Greetings Cold Spring parents,

On Tuesday, I met with all 4th and 5th grade students to inform them about the instrumental music program at school. This program is available to any 4th and 5th grade student who would like to participate, and lessons are completely free. Students that enroll will receive music lessons once a week on the instrument of their choice, and there will even be a concert at the end of the school year. No prior musical knowledge or experience is required, so I really encourage all students to consider giving it a try!

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• If you would like some more detailed information regarding the instrumental music program, please read over this parent handbook that should hopefully answer most of your questions.

• If you are ready to register your child, please fill out this google form. The deadline to register is Friday September 8th, 2023.

(Big shoutout to the almost 50 students who have registered already! So awesome!)

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Lessons typically begin around the first week of October. I will be sending out further communication in the next week or two regarding how to best acquire an instrument for your child, so please be on the lookout for that. Please feel free to direct any specific questions to me directly at Christopher_Poet@mcpsmd.org.

Parent and community members may volunteer to support lunch and recess, as well as classroom activities and special events as the school deems appropriate. We truly appreciate the time and effort that parents, families, and community members spend to engage in volunteer activities and become contributing partners in building a safe and supportive learning environment.

MCPS has different requirements for three different categories of volunteers (click here for more information):

• One-time volunteers: Volunteers at one-time events ALWAYS working under the supervision of MCPS staff members do NOT need to complete compliance measures other than registering as campus visitors through the Visitor Management System (VMS).

• Examples: Parents/guardians staffing concessions and ticket booths at large events, guest readers and speakers in classrooms, parents/guardians or other relatives who are observing or supporting a celebration (e.g. parade) or helping with a class party.

• Regular volunteers: Volunteers who regularly support school or school-sponsored activities must complete the MCPS online training on Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect.

• Examples: Student teachers and interns, volunteers who regularly help with school dismissal or recess, chaperones for field trips occuring during the school day.

• Frequent volunteers: Volunteers who have frequent and independent contact with students, unsupervised by MCPS staff members, must complete the MCPS online training on Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect AND a criminal background check, including fingerprinting.

• Examples: Volunteer coaches, chaperones on overnight field trips.

When entering the building during the school day, volunteers will first need to sign-in with the main office (VMS) and receive a visitor sticker (please note that stickers will not be required during special events such as a school play or the Halloween parade). Also, visiting parents are prohibited from taking videos or photographs of other children or of instruction while at school to respect our parent requests for child privacy.

Please support the school by joining the PTA! We need everyone to become members so we can continue to host fun events like the talent show, back to school and end of year parties, bingo night, outdoor movie night,science fair, and international night.

Join now here: https://coldspringes-pta.membershiptoolkit.com/

PTA Volunteer Info Session - PLEASE ATTEND!

The PTA will be hosting a Volunteer Information Session on Friday, September 15th at 9 am in the APR. Come join us to learn how you can get involved this year!

Back to School Social

Mark Your Calendars! The PTA sponsored Back to School Social is this Thursday, September 7th, from 5:30 - 7:30 pm, at the Cold Spring ES blacktop and playground. Food and ice cream will be available for purchase (please bring cash). Let's celebrate the start of school together!