Another successful school year is coming to an end! Reflecting on the past school year makes me realize how fortunate we are at Ruth Ann Monroe Primary School. Our school has been successful due to the wonderful collaborative partnership between students, staff members, and parents. Our students are meeting high standards of performance due to the excellent teaching from our wonderful staff and support from our parents. We must recognize our students for their perseverance, hard-work, and effort displayed throughout the school year. We wish our Grade 2 students much success as they transition to Eastern Elementary School. They are poised and ready to take on Grade 3. It has been nothing but a pleasure to work with our fabulous students and families.

It is with mixed emotions that I share the news with all the families of students at Ruth Ann

Monroe Primary School that I have been named the principal at Potomac Heights Elementary

School next year. I am sad to be leaving and excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

Serving as Principal of RAMPS has been a great honor and a defining part of my life. When I was appointed principal in 2011, I had so many ideas and dreams for our students and school. I am happy to say, I have seen many of them come true.

It has been a pleasure partnering with you, the parents, teachers and students that have made my 7 years at RAMPS such a pleasure. I truly believe that we have gathered a group of talented and passionate teachers and staff that together make up this school. I am just one part, not a bigger part nor a smaller part.

Please know that WCPS has named Mrs. Dana Peake as principal beginning July 1, 2019. Mrs. Peake is an exceptional leader who has served as the principal at Old Forge Elementary for the past 12 years. She is committed to the continued success of each and every child at our school.

I appreciate the many, many memories I have made together with the students and families

over these past 7 years. I will always feel a part of the RAMPS family. As always, I thank you for your support of RAMPS and our mission. You and your children will always hold a special

place in my heart.

During the last few weeks of school, staff will continue teaching and students will continue

learning and taking assessments until the last day of school!

We have already started the planning and preparation process for the 2019-20 school year.

All staff dedicate time over the summer months to ensure that we exemplify the very best educators who demonstrate a passion for teaching and working with children.

Unfortunately, we will be saying farewell to several of our staff members at the end of this

school year as they move onto new ventures. We would like to thank them all for their

dedication and commitment to our students during their time at Ruth Ann Monroe Primary

School:

● Ms. Hannah Violet, Regional Special Education teacher, who will be

teaching special education in Virginia

● Mrs. Alex Magolon, Grade 2 teacher, who will be teaching in

Frederick County Public Schools

● Mrs. Katie Fox, K teacher, who will be teaching Grade 1 at

Rockland Woods Elementary School.

● Mrs. Emily Lowery, GATE teacher, who will be teaching

Grade 4 at Smithsburg Elementary

Replacing such teachers and staff members is always challenging, but our focus will continue to be recruiting and hiring talented teachers who are passionate, energetic, and creative in the art of teaching and learning. On behalf of the Ruth Ann Monroe staff and school community, I wish all of them the very best in their future endeavors. As we say farewell to some of our great staff members, we are looking forward to the new staffing in our school community.

In closing, thank you for sharing your child/ren with our staff. The learning and growth of our

students is a product of the continued partnership between home and school. Enjoy a safe,

relaxing and adventurous summer!

Kathy Forrest

Your feedback is important to us. If you haven’t already done so, please complete the survey that was sent home and return it to school as soon as possible. Thank you!

Eastern Elementary and Ruth Ann Monroe families in need of emergency food may visit The School Food Pantry located at Eastern Elementary. All visitors MUST enter through the main office and show PHOTO ID at Eastern Elementary to receive a pass to the pantry. Each family may visit only once per month.

When: THURSDAYS, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm

Where: EASTERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Compliments of the Maryland Food Bank

Coordinated by Title I Parent Involvement

Please encourage your child to continue practicing reading, writing, and math over the summer break. Research states that, “summer loss for all students is estimated to be equal to about 1 month (Cooper 1996), but this varies across subject matter”.

Here are few fun ideas to help prevent summer learning loss:

● Book Swap for Kids: Libraries and bookstores are great options for building a home library.

Another great resource for books is a book swap. Consider organizing one for your

neighborhood or block. It can be a simple afternoon undertaking, or with more time and effort, a fun event that will become an annual tradition!

● Take Summer Field Trips: Go to the park, the zoo, the aquarium, a sports event, a

historical landmark, or a museum. Go on a hike or to a natural attraction in your area.

When indoors, encourage your child to watch a TV program about volcanoes, the

Rainforest, animals or places around the world. Students can even visit a website to take

a virtual field trip to a faraway place or research something new.

● Promote Creative Writing: Encourage your child to practice their writing skills by writing

grocery lists, to-do lists, postcards, or short messages to family members or friends. As a

parent, you can help by assisting your child choose a "topic" (such as a family vacation, special outing or holiday memory) and then write about it. Have writing materials such as paper, markers, gel pens, pencils available or use some sidewalk chalk and let your child write

messages on the sidewalk!!!! Ask your child to read aloud to you what they have written.

Stop by the office Monday - Friday 8:30am - 4:00pm to register your child for Kindergarten!

Beginning the week of June 21st, the office will begin summer hours which will be

Tuesday - Thursday 7:00am - 5:00pm.

To register children for school a parent/legal guardian must go to the school district that they live in, the following documents are required to register:

1. Copy of Parent/Legal Guardian Photo ID

2. Copy of Child’s birth certificate

3. Copy of Child’s Social Security Card

4. Copy of Immunization records

5. Copy of Health inventory completed by child's doctor within last 6 months

6. Copy of Proof of residency (mortgage/rental agreement, electric, water or sewer bill, current within the last three months. Telephone bills, cable bills, and driver’s licenses are NOT ACCEPTABLE proofs of residency.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful PTA.

The executive board has provided excellent leadership and

support to the PTA committees, the school staff and administration,

and most importantly to our students. Job well done!

Thank you to all parents on the PTA and the various committees for

your endless contributions and dedicating a great deal of time to provide

beneficial activities, programs and events to our school.

Without your support and dedication we would not be able to have such

wonderful and successful school activities.

We are very thankful for your generous support and we look forward to next year.

These ideas will keep kids engaged in reading, writing, and thinking

creatively even on the hottest days.

Water writer:

Using a pail of water and a brush, have kids write words on the blacktop or sidewalk.

Sell summer:

Tell kids: Try a new product or activity and write about it. How would you describe it?

Would you recommend it? Create an advertisement to sell it to others.

Plan a trip:

Have kids use the Internet, travel guidebooks, brochures, and maps to plan a dream day, weekend, week, or month-long trip.

Summer sleuth:

Have kids follow a story in a newspaper during the summer, or investigate a local story (e.g., an upcoming fair). Tell kids: Write about the event as it unfolds so that you have it documented from start to finish.

Play it:

Take an adventure book with a clear plot and invent a board game based on it.

Comic strip:

Write a comic strip about a fictional character or yourself. See how long you can keep the strip going. Read classic comics for inspiration.

Build reading and writing into everyday activities:

Some ideas: (1) watching TV with the sound off and closed captioning on, (2) reading directions for how to play a new game, or (3) helping with meals by writing up a grocery list, finding things in the grocery store, and reading the recipe aloud for mom or dad during cooking time.

Encourage writing:

One way to engage young writers is to encourage them to keep a summer journal. They might also enjoy keeping a nature journal, create stories/poems, share a recipe, send a homemade postcard or letter to family or friends, or keep a scrapbook of reviews of summer adventures.

Make regular visits to the library:

Find books, magazines, and movies on the topic your child is interested in. Look for related fiction as well as non-fiction.

Summer Math Activities:

Help students maintain their math skills and keep them thinking in numbers all summer long.

Shopaholic:

What can you buy for $5 at the corner store? From the ice cream truck? In a hardware store? At the beach?

Change it up:

Start collecting change in a jar on the first day of summer. On the last day, estimate your

change, count it, and plan a special purchase.

Summer patterns:

Create patterns using summer items (popsicle sticks, shells, flowers). Or, draw

patterns in the sand or dirt using a stick or your hands. See how long you can carry out your pattern — along the length of the sandbox, or across the grass.

Napkin fractions:

Fold paper towels or napkins into large and small fractions, from one-half to 1/16. Use

markers to label and decorate the different fractions.

Design hunt:

Keep an eye out for shapes, patterns, and designs when you’re out and about. You never

know what you’ll find in the architecture at the airport, the shopping mall, or even the grocery store .

Summer Science Fun:

Summer is the perfect time for children to explore their extracurricular interests, like science. Here are some activities that will have children hypothesizing all the way to September.

Map the weather:

Keep a running log of the weather. Include temperature, humidity, clouds,

precipitation, wind, air pressure. Can you predict what the weather will be tomorrow?

Invent a recipe for a summer drink and share it with your friends:

For example, the Citrus Sizzler: 1/2 cup Sprite, 1/2 cup pineapple juice, 1 spritz lime juice.

Museum gallery:

Collect pinecones, rocks, shells, or other natural objects to organize, categorize, and

label. Present your own natural history museum.

Hot-weather inventor:

Design an invention that you can use during summer. Some ideas: sunglasses that change color from red to yellow to blue, or a new beach toy.

Answer a question:

How long does it take an ice cube to melt outside in the summer heat? In the

refrigerator? In an air conditioned room?

Float or sink:

In a pool or the bathtub, hypothesize which items (soap, dry sock, bottle of shampoo, rock,

etc.) will float or sink. Test your hypotheses.

Please note that the first day of school for students will be

Tuesday, September 3, 2019.

The 2019-2020 school calendar is available on the

Washington County Public Schools website www.wcpsmd.com