Montgomery County Public Schools

Your home is becoming a virtual classroom. What should that look like? Parents can do a few simple things to give students the right space and the right mindset for learning. After a challenging spring and summer, and a seismic shift from physical classrooms to online learning, students will need extra support to stay focused and get organized. Learn 5 simple things that you can do to support your child.

What to say and what not to say is the question. Fear, uncertainty, and being at home to slow the spread of COVID-19 can make it tough for families to keep a sense of calm. Get strategies for communicating to keep the home a happy place to be. Presented by Parent Assistant Resource. Recommended for families elementary, middle, and high school students.

Is your child college ready? In this virtual workshop, families and their students will learn useful tips and strategies to help prepare for college success. Learn the importance of establishing a four-year high school plan to prepare for college, hear the do’s and don’ts of college essay writing, and learn how COVID-19 has changed the college admissions process. Presented by Breakthrough Test Prep. Recommended for middle and high school students and their families.

Effective focus, motivation, handling frustrations, and communication depend on the ability of students to understand and manage their emotions. These are basic competencies that are crucial to student well-being and success. With the recent pandemic and unrest, this virtual workshop will focus on how to include Mindfulness practices in both the curriculum and our personal life. Presented by Jeff Donald, MCPS Mindfulness Coordinator. Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Now that many families are working from home, it's essential to learn how to create a more peaceful life/work balance. In this virtual workshop, you will learn strategies to create space and boundaries so that you can get your work done; solve problems rather than punish misbehavior; and let go of unrealistic expectations you hold of yourself and your children. Presented by the Parent Encouragement Program (PEP). Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Students are facing an unprecedented amount of stress and in many cases loneliness. They're disconnected from typical activities, such as being around friends, playing sports, or going to the movies. This virtual workshop will provide suggestions and resources to help you support your child's social-emotional well-being. Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Applying for scholarships? Overwhelmed with applications? Don't know where to start? This presentation will provide information and tips to help students and families understand and navigate the scholarship process so that they can secure funding for college. Presented by Faith in Motion College Admission Consulting Services. Recommended for families of middle and high school students.

Join us to learn about what kids mean when they talk about GSA clubs, nonbinary gender, they/them pronouns, and gender marker X. In this virtual workshop, we will discuss best practices for connecting with LGBTQ youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants will have ample time for questions and answers. Presented by Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders (SMYAL). Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Digital media can provide so many opportunities for engagement and learning, but you may be concerned about the amount of time your children are spending online. How can we integrate technology effectively, safely, and purposefully at home? Join us to discuss how to support your kids with distance learning, what to look for when choosing the best digital media for your family, and ways to encourage a healthy media balance at home. You will leave with resources and tips that you can use immediately to support your kids with their learning and digital well-being this year. Presented by Common Sense Media. Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success [ACES] is a collaborative program among MCPS, Montgomery College, and the Universities at Shady Grove that provides an individualized and supportive pathway for students to thrive in college and enter into a successful career, especially among student groups that are underrepresented in higher education. ACES coaches work one-on-one with students and mentor, advocate and support them in their college planning, academics, and career development. Join us to learn how the ACES program helps students achieve their academic and professional dreams. Please note that only sophomores can apply to the program and it is currently available at 14 high schools. Presented by Montgomery College ACES staff. Recommended for families of high school students.

Families and students need a clear understanding of the ways to pay for college. This workshop will focus on defining financial aid, how it is determined, conducting scholarship searches, and managing student loan debt. Presented by Achieva Educational Consulting. Recommended for families of middle and high school students.

Social distancing can put a strain on family relationships. In this workshop, you will learn several strategies that can help keep your family relationships healthy and positive while under the same roof. Recommended for families of elementary, middle and high school students.

Join us for a virtual chat centered around compassion and grace. We will discuss crisis prevention and intervention strategies to help minimize meltdowns and support your child's social-emotional needs during a dual pandemic. Facilitated by a nationally certified school psychologist. Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Online learning has proven to be very challenging for some of our MCPS families. This virtual chat is a collaborative, community event built on the seven primary languages in MCPS and designed to listen to the technology needs of parents. It will create solutions with parents in real time so that they can learn more about how to help their children online and how to solve problems when the technology stops. Presented by MCPS staff. Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Explore how positive leadership traits affect the quality of interpersonal and school relationships. Through role playing and case study review, participants will delve into how they can achieve positive family outcomes. Facilitated by Living Life International. Recommended for families of elementary, middle and high school students.

Virtual learning can be difficult to navigate. Let MCPS school library media programs be your guide. Support your children by exploring the many online resources available for students to tap into while learning from home. We will include the fundamentals of the inquiry process of research and how to encourage your child to create and answer good research questions, compare free resources vs. subscription databases, and delve into searching a variety of databases. We will also review access to ebooks and audiobooks using the Sora app and other platforms. Presented by MCPS staff. Recommended for families of elementary, middle and high school students.

SEL is a process through which adults and children deepen their expertise in understanding and managing emotions, and learning how they impact a person’s choices, relationships and outlook in life (as defined by MCPS). Directors from Student and Family Support and Engagement will be on hand to discuss and answer questions regarding SEL and how it impacts your child. Presented by MCPS staff. Recommended for families of elementary, middle and high school students.

Synergy ParentVue is the new primary home-to-school communication vehicle for schools to share information regarding, grades, attendance, scheduling, and signing in to myMCPS Classroom. During this virtual session, staff from the Office of Technology and Innovation will share ParentVue tips and resources. In collaboration with the Chinese American Parents Association. Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Is your creative student interested in studying performing arts, visual arts, or digital media at college? In this workshop, we discuss how students can combine their creative interests with STEM and humanities studies, find their "best fit" schools, and apply to college. Presented by ARTriculate. Recommended for families of elementary, middle and high school students.

This presentation will provide parents/guardians of students with disabilities information on a variety of topics including Individualized Distance Learning Plans, distance learning and Free Appropriate Public Education, evaluations during distance learning, participation in virtual Individualized Education Program team meetings, accessing technology, and monitoring progress during virtual instruction. Presented by MCPS staff. Recommended for families of elementary, middle and high school students.

Learn effective ways to communicate with your child, discuss positive discipline techniques, and hear how to handle power struggles. Presented by the Montgomery County Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health. Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.

Virtual learning can be difficult to navigate for our students, families or caregivers supporting them. This presentation will provide families with the opportunity to explore some of the assistive technology tools available as well as learn about the new support website released this September. Presented by MCPS staff. Recommended for families of elementary and secondary students with disabilities who are pursuing alternate learning outcomes.

During this 3-part series, we will review: accessibility tools (11/12), text-to-speech tools (11/19), and speech to text and word prediction (12/3). Presented by MCPS’s High Incidence Accessible Technology team. Recommended for families of elementary and secondary students with disabilities.