• Para ver el boletin en Espanol haga click en el cuadrado negro ubicado en la parte derecha donde dice "Translate Newsletter"
• Cuando llegue aqui haga clic en la flecha que apunta hacia abajo y escoja el idioma "Spanish"

TO EQUIP EVERY CHILD WITH THE SKILLS AND COMMITMENT TO BE INDEPENDENT LEARNERS, PURSUING THEIR PASSIONS AND EXPERIENCING THE JOY OF DEEPER LEARNING, AS ACHIEVED THROUGH OUTSTANDING CORE INSTRUCTION DELIVERED THROUGH AUTHENTIC LEARNING EXPERIENCES.

Dear Parents and Students,

First off, I want to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude for the many cards, gifts, and kind words received during this Holiday season. Serving as the principal at Evergreen Mill is a daily joy for me and I will continue to strive to do my very best for you and your children as I serve in this role.

This month we continue our walk through the LCPS 2027 Strategic Plan for Excellence in our commitment to ensure that your children receive an excellent education while preparing to make meaningful contributions to the world today, tomorrow, and well into the future. This is hard work that requires a tireless committment from our staff, a focus on continual improvement, and a strong partnership with each of you. I continue to be grateful for our staff and for you and for our collective commitment to our school.

This month I will highlight the fourth core component of LCPS Strategic Plan for Excellence and provide you with examples of how it applies and aligns with Evergreen Mill's instructional program. The One LCPS 2027 Strategic Plan for Excellence Strategic Goal #4 is to "Enhance educational excellence through building meaningful relationships with families and the community." At the division level, the focus is on offering multiple opportunities for community conversation and input around a wide range of topics where perspectives might differ. This also includes building strong school and business partnerships. (See the brief article below for how your business can partner with Evergreen Mill to impact our educational programs).

At Evergreen Mill building strong family partnerships is vital to your child's learning and educational success. When your children know that you support their teachers, and are interested in what they are learning, this leads to increased engagement and academic achievement. Below our some examples of how we engage you and our community partners into the educational culture at Evergreen Mill.

1. Our doors are open for you to volunteer in our classrooms. Please reach out to your child's teacher to inquire about how you may be able to assist our students as learners this year.

2. Our Watch D.O.G.S program is flourishing. Dads and father figures are in the building 3-4 times per week dedicating themselves to supporting our students and to helping keep our campus safe. To find out more about this program please contact Mr. Bauer at mark.bauer@lcps.org.

3. Our PTA is second to none and I mean that. Every month I have the chance to gather with 60 other LCPS Elementary principals and we share what is happening at our schools in an informal manner. They are astouned when I share with them our PTA membership numbers, attendance at PTA meetings, activities, and fundraising efforts. Thank you to our amazing PTA board and to each of you. If you haven't yet joined our PTA, please do so. See below for more information.

4. We have active School/Business Partnerships at EMES. Hancock Orthodontics, Lawnboy Lawn Services, Leesburg Animal Park, and Brusters Ice Cream top the list of local businesses who support EMES both financially and through events. We would love to have your business join us as a business partner as well!

5. Communication is paramount to successful community engagement. Through our our monthly newsletter, From The Principal's Perch, our weekly updates in The Sunday Scoop, and via Classroom Newsletters, Remind, and BlackBoard Connect, we pride ourselves on keeping you in the know at all times.

One area in which I continue to seek improvement is the bringing together of our entire school community. I am very pleased to announce that Evergreen Mill was not impacted by the recent boundary changes. The communities we draw from will remain the same for the forseeable future. The incredible diversity of our school is what makes us unique and great. I am committed to continuing to find ways to engage all facets of our school community. Evergreen Mill is for your students, and for you! I encourage you to find ways to get involved with us. Join us at events, at PTA meetings, in the classroom, or as a business partner. We would love to have you on the Pythons team!

Expecting Success!

Daniel Lani

Principal

LCPS centers equity as one of its foundational core values. For our community, equity means being committed to providing a safe, supportive, inclusive, affirming, and respectful environment for each student and staff member that fosters success, growth, and academic rigor.

The cultivation of this environment requires us to reject and condemn the use of hate speech, racial slurs,antisemitism, and any action or behavior that discriminates based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, orientation, gender expression, socio-economic status, religion, ability, or other cultural identities or expression. Such noninclusive speech, behavior, and actions do not reflect who we are as a learning community.

We embrace and value the unique identities, backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and needs of each student and employee. Celebrating our diversity is important and helps define us as a school division. Demonstrating the courage to address inequities and remove barriers represents an integral part of our collective effort towards excellence in education. Equity is the vehicle that leads to greater access, opportunity, and equality so that each student is

empowered to make meaningful contributions to the world.

January 3 - Classes Resume

January 6 - Grade 5 Class Spelling Bee

January 9 - Playground Committee Meeting @ 6 PM

January 9 - PTA Meeting @ 7 PM

January 10 - Grade 5 Panoramic Picture, yearbook candid photos

January 16 - School Holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)

Janaury 18 - School Spelling Bee Championship @ 9 AM

Janaury 19 - Family Bowling Night @ 6:30

Janaury 20 - End of Second Marking Period

January 23 - Holiday (Lunar New Year)

January 24 - Student Holiday/Staff Records Day

January 31 - Report Cards on ParentVUE

Save the Date! February 16 - Global Road Trip - Multi-Cultural Event @ 6:15

• Be a financial Partner. For an annual gift of $500, your business will receive banner recognition in our school and digital recognition on our lobby display monitor. We are also in process of putting together our first School Business Partnership annual report to be distributed to our school community this Spring.
• Donate to a specific cause such as our upcoming playground fundraiser, to support additional field trip opportunities for our students, or to support the purchase of materials to support our educational mission.
• Donate goods and services. Donations of things such as mulch, flowers, materials for student projects (wood, pvc tubing, etc) or bringing an educational program to our school for our students are examples of ways that you can help.
• Support our annual Career Day by signing up to be a presenter at our school wide event. You may reach out to Mrs. Woodward at Kim.Woodward@lcps.org for more information about Career Day.

Interested in learning more about how you can partner with us or how you can make a donation? Schedule a meeting with Mr. Lani or complete the form linked here! Thank you!

Dear Python Families,

As the weather turns colder, we invariably see a lot more families using our Kiss N Go line in the mornings. Our friendly staff loves waving to smiling, friendly faces as you drop off and we so appreciate your patience as we work to get every child in safely.

A few tips/reminders to make Kiss N Go a smooth part to our morning:

• When in line, please pull up as far as you can. Cars can pull up all the way to the STOP sign. That helps maximize the number of cars dropping off at one time.
• Adults, we really prefer you do NOT exit the car. Let our staff help your student if need be.
• If at all possible, please have the students exit on passenger side right by the curb. Having them exit on the driver's side is a huge safety risk.
• When possible, consider carpooling with another family. The fewer cars in the Kiss N Go line, the less traffic for all.
• It is important to note that we do have some preschool students and students with special needs who may need one of our staff members to help them exit the car safely. Please be considerate of these needs.
• Please follow the lead from staff as we direct traffic to allow buses into the bus lane.
• Most of all, don't forget to bring your patience and a smile to our morning line.

Our tardy bell rings at 8:00 am. That means students who are dropped off right at 8:00 am or after do not have the time needed to get to class before the tardy bell rings, and may be marked tardy. Any students still in line or in the gym when the bell rings at 8:00 am will be marked tardy. (It is very much recommended that you be in line no later than 7:55.)

Finally, a huge thank you to everyone! As someone who is regularly out there welcoming your child, it really is such a joyful time of day. Students are usually ready to go and excited to start their day. Families are patient and kind. Thank you for making our morning Kiss N Go the best run one in LCPS. I hope that by everyone incorporating the tips above, our days will all start just a little bit smoother.

Thank you!

Mrs. Haggerty

Assistant Principal

• If you email your child's teacher regarding an absence or early dismissal, please make sure to copy Mrs. Eder (peggy.eder@lcps.org) and Mrs. Bultrowicz (aracely.bultrowicz@lcps.org). For absences we strongly encourage you to call the absentee line at 571-252-2901.
  
• A reminder that if you are planning to pick your children up from school at the end of the day please let the front office and your child's teacher know by 2:00 PM. Parents should pick their children up in the Kiss and Go line, not in the front office. In the case of a last minute change to your child's dismissal procedures please call the front office so that we can be prepared to assist you.

Teachers selected the student who most exemplified the character trait of CITIZENSHIP during November and December. Congratulations to our Character Counts winners!

Pre-K

Crowder - Ivan Cortes Cazares

Kindergarten

Amazeen - Elodie Nickel

Chesney - Ben Bohnenkamp

Hughes - Brooks Mottram

Ludington - Danny Afash

First Grade

Chambers - Luke Oldfield

DeGroat - Coen Alford

Goossens - Kenz Sideeque

Holdsworth - Bo Myzk

Lazzaro - Maali Hernandez

Second Grade

Ruddy - Sophia Khuu

Walley - Yahzin Rahaman

Washington - Henry Lane

Wright - Aylin Maldonado Macoto

Young - Everleigh Myzk

Third Grade

Buser - Dean Etemadi

Jarman - Collin Daniel

McGovern - Grace Jones

Mehaffey - Jordy Portillo

Peterson - Sara Pineros

Fourth Grade

Ater - Cassie Young

Ferranti - Du'a Ishaq

Hawes - Charleigh Meyer

Hicks - Edison Veizaga Gutierrez

Nazionale - Hannan Arif

Fifth Grade

Blakeney - Lincoln Meyer

Davis - Nicholas Immo

Fangio - Lana Fatin

Mejia - Jacob Griffith

Stanley - Aliana Barahona

Career Day:

SAVE THE DATE: EMES will be having our annual Career Day event on Thursday, March 23, 2023. We will be in need of presenters! Please contact Kim.Woodward@lcps.org or Annette.Demory@lcps.org for more information.

Our next PTA meeting will be Monday, January 9th at 7 PM

in the library!

Bingo Night is back! Mark your calendar for our in-person BINGO Bash on Friday, January 13 from 6:30-8:30 p.m! Concessions will be available for purchase and prizes will be awarded to our lucky winners! Grab your bingo buddies and get ready for some fun!

Spring Afterschool Enrichment programs will be coming before we know it! We have some repeat classes from the Fall as well as a couple of new options in the works! One program that has run (pun-intended) in years past is PYTHON PACERS. This is our one PTA committee without any chairs so if you or anyone you know of is interested in being 1 of 2 coaches for the program, please email emesPTAboard@gmail.com! We need chair reps by the 2nd week of January, otherwise we will shift from offering Python Pacers and hopefully be able to replace it with another active ASEP offering.

Upcoming "Pythons on the Town" spirit night dates:

ResQ BBQ-- Monday, January 16th (all day)

Panera—Thursday, February 9th (4-8 pm)

Buffalo Wing Factory—Tuesday, March 7th (4-8pm)

Link to review these policies and provide your feedback: click here

https://www.lcps.org/Domain/17270

https://live.myvrspot.com/player?udi=bG91ZG91bg%3D%3D&c=RVZF

If, due to a disability, you need assistance to enable you to participate meaningfully in any meetings or activities at Evergreen Mill Elementary, please call Daniel Lani at 571-252-2900 at least FIVE WORKING DAYS prior to the event.