Meadow Hall Staff Newsletter

This week is National School Bus Safety Week! If your students have extra time and want to make a card for their bus driver this week, please encourage them to do so. This could be a great (optional) activity during indoor recess one day. Admin will be honoring our bus drivers as well:)

At this time all grade levels have passed the Routines portion of Benchmark and are well into Unit 1 or 2. Please be sure to consistently enter reading and writing grades as outlined in the expectation document.

Dismissal

In order to shorten the time we are taking for dismissal and increase the instructional time at the end of the day, we will be altering the dismissal procedures:

3:20pm - 1st bell rings; only Patrols go to their posts

3:20-3:25 - grades K/1 may walk out their classes as they are ready

3:25 - 2nd bell rings; all students are dismissed (KAH, bus, car riders, walkers... everyone)

The first couple days we will still announce, but ultimately the school will dismiss by bell only (not by announcements).

We are asking that teachers also review these dismissal procedures and remind students of expectations to...

1. walk; no running
2. go directly to their location (bus line, KAH, APR for car riders, outside for walkers or their after school activity)
3. If in bus line or at car rider tables....must be seated

Evidence of Learning Reminder

Evidence of Learning assessments in Performance Matters or Paper-Pencil should not be sent home as they are secure documents.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

• Conferences should be offered in person and virtually (zoom, google meets, or phone). Please allow any platform that is easiest for our families.

• Parents that do not sign up or show up for a conference need to be contacted twice (at least once by phone) to schedule.

• If parents continues to no-show, enter attempts to contact in synergy contact log.

• Teachers are responsible for signing up for a translator or using language line. We are requesting a Spanish translator for the afternoons of November 21st and 22nd.

• Conferences may be conducted any time from November 7th to 30th.

• Plan to speak to data, grades, and social-emotional wellbeing of the student.

• Gather information from ELD, SPED and focus teachers to speak about all aspects of a child's progress.

• Coordinate and invite ELD and SPED teachers when possible.

Message from Chief of District Operations

To prepare for the heating season, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will begin converting school mechanical equipment from air conditioning to heat during the next few weeks. Beginning on Monday, October 17, 2022, schools will be converted in the following order of priority—elementary schools first and then secondary schools. Unlike residential systems, most of our schools cannot switch automatically from air conditioning to heating because the same piping is used for heating and cooling. Air conditioning will not be available after the changeover process begins. Preventive Maintenance Technicians and Specialists will assist mechanics as needed during the conversion process. Air conditioning will be turned off and heat made available between October 17 and November 4, depending on weather conditions. It will take approximately three weeks to convert all MCPS facilities. We will make every effort to ensure that the semi-annual changeover takes place with as little inconvenience as possible.

Starting October 17th through October 31st, two buckets of candy will be making their way around the school. When you find the bucket on your desk, grab some candy for yourself and any other staff that "lives" in that office/classroom. Tape a ghost image on your doorway so everyone knows that space already was "booed" and secretly pass on the bucket to another office or classroom space. Over the course of the next two weeks, all staff members should receive one of the buckets with yummy treats.

If you find a bucket is running low on treats, let Ilana know and she will refill:)

**Candy is only for staff members

Monday, October 24th is a professional day and all MCEA staff work their contractual hours in the building. Staff has shown a lot of interest in the optional "PL camp" so we have scheduled focus groups meeting around that time. Please see the schedule below and inform Ilana of any conflicts.

8:30-9:15 - 3rd grade focus group

9:30-11:30 - PL Camp (optional)

10:30-11:30 - Core Team mtg

11:30-12 - Lunch

12-12:45 - 1st grade focus group

1-1:45 - 4th grade focus group

2-2:45 - 5th grade focus group

3-3:45 - 2nd grade focus group

PL Camp Links:

• Menu:

• Registration

• MHES Google form PLC Day

The purpose of this update is to provide additional clarification regarding the Elementary Science Grading and Reporting update shared the week of September 6th. Please see below.

The elementary grading and reporting now align with the four measurement topics that assess how well students understand and “do” science. The measurement topics are based on the real-world practices of scientists and engineers. Four measurement topics to assess student understanding of science aligned with the eight science and engineering practices.

The measurement topics that will be assessed for each quarter are identified below. No more than two measurement topics have been identified for each grade level in marking period 1.

Teachers will use rubrics identified in each lesson to collect evidence of student learning for each of the identified measuring topics. There are at least three opportunities to collect evidence for each measurement topic during marking period one.

The rubrics that align with the practices and the measurement topics are identified in each lesson with a yellow measurement topic symbol along with the rubric criterion aligned to the lesson. Some lessons may have multiple opportunities to collect student data and will be identified as such in the lesson plan.

All rubrics used to collect student data are aligned with the grading and reporting processes for grades K-1 and 2-5. Teachers should instruct all lessons within a unit to support student understanding and engagement in all aspects of science and engineering. Please see the yellow highlighted text on each tab for a full list of measurement topics for marking period 1 by grade level at the link below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Dqv32mM_2a16Z75WrFtiN0CQRlbWH1d9LYuEBMDUmvY/edit?usp=sharing

If you believe your student needs extra support and the parent/guardian is interested, consider offering this free tutoring service by MCPS. We should not widely advertise the service, but rather pinpoint specific students who need it.

• There are four in-person central sites for tutoring on weekends.

• Belmont ES

• Eastern MS

• Julius West MS

• Little Bennett ES

• Sites are open Saturdays (starting in October) and Sundays (starting in November) from 8:00am-4:00pm.

• These sites are staffed by a combination of MCPS tutors and Tutor Me Education tutors. The students must be referred by the school, due to staffing limitations this is not widely available to all students.

For students who the school identifies as needing tutoring and the families would like to go to one of these sites, please use this Google Form to request a tutor. Students and tutors will be centrally matched. The form can be completed by school staff or family members.

Any and ALL staff members (MCEA, SEIU, etc…) are invited to join us for breakfast.

The people on this list are signed up to provide breakfast for the staff one Friday during each of the listed months. If you are not on the list and wish to also help with food one month, please email Ilana and I will add you. If you are on the list, but wish not to participate in breakfast, email Ilana and I will remove your name. Whatever you decide - it’s fine! We want this to be fun and time for staff to talk/eat/bond:)

How did we come up with this breakfast plan?

1. A vote was taken at the September staff meeting and we had a majority vote to bring back staff breakfast. However - not everyone wanted to participate, which is why we are making the caveats listed above.

2. In order to lessen and even out the effort/expense of breakfast, we scheduled breakfast for every other month to make the groups bigger and people are assigned their month by name.

3. The Leadership Team discussed and finalized the plan in our October meeting.

Each year, all professional (MCEA) staff sign up for a committee to serve on throughout the year. Each committee is responsible for a particular event or set of smaller events to plan and attend. There is no set day or time for committees to meet... simply come together as you need to successfully plan and execute your event(s). Click the link to sign up!

Committee Sign-Up

Open the PDFs below to learn how to nominate a peer!

Studying Skillful Teaching 1 (SST 1)

SST 1 course will be available for registration on PDO on Monday, October 17th at 5:00 pm. Classes will begin in January and end in the spring. SST 1 is highly recommended as coursework for all teachers and those in teacher-level positions. All administrative and teacher-level staff are eligible to take this course. Since all courses will be held entirely outside of the duty day, successful participants will have the option to earn three CPD credits, three graduate credits, or 45 clock hours that can be used towards the renewal of an advanced professional certificate. PDO course number: 50218

PL Camp 2022

October 24th is a PLC day. Teachers across the county have created a virtual PLCamp. Sessions opened up today!

Here is the link for the sessions PLCamp 2022 Session Menu and for the sign up EVENT REGISTRATION SITE. Jennifer sent details in a separate email.

• Menu:

• Registration

• MHES Google form PLC Day

MCPS STEAM Festival

MCPS will host a STEAM* Festival Showcase in November: a community event to highlight the variety of STEAM learning opportunities that engage our PreK-12 MCPS students that aligns with the Maryland STEM Festival, a statewide event intended to encourage all students regardless of background and experience to take a greater interest in STEM with the hope they will pursue a STEM related/focused career. This year’s statewide theme is Cybersecurity and Information Technology.

The proposed event will be held at Northwood High School on Saturday, November 5 from 10:00AM to 1:00PM. Students, teachers and external partners will be the presenters for the public. (Students will earn SSL hours).

We invite elementary teachers, students and after school club sponsors to present at this event. Teachers/students might present, demonstrate or simply showcase their STEAM work. Examples include: coding projects, science projects, engineering projects, after school LEGO/robotics clubs, and student art related to STEAM, etc.

Teachers, club sponsors and partners can confirm their participation using this brief RSVP form by October 24.

Please contact Susan_E_Phillips@mcpsmd.org if you have questions.

Classes will hold a "Fall Festival Party" on Friday, October 28th from 2:15-3:15pm. The parties may consist of crafts, games and food (but please be aware of any food allergies in your classroom). Grade level teams may wish to reach out via Dojo to parents and ask for specific donations or volunteers to attend the party and help with the activities. Each class may have up to two parent volunteers to help with the event. Volunteers may begin arriving at 2pm and will need to sign in at the main office. Please be consistent across the grade level in terms of having parent volunteers, activities planned and food offered.

As a school, we do not dress up in costumes for Halloween. However, if a student dresses up for the holiday, we also do not require them to change.

Ms. Hurley and Ms. Boisture invite all staff to the Media center for Books and Bagels on Thursday, October 20th starting at 8:30am. Come check out new books in the Media Center and enjoy some breakfast!

SPIRIT NIGHT

Next Spirit Night Event at Villa Maya on Wednesday, October 26 from 4 to 10 pm. Villa Maya will donate 15% of credit card sales and 20% of cash sales when you mention Meadow Hall! Visit their website to see the delicious menu: https://villamayarestaurant.com/. Takeout orders can be placed by calling 301-460-1247 (no online ordering available).

Inform parents about specific Fall Festival arrangements for your grade level

Update grades - be sure to have reading and writing grades entered by now.

Tuesday, October 18

• Staff mtg - 3:45-5pm

Wednesday, October 19

• Bus Evacuation Drill - 9:45

Thursday, October 20

• Books and Bagels @ 8:30am

Tuesday, October 25

• Equity PLC - 3:45-5pm

Wednesday, October 26

• Villa Maya dine-out night

Friday, October 28

• Fall Festival parties - 2:15-3:15pm

Email: Ilana_N_Simhon@mcpsmd.org
Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/meadowhalles/
Location: 951 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, MD, USA
Phone: 240-740-5260