A students will graduate with the skills necessary to pursue their professional pathway and be empathetic contributors to society.

The mission of Matapeake Elementary School, in partnership with families and community members, fosters a learning environment to educate and empower students academically, socially, and emotionally to prepare them for career, college and life success.

Dear MES families,

I hope you and your family are doing well and staying healthy. Please make sure to check out the entire newsletter for important information.

You will see the button above has been added for you to easily find the Board of Education Report for the prior month. We have been asked to add this to our Newsletters at the school level. Speaking of the Board of Education, we have 4 teachers being recognized at the Board of Ed Meeting on March 1st at 6:00pm. Ms. Jennifer Osborne is being recognized as the Energizer Bunny. Ms. Dawn Kelly, Mrs. Beth McNamee and Miss Stephanie Grottendick are being recognized as Shining Stars! Congratulations to our hard working and dedicated teachers!

We have so many events that will be coming up in the next few months. I cannot believe how fast this year is going. Thank you to all the families that helped us celebrate in February. We had Sam Drazin speak to our 5th graders, Valentine's Day, 100th Day of School, a visit from Mrs. Bennett (QACPS Board of Education Member) to read to our students, Rachel's Challenge Assembly and our PBIS event (Winter Olympics)! Our kids were so happy and they all had a blast!

Our STEM Fair is this week, and we are excited to have 103 participants (PreK-5th Grade) with 71 projects total. There will be 44 projects judged in grades 3-5. Students should bring their projects on Thursday morning. They may set them up in the Media Center between 8:55 and 9:15am. Judging will begin at 9:30. Be sure to stop by our cafeteria between 6-7:30pm on 3/2 to enjoy a look at all of our projects.

Just a reminder that our kids are taken outside for recess (when the temperature is appropriate). Please make sure they are dressed appropriately to be outside for up to 30 minutes.

We will be beginning the process of grouping students for the 2023/2024 school year beginning in April. Please use the button below to provide valuable input for our team. Please note that specific classroom teacher requests will not be accepted.

STAR Students for the month of February were recognized during lunches on March 1st. Each student was presented with a certificate and had their picture taken, which is posted in the main hallway for the month of March. Please see the February STAR Student names using the link below.

In addition, we have had 39 Positive Referrals in the month of February! Congratulations to our hard-working students. Names are listed in the link below.

Wishing you all a marvelous March!

Sincerely,

Carrie L. Mitten, Principal

carrie.mitten@qacps.org

School Name: Matapeake Elementary

Picture Day Date: Tuesday, March 21

Picture Day ID: EVTH7D3KZ

This year's yearbook sales are underway already! We have captured some amazing shots of our students and cannot wait to transform them into published memories! Order online at http://www.ybpay.lifetouch.com Enter code 11187323. The price for each yearbook is $25.00. This is directly through the Yearbook company.

PK

March is finally here and springtime is just around the corner! I am still so incredibly impressed by the growth of each and every child in my class this school year! In March, we will be learning about transportation and how transportation is an important tool for some of our community helpers that we learned about in February. We will continue to work on learning to write our letters and practice identifying our letters and sounds. In math we will continue to work on number identification, using one-to-one correspondence when counting, building sets to represent numbers, identifying numbers that come before and after and orally counting to 30. It is very important that your child is able to identify the numbers 0-10 in order to move forward in their math skills and practices. Please continue to support your child at home by practicing our monthly skills.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten is excited to hop into the next trimester. March brings a month full of learning, fun, and hopefully some sun. In Fundations we will continue to identify letters and their sounds in order to read and write. We are also working on identifying and saying all the long and short vowel sounds. In Reading, we will be learning about farms and animals. In science, we will finish up learning about plants and start learning about animals. With spring break not so far away, be on the lookout for information about our last social of the year. This will be the week before spring break.

1st Grade

Remember when your little ones played with blocks? Now they are learning with them! Place value blocks are the newest tool getting added to our math toolbox, and we are using them to build our number sense. First graders will be learning about tens and ones during the month of March. They will also compare two digit numbers, and add and subtract multiples of ten from two digit numbers. Be sure to enlist your child's help when you need something counted. Encourage him or her to make groups of ten in order to count the objects. We will continue reading all about animals this month! The students have enjoyed the non-fiction texts. A trip to the public library to check out some books on animals would be a great way to support your child. We have taught blends, r-controlled vowels and are starting vowel teams. We are reading texts with these sounds for extra practice. In science, the children will be learning about the sun, moon, and stars! Get outside and look up into the night sky. What patterns can you find?

2nd Grade

Spring has certainly been in the air despite what the groundhog may have said! We have enjoyed celebrating Black History Month and are excited to share our projects with friends and families at school and home. In math, we now understand the value of three digit numbers and it's time to add and subtract them using a variety of strategies. In reading, we will spend some time on poetry and focus on writing our class books. Order forms have been sent home and are due in early March. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you need another one. In addition, we are asking for colored sharpie donations to complete these as well as gift cards to support our second grade raffle basket for Math and Reading Night. As always, we welcome class snacks and water bottles to share with those who forget. Thank you for continuing to support us!

3rd Grade

Happy March everyone! It is hard to believe that we have less than 4 months left. This month our third-graders will be focusing on learning about how to overcome challenges. We will be starting Unit 4 of our reading series where the students will be learning about a variety of ways that both humans and animals overcome challenges. All the stories focus on the key role adaptation plays in our success. In math, we will be focusing on multi-operation word problems. The students will be rising to their own challenges as we push them to apply the reading and math strategies we have been working on all year. We will then get to have some fun by creating and reading scaled graphs. In science, we will be using our knowledge of adaptations to analyze fossils. The students will get a window into the past by putting themselves in the role of a paleontologist. We have a lot of exciting activities planned for this unit. Finally, for social studies, the students will be learning about the specific role the government has had in building communities both past and present.

4th Grade

The 4th Graders will be working in the wonderful world of fractions throughout the month of March in their math class! We will be working on comparing fractions, decomposing fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers. Helping your child review their multiplication and division facts will help them greatly with their fractions. In reading language arts we will be working with a variety of expository texts to review text structure and text features. We will also work on understanding different perspectives and points of view in fictional texts. In science we will be investigating different types of energy waves and how they help to transfer different types of information. In social studies class the students will be learning about Maryland as it began as a colony. They will study the first European settlers to come to Maryland and their motivations for exploring a "New World". March is going to be a great month of learning!

5th Grade

The fifth grade testing season begins in March with our MISA test (Maryland Integrated Science Assessment) which will be given Monday, March 13th - Thursday, March 16th. Please help students perform their best by encouraging them to get a good night’s sleep and a nutritious breakfast prior to testing.

Last week teachers shared information about Market Day with the fifth grade students and we are all excited about this fantastic endeavor! This project will be a part of each student’s service learning requirement for graduating high school. Contracts have been given to students and must be signed and turned in by April 13th. This due date should give students plenty of time to prepare and create their product by Market Day, which is Wednesday, May 24th.

The fifth grade continues to move full steam ahead across content areas! Throughout March, we will multiply and divide decimals, fractions and mixed numbers in math. In reading and writing, students will continue analyzing fiction and nonfiction texts, and using text evidence to support their reasoning. In the weeks to come we will begin embedding test taking strategies in weekly math and reading lessons in order to prepare for MCAP testing, which begins in late April. In early March we will finish our Science rotations and begin practicing for the MISA test, after which we will begin studying Economics in preparation for Market Day.

READ ACROSS AMERICA SPIRIT WEEK

2/27 - Letter of Kindness Day

2/28 - Military Hero Day

3/1 - Word Day

3/2 - Ocean Creature Day

3/3 - R-E-S-P-E-C-T Day

General Events

3/1 - Star Students Announced During Lunches

3/2 - STEM Fair 6:00-7:30

3/3 - Early Dismissal Day

3/3 - Trimester 2 Ends

3/10 - Family Game Night 6:00

3/10 - Progress Reports Go Home for Special Education Students

3/13-3/17 - MISA Testing (5th Grade Students Only)

3/21 - Spring Pictures/Class Pictures

3/23-3/31 - Book Fair at MES

3/29 - Early Dismissal - Family Conference Preparation

3/30 - Early Dismissal - Family Conferences

3/31 - Early Dismissal - Family Conferences

Maryland State School Survey

Starting in the 2018-2019 school year, all teachers and students in grades 5-11 had the opportunity to take the Maryland School Survey. The survey collects important information about relationships, engagement, the school environment, and safety. School leaders use results to learn about and improve the school community. Our fifth grade students will be taking the Survey on March 21st.. You can look at this FAQ that MSDE has written to help the public understand the Survey.

Testing Information

Fifth grade MISA testing - March 13-16 10:15 am - 11:15 am

Please make every effort for your child to be at school and on time every day during testing. If your child arrives after testing has started, they will not be allowed to enter their testing groups and will need to remain in the front office until the test session has been completed. Students who miss a scheduled testing session will be pulled from class as soon as possible so they can make-up their missed session(s).

Students will be taking the MISA assessments online, using their Chromebooks. Fifth graders should arrive each morning with a fully charged Chromebook. We are asking that students leave phones, smart watches and Bluetooth headphones at home on testing days as they are prohibited in the testing environment. Thank you for your attention to these matters.

Future MCAP Testing

Grades three through five will be taking the MCAP beginning the last week of April. If you could refrain from making appointments during testing that would be appreciated.

April 24-27 - 5th grade ELA and 3rd grade Math

May 1-4 - 5th grade Math and 4th grade ELA

May 8-12 - 4th grade Math and 3rd grade ELA

Reading incorporates many different areas. Phonemic awareness is the manipulation of sounds and can be done without seeing letters. This is a skill we focus on heavily before we work on phonics. Phonics is the linking together of both the sounds and the letters. In our primary grades we focus a lot of time on the systematic and explicit instruction of these skills. We build listening comprehension through grade level approved texts that are read by the teacher and discussed with students. As students improve their reading skills, we also embed decodable text that aligns with the instruction that has been taught. Through the incorporation of multiple facets of phonemic awareness, phonics, and listening comprehension, our primary students are making terrific gains! Our intermediate students then use these skills and layered instruction to comprehend increasingly more complex text. As this text complexity increases, texts may be split into multiple days or used in extended writing pieces. The progress of our students is evident through the wonderful performance students did on their mid-year assessments. You can help your child continue to improve in all areas by attending our Mariner Night. During this event, additional resources for each area of reading will be provided with additional ways to support your child. If you would like additional information, please feel free to reach out to your child's teacher or myself.

Students have been working hard in their classrooms during their math blocks. This is the time of year that we move into the more difficult math skills and the students’ have to work hard to persevere through tough problems. It is crucial that students are practicing their basic math facts at home to build up confidence with those prerequisite skills.

Wondering which facts students should be practicing?

• Kindergarten: basic addition facts within 10

• First and Second grade: basic addition and subtraction facts

• Third grade: basic subtraction facts and multiplication facts

• Fourth and Fifth grade: multiplication and division facts

There are many ways to practice: flash cards, online games, 24 game, First in Math, and many more. Just a reminder that our First through Fifth graders have First in Math as well to play at home! Go to www.firstinmath.com and enter your child's computer ID number and password for some more math practice.

STEM Fair

MES is gearing up for our annual STEM Fair on March 2, 2023. All students that completed a project should bring everything into school in the morning. Judging for students in grades 3-5 will take place during the school day. Thank you to our parent volunteers, Jason Spires and Sonja Minich for coming to help judge. Whether or not your family participated in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Fair projects, we would love to have you at school in the cafeteria on March 2nd from 6:00-7:30 to see all the amazing projects students have created.

LEARNING FROM OUR KIDS

The kind and forgiving nature of our students continues to amaze me and nourish my soul. One of my responsibilities/privileges as school counselor is mediating conflict. The vast majority of mediation sessions conclude with a positive outcome due to the willingness of participants to listen to one another, compromise, and respect the viewpoints of others. I rarely have to refer the situation to Mrs. Mitten for additional intervention/discipline. Kudos to our student body and the wonderful job they do at getting along and working out differences!

In art, students will begin to explore the big idea of “Artists Connect” through observing, reflecting and responding to artwork. They will explore ways artists interact with art and other artists such as how characteristics of an artwork may influence artwork or qualities of their own art. Students will also glaze their kiln-fired ceramic artwork.

Kindergarten through second grade will observe subjects and characteristics of a work of art that can bring inspiration to their own artwork. They will use mixed media processes and techniques to create themed artwork.

Third through fifth grade will focus on how artists connect through conveying meaning in a work of art. Students will look at visual imagery as inspiration and reflect on how artists create meaningful connections. They will also continue discussions for creating creative artwork titles after finishing a work of art.

February has been a busy month in the music classroom. All classes got to read "R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul" by Carole Boston Weatherford to celebrate Black History Month. K-2 students used this book to work on their composing skills as they created an ostinato to the song "Respect". 3-5 used this book as a jumping off point to research and present to their classmates information on musicians like James Brown, Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson and B.B King.

Students in 3-5 will continue their weekly keyboarding lessons and use the keyboard covers to increase their muscle memory. Last month we started with Code.org and lessons for computer science fundamentals learning sequencing, algorithms, loops, events and debugging programs.We will continue each week in March.

1st and second also continued their Jungle Junior keyboarding lessons and started Code.org learning the basic blockley coding structure to help various puzzle programs to successfully run.

Kindergarten is learning where the letter keys are located and still navigating the mouse usage and using www.abcya.com and www.starfall.com for play.

During the past month students have been engaged in Heart Healthy Month. Grades 3-5 have completed the PACER running test, pull up challenge, and vertical jump challenge. Students in grades prek - 2 have worked on increasing their cardiovascular endurance through fitness stations. All grades have learned about heart healthy habits and healthy nutrition as well.

Looking forward to March, classes will begin striking activities. Tennis, using pickleball paddles, and volleyball skills will be covered.

We are moving through our Black Eyed Susan Nominees quickly! Ask your child if they have a favorite yet! In February, we read the nominee, Crossings. In connection to this book, we have researched animals, designed and built a crossing that would safely take them from one part of their habitat to another. Our next project is a biography study for our primary grades and a scavenger hunt for intermediate students in conjunction with our next nominee, A Ride to Remember.

Parent Teacher Association

Thank you so much to all the families who have signed up for Family Game Night! As a reminder if you have not already done so, please pay via our PTA Square Website, or send in a check with your child made payable to MES PTA. We look forward to seeing you there!

Family Game Night: March 10, 2023, from 6-8pm in the MES Cafeteria

SAVE THE DATE: Details and flyers of these events are forthcoming.

Book Fair - March 22nd through March 31st

MES 1 Mile Fun Run - April 22nd

Interested in being a board member? There is a Vice President vacancy for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. Additionally, we are in need of 3 volunteers to be on the Nominating Committee for the upcoming board elections. Please email the PTA at matapeakeelempta@gmail.com with your interests in that, other positions or memberships!

If you are picking your child up at the end of the day, PLEASE DO NOT drive into the bus loop area. If you have a family member that is picking up your child for the first time and is not sure, please be sure to share they should not pull into the bus loop. We thank you for keeping everyone safe.

AlphaBEST is offering a full scholarship for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year at Matapeake Elementary. If interested please contact Brenda Kimble at bkimble@alphabest.org to start the qualification process.

Matapeake Elementary School

Cafeteria/Gym

Hours: 6:30-9:00 am and 3:45-6:00 pm

Pricing per week per child:

3 Day Package

3 days AM and PM $68

3 days AM OR PM $54

5 Day Package

5 days AM and PM $98

5 days AM OR PM $68

Email: carrie.mitten@qacps.org
Website: https://www.qacps.org/Domain/124
Location: 651 Romancoke Road, Stevensville, MD, USA
Phone: 410-643-3105
Facebook: facebook.com/MatapeakeElementaryPTA