Stoneleigh Home-School Connection
2/15/2021
Monday, March 1, 2021 is just around the corner. This date marks the beginning of hybrid instruction for Baltimore County Public Schools. Stoneleigh Elementary is excited to welcome back into the building staff members and students alike. Initially staff and students in kindergarten through second grade who have elected a hybrid environment will enter the building. Beginning Tuesday, April 6, 2021 staff and students in third through fifth grade who have elected a hybrid environment will enter the building.
It will be important for families to understand as students and teachers go back it mirrors the beginning of the school year with procedures and protocols having to be taught. Please give everyone grace and space. None of us have ever learned or taught in a hybrid environment. It will be a learning curve for all of us.
Technology equipment has been ordered although it is back ordered at this time to assist in managing the two different learning environments. Teachers participated in professional learning throughout the school year specific to High Quality Hybrid Learning Environments. As a school we have been meeting to share ideas and call upon those from other districts who have been teaching in the hybrid environment already in preparation. We have many great ideas already.
Wishing you well.
Ms. Hollenbeck
Stoneleigh Elementary Equity Work With Students
The main idea of this is everyone deserves an equal life regardless of a person's color especially with education and it's benefits to life. A few African Americans who made a difference in our world are focused on below. Some current important African Americans include Barack Obama who dealt with teasing as a kid then studied and worked hard in law school which prepared him for what he had to do as the first black president in 2008. Another current example is what Kamala Harris had to do in order to become the first woman from Black and Indian descent to run for president.
Ruby Bridges a first grader made history becoming the first black child to go to an all-white. Thurgood Marshall was rejected from the University of Maryland because he was black, but that did not stop him and through his hard work he became the first African American Supreme Court Justice.
In our own school, Ms. Tanika Poole talked about having to stand up for herself and work hard. A BCPS high school is named in honor of George Washington Carver the first black professor at Simpson College in Iowa.
Black History Month Learning
Check Out What Is Happening At Stoneleigh...
- Follow @StoneleighES on twitter for daily informative tweets throughout February on the impact of African Americans throughout history and today written by our Black Saga team.
- Kindergarteners are learning about Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Wilma Rudolph, Harriet Tubman, Booker T Washington, Jackie Robinson, Louis Armstrong, and Mary McLeod Bethune.
- 1st Grade students are taking time during content and/or small group reading to learn about Jackie Robinson and Harriet Tubman. Previously this year students have read about Mae Jemison, Fredrick Douglas, George Washington Carver and Rosa Parks.
- 2nd Grade students are taking time during content lessons each week to learn about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- 3rd Grade students are using MLK's "On the Mountaintop" speech to analyze using Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle (pathos, logos, and ethos) to identify the persuasive appeal MLK used. Students will then paraphrase a section of the speech. The speech will be divided into sections and each student will be responsible for memorizing their part. Staff members of the Ford Theatre are working with students to perfect oratory skills that will be employed as they deliver the assigned sections of the speech.
- 4th Grade students are learning about 16 influential African Americans who made a different in the world during morning meetings and contenat blocks.
- 5th Grade students are creating posters about one influential black American from the past 100 years.
From Stoneleigh's School Counselors
As part of our School Counseling Program, your child’s class will have the opportunity to engage in a synchronous counseling core curriculum lesson during the month of February. The theme for this month is Celebrating Differences. Students in primary grades will have lessons that focus on understanding what makes people the same and different, both in ways that can be seen and unseen, as well as learning to appreciate and accept the differences in others. Primary students will also be prompted to reflect on what makes them different/unique. The intermediate grades will focus on how differences make communities stronger and will reflect on how they can personally draw on their differences to better their communities. Topics of segregation, equity, and equality, will also be explored. (Topics vary depending upon specific grade levels). This lesson will be delivered live, but for students who want to refer to the resources or who are unable to attend they will be provided on Schoology as well.
It is our hope that the core curriculum counseling lessons will help to promote the social emotional, academic, and career development of our students. We hope that you can help your child reflect on these lessons by discussing their content together. Please feel free to contact us with any questions about the program. Mrs. Kaminski (K-2 counselor) can be reached via email at ekaminski2@bcps.org. Ms. Leaf (3-5 counselor) can be reached via email at nleaf@bcps.org.
Additional resources to aid in the discussion of this counseling lesson at home include:
- https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716700866/talking-race-with-young-children
- https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-media-violence/#gs.cpwwtv
- https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/teaching-tolerance/talking-about-race-with-kids/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/parenting/kids-books-racism-protest.html
For Parents and Guardians of 5th Grade Students
Incoming 6th Grade DMS Parents,
BCPS deployed its online registration system on January 19, 2021. Incoming 6th grade students are able to go into the FOCUS portal to view their core classes for the 2021-2022 school year; these classes have already been identified through the automatic course request (ACR) process and initial placement recommendations have been made by elementary schools. Below are the registration documents to help begin the registration conversation at home to identify the world language and music course selections for the upcoming school year and the directions for accessing the portal. The same documents are in the School Counselors 5th Grade Schoology page.
Ms. Robinson, the school counselor for incoming 6th graders, met with the students at Stoneleigh Elementary to facilitate virtual registration meetings. For questions regarding student placement, please contact your child’s elementary school.
All students need to fill out the DMS registration even if they intend to go to private school.
4th FAQ Session - February
The 18 questions and responses identified for February's FAQ session are below for those who were unable to attend the virtual meeting.
The presentation by Ms. Hollenbeck on the re-entry of BCPS and Stoneleigh Elementary should be uploaded to the school website this week if you missed the opportunity to hear the plans, protocols, and protections.
Don't forget to join Ms. Hollenbeck and school nurse, Ms. Stelmack this Thursday, February 18th at 7pm for a Health and Safety preparation for hybrid instruction. Use the following link to join: meet.google.com/cdd-dshy-dck.
From BCPS
Can My Child Go To School Today
BCPS provides guidance to parents in determining if your child can go to school today by answering three specific question.
See the attachment below titled Can My Child Go To School Today.
Daily Home Screening for Students & Staff
Check these symptoms every morning before coming to school.
See the attachment below titled Student Daily Screening Tool.
Teachers Must Hold Themselves Accountable for Dismantling Racial Oppression
Stoneleigh Elementary
Email: STES0905@bcps.org
Website: https://stoneleighes.bcps.org
Location: 900 Pemberton Road, Baltimore, MD, USA
Phone: 443-809-3600
Twitter: @StoneleighES