MHES Eagle News
Oct 2023
Marumsco Hills ES is a diverse community of learners committed to excellence.
October School Calendar Dates
Oct 2 - Oct 6: Book Fair
Oct 3 - 2nd and 3rd Bookelicious Author Visit
Oct 2 - Oct 27: PALS testing Kindergarten
Oct 9 - No School, Professional Learning Day
Oct 13 - Multicultural Night, 6pm-8pm
Oct 16 - 3rd Grade Field Trip
Oct 16 - Bus Evacuation Drill
Oct 18 -Title I Parent Information Session, 9:00
Oct 18 - Family Food Market at MHES, 4:30pm-6:30pm
Oct 19 - Earthquake Drill
Oct 23 - Oct 27: NNAT Testing: 2nd Grade
Oct 23 - Oct 31: Red Ribbon Spirit Week
Oct 25 - 5th Grade Field Trip
Oct 25 - 4th Grade Pops Concert
Oct 26 - Picture Day
Oct 27 - Kindergarten Field Trip
Oct 27 - 5th Grade Pops Concert
Oct 28 - Trunk or Treat (2:00-4:00)
Oct 30 - Nov 3: COGAT Testing: 3rd Grade
It's Book Fair Time!
MHES will be having our annual Book Fair! The Book Fair will take place during the week of Oct 2-6.
We are excited to host a Bedford Falls Book Fair for the first time at Marumsco Hills! There will be many great titles for students to browse and purchase. As always, any purchases made by our Marumsco Hills families help to support our school library. If you would like to set up Book Bucks for your student to purchase books, please use the link or the QR code below. Make sure you choose whether you want any leftover balance returned to your account OR if you would like to donate it towards our library. Thank you for your support!
https://kidcredit.bedfordfallsusa.com/kidCredit.php?fairID=15738
Marumsco Hills is excited to offer the Bookelicious reading program to our students this school year. Students in grades K-3 will have two virtual author visits this and students in grades 3-5 will engage with the Bookelicious website in order to self-select books for their home library through student voice and choice. Bookelicious blends research on reading motivation, expert curation by teachers and librarians, and personalization enabled by artificial intelligence, to match readers with books they truly want to read. Bookelicious.com works like a personal librarian, matching readers with a curated collection of topic-specific, high-quality, age-appropriate books at the right level of difficulty.
PWCS Title I Family Camp 2023
Date: Saturday, October 15, 2023
Time: 8:30am - 12:30pm
Location: Hampton MS
We are so excited about our upcoming division level event. We are proud to be having our seventh annual PWCS Title I Family Camp 2023 on Saturday, October 14, 2023, from 8:30am – 12:30pm. All Title I families are welcome to come. PWCS Title I Family Camp runs in a conference format. Families can attend three sessions. We have various presentations under three categories: instructional, mental health & behavior, and community connection. Families do register for it. Registration window is from August 31st – October 5th. Interpretation will be available and can be requested during the registration process. Family Camp Website
https://www.pwcs.edu/academics___programs/title_i/family_engagement/family_camp/index
MHES Annual Title I Meeting
Join us for Donuts and discover all the ways Title I and other services support our school community. Come learn about our school-wide Title I Plan, MHES School Compact, and Family Engagement Events! Meet our parent liaison, school counselors, school nurse, and gifted program teacher.
Date: Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Time: 9:00 AM
Place: Library
* Light breakfast refreshments will be served.
Thank you Kappa Epsilon Psi! 💛💙
We’d like to give a huge shoutout to Kappa Epsilon Psi for their generous donation of school supplies! We value your partnership and support with ensuring our students have the tools for academic success!
Lexia Learning Leaders
We have some Lexia Learning Leaders in the building! These students have worked so hard to gain the most units in their ENTIRE grade level during the month of August!
Camp Read A Lot đź“–
Dr. Huff, professor from Shenandoah University and Camp Read A Lot director has partnered with Marumsco Hills ES to increase students motivation to read, enthusiasm for learning, and increase literacy in each classroom by extending Camp Read A Lot into the school year. We have identified reading ambassadors who attended Camp Read A Lot. Each class received a copy of The Dot Book to read on September 18th. Each month we will have a new book to highlight. Our goal is to build a reading culture, in which students are excited about reading. Camp Read A Lot Ambassadors met with Dr. Huff from Shenandoah University to engage in an amazing read aloud book discussion. We are excited about this partnership as we bolster the reading culture at our school!
MHES celebrated International Dot Day on Monday, September 18
What is the purpose of International Dot Day? International Dot Day is celebrated based upon a wonderful picture book titled, "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. This is a story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “make her mark”. What begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confidence and courage, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing, which has gone on to inspire countless children and adults around the globe. Each classroom teacher received a copy of the book, "The Dot" to read aloud to their class. From painting to writing, students and staff participated in many creative activities during our International Dot Day celebration!
2nd grade students had a hands-on learning experience that included shucking corn with the cafeteria team and PWCS Nutrition! 🌽
Science 4 Everyone Assembly
MHES students were engaged in a variety of science activities.
Perfect Attendance Celebration🎉🎉
Congratulations to Ms. Wilson’s 2nd Grade class who was celebrated for having perfect attendance during the month of August! Which class will be next?
Attendance
Attendance is extremely important. We want our students to be in school every day, unless they are sick. Students should arrive to school beginning at 8:30 each day. Class begins at 8:45. Students should be in school by 8:45 to avoid being tardy. Students are considered chronically absent when they miss 10 or more days each school year. This includes excused and unexcused absences. If a student misses 1 day every month of the school year, they will be considered chronically absent. Please avoid taking trips and vacation during the school year. Thank you for your assistance in ensuring that your child is in class each day. If your child currently has 10 or more absences (excused and unexcused), a doctors note will be required for any additional absences to be marked excused.
Red Ribbon Week Oct 23 - Oct 31
We will have Red Ribbon Spirit week to celebrate a drug-free school.
Monday, Oct 23 - "Red-y" for Red Ribbon Week (Wear red)
Tuesday, Oct 24 - "Hats off to being healthy" (Wear a hat)
Wednesday, Oct 25 - "Looking into a bright future" (Wear sunglasses)
Thursday, Oct 26 - "Sock it to Drugs!" (Wear crazy socks or mix match socks)
Friday, Oct 27 - "Spotted Being a Genius" (Wear spots or a print)
Monday, Oct 30 - "Be a Good Sport" (Wear a jersey or a sports team)
Tuesday, Oct 31 - "My Character Counts" (Dress as a book character)
It's Trunk or Treat Time! đźŤđźŤ¬đźŤ«
We will have our 3rd Annual Fall Trunk or Treat on Saturday, October 28 from 2:00-4:00p.m. Staff members and families can participate by decorating their cars and having candy and trinkets available for those who attend the event. Be on the lookout for more information to be sent home!
Leader in Me
Learning Targets
Thank you parents for being involved in your child's education. We want you to know all about the great things your child is learning. Below you can click on the link where you can read about the Learning Targets for this month. The Learning Targets focus on the skills required based on the Standards of Learning (SOL).
Digital Leaders
Students have been learning, discussing, and demonstrating how they can be digital leaders when using their devices at home and at school!
Technology Corner
Health Updates
As the cooler weather comes, so does the influx of colds, illnesses and germs! If your child is sick, please keep them at home until they are well enough to return to school. Students must be fever-free without the use of fever reducing medication (Tylenol, ibuprofen) for 24 hours before returning to school. Students must be free from vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours before returning to school. Frequent handwashing with soap and water is the best prevention to help students stay healthy! We are still seeing an influx of Covid in our community. The current Covid guidance for isolation can be found here.
Lastly, Nurse Megan is in need of clean plastic grocery store bags without holes. We use the plastic bags to send home soiled clothes and our stock is running low. If you can donate some plastic grocery bags, please send them to school with your child.
Bullying Prevention Information for Parents
Please click on the link to read information about Bullying Prevention. Bullying is NOT tolerated in any Prince William County School.
https://marumscohillses.pwcs.edu/our_school/bullying_information_for_families
PARENT CORNER
The Family Food Market is here! Join us on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 from 4:30pm-6:30pm. Families will have a variety of fresh produce to choose from, as well as some shelf stable items. Be sure to bring your reusable bags to take home your FREE food. Can you volunteer to help set up and distribute the food? If so, please contact Tamara Vasquez, Parent Liaison at the school. You can also email Ms. Vasquez at VasqueAT@pwcs.edu.
Parental Notification of Assessment Opt Out Policies Under the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015
According to the Virginia Department of Education, "All students in tested grade levels and courses are expected to participate in Virginia's assessment program, unless specifically exempted by state or federal law or by Board of Education regulations." On December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) was signed into law. Section 1112(e)(2) of ESSA states that parents of students in Title I schools have a right to know about state or division policies regarding student participation in any assessments mandated by ESSA, including any policy, procedure, or parental right to opt students out of such assessments. The Commonwealth of Virginia does not currently have an Opt Out policy for SOL assessments. However, Section 22.1-253.13:3.C of the Code of Virginia states that, “The Board of Education shall not include in its calculation of the passage rate of a Standards of Learning assessment for the purposes of state accountability any student whose parent has decided to not have his child take such Standards of Learning assessment, unless such exclusions would result in the school's not meeting any required state or federal participation rate.” Prince William County Public Schools regulations state that, if a parent or guardian decides to not have a student take a state or local assessment, then the person making the request should be informed about the academic consequences that decision could have on the student.
If you would like to receive more information about this topic, please contact the Ms. Cuocci.
Parental Right to Information About Teachers
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act most recently reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds Act, states that parents in Title I schools have the right to request certain information about their child’s teachers.
The information that you have a right to request about your child’s teacher is:
1. Whether the teacher has met state qualifications and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subjects the teacher is teaching.
2. Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which state qualification or licensing has been waived.
3. The baccalaureate degree major of certification or degree held by the teacher, and the field of discipline of the certification or degree.
4. Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.
At Marumsco Hills Elementary, we are extremely proud of our teachers and paraprofessionals, and are happy to provide you with any of the information above pertaining to your child’s teacher(s). If you have such a request, please call the school at 703-494-3252 and ask for the information you are interested in.
Marumsco Hills Elementary School
Email: cuoccija@pwcs.edu
Website: https://marumscohillses.pwcs.edu/
Location: 14100 Page St, Woodbridge, VA 22191, USA
Phone: 703-494-3252
Twitter: @MHES_Eagles