Clemens Crossing Cougar Comments
December 17, 2021 - Volume 43, Issue 17
Clemens Crossing Elementary School
Sonia Hurd, 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
Important Upcoming Dates and Events
December
- 20 - School Spirit Day #1 - College Day to Kick-off Bowl Season!
- 21 - School Spirit Day #2 - Holiday Hat Day
- 22 - School Spirit Day #3 - Pajama Day
- 23 - Winter Break Begins
January
- 3 - School Reopens
- 12 - PTA Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
- 13 - Winter Strings Concert, 6:30 p.m. - Postponed
- 13 - Winter Band Concert, 7:30 p.m. - Postponed
- 17 - Schools and Offices Closed - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- 19 - School Closes 3 Hours Early for a Professional Work Day, 12:45 p.m.
- 20 - Winter Chorus Concert
- 21 - End of 2nd Quarter
- 24 - Schools Closed for Students - Professional Work Day
- 31 - Report Cards Issued
February
- 1 - Schools Closed for Students - Professional Learning Day
- 5 - PTA Roller Skate Night at The Supreme Sports Club
- 8 - PTA Restaurant Day - Chick-fil-A (Johns Hopkins Road)
- 9 - PTA Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
- 10 - Schools Close 3 hours Early for Parent-Teacher Conferences, 12:45 p.m.
- 11 - Schools Close 3 hours Early for Parent-Teacher Conferences, 12:45 p.m.
- 21 - Schools and Offices Closed - President's Day
- 25 - PTA Bingo Night
To subscribe to the CCES calendar on your smartphone, electronic device, or email system use the calendar ID sqspkjkbr6v6arss44js3n21eg@group.calendar.google.com.
Principal's Corner
Happy Holidays!
It is hard to believe that this is the final Cougar Comments of this calendar year! We have all experienced quite a lot this year from remote learning to hybrid to a new school year fully in person. We sure have weathered a lot and have had to adjust to the new realities of raising and educating children during a pandemic.
As we reflect upon the year behind us, it is important to take note of what we have. In his 1926 classic, “Winnie the Pooh,” A. A. Milne wrote, “Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.” Our little pink friend was grateful for the abundance he had in his life; great friends, a warm place to sleep, and a few tasty “hay corns” to eat.
As we conclude 2021 and break for the winter holiday, I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to all who help make Clemens Crossing Elementary an amazing place to be. We are a community with many gifts and talents, which we share daily with one another and most importantly, our students. From the classroom to our living room and all points in-between, our collective efforts to raise the whole child are filled with passion, commitment, and a willingness to make decisions that may be hard in the present, but will have a positive and lasting influence in the future for all.
In the spirit of this holiday season, I want to extend my thanks to all of you for everything that you do for our school. As we enjoy the upcoming holidays, it is my wish that each of you receives and returns the seasonal bounty of blessings and good tidings that make these days truly special.
It is also during this time that I am reminded of my own good fortune to serve as the proud principal of Clemens Crossing Elementary. Indeed, my career as a public school educator has afforded me vast, varied, and richly rewarding opportunities to teach and to learn from young people.
Of course, I believe the faces of our children best express the true meaning of this holiday season. They radiate a sense of enthusiasm, hope, and joy for life and the opportunities that await them. To the parents, families, and friends of the Clemens Crossing Elementary community, please have a safe and joyous holiday season.
Our Cougar Comments Newsletter will return in the new year on January 7, 2022.
Mr. Cosentino, Principal
Congratulations, Mrs. Hurd!
New Principal of Thunder Hill Elementary School
Please join me in congratulating Mrs. Sonia Hurd for her appointment as principal of Thunder Hill Elementary School. Mrs. Hurd has been an integral partner in creating a nurturing and challenging learning environment at Clemens Crossing Elementary for the past three and a half years. Mrs. Hurd will surely be missed by our Clemens Crossing family, but we are confident that she will find great success at Thunder Hill.
Mrs. Hurd's last day at Clemens Crossing Elementary School will be Wednesday, December 22. Please join us in thanking her for her hard work and dedication to our community!
Welcome, Mrs. Gittleson!
Please welcome Mrs. Jaime Gittleson to Clemens Crossing as our new assistant principal! She is a proud product of the Howard County Public School System as a graduate of Oakland Mills High School. She has been teaching for 17 years. During that time, she held many teaching jobs; first-grade teacher and team leader, Title 1 interventionist, reading specialist, and reading support teacher. She recently served as the leadership intern at Veterans Elementary School. She will be joining us as assistant principal starting January 3, 2022. We welcome Mrs. Gittleson and know that she will quickly be immersed in our school community. Please extend Mrs. Gittleson your warmest welcome.
CCES Read-A-Thon
The Annual CCES Read-a-Thon has begun! All forms and donations are due by Friday, January 14, 2022. The homeroom with the most participation will earn a Starbucks gift card for their teacher! Please visit the PTA website for more details. https://clemenscrossingpta.org/programs-and-events/read-a-thon/
Arrival and Dismissal Safety
Please remember, that there are no left-hand turns permitted into the car loop from Quarterstaff Road. This causes back-ups. Do not expect to be let in by the people who have been in the line following directions. If you are in the line, do not let drivers in the line by making a left turn.
The estimated time to wait to drop off kids in the morning is 5 to 8 minutes. In the afternoon, the estimated pick-up wait time is 6 to 10 minutes. If everyone follows the same directions, we can continue to have an efficient arrival and drop-off in the car loop.
Obviously, if there are NO cars waiting, left turns are safe and can be permitted since there is no obstruction. We witness near-misses every day, and it is only a matter of time when there will be an accident.
PARKING ALONG QUARTERSTAFF
For those who park legally along Quarterstaff Road, you are responsible for your child at the drop-off and pick-up times. Parents have shared that they have witnessed extremely unsafe behavior when loading cars along Quarterstaff Road. For example, some parents are loading and unloading children on the driver's side of the car and putting kids at risk of being hit on the street. Again, you are responsible for your child, but a misstep or a distraction could be a tragedy.
Please give yourself time in the morning and afternoon and know that arrival and dismissal procedures are designed to keep everyone safe.
NEW INFORMATION
School Spirit Week Next Week!
Staff Appreciation During The Holidays
We want to make sure we show our appreciation to the support staff who help take care of our kids daily but don't get the same holiday love as the teachers. Please select a staff member or two and sign up to send them a non-religious holiday card from the "CCES Community" and an up to $20 gift (We recommend Target or Walmart cards, unless you know they really like something else). You can drop it off in the front office for distribution.
After School Activities
This is a list of planned after-school activities for Clemens Crossing. These classes have been organized by our PTA. At this point, the start dates are to be determined (TBD) when the Howard County Public School System resumes extra-curricular activities. Start dates after January 15, are listed at tentative.
Learn Music - Drums or Violin - Mondays starting TBD - Grades K-5
Spanish - Tuesdays starting TBD - Grades K-5
Come join the club! Learn Spanish and explore the culture through arts, crafts, dance and much more! Enjoy an interactive, play-based curriculum and activities that invite you to learn the language and experience the culture through music and comprehensible input (natural approach to language acquisition in the classroom). All materials are included for class, and we also offer free online resources for continued practice at home for those families who use our Schoology App.
Science Club with Club SciKidz (Outer Space Theme) - Thursdays starting TBD - Grades K-3
Operation Outer Space! with Club SciKidz – Join us as we journey to the edge of our galaxy while learning about stars, planets and the moon. We begin our journey by training to be an astronaut and seeing what it takes to join this elite team. Learn about the stars and constellations as we make our own constellation viewer, visit the Sun and Moon, then wrap up our journey exploring the planets and making a planet out of oobleck (a non-Newtonian fluid)!
Silver Knights Chess - Tuesdays starting Jan 18 (Tentative) - Grades K-5
Learn chess with Silver Knights! We’ve taught 100,000 children to play including state & national champions, but most students are beginners looking to learn a new skill and have FUN. Class time is divided between lessons and practice games. Lessons range from the basic rules to advanced tournament strategies. Students will have the opportunity to play in tournaments. All chess supplies provided. All skill levels are welcome.
https://skchess.com/products/clemens-crossing-chess-club
iCook - Wednesdays starting Jan 26 (Tentative) - Grades K-4
Kids will learn how to make healthy and delicious recipes, master cooking safety, measuring, mixing, dicing, chopping, and zesting. They will learn about nutrition, explore international cuisine, and further develop their social-emotional learning and executive function skills.
https://www.icookafterschool.com/events/clemens-crossing-elementary
Next Generation Tennis - Thursdays starting Jan 27 (Tentative) - ages 6-11
Chess Wizards - Fridays starting Jan 28 (Tentative) - Grades K-5
Soccer - Mondays starting Feb 7 (Tentative)
Kidz Art - Thursdays starting Feb 9 (Tentative) - Grades K-5
https://campscui.active.com/orgs/KidzArtMaryland#/selectSessions/3053440
INFORMATION WORTH REPEATING
Preparing for Unscheduled Emergency School Closings
When there is an unscheduled emergency closing, the front office will send you an email reconfirming what you indicated in Family File regarding how your child will go home that day.
We do this to reduce or eliminate phone calls after the early closure is announced. It is difficult to manage large volumes of phone calls on those days, so please do your best to have the most accurate information in Family File.
Contact Tracing Update
Reporting Absences
Absence Notes
All students are required to have a note explaining why they were absent. Please send an email to your child's teacher as well as ccesabsence@hcpss.org.