Cedar Grove Friday Flash
December 3, 2021
Dear Cedar Grove Families,
We hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday and were able to enjoy time with family and/or friends.
You may have read or recently heard that the Montgomery County Board of Education approved a modified school calendar for the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year.
MCPS recognizes that teacher planning time is critical for the preparation of meaningful and engaging lessons for students each day. To support this, three early release days have been added to this school year’s calendar to allow for important work time for staff. Wednesday, Jan. 12; Thursday, March 24; and Wednesday, May 18, 2022 are now early release days.
The district is also adding systemwide closures during winter break on December 23 and December 27 through December 30, 2021, as well as during spring break on April 13 and April 14, 2022. MCPS facilities will be available for public use, such as childcare and other scheduled events, through the Montgomery County Office of Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF); however, our school office will be closed on those days.
In alignment with the federal and state holiday recognizing Juneteenth, MCPS will also add a systemwide closure on Monday, June 20, 2022.
These changes maintain 181 days of instruction and keep the last day of school on June 15, 2022. It is important to note that MCPS will still exceed the minimum number of hours of instruction required by the state. At the elementary school level, MCPS will exceed the minimum number of required hours by more than 60 hours.
Students took the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments in math and literacy in the fall. Parents are now able to view their child's results in ParentVue on the Documents tab. If your child took MAP assessments within the Fall MAP testing window but do not have a report in Synergy, parents should create this helpdesk ticket for assistance in obtaining those results.
Substitute teachers continue to be a great need for Montgomery County Public Schools. Please click on this link, Become a substitute in your school community!, for more information. If you are available and are interested, please consider applying. We would love to have you on our school team!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mr. Derby and Mrs. German
From Mr. Oedemann, SGA Sponsor
Dear Cedar Grove Parents
Just a reminder that the Student Government Association is sponsoring a Toys for Tots drive here at Cedar Grove. There is one week left to donate new, unwrapped toys for boys and girls that need assistance around the holidays. We received a bunch of donations already, but there is always room for more!! Thanks so much for whatever you can donate!
Service Learning Projects
The Damascus Community Recreation Center is providing middle and high school students with several opportunities to earn student service learning hours. Please click on Santa's Workshop week of December 6th - 9th and opportunity for the students to gain service hours for more information.
Winter Concert ANNOUNCEMENT:
Our 4th/5th grade Chorus and Instrumental Music students have been working very hard so far this year! They are excited to be able to "perform" for you!
In lieu of a "live" concert that was scheduled for Monday, December 13, and out of an abundance of caution in large-group gatherings, we will not be having our "live concert" on December 13. Instead, Mr. Kieft and I will be videotaping the students "perform" during their regularly scheduled chorus and instrumental music rehearsals over several weeks in December and January. We are excited to put these videos together and share with you by the end of January!
Thank you so much for your continued support in your child's music education!
Warmly,
Mrs. Arellano
Mr. Kieft
Special Education Advisory Committee Meeting-December 20
The Montgomery County Public Schools Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) will host its next virtual monthly meeting on Monday, Dec. 20 from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Parents will have the opportunity to connect with other parents/guardians of students with special needs, have a dialogue with special education administrators and learn more about topics of interest.
The Zoom meeting information is included below:
https://mcpsmd.zoom.us/j/87243389346?pwd=L3RNUStKSnlRZlpudTUvRkI5S1l3UT09
One tap mobile
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 872 4338 9346 Passcode: 122021
If you would like to be added to the listserve, provide your email information to Rosa M. Aleman at Rosa_Aleman@mcpsmd.org.
Tech Tips and Reminders
From Mrs. Hirschhorn, Media Specialist
Can you believe that we're in December? This year is just flying by! Please bookmark the December Media Monthly which is loaded with information, including some Winter break activities for our students!
Art, Music, and PE Newsletter
Parents, each month our Arts team will share a newsletter that will provide you with what grade level students are doing in their classes.
Here is the December Specialists' Newsletter.