Clemens Crossing Cougar Comments
April 1, 2022 - Volume 43, Issue 30
Clemens Crossing Elementary School
Jaime Gittleson, 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
April
Arab American Heritage Month
- 1 - 3-Hour Early Dismissal, 12:45 p.m.
- 4 - Book Fair Opens
- 7 - School Spirit Day - Baseball Day
- 11-18 - Spring Break
- 19 - School Reopens, 9:00 a.m.
- 20 - PTA Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
- 22 - PTA Talent Show, 6:30 p.m. (moved from 4/29)
- 22 - School Spirit Day - Earth Day
- 27 - 3-Hour Early Dismissal, 12:45 p.m.
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
- 2 - Schools Closed, Professional Work Day (originally open, but the Board of Education changed this on 2/24)
- 3 - Schools OPEN (originally closed, but the Board of Education change this on 2/24)
- 6 - 5th Grade Panoramic Picture
- 10 - PTA Restaurant Day - Chick-fil-A, Johns Hopkins Road
- 11 - PTA Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
- 12 - Rising 6th Grade School Visits to either WLMS or HCMS
- 12 - Spring Chorus Concert
- 18 - 3-Hour Early Dismissal, 12:45 p.m.
- 20 - PTA Spring Carnival
- 24 - Science Fair, 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- 25 - 5th Grade Simulated Congressional Hearing
- 26 - Strings Concert, 6:30 p.m., Band Concert, 7:30 p.m.
- 30 - Schools Closed for Memorial Day
- 3 - Field Day (rain date, 6/6)
- 8 - 3-Hour Early Dismissal, 12:45 p.m.
- 14 - 5th Grade Closing Ceremony (for parents of 5th graders only)
- 15 - 3-Hour Early Dismissal, 12:45 p.m
- 16 - 3-Hour Early Dismissal, 12:45 p.m
- 17 - 3-Hour Early Dismissal, 12:45 p.m (Tentative Last Day of School)
- ** 5th Grade Closing Ceremony will be the last full day of school.
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
End of Third Quarter
The time continues to fly by in 2022! The third quarter is in the books and the fourth quarter starts Monday! Third quarter was incredible as we saw the return of consistent routines and great attendance. The consistency helped so much in so many ways. Our students continue to learn, grow, and develop each day. We are very pleased with the progress that is being made in terms of academic, social, and emotional skills. Thank you for continuing to support our efforts at home; we appreciate your partnership. Please remember, today, Friday, April 1, is a half-day due to the end of the marking period. Students will be dismissed at 12:45 p.m.
April 2022
April brings the beginning of the fourth quarter and a well-deserved Spring Break. Report cards will be issued on April 8 through your Family File in HCPSS Connect. Spring Break is April 9 through April 18. When we return from Spring Break, we will start to prepare for Articulation Day where we begin to work on class groupings for the 22-23 school year. Please take the time to contribute to this process by completing a consideration form.
Consideration Form for the 2022-23 School Year
The Clemens Crossing staff is looking ahead to the 2022-23 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. You can also click this link for the Consideration From.
The form closes on April 29th. Thank you for your help.
Finally, due to Spring Break, we will not issue the Cougar Comments newsletter on April 8.
The next Cougar Comments newsletter will be issued on Friday, April 22.
NEW INFORMATION
CCES Spirit Wear - Spring Sale
The Clemens Crossing Elementary School Spring Spiritwear Sale is in full swing!
Save 25% sitewide and get free shipping on orders over $75. Among the new items available are performance tees and shorts! Shop at https://1stplace.sale/43947
Wilde Lake Middle School Spirit Wear
Rising 6th graders who are districted to Wilde Lake Middle School can order spirit wear too! Please use the link to order your own WLMS spirit wear so you will have items this summer and in time to start the school year in late August.
https://1stplacespiritwear.com/schools/MD/Columbia/Wilde%20Lake%20Middle%20School
International Night suCCESs!
Thank you, PTA, for organizing an outstanding event!
Ramadan at CCES
This year, Ramadan starts at sundown on Saturday, April 2, and ends with Eid al-Fitr on Monday, May 2.
As always, we provide an alternative location during lunchtime for those students who will be fasting for Ramadan.
Students will be going to the Media Center and will be able to read a book or do their homework/finish unfinished work.
If your child will need to spend their lunchtime fasting and need an alternative location at lunchtime during Ramadan, please send an email to your classroom teacher. The teacher will ensure that they spend that time in the Media Center. If your child will be fasting but they would prefer to continue to go to the cafeteria during lunch, that is totally fine. In this case, you do NOT need to email the teacher.
Visitors and Volunteers
All volunteers and visitors must complete two trainings; HCPSS confidentiality training and child abuse and neglect training for parents. Upon completion, there are two forms to complete and turn in to the front office when you arrive.
Confidentiality Training - Certificate
Child Abuse and Neglect Training - Certificate
All visitors and volunteers need to sign in using the Lobby Guard kiosk in the front office. In order to do that, you need a government-issued identification (driver's license). The Lobby Guard program conducts a quick background check. Visitors and volunteers must wear the Lobby Guard issued visitor's badge in a prominent location while in the school building and on campus. When leaving, visitors and volunteers must sign out using the Lobby Guard badge.
Related Arts Grades
Chromebook Updates
Kindergarten students never received Chromebooks, and 1st grade students returned their Chromebooks from last year to meet the needs of students in 2nd grade through 12th grade throughout the school system due to supply shortages at the beginning of the year.
With the addition of these new Chromebooks, we are now a one-to-one school. Every student has a device. This is great news because we can supplement and enhance instruction.
Students in Kindergarten through Grade 3 will be keeping their Chromebook at school.
This shift will help reduce the wear and tear of the transport of devices and allow for consistent use in instruction during the school day. Students will still be using the Chromebook assigned to them throughout the day. If a student has a specific need for the device to go home each day, special permissions may be granted. Students are expected to follow the HCPSS Code of Conduct and Policy 8080 Responsible Use of Technology.
Please continue to talk with your child about the appropriate use of technology in and out of the classroom. In addition, all Chromebook chargers should be returned to school.
MAP Testing April 4-8
Clemens Crossing will administer the Measured Academic Progress (MAP) assessment to all students in 1st through 5th grades in Reading and Math between April 4-8. 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. MAP testing is administered using your child’s Chromebook. Please send them to school each day with a fully charged Chromebook. 1st graders will have their county-issued Chromebooks to use next week which will be housed in the school. Please check with students to see if they need headphones to use at school. The HCPSS website contains detailed information about MAP testing here. If you have questions about MAP testing, please contact Jaime Gittleson at Jaime_Gittleson@hcpss.org.
Water Fountains and Water Bottles
INFORMATION WORTH REPEATING
CALLING ALL CLEMENS CROSSING STUDENTS!
The Clemens Crossing Talent Show is back in-person in 2022, and we can't wait to see our students shine on our stage! We will have some very special guest MC's for the talent show.
Our student stars will showcase their talents on Friday, April 22, 2022, at 7:00 p.m., at the CCES Cafetorium. Note that the dress rehearsal date has been moved to Thursday, April 21st, at 7:00 pm.
We would love to see all kinds of talents represented: playing a musical instrument, singing a song, dancing a TikTok dance, telling great jokes, solving a Rubik's cube, reciting poetry, acting, hula hoop tricks, karate demonstrations, sports tricks, juggling, magic tricks or anything else that our students would like to share.
Acts can be anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes long. If your child is interested in performing, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/rdTdtnFgVD4nKu7t9 . We will keep the form open until the Talent Show is full!
Please contact us with any questions at culturalarts@clemenscrossingpta.org
CCES Book Fair
The Book Fair is coming! It will be open in the Media Center on April 4th through April 8th from
4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. This is a big fundraiser for the PTA and a lot of fun, so please come shop and support CCES! Also, if you are able to volunteer at the fair or help with set up/takedown, please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d4faea62ba6ff2-cces1
At the Book Fair, there will be opportunities to shop for books and gifts and also to buy books to donate to your child's classroom. You can also buy gift cards for your child's teacher at the fair! If you are interested in making a general donation for books, you can do so in the CCES Educator E-Wallet. We will select books to donate directly to the school.
E-Wallet: https://shop.scholastic.com/ewallet/fund?lang=en_US&walletId=4824613
Book Fair Welcome Letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18e5jpxpBMw3T6dqACRnqSPtnk2CTZr_Q/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103339530557561136124&rtpof=true&sd=true
More information about eWallet: https://players.brightcove.net/1543299976/Eyj59PHsg_default/index.html?videoId=6275847261001
If you have any questions, please contact Allie at mcdonald.allie@gmail.com
We look forward to seeing you there!
Science Fair 2022
Your child is invited to participate in this year’s Science Fair on Tuesday, May 24 from
6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
If your child is interested in doing a Science Fair Collection, Investigation, or Invention at home, please download the corresponding attachment below. Students may do projects individually or as a group. Once your child has identified a project, please complete the online “Intent to Participate form.” We are excited to highlight the commitment shown and the hard work done by the CCES students this year. Many thanks for all of your support at home and in the building this year.
Types of Science Fair Projects
Students in Kindergarten, First, or Second Grade may submit a Science Collection.
Students will collect and organize something of interest, answering questions related to observations made while exploring their world.
CCES Science Fair Collection.pdf
Students in any grade may conduct a Science Investigation to answer a question/problem.
Students will use The Scientific Method to learn the systematic approach to solving a problem.
CCES Science Fair Investigation.pdf
Students in any grade may submit a Science Invention. Students will use the engineering design process to create an invention that will solve a problem or answer a question.
CCES Science Fair Invention.pdf
After you sign-up, further communication will come from the PTA Science Fair Committee. They will share specific information and directions for May 24.
Are You Moving?
If you have moved or are moving soon, please notify us as soon as possible.
We are available to assist you with transitioning to your child's new school. Whether it be another HCPSS school, private school, or a school outside of the HCPSS district, we are here to help.
If you have an address change, bring your new residency documents to the front office and we will update your address in the system. If you have any questions, contact Jennifer Aballo, Registrar: jennifer_aballo@hcpss.org
Order Your 2021-22 Yearbook
Help Wanted
Headphones
Through a partnership with the HCHD and several local pharmacies, HCPSS is pleased that students have multiple opportunities to get vaccinated.
Reporting Absences
Absence Notes
All students are required to have a note explaining why they were absent. Please send an email to your child's teacher as well as ccesabsence@hcpss.org.