Clemens Crossing Cougar Comments
May 7, 2021 - Volume 42, Issue 35
Clemens Crossing Elementary School
We're Here to Help You!
Edward Cosentino, PrincipalSonia Hurd, Assistant Principal
Stacey Wells, Principal's Secretary
Jennifer Aballo, Teachers' Secretary
Dulce Boyer, Teachers' Secretary
Website: cces.hcpss.org
Location: 10320 Quarterstaff Road, Columbia, MD, United States
Phone: 410-313-6866
Facebook: facebook.com/ClemensCrossingElementary
Twitter: @hcpss_cces
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Spanish
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Important Upcoming Dates and Events
May
- 12 - MAP Math Testing: Gr.1 thru 5 at 9:40 a.m.
- 19 - MAP Testing: Makeup Test Date - 9:40 a.m.(Reading) and 1:00 p.m. (Math)
- 13 - School Closed for Students - Professional Learning/Articulation Day
- 17 - International Week
- 19 - Science Fair
- 31 - Memorial Day - Schools and Office Closed
June
- 9 - 5th Grade Promotion Drive-Thru
- 10 - Professional Work Day - Schools Close 3 Hours Early
- 11 - Professional Work Day - Schools Close 3 Hours Early
- 14 - Professional Work Day - Schools Close 3 Hours Early
- 15 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL Professional Work Day - Schools Close 3 Hours Early
From School Administration
As reported last week in a separate email, we encouraged more students to join us for in-person instruction if space was available. We were able to honor about 50% of the requests to fill in the available spaces. We are now at capacity in most grade levels and classrooms, and we are no longer taking requests for in-person instruction. Thank you for your understanding.
After being included in the Cougar Comments for the past few weeks, the annual Consideration Form will close on May 12. Please be sure to review the contents and provide your input for me, Mrs. Hurd, and next year's teachers.
This edition of the Cougar Comments is relatively light with few new items. That is a rarity! Have a great weekend!
Thank you,
Mr. Cosentino, Principal
NEW INFORMATION
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
Mental health is just as important as physical health!
Celebrate Mental Health Month by taking a few minutes each day for yourself. Whether it’s a 5-minute meditation or walk around the block, be sure to prioritize your mental health. Here are some fun ways to take care of your mental health as we prepare for the start of summer:
Virtual Kids Cooking Party
As part of our International Week Celebration, the CCES PTA is proud to host a Virtual Kids Cooking Party on Friday, May 21st at 6pm! A wonderful chef from Culinary Artistas will lead our kids step by step through making homemade tortillas and fillings for a fun taco night! It will be easy and fun, and parents get to relax while our kids make us dinner! We can't wait to celebrate with you!
To receive the Zoom link, please RSVP here!
INFORMATION WORTH REPEATING
Did you Move? Are You Moving?
According to HCPSS Policy 9000 - Student Residency, Eligibility, Enrollment, and Assignment, "A student attending a public school in Howard County will attend the designated school serving the school attendance area in which the parents have bona fide residence unless reassignment is granted or administrative placement occurs."
If you have moved or are moving soon, please notify us as soon as possible. Please do not wait for us to find out through other means. We are available to assist you with transitioning to your child's new school. Whether it be another HCPSS school, a private school, or a school out of the HCPSS district, we are here to help. If you are transferring to another HCPSS school, our registrars will partner to make the transition as smooth as possible.
If you have an address change, please fill out the attached fillable Address Change Form below and email it back to us with your new deed or lease. This way we can electronically verify your school district and update your new address on file. If you have any questions, contact our registrar, Jennifer Aballo: jennifer_aballo@hcpss.org
It is very important for us to have the most accurate information about your residency.
Final MAP Testing Cycle
On Wednesday, May 5th, 12th, and 19th, students in grades 1-5 will take the Measured Academic Progress (MAP) Assessment. The data from the MAP assessment will help schools and teachers measure your student’s academic progress. The MAP test does not affect grades and the difficulty adjusts depending on how your child responds. It is normal for students to only answer about half the questions correctly. To learn more about the MAP assessment, please visit: https://www.nwea.org/the-map-suite/common-questions-families/
The Reading test will be offered on May 5th at 9:40 a.m. The Math test will be offered on
May 12th at 9:40 a.m. If your child is unable to attend, makeup testing will be offered on May 19th. Teachers will share Google Meet information and your student’s testing group as we get closer to the May dates.
CCES Virtual International Week Celebration
Clemens Crossing's International Celebration goes virtual this year - and we need your help! The CCES PTA invites you to help us celebrate our school's amazing cultural diversity from May 17 - 21, 2021. We are seeking video submissions of what makes your family's culture or country special and unique. We want to learn all about your family's country/culture!
Throughout the week, we will share videos created by our students and families on our PTA Facebook page, and on Friday, May 21, we have invited a chef to teach a virtual international cooking class for the entire CCES community to participate!
Some good examples of simple videos would be:
- A slideshow presentation teaching us about your country or culture
- A cooking tutorial featuring traditional food from your country/culture
- A video of you dancing a traditional dance from your country/culture A video featuring music from your country/culture (if you are playing it, that's even better!)
- A video showing traditional costumes from your country/culture
- A video featuring traditional stories from your country/culture
- A video featuring art from your country/culture and explaining where it comes from
- Anything else creative and fun that teaches us about your country/culture!
Please try to keep your videos on the shorter side if possible (2 to 6 minutes in length is ideal). Your entire family can participate to make it special!
If you plan to participate, please let us know by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/qc1LtW64VwGMWGUu8
We can't wait to learn all about your family's country/culture! Thanks for helping us celebrate!
Please email a link to your family's video by May 15 to culturalarts@clemenscrossingpta.org. Feel free to email any questions as well!
Consideration Form Open
Consideration Form - Planning for 2021-2022
The Clemens Crossing staff is looking ahead to the 2021-22 school year. As part of this process, we would like to give you the opportunity to share some information that you would like for us to consider as we begin to make class groupings for the next school year. This consideration form is for you, as parents, to relate specific information about your child that you feel would be beneficial as our teachers meet to determine next year's placement.
When placing students, the staff, and administration utilize a wide range of criteria that are supportive of the Howard County philosophy of heterogeneous grouping. Some of these criteria include, but are not limited to:
- the personality of the child
- the gender balance in each classroom
- math strengths and needs
- written output
- test results
- reading strengths and needs
- special education requirements; IEP goals
- structured versus non-structured needs
- information from previous teachers and school counselor.
There are certain concerns that we cannot consider as part of this Consideration Form, therefore, we ask that you not use this form to propose the following:
- specific teacher requests
- grouping based on siblings’ experience
- grouping based on friends
- grouping based on hearsay.
Your input on this form will be used in our planning for your child rather than a letter requesting a specific teacher. Your response is OPTIONAL but is a very valuable source of information to the school staff and to the next teacher.
The form is embedded in this newsletter program below. If you cannot see the form below, you may need to use a computer.
The form closes on May 12th. Thank you for your help.
Community News and Programs
Please find the link to the Howard County Public School System's Community News and Programs page.
In alignment with Howard County Board of Education Policy 10010, Distribution and Display of Materials and Announcements, the following announcements have been approved by the Public Information Office for distribution. Please visit Distributing Community Information through the School System or contact the Public Information Office at 410-313-6682 if you have any questions.
The below community notices are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Howard County Public School System.