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MCPS February 28 2014
Volume X I , Issue X I I
When dropping off your child
at school in the morning,
please limit your stay to the
hugs & kisses area right in
front of the main doors. Chil-
dren have to walk to their
classrooms by themselves to
avoid excessive traffic of
adults in the building.
The olphin Newsletter
February 28 — Early dismis-
sal, school closes at 1:00PM
March 3 — Read-A-Thon As-
sembly
March 5 — Science Night
6:30PM
March 6 — Books & Break-
fast 3:30 PM
March 6 & 7 — Kindergarten
field trip to National Zoo
March 14 — Assembly
“Woman in History”
March 14 — Appointment
Book opens for Kindergarten
Registration
C A L E N D A R N O T E S K I D S , T H E SC HOOL BU S AND YO U
Whether you drop your child off
at school by car regularly or eve-
ry once in a while, there are pro-
cedures that you need to be
aware of. Children who are driv-
en to school should only be
dropped off by coming through
the kiss-n-ride lane located at
the Holly Avenue entrance. This
is the safest place for your child
to exit the car as school staff is
there to help your child get out.
Please remember that the best
way for your child to exit the car
is on the passenger’s side along
the curb, not on the driver’s
side. If you need to come into
the school, please find a park-
ing space in the lot or on the
street. You are not allowed to
park in the kiss-n-ride lane.
It is illegal to drive through the
bus lane before 9:00 a.m., as
stated on the sign posted at the
bus lane entrance. After 9:00
a.m., dropping your child off in
the bus lane is not recommend-
ed, as there are still busses un-
loading students until about
9:10 a.m. Also, there is no staff
on duty in the bus lane to help
your child exit safely.
Please be aware that there are
cameras installed on school
buses and the fine for passing a
school bus that is unloading stu-
dents is $125.
Thank you for helping to ensure
the safety of all TPES children.
LEARN AND FOLLOW SCHOOL
BUS STOP LAWS: (MD MVA)
Laws exist to protect children
getting on and off the bus AND
protect you from a tragedy.
Check with your school or police
department for more infor-
mation on your state's laws.
Here are some rules:
Vehicles must stop when the
bus displays flashing red warn-
ing lights and extends the stop
signal arm. Vehicles may not
pass until the flashing red lights
and signals are turned off.
Violation of this law can result in
a citation and fine. In many
places, school bus drivers can
report passing vehicles.
Calling in Sick… Please let the school office staff know if your child
will not be in school or will arrive late because he or
she is sick or has a doctor’s appointment. This saves
us many phone calls. You can give us a call or send an
email to both email addresses; San-
[email protected] and [email protected]
Students are permitted to bring in goodies to be shared with classmates on
their birthdays. Given the current demands of the curriculum, we cannot have
birthday parties for students (NO balloons, candles, party favors, hats, etc.).
However, parents must arrange with the classroom teacher an appropriate time when treats can be shared with the class. It is the parent’s responsibility
to make arrangements with the teacher to identify a date and time to honor
a child’s birthday.
Non-MCPS children are not permitted in the classrooms. In the event that
a non-MCPS child must accompany you, teachers can arrange for the cele-
bration to be held in a common area of the building, like the Atrium or the All
Purpose Room.
Please contact the teacher if you are
planning to volunteer.
Takoma Park
Elementary School 7511 Holly Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912
301 650-6414
301 650-6526 fax
Office hours: 8:00 am —5:00 pm
School hours: 8:45 am—3:30 pm
Principal
Assistant Principal
Coming soon in
March...
Read-A-Thon
ORIENTATION Save the Date… May 1st , 2nd & 23rd.
NO SCHOOL FOR CURRENT KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS
CALL 301 650-6414 FOR AN APPOINTMENT Starting March 14th
How my child is going home…
If you need to change how your child goes home (i.e. a walker today but
usually a bus rider) you must inform the Main Office staff by 12:00pm on a regu-lar school schedule day or by 10:30am on an early dismissal day. You should sub-
mit a Change Of Dismissal Form in your child’s Dolphin Folder or directly to
the office. To help us run the school smoothly, any changes to the usual method
of travel MUST be submitted to the main office in writing . If you send the
teacher an email, please copy both Ms. Paz and Mrs. Egan using their email ad-
dresses;
[email protected] and [email protected]. You could al-
so fax any notes to 301 650-6526.
You do not need to send a Change of Dismissal Form if you are picking up your
child early because of a doctor's appointment or for any other reason.
Your Driver’s License Please!
Remember your Driver’s License every time you come to school and plan to go beyond the main office. We will scan your driver’s license in our Visitor Management System (VMS) and generate a Badge for you. Your understanding
and cooperation is greatly appreciate while we keep our students and staff safe.
¡Su licencia de conducir, por favor!
Recuerde traer su licencia de conducir o identificación del estado cada vez que
venga de visita a la escuela.
As of February 21, 2014 An Update on MCPS Snow Days
The wintery weather that the Washington D.C. region has experienced this year has led area school districts to call several “snow days” in order to en-sure the safety of students and staff. Montgomery County Public Schools staff has received many questions about how it will make up the instruc-tional days that have been missed due to severe weather. Here is a com-plete explanation: The state of Maryland requires school districts to offer 180 days of instruc-tion. The 2013-2014 school calendar for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), approved by the Montgomery County Board of Education, includes
184 days of instruction, meaning there are four emergency weather days (aka “snow days”) built into the calendar. The calendar also includes five “contingency” days on which school will be held if MCPS has more than four snow days. These contingency days are tacked on to the end of the school year so that the district can meet the minimum days of instruction required by the state. You can see the contingency days at the bottom of the school calendar. So far this year (as of Feb. 18, 2014) MCPS has had seven snow days, meaning we have exceeded by three the number of days built into the cal-
endar. The last day of school for MCPS was originally scheduled for Thurs-day, June 12. Without a waiver from the state, the last day will have to be moved to Tuesday, June 17, in order to meet the 180-day state require-ment. If we have additional snow days this year, the last day of school would have to be moved back further, in accordance with the calendar ap-proved by the Board of Education. There are no plans to change Spring Break. MCPS can apply for a waiver from the Maryland State Department of Educa-tion that would allow the district to go below the 180-day requirement. A
decision about whether to apply for that waiver will be made later in the year, once we know how many snow days the district has called. Although MCPS has received such waivers in the past, it is not guaranteed that the district will receive one this year. The fact that Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley declared a state of emer-gency on February 13 & 14 may make it more likely that a waiver would be granted for these snow days, but it is not guaranteed. The district would still need to apply for such a waiver.
Now you can drop off your box tops at Shoppers Food located in
6881 New Hampshire Ave Takoma Park, MD 20912. Look for the box labeled
Takoma Park ES, invite neighbors and friends to contribute with our school
dropping off their Box Tops during their next shopping trip.
