Trish Lannon, Principal
                                                                                          LaRae Guide, Assistant Principal

January 28, 2022

 

DATES TO REMEMBER:

January 31     Report Cards Sent Home

February 1     Schools Closed for Students - Staff PD Day

February 2     School Spirit Day: Twin Day (2sDay = 2/2/22)

February 3      Class Picture Day

February 10    Schools Close 3-Hours Early for P/T Conferences

February 11     Schools Close 3-Hours Early for P/T Conferences

Feb 14-18       Kindness Challenge Week

February 14    School Spirit Day: Wear red or pink

February 16    Schools Close 3-Hours Early      

 

 

Guilford Family and Friends,

Thank you to all the parents and guardians who attended our virtual Chat & Chew last night. We were so glad to see such a large crowd attend! We were able to address a lot of questions, share celebrations and cover various things going on at GES. As always, please feel free to reach out to myself or Mrs. Guide if you have any questions, ideas, thoughts or concerns. You do not have to wait for our monthly Chat & Chew to do so.

Today is the first day you are able to go online and schedule your child’s/children’s parent/teacher conferences. You will be able to schedule them from today through February 4th. Parent Teacher Conferences are a great opportunity for staff and parents to partner together for each child’s success.  All conferences will be held virtually with your child’s Math teacher. Mrs. McNamara, our GT teacher, will be conferencing with her 5th grade math students this time around. In addition, all of our related arts teachers have slots that you can sign up for conferences with them.

To sign up, you can log into HCPSS Connect to view and select from the time slots provided by your child’s Math teacher and/or related arts for the conference. 

Directions to Select a Conference Time:

• Login to hcpss.org/connect

• Select Conferences

• Select Parent Scheduled Conferences

• Select a time slot for your conference.

This link is a direction sheet for your reference - Parent Conferences Directions.docx

If you need support scheduling a conference after following the directions above, please call the school at 410-880-5930, and one of our secretaries can help you.

February 10 and 11 are early dismissal days for Parent Teacher Conferences. Our dismissal will be at 12:55pm. Please be sure to add these to your calendar.

~Mrs. Lannon, Principal

 

                   IMPORTANT INFORMATION

School Class Pictures

Strawbridge photographers will be at GES on Thursday, February 4th to take class pictures. We are super excited about this since we have not been able to do this for the last 2 years! Pictures will be taken in the Media Center. Students will keep their masks on until the photographer is ready to take the picture. They will then take them off for the shot and immediately put them back on. If you do NOT want your child to take theirs off for the picture, you need to notify their homeroom teacher.

Pictures are $10 each and can be ordered online by going to https://www.strawbridge.net/ and then click on the “order pictures” red button. You will need to enter our order code which is: FM369789. Paper order forms will be sent home with students next week.

Preparing for a Parent-Teacher Conferences

The HCPSS Family Engagement Committee has developed a Parent-Teacher Conference Tip Sheet. Please take time to look over this informative document in preparation for February conferences.

Parent/Teacher conferences will be held on February 10 & 11. You will be able to sign up for MATH conferences with your child’s math teacher. You can also sign up to meet with your child’s related arts teacher, if you have a concern about your child’s progress. January 28th, parents will be able to have access to sign up for conferences for their children. The window will remain open until February 4th for parents.

From the Title I Community

The mobile PopUP library brings preschool classes and resources to neighborhoods without ready access to library branches. With the goal of preparing children for kindergarten, instructors will bring the pop-up library to communities throughout Howard County. The unit will also serve as a mobile hotspot, providing internet access to the nearby community during each stop. Additional information can be found on the website and flier.      HCLS PopUp Library.pdf

Guilford Recess Volunteers 

We would love to have parent/guardian volunteers help monitor and lead our students in games and activities during recess. This is a fun and flexible way to get involved in our school. You may choose how long, how often, and which grades you wish to help out. Please note that committing to a regular schedule is encouraged (for example, every Monday, or the first Wednesday of every month all year long, etc.). We would like to start this the week of February 1st. 

Recess Schedule: 

3rd Grade 10:40-11:10 

1st Grade 11:10-11:40

Kindergarten 11:40-12:10

5th Grade 12:10-12:40

4th Grade 12:40-1:10

2nd Grade 1:10-1:40

If you would like to volunteer your time to help at recess, please fill out and submit the google form below, and we will be in contact with you soon. 

Guilford Recess Volunteers (google.com)

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sarah Kane, our Family Liaison at sarah_kane@hcpss.org 410-880-5930

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.

Upcoming COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, 4-6 p.m.  

Swansfield ES, 5610 Cedar Lane, Columbia - in partnership with Soleil Pharmacy    

Pfizer (5-11) first dose vaccine Schedule an appointment and complete the online consent form (Feb. 2)

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

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 Mrs. Lannon’s name. Please feel free to share the link with any family or friends. Thanks in advance!

Cognitive Abilities Test CogAT Testing

Due to anticipated staff and student COVID-19 related absences, HCPSS will be postponing the January census administration of CogAT in 5th grade and 3rd grade. If you have any questions or concerns about this test, you need to reach out to Mrs. Guide at larae_guide@hcpss.org

From February 14 to March 4th, HCPSS plans to administer CogAT to all 3rd grade students. Placements for 4th grade GT Math will be made following the CogAT administration and will include all available performance and assessment data in accordance with Maryland COMAR for Gifted and Talented Education.

If you have any questions about 4th grade GT placement, please contact Mrs McNamara at catherine_mcnamara@hcpss.org

Middle School GT Class Recommendations

Although the CogAT administration may be delayed, all 5th grade students will be considered for potential placement in 6th grade GT classes using all available performance and assessment data in accordance with Maryland COMAR for Gifted and Talented Education. This includes data from students’ 3rd grade CogAT administration in December 2019, if available.

From February 14th to March 4th, HCPSS plans to administer CogAT to any 5th grade students who do not have a prior CogAT score, as well as all students in 5th grade GT Math. The data will assist with identification for Accelerated GT Math and provide an aptitude measure for students who had no previous CogAT test.

From February 8 until February 22, families will be able to review course recommendations and may request a course placement that is different from the school’s recommendation through HCPSS Connect. 

If you have any questions about 6th grade GT placement, please contact Mrs. McNamara at catherine_mcnamara@hcpss.org

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.

Information for the GES Rainbow Rep

CARY (Community Allies of Rainbow Youth) is an organization started by CHS parents that advocates to improve opportunities for LGBTQ+ young people.  CARY is sponsoring a virtual program on understanding and supporting trans and non-binary young people.  It will take place on Tuesday Feb. 8 at 6:30 PM. To register use this link.  Not able to attend?  When you choose to register there is an option to record the webinar and download it to watch at another time. 

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.