MYES Family Newsletter
WEEK OF 4.26.21
Myersville Elementary School
Email: dana.austin@fcps.org
Website: https://education.fcps.org/myes/
Location: 429 Main Street, Myersville, MD, USA
Phone: 240-236-1900
Twitter: @MYESFCPS
Calendar Updates
Tuesday, April 27 and Friday, April 30: Spring Portraits by Lifetouch
Wednesday, April 28: Term 3 Spirit Rally (9:00- Grades 3-5) (10:00- Grades K-2)
Wednesday, April 28: Bedtime Story at 7:30 pm (myes-reads)
Thursday, April 29: MYES Night of the Arts at 6 pm
Wednesday, May 19: Two Hour Early Dismissal for Elementary Students
Monday, May 31: Schools Closed
Board of Education Decision
During a special Board of Education work session, the BOE voted to rescind its April 14th decision to return elementary school students for four days of in person instruction weekly if families desired that option. However, the Board, FCPS Leadership and our MYES staff remain committed to returning as many students to the building as possible while adhering to health and safety protocols.
As we await further direction from Central Office, please know that MYES staff continue to be available to support your child and your family in the fully virtual or hybrid learning formats. Classroom teachers will continue to provide small group support to meet specific learning needs in all academic areas. The MYES specialists and special education staff will continue to provide targeted intervention support in response to individual student needs.
Additionally, our learning lab continues to be open daily from 9-5. Students can log in to google meet with the code "team-myes" to receive individualized assistance to review lessons, practice skills and/or complete Schoology assignments. Please consider if this would be helpful for your child and assist with managing asynchronous work.
We know that many of our MYES families and students were looking forward to coming to school more days weekly. We also know the challenges of the past year have not been easy on you or your child(ren). We are grateful for your continued patience, understanding and support. Our goal is to have a strong finish to the 2020-2021 school year!
MYES Night of the Arts
Tomorrow, April 29th is our Night of the Arts! Join us on Google Meet at 6 pm using the code myes-artsnight. Mrs. Wolen will be sharing details on the chorus performance for 4th/5th graders and school-wide performances by all grades! Ms. Romagnoli will be sharing the link to our art show and details on the fun scavenger hunt we planned! If you can't make it we will share the link for families to view the art work and performances from April 29th-May 13th.
PTA Request for Grade 5 Families
Green Schools Announcement
Baltimore, Maryland – (April 22, 2021) – The Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE) is pleased to announce that Myersville Elementary has been certified as a 2021 Maryland Green School. Maryland Green Schools are part of a national and international community of sustainable green schools. Our students are becoming better stewards of our Earth’s resources and developing a better understanding of their own local environment. There are 672 active Maryland Green Schools, 36% of all Maryland schools.
In a very challenging year for our schools, where most students attended virtual classes or had limited access to school buildings and school grounds, our school has achieved remarkable environmental accomplishments. Myersville Elementary and 69 other schools have saved 36,369 gallons of water; reduced energy use by 7,297,118 KwH; prevented waste from going to a landfill by recycling 721,449 lbs of material; created 16,070 square feet of natural habitat; planted 1,347 native plants, including shrubs and trees; and cleaned 38,470 square feet of streambanks to protect our water quality.
Our school has demonstrated and documented a continuous effort to integrate sustainable environmental management practices, environmental education curriculum, professional development opportunities, and community engagement into our daily operations. This award signifies that our school has made a commitment to developing stewards of the earth and reducing the environmental impact of our school.
This year outdoor classrooms become part of a prevention strategy for keeping us healthy during the COVID- 19 pandemic. The 2021 cohort of schools installed 81 new outdoor classrooms, and teachers and students used the outdoor classroom 4,246 times. “Our Maryland Green Schools are using the school grounds as an extension of the classroom,” said Laura Johnson Collard, MAEOE executive director. “The CDC continues to urge us to spend time outside of buildings to stay healthy.”
Maryland Green Schools communities, including teachers, staff, and students, have worked to create a healthy and sustainable environment for everyone. During the global COVID-19 pandemic, Maryland Green Schools students have shared their passion for the environment with their families. Students have reported spending time with their families recycling, planting vegetables and native plants, and being more mindful of turning off unnecessary lights.
MAEOE and the Maryland Green School community will celebrate virtually in May and June to recognize awardees.
MYES Spring School Portraits
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805054ba5aa22aa8-virtual to sign-up for a time slot.
The following enhanced cleaning protocols will be used on Picture Days:
• Sanitizing wipes and sprays will be used on all set-up materials and equipment at the
beginning and end of day.
• During photography, equipment used or touched by subjects will be sanitized.
• Pre-moistened alcohol wipes will be used on the camera’s viewfinder and high-touch
areas on the camera.
• Hand Sanitizer will be frequently used by our photographers throughout the day.
Online enrollment is open for students NEW to Frederick County Public Schools!
Please note, parents/guardians of existing FCPS students who will be changing schools within the county for next school year may begin to process in-county transfers using the online portal AFTER July 1st.
Parents may enroll their child in FCPS by creating an account here in English or here in Spanish.
Additional information is online at https://www.fcps.org/student-services/enrolling-a-student.
All new enrollments, including pre-kindergarten (pre-k) and kindergarten, occur online in a secure virtual environment.
Those enrolling a child also upload required documents and photo identification online.
Required enrollment documents are as follows:
For immunization and health records, provide BOTH of the following:
- Department of Health and Mental Hygiene form 896 Immunization Certificate and
- Documentation of a recent physical exam, recorded on the Maryland Schools Record of Physical Examination
For proof of date of birth, provide ONE of the following:
- birth certificate
- physician's certificate
- hospital certificate
- baptismal or church certificate
- parent's affidavit
- passport/visa
For proof of residency, provide ONE of the following:
- current property tax bill
- current rental bill
- current utility bill for water, gas, or electric
Also provide the parent/guardian photo ID.
Transportation Reminders
Car Rider Waves - Families picking up multiple children, please arrive at 2:00. Families picking up one child, please arrive at 2:15.
School dismissal: If there is a change in the way that your child travels home from school, please send a note that morning to inform the school of the change or contact the front office by 1:30 pm. You may also submit the change via this link.
School bus delays: In a perfect world, our buses would run on time every day. But for a variety of reasons, buses can run late from time to time. Did you know we have a webpage dedicated to providing updates on late buses countywide? If a bus will be 10 minutes or later, it is posted here.
Hybrid Learning Model Reminders
Safety Measures:
Mask Expectations: Everyone in the school building will wear a face covering while at school. The information linked here is intended to provide clarity about the FCPS requirements for wearing face coverings in school buildings.
Daily COVID-19 Screening Questions: Each week, parents will receive a communication that contains daily screening questions prior to coming to school. Direct emails and/or calls will be sent using the contact information in our Student Information System. Reminders for students will also be communicated in Schoology. The screening form is linked for your convenience here.
Virtual Attendance in the Event of Mild Symptoms: If students are experiencing any symptoms of illness, they should stay home and parents should follow up with their child's health care provider. Students are encouraged to attend virtually any day they are not in school if they feel well enough to do so (even if it is a day for which they are scheduled to be in person). Please provide a note if your child is not able to attend in person or virtually due to illness.
Close Contact and Quarantine Details for Parents - What to Expect: When a positive COVID-19 case is confirmed, FCPS will conduct a case investigation to determine if there was any close contact with other individuals. Close contact means that an individual was within six feet for a prolonged period of more than a cumulative of fifteen minutes over a 24-hour period. All identified close contacts will be immediately notified and asked to quarantine for ten days and monitor for potential symptoms. If the close contact becomes symptomatic, the individual should seek assistance from their healthcare provider.
Quarantine means:
- Stay home except to obtain medical care.
- Your child may not participate in any in person school activities.
- Avoid public spaces and practice physical distancing of six feet or more from other people.
- Wear a mask at all times around other people.
Monitoring means:
- Watch for fever. Check temperature twice a day, at least 6 hours apart and record in a log.
- If your student or anyone else in the household develops symptoms such as a fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chills, muscle pains, sore throat, or a new loss of taste or smell, contact your healthcare provider immediately.
For further details, the FCPS guidance for Student Health and Safety and COVID-19 Response Plan can be found at this link.
Reducing Visitors to the School Building: For the protection of our staff and students, we will significantly limit visitors in the building. If you need to speak with administration or with someone at the school, please call the office in advance (most meetings will be held via phone or Google Meet). All students are afforded access to a free breakfast and lunch each day, so there should be minimal need for food to be dropped off for students. If you need to drop off or pick up anything else at school, you will be asked to leave it or pick up in the vestibule (thus limiting traffic in our front office).
Health Metrics Dashboard
FCPS provides regular updates about health metrics throughout the county. Our health metrics dashboard allows families to track confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks by school and by community. The dashboard is updated weekly on Mondays.
Free Breakfast and Lunch for Hybrid Students
2020-2021 SCHOOL BREAKFAST AND LUNCH
We are excited to announce that the USDA has approved FREE meals for all children 18 years old and younger!
FCPS is serving breakfast, lunch and supper (to-go) for FREE to all children learning in school buildings on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
All meals will be individually wrapped or compartmentalized.
Free breakfast and lunch meals will be available to children in cohort A on Mondays and Tuesdays while they are in school and to children in cohort B on Thursdays and Fridays while they are in the school. On these days when students are learning in a school building, they can also take a free to-go meal home for supper that same day.
Due to the amount of food being distributed for the remainder of the days, we encourage families who want additional meals for the days when students are not in the school building learning (virtual days at home, weekends, holidays) to pick up the additional meals at the child’s school on a day when they are learning in the building or visit one of the open community sites on Wednesdays and/or Fridays from 11am-1pm to pick up the additional meals.
Need help during the school day?
Learning Lab mentors will be available daily for any student who needs extra support from 9 am-4 pm. Go to meet.google.com and enter team-myes.
Also, check out this guide for troubleshooting tech tips:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1luIE44b-l8yHKvtSDQF_Vvd_g0kt2dg4/view
Tutoring Virtual Hotline for Families
A staff member is available to assist families from 4-5 pm on Monday-Thursday. Go to meet.google.com and enter team-myes for technology assistance or student academic support.
MYES Vision Statement
Myersville Elementary is a place where students and staff are engaged learners. They feel safe to take risks and all contributions are valued. Here we have fun while we learn in our school community.
Stay Informed
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