The Washington Capitals would like to congratulate Waters Landing Elementary School on winning a $1,000 Caps Care Click to Win grant from Washington Capitals Charities. Waters Landing had the highest attendance percentage rate among the Caps Care Click to Win schools attending the Capitals game on March 12. With the $500 grant Waters Landing Elementary School was awarded for being selected, this brings the grand total of its Caps Care Click to Win grant to $1,500. Thank you to Katie Hinsvark for signing-up WLES for this program, and thank you to all of the WLES families that supported the school at the game!! Our Dolphin Pride is showing!!

Our Spring fundraiser began on March 7th, and we are selling the fragrant and popular Yankee Candles! Catalogs with order forms came home with students Friday the 7th, and are due back at school on March 20th. The profits from this sale will go directly to WLES PTA, which provides many of the amazing programs at our school, including the Step Afrika and Space Odyssey presentations, the Read To Me/Talk With Me program, Family Fun Night, Dolphinmania, and much more! You will also receive an “Opt Out” letter. If you or someone you know is not interested in purchasing a Yankee Candle product, but you would still like to support the PTA, you can simply place the funds in the envelope designated for Donations Only. 100% of this money will go to the PTA. As always, thanks for supporting your school!

The WLES PTA Nominating Committee is currently looking for ALL interested candidates to fill several PTA positions (Officers and Committee Chairs) that will be available for next school year 2008-2009. For more information, please click here.

Weather can change at any moment. When the temperature has taken a turn for the worst (extremely cold, lots of rain, snow and/or ice on the ground) students are allowed to enter the building at 8:50 a.m. to wait for the 9:00 a.m. bell to ring. This ensures that our students do not have to “brave the elements” before entering the schoolhouse. On the same note, the decision has been made to cease staff opening doors when the weather has become too severe. If you are a parent who drops off in the morning, and there is inclement weather, simply have your child exit the vehicle and proceed directly into the school. On the same note of inclement weather, many students choose to stuff their coat or jacket in a backpack. Please remind your student that coats should be worn to prevent sickness.

On April 12 our WLES PTA is hosting a Saturday afternoon "PTA & Friends" 4-player scramble (best ball) Golf Fundraiser at Whiskey Creek Golf Club in Ijamsville, MD. This event is a fundraiser to generate funds to replace the outdated maps and globes in our WLES Library. We have many player openings and need you to make this fundraiser a success. If interested, please email Ed Socha (edsochable@aol.com). A block of 10 tee times have been reserved that Saturday from 12:42 p.m. to 2:03 p.m. Our outing size is limited to 40 players (10 Teams) and ALL player sign-ups must be in by April 7. We can take "any size" entry (singles, twosomes, whatever) if you don't have a 4-player Team. Single players will be used to round out other teams. Our outing cost is $100 per player, which includes: greens fees, range balls, carts (with GPS), made-to-order pasta dinner, prizes, and a donation to the Library. Please mail your $100 entry fee (checks payable to "Ed Socha") to Ed's home address (please e-mail Ed for the address). Like the Fall outing, family (and non-golfers) are WELCOME to meet us in the Clubhouse after the golf for a "made-to-order" pasta dinner from 5:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m. The cost for dinner for non-players is $10/pp Adults, and $5/pp Child. Hope you can make it!

Elementary School Parent Guides for the school year are available on-line at the MCPS web site. These guides will give you an overview of each grade level program and explain what your child will be learning in reading and language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies during this school year. In addition, you will also find information on ways of gathering evidence of what students learn, how parents can help, and curriculum resources for parents (many of these on-line resources have been added to our web site - please visit "Curriculum Help" for more information). The information in these guides will assist you in providing support for your child throughout the school year. The guides are available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format in the following languages: English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, French, and Vietnamese. The Parent Guides can be accessed through the following link: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/parentguides.shtm

For information on the current Capital Improvements Program for the Seneca Valley Cluster, please visit this link: Seneca Valley Cluster CIP. You will find current and projected school enrollments and capacities, and an assessment of space availability at all schools. Long-range facility plans, and recommended capital projects, are shown with their completion schedules. Finally, current school demographics, room uses, and other facility information is provided. Students from WLES feed into Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, and then to Seneca Valley High School. If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact PTA President Scott Bogren, scott.bogren@verizon.net.