The Hyattsville Herald
Hyattsville Elementary School's Newsletter: Vol:2021/Issue:1
Welcome Back To School!
Greetings and Warmest Salutations Hyattsville Elementary Family!
It is our sincerest hope that you and your loved ones have had a restful and relaxing break filled with rest and rejuvenation. Often, we underestimate the need to spend time with loved ones and just have occasions to do nothing. The truth is - without these opportunities, we are unable to be our best. The intent of this letter is to welcome everyone to the 2021/2022 academic year at Hyattsville Elementary School. Additionally, it will set our focus and give an overview of what to expect for the year ahead.
The general focus for Hyattsville Elementary will be to build and ensure educational equity for all students. Educational equity means there is no predictability of success or failure that correlates with any social or cultural factor; a child’s educational experiences or outcomes are not predictable because of their race, ethnicity, linguistic background, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, LGBTQ status, physical/cognitive ability, or any other socio-political identifying marker(s)-Elena Aguilar. Our current five-year plan embraces educational equity as the pathway to success for our school community and as such our focus continues to be grounded in this work. Educational equity is not an ideal or facet of social justice that can be accomplished within a day, single professional development, or even in a school year. It is a process and alignment to the vision and desire to provide the best education to every student. There are no excuses. There are no “ifs” and “ands.” There is only the drive, motivation, and passion to move our practice and school forward to achieve this goal. It is our activism.
This year, we will also start our new intervention program for students which we will call “Learning Labs.” These will be led by our Instructional Lead Teachers using evidence-based programs. We have also revamped our TAG program to be first-class in every respect as well as the phenomenal work we will be doing in ESOL and Special Education. This is all in addition to our engaging core academic program while offering additional opportunities for students afterschool.
Additionally, we at Hyattsville Elementary School want to take this opportunity to reinforce our commitment to the safety and wellbeing of all our students and staff. Most of us had hoped the pandemic would have been behind us for this school year. Unfortunately, it has lingered. As such, I want to reassure everyone that we have placed safety as a top priority for our educational program. We will be following stringent policies and protocols to protect our students and families so everyone will be able to participate fully in our academic program here at Hyattsville Elementary School. In the coming days and weeks, our school and staff will meet with our families to answer questions.
We are extremely excited for the start of this school year, and we know that no matter the challenges, Hyattsville Elementary School is ready to roar to success. As your school administrative team, we look forward to guiding you through this phenomenal school year. Strength in our Diversity - Power in our Purpose.
With gratitude and excitement,
Your Administrative Team
Richard T. McKee Jr. (Principal) and Duff Durkin (Assistant Principal)
The First Day of School...
Technology Distribution...
Thursday; September 2, 2021 from 12:00pm-3:00pm in our Gym- Our Rising 1st grade students who currently have iPads are asked to come and turn in their iPads and receive a Chromebook.
Friday; September 3, 2021- After your orientation time and up until 3pm- Our Rising Kindergarten students with iPads and any new students to Hyattsville Elementary can pick up their devices. During this technology distribution time, all prekindergarten, kindergarten, and new students/ or those who have not yet received technology may come to the school gym to sign out their devices. Broken devices may also be returned for replacement devices as long as the appropriate Money Order is provided to receive a replacement.
Please email Mr. Gallagher for additional information. thomas.gallagher@pgcps.org
After these dates, an appointment will need to be made at the school to receive your materials.
Reminders
8:00- 8:30 - K (Last Names A-M)
8:30-9:00 - K (Last Names N-Z)
9:00- 9:30- 1st (Last Names A-M)
9:30-10:00 - 1st (Last Names N-Z)
10:00-10:30 - 2nd (Last Names A-M)
10:30- 11:00 - 2nd (Last Names N-Z)
11:00- 11:30 - PreK & 3rd (Last Names A-M)
11:30- 12:00 - PreK & 3rd (Last Names N-Z)
12:00- 12:30 - 4th & 5th (Last Names A-M)
12:30 - 1:00 - 4th & 5th (Last Names N-Z)
2. **Back 2 School Night will be held VIRTUALLY on Tuesday; September 14, 2021 from 5:30pm-7:00pm. The link will be posted on ClassDojo on the date of the event.
3. Schools will be Closed for students on:
*Thursday; September 16 for the Yom Kippur
*Friday; October 1 for Staff Professional Development
*Monday; October 11 for Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences
*Friday; October 15 for Staff Professional Development
4. School Supplies, School Uniforms, and other important information is available on the Hyattsville Elementary Website:
https://schools.pgcps.org/hyattsvillees/
5. All lunches and meals will be free for all families this school year. However, you must still complete the Free and Reduced Meals application. This will also give you access to other benefits as well as help the school with our Title 1 funding.
Free and Reduced Meals Application
6. The first day of school for all students is Wednesday; September 8, 2021. Students will be let into the building starting at 7:30am for breakfast. Remember, due to updates in PGCPS safety policies and procedures in addition to ensuring students remain safe at all times; parents will not be able to walk students to their classes.
7. Starting the first day, all students should come to school with a fully charged PGCPS issued device and charger. The school only has access to a limited number of additional chargers so if a device runs out of power we cannot guarantee we can charge it unless these are included. Families should check bookbags each night to retrieve the devices and ready them for the next day. Teachers will communicate days in which students will not need their devices.
Arrival and Dismissal
Prekindergarten students will be received by their teachers in the alleyway near the gym entrance on the side of the school near the St. Jerome's Parking Lot.
Kindergarten-5th grade students will meet their teachers on the playground blacktop. Our Amazing PTA will also be here to welcome our families with a treat and some information.
Beginning on Friday, September 10 and from that point on, all students will enter the school through the Main doors of the school by themselves and be guided to their classrooms by staff members. 5th grade students will be able to go directly to their classrooms located in the "TEMPS" on the blacktop. Please remember that families will not be able to enter the building to escort students to classes per new administrative procedures.
Students will be dismissed beginning at 1:55pm on the blacktop each day.
Additional information regarding arrival and dismissal will be available in the Parent/Student handbook on the HES website soon.
We thank everyone for your assistance and patience as we start off an amazing school year.
Free and Reduced Meal Applictaion
Free & Reduced Meals Application: We are asking that every single parent fill out the Free & Reduced Meals Application by clicking on the link below. Hyattsville receives Title 1 funding based on these applications and we do not want to lose out on these funds! Last year we received over $200,000- therefore please, fill out the form even if you do not think you will qualify. This program is open to all families and this application process is safe, private and secure. Additionally, this application is required to receive other provided benefits.