Middleborough Elementary January 2017 Jamie Basignani, Principal Sharon Fischer, Assistant Principal 313 West Road, Essex, MD 21221 (410) 887-0160 main office (410) 887-0161 fax (410) 887-0471 nurse Dear Mariner Families, www.middleboroughes.bcps.org Follow us on Twitter @middleboroughes Like us on Facebook @middleboroughes Happy 2017 to one and all!!! We hope everyone had a relaxing break and we send our sincere thanks your way for your continued support of our programs!! Please review the enclosed information regarding weather-related closings. It is our hope that you will keep it handy so you may refer to it as needed!! Please, please, please be sure you have updated all information with our office. On days that the county closes early, please refrain from calling our office so that our phone lines may remain open. This month, students in grades K-5 will participate in the MAP assessments. We would like to remind all of our students to come to school well-rested and ready to show what they know! Sincerely, Jamie Basignani, Principal Sharon Fischer, Assistant Principal Upcoming Events January 11 Chick-Fil-A Night Middle River, 5-8 pm January 12 Team BCPS Day Wear your Mariner blue! January 13 End of quarter 2 - schools close 3 hours early January 16 - Schools closed Martin Luther King Jr s Birthday January 17 - Schools closed Professional Development January 19 Mariner Spirit Day January 26 Mariner Spirit Day Report cards sent home COMING NEXT MONTH: February 17 Professional Development - schools close 3 hours early February 20 - Schools closed The Mariner Page 1 of 5
Building Our Classroom Libraries We are accepting donations of gently used books to add to our classroom collections. If you have some to donate, please send them to Mrs. Fischer s attention. We are continuing to work on labeling and distributing books. We have materials to box up for removal, books to level, and materials to label. If you are able to contribute any amount of time, we would appreciate it! Please email Mrs. Fischer at sfischer2@bcps.org to RSVP. Attendance Notification Our School Hours 8:45 am - 9:05 am Arrival 3:25-3:45 pm Dismissal Please take note of the dismissal time. If car-riding/walking students are present at 3:45, emergency contacts will be called. As listed in the Superintendent s Board Policy and Rule, parents are notified on each school day, at approximately 10 am, if their child is marked absent in the attendance system. The call is made through our automated system. Team BCPS Blue Day on Thursday, January 12 Lost and Found Team BCPS Day and a wave of blue pride will return on Thursday, January 12, 2017. All members of Team BCPS (current, former and future students, families, staff, volunteers, partners, and supporters of the school system) are encouraged to wear blue and share messages about what Team BCPS means to them. On January 12, as in past years, everyone in the school system and community will be invited to wear our MARINER blue and to use creative means to share their blue pride. On this day or beforehand, photos, videos, and messages can be shared with BCPS via social media, using hashtag #BCPSblue. Many items are found each day that are lost by our students. We have a lost and found area outside the cafeteria and set up a table from time to time for students to check. It would be most helpful if students clothes, supplies, etc. are labeled with their name or initials which will help us return the items when they are lost. Please help us in this endeavor so your child doesn t lose a valuable item. Winter Weather As the cooler weather approaches and there is a need to heat the school building, it s important to know that Baltimore County Public Schools maintains room temperatures within the range of 68 to 70 degrees during the heating season. It is recommended that your child store a sweatshirt or The Mariner Page 2 of 5
sweater in his/her classroom to wear in the event he/she becomes cold. Please be sure to label the item with your child s name, and listen to the weather report each morning so your child selects clothes to wear to school that match the weather. BCPS Inclement Weather Policy With the onset of cooler weather and the potential for inclement weather, we want to remind you of the policy as well as communication for weather-related closings. Information about school operations is announced publicly as soon as possible on the following outlets: BCPS Now for Android and ios, BCPS Web Home Page, BCPS TV (Comcast Cable Channel 73), 410-887-5555, local radio and television stations, and www.schools-out.com. In the event that school closes early, please review your family s plan regarding early dismissal with your child. Frequent reviews and reminders will help your child be prepared to follow your family s plan whenever it is needed. How does BCPS decide whether to close or delay the opening of schools for inclement weather? Keeping children and staff safe is the main factor in any decision to close or delay the opening of schools. Information about the weather is gathered and considered from many sources before a decision is made. BCPS receives hourly updates from AccuWeather and other weather information sources about current local weather conditions and forecasted conditions. As early as 2:30 a.m. on a school day, a team of school transportation personnel patrols county roads, bus stops, and known problem areas and reports on road conditions. In addition, reports are collected and considered from the Maryland State Police and Baltimore County highways department. School personnel consider the safety of walking routes, sidewalks, school driveways, bus loops, and school parking lots. BCPS confers with county transportation officials as well as neighboring school systems to confirm weather reports, track the progress of a storm, and determine the condition of streets and sidewalks. Why does BCPS close schools or delay opening schools for inclement weather? To provide a quality education for every student, BCPS supports every opportunity to ensure that students are in class and learning; however, when weather conditions or forecasted conditions threaten the safety of children and staff, we must make decisions to curtail class time to ensure that those we teach are able to get to school safely or return home without incident. What happens when a decision is made to close or delay schools? When the Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools decides to close or delay school openings because of inclement weather, the decision is made with great care and deliberation. Many aspects of school operations are affected bus and staff schedules must be altered; parents must be notified; and the media must be informed. Timing is crucial, as BCPS is a large school system with more than 103,000 students. If schools are to close for the day, an announcement will be made by 5:30 a.m. If schools are to close early, or if afternoon or evening The Mariner Page 3 of 5
programs are to be cancelled, the decision will be made as much in advance as possible. Once the decision is made, it is communicated within minutes to the media, to the BCPS web site, and to the Education Channel (cable channel 73), the BCPS school status information phone line, and to parents and the community. Safeguards are provided to ensure that the information is accurate, up-to-date, and reliable. What other factors are at work when inclement weather threatens? BCPS is a large system. Each day, nearly 800 school buses transport more than 70,000 students to and from school over thousands of miles of county roads. The decision to close schools because of weather is almost always for the entire BCPS system. Weather, unlike a power outage or water main break, is not confined to a single area and can spread to different parts of the county. Therefore, the most severe weather conditions within the county are used as the basis for the decision-making criteria. A uniform procedure to close all schools is maintained so that the school system may respond quickly to emergency weather conditions and protect the safety and wellbeing of students and staff. Also, decisions to close or delay schools are often influenced by factors such as school or bus lot accessibility. Most main roads may be clear, for instance, but parking lots and sidewalks at many of the county s schools may still be snow-covered. Or schools may be closed early before a storm to enable the system s buses to get all children home safely before conditions are expected to become hazardous. All factors involved in making the decision to close schools, delay the opening of schools, or end the school day early are in the best interest of students and are intended to keep children out of harm s way. Value of the Month Our second success skill is self-control. Throughout the month of January, students will be recognized for demonstrating self-control. Self-control is the ability to control one's actions in ageappropriate ways. The degree to which we are able to maintain self-control is especially important when we're bothered about something. Talking back and acting up are some symptoms of a child's inability to control impulses, de-escalate confrontations, and manage anger and other strong feelings. The good news is that self-control can be taught and improved. If we want our students to develop and flex their self-control muscles, we must present them with (somewhat limited) choices so that they can learn to take responsibility for their behaviors while we stand back (even if it means gritting our teeth). Children must learn to consider alternatives, make a decision, and accept the consequences. Of course, these consequences may be difficult or even painful for students, so we must guide them, without shielding them, in a spirit of care. Ask your child if they have earned their Self-Control Brag Tag!! The Mariner Page 4 of 5
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