Nantucket News and Notes

Nantucket is so very thankful to have Mrs. Werner as our Assistant Principal. She brings joy and support to our students, teachers, and families. Her presence brings smiles to the faces of our Starfish! Thank you for all of your hard work Mrs. Werner! We love you!

Nantucket Math Night will be happening on April 24th. We hope to see you there!

The safety of our community is of vital importance. The arrival and dismissal procedures below are shared and we ask that you follow them for the safety of all members of our community.

Quick Reminders:

• Parking in our local neighborhoods and blocking driveways is not allowed and is monitored by police. Students should not be dropped off and picked up in local neighborhoods at arrival and dismissal time.
  
• At the end of the day, all students should be picked up on time, by 2:45 PM. If you are unable to pickup your child by 2:45 PM, it is important that you make an alternate plan for someone to pickup your child. There is no one to supervise children in the office after 2:45 PM because teachers are engaged in professional development, collaborative planning, and meetings.
• Only individuals with Handicap License Plates and/or hang tags are permitted to park in designated Handicap spaces. Parking in these spaces without appropriate plates or tags may lead to ticketing by Anne Arundel County Police. We have asked the Police Department to help enforce this as a courtesy to our community members.
• In order to help ensure a safe and orderly departure from school for all students, early dismissals must be done prior to 2:05 PM; otherwise, the regular dismissal procedure will need to be followed. Students will not be dismissed between 2:05 and 2:25 PM.
• Have you noticed the new sign at the end of our Bus Loop? If you are exiting the Bus Loop, ONLY buses and childcare vans are permitted to turn left. Turning left is considered a traffic violation and you are subject to warnings and tickets from county police. If you need to turn left on Nantucket Drive and proceed toward Reidel Road, please utilize the Car Rider line for drop off in the morning. The bus loop is meant for buses only. If we cannot utilizes this loop safely with cars at arrival, then we will have to close the bus lane to cars during arrival.

Arrival Procedures

Arrival Procedures in Spanish

Dismissal Procedures

Dismissal Procedures in Spanish

Yearbooks are on sale!!! Don't forget to order yours today! Just head to the website below to purchase yours. Students find it so fun to be able to look back on the year they have had and see all the fun things they did with their friends here at Nantucket! Yearbook prices start at $20. The last day to order yearbooks is April 28, 2024. No additional yearbooks will be ordered!

5th Grade Parents/Guardians: You can purhcase an extra special ad in the yearbook for your rising 6th grader! Go to https://ybpay.com for more information!

Website: https://ybpay.com

Yearbook ID Code: 14089724

In honor of World Day for Cultural Diversity, we will be holding a fun after-school family event called NES Heritage Night where families will have the opportunity to share their culture and celebrate our diversity!

The event will be held on Monday, May 20th from 5:00-6:30 PM.

If you have ideas to make this event a success, we would love your support with planning and organizing!

Volunteers will attend two planning meetings held in-person from 2:45-3:45 on Tuesday, April 16 and Monday, May 13.

The NES PTA is seeking someone to fill the role of Membership Chair for the 24/25 School Year. This role starts with a larger time commitment at the beginning of the school year and then tends to slow down. As Membership Chair you will need to:

• Attend most Board Meetings (we understand life happens) and most General Membership PTA meetings to report your stats and contribute ideas.
• Continue to support the membership toolkit website we have set up.
• Work with the President to send mass emails if needed through the membership site.
• Add members throughout the year to the membership site (this slows a lot through the year).
• Attend Back-to-School-Night and New Student Orientation at the beginning of the year to help sign-up new members for the PTA.
• Maintain a list of members and share with needed committee chairs.
• Create additional perks for PTA members with the help of other board members.

The NES PTA is seeking enthusiastic members to fill the role of Fundraising Chair/Committee for the 24/25 School Year. This role would be a team effort alongside the President and other committee members. This position is a group effort and will not just be one person doing all the jobs and having the weight of each fundraiser on their shoulders. The President and the rest of the Board are very active in helping with fundraisers. As Fundraising Chair/Committee, you will need to:

• Attend most Board Meetings (we understand life happens) and most General Membership PTA meetings to report your stats and contribute ideas.
• Help with ideas for fundraisers.
• Help setup the fundraisers, see the fundraisers through, and complete/distribute the fundraisers items.
• Help to communicate to the school and families what needs to be done for each fundraiser. This includes making flyers and graphics for our social media pages.
• For the 24/25 school year, help with Boosterthon and Silent Auction. This includes getting local companies to donate for the auction.

The NES PTA is seeking a volunteer to fill the position of our Website Chair. This role would work closely with our Social Media and Newsletter Chairs. As Website Chair you will need to:

• Maintain and update the website throughout the school year.
• Add new features, pictures, graphics, events, and information to the website.
• Work with the newsletter chair to make sure everything is on the same page and all information is up to date.
• Keep all links working on the website.
• Create graphics and wording for the website if needed.

PowerSchool Parent Portal is a powerful, easy-to-use, secure communication tool connecting parents/guardians and schools.

Using the PowerSchool student information system, the Parent Portal allows collaboration to improve student achievement.

Online access to student schedules, forms, assignments, class grades and attendance information makes it easier for parents to monitor progress of students, in Kindergarten through grade 12, in real time.

Make sure to register for PowerSchool Parent Portal to access your child's marking-period progress. Contact our school secretaries at 410-451-6120 for assistance in accessing your pin number to create an account.

Each year parents/guardians are asked to verify their child's current information from the Student Information System. This is important because we need to have the most up-to-date contact information for you if there is an emergency at school. You will need your child's birthdate, student number, and the 5-digit pin number that was emailed to you previously. If you no longer have this pin number, please contact our secretaries at 410-451-6120. Access the Emergency Card Verification Report here.

At our Attendance Committee Meeting in April, the committee discussed all students who have 16 or more cumulative lawful and unlawful absences and 32 or more tardies and/or early dismissals.

Chronic absenteeism includes students who miss 10% or more of enrolled instructional days. AACPS recognizes a direct correlation between attendance and other academic measures, including grades and state test scores, so monitoring, communicating, and supporting families is necessary for improvement. Even if your student has had lawful absences and you have provided doctor's notes, you may be contacted about your child's chronic absenteeism.

Regular school attendance is very important to your child’s academic progress and success in school. Please try to schedule dental/medical appointments and other commitments for after school hours whenever possible. Please read the Attendance Section in our Family Handbook for more information regarding Attendance.

Nantucket's rule for cell phones is that they must be off and out of sight. Smart Watches may be worn; however, students may not use them throughout the day for communication or to take photographs. We have had a recent increase of students using both cell phones and Smart Watches throughout the day. If students are found to be using devices throughout the day, they will be asked to check their device in/out with staff at the start and end of day.

Please refrain from communicating with your child(ren) throughout the day on their device. If your child contacts you using their SMART Watch or cell phone, please ask them to call from the office or health room if they are sick.

Please do not send students to school with glass water bottles or food containers. We have had a number of incidents where shattered glass needs to be cleaned up. For the safety of all members of our community, please only send in plastic water bottles and food containers.

Students of all ages get dirty at recess, spill food on themselves, and have accidents. To limit missed instructional time, please send in a change of clothes for your child to keep in their locker. When they use the change of clothes, please send in a replacement set.

Breakfast is available in the school cafeteria each morning. Breakfast cost is $1.50 full price and is free for students qualifying for the free/reduced priced program.

Lunch may be purchased at school for $2.75. Milk may also be purchased during lunch for $0.55. You may pay for lunch in advance and use them as you like. This is encouraged as it avoids “lost” or “forgotten” monies. Checks/cash (payable to Nantucket Elementary Cafeteria) will be accepted in the school’s cafeteria or Meal Pay Plus offers you a convenient, easy, and secure way to make prepayments using your bank account or your Visa or MasterCard. Visit mealpayplus.com for more information and registration.

Application forms for free or reduced lunches need to be filled out online at the beginning of the school year. Families may qualify according to the federal income eligibility guidelines. All applications are kept confidential and are accepted at any time during the school year. If you were eligible for Meal Benefits last year, your benefits expired in October. Please make sure you reapply at the link above if you believe your family continues to be eligible.

Have we found your child's lost item? Our lost and found is growing each day. We have shoes, hat, jackets, sweatshirts, water bottles, umbrellas, etc. Any unclaimed items at the end of the year will be donated. Stop by school to locate your missing belongings!

Greetings from the Health Room!

Nurse Lauren and Mrs. Gina are excited to be back at Nantucket! Nurse Lauren splits her time with another local elementary school but is accessible by email nurse3282@aacps.org. Mrs. Gina, our Health Assistant will be here to care for our day-to-day needs. Our phone number is (410) 451-6135.

If your child requires medication during the school day, or for emergency purposes, please remember to have the student's doctor complete the Parent Request to Administer Medication at School form. A copy of the form can be found here. If you have a student with other healthcare needs or you have any questions, please reach out to our Nurse Lauren via email. Please check your student's take-home folder, we may be sending things home that may require your signature and need to be returned. Please remember that students may not carry medications at school without express consent from the health room. Medication drop-offs need to be an adult-to-adult transfer, please have a trusted adult bring the medication to the health room.

Be sure to send an extra set of clothes for your child to be kept in their locker. This helps ensure a quick return to class for students of any age. Spills, trips, and mishaps happen! Please help us and your student be prepared to face life's unexpected challenges.

Nantucket's Health Room is currently in need of some supplies as we proceed into the second half of the school year. If you are interested in helping our Health Room with the supplies needed for the next half of the school year, please click on the wishlist found here.

• April 4: End of 3rd Marking Period - 2HR Early Dismissal at 12:25 PM
• April 5: End of 3rd Marking Period - 2HR Early Dismissal at 12:25 PM
• April 8: 4th and 5th Grade MCAO
• April 9: 4th and 5th Grade MCAP; 3th Grade Field Trip to the MD Science Center
• April 10: School Closed for Eid al-Fitr
• April 11: 4th and 5th Grade MCAP
• April 12: 4th and 5th Grade MCAP; Crofton High School's International Night
• April 15: 3rd Grade MCAP
• April 16: 3rd Grade MCAP
• April 17: 3rd Grade MCAP; Kindergarten Field Trip to Down's Park
• April 18: Spring Picture Day

Spring individual and class pictures will be taken on April 18th. Watch for more information to come home next week!

• Nantucket Elementary School Website
• 2023 - 2024 AACPS School Calendar
• 2023 - 2024 Nantucket Family Handbook
• 2023 - 2024 AACPS Student Handbook
• 2023 - 2024 AACPS Parent Handbook
• Food and Nutrition Services
• Apply for Free and Reduced Meals
• Create an online Meal Payment Account with MyPaymentsPlus
• Parents Request to Administer Medication at School (PRAM)
• Chaperone/Volunteer Information