Trish Lannon, Principal
             LaRae Guide, Assistant Principal

 

DATES TO REMEMBER:

September 6      Schools and Offices Closed

September 7      Schools and Offices Closed 

September 9      School Spirit Day - Wear your favorite NFL team apparel

September 13    Back to School Night for Gr K - 2   6:30 - 8pm

September 14    Back to School Night for Gifted/Talented Information   6 - 6:30pm

September 14    Back to School Night for Gr 3 - 5   6:30 - 8pm

September 16    Schools and Offices Closed

September 20    School Spirit Day - Talk/Dress Like a Pirate

September 22    PTA Meeting 6:30 - 8pm

September 28    MCAP Testing Grades 4 & 5

September 29    MCAP Testing Grades 4 & 5

 

Guilford Family and Friends,

Welcome back! It was so amazing to be able to welcome all of your children to Guilford ES. They have spent this week working on building community, learning routines, making friends and having fun. Mrs. Guide and I had the pleasure of visiting each team to meet the students and we were so impressed with how well behaved everyone was and how attentive they were. During our visit to PreK, one young man said he was so excited to be at school and could not wait to come back tomorrow!

We have appreciated your patience with arrival and dismissal. As the week has gone on, arrival has greatly improved and our buses have been getting to school on time. Dismissal is still a work in progress, as we have four times the amount of car riders than we normally have had in the past. This is causing traffic in both directions on Oakland Mills Road, which has also prevented our buses from getting to the school. If at all possible, we would like to encourage you to have your children ride the bus home. This would help all students get home at a reasonable time. If you are driving to pick up your students, please don’t forget to have a sign in your dashboard listing the names of the students you are picking up and their grade levels. This speeds up our process.

Our first school spirit day is on Thursday, September 9th. Students and staff are encouraged to wear items showing their favorite NFL team. I know I will be donning my favorite Baltimore Ravens jersey and Mrs Guide will be representing the Tennessee Titans! We can’t wait to see what everyone’s favorite team is.

As always, feel free to reach out to Mrs. Guide or myself if you have any questions, suggestions, or celebrations. We love to hear from our families.

Mrs. Trish Lannon, Principal

Mrs. LaRae Guide, Assistant Principal

 

                                         IMPORTANT INFORMATION

HCPSS Back to School Information

Learn about Health and Safety and other information for the new school year.

A Note From The Health Room

The dentist is coming. On September 28, 2021, Smile Maryland will be providing a dental check, a cleaning, fluoride treatment and sealants as needed. If you would like your child to be seen by the dentist, please fill out the form that was sent home, or sign up online at www.MySchoolDentist.com. More forms are available if needed. Please have all forms completed and turned in by Friday, September 17, 2021.

Water Bottles and Masks

Please make sure you send your child with a refillable water bottle each day so they have access to water throughout the day. In addition, every child should bring a mask to school and we highly suggest you pack them some extras in their backpack. Thanks.

Fall MCAP Testing Information

As part of continued COVID-19 recovery efforts, the Maryland State Department of Education is conducting an early fall student assessment as one of several strategies to identify how students are performing academically. The results will help educators better understand student needs, so that we can address disrupted education and accelerate learning opportunities for all students.  These results never stand alone in assessing student growth and will be used in combination with other assessments and class work to gauge overall student performance.  

Students in grades 4 and 5 will participate in MCAP for ELA on September 21 & 22. They will participate in MCAP for Math on September 28 & 29.  Click here for more information about MCAP Early Fall Assessments.

Band/Orchestra News

Mrs. McDaniel announces that Band and Orchestra Sign-up began today for NEW musicians.  If your child is playing the same instrument as last year, they had their first meeting on Thursday. Contact Mrs. McDaniel if your child missed this meeting for returning band/orchestra.  

For the NEW student musicians, sign-up closes on SEPT 14. All students were given a 2-sided blue sign-up form to bring home today. If you can't find it, send Mrs. McDaniel an email at charlene_mcdaniel@hcpss.org and she will give your child another form. More information is available at www.gesmusic.org

Absences

If your child is absent at any point this school year, please send an email to gesabsence@hcpss.org and your child’s homeroom teacher. In your email please include your child’s first and last name, date of the absence and the reason.

Providing Consent for In-School COVID Testing

HCPSS offers free, voluntary COVID tests for students and school-based staff who develop COVID-like symptoms or are identified as close contacts while they are in a school building. Parents/guardians who have not already done so can provide consent in HCPSS Connect Synergy to enable your child to participate in this testing program.

Quarantining Procedures

The close contact and quarantining procedures that were put into place last year will remain this fall. Only unvaccinated students and adults who are identified as close contacts must quarantine. Vaccinated students and staff will not be required to quarantine unless they receive a positive test or are displaying symptoms, but are expected to monitor their symptoms closely for the 14 days. Instructional supports are in place for students who must quarantine.

Update Your Family File

Thank you to those families who have already completed their Family Files! Currently, we are at 60% completion and need 199 more Family Files to be completed. We need every parent/guardian to update each of their children’s Family File. This will give us the information about who we are permitted to release your child to for early dismissal, how they will arrive and be dismissed from school (car, walk, bus, daycare, etc.), how to contact you in the event of an emergency, and so much more. To update the Family File for each of your children, please go to ​​https://www.hcpss.org/connect/ prior to August 30th.

Log in to HCPSS Connect Synergy using parent/guardian credentials

Select “More Options” from the left navigation

Select “Family File” at the top of the page

Complete each page of Family File

On the last page, select the blue Submit button

If you have any issues, please contact the front office and someone will be able to assist you.

Free and Reduced Meals Application (FARMs)

If your family qualifies for this program, it is SO much more than free school lunches! Each family must apply each school year and the information about FARMS, the benefits you receive on this program and link to the application can be found HERE. 

In addition, this information is used to determine whether our school qualifies for Title 1 funding. The additional staff, materials and resources our school receives is a benefit to ALL of our students. Please help us continue to be able to have these benefits by completing your application as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Monica Maiden at monica_maiden@hcpss.org OR call the front office. Thank you for all your help.

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.

HCPSS Technology Credentials for New Students

Effective Monday, August 2, families with students new to HCPSS and whose registration has been finalized will receive an email from noreply@hcpss.org with the subject “Technology account information for new HCPSS student.” The email will be sent to the email address used during the student registration process. The email contains personalized and important information regarding new students’ technology accounts. If you have a child new to HCPSS and do not receive the email and/or cannot locate the email in the junk/spam folder of the email account you used during registration, you can use the Forgot Password or Username button on the hcpss.me  student page to access your child’s username and password. Directions for Account Self Service Directions are posted online.

Here are translated messages for new Synergy families:

English

Spanish-  Technology account information for new HCPSS student_Spanish.pdf

Chinese - Technology account information for new HCPSS student_Chinese.pdf

Korean - Technology account information for new HCPSS student_Korean.pdf 

 

                               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.