End of Year News

Dear Fields Road Families:

The 2019-2020 school year has come to an end! Thank you to all of the parents and families for your support during all phases of our distance learning. We know that at times, the virtual learning experience had some challenges, but we did it! We made it to the end of the school year! We wouldn’t have been able to do it without a strong partnership between home and school, so thank you for your support. Please make sure that you read all parts of this newsletter. It includes important information about kindergarten registration, staffing changes, retrieval of student items, race and equality, summer programs, and the 5th grade promotion.

The end of this school year is different than the others. This is not the last newsletter that you will receive until the fall. We will send out updates with information from the county as we receive them, even during the summer months. The newsletter will not be sent out every Sunday. We will send out any important updates and information as we receive them.

Have a great and safe summer!

Mrs. Erica Williams

Principal

Please spread the word to your neighbors and friends! It is not too late to enroll students for kindergarten. If you know of any families in our area with kindergarten eligible students, please encourage them to complete their registration today!

Thank you!

Fields Road Elementary will offer curbside pick up of student items on June 25th and June 26th. We will provide this service to cars from 8 am – 4 pm, on these days. We ask you to follow the schedule details provided below. We have scheduled this time to distribute classroom items curbside for the retrieval of your child’s belongings, in an effort to service our families while decreasing the risks to our community.

All returning students, please keep your Chromebooks, media center books, and instruments home with you this summer. You may return them in the fall. Students who are moving on to middle school - Please return your school owned musical instruments when you come to retrieve your items.

Locations

• Car Riders Curbside Pick up - Bus loop in front of the building

• Walkers - Black top in front of the school

Please follow CDC guidelines. You must practice social distancing and wear a face covering. Drivers and occupants are not permitted to exit the vehicle.

In addition to virtual summer school for high school credit courses, MCPS elementary, middle and high schools will offer a variety of summer program experiences in an online model. The goal of these programs will be to keep students engaged and learning during the summer months; address the loss of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic; and offer a variety of specialized opportunities that are of interest to students. Our vision for summer programs is that all students in MCPS will have an opportunity to participate in academic and enrichment programs this summer. Generally, programs will run from one to three weeks beginning July 13, depending on the program.

We are excited to share that Fields Road ES, Jones Lane ES, and Rachel Carson ES will be working together to offer summer programs for students in all three schools! The summer program will offer our students the opportunity to work with students from our school while possibly making new friends with students from the other schools. Please click on the registration link below to see more information about the courses being offered.

We continue to see demonstrations and hear discussions related to race and equality in response to events in the news that have taken place recently. Fields Road ES is a diverse school community that embraces it's diversity. Some schools in the county have already started to have discussions about how race and equality impacts their students and community. Fields Road is open to having such discussions with parents who are interested. There may be parents who have ideas about how Fields Road can continue to work together as a community to create change to support race and equality. If there are any parents who wish to share their ideas, please do not hesitate to reach out to the school. Your ideas can include ways that we can continue the work this summer and into the fall when we return to school. You may contact me at Erica_Williams@mcpsmd.org to share or discuss your ideas. I look forward to hearing from you.

Please continue to take advantage of the county resources over the summer. The resources offer great suggestions for ways that all of us individually and/or collectively can take action to make a change for the better.

An Educators’ Guide to this Moment begins with three personal pieces, followed by resources and tools divided into four parts:

• Educate Yourself
• Lead with an Anti-Racist Mindset
• Tools for Educators to Engage Students
• Resources for Parents to Talk with Their Children About Racism

The MCPS Division of Psychological Services also has resources available to staff and families for support and understanding. They are listed below.

Understanding Race and Privilege
Talking to Children About Violence
Lesson Plans for Secondary Students

We will miss all of our 5th grade students and families! Thank you to our 5th grade parents for all of your support this year and throughout your years at Fields Road! Thank you to our 5th grade teachers for all of your hard work this year! Thank you to the 5th grade parent planning committee for all of your hard work in making sure that our 5th graders had a wonderful year, including the great clap out with the goody bags! Thank you to Mrs. Sanders-G and her daughter, Mythili, for creating such a wonderful 5th grade promotion video!

Congratulations 5th graders! Good luck next year! Please come back and visit! We are so proud of you!