Mariner News
Matapeake Elementary School
November Newsletter
MES Vision
A students will graduate with the skills necessary to pursue their professional pathway and be empathetic contributors to society.
MES Mission
The mission of Matapeake Elementary School, in partnership with families and community members, fosters a learning environment to educate and empower students academically, socially, and emotionally to prepare them for career, college and life success.
Principal's Corner
Dear MES families,
Our MES students continue to thrive as we continue into the Fall season. I have been so impressed with the level of engagement on the part of our students, staff and parents; we are so appreciative of our families for being supportive and involved at EVERY level. Our MES community is so phenomenal!!
Friday was an amazing reminder of how our school community can celebrate together. The students had a blast walking in the parade and we were thrilled to have MMS band students start the parade off for us. Thank you for your patience if you had to stand in line to get in. School safety is always our top priority.
Art to Remember packets were sent home. The deadline to purchase your child's art and support our art classroom is November 7th. See Mrs. Francis' Art Corner for more details.
Feed a Family Food Drive - 4th Grade Service Learning Project
MES 4th graders will be conducting a food drive from November 3rd to November 11th for their Service Learning credit needed for high school graduation. Each class will be given information from the 4th grade and we will have a competition to see which class can bring in the most canned food.
Honor & Remember Collection- In honor of Veteran's Day we will be collecting the following items from November 1-11: personal hygiene items (shampoo, bodywash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, lotion), other items (men's underwear, blankets, slipper socks, stress balls, jackets, sweatpants, tops, slippers with back.) All items will be delivered to KI American Legion where they will be sent to Perry Point VAMC, Baltimore VAMC and Charlotte Hall Veterans Home.
Chorus and Band has begun! Band has 33 students participating and learning to navigate their instruments. Choir has 20 students that just began last week. We are looking forward to their winter and spring performances.
STAR Students were recognized on Thursday, October 27th during lunches. Each student was presented with a certificate and had their picture taken, which will be posted in the main hallway for the month of November. Please see the October STAR Student names using the link below
In addition, we have had 23 Positive Referrals in the month of October! Congratulations to our hard working students. Names are listed in the link below.
Christmas Angels program is up and running again this year. If you have a child/children that are in need for holiday presents, please contact Mrs. Moller or myself. We will add the child(ren)'s names to the list and they will be assigned an angel. If you are interested in sponsoring an angel, please email sharon.sweeney@qacps.org. Our school just/received our Christmas Angel drop box. We are accepting new toys, hygiene, bedding, pillows and just about anything that a student could use. This will truly help in providing for the children. Thank you for your generosity and helping all our children have a great holiday.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions! MES is the BEST!! Have an amazing month and I hope you all enjoy time with family during Thanksgiving Break!
Sincerely,
Carrie L. Mitten, Principal
Nurse Peck's Corner
Grade Level News
PreKindergarten
Wow! These pre-kindergarten students just blow me away with how incredibly smart they are every single day! In November, we will be learning about friends and family. If you have not already done so, please make sure to send in your family photo to hang on our family board. The students love having your photos here with them at school! In math we will continue to work on counting orally and number identification as well as learn about 2-Dimensional Shapes (circle, oval, square, rectangle and triangle) which they have been exposed to through daily learning. We will also continue to talk about the seasons and how they change. Letters that have been introduced so far: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N. Thank you for all that you do at home to support your child's learning!
Kindergarten
Kindergarten would like to thank you for all your support with our fall field trip and our Halloween parade and socials.
In November we look forward to many fun activities. During reading and science, we will be learning about bugs, sounds, and engineering. In reading and social studies, we will learn about how things are different today than long ago, and what it means to be thankful. We will also continue to learn uppercase and lowercase letters and letter sounds in order to read and write words. In Math we will be practicing counting 0-10 and one more, comparing groups within ten, sorting and counting objects, as well as different ways to make ten.
Some things to look out for. MES will be hosting a food drive during the month of November. Also, if you have not done so please sign up for your fall conference with your child’s teachers. Don’t forget we have early dismissal days November 1,2, and 3, 2022. There is no school November 8, 2022, November 23, 24, and 25, 2022.
1st Grade
We hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable Halloween! We loved seeing all our first grade friends in costumes. First grade is looking forward to learning about and honoring our Veterans.
We began Unit 2 in reading. The "Big Idea" of the unit is "What Makes a Community". This week we read about jobs around town. Students will be working on making and confirming predictions throughout the unit. You can practice this skill at home with your child by asking them what they think the story will be about prior to reading/listening to the text and then finding out if their prediction was correct after finishing the text.
In Math, we finished counting on to subtract and will start working on adding and subtracting in word problems. Your child can choose a previously taught strategy to solve the word problem. Give your child a word problem to solve and ask them to explain how they solved it using “math talk”.
Our work with Primary Talent Development is ongoing. We learned about different types of questions by listening to a story about the fourth little pig.
In Social Studies, we continue to work on our civics unit with the goal to learn how we can be responsible citizens. The students learned about leaders at home, school, and in our neighborhood. We have also learned about rules and laws in our community and how leaders make rules to keep us safe and healthy.
Thank you for your continued support!
2nd Grade
We want to begin the month of November with gratitude and thanks! Our field trip and Halloween festivities were a blast thanks to your support. It feels so good to bring back all the fun things! In math, we will focus on adding and subtracting two-digit numbers using a variety of strategies. These include base ten blocks and number lines which require the student to break apart the numbers into tens and ones. In reading, we will continue to respond to texts and challenge ourselves to identify the main idea and details. In addition, we will continue writing about the stories we read as well as our own experiences. We look forward to sharing and celebrating your child's successes with you at conferences. As a reminder, please send in a water bottle and snack daily with your child. We would also welcome donations of these items.
3rd Grade
We are already making so much progress in 3rd Grade. During our reading block, we will be focusing on citizenship and American landmarks. We will read a variety of informational and historical fiction texts to investigate our past and present. In math, the students are already modeling many strategies that will help them become fluent with multiplication facts. Our goal is to have every student master their facts with multiples of 1 through 10 by the end of the year.
4th Grade
We have been very busy in 4th grade! During the month of November, the 4th graders will be learning about multiples and factors, number and shape patterns, and multi-step word problems in math class. In reading we will be working on finding the theme in short stories and drama. We will also learn about the different elements of drama. Next, we will move into looking at informational texts and organizing main ideas and details. In science, students will shift their focus to plant structure and function. In social studies the students will research the 3 regions of MD (the Appalachian, Piedmont, and Atlantic Coastal). We will also study the natural and human-made features, the animals, plants, and climate of each region. This month we are going to be completing our service learning project by holding our annual Feed the Family Food Drive! We will be collecting non-perishable food items from November 3rd - 11th! Please help us end food insecurities!
5th Grade
Fifth graders are as busy as ever this November! FLEX classes are well underway. FLEX is when the fifth graders are divided up into groups and go with an instructor to focus on an area where they would benefit from extra practice, or an area where they would benefit from additional challenges. Students enjoy this time of day! This month, in science, students will begin their first science rotation, where they will go to another fifth grade classroom to learn about either Life, Space, Physical or Earth Science. Switching classrooms and having multiple teachers throughout the day is a great way to prepare students for middle school. In Math, we are learning long division and practicing the standard algorithm. Our first unit test will be this month and will cover finding volume, as well as multiplying and dividing multi-digit numbers. In reading and writing, we are using paired texts and emphasizing reading and analyzing informational texts. In Social Studies, we are continuing to learn about early American colonies, the challenges they faced and their successes.
Dates to Remember
11/2 - 1:00 Dismissal for Conferences with Families
11/2 - Sweet Frog Fundraiser - See PTA News below
11/3 - 1:00 Dismissal for Conferences with Families
11/7 - Art to Remember orders due
11/8 - No School - Election Day
11/11 - Veterans Day - See flyer above
11/14-11/18 - American Education Week - Specific details will be sent home.
11/22 - Grandparent's Day/Special Friend's Day - See flyer below
11/23-11/25 - No School - Thanksgiving Break
Mrs. White's - Assistant Principal Corner
Happy November. We are ready for a very busy month.
Matapeake Elementary is collecting extra Halloween candy to share with Military and First Responders for Operation Gratitude's Halloween Candy Give Back Program! If you have extra Halloween candy please bring it to school and drop it in the boxes outside the classroom. We will be sending it to troops that are away and missing their families.
Thank you so much to all of our parent lunch volunteers, it has been such a help to have extra adults helping to open lunch items, escort to the bathroom and just be there to talk and visit with students. We would also like to thank our school store volunteers. We have been opening the store once a week for students to spend their hard earned Matapeake money. If you are interested in volunteering for either lunch duty or the school store please let me know.
We have held our Student Council elections for class representatives as well as fifth grade class officers. Student Council is excited to begin planning events for the year.
2022-2023 Student Council Officers:
President- Bella Fisher
Vice President- Grayson Atkins
Secretary- Hudson Rampmeyer
Mrs. Moller's Counselor Corner
ZONES OF REGULATION TIPS
An important concept to remember when working with the Zones of Regulation is to bear in mind that all the zones are okay! Students have a tendency to think that the only "right" zone is the green zone. Nothing could be further from the truth. At MES we stress that our emotions play a vital role in our everyday lives. We are not robots, but rather human beings that feel an array of emotions throughout the day depending on the circumstances. Recognition of our emotional state or zone and utilizing strategies to navigate each zone are vital to our mental health. As an example, if a student is in the yellow zone (frustrated,confused,upset, worried), he/she can utilize a strategy to help such as:
* take a deep breath
* talk with a trusted adult
* ask for help
* exercise
* go to a quiet place
Ms. Osborne's - Reading Corner
Mrs. Herold's - Math Corner
MES is filled with so many amazing mathematicians and they are working hard each day! An important part of our i-Ready math program has students work on their own My Path that focuses on skills at each child's ability level as determined on their beginning of the year Diagnostic Assessment. Students are working hard on their My Path on their computer 30-45 minutes each week during their math block. Teachers are able to assign lessons and interactive practice opportunities for students that provide extra practice or even enrichment. We have even started class competitions in grades 2-5 to see which class can work on their path for the highest average minutes.
At home, students can work on their fact fluency and math computation by logging in at www.firstinmath.com and using their 5 digit computer Id and computer password. (First grade uses their initials as their password.)
Mrs. Francis' Art Corner
In art, students will continue to explore our big idea of; I Am an Artist. Students have experimented with abstraction, painting and collage while using a variety of materials and techniques.
Kindergarten through second grade are exploring how artists create and communicate how they feel through art.
Third through fifth grade students have worked on developing their skills and craft in art. They will transition into expanding their creative process and generating ideas through imagination.
Art to Remember fundraiser order forms are being sent home. Students have worked very hard to create beautiful works of art that can be turned into a variety of keepsakes. These make great gifts and a percentage of every purchase goes right back to our school.
Click on the link below and enter the online order code shown on your child's order form or to search for your child's artwork. Then, have fun shopping! https://arttoremember.com/school/M6AEPS Orders are due Monday, November 7th.
Mr. Buie's Music Corner
Mr. Ensor's PE Corner
Mrs. Clow's - Media Corner
PTA News
PTA Announcements
★ Thank you to all families who ordered Spirit Wear! We are processing orders and will
notify everyone when pick up is available! We look forward to doing it again in the spring
with some new items!
★ We are still looking for Christmas Tree donations for our Giving Trees this December. If
you have a tree you are able to donate, please reach out via our email to coordinate a
pick up or drop off
★ Sweet Frog Day! Beginning Wednesday 11/2, MES will be fundraising in collaboration
with Sweet Frog. Use the flyer from our website, or the one sent home and mention
MES. The school will receive 20% of the purchases that day. This will be an ongoing
fundraiser the first Wednesday of every month!
★ Grandparents/Special Friends Day - November 22, 2022
- This is a big event for our school and expect a large turn out. Please consider volunteering your time or donating money. The details are below.
○ We are looking for volunteers to help with assisting in the parking lot as well as
the inside tables with concessions. Please use the Sign-Up Genius to volunteer if
interested! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054CAFAB2CABF58-mesgrandparents
○ Additionally, Tasty Toucan will be catering the day with coffee and donuts and we
are asking for donations. Please visit our website and click on Grandparent’s Day
to donate or send in a check made out to MES PTA in an envelope titled
“Grandparents/Special Friends Day”
★ Art to Remember - Order forms should be coming home! Please consider ordering your
child’s work. All orders help support the art program at MES!
Thank you for all your support of the school and the PTA!
Matapeakeelempta@gmail.com (Email)
Snacks will be sold EVERY Friday in the cafeteria!
Arrival & Dismissal Reminder
If you are picking your child up at the end of the day, PLEASE do NOT drive into the bus loop area. If you have a family member that is picking up your child for the first time and is not sure, please be sure to share they should not pull into the bus loop. We thank you for keeping everyone safe.
AlphaBest - Before/After Care at MES
Matapeake Elementary School
Cafeteria/Gym
Hours: 6:30-9:00 am and 3:45-6:00 pm
Pricing per week per child:
3 Day Package
3 days AM and PM $68
3 days AM OR PM $54
5 Day Package
5 days AM and PM $98
5 days AM OR PM $68
Matapeake Elementary School
Email: carrie.mitten@qacps.org
Website: https://www.qacps.org/Domain/124
Location: 651 Romancoke Road, Stevensville, MD, USA
Phone: 410-643-3105
Facebook: facebook.com/MatapeakeElementaryPTA