Freedom Newsletter
August 2023
Dear Freedom Families,
Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! Summer has flown by and I hope your family has had time to relax. The summer has been busy at Freedom. Enrolling students, scheduling, summer cleaning, the list goes on and on. We are excited to welcome around 645 students this year.
We have some new faces joining us this year (or staff in new positions). New staff include:
- Mallory Conroy, .2 PE Teacher
- Lisa Geschwilm, .2 Art Teacher
- Katie Hohman, 3rd Grade STEM Teacher
- Allie Holiday, Vocal Music Teacher
- Jeanine King, Occupational Therapist
- Ikeem Mitchell, Building Supervisor
- Jess Page, Physical Therapist
- Karice Parada, Instructional Assistant
- Michelle Pelletier, .2 Health Teacher
- Issie Pickett, Instructional Assistant
- Lauren Piereman, 5th STEM and Humanities Grade Teacher
- Cristina Teplick, School Psychologist
- Rachael Thompson, Permanent Substitute
- Laura Thurber, Math Resource Teacher
- Not a new face but Ms. Pilachowski is now Mrs. Woolley.
Please welcome all of our new staff members! They will be wonderful additions to the Freedom Family. While we welcome our new staff, we say farewell to:
- Julie Baker
- Brooke Birdsall
- Jen Hutchinson
- Lisa Kane
- Holly Kennedy
- Karen Martin
- Angelmay Neville
- Deb Shiloh
- Kim Stanton
- Janet Street
- Elisheva Weinberger
Additionally, there were some grade level teacher moves. Mrs. Soto will be teaching 1st Grade Humanities and Ms. Waterman will be teaching 2nd Grade Humanities and STEM.
Below is a wealth of information about important dates, transportation, school supply list and so forth. Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions, concerns or compliments. We can't wait to see the students on Tuesday, September 5th for the first day of school!
We are looking forward to a great year!
Jessica Smith, Principal
Cindy Taylor, Assistant Principal
Teacher Assignments
Homeroom assignments will be available on Tuesday, August 15th in the Home Access Center. The Home Access Center can be accessed here. Enter your username (e-mail provided to the school) and password. It is recommended that you log in prior to 8/15 because if you have technical issues and need assistance, it can take a few days after 8/15 to get them resolved. If you do not have a password or forgot your password, you may select the link at the bottom of the log in for forgotten passwords.
🚍 Transportation 🚍
You will receive an email from CCPS asking you to verify and/or provide transportation for your elementary aged students.
- Only the primary parent for each child will receive the email. This prevents multiple people from trying to fill the form out.
- You will receive a separate email for each elementary aged child you have enrolled in CCPS. You will need to respond separately to each email.
- You will be able to view bus routes for bus number and stop description both on the CCPS website and Infofinder. Links to both will be provided in the county email.
- It is extremely important that you watch for the email(s) and respond promptly so that we have accurate arrival and dismissal information on each child before the start of the school year.
- If you do not get the email on August 4th, please check your junk/spam folders to be sure it didn’t go to one of those folders.
- All forms must be submitted by August 20th. Getting your child to and from school is an absolute safety priority for our school’s staff so having accurate information is critical.
- If you have difficulty, please contact the school office. Thank you for helping us ensure smooth transportation for all children.
🗓️ Important Dates 🗓️
8/31- Open House and New Student Orientation
- 1:30-2:00 pm Orientation for New Students (Grades 1-5)
- 2:00-3:00 pm Open House for All Students- Be on the lookout for a sign up. Having families sign up for specific time slots gives the teachers a chance to meet each student.
Back to School Nights
- 3rd-5th Grades- Wednesday, 8/30 from 6:00-7:30 pm
- Kindergarten-2nd Grade- Thursday, 8/31 from 6:00-7:30 pm
Teachers will be sending information ahead of time for you to view. The Back-to-School night sessions will be question and answer. Please help us make the time meaningful for all families by making childcare arrangements for your children and scheduling conferences with teachers to discuss concerns about your student. The schedule each night will be:
- 6:00-6:30- Whole Group Session in Gym
- 6:30-7:00- Grade Level Session 1
- 7:00-7:30 Grade Level Session 2
Other Upcoming Dates
8/4- Transportation Forms Emailed to Primary Parent
8/20- Transportation Forms Due
8/30- 3rd-5th Grade Back to School Night, 6-7:30 pm
8/31-
- New Student Orientation, 1:30-2:00 pm
- Open House, 2:00-3:00 pm
- K-2nd Grade Back to School Night, 6-7:30 pm
9/5- First Day of School
9/8-
- Emergency Cards Due
- PTA Back to School Bash
Job Opportunities at Freedom
We are looking for staff interested in the following positions:
- Student Support Assistant- Support students one on one in the classroom setting.
- Lunchroom Assistant- Monitor and help students throughout their lunch. Lunches are from 10:45-1:45.
- Hourly Custodian- 28 hours per week during the evenings, Monday-Friday.
- Substitutes- We are always looking for qualified substitutes to help us.
There is a job fair on Thursday, 8/3 from 1-3 pm at Century High School and other job fairs next week. Please stop by to hear more details or email JessicaSmith@carrollk12.org and CindyTaylor@carrollk12.org.
✏️ School Supply List ✏️
Notes from Nurse Michelle
I hope everyone had a fun, healthy summer!
If your student has a medical condition that requires frequent visits to the nurse, please contact me so we can discuss individualized care planning. michellemerson@carrollk12.org
If your student requires medication at school, please be sure the Primary Care Provider has filled out the medication order form. A new medication order form must be completed every school year. Please be sure the correct forms are filled out for the prescribed medication. These forms can be found on the CCPS website under Health Services: Forms.
Prescribed medications will need to have a pharmacy label attached. Over the counter medications will need to be in an unopened box with the order form attached.
Please double check the expiration date of all medications.
All medications must be brought to the school nurse by an authorized parent or guardian. Students are prohibited from carrying medication to or from school.
Reminders
Absences
Absences, early dismissals, etc... should be reported to school via e-mail at fesattendance@carrollk12.org. Changes to dismissal should be emailed to fesattendance@carrollk12.org by 2:30 pm each day to ensure updates to our dismissal list.
Breakfast and Lunch
- Breakfast- $1.50
- Lunch- $2.50
- Add money to your child(ren)'s lunch accounts here.
- Apply for Free and Reduced Meals here.
Custody
The school must remain as neutral as possible in situations where parents are separated, divorced or do not live in the same household. Each parent has specific legal rights in regard to school issues. A telephone call, note or letter from a parent or attorney is not sufficient to establish custody. A copy of the most recent custody issue should be on file at the school. When changes occur, please be sure to notify the school and provide a copy of the most recent court order.
School Communication
Rather than having a monthly newsletter, we have the FES Weekly Newsletter that is emailed to families on Fridays and Sundays. Please be sure to keep up to date with this newsletter. The school system uses School Messenger as its primary notification system for parents. Please let us know in writing if your contact information changes.
School Security
We have many measures in place to create a safe and secure learning environment for students. A Back-to-School Presentation can be found here. This presentation will be shared at the whole group sessions on back to school nights.
Volunteer Training
The Parent Volunteer Training Program is conducted online. Please visit the follow website for additional information. Volunteer Program - Carroll County Public School District (carrollk12.org)
🚗 Parent Drop Off & Pick Up Procedures 🚗
We strongly encourage each student to arrive and depart using the bus provided.
Parent Drop Off
Please arrive by 8:55 am to allow your child time to pick up breakfast and walk to class. Pull forward as far as you can (without passing any cars in front of you) before dropping your child off and wait for the cars in front of you to leave before exiting. Please do not have your children exit the car until you are pulled along the sidewalk. For safety, we prefer children to exit on the right side of the vehicle. If this is not possible, please have your child walk around the front of your vehicle to the sidewalk. If it is going to take a moment to get your children situated before they exit the car, please pull into a parking spot and walk them to the double doors on the side of the building so the line can move efficiently. The parent drop off doors will be closed at 8:55 each morning.
Parent Pick Up
Upon entering our lot, please follow the direction of our parent pick up crew and have your ID ready to share.
PTA Updates
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