The Dolphin News
News & Information 10/11/20
South Lake Elementary School’s Biweekly Information & News
A Message From Ms. King
It’s hard to believe October is already here! With the help of the South Lake staff and community, we are off to a great start this school year. Despite the daily challenges we all face, we remain committed to providing a rigorous and engaging learning experience for all students. Please continue to support your child by providing a space for your child to work that is free from distractions. Ask your child to show you their assignments for the day before and after the assignments have been completed. Assist your child in completing their work, but please do allow them to have productive struggles. Finally, create a schedule for your child that ensures they are getting a good night’s sleep and are up and ready to learn.
Hopefully, you were able to participate in our Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration. Congratulations to the Hispanic Heritage Committee for a spectacular month of fun and excitement. Parents and students participated in a variety of activities like bedtime story time, loteria and cooking lessons! Please check our school website for other exciting virtual events that are being planned.
Speaking of planning, many parents have been actively involved in the design planning for a new South Lake building. Please let your voice be heard by completing the on-line community survey attached to the following link (English): https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=n4jGDyO_ZkygcfNRUKq9-kM1okNcNMVCiF0iIc2y8qlUQk5NRjFSNFY2U1pHQ0FYTklIVENNREVXWC4u
Stay safe and enjoy the autumn weather!
Celeste King
Principal
Ms. Celeste King Principal
Mrs. Leah Levy Assistant Principal
Mr. Aaron McKinley Assistant School Administrator
Important Dates
October 15th - Black and Brown Coalition for Education Equity and Excellence Virtual Forum 7:00 pm Register for the free event here
October 20th - Parent Cafe 7:00 pm online https://meet.google.com/rcy-xgfo-uud or join by phone +1 443-671-8391 PIN: 655 178 410#
October 26th - October 30th - Red Ribbon Spirit Week
October 27th - Family Market 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Are you connected?
While we may all be “connected” to the Internet, are we still “connected” with each other? During these unprecedented times, it is important to connect with family, friends, and teachers. It is a basic need for social emotional well being of children and adults alike to connect with others for learning, fun and growing and maintaining relationships.
Connect with your teacher via Class Dojo or email CLICK HERE about academic or social emotional progress.
Connect with our parent community coordinators via email or phone. They are here to help you ensure daily attendance for online learning and to connect to the resources you need such as food, healthcare, rent assistance etc. See the PCC section of the newsletter for contact information.
Connect with your administrators live online every Tuesday 8:30 am - 9:30 am to ask questions or just say hi. You can join by clicking on the Google Meet link, meet.google.com/ett-vojp-kuh or you can call in. Call in Phone Numbers (US)+1 501-819-2397 PIN: 582 026 222# or email us CLICK HERE
Connect to the South Lake website for all the resources you need during this time of distance learning. CLICK HERE
Connect with your family and friends. Here are some fun games and ideas to connect online. CLICK HERE.
Even though we can’t be together physically, we can still remain connected. Hope to connect with you soon!
Mrs. Levy
Assistant Principal
Black and Brown Coalition to Host Virtual Conversation
The Black and Brown Coalition for Education Equity and Excellence is hosting a virtual forum at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 15.
The forum, Seeking Accountability on Promises Made to Black and Brown Children, will discuss what progress has been made on the pledge to achieve educational and racial equity for Black and Brown students. The event will also address the impact of virtual learning and challenges regarding the recovery of learning loss. You can register for the free event here.
School Calendar Changes
At its October 6 business meeting, the Board of Education approved the following adjustments to the calendar. Approved changes include:
A shift of early release days from November 11 and 12 to the week of Thanksgiving. Early release days will now be on November 23 and 24.
The same two early release days—November 23 and 24—were also added to the Innovative School Year Calendar.
A professional day for teachers was added on November 4, 2020, based on feedback from staff that more professional development and planning time is needed. This will be a non-instructional day for students in all schools. As a reminder, schools and offices are closed on Tuesday, Nov. 3 for Election Day.
These changes result in 181 instructional days for schools that follow the traditional calendar and 209 instructional days for Innovative Calendar Schools.
Bar-T is excited to be operating an Educational Equity & Enrichment Hub program
Bar-T is excited to be operating an Educational Equity & Enrichment Hub program, with enhanced health, safety, and cleaning measures, to provide care for children and provide distance learning support. The program is for students who may not have reliable internet access and/or adult supervision to ensure successful distance learning. Families must show a financial need and be willing to commit to bringing their child to Stedwick Elementary School each day (transportation is not available). The program will be located at Stedwick Elementary and will operate Monday through Friday, 8:30AM – 5:30PM. Please see the flyer CLICK HERE for more details. Please go to http://www.bar-t.com/equityhub or directly to the application (https://forms.gle/qEbXbihGYqLXXYaBA) to apply. This program is supported by generous grants from The Children’s Opportunity Fund and families do not need to submit any application fees or up-front costs. Thanks to funding from The Children’s Opportunity Fund, we are able to offer this program for families in need for a total cost of $50/month per child. Additional financial assistance is available for families who are unable to meet the $50/month per child contribution.
Ms. Hissey - School Counselor
Ms. Hughes - School Counselor
Visit our Website
Counselor's Corner
Friendly reminder that students entering Kindergarten or students new to MCPS will need to provide proof of vaccinations. Here are two lists of clinics offering free immunizations for students. Click here and here
The Counselors are pleased to announce Red Ribbon Spirit Week! We will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week - a week that emphasizes the wish to lead happy and healthy lives, October 26 - 30, 2020. Look for the spirit week flyer coming soon!
Adult English Online
covlife.org/english-classes
Board Committee to Host Community Conversation on Virtual Learning
The Board of Education’s Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee is hosting a community conversation about virtual learning on Monday, October 19 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. You can watch at www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org, youtube.com/mcpstv or on MCPS-TV (Comcast 33, Verizon 36 and RCN 88). You can submit questions in advance at www.mcpssubmitquestion.org.
Parent Academy Holding To-Go Virtual Webinars, Chats, and Workshops
Families and students can stay engaged throughout the school year with Parent Academy TO GO. Parent Academy TO GO is a series of virtual webinars for families to watch at home. In addition, there are several virtual chats and workshops coming up that may be helpful for families. Among them:
Monday, October 12, Mental Health Monday Virtual Chat: Minimizing Meltdowns at Home, 6:00 to 6:45 p.m.
Join us for a virtual chat focused on compassion and grace. We will discuss crisis prevention and intervention strategies to help minimize meltdowns and support your child’s social/emotional needs during a dual pandemic. Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students. Facilitated by a nationally certified school psychologist.
Tuesday, October 13, Virtual Chat, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. (Facilitated in English, Spanish, Amharic, French, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean) Online learning is very challenging for some of our MCPS families. This virtual chat is a collaborative, community event built on the five primary languages in MCPS and created to listen to the technology needs of parents/guardians. It will create solutions with parents/guardians in real time so they can learn more about how to help their children online and how to solve problems when the technology stops. Presented by MCPS staff and recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students.
Monday, October 19, Mental Health Monday Virtual Workshop: An Overview of Social-Emotional Learning, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Join us for an overview of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). SEL is a process through which adults and children deepen their expertise in understanding and managing emotions and learning how they impact a person’s choices, relationships, and outlook in life. MCPS staff will discuss and answer questions regarding SEL and how it impacts your child. Recommended for families of elementary, middle, and high school students and presented by MCPS staff.
Reach out to our Parent Community Coordinators!
Parent Resources
If you have questions about technology assistance, lunch, or other assistance, please see below to contact one of our parent community coordinators.
PreK & Headstart - Cesiah Ventura (English & Spanish)
Email Cesiah_Ventura@mcpsmd.org Phone 240-740-4530
Kindergarten & First Grade - Maria Romero (English & Spanish)
Email Maria_G_Romero@mcpsmd.org Phone 240-457-9242
Second & Third Grade - Allison Suarez-Charles (English & Spanish)
Email Allison_J_Charles@mcpsmd.org Phone 240-753-0411
Fourth Grade - Dary Herrera (English & Spanish)
Email Dary_Y_Herrera-Jurado@mcpsmd.org Phone 240-550-4712
Fifth Grade - Tony (Fernando) Maturana (English & Spanish)
Email Fernando_A_Maturana@mcpsmd.org Phone 724-259-7903
FREE AND REDUCED MEAL APPLICATION FY20-21
CLASSDOJO
PARENTVUE
Additional Bus Stop Locations Added to Meal Service Program
MCPS is expanding the number of meal service sites for the community. In addition to the 74 school sites, students and families can pick up meals on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday at several bus stop locations throughout the county from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. More information is available at www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/reopening/meals/.
Saturday School
Online Saturday School program for the 2020-21 school year kicks off this Saturday, September 25th. This year, our elementary students can participate in a variety of activities to support their mastery of Benchmarks and Eureka math curriculum. There is also:
Small group tutoring for ESOL, math and English subjects
CODING Program (additional fees $125/session)
Robotics Program (additional fee $125/session)
The online program includes seven virtual centers for students in grades K-12 with one center serving all our English Language Learners. We are also offering FREE ADULT LITERACY classes for parents of students that attend Saturday School. Parents can register here: https://saturdayschoolgbtla.wufoo.com/forms/pbcrggg0wd72ly/
All students and families should register online at www.saturdayschool.org. Scholarships are available for students and families in need and can be accessed through this application: https://forms.gle/FUfSsrqP9AMRzuMM7
The Saturday School program is also expanding and offering new and exciting experiences. For the academic year 2020-21, DREAMERS Saturday School Center has been added which will focus on second language acquisition for ELL students, math, and enrichment in Science and Social Studies. Saturday School will be using Benchmark and Eureka lessons that align with weekly academic during the regular school week. For more information about registration and enrollment in our centers see our website https://saturdayschool.org/
Is your child interested in art? Join YAM!
A free, online visual art program for youth, ages 5-13 years old that starts the week of October 19 and will end the week of January 11th (10 weeks total)
YAM participants will be part of one of three cohorts - K-3rd grade (Mon and Wed, 4-4:45 pm), 4-5th grade (Tue and Thu, 4-5pm), or a 6-8th grade (Fri 4-5:30pm, and Sat 10-11:30am)
Art supplies and tech (if needed) will be supplied
YAM'ers will explore techniques and materials as they discover several elements of art, taught by experienced, Art Educators and Teaching Artists
This program will also help youth strengthen their literacy skills, and include STEAM elements
Parents/guardians (or a designated substitute, i.e. an older sibling) are strongly encouraged to participate in all YAM sessions
Spanish - English translation will be provided
A "Spring" YAM session will start in Feb '21, and go for 10 to 12 weeks into the early spring. This session will most likely be online as well.
Townhall on Preventing Sexual Harassment and Assault Set for October 13
Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center
Financial Assistance Programs
Accepting Applications NOW
Emergency Assistance Relief Payment (EARP)
The County's EARP Program is expanding and now more people may qualify.
The EARP Program provides financial assistance to:
low-income households who do not qualify for other types of federal or state support
low-income families with an adult who has lost income due to a household member having COVID-19
Visit the County's website to learn more about the new eligibility guidelines and to apply online.
Immigration status is not required for this program.
This program does not count as public charge.
COVID-19 School-Age Subsidy Program (CSSP)
For low-income families with children at MCPS schools who attend a qualifying full-day childcare program.
Short term program which may provide assistance paying for childcare between October and January.
Childcare providers must be licensed and participating in program.
If you are eligible for other childcare subsidy programs, you must apply for those first.
See program website and Instructions for Parents (English / Espanol) for more info and to apply online.
Can provide assistance to families with undocumented children.
For questions, contact the Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center 240-777-4940 Monday to Friday, 9 am - 5 pm.