Sharpsburg Elementary Updates

Dear Sharpsburg (SBE) Families,

I hope you are all having an amazing summer and you're getting geared up to send your children back to us! We'll be ready to welcome students back on Monday, August 25th to start the 2025-2026 school year! We are so excited to begin the school year with 375+ students in our beautiful school!

Our main goal is for every student to feel safe & welcome at school each day so our teaching time and their learning time is maximized. We have lots to do! Every student has the potential to do amazing things and it's our job to tap into that potential. Send your children to us every day with the mindset of learning and growing and they will do incredible things! Our teachers will spend a lot of time planning excellent lessons that engage and challenge students. Teachers will focus on meeting our students' learning needs all year long and we will need your support to make this happen!

For families who are new to our school, I want your to know that we have an INCREDIBLE staff here; from PreK to 5th grade, our Encore team, and our GATE program which is second to none. Please allow me to introduce you to the SBE staff for this school year:

• Administrative Assistant/Secretary: Mrs. Jami Robinson

• Head Custodian: Mr. Vic Crabill

• Pre-K Team: Megan Hoffman & Cathy Shoaf, Lindsey Tierney & Charlene McMillen

• Kitchen Manager: Tracy Armstrong

• Health Office Nurses: Heather Straitiff & Julia Morin

• School Counselor: Ed Beaver

• Lead Teacher: Angie Hoy

• Gifted & Talented (GATE) Teacher: Ashley Stotelmyer

• Kindergarten Team: Haley Barnhart and Jenna Sagal
• First Grade Team: Danae Doubledee and Lisa Ritenour
• Second Grade Team: Kelsey Butrick, Kelsey Eichelberger and Heather Ross
• Third Grade Team: Amy Monninger and Jill Waters (Students will have both Ts for ELA & Math.)
• Fourth Grade Team: Erin Harrell, Max McDowell, and Emily Weekly
• Fifth Grade Team: Jes Taylor and Jeremy Wood (Students will have both Ts for ELA & Math.)
• SPECIAL EDUCATION TEAMS:
• Special Education Case Manager: Hannah Violet and SpEd Parapro: Suzi Taylor
• Itinerant Adult Support Parapro: Jaidyn Griffith
• Speech & Language Pathologist: Liz Adamson & Anecia Johnson (SLP Asst.)

• School Psychologist: Lily Irwin

• ASL Interpreter: Charlene Augustine

• BCBA: Maggie Capps

• STEP Team: Carrie Estell, Sherry Hausler, Stephanie Lowe & Jeri Roberts

• STEP Case Manager: TBD
• Connections Team: Tracy McDonald, Katy Jacobsen, Julie Price & Kasey Sandros
• Resident Substitute Teacher: Mrs. Janet Meyland
• Health Services Parapro: Jeremy Van Divner
• Encore Team: Kayla Heiston (Visual Arts), Stephanie House (Music), Megan Long (Library & Media), and Adam Lowe (Health & Physical Education) *Note: Mrs. Karina Dembo will be our longterm substitute teacher for Megan Long in the Library from August to October.
• 4th-5th Band and Orchestra: Christina Oliver (Band) & Jason Ankerbrand (Orchestra)

School Supplies

Our school supply list for each grade level is linked here. This is also linked on the Sharpsburg PTA site, and hard copies are at the school. Stop by to snap a picture of them or pick up a paper copy in the front office, if needed. Please know that the school can help provide much of the supplies so there are fewer items we need you to provide. If you need assistance with supplies, please contact the school directly. All grades: Make sure your child has an appropriately sized backpack and corded earbuds or headphones (not bluetooth).

Enrollment

If you have a child that you have not yet enrolled, please come into the school as soon as possible to complete the necessary paperwork. You must physically come to the school in order to complete the student enrollment process. If you have questions about what you need for enrollment, please contact our School Secretary (Jami Robinson) at 301-766-8321.

Office Hours

Our office hours will remain Monday-Thursday, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM until August 14th. We will resume normal schedule (five days/week) on Monday August 18th. If you need any assistance or have school-related questions, please don't hesitate to call us at 301-766-8321.

Class Lists

Class lists will ONLY be accessible to parents through ParentVUE. I do not post class lists on the school's doors as this is personal information and not for everyone who visits the school to see. If you haven't already done so, please set up a ParentVUE account. This is a great tool! For new families, our school Secretary (Jami) will be available at our Back to School Open House event to support with the set-up process. I recommend doing this before back to school night as we will be very busy. You may log into your ParentVUE account on August 14th at 4:00 PM to access your child's teacher/schedule. If you need help accessing this information, please contact Jami at 301-766-8321. We will be posting bus routes/times on the main doors prior to our Back to School Open House. (Bus lists are literally the last thing we receive from CES so you'll need to be patient regarding this.) Remember, it is essential that you can access your ParentVue account throughout the year; to communicate with your child's teacher, see classes and grading updates and quarterly report cards.

SBE Communication to Families

We provide updates throughout the year using Blackboard and Remind messages, which pull parent phone numbers and email addresses from our Synergy student information system. We also post announcements and celebrations on the SBE PTA Facebook page. *Please keep your email address and phone numbers updated with us at all times so we can always communicate with you.

Back to School Open House

We will be offering a back to school Open House this year on Thursday, August 21st from 8:30-10:00 AM for grades PreK to 1st, and 2:30-4:00 PM for grades 2 to 5. It will be "Open House" style - no formal presentations. Parents, please bring your Sharpsburg student with you to see the school but children MUST stay with adults and be supervised at all times during this event. This is not an event to bring extra adults, like aunts, uncles, or grandparents. *Parking may be tight so consider carpooling or street parking. Our bus loop will have at least one bus for young students and those who haven't ridden a bus before to explore. Please only park in an actual parking spot -- do not park in our bus or car loop.

What are the school's start and end times?

7:20 AM - Doors open (All students will enter through our front doors.)

7:45 AM - Late bell rings and instruction begins. Students need be in their class by this time and are considered tardy when they arrive after 7:45 AM.

2:15 PM - Walkers, bus and car riders are dismissed

First Day of School on August 25th:

If your child is going to be a bus rider during the school year, please put them on the bus on day one. Allowing your child to ride the bus will avoid confusion at the end of the day for dismissal and start to develop a routine. In the mornings, several staff will tag students as they exit the bus on the first few days to ensure they get back on the correct bus for dismissal. Please do not try to take photos here at school on the first day - IT WILL BE BUSY. Parents will NOT be walking students to their classrooms, because we have plenty of staff to help guide students to their classrooms and they can come to our Open House on Thursday, 8/21 to find their way to the cafe and to their classroom. At the end of the day, making sure each child gets home safely is our TOP priority for us all. Remember that breakfast and lunch are available for all students to purchase (or eat breakfast at home, bring a packed lunch).

Arrival/Dismissal Procedures

• If your child is a car rider, please know that the first week takes longer than usual. We are asking that you please be patient with all staff members. Our regular car rider dismissal time is around 15-minutes, as we dismiss over 100 students to cars. Many of these students could and should ride the bus and would alleviate long lines at dismissal. (Please consider using the bus if you can.)
• We will verify all bus riders on Monday and throughout the week. Please review the information below to find your child's bus information. Please understand those times could vary a bit due to driver getting accustomed to the route and to last minute enrollments added to his/her roster. Our bus drivers have a huge responsibility, and we appreciate them greatly. 🚌

• NOTE: PreK riders are not always routed the first few days of school. This depends on when the Early Learning Department received the appropriate enrollment information from families.

• BUS ROUTES WILL BE POSTED ON THE WCPS SITE HERE. These may not be available until August.

• Students riding the bus will arrive at the main doors. Pre-K and Kindergarten students will be given a bus safety vest on the first day of school. Be sure that students wear these vests to school daily.
  
• Students who are car riders will be dropped off and picked up in the parking lot lane. Cars will pull up to the next available cone to let students out of the car in the morning and pick up students in the afternoon. Parents will need to remain in their cars during this process. Please show great patience with our students as they exit their parent's vehicle. All safety protocols need to be followed.
• The speed limit in the parking lot and our car loop is 5 MPH! Do not race through our lot like it's a Nascar race! Do not use the bus loop to try to drop your child off as that loop is ONLY for busses. This is no passing in our car loop unless specified by a staff member who's on duty. This same process will be followed during dismissal. If you are an unsafe or impatient driver, stay away from our car loop or learn to be patient! There are no exceptions to our safety rules!
  
• If you are interested in walking your child to the front doors, please park in a spot first and use the crosswalk. Do not use the drop off lane then walk your child to the door because we'll have a back up of traffic behind your vehicle.
• All parents picking up students will receive a car rider paper. Car rider papers can be picked up in the front office the week of August 18th or at our Back to School Open House on 8/21. Anyone picking up a student will need this car rider paper to ensure safety. Car rider papers need to be on the front dash of your vehicle. You are expected to read AND FOLLOW ALL safety notes and expectations on the back of this paper. These are nonnegotiable.
• Students who are walkers will enter the main doors in the morning. Walkers will be dismissed out of our front/side door as well. Pre-K and Kindergarten students will NOT be permitted to walk alone. All students in Pre-K and Kindergarten will need to be signed out by a parental guardian or emergency contact. Please be sure to have all of this information updated in ParentVUE prior to students' first day on Monday, August 26th.
• Dismissal changes should to be communicated in writing to the classroom teacher and/or front office. For example, a note or email will suffice. For safety reasons, please do your best to keep the dismissal plan consistent for students and staff. Always keep school staff aware of changes in advance and in writing (note, email, etc.).

Breakfast and Lunch

The WCPS Food & Nutrition Services portal can be located here. Update from last year: LINQ Connect replaced MySchoolBucks. To contact FNS, call 301-766-2890. WCPS does not provide a free breakfast or lunch to ALL students, so every parent is highly encouraged to complete the application for free or reduced meals as this provides them with the additional supports listed below and also funds for the district. Last year, we had several students who accrued a large lunch debt. Don't let this happen to you. Start your application here: www.schoollunchapp.com

PBIS & Character Counts! Information

There are 33 WCPS schools that use Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in order to promote positive student choices. Our school continues to be an exemplar PBIS school, earning GOLD status for multiple years! Our school has taught the phrase "PATH of the Warrior" for years and > 95% of our students consistently followed the "PATH" for years. The acronym "PATH" refers to Persevere, Act Respectfully, Take Ownership, and Help Others. We reinforce positive choices with our PATH tokens, shopping at the School Store, monthly awards, as well as Warrior of the Month nominations, quarterly Club days, certificates, and medals. As a school, we awarded over 600 Sharp Student certificates last year, with only 30 office discipline referrals. We pride ourselves with creating a safe learning environment for all! Lastly, here is the link to the PBIS Maryland site if you'd like to find out additional information.

PTA Information

Our PTA is amazing and has gone above and beyond to support the school and our students! They will reach out to families each month. Please, please, please consider joining AND actively participating in our PTA. They need your help! The primary focus of this parent/teacher association is to support students and we all want to support the kids, right? Their monthly informative meetings will be brief but critically important to the school's success. For participating, you will have a voice in helping decide what events are planned and how fundraising can be used to support student safety, learning and fun this year. FYI: The fall Scholastic book fair is scheduled in September and should you have PTA-related questions, their official email address sesmdpta@gmail.com. Again, we would LOVE to have you join the PTA and volunteer as we work toward a fantastic school year for all of our students.

Message from our School Health Nurses:

If your child is taking medication during school hours, please get in touch with our School's Nurse as soon as possible to complete the paperwork. You can contact Nurse Heather Straitiff or Nurse Julia Morin directly at 301-766-8323. Also, a change of clothes is recommended for our younger students (PreK and Kindergarten) to start the school year. Please put a change of clothes in their backpack each day. Please be kind to our wonderful Health Staff!

Cell Phone Policy:

While students are permitted to bring a cell phone to school, they MUST keep them turned off and locked in their backpack and in their cubby or locker. As much as possible, please tell your child to keep cell phones at home. Phones are a distraction to students. This will prevent a phone from being stolen and will help students remain focused on their learning.

NOTE: The school is not responsible for any lost, damaged or stolen cell phones. Students are responsible for their own phone. Students are NOT permitted to use cell phones at school, in our classrooms or in the bathrooms at any time. Parents, if you need to contact your student, please do so via our main office at 301-766-8321. Students should not be distracted by parents calling or texting them during school hours. Repeated violations of our cell phone policy will result in administrative action (phone to be held until parent picks up).

Birthday Celebrations:

It's your child's birthday! You are welcome to come to school to have lunch with your child if it is his/her birthday. You can choose to come on that day, or a day that week that works for your schedule. If your child has a weekend, summer, or holiday birthday, and you would like to participate in this opportunity, please let the front office know. We will arrange a date that is convenient for your schedule. To schedule a day/time, please let us know by calling the school. You can also let your child's teacher know, and he/she can forward that information to the front office. You and your child will eat in Mr. Allshouse's conference room for this special lunch. There is not space there for multiple families, so it is important that you let us know ahead of time, so we can get you on the schedule and have a double booked space. ;)

Chromebooks:

All SBE students will be assigned a Chromebook laptop for the school year. Students will receive it during the first week of school. These school-issued devices will stay at school and should not be taken home by students. Students are responsible for the charging & care of the laptop and its charger. Parents will be held financially responsible for any loss or damage to their child's issued device. Chromebooks are for academic use ONLY and good digital citizenship is REQUIRED, meaning all communications and content on a student device must be appropriate and school-related. There are no exceptions to this policy. Chromebook policies and expectations will be clearly communicated to students at school and we ask you to reiterate these important expectations. Violations will result in parent contact & disciplinary action. Instances of inappropriate pictures/videos, cyberbullying or harassment will result in our WCPS School Resource Officer being involved and loss of technology privileges. Again, please make sure your child understands these expectations. Here's a link to more information regarding these devices.

Attendance

Student absences should be documented via an email to our Secretary, Mrs. Jami Robinson, at RobinJa@wcps.k12.md.us. Parent notes or doctor's notes will be used to mark absences as Excused (up to 12 days of parent's notes can be accepted annually ). Students who accumulate unexcused absences may not be eligible for school rewards or field trips and may be considered for retention (repeating the grade level). Students with 18 or more absences for the school year are considered chronically absent by the state of Maryland. Any changes to a student's normal dismissal procedure need to be made in writing (email or note sent to the school) by the PARENT. If you have relocated or your student will not be attending this school, please contact Mr. Allshouse or Miss Jami at school at 301-766-8321 ASAP.

Upcoming Dates (WCPS calendar)

August 18-22 Professional Learning days for employees

August 21- Back to School "Open House"

August 25- 1st day for students (PreK has a staggered start.)

August 29- 2 hour early dismissal (12:15)

September 1- No School/Labor Day

September 22-26- PATH Spirit Week

September 24- 2 hour early dismissal (12:15)

October 16- Pumpkin Attendance reward for being on time

October 17- No school/Teacher Association Day

October 27-30 Red Ribbon Week

October 30- 2 hour early dismissal (12:15) *PBIS Reward activity / End of Marking Period 1

October 31- Professional Learning day/No school for students)

November 26- Professional Learning Day (No school for students)

November 27-28 Thanksgiving Break- No school for students

December 5- 2 hour early dismissal (12:15)

December 23- 2 hour early dismissal (12:15)

December 24-26, 29-31and January 1-2 Winter Break/Schools Closed

January 5, 2026- Staff & students return to school

If I can do anything to help you or answer any questions, don't hesitate to contact me directly at allshkei@wcps.k12.md.us *Thank you for your continued help, kindness, understanding and patience as we prepare for our new school year. We're a TEAM and Together Everyone Achieves More!

Sincerely,

Keith Allshouse

~ SBE Principal