Hello DES families! Grandparents’ Day was another great day for staff, students and grandparents. Thank you to all of the grandparents who came out to share this special day with our school community! December is a short month, but we have a lot of special events planned for our students and families. Our holiday shop will be held December 4-6. On Monday, December 4 we

held the PTA Spirit Night at the Hornet’s Nest Grille. Don’t forget that there will be no school for staff and students from December 25 through January 1 for winter break!

~ Bill Collins Principal

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

DRAGON NEWS December 2017 A newsletter from Principal Collins and the PTA

DAMASCUS

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ADDRESS: 10201 Bethesda Church Road Damascus, MD 20872 PHONE: 301-253-7080 FAX: 301-253-8717 SCHOOL WEBSITE: montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/damascuses/ PRINCIPAL: Bill Collins EMAIL: William_J_Collins @mcpsmd.org TWITTER: @collinswj PTA WEBSITE: www.damascuspta.com PTA EMAIL: desptamail@gmail.com

Damascus High School Drama Club The Damascus High School Drama Club is excited to present its annual staging of A Charlie Brown Christmas on Wednesday, December 20 at 7 p.m. in the Damascus High School auditorium. General Admission is $5 for anyone 3 or older. The show lasts approximately 30 minutes and is perfect for families to introduce their young children to the theatre.

We also offer a preshow buffet dinner catered by the Damascus High School Restaurant Management program in our high school cafeteria starting at 5:30 p.m. Tickets for the buffet dinner are $20 per person, and includes one ticket to the show. Dinner tickets for children age 7 and under are $10 per person and also includes a show ticket. Reservations for the buffet dinner can be made by sending an email to steven_r_kachadorian@mcpsmd.org by Friday, December 15.

We look forward to seeing you at the theatre!

Steve Kachadorian Damascus Drama Sponsor

Page 2 DRAGON NEWS

Staying in Touch with MCPS Winter weather is coming soon. MCPS offers numerous ways for parents to learn about school closures, delayed openings, and early dismissals due to inclement weather. Sign up for AlertMCPS and receive text messages or emails from MCPS during weather-related emergencies and other major events that impact school system opera-tions. Parents can also sign up to receive alerts specific to their child’s school by visiting www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/emergency/alertmcps.aspx. You can also follow MCPS on Twitter and Facebook: twitter.com/mcps www.facebook.com/mcpsmd/ www.facebook.com/mcpsespanol/ More emergency information is available at: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/emergency/sources.aspx

Manteniéndose en Contacto con MCPS

El clima invernal se aproxima. MCPS ofrece muchas formas en que los padres pueden infor-marse sobre los cierres de escuelas, demoras en el comienzo de la jornada escolar o cuando los estu-diantes se deben retirar de la escuela antes del ho-rario habitual por causa de tiempo inclemente. In-scríbase en AlertMCPS (Alerta MCPS) y reciba mensajes de texto o correo electrónico de MCPS durante emergencias relacionadas con tiempo in-clemente y otros acontecimientos importantes que afectan el funcionamiento del sistema escolar. Los padres también pueden inscribirse para recibir alertas que tienen que ver específicamente con la escuela de sus hijos, ingresando a www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/emergency/alertmcps.aspx. Usted también puede seguir a MCPS en Twitter o Facebook: twitter.com/mcps www.facebook.com/mcpsmd/ www.facebook.com/mcpsespanol/ Hay más información sobre emergencias disponible http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/emergency/sources.aspx

Grade 2 Inview Testing Grade 2 is beginning the InView testing at around 9:40 a.m. on Monday Dec. 4, Tuesday, Dec. 5, and Wednesday, Dec. 6. Students who arrive after that time cannot enter the classroom in the middle of testing. Please be sure that students arrive on time.

Page 3 DRAGON NEWS

2018–2019 Calendar The Board of Education adopted the calendar for the 2018–2019 school year during its November 14, 2017, meeting. The school year will begin on Tuesday, September 4, 2018, and the last day of school is scheduled for Thursday, June 13, 2019. The calendar includes 182 days of instruction; a shortened spring break; two closure days for plan-ning and professional development; and two oper-ational closures that coincide with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. You can view the calendar at: www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/calendar/proposed-calendar-2018-19.aspx Consejo de Educación Establece el Calen-dario Escolar para el Ciclo Escolar 2018–2019 El Consejo de Educación aprobó el calendario para el ciclo escolar 2018–2019 durante su reunión del 14 de noviembre, 2017. El ciclo escolar comenzará el martes, 4 de septiembre, 2018, y el último día de clases está programado para el jueves, 13 de junio, 2019. El calendario incluye 182 días lectivos; una vacación de primavera más corta; dos días de cierre para planificación y capacitación profesion-al; y dos cierres operativos que coinciden con Rosh Hashanah y Yom Kippur. Usted puede ver el calen-dario www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/calendar/proposed-calendar-2018-19.aspx.

FY 2018 Strategic Plan The FY 2018 Strategic Plan represents our contin-ued commitment to the five core values that define what it means to be an exceptional school system: Learning, Relationships, Respect, Excellence, and Equity. The plan’s website features our focus areas, strategic objectives, and four new, dynamic data dashboards that represent how we are measuring this work. You can visit the website and provide feedback on the strategic plan at: www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/campaigns/Strategic-Planning-2017/

Plan Estratégico para el Año Fiscal 2018 El Plan Estratégico para el Año Fiscal 2018 repre-senta nuestro continuo compromiso con los cinco valores fundamentales que definen lo que significa ser un sistema de educación pública excelente: Aprendizaje, Relaciones, Respeto, Excelencia y Equidad. La página de Internet del plan destaca nuestras áreas de enfoque, objetivos estratégicos y cuatro nuevos y dinámicos tableros de mando de datos que representan cómo nosotros medimos este trabajo. Usted puede visitar la página de inter-net aquí y puede proveer sus comentarios/sugerencias sobre el plan estratégico www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/campaigns/Strategic-Planning-2017/.

Superintendent’s Operating Budget Presentation Our school community is invited to attend Superintendent Jack Smith’s Fiscal Year 2019 Operating Budget Presentation at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 19, in the auditorium at Rockville High School, 2100 Balti-more Road in Rockville. Interpretation services will be provided.

Presentación del Presupuesto Operativo por Parte del Superintendente

Se invita al personal a que asista a la Presentación del Presupuesto Operativo para el Año Fiscal 2019 que el Superintendente Jack Smith ofrecerá el martes, 19 de diciembre, a las 7:00 p.m., en el auditorio de Rockville High School, 2100 Baltimore Road, en Rockville. Se proveerán servicios de interpretación de idiomas.

Page 4 DRAGON NEWS

Board of Education Approves $1.83 Billion Capital Improvements Program

The Montgomery County Board of Education has unanimously approved a $1.83 billion six-year Capital Improvements Program (CIP) request for Montgomery County Public Schools that will help ease overcrowding caused by years of rapid enroll-ment growth and address aging facilities. The CIP includes 30 new capacity projects. You can read the Board of Education’s Resolution and the Superintendent’s Recommended FY 2019 Capital Budget and the FY 2019–2024 Capital Im-provements Program at www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/cipmaster.aspx. Additionally, the Board selected a boundary plan for a new elementary school in the Richard Mont-gomery Cluster. The school will open in fall 2018.

Consejo de Educación Aprueba Programa de Mejoras de Capital de

$1.83 Mil Millones El Consejo de Educación del Condado de Mont-gomery ha aprobado unánimemente una solicitud de $1.83 mil millones para un Programa de Mejo-ras de Capital (Capital Improvements Program–CIP) de seis años para Montgomery County Public Schools, que ayudará a aliviar el hacinamiento causado por años de rápido crecimiento de la matrícula y abordará las instalaciones que están envejeciendo. El Programa de Mejoras de Capital incluye 30 nuevos proyectos de capacidad. Usted puede leer aquí la Resolución del Consejo de Educación y el Presupuesto de Capital Recomen-dado por el Superintendente para el Año Fiscal 2019, el Programa de Mejoras de Capital para los Años Fiscales FY 2019–2024 www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/cipmaster.aspx Además, el Consejo seleccionó un plan de límites geográficos para una nueva escuela en el área de la agrupación de escuelas pertenecientes a Richard Montgomery.

Free Microsoft Office 365 for Students

The Maryland Department of Education and Microsoft have entered into a collaborative partnership that allows all students and school system staff to get the Microsoft Office software suite, Office 365 ProPlus, at no charge. Office 365 ProPlus includes the full suite of Microsoft applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as well as the ability to create, save, and share Office files online. Students and staff are able to download and install the software on up to five devices free of charge. For FAQs and download instruc-tions in multiple languages, visit www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/parents/.

Microsoft Office 365 Gratis para los Estudiantes

El Departamento de Educación del Estado de Maryland y Microsoft iniciaron un convenio colaborativo que permite a todos los estudiantes y a todo el personal del sistema escolar obtener la última versión de la suite de software Microsoft Office, Office 365 ProPlus sin costo alguno. Office 365 ProPlus incluye las aplica-ciones completas de la suite de Microsoft, tales como Outlook, Word, Excel y PowerPoint, así como también la capacidad de poder crear, guardar y compartir archivos de Office en línea. Bajo el programa, los estu-diantes y el personal pueden descargar e instalar el software de Microsoft Office en hasta un máximo de cin-co dispositivos gratuitamente. Para ver las preguntas frecuente y descargar las instrucciones en múltiples idiomas, visite www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/parents/.

Page 5 DRAGON NEWS

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

What an amazing fall! We had an amazing turn out for Bingo Night and Grandparents’ Day was an awesome opportunity for grandparents to spend time with their students. Our first spirit night at Maggi’s raised $134. Thank you for your support and hard work to make these events successful. The PTA bought new benches for our school front and side entrances. These benches will help during our special education bus time and also help make our school more welcoming. We also sponsored our first cultural arts assembly of the year bringing dance into the school. Congratulations to our Dashing Dragons who ran in the 5K for Lily with many other members of our DES family. Great job runners! I also want to thank all of our volunteers. As you look at the list of volunteer help in the newsletter,

you will be amazed at how many people contribute in so many ways to make our school successful. December brings even more fun. The Holiday Shop began with an evening event on December 4 which doubled as a Spirit Night at Hornet’s Nest. Looking ahead into the new year, we will have the Read-A-Thon, Book Fair, and Science Fair. Please consider supporting our fifth grade by checking out the Kidstuff books that came home. Also, yearbooks are currently available for pre-order online. Be sure to join our Google group email list to keep up with all the latest news and events. To request an invitation to join, send an email to me at derbyjc@bellatlantic.net. I hope that you all have a happy and restful winter break!

~Christine Derby DES PTA President

President Christine Derby

VP Finance Brittany Marshall

VP Communications Melissa North

Treasurer Jaime Kemp

Recording Secretary Beth Walter

Damascus Elementary School PTA Board

Corresponding Secretary Laurie Murtaugh

PTA Website www.damascuspta.com

PTA Email desptamail@gmail.com

Advisory Board Lisa Willis

Tara Owens

Bingo Night Bingo Night was held on November 16, and it was a tremendous success! Thank you to all who attended. We had a wonderful time. A special thank you to our volunteers: Melody and Nancy, and especially our SSL students who helped the evening run smoothly by assisting our callers, checking boards, and managing the prize table. Thank you to Katherine, Henry, Hayden, Isabelle, Joshua, Addison, Ella, Ahmed, Matthew, and Leah.

Thank you also to our fifth grade for providing concessions, especially Erin, Stephanie, and Tara. Thanks to Beth for selling spirit wear. Finally, a super special thank you to our staff callers: Ms. Blakley, Ms. Moxley, Ms. Hunkeler, Ms. Chris, and Mr. Collins!

Fall is in full swing, and we have had so many amazing events that could not be possible without our volunteers! We finished the month of October with 221 volunteers giving 542 hours. November is off to a great start with 159 hours reported so far. We appreciate all of your time and effort! Remem-ber that DES is required to submit volunteer hours to the Montgomery County’s central office each month. So if you do volunteer in the classroom, on a committee, at an event, or in any other way that benefits our school, please email Christine at derbyjc@bellatlantic.net, so it can be included in our total hours that are submitted to Montgomery County each month. We also wanted to take this opportunity to recog-nize some of the people who have given time and resources during October and November. Thank you to all of the parents and helpers who made the October Halloween parties possible. This was a wonderful event! Thank you Jamie, Jen, Melissa, and all of the guest runners who helped make Dashing Dragons and our 5K race day a huge success! Thank you to our lunch helpers who helped during our staff transition: Jenny, Marina, Krista, and Christine. You helped lunch go much more smoothly. Thank you to Beth for organizing and all of the Grandparents’ Day helpers: Laurie, Kerry, Melissa, Jaime, Colleen, Beth, Kristen, Diane, Christine, and Josh. This was truly a special day for students and grandparents alike. Thank you to all who have been able to help with the Parents Helping Teachers workgroup: Theresa, Linda, Jody, Wendy, Kristen, Dawn, Shana, and Christine. We have accomplished an amazing amount of work, preparing classroom materials for our teachers.

Thank you to Melody, Sheila, Kelly, and the staff appreciation team who provided snacks for the teachers during conferences. Thank you to Leanne who organized our cultural arts assembly. Thank you Ashley for organizing our Spirit Nights! These are a great fundraiser for our school. Thank you to Christine, Melody, Beth, Stephanie, Erin, Tara, and Nancy who helped with Bingo Night and fifth grade concessions. Thank you also to our SSL students: Katherine, Henry, Hayden, Isabelle, Joshua, Addison, Ella, Ahmed, Matthew, and Leah for their help making the evening run more smoothly. Thank you to our media center helpers: Roberta, Beth, and Karen. We appreciate your help with our media classes. Thank you to Jamie and Andi for all of their work on the Book It! Program. Thank you to Beth and our team of photographers who are documenting our year for the yearbook, and Kerry for her work preparing our yearbook. Finally, thank you to all who help in the classroom with individual teachers, represent our school, and contribute their time in ways that may not have been mentioned. We appreciate you and all that you contribute! Thank you so much for all that you do to make our school a special place. It makes a huge difference!

Nancy Giganti and

Christine Derby

A newsletter from Principal Collins and the PTA Page 6

VOLUNTEER CORNER

Volunteer Training Requirement

If you took the training last year, you do not need to retake it this year. If you volunteer at school this year (including field trips), you need to bring a photo ID to enter the build-ing. You also must complete the online training on Child Abuse and Neglect which is designed to help volunteers be aware of signs of potential abuse and neglect and how to handle situations where you might suspect abuse and neglect. This training is required for adults who would like to volunteer within the school building or attend field trips. The same training is required for all Montgomery County schools, including Baker MS and Damascus HS. The training is available online at:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/childabuseandneglect/ The training takes about 25 minutes. At the end you will be provided with a confirmation number and the system will send you an e-mail showing that you have completed the training. You will need to show this confirmation e-mail to the office when you come to volunteer. If you have any questions or concerns or need computer access, please let me know at derbyjc@bellatlantic.net and I can work with you to help you get your confirmation of training.

~ Christine Derby, DES PTA President

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunity

Parents Helping Teachers: Fridays, December 15 and January 12 and 26 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. This is a drop-in opportunity where we help make copies and educational materials to help teachers. Please meet us in the main office if you can. No experience necessary.

A newsletter from Principal Collins and the PTA Page 7

Book It Congratulations to our October Book It winners! Our pizza party will be on Tuesday, December 5. We will draw for our November winners soon!

December calendars were sent home in folders last week, so READ, READ, READ! As a reminder, we'll be taking a short break for January while we hold our Read-A-Thon.

~ Andi and Jaime

Book Fair February 5-9 The Book Fair is coming in February! The theme this year is Paws for Books. As a school we have done an amazing job in years past, and we're hoping to continue the tradition. Please let me know if you are able to help.

~ Jaime Kemp

Dashing Dragons Our fall Dashing Dragons program was amazing! We changed it up a little bit, but the kids continue to surprise us at every turn. We thought it might be fun to see it in numbers, because it's easier than putting into words how proud we are of each and every runner.

6,858 Coffee Stirrers Collected 45 Determined Kids 3 Incredibly Happy Instructors

At the Lily's Hope 5k Walk/Run the kids were able to use everything they learned during the season, and they did great! On a more personal note, we as a group decided to donate the additional funds from our group to the Weaver Family. We are so proud that our school organization was able to donate $400 to Mrs. Weaver and her daughter Lily. Thank you all for your generosity and drive. We can't wait to see what the kids can do in the spring!

~ Jaime, Jen, and Melissa

A newsletter from Principal Collins and the PTA Page 8

The Holiday Shop Is Here! The DES holiday shop is a great opportunity for our children to shop for holiday gifts for their parents, grandparents, siblings, and other special friends. All gifts are priced from $0.25 to $10.00, with most items priced under $5.00. There are gifts available for all members of your family and all items are on a first come, first serve basis.

On Monday, December 4, students previewed the items in the Holiday Shop during lunch and recess. Each class will have a 30 minute time slot to go shop-ping during the day on Tuesday, December 5 and Wednesday, December 6. Be sure to send in the shopping budget envelope (sent home in your child’s backpack) with your child and check off who you would like your child to shop for, how much to spend, and include cash, check (made out to DES PTA), or a gift certificate (purchase online at www.holidayshop.org/giftcert). Volunteers will be on hand to help your child pick out gifts to fit their budgets.

PTA Spirit Nights Thank you to everyone who participated in our November Spirit Night at Maggi's and our December Spirit Night at Hornet’s Nest Grille. The next Spirit Night is Monday, January 8 at Chipotle in Damascus from 4 to 8 p.m. Hope to see you there!

December 4: PTA Spirit Night Fundraiser, Hornet’s Nest Grille, 11 a.m.—9 p.m. December 4-6: Holiday Shop December 4-6: Grade 2 InView Testing December 5: PTA Meeting, 7 p.m., Media Center December 15: Parents Helping Teachers Work Group, 9:30-11:30 a.m. December 18: Baker MS Feeder School Concert for Grade 5 Students December 25— NO SCHOOL for students and staff January 1: (Winter Break) January 8: Winter Concert January 8: PTA Spirit Night at Chipotle, 4-8 p.m. January 12: Parents Helping Teachers Work Group, 9:30-11:30 a.m. January 12: Read-A-Thon Kick Off Assembly January 15: NO SCHOOL – Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday January 25: Second Marking Period Ends January 26: Parents Helping Teachers Work Group, 9:30-11:30 a.m. January 26: NO SCHOOL – Professional Day

UPCOMING EVENTS AND IMPORTANT DATES

A newsletter from Principal Collins and the PTA Page 9

  

 

Sponsored by the PTA Sponsored by the PTA 

***DES READING CALENDAR*** December 2017

Record reading minutes daily. Turn in at least 3 calendars to earn a ticket to the end‐of‐year ICE CREAM party! 

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

Students must read 350 minutes/month to earn a FREE Pizza Hut personal pizza coupon.  Students who read at least 350 minutes this month will be placed in a drawing to have their Pizza Hut Lunch brought in to school and have a party with fellow students!   The December Calendar is DUE to your teacher by Friday January 5th. 

 

STUDENTS NAME: _____________________________  TEACHER: _____________________   TOTAL MINUTES: _______________________  

Please Check one of the follow boxes: ____  I give my child permission to eat a FREE LUNCH if they win the drawing.  Notice will be sent home to winners on the date of the FREE lunch.   ____  I DO NOT give my child permission to eat a FREE LUNCH if they win the drawing.     

Parent or Guardian’s Signature ____________________________________________________  

Call us today for a FREE estimate

301-253-0475 www.damascusenterprises.com

Design & Installation Ponds and Waterfalls

Outdoor Lighting Landscape Design* & Installation Paver Patios & Walkways

Retaining Walls Drainage Improvements

Pond & Landscape Services Pond Clean Out & Maintenance

Yard Clean Up, Spring & Fall Lawn Fertilization & Weed Control

Aeration & Seeding Edging & Mulching

Tree & Shrub Pruning Tree Removal & Stump Grinding Mowing & Trimming & Weeding

Leaf Removal K-9 Clean Up

Snow & Ice Management Handyman Services

Ponds Landscape Lighting

“Your Outdoor Project Experts”

* Fee for Design Work