Middleton Moments - Owlet Edition
August 29th - WELCOME BACK STUDENTS!!!!!
Principal's Message
Together with our teachers, staff and Assistant Principal, Ms. Mooring, I would like to welcome our students and school community back to Arthur Middleton Elementary School. I am excited about all the wonderful things that will take place in our building this year! I hope all of our families had an amazing summer, where great experiences were had and lasting memories made. AMES is ready to welcome our students back to engage in meaningful learning experiences. Our enthusiastic and committed teachers have been working during the summer in planning sessions, attending professional development, and getting our classrooms ready. I am confident that together we will have a productive and enriching 2022 – 2023 school year!
As newer members to the AMES community, Ms. Mooring and I have been reviewing information, listening to feedback, and learning of the great things our school has to offer. It is evident to us that the culture of the school is centered around our students’ well-being and we value that. Our work will continue to focus on the development of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) for our teachers and ensuring that all of our students learn our essential standards. Certainly, a safe and supportive school environment, as well as providing social-emotional support, is at the core of our work.
Our school will be stronger with the support of its community. We invite you to take advantage of the opportunities to support our students’ learning and experiences. I look forward to meeting you and working with you this academic year.
Please contact our office if you have any questions or need additional information.
Sincerely,
Nicole L. Hawkins,
AMES Principal
First Day Procedures
ARRIVAL: All students will enter through the main doors (walkers, drop off, bus riders, and daycare van riders). Kindergarten teachers will meet all their students out front to the right of the school and walk their classes inside. Doors open at 9:00 AM. All students MUST be in their seats by 9:15 AM or they are considered tardy. Breakfast is served daily from 9:00-9:15 AM. Please ensure our scholars arrive on time daily!
DISMISSAL: Walkers and Parent Pick Up will be dismissed first starting at 3:45PM. Walkers will exit through the back doors of the school where the gym/cafeteria are located. It is understood that as walkers, these students ARE NOT being monitored by school staff once they leave the gymnasium exit doors for the day. They are instructed to walk home and not linger around the school. Parent Pick Up students will meet their pick up person on the side of the school near the trailers. Signs will be set up by grade level and we ask that parents line up behind their signs. If you have students in various grade levels, you will have to go to each grade level to retrieve each of your students. ONLY adults aged 18+ with a photo ID and that are on the child's emergency contact list will be permitted to pick up their student. NO EXCEPTIONS!! This is for the safety of our students and this is the policy of Charles County Public Schools. Bus riders and daycare van riders will dismiss from the front doors at the end of the school day.
First Day Of School Bus Reminders
Tomorrow, Monday, Aug. 29, is the first day of school for Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students in kindergarten through Grade 12.
CCPS transportation staff is working to ensure all students have bus assignments in School Locator as soon as possible. Click here to access School Locator online. Routes will continue to be added into the first few weeks of school. You can also access the school locator online using the QR code below. As a reminder, kindergarten students must be met at the bus stop in the afternoon by a parent/guardian/adult family member. Please remember to review with your child what bus number they ride to and from school. This will help to prevent students from getting on the wrong bus tomorrow.
Shuttle schedules for students who attend North Point High School out-of-zone for career and technical education (CTE) programs are loaded to the CCPS transportation website at https://www.ccboe.com/departments/transportation.
School Locator is updated regularly with routes and changes as they are made. CCPS encourages parents to check the system for their child's bus information. Due to the volume of students with unassigned bus stops, some information may not yet be available. Please continue to check the system for bus assignment information. If you visit School Locator but receive an error that is a result of high traffic to the site. Please try to access the system later if you receive the error.
Transportation staff is also working quickly to answer help desk tickets. Parents can submit a help desk ticket at https://www.ccboe.com/departments/transportation/help-tickets. Please review the help desk ticket topics prior to submitting a request for assistance. Parents only need to submit one ticket. CCPS is prioritizing transportation needs of students who do not yet have a bus or route assignment and will address all other tickets as quickly as possible.
The bus hotline is available 6 to 10 a.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. Please note if you call and do not reach a live person, staff managing the hotline are helping other callers. CCPS will post any bus change information, including substitute bus numbers and delayed buses, to the transportation Twitter page @CCPSBuses.
MyPaymentsPlus - Meal/Lunch Account Support
Parents who want to add money to their child’s meal account should use MyPaymentsPlus to deposit funds. Meal prices, menu items and a link to MyPayments Plus are posted online here. Parents will need their child’s six-digit student identification number to create and use a MyPaymentsPlus account. Please us the QR code below to apply for the free and reduced meals program.
Free and Reduced Meals Application
All families are encouraged to use the QR code below to apply online. This helps maintain funding at our school.
Technology Guide For Students and Parents
Please use the QR code below for technology support.
The Importance of Attendance
AMES teachers and staff are working very hard to become a school where students are achieving at their highest abilities. Regular student attendance is essential to this goal. Research shows that attendance is the single most important factor in school success. Learning builds day by day. If your child is not in school he/she cannot learn. Our passion is to teach your children and we need them here. You may be surprised at how much learning happens in one day of school.
Good habits begin early and the most important school habit is regular attendance. By building the habit of daily attendance, you’ll help your child see that school is serious and chances are you’ll also see an improvement in your child’s grades. So make every effort to get your child to school on time every day.
As a school, our goal is for students to miss “10 or less for school success.” Our hope is that each student strives to have perfect attendance. We understand that there are times when students will be absent but these should be limited and under special circumstances. Those special circumstances tend to be medical and with notes from a doctor. Students enrolled in public schools must attend school regularly Monday through Friday.
We treasure and value our time with your child and feel that regular, on-time attendance is an important piece of the academic and social development of your child. Please let us know if we can help: We hope to work together to improve your child’s attendance this school year.
Tips to prevent absences:
¨ Talk about family expectations about school attendance.
¨ Discuss family expectations for earning a high school diploma.
¨ Praise positive behaviors and achievement in school.
¨ Look for attitudes from your child that indicate unhappiness with school or fear of attending school. Listen to what they say and ask questions. Address issues of concern with the school. Start with the teacher or the counselor.
¨ Work with your child to create morning and bedtime routines.
¨ Identify a “back up” plan for getting to and from school.
Make a commitment to ensuring your child is in school EVERY DAY!
Attendance Matters
Please use the QR Code below for the Charles County Policy on attendance.
Dates To Remember
September 5th -Labor Day, Schools closed for staff and students
September 6th - First day for Pre-K Students
September 11th - Grandparents Day and Patriot Day
September 13th - CCPS Board of Education meeting
September 16th - Schools closed for students, teacher professional development day
September 28th - 2 hour early dismissal, students begin dismissing at 1:40 PM
Open House 6:00-7:30 PM
October 10th - Columbus Day, Schools closed for students, parent teacher conference day
October 31st - Halloween
Arthur Middleton Elementary School
1109 Copley Avenue
Waldorf
MD
20602
Feeder Schools: Hanson, Somers, & Stoddert Middle Schools
Total Enrollment: 600
School serves grades PreK-5
Main phone: 301-753-1749 | 301-645-3338
Fax number: 301-944-0881
School hours: 9:15 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.