Clemens Crossing Cougar Comments
January 3, 2020 - Volume 41, Issue 16
Clemens Crossing Elementary School
Sonia Hurd, Assistant Principal
Website: cces.hcpss.org
Location: 10320 Quarterstaff Road, Columbia, MD, United States
Phone: 410-313-6866
Facebook: facebook.com/ClemensCrossingElementary
Twitter: @hcpss_cces
Important Upcoming Dates and Events
January
- 8 - PTA meeting, 7:00 p.m.
- 11 - PTA Roller Skate Night at Supreme Sports Club, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
- 13 - WLMS 6th grade orientation, 6:30 p.m.
- 16 - Winter Strings Concert, 6:30 p.m.
- 16 - Winter Band Concert, 7:30 p.m.
- 20 - Schools and offices closed, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- 23 - Parent Orientation for CCES families redistricted to Bryant Woods ES, 6:00 p.m.
- 23 - Parent Orientation for incoming Swansfield ES families at CCES, 7:00 p.m.
- 24 - Compliment Day 2020
- 24 - End of the second quarter
- 27 - Schools closed for students
- 28 - The Great Kindness Challenge Begins
- 29 - In-school banking, 9:00 a.m.
- 29 - Makers Faire, 6:15 p.m.
February
- 1 - Black History Month begins
- 3 - School Counselor's Week
- 3 - Report cards issued
- 12 - PTA Restaurant Night - Chick-fil-a (Johns Hopkins Road)
- 13 - Elementary schools close early for Parent/Teacher Conferences (Math), 12:45 p.m.
- 14 - Elementary schools close early for Parent/Teacher Conferences (Math), 12:45 p.m.
- 17 - Schools and offices closed - President's Day
- 25 - Vision & Hearing Screening
- 26 - In-school banking, 9:00 a.m.
- 27 - CCES School Play - Aladdin Kids - (held at Wilde Lake Middle School), 6:30 p.m.
To subscribe to the CCES calendar on your smartphone, electronic device, or email system use the calendar ID sqspkjkbr6v6arss44js3n21eg@group.calendar.google.com.
From School Administration
Happy New Year
Let us begin by wishing you a Happy New Year filled with many successes and continued progress! At Clemens Crossing Elementary School, we place great value in seeing our students showing continued suCESSs and academic progress as they move through their academic journey this year. Each year, as we ring in the New Year, we see this as the ideal opportunity to check in with students and families to ensure that our students are on-track, prepared and ready to go for the second half of the year. What we have observed, as we approach the midpoint of the school year, is that students are academically strong and that our instructional and support team remains energized. After a well-deserved winter break, we welcomed back students and families to begin our work for the second half of the year to ensure that learning continues.
When we take a look at the year-in-review, we have much to be proud of in terms of student achievement. Most recently, Clemens Crossing Elementary earned four stars (81st percentile out of all elementary schools in Maryland) on the 2018-19 Maryland Report Card. Our students have made impressive strides and the high-quality staff at CCES ensures that our students receive the best instruction and support to achieve. We find this to be our recipe success – great students, families, and staff working together to reach the milestones necessary for a bright future.
The year ahead is full of great promise and opportunities for students and the community. We want to thank you for your continued support and wish you a successful 2020!
Thank you!
We would like to personally thank all of the families and students that so generously and thoughtfully gave us holiday gifts and provided gifts to staff. Our office was flooded with baked goods, candies, gift cards, etc. We want to be sure to let our school community know how grateful we are personally. You definitely made our busy days and holiday a bit brighter with your gifts, and we are most appreciative!
It's been nearly three weeks since our last Cougar Comments. We have a lot of new information listed below in this newsletter as well as some reminders from our previous issues.
Mr. Cosentino and Mrs. Hurd
From Mr. Cosentino
I am writing to inform you that I will be on leave from January 13 through January 21. I was selected to be part of the Lifetouch Memory Mission to continue to build a school in Constanza, Dominican Republic. Lifetouch is a national photography company owned by Shutterfly. Each year, Lifetouch selects educators from all across the United States and Canada to help build schools in communities around the world. I will be part of a group that will be adding on to the Cecaini Rio Grande School; a school that was built during the 2016-18 Memory Missions.
During my absence, Mrs. Hurd will be at school to assist with any needs. There are two days during that time where Mrs. Hurd will be in meetings outside of school. Mrs. Sophia Quirk, Deep Run Elementary School Assistant Principal, will be at CCES in her place all day on January 14 and a half-day on January 21.
Lifetouch is also working with me to help plan a Facebook Live session where I will be able to communicate with our school while I am in the Dominican Republic. I hope we can use this brief time to bridge our two school communities and cultures. The Facebook Live session is scheduled for Thursday, January 16 at 9:30 a.m.
I look forward to sharing my experiences with our school community. Stay tuned!
Mr. Cosentino, Principal
New Information
PTA Roller Skate Night
Saturday, Jan 11, 2020, 04:30 PM
Supreme Sports Club, Deepage Drive, Columbia, MD, USA
Come join us for our annual CCES Skate Night!
The CCES PTA is sponsoring a skate night on Saturday, January 11 from 4:30p-6:30p at Supreme Sports Center on Deepage Drive. Admission is free! You can bring your own skates or rent a pair for $4. A waiver is required for ALL participants (adults included). Please note that the waiver MUST be signed by a parent or legal guardian of minors in case you plan on bringing friends along. [NO EXCEPTIONS] You can get a copy of the waiver ahead of time: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14h0AF5KyCt3KSWTX7rLe8jUdAIyGUEzf/view?usp=sharing
Hope you can come join the fun! Questions? Contact Christy Pine at vicepresident@clemenscrossingpta.org
Road To Kindergarten
Do you have a child who will be 5 years old by September 1, 2020?
Do you have a neighbor who has a child who will be 5 years old by September 1, 2020?
If you said yes, to either question above, please review and/or share this information.
Please join us for an information session about kindergarten in the Howard County Public School System.
At this workshop you will learn:
- Expectations for school readiness (and receive a Ready for Kindergarten toolkit).
- Details about the kindergarten program.
- Information about HCPSS kindergarten registration.
- Ways that families and children can be supported during the transition to kindergarten.
Sessions are designed for adults only. Child care is available for children ages 2 and older. Doors will open at 6 p.m. to allow time for parking, child care drop off, and check-in. Sessions begin promptly at 6:30. We anticipate large crowds so please allow yourself ample time.
Choose a session that is convenient for you. No registration required.
All sessions will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 22
Hammond High School, 8800 Guilford Road, Columbia
Thursday, January 23
Oakland Mills High School, 9410 Kilimanjaro Road, Columbia
Wednesday, January 30
Centennial High School, 4300 Centennial Lane, Ellicott City
SNOW DATE:
Wednesday, February 19
Hammond High School, 8800 Guilford Road, Columbia
To learn more information about preparing for Kindergarten, visit the following page on the HCPSS website: https://www.hcpss.org/enroll/kindergarten/
Kindergarten registration begins Monday, March 9, 2020 in-person and online.
PLEASE NOTE:
Families who are redistricted to Bryant Woods ES will need to register at BWES.
Families redistricted from Swansfield ES, and designated to go to Clemens Crossing ES, will need to register at CCES.
Early Dismissal Reminder
Due to the busy nature of Dismissal, we request early dismissal pickups take place
before 3:15 p.m.
Siblings During Lunch, Recess, and Classroom Visits
We strive to be a welcoming place for parents and visitors. At the same time, we have to maintain a safe environment conducive to learning.
While we do allow siblings to accompany parents during lunch, we do not recommend it. Younger children should be closely monitored by the parent at all times and they should not interfere with the operations of the lunch shift.
Siblings are not permitted at recess or in the classrooms.
Visiting or Picking-up Students at CCES
All visitors to Clemens Crossing must bring a driver’s license and sign in with our LobbyGuard visitor management system.
Additionally, we require a picture ID when you pick-up your child early from school.
Car Riders and Walkers Are Two Different Dismissal Groups
Car riders are students who are picked up in a vehicle in the car loop. Car riders are dismissed first. All car riders are dismissed from the side of the building and are to be picked up in the car loop. Walkers should not be part of this group, and parents should not walk children out of the car loop line.
Walkers are dismissed last after our car and bus traffic subsides. We do this for safety reasons. Parents/guardians of walkers meet children in the front of the building when walkers are dismissed. If you park a car along Quarterstaff Road, students are considered walkers even though they may ride a car home. Those students will be dismissed with walkers.
Information Worth Repeating
Keep Family File Up-To-Date
Recently, we have had several incidents where we have been trying to reach parents and find that either their voice mailbox was full or not set-up to receive messages. We also have several situations where the emergency number(s) we have on file is/are no longer in service.
We would appreciate it if you could take a moment and make sure of the following:
- Please have a voice mailbox in place that can receive messages. If need be, please clear the messages currently in your mailbox so that your mailbox can receive new messages.
- Please take a moment and update any emergency numbers that may need to be updated.
This is very important especially if we have an unscheduled emergency closing.
In-School Banking - January 29
CCES teamed up with First National Bank to provide banking opportunities for our students. In-School Banking takes place once a month on the last Wednesday of each month between
9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. in the Cafeteria. You can find all of the dates on our school calendar.
Students can start banking at any time during the year. Here is the letter from First National Bank as well as the Banking Information Sheet needed to open an account:
Winter Concerts
If you cannot attend the Winter Strings and Band concerts in person, we have the next best thing. You can listen to and see the concerts live on Periscope through our Twitter feed. Simply visit twitter.com/hcpss_cces on January 17 at 6:30 p.m. for the strings concert and 7:30 p.m. for the band concert. Feel free to share the information with family and friends.