Meadow Hall Staff Newsletter

Join us on Wednesday, April 26th at MacDonald's to raise money for the 5th grade end of year events! Help serve ice cream or just stop by to say hi!

Reminder:

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.

Staff get-together at Lone oak Brewery on April 28th.

Please plan a to celebrate Ms. Ibrahim and Ms. Panasethaned, our two amazing Food Services employees, during the week of May 1st. They are AMAZING and work so hard making sure our students are fed breakfast and lunch every day!

Thank you!!

What an event!!! Congratulations to the Autism Committee for such a fabulous turn-out and fantastic fundraiser for our Autism Unit!

MCAP testing continues this week. Thanks to all who supported last week and made it go so smoothly!

MCAP Resources

Just some general reminders for the school

• Grade 4 is testing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. There will not be any MCAP testing on Thursday.
• 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. We were able to do one day of afternoon make up sessions last week and it worked out really well. We’ll notify you of any supports that may be used in the afternoon.
• On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week, 4th and 5th grade will swap their entire lunch/recess/specials block.
• Focus groups:
• All morning focus groups will be cancelled.
• 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.
• We will continue to have curriculum studies for the week of April 24-28th take place in classrooms, not room 35. Some CS times are changes as well:
• Kindergarten through third times are not affected
• 4th grade will have CS at 11:30-12:40 on Tuesday. There is no testing on Thursday, so your CS time that day will not change.
• 5th grade will have CS at 10:15-11:25 on Tuesday. There is no testing on Thursday, so your CS time that day will not change.
• All MCAP resources are linked here, including schedules, groups, locations, staff utilized, etc.
• All morning media classes will continue to 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!

Please see the chart below to assign the correct Math test.

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.

Staff Opportunities

Impact Popular Culture and Social Media Has on Hate 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 receive 2 clock hours.

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

May 11, 2023; May 24, 2023

PDO 91779

Jewish Americans: Identity, History, and Experience

In observance of Jewish American Heritage Month, MCPS is partnering with the Institute of Curriculum Services to present this professional learning opportunity. This session examines the rich diversity of the Jewish American community in effort to teach students about individual identities as well as the diversity of the Jewish American community. Participants will receive 1 clock hour.

May 16, 2023

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

PDO 91731

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.

Encourage student participation in the Culture Night Fair

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

Tuesday, May 2 - Leadership Team mtg @ 3:45pm; PTA mtg @ 7pm

Thursday and Friday, May 4-5 - Kindergarten Orientation

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