MYES Family Newsletter
WEEK OF 8.31.20
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
September Calendar Updates
Monday, September 7
Schools and Offices Closed- No Instruction for Students
Friday, September 25
Schools Open (Fair Day Is Canceled)- Students Participate in Full Virtual Instruction
Monday, September 28
Schools Closed- No Instruction for Students
Yearbook and Grade 2-5 Student Material Second Wave Distribution
MYES will offer the following schedule for families to pick up 2019-2020 yearbooks. Also, students in grades 2-5 have additional materials for instruction to pick up. It will occur curbside by the front Kindergarten doors. As you approach the curb, display the student's last name and grade level on paper in your front window. Family members will be asked to remain in their car and adhere to health guidelines.
Next Wednesday, September 9 from 10 am-2 pm and from 4-5 pm.
Please call the front office if you are unable to come during these scheduled times.
Need help during the school day?
Need help with technology during the school day? Send an email to lisa.ridenour@fcps.org or call 240.236.1886.
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.
Myersville will also have a tutoring google meet hotline 2 hours every evening and 2 hours on Saturday starting Tuesday, September 8. A staff member will be available to assist from 5-7 pm on Monday-Friday and 10-noon on Saturdays.
Communication
Find Out First - This will be the main form of communication this year. All guardian email addresses are automatically uploaded to Find Out First at the start of the school year. If you don't have an email in our system or haven't received these emails, please go to
to set up an account and subscription preferences.
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
Many students took the opportunity to sign up to play an instrument at the end of last school year. But with the uncertainty, many families decided to wait to sign up. But we want you to know....
THERE IS A BAND AND ORCHESTRA PROGRAM FOR INTERESTED 4th and 5th GRADERS!
Lessons on musical instruments will be starting in mid-late September.
Mr. Jones and Mr. Cheston encourage you to go to the website to read all about the program. Click the link below and you will find important information. There is even an online enrollment form that students and parents can fill out to join the band and orchestra.
ELEMENTARY BAND AND ORCHESTRA WEBSITE
We believe we can provide instruction this year that will be unique and effective, and are calling our instruction:
"Live Online Lessons" or "LOL"
In this unique situation, scheduling for LOL's is a challenge. Please know that our goal is to NOT pull students from synchronous learning with homeroom or other teachers. Instead, we will try to offer our classes during other times in the student's day.
LOL's will be important for students to attend as regularly as possible. But we also plan to record our lessons so students can watch them over again as needed. Perhaps, if a student is sick or for any reason is unable to "attend" the LOL, he or she can watch it later that day or another day that week.
We are also planning to have times available when we can work one on one with students who need or want extra help. In many cases, we will initiate theses short sessions. This is similar to how we helped many students in the past as one of us would give individual help to struggling students to help catch them up to the rest of the class, except of course this time we will be virtual.
We are both committed to making our program work for the students. We will be learning and evolving as the year continues. Patience will be the key --- for students, parents and teachers!
PTA Corner
The Myersville PTA would like to welcome you to the new school year! This year definitely doesn’t look the same as any other, but we will all make the best of it.
The first thing I would like to address is our organization as a whole. At this point we are still officially a PTA, despite the end of year vote to shift to a PTO. We have undertaken the necessary steps to create the PTO and are awaiting our 501c3 status to be approved. Until that time we will continue on under our old association. I know that we can’t promise the fun events, dances and social gatherings that we have done in the past, but we would still ask you to consider joining so that you can contribute your individual thoughts and ideas on how we move forward this year.
The PTA has a Facebook page (Myersville Elementary PTA or click https://www.facebook.com/ groups/147748431973037 ) - please feel free to come and join the page even if you are not a member! We have also created groups for each grade level for families to jump on with questions and help for others.
We are not asking for volunteers as event chairs at this time but we would love a volunteer to sign on as a webmaster to keep our PTA website up-to-date. We still have a fantastic teacher appreciation chair who has agreed to continue to show the teachers and staff how much we are grateful to them.
Please feel free to email the PTA at myersvillepta@gmail.com with any questions!
Even though we can’t be together in person, we want to feel connected as a school. With that in mind, please stay tuned for information about SPIRIT WEEK which we will have the second week of school.
Respectfully,
Chara Embrey PTA President
Kate Bladen PTA Vice-president
Dawn Miskell PTA Secretary
Aaron Anderson PTA Treasurer
Counselor Corner
Google Meet Recordings
Returning to school in a full virtual model will be a new experience for students, families, and staff. Our priorities during the first week of school will be:
*building relationships with students
*onboarding students into Schoology and the other technology tools they will be using
*establishing routines in the virtual school day.
We recognize the importance of using the first week to lay the foundation for a successful virtual learning experience!
During the first week of school, we will not be recording Google Meets. We want students and teachers to get comfortable with each other and the technology before we begin to record Google Meets. It is also important that our teachers receive the training they need to record lessons using specific procedures and precautions. We will also use the first week of school to gather permission forms from families related to recording Google Meets.
We will provide more specific information about the recording of Google Meets next week so that students and parents understand the why and how for recording instruction.
Welcome to the 20-21 school year! We are ready to connect with you!
Updating your child's information
On Monday, August 24, parents/guardians received an email from PowerSchool Registration, our secure online student enrollment system. The email provided instructions on how to use the secure online portal to update student information for the coming school year.
PowerSchool Registration will replace the paper Student Information Cards of the past. In addition, we requested parent/guardian contact, transportation and health information along with responses to Agreements, such as Media Exposure and Terms of Use information, be entered in the portal.
Please take a few minutes to review and complete the online form as soon as possible. We are targeting August 31 to have all updates submitted.
Farm Applications
All students received a paper application in their Student Material Kits. If you are unable to complete the application online, please complete the paper application and return it to the school. You can return it in person, fax it to (240)236-1901 or scan and email the application to marsha.meredith@fcps.org.
Meals To Go
School is starting on August 31st and breakfast and lunch will be a little different this school year. As always, you can expect GREAT meals!
WHAT:
FCPS Food and Nutrition Services will provide “to-go” breakfast and lunch at 26 schools following the National School Breakfast Program (NSBP) and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
WHO:
All children enrolled at an FCPS school.
WHEN:
Starting Monday August 31st, meals will be provided from 11am-1pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays using the following schedule.
- Mondays – “To-go” breakfasts and lunches will be provided for Monday and Tuesday
- Tuesdays – Kitchens are closed
- Wednesdays – “To-go” breakfasts and lunches will be provided for Wednesday and Thursday
- Thursdays – Kitchens are closed
- Fridays – “To-go” breakfasts and lunches will be provided for Friday
CLICK LINK BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION.
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.
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