DATES TO REMEMBER:

January 10 LEMS Rising 6th Grade Info Night for Parents 6pm (Virtual)

January 11 Council of Elders Academic Achievement Ceremony 6pm (Virtual)

January 13 TVMS Rising 6th Grade Info Night for Parents 6pm (Virtual)

January 13 PVMS Rising 6th Grade Info Night for Parents 6pm (Virtual) 

January 17 All HCPSS Schools & Offices Closed

January 19 Schools Close 3-Hours Early

January 20 School Spirit Day: Tie Day (wear a bow tie, neck tie, etc.) 

January 20 Virtual Chat & Chew with Administrators 5:30pm 

January 21 End of 2nd Quarter

January 24 All HCPSS Schools are Closed

 

 

Guilford Family and Friends,

What an interesting first week back to school! Two snow storms in one week with only 1.5 days of school. We hope that next week brings better weather so we can get back to teaching and learning!

We have received word that our 2 brand new playgrounds are finally scheduled to start being installed near the end of this month. This has been a much needed feature for our recess shifts and we are excited to see it finally get moving. Coming soon, we will be sending out information to get parent volunteers to assist at recess. Please be on the lookout for this.

As we work to keep all our staff and students healthy, we ask that parents/guardians perform a symptom check on their child/children EVERY DAY before leaving home in the morning. Students should NOT be sent to school with any of the following symptoms: 

• New onset cough or shortness of breath  

• Fever greater than 100.4 or chills within the past 24 hours 

• Fatigue  

• Muscle or body aches  

• Headache  

• New loss of taste or smell  

• Sore throat  

• Congestion or runny nose  

• Nausea or vomiting  

• Diarrhea 

• Exposure to an individual that tested positive for COVID-19 or exhibiting COVID-19-like illness for the last 14 days

Thank you for your continued support during this school year. As we continue to work through this pandemic, it is important that everyone work together and support one another. Kindness and grace go a long way to helping our students and staff remain positive. Together we can all remain Guilford Strong!

~Mrs. Lannon, Principal

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Kindness Project - Donations Needed

During the week of February 14 - 18, all students and staff will be participating in the National Random Acts of Kindness Week. We will be doing lessons about kindness, focusing our community circles on kindness and doing various projects. The biggest project we will be working on is a Kindness Rock River that will be added to our outdoor learning space.

Students will be working on a unique kindness rock in art class (PreK will do it in their class) that will represent them and in order to do so, we are in need of some donations of materials. To donate any of the materials we need, please go to THIS LINK to purchase from Amazon. You will select to have it delivered to our school under our secretary's name, Chandra Hines. Please feel free to share the link with any family or friends. Thanks in advance!

 

Black Student Achievement Program 

Saturday Math Academy Virtual Spring 2022 Session: The HCPSS Black Student Achievement Program (BSAP) Saturday Math Academy (SMA) Spring Registration is approaching!  The virtual enrichment program will be offered for Howard County Public School System students in all levels of Mathematics (pending course availability) for Grades 3-12. Online registration will take place via HCPSS Connect on Saturday, January 8, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. - until capacity is reached. Class space is limited. Please share the fliers below with students and families. For questions, please contact our BSAP Specialist, Monica Maiden at monica_maiden@hcpss.org.

BSAP SMA Spring 2022 Flyer  (English)

BSAP SMA Spring 2022 Flyer (Spanish)

HCPSS Connect Instructions  

Vaccination Clinics

Through a partnership with the Howard County Health Department and several local pharmacies, HCPSS is pleased to provide students ages 5-11 the opportunity to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Visit the HCPSS website to view upcoming clinic information and make an appointment.

HCPSS Health Mitigation Efforts

HCPSS sent a message to the community with several updates related to health mitigation efforts in place in HCPSS schools. Please take a few minutes to review the following information that HCPSS shared. Again, your efforts to keep our staff and students healthy is appreciated!

• Quarantining and contact tracing

• Face masks

• COVID testing

• Health mitigation efforts in cafeterias

• Virtual instruction

Calling All Authors!!

 

The Young Author's Contest is well under way at GES!  Students should have come home with an information packet last week.  For details, please open this link: Young Author's Guidelines 

All entries are due to Mrs. Sawyer by 1/21/22!  If you have any questions, please email Casey_Sawyer@hcpss.org  

 

Thomas Viaduct Middle School Rising 6th Grade Parent Information NIght

Please join TVMS for their Rising 6th Grade Parent Orientation at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 13, 2022. Families will be able to learn about our Middle School Program of Studies as well as our Gifted and Talented Program.

TVMS has much to offer, including our commitment to provide a learning environment where all students connect, collaborate, and create together. Our staff look forward to welcoming you to our Timberwolf family.

Lake Elkhorn Middle School Rising 6th Grade Parent Information Night

 

If you have a child who will attend Lake Elkhorn Middle School for 6th Grade, please see THIS FLYER for the LEMS Parent Information Night. This VIRTUAL event will be held on Monday January 10, 2022 at 6:00 PM. Google Meet Code: LEMS-Rising6.

 

 

Patuxtent Valley Middle School Rising 6th Grade Parent Information Night

 

If you have a child who will attend PVMS for 6th Grade, please see THIS FLYER for the PVMS Parent Information Night. This VIRTUAL event will be held on Thursday January 13, 2022 at 6:00 PM. Google Meet Link: https://meet.google.com/wue-qvqz-upr

 

Close Adult Support for Special Needs Students

We are in need of 3 adults to hire for this position. For the close adult support position, you would apply through an outside agency that staffs these positions in our schools. The position is for 6-hours each day, Monday-Friday and we currently need to hire 2 people. We also frequently need subs for this role, as well. Click here to learn more and apply.

 

Art News 

4th graders will be making an art project made from recycled materials. I'm looking for donations of materials you are no longer using.  For example: plastic water bottles, egg cartons, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, empty soup cans, random junk, broken toys, small old board game pieces, old puzzle pieces, beads, or old decorations. The students are making an animal sculpture out of these materials, and I'm really excited to see what they make! ~ Thank you, Ms. Buckler

 

Additional Benefits of FARMS (Free and Reduced Meals)

FARMS eligibility provides discounts for summer school, recreation programs, Maryland Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), internet programs, SAT and ACT tests, and much more. Families must submit a new application every school year.

Any student who has not filled out an application up to the 30th school day will have their prior year status changed until a new application is received. 

Parents/guardians are highly encouraged to fill out the applications by October 15th. Apply for school meal benefits the easy way. MySchoolApps is the fast and secure way to apply for free and reduced meals online. www.myschoolapps.com

Guilford Elementary School PTA

Stay connected with our amazing PTA by joining their Facebook page. You can join by clicking on THIS LINK. You can also follow them on their website HERE. One of the most important things the PTA does for Guilford ES, is to support our students with fun events, assemblies and activities. In order to do this, they need you to join the PTA! You can join by going HERE.

COMMUNITY NEWS & EVENTS

In response to community requests for resources, HCPSS’ new Community News and Programs website makes it easy for families to find educational and recreational resources, events and after-school programs beyond the school day by non-profit organizations.

Community organizations requesting their announcements be shared in school newsletters should visit community-programs.hcpss.org for more information. Questions should be directed to the Public Information Office at publicinfo@hcpss.org.

 

 

TITLE 1 INFORMATION

Guilford Elementary School is a Title I School-wide Program school. Title I is a federally funded program designed to close achievement gaps and ensure all children have an opportunity to access a high-quality education by providing funding for supplemental academic services and supports. 

A Family-School Compact & Plan is an agreement between families, students, and teachers that is jointly developed and distributed to all families. It explains how families, students, and teachers will work as a team to make sure all students meet with success and get the support they need to achieve grade level goals.  

The Guilford Elementary School Family School Compact and Calendar of Events can be found here http://ges.hcpss.org/sites/default/files/ges-title-I-compact-calendar.pdf for English; http://ges.hcpss.org/sites/default/files/ges-title-I-compact-calendar-spa.pdf for Spanish and on the Guilford Elementary School Title I can be found here  http://ges.hcpss.org/about/title-i-program. 

If you have any questions, please ask your child’s teacher at your upcoming parent teacher conference.  If you have any input or feedback, please contact Donna Bethune Brown at donna_bethune-brown@hcpss.org.