL UPDATE AND BELT
PICK-UP
This
year, we will not be assigning patrols at intersections beyond where the
crossing guard can see the children.
There will no longer be patrols present at the intersections farther
from the school down Stonebridge
View Drive.
As always, parents should please advise their children on safe
crossing techniques and the importance of walking to school in groups.
Patrols
may pick up their belts from Ms. Heather LaDuca (Fifth grade teacher and our
Patrol Sponsor) during the open house.
Mrs. LaDuca’s classroom is #38, located in
the fifth grade hallway, upstairs.
PTA INFORMATION
We need
you in the PTA so if you have not yet joined, please do so now! The parents of PTA are such an amazing
support to our school and our children, and your membership and involvement
are needed to keep the school strong.
Please mark your calendars with the following important dates:
Meet and Greet—After you drop your child (ren) off at school on the very first day, please join our PTA for
friendship and treats! The time to see returning friends and meet
new ones will be from 9:05-10:00 in the all-purpose room on August 26, 2008. (No peeking in the classrooms,
though! J)
PTA meeting -- September 2, 2008, 6:30-7:00 pm in the APR
Back to School Picnic (Pizza and DJ) – September 5, 2008, 6:00-8:00 pm
on the back field
SEE YOU SOON!
We look
forward to working with you and your child (ren)
this coming school year. We are very
excited about getting to know each and every one of you personally. We hope to see everyone at the Open House on Monday, August 25, 2008. Enjoy the rest of your summer!
August 2008
Dear
Stone Mill Student,
I hope
you are ready for another (or maybe your first) exciting year at Stone
Mill! My own son, Jack, will be
entering third grade this year, so the start of school is doubly exciting for
me!! J
I’m sure
you have been doing great things to stretch your mind and your body this
summer. I’ve had a very busy and fun
summer and hope you have too. Please
make sure you see me when you get back here and let me know all about the
wonderful things you have done!
I hope
you have been enjoying summer as much as I have been. I have been reading daily and listening to
books on disc in my car. I have read a
number of books about other countries and have enjoyed learning about people
of different cultures and the history of different places! This summer I visited Niagara
Falls in Ontario,
Canada. It was so interesting to see the
differences between our county and our neighbor to the north. One thing you might find neat is that the
Happy Meals at Canadian McDonald’s offer grilled cheese sandwiches!
Stone
Mill has been somewhat quiet this summer without you. We have some new teachers and staff members
who can’t wait to see you in person, as I’ve told them so many amazing things
about the children at Stone Mill. And
as always, Mr. Jake,
Mr. Steve
and the building services crew have worked really hard to make the school
extra beautiful for your return.
Have Mom
or Dad help you look on our website on Friday, August 22nd, to see
your new class, and I look forward to seeing you at the Open House on August
25.
Enjoy the
rest of your summer, and I will see you soon!
Sincerely,
Ms.
Williams
Principal
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