DES Family News

I hope you are having a great weekend! Please read the most recent updates and information related to CCPS and DES happenings.

Kind regards,

Principal Crebs

Each year, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) releases the accountability report card for all schools in the state of Maryland. Designed to measure the success of schools and identify areas for improvement, the report card was developed in response to the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a federal law that seeks to ensure public schools provide a quality education for all children. For complete information, please visit the MD School Report Card page of the CCPS website.

Caroline County Public Schools is happy to announce that nominations for both the 2024-2025 Teacher of Year and the Support Employee of the Year are now open. All members of the CCPS community, including staff, students, families and community are invited to submit nominations.

Nominations for both awards must be submitted no later than February 15, 2024.

Teacher of the Year Nomination Form – Full-time classroom, resource, or media teachers who spend the majority of their time teaching are eligible. Nominees must have completed a minimum of five years of teaching by June 2022 and be tenured. Caroline County’s selection will automatically represent Caroline County in the Maryland Teacher of the Year program.

Support Employee of the Year Nomination Form – Support employees must have completed a minimum of two (2) years of service with the school system as of June 2022 and must be a regular employee. Support employees are: custodial/ maintenance staff, Family Support Services/ child development staff, Food Services staff, Health Services staff, instructional services staff, secretarial staff and technology staff and transportation staff.

For additional information, Communications Officer Sandi Barry, barry.sandra@ccpsstaff.org or Supervisor of Human Resources Rob Willoughby, willoughby.robert@ccpsstaff.org.

DES Office HOURS: 8:00-4:15 pm Monday-Friday

DES Teacher Hours: 8:30-4:00 pm Monday-Friday

Instructional Day: Doors open @ 8:45 and dismissal begins at 3:40 pm

February

Black History Month

Career & Technology Education Month

School Based Health Centers Month

February 5th-9th, School Counselors Week

February 5th, 2nd Quarter Report Cards Released

February 6th, BOE Meeting @ 6:00 pm

February 9th, Early Dismissal

February 12th, PTA Meeting @ 6:00 pm

February 14th, Happy Valentine's Day

February 15th, SRO Appreciation Day

February 19th, No School, President's Day

As changes and or more updates arise we will keep families informed on Apptegy.

Beginning with Quarter 3, CCPS will no longer be sending home printed report cards. Grade Reports (interim and quarterly) will be sent by email to parent/guardians, using PowerSchool’s digital document delivery.

Please check PowerSchool to verify that your email is correct, or contact the school to provide them with your email address. Parents/guardians who have not provided their email will be contacted by the school to help ensure they are not missing important information.

In addition to receiving grade reports by email, the information will also be available in the PowerSchool Parent Portal at carolineschools.org/page/powerschool.

If you need any further information or assistance, please contact the school office.

A partir del 3.º trimestre, CCPS dejará de enviar a casa las libretas de calificaciones impresas. Las libretas de calificaciones (intermedias y trimestrales) se enviarán por correo electrónico a los padres o tutores mediante el envío de documentos digitales de PowerSchool.

Consulte PowerSchool para verificar que su correo electrónico sea correcto o comuníquese con la escuela para proporcionar su dirección de correo electrónico. La escuela se comunicará con los padres o tutores que no hayan proporcionado su correo electrónico para garantizar que no les falte información importante.

Además de recibir las libretas de calificaciones por correo electrónico, la información también estará disponible en el Portal de Padres PowerSchool en carolineschools.org/page/powerschool.

Si necesita más información o ayuda, comuníquese con la oficina escolar.

Please do not pull into the bus lane (directly in front of DES) during our arrival and dismissal times:

8:45-9:05AM NO TRAFFIC OTHER THAN BUSES

3:40-4:05PM NO TRAFFIC OTHER THAN BUSES

If you are entering or exiting from the walker area, please do not walk directly out in front of our buses but wait until they completely exit the lot.

Thank you for helping us keep our bus drivers and students safe!

Two days that were originally scheduled to be half days for PreK Program students (both three and four year olds) have been changed to full days in the 2023-2024 school year calendar.

• Thursday, February 8 – now a full day

Parents will still have the opportunity to conference with their child’s teacher on regular conference days.
Changes were made due to the logistics of transporting one group of students mid-day while maintaining the full day schedule for the majority of students. In addition, half days for only PreK students had the potential to create a daycare hardship for families.

These changes are now reflected in the one-page calendar on the website.

Emailing School & District Staff

Spam filters are designed to identify emails that attackers or marketers use to send unwanted or dangerous content. They also throw out malware, malicious, and virus-infested emails and protect user security. Unfortunately, spam filtering is an inexact science that at times blocks legitimate messages.

Should you send an email to a staff member and not receive a reply within a reasonable amount of time (no more than 48 hours), please call the office.

Good attendance for your student begins on the first day of the school year.
Consider the following facts:

• Chronic absenteeism may prevent children from reaching early milestones.

• Chronically absent students have difficulty keeping up with the pace at which they are expected to learn and grow.

• Students who are absent even a day or two every few weeks fall behind their peers.

• Irregular attendance can be a better predictor of whether students will drop out before graduation than test scores.

• Consistent, on-time attendance is a habit that lasts into adulthood.

In addition to wanting the best possible education for your child, we also closely monitor absences because Maryland law requires that children ages 5-18 attend school. Students may be withdrawn if not attending school regularly; students not enrolled or attending will be considered truant.

How Can Parents Encourage Good Attendance?

• Build good attendance habits early so children know that getting to school on time every day is important!

• Set a regular bedtime & morning routine, laying out clothes and backpacks the night before.

• Avoid scheduling appointments & trips when school is in session.

• Don't let your child stay home unless he/she is truly sick.

• Consider that sometimes a stomach ache or headache is a sign of anxiety. If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to the school about helpful resources.

All medications, whether prescription or over-the-counter, including cough drops and ointments, must be kept in the health room with the exception of state mandated emergency medications. Medications must be brought to school by a parent or responsible adult, be in the original labeled container and must be accompanied by a Maryland State School Medication Administration Form signed by both the prescribing medical or dental provider and the parent or legal guardian. A new medication administration form is required at the beginning of each school year for each medication and each time there is a change in dosage or time of administration of a medication. Any medications remaining after the order is discontinued or at the end of the school year will be destroyed unless picked up by a parent or other responsible adult within the designated time frame.

Healthy vision and hearing is important for your child’s success in school. State law requires school systems to have students’ hearing and vision screened when they enter the school system for the first time and in the first grade. Hearing and vision screenings are scheduled to begin on 10/23/23.

Students who should not be included in the screenings include:

• Those whose parents/guardians object in writing to the screenings on the grounds that it conflicts with the tenets and practice of a recognized church or religious denomination of which they are a member;

• Those with known hearing loss, including but not limited to, students with cochlear implants or hearing aids; and

• Those who present evidence of testing within the last year.

If your child falls into any of these categories or if you have any questions, please reach out to the school nurse directly at 410-479-2916 or via email at miller.rachel@ccpsstaff.org

All Caroline County Public School students may eat breakfast and lunch free of charge this year, with no application needed. CCPS now participates in the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows free meals for all students in schools in low-income areas. There will still be a charge for extra items such as snacks. School menus may be found on the Caroline Schools, MD free mobile app and on all CCPS websites.

DES is a Title I School receiving federal funds to improve instruction in math and reading.

Parents of students attending Title 1 schools may request information about the professional qualifications of their child's teachers. Parents of elementary students may request in writing to the school principal information about their child's teacher including:

* Any college or university degree or certification held.

* The subject area of the teacher's degree or certification.

* Whether the teacher is certified by the State of Maryland to teach a grade level or subject area.

* Whether the teacher holds a provisional certificate.

* Whether the child is served by paraprofessionals and, if so, parents may request their professional qualifications.

All DES dismissal changes must be made by 12:00pm each day. This allows time to ensure that the teacher, student, and dismissal staff are all aware of the changes.

Caroline County Public Schools prohibits discrimination in its educational programs, and in employment, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, or disability.

Email: crebs.sarah@ccpsstaff.org
Location: 303 Sharp Road, Denton, MD, USA
Phone: 410-479-1660

Assistant Principal Mrs. Lindsay Grow

Email: grow.lindsay@ccpsstaff.org