Meadow Hall Staff Newsletter

A big CONGRATULATIONS and good-bye to Melissa Hurley, retiring as of May 1st. Please join us in the Media Center at 8:20am on her last day, April 28th, for some breakfast treats and a chance to give her our well-wishes.

Professional Day on Friday, April 21st

Please use this time to update grades, get ahead on planning, etc... Telework is OK!

We are looking for 1 team member per team to be a part of the interview panel for media specialists. We will be scheduling interviews via Zoom and in person. The interview will take place right after school (3:45-4:30 pm) and/or before school (8-8:45 am) via zoom. Please contact Desmond if you are interested in joining the panel.

Teams should remember to submit orders to Mrs. Mejia by Friday at 12 pm. Team leaders will be responsible for organizing the orders into 1 spreadsheet. Staff should use the document or print their document to make sure they remember what they ordered.

As we begin planning for FY24, we are looking for staff to lead programming for next school year in the following areas:

• Student Council (Paid Stipend)
• Minority Scholars Program (MSP) (Desmond will help to facilitate this and relinquish responsibility as staff become familiar with it. You do not need to be a minority to lead this) (Paid Stipend)
• SERT
• Social Committee
• Staff Wellness/ RJ Coach (Paid Stipend)
• Homework Club- Morning (8-8:45) or Afternoon (3:25-4:25 pm); support kids with homework as needed ( Paid Stipend)
• STAT Performance Afterschool Programming- Lead an afterschool activity of choice (Paid by STAT)
• Other opportunities as Staff see a need

Please contact Ilana and Desmond if you are interested in leading any of these initiatives as we would like to get these on the FY24 draft calendar and begin to put things in place to support those who plan to lead these initiatives. We thank you in advance.

Take Your Child to Work Day is on Thursday, April 27. If you plan to bring your school-aged child to work that day, please let Desmond and Ilana know ahead of time.

Looking for staff members willing to volunteer to be pie'd in the face or sprayed with Silly String. Students attending the Fun Run have a chance to enter a raffle to pie or silly string a staff member later in the school year.

Please let Ilana know if you are willing to participate!

MCAP testing started today!

MCAP Resources

Just some general reminders for the school

• Grades 3 and 5 are both testing on Monday through Thursday mornings. We’re anticipating only testing in the morning, but may need to use staff to test in the afternoon for make-ups and/or to cover any staff that might be out.
• On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday next week, 2nd and 3rd grade will swap specials times.
• Focus groups:
• All morning focus groups will be cancelled.
• Fifth grade focus groups are cancelled since they will be teaching math during that time.
• Mrs. Fensterstock’s 4th grade focus group is cancelled for next week. Work will be left for those students.
• All other afternoon focus groups can go on as scheduled, if possible due to changes in schedules. This may change day to day based on the staff member who supports your grade.
• All curriculum studies for the week of April 17-20th will take place in classrooms, not room 35. Some CS times are changes as well:
• Kindergarten and first times are not affected
• 2nd - regular time on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday morning you are welcome to start in the conference room any time before 8:30. Due to the schedule change and amount of people supporting testing, you will need to take a break from CS from 8:45-9:05 to welcome your students and bring them to specials.
• 3rd - Tuesday at 2;40-3:40. Students will come to specials with their things to leave and specialists will dismiss just for this day.
• 4th and 5th times are not affected next week.
• All MCAP resources are linked here, including schedules, groups, locations, staff utilized, etc.
• All morning media classes will take place in classrooms – anything prior to 11:20.
• Please make sure that you are keeping your students as quiet as possible in the hallways and during transitions in the morning. Testing is taking place ALL over the school!

Staff and Students

(New) Field Trip & Volunteer Opportunity (Adults and Students)

Button Farm Living History Center & the Harriet Tubman: Journey to Freedom Statue

The Button Farm Living History Center is proud to host the Harriet Tubman: Journey to Freedom statue, by artist Wesley Wofford, which depicts Tubman guiding a child to freedom on the Underground Railroad. It is offering multi-tiered options to school groups including self-guided tours as well as special programming including storytelling, music and more. Discounts are available for Title I schools. Visit www.buttonfarm.org for more information. Flyer.

Button Farm is looking for students and parents who will serve as event staff, greeters, and docents during the Journey To Freedom Statue Experience April 1 thru May 30, 2023. We will provide day-of, onsite training. No experience needed. SSL hours available! Visit www.buttonfarm.org for more information.

Staff

(New) Jewish Americans

This session will be led by the Institute for Curriculum Services and will examine the rich diversity of the Jewish American community in efforts to teach students about individual identities, as well as the diversity of the Jewish American community and its impact on American society. Learning about Jewish diversity illustrates how identities of Jews, and all people, are multifaceted and how people’s unique combination of identities shape individuals’ experiences of and with the world. Participants will earn 1 clock hour.

May 16, 2023

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

PDO 91731

Impact Popular Culture and Social Media Has on Hatred with Liza Wiemer

This session will be led by Liza Wiemer, author of The Assignment. It will focus on helping staff to understand how hate is spreading through popular culture, gaming, and social media, ways in which hate speech is used in schools by students and staff, and how staff can encourage students to become upstanders with their peers. Participants will earn 2 clock hours.

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

May 11, 2023; May 24, 2023

PDO 91779

(Updated) 2022-23 Elementary SS Resources & PD Opportunities

FUN RUN ON APRIL 29

Join us for an afternoon of community, exercise, door prizes, and of course, fun! Students and families will have the opportunity to run a lap around the track with their classmates. Medals will be given out to all student runners (walkers are welcome, too!). Prizes are available for the class and grade with the most attendance. A drawing will take place to see which students get to pie a teacher later during school.

When: Saturday, April 29, 1-3pm (rain or shine)
Where: Rockville High School Track, 2100 Baltimore Road, Rockville, MD

Questions? Call Lana at 202-492-6812.

THE "BATTLE FOR SPARE CHANGE" RETURNS!

During the week leading up to the Fun Run, April 24-28, we will have a competition between Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5 to collect coins. Each day, coins brought in by the students will be weighed, and the grades with the most weight in coins by the end of the week will be the winners! REMEMBER: Pennies weigh more than dollar bills!

What will the winners get? The winning grades will get to PIE TWO TEACHERS IN THE FACE! The students who get to pie the teachers will be selected by attending the Fun Run and entering the raffle on April 29, from 1 to 3pm at the Rockville HS Track. Teachers will be pie'd on a later date at school for all to enjoy!

Money raised in this competition will be used to purchase school needs, primarily for P.E. and recess equipment.

SPIRIT NIGHT FUNDRAISER AT MCDONALD'S - APRIL 26
Join us for a night of fun at McDonald's that will help raise funds to directly support our 5th graders end of year promotion and celebration! Please help support them as they wrap up their last year at Meadow Hall.

When: Wednesday, April 26 from 5:00-8:00 p.m.
Where: McDonald’s, 2101 Veirs Mills Road, Rockville, MD (across from Twinbrook Shopping Center)

Mention “Meadow Hall PTA” when ordering in the restaurant or through the drive-thru.

Bring donations for the Autism Carnival (individual food items to sell and/or drinks)

Encourage student participation in the Culture Night Fair

Team Warehouse Orders are due to Mrs. Mejia by Friday (April 21) at noon

Tuesday, April 18 - Staff mtg @ 3:45pm

Thursday, April 20 - Autism Awareness Carnival @ 6:30pm

Friday, April 21 - Professional Day

Monday, April 24 - Small Things Matter food distribution

Tuesday, April 25 - Equity PLC @ 3:45pm

Wednesday, April 26 - Fundraiser @ MacDonald's @ 5-8pm

Thursday, April 27 - Bus Evacuation Drill @ 9:45am

Saturday, April 29 - Fun Run @ Rockville HS @ 1pm

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