Clemens Crossing Cougar Comments
October 20, 2017 - VOLUME 39, ISSUE 6
Clemens Crossing Elementary School
Elizabeth Yankle, Assistant Principal
Website: cces.hcpss.org
Location: 10320 Quarterstaff Road, Columbia, MD, United States
Phone: 410-313-6866
Facebook: facebook.com/ClemensCrossingElementary
Twitter: @hcpss_cces
Events Coming Up
October
- 20 - School Closed
- 24 - JA in a Day Parent Volunteer Training, 4:00 pm or 6:30 pm
- 25 - In-School Banking
- 27 - 1st Grade Field Trip Howard County Conservancy
- 31 - Halloween Parade, 2:45 pm
November
- 1 - National American Indian Heritage Month starts
- 1 - Pumpkin Run during PE for grades 3-5
- 3 - Bingo Night, 7:00 pm
- 6 - Individual Picture Make-ups
- 8 - Conference scheduling opens in HCPSS Connect, 9:00 am
- 8 - 5th Grade Field Trip - Living Classroom (Haube/Lee)
- 8 - PTA meeting, 7:00 pm
- 9 - 5th Grade Field Trip - Living Classroom (Halvorson/Greenlee)
- 10 - End of Marking Period
- 10 - Veterans Day Celebration, 9:30 am
- 10 - Spirit Day - Red, White, and Blue
- 13 - American Education Week starts
- 13 - Book Fair Begins
- 14 - 2nd grade - Tell Me a Tale w/HC Library
- 15 - Kindergarten field trip to Howard County Library
- 16 - Kindergarten field trip to Howard County Library
- 16 - School Play
- 17 - Conference scheduling closes in HCPSS Connect, 4:00 pm
- 17 - Report Cards Issued
- 20 - 3-hour Early Dismissal - Parent/Teacher Conferences
- 21 - 3-hour Early Dismissal - Parent/Teacher Conferences
- 21 - Book Fair Ends
- 22 - Schools Closed - Parent/Teacher Conferences
- 23 - Schools Closed - Thanksgiving Day
- 24 - Schools Closed - Thanksgiving Weekend
- 29 - In-School Banking, 9:00 am
From School Administration
As our school benefits from these partnerships, the organizations also benefit from their collaboration with our school. Please support the organizations that partner with our school.
We would like to thank Patient First, Junior Achievement of Central Maryland, Chick-fil-a (Johns Hopkins Road), Towson University, Giant Food, Howard County Public Library, MKD Kids Learning Center, Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center, and First National Bank for their commitment to our school and students.
JA in a Day Volunteers Needed
One of our business partnerships is with Junior Achievement of Central Maryland. JA of Central Maryland provides over $2,000 worth of supplies and resources to help run JA in a Day at Clemens Crossing. JA in a Day is a full-day program for kindergarten through 5th-grade students designed to provide experiences in work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.
Our annual JA in a Day will be held on November 2. In order to be able to run a successful day, we need two volunteers in each classroom to deliver the instruction. Our parent and community volunteers help share real-life work experiences with our students in addition to the content that is shared. We currently need volunteers in the following grades or classrooms:
- Kindergarten - Mrs. McCue, Mrs. Weinig/Mrs. Hodgins, Ms. Butler, Ms. Thomerson, and Ms. Rooney
- Second Grade - Mrs. Ludicke, Mrs. MdKim, and Mrs. Small
- Fourth Grade - Ms. Bennett, Mrs. Billingsley, and Ms. Alban
Please consider volunteering for this program. New volunteers need to participate in a training on October 24 at 4:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. at CCES. To volunteer, visit the SignUpGenius page here.
Mrs. Dani Gardner, from our PTA, is helping to coordinate volunteers. If you have any questions, email Mrs. Gardner at dnr318@gmail.com or Mr. Cosentino at ecosentino@hcpss.org.
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent/teacher conferences are scheduled for November 20, 21, and 22. In order to schedule conferences, you will need to login to HCPSS Connect. HCPSS Connect will open to schedule conferences on Wednesday, November 8 at 9:00 a.m. The program will be open until Friday, November 17 at 4:00 p.m. The directions for parent conference registration linked here from the HCPSS website. You can also download the directions from the icon below. If you have any questions, please call the front office at 410-313-6866.
Veterans Day
Cryptologic Warfare Group 6 Navy Honor Guard from Ft. Meade will present the colors to help celebrate Veterans Day at CCES. Students will raise the United States flag out front, and then the entire student body will recite the Pledge of Allegiance. To finish the program, students in the chorus will lead the rest of the school in singing the National Anthem.
If you are active or retired military, please join us on Veterans Day. We will announce your name and your child's name at the beginning of our program. Please email Mr. Cosentino at ecosentino@hcpss.org if you would like to be part of our program.
IXL Language Arts and Mathematics
Every student at Clemens Crossing has an IXL account. Students practice IXL math at school and at home. Teachers access reports to monitor student progress as they progress through the skills and levels. Your child’s teacher sent home the IXL login information recently.
In-School Banking - October 25
CCES teamed up with First National Bank to provide banking opportunities for our students. In-School Banking takes place once a month on the last Wednesday of each month. You can find all of the dates on our school calendar.
Our next In-School Banking date for the school year is October 25 between 9:00-9:30 a.m. in the Cafeteria.
Students can start banking at any time during the year. Please find a letter from First National Bank on the front page of the CCES website. In addition, the In-School Banking form is required to open an account with First National Bank.
Upcoming School Spirit Days
Below, you will find information about school spirit days through the end of December.
FRIDAYS - Wear Your Team's Colors
*Unless there is another specified spirit day on a Friday.
11/2 - Dress for Success Day for JA in a Day
11/10 - Wear red, white, & blue for Veterans Day
11/17 - CCES Day for American Education Week
12/20 - Winter Wonderland Day & 12/22 - Pajama Day
PTA School of Excellence Survey
The Clemens Crossing Elementary School PTA knows that a strong partnership among our families, school leaders, and community members is important to the success of our students and school. That’s why we are participating in the National PTA School of Excellence program, which grows partnerships between PTAs and schools to enrich the educational experience and overall well-being of all students.
At a National PTA School of Excellence, families feel welcomed and empowered to support student success, and PTA is a key partner for continuous school improvement. We feel Clemens Crossing Elementary School and Clemens Crossing PTA can achieve that together—and the result will be national, state and community-wide visibility for the positive impact we are making together at Clemens Crossing Elementary School.
We need your help! As part of the process, National PTA requests feedback from families at two points in the school year—the beginning and the end. Your feedback will help National PTA generate a customized Roadmap to Excellence for us, which will provide specific recommendations for improving our family-school partnership and achieving excellence.
Please take 5-10 minutes to reflect on your experience at this school and complete the attached survey using Google Forms. This survey is completely anonymous. Please complete the online survey to by Wednesday, October 25, 2017.
Does this sound like a PTA program you’d really like to help with?
Join us! Contact Joanna Lake at joannalake4@gmail.com to learn more!
Sincerely,
Karen Pang, Clemens Crossing PTA President
Edward Cosentino, Clemens Crossing Elementary School Principal
Thank you for your continued support and collaboration as we work toward becoming a National PTA School of Excellence!
PTA Book Fair is Coming
The Book Fair is coming to CCES November 13-21! It will run every day after school in the Media Center. We will be asking for volunteers to help with set-up, to bring in food for the teacher preview on 11/10, and to help work the fair each afternoon. Even if you can't volunteer, please come shop (with or without your children. The holidays are coming!). All sales will benefit CCES students. Contact Dani Gardner (dnr318@gmail.com) if you have any questions.
National PTA Reflections Creative Arts & Writing Contest
Sponsored by: PTA Reflections, 40 Years of Achievement in the Arts
2017-2018 Theme:
“Within Reach”
Last year, a Clemens Crossing student advanced to the State Level, and
two Howard County students won prizes at the National Level!
This year, it could be you.
Reflections is a National PTA program to encourage all children to participate in the arts for fun and recognition. Students work independently to present their artistic interpretation of this year's theme. Works can be:
literature
including prose, poetry, drama, reflective essay, narrative, short story;
visual art
such as drawing, painting, collage; and
musical composition
There is also a Special Artist Division for students with disabilities who receive services under IDEA or Section 504.
Reflect on the theme above & create an original work
in one (or more!) of the following categories: Literature, Music, Visual Arts
Winners in each category in three divisions:
Primary (K-2nd grade)
Intermediate (3rd-5th grade)
Special Artist (for students with challenges as covered in the ADA)
NEW THIS YEAR:
Students may publish their Reflections Literature Entries in the Paw Print Press!
If students wish to create a piece of writing based on the theme “Within Reach”, they can then illustrate it for their Paw Print Press book this year!
ENTRIES DUE NOVEMBER 15, 2017
Turn in entries to the front office.
ALL entries will be displayed and celebrated at the Enrichment Fair!
Entries will be reviewed by experienced arts and education judges. All participants will be celebrated with certificates of participation, the top three entries will receive ribbons and the first place entry will receive a medal. The top three entries in each category will move on to the Howard County Reflections Contest, the top three county entries will move on to the Maryland State Reflections Contest, and state winners in each category will compete in the National PTA Reflections Contest.
QUESTIONS?
Summary of Rules and link to Entry Form:
http://clemenscrossingpta.org/events/pta-reflections/
Contact Risa Carlson, Reflections Chair
Email:
Reminder: Send in those Box Tops!
Clemens Crossing receives cash for your Box Tops! Remember to cut them out and send them in with your child. Each grade level has a collection bin -- the more Box Tops your grade brings in, the more cash your child's class receives! Box Tops are collected all year-round.
Questions? Contact Angela Stark, stark.angela@gmail.com
Parent Partners
Parent Partners is seeking volunteers available during the school day to work with individual students once a week throughout the year. Please contact Dani Gardner (dnr318@gmail.com) if you are interested.
Community Advisory Council (CAC)
The Community Advisory Council (CAC) to the Board of Education (BOE) of Howard County is open to all community members who are interested in improving the educational experience for the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) children, families, and staff. The CAC has meetings on the 3rd Wednesday of the month, during which they provide feedback, insight, and community views to the BOE on issues of concern. Please find attached a brochure which also provides additional information about the CAC.
From the CAC: "Because we are guaranteed a seat on every policy under review by the BOE, we have been able to make critical improvements to many policies over the years, such as those policies involving the school academic calendar, special education, the student code of conduct, outdoor education, digital education, Common Core and PARCC testing, disparities in school discipline, Advanced Placement (A/P)/Gifted and Talented (G/T) issues, and a myriad of other topics. "
We are looking for a representative from Clemens Crossing to serve on the CAC. Their next meeting is Wednesday, October 18, about Homework Policy.
If you are interested, please contact PTA president Karen Pang at president@clemenscrossingpta.org.
Thank you!
PTA Restaurant Night - January 23
Mark your calendars! Our next CCES Restaurant Fundraiser night will be at Grotto's Pizza on Tuesday, January 23 from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Read-A-Thon Goal Met!
Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who sent in their Read-A-Thon forms! EVERY child who turned in their form will get a $1 coupon to spend at the book fair in November. We'll be announcing the grade with the most participation in the Read-A-Thon on Monday -- and they'll get a popsicle party sometime during the week.
Finally, we made our Fundraising goal! Mr. Cosentino will be getting a pie in the face!