Veterans Elementary Eagle Express
October 17, 2019 - Volume 13, Issue 7
Soar to Excellence!
School Mission
Veterans Elementary School promotes life-long learning by embracing its diversity, providing students with dynamic classroom experiences and exposing them to the cultural arts in a climate that is rigorous, safe, nuturing and respectful.
Veterans Elementary School
Amy Green, Assistant Principal
Derek Lewis, Administrator
School Start and Dismissal Times: 9:25 a.m. - 3:55 p.m.
Email: robert_bruce@hcpss.org
Website: ves.hcpss.org
Location: 4355 Montgomery Road, Ellicott City, MD, USA
Phone: 410-313-1700
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
This Saturday is the Annual Mt. Hebron Homecoming Parade. Each year for homecoming MHHS holds a parade that stretches from the Church of the Resurrection and walks all the way to MHHS. We would like to invite any student who will one day attend Mt. Hebron to join us for this parade. Participants will ride in trucks or convertibles and toss candy along the way. We encourage any participants to hold signs demonstrating their future Viking pride. If you are interested please just us at the Church of the Resurrection on Saturday, October 19th at 10:30am. We will be located in the parking lot. If you would like further information or are interested in driving a vehicle please contact the SGA sponsor Phil Herdman at philip_herdman@hcpss.org.”
Important Upcoming Dates and Events
OCTOBER
- 18 - School Closed for Students/ Professional Work Day
- 22 & 23 - Fall Picture Day
- 31 - Annual Children's Celebrations
November
- 11 - Q1 Report Cards go home with students
- 12 - PTA Board Meeting, 7:00p.m. in VES Media Center
- 25 - 3 Hour Early Dismissal for Parent/Teacher Conferences
- 26 - 3 Hour Early Dismissal for Parent/Teacher Conferences
- 27 - Schools Closed for Parent/Teacher Conferences
- 28 & 29 - Schools and Offices Closed
2019-20 HCPSS Calendar - Monthly Format
Click to download and print the HCPSS calendar in a monthly format. The calendar will no longer be distributed in first day folders. The 2019-2020 School Calendar is available to be printed online: https://www.hcpss.org/calendar/
current events
Media Center News
The Media Center is off to a very busy start with our students checking out hundreds of books every day!
If you would like to volunteer in the Media Center, we especially need help on Friday mornings. Please contact robin_lauren@hcpss.org or carolee_kinloch@hcpss.org if you can help out.
Young Authors’ Contest: All students in Grades 1-5 have received information on the Young Authors’ Contest for 2019. Students may submit an original poem (25-150 words) or short story, 100-400 words (Grades 1-2) and 300-800 words (Grades 3-5). All entries must be typed and submitted with a completed cover sheet. Entries are due to the Media Center by December 3rd, 2019. All parents will receive a canvas announcement from their media teacher with more details on this contest, along with links for the cover sheet. We have sent several canvas announcements this year from the Media Center, but If you have not received any Media canvas announcements, please contact carolee_kinloch@hcpss.org or robin_lauren@hcpss.org.
Battle of the Books Registration: Online registration for the 5th grade reading competition begins this Monday, October 21st. Please remember to register your team early because the registration may close before Nov.4th if all spots are filled. No late registrations will be accepted. More detailed information on this program can be found on Howard County Public Library’s website: http://hclibrary.org/new-a-main/battle-of-the-books/
Mt. Hebron HS Vikings Spirit Day!
Friday, Oct 18, 2019, 09:00 AM
Mount Hebron High School, Old Frederick Road, Ellicott City, MD, USA
Mt. Hebron HS Homecoming Parade
Meet in church parking lot at 10:30 a.m.
Each year for homecoming MHHS holds a parade that stretches from the Church of the Resurrection and walks all the way to MHHS. We would like to invite any student who will one day attend Mt. Hebron to join us for this parade. Participants will ride in trucks or convertibles and toss candy along the way. We encourage any participants to hold signs demonstrating their future Viking pride. If you are interested please just us at the Church of the Resurrection on Saturday, October 19th at 10:30am. We will be located in the parking lot. If you would like further information or are interested in driving a vehicle please contact the SGA sponsor Phil Herdman at philip_herdman@hcpss.org.
Saturday, Oct 19, 2019, 10:30 AM
Church of the Resurrection, Paulskirk Drive, Ellicott City, MD, USA
FALL AND WINTER CLOTHING GIVE AWAY!
North Laurel Community Center
Saturday, Oct 26, 2019, 09:00 AM
Healthy Howard -North Laurel Community Center, Whiskey Bottom Road, North Laurel, MD, USA
afterschool sponsored activities
HCPSS SCHOOL GUIDE RULES
Volunteer Information
This is an annual requirement and only takes 5 minutes per training.
Food Services
https://hcpss.nutrislice.com/menu/veterans?mode=browse
Please keep your child’s lunch/breakfast accounts up to date:
https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/login/getmain?requestAction=home
For information related to setting up your child’s lunch account and how to apply for Free or Reduced Priced Meals, please go to:
https://www.hcpss.org/food-services/
HCPSS Dress Code Standards
Important Links for Attendance and Transportation Changes
Attendance Notes: Please send all attendance notes to VESattendance@hcpss.org.
Extended Absences: If your child will be absent for more than 3 days, please fill out an HCPSS Extended Absence Form and send it to the front office: https://www.hcpss.org/f/aboutus/absence_request.pdf
Note that an Early Dismissal is not considered a transportation change.
Early Dismissals are considered an Attendance issue.
DISMISSAL TRANSPORTATION CHANGES: VEStransportation@hcpss.org
The school should be notified whenever a child’s dismissal transportation changes.
Please send all Transportation Changes on the day it applies to by 2:00 p.m.
Accommodations for Religious Observance:
If a religious observance requires a student to miss all or part of a school day, parents should complete the Religious Obligation: Request for Absence form and submit the request to the principal/designee documenting the need for the absence.
Join the PTA
https://www.veterans-pta.com/membership.html
The VES PTA works to support the students, teachers and families by sponsoring activities to enrich, educate and bring our community together. Click here to view their website!
11/12 - Next PTA Board Meeting, 7pm Media Center
ICE CREAM SOCIAL - THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS!
The ice cream social was a big success thanks to our wonderful volunteers! A special thanks to:
Bishwo Adhikari, Sumitha Ajith, Mina Alizadeh, Cara Adornetto, Chirs Adornetto, Sharonda Brock, Kerrie Bruch, Tina David, Kim Davis, Jinjuan Heidi Feng, Arianna Green, Christina Green, Mai Hall, Diana Hernandez, Chris Hong, Brian Hull, Thao Hull, Charu Jain, Jennifer Ju, Sheetal Kamthe, Haritha Karamsetty, Dong-Hee Kim, Mi Lee, George Locktish, Kristie Loo, Naga Mandavilli, Sara McGarvey, Christina Mountain, Haritha Nagabandhi, Anitha Nandam, Rebecca Palmquist, Gina Pi, Bruce Potter, Reena Rambharat, Alice Shin, Anand Srinivasan, Lou Swentek, Corey Tsang, Kim Watkins, and Sooyong Yoo.
Also a big thank you to the entire VES staff that helped make the Ice Cream Social possible.
PTA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE - Still Ongoing
Thanks to all who have signed up already! Becoming a member (just $10 per adult) ensures we are an official PTA organization within the national structure and helps support all that we do here at the school.
Membership forms came home last week. If you can’t find yours, it’s available online (and you can sign up online too if you prefer). Just copy and paste the link below into a browser window.
https://www.veterans-pta.com/online-membership-form.html
Our goal is to get 300 PTA members at VES this year - We are well over halfway there already! Please help us meet our goal.
13th Annual Children's Celebration
CHILDREN’S CELEBRATION - OCTOBER 31st
On Thurs. October 31st we will have our annual Children’s Celebration. If you allow your children to celebrate the day, I know that children have already started asking about their costume. The Children’s Celebration consists of classroom refreshments and a parade in our parking lot. We ask that parents secure costumes for children that do not involve masks or heavy duty make up in school. Please also realize that any costume that involves a prop that is weapon-like, the prop may not be brought to school. Usually the parade begins outside at about 2:40. Staff will ask for about 2-3 pre-selected parents who will assist in the classroom. Additional parents will not be needed inside and for security reasons will not be allowed in the school for the event. All parents are allowed to watch the parade outside of the building. Please return the slip at the end of this newsletter if you DO NOT want your child to participate.
Dear Parents,
October 31st is widely recognized as a children’s holiday. The day presents a golden opportunity for us to reinforce a celebration of the child in all of us. With this in mind, I am proclaiming Thursday October 31st our 13th Annual Children’s Celebration here at Veterans Elementary School. We will adjust the schedule that day so that we can have a Children’s Celebration Parade beginning at 2:30 p.m. followed by classroom parties at 3:00 p.m.
All festivities will end by 3:30 p.m. This should allow enough time for parents to depart and our bus dismissal process to begin. There is no parking at the YMCA.
We are asking parents to use the Long Gate Shopping Center parking lot for overflow parking and not park in the parent pick-up lane. The parade will occur in the coned off bus loop.
All parents will need to depart by 3:40 p.m. to help us facilitate dismissal.
Due to security concerns, each classroom teacher will identify 1-2 volunteers to assist with the party refreshments inside the building. These individuals will be issued visitors passes upon their arrival and shall have access to the building. All other individuals who wish to observe the parade will do so outside and will not enter the building. Parents should line the sidewalk along the bus loop. At the conclusion of the parade, only those parents identified to help in the classroom will come inside the school. In the event of inclement weather, the outside parade will be cancelled.
The Children’s Celebration Parade will begin at 2:30 p.m. and will involve PM-PreKgn and Grades K - 5. Our morning RECC program will be doing their festivities on Tuesday morning and will parade the lower level of our school around 10:30 a.m.
Our preference for costumes is storybook characters. There is to be no make-up or hairsprays involved with any costumes. Lastly, masks are not allowed in school. We must be able to identify all individuals here. The same is true for adult visitors. Props that come with costumes that are play weapons are also not allowed in school. This includes but is not limited to swords, guns, knives, pitchforks, etc. Students should bring costumes to school and they should be able to slip their costume on in a matter of minutes by themselves. Please practice this at home. As with all matters pertaining to school, the appropriateness of a costume is ultimately the opinion of the principal. Parents who do not wish their child to take part in the celebration may return the tear-off below.
It is crucial that we know who these children are by Friday October 25th so we may plan for them. Each classroom teacher will arrange his or her own classroom parties. Parties will occur from 3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Of course, teachers will arrange parents to help and assist us. We must be cognizant of food allergies when devising classroom menus. We want October 31st to be a fun and safe celebration for everyone. Please discuss with your children appropriate safety rules for within your community. Luckily, daylight savings time ends Sunday, November 3rd so this should be helpful again this year.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Bruce
Principal
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Child’s Name: _____________________________________ Grade:________ Teacher:________________
My child may NOT participate in the Children’s Celebration.
I understand that the school will plan alternate activities to take place during the parade and party separate from other students.
Please return this slip to Mrs. Wentz or Mrs. Wilson by Friday, October 25.
Parent Signature: _____________________________________ Phone:____________________________
Robert C. Bruce
Principal- Veterans Elementary School
410-313-1700
Every Day Counts!
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