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🎒1 South Clifton Drive

Williamsport, MD 21795

📳 Phone Number

301-766-8415

📠 Fax Number

301-766-8711

💻 https://wes.wcpsmd.com/

📓SCHOOL HOURS

📝Start Time - 8:25 am

📝End Time - 2:55 pm

📓Students may enter the building each morning at 7:55am.

📓Students arriving after 8:25am are considered tardy and MUST be signed in at the front office by an adult with their Driver’s License or I.D.

🍎 Primary Drop-Off/Pick-Up is located to left of the main entrance.

🍎Intermediate Drop-Off/Pick-Up is located to the right of the main entrance.

🍎All cars should stay in a single file line to ensure student safety.

🍎Staff will be at each area to assist students.

DISMISSAL CHANGES

📓Parent Notes must be sent to the school office for every change to a student’s normal dismissal routine. These notes must have ALL details about the dismissal change (including the name of the adult who will be picking up the student, if applicable).

📓Emergency contact names provided to the school at the start of each year do not automatically have authorization to pick up a student from school.

📓Parent/Legal Guardian permission is required for ALL DISMISSAL CHANGES.

📓Students will not be released to anyone under the age of 18.

📓NO DISMISSAL CHANGES CAN BE MADE AFTER 2:30pm EACH DAY

🏨Ms. Leah Mara - maralea@wcps.k12.md.us

301-766-8415 (phone)

✅If your student will be absent, you can call or email Ms. Leah.

✅Any changes to student dismissal can be sent in writing via email.

✅You may also send doctor's notes for student absences via email.

🩺Ashley Franklin - frankash@wcps.k12.md.us

301-766-8416 (phone)

We know that illness happens and that students do their best when they are healthy. If you need support with health resources for your student or your family, please let us know. Our school nurse is available every day to offer support and resources.

Our needs assessment during the 2024/2025 school year showed that we do not have reliable access to health care in our immediate area. If anyone in your family is having difficulty accessing a provider, please be sure to be in touch so we can try to help. If you need help with transportation to appointments, please reach out.

Lindsey Marin Meekins

Community School Manager

301-766-2818 (call/text)

marinlin@wcps.k12.md.us

🎒We are thrilled to be welcoming you back to our school community for our 26/27 school year. We look forward to seeing your students every day. Following this letter is a packet with important information about school attendance. We believe in open communication and love to hear from our families.

🎒Did you know? In the 25/26 school year, our school achieved an average of 97% attendance most days by the end of the school year. We grew from 93% daily attendance in January to 97% daily attendance by June. Our chronic absentee rate dropped by 4% from the 24/25 school year.

Fun with Attendance We have monthly competitions with a theme to get our students and staff excited about attendance. We track the leading class attendance in each grade level in our morning announcements. Check out our themes this year and be sure to ask your student how their class is doing. As a school, we worked to meet our attendance goal in May and earned a school-wide ice cream party

Aug/Sept

October

May

June

Attendance Support - We believe a STRONG community helps every student succeed. If you need support or resources for student attendance, we are here to help! We have a caring cottage with hygiene and cleaning supplies. Do you or your student need help connecting to a health provider or mental health resources? We can help! See our resource list for available items in our community.

When students are absent - If your student has been absent, you can notify the school the same day via phone or email. Please send a parent or physician note when your student returns to school. If students are absent for more than 2 days, you will receive a phone call from the school to check in. Students who are absent for more than 8% of the school year at any time, will be enrolled in our monthly punch card program. We also have monthly family meetings as an additional partnership opportunity to work with families.

Please let our Community School Manager, Lindsey Marin Meekins, know if there are barriers to your student attending school.

301-766-2818

marinlin@wcps.k12.md.us

✅ Food

✅ Household items (furniture, dishes, kitchen items, etc.)

✅ Cleaning Supplies (dish soap, detergent, disinfectant, etc.)

✅ Hygiene Supplies (feminine products, hand soap, deodorant, body soap, toothbrushes, etc.)

✅ Housing Resources

✅ Healthcare (dental, vision, medical, specialist, etc.)

✅ Mental Healthcare (therapy, medication management, groups, etc.)

✅ Transportation

✅ Daycare resources

📣Help support attendance at home by tracking the days that your student has been absent.

📣Did you know that missing 18 days in a school year can have a negative effect on student learning?

📣Did you know that students who are chronically absent are less likely to be fluent readers?

📣Did you know students who miss 18 days of school per year are considered to be chronically absent?

📣Every day that your student is in school is a step towards their academic achievement.

✅Let children know attendance every day is important.

✅Communicate with school staff.

✅Send a written excuse to school on the same day the child returns to school after being absent.

✅Read the Student Handbook to become familiar with the information about daily school attendance.

✅Observe the school schedule.

✅Plan vacations during official school break times.

✅Establish and maintain a daily routine.

✅Praise your child when he/she exhibits good attendance and promptness.

✅Encourage involvement in extracurricular activities.

✅Reach out for help from school staff and/or other agencies, if necessary.

✅Attend school and all classes each day school is in session.

✅Be on time for school every day.

✅Participate in schoolwork, prepare for all classes, complete all assignments and follow directions given by teachers.

✅Take personal responsibility for all actions and behaviors.

We are here to partner with you to help your student attend school! If there are barriers to student attendance, please reach out for support and we will try to help.

If your child is suffering from anxiety, you are not alone. The good news is that in

most situations, anxiety is normal and temporary. Anxiety becomes a concern if it persists — it

can affect relationships with family, peers and teachers, contribute to academic challenges, and

lead to school avoidance/refusal. Addressing anxiety is important for a child’s overall well-being,

not just attendance.

In addition, if your child starts to complain of symptoms like a headache or stomachache, it is

important to quickly determine whether this is related to anxiety or a physical illness that might

require missing school. If the challenge is anxiety, staying home may worsen the situation.

Persistent anxiety can present in many ways, making it difficult to recognize.

Symptoms may vary depending on the age of the child, and some children may keep worries

to themselves or have difficulty explaining their feelings making it hard to identify symptoms.

Anxiety symptoms can include, but aren’t limited to, the following:

🟪 Feeling tired, irritable or easily tearful

🟪Having trouble separating from parents

🟪Experiencing difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmares

🟪Having trouble getting out of bed or dressed for school

🟪Lacking appetite

🟪Having trouble concentrating, which may lead to difficulty starting tasks, problems with

homework and falling behind in school

🟪Experiencing physical symptoms, including stomachaches and headaches

🟪Avoiding activities they previously enjoyed

🟪Having negative or continuous thoughts that something bad is going to happen

All policies for attendance are posted in the WCPS Student Handbook. You can view the entire handbook here.

✅All absences from school require a parent note explaining the absence upon student return to school. Notes should be provided within 30 days or the absence may be listed as unexcused.

❗12 absences (combined excused and unexcused) is the maximum allowed for parent notes.

❗After 12 absences, a physician note is required for all future absences.

The following situations are considered excused absences:

1. Illness or behavioral health needs of the student. Absences greater than 3 days may require a physician note.

2. Death of an immediate family member.

3. Court summons specifically for the student.

4. Suspension

5. Other special circumstances.

Any absence from school not identified as an excused absence.

Student absences without a parent or physician note will be marked as unexcused.

Student and staff absences from school to observe religious holidays are excused. Absences related to travel for the purpose of a religious observation will be considered “family vacation” absences, and must be pre-approved by the school principal. School personnel should be aware of religious holidays and should make every effort to avoid scheduling major examinations and events on those dates. Students will be permitted to complete make-up work, within a reasonable time period.

🪄Did you know that students who are chronically absent are less likely to be fluent readers?

🪄 Did you know students who miss 18 days of school per year are considered to be chronically absent?

🪄 Every day that your student is in school is a step towards their academic achievement.

PPWs serve as representatives of the Department of Student Services, and as consultants to the schools. They reach out to families and assist students to succeed in school. Specifically, they encourage school attendance on a regular basis, foster appropriate behavior, and help families access community and support services, as needed. PPWs conduct home visits to promote family involvement; assist schools with enrollment, residency, custody, disciplinary actions; and help plan and carry out alternative services. Each PPW is assigned to several schools and serves as a key member of the student support team for each school.

Questions regarding PPWs or to find out which PPW services your child’s school should be directed to the Director of Student Services at 301-766-8776.

Williamsport Elementary School PPW

Lauren Silkey-Parker

🏠The Homeless Education Program works to ensure that students experiencing homelessness are identified, have access to appropriate educational opportunities, and are linked to services to be successful in school.

The WCPS Coordinator of Homeless Education in the Department of Student Services (301-766-2823) is also available to assist parents with any issues regarding enrollment, transportation and other available support and services.

Student Support Team Meetings (SST) are an opportunity to connect with families to discuss students that may have behavioral, academic or attendance needs. Our team meets to discuss behavioral and academic concerns every other Tuesday. Attendance SST meetings are monthly on Wednesdays.

The goal is to foster a partnership between home and school in order to help the student thrive academically, socially and emotionally. It is also an opportunity to recommend additional supports and services and discuss any barriers that may be preventing a student from achieving their full potential.

Families may request a meeting by contacting their student's teacher and discussing concerns. Invitations to SST meetings are informed by student data and information from families.

📞We make calls and send text messages home when students have been absent for a day or more.

🏠If our students are absent for several days, we will often do a visit to check in.

🍲We have sick care kits available in our Caring Cottage that can be delivered for students that have missed 3 or more days of school. Sick care kits include soup, tissues, hydration packs, shelf stable popsicles and sometimes fresh fruit and crackers.

We at Williamsport want to be your partner and helper in your student’s success from day one! We want to support students before they become chronically absent. We know that there are often barriers to attendance that can feel insurmountable. As a Community School, we want to help provide resources and eliminate barriers. If there are things that you need as a family that will reduce or eliminate these barriers, please reach out to our Community School Manager, Lindsey Marin Meekins, for support.

Thank you,

Lindsey Meekins, Community School Manager

301-766-2818 (call/text)

Monthly Punch Card Program

• Your student will receive an attendance punch card each month. They will start the school year with a punch card if they missed more than 8% of the prior school year.

• Students that miss 8% of the current school year during any marking period will automatically be enrolled in this program.

• Every day that they attend school, they will receive a card punch. Their goal is to attend school 90% or more each month. They are eligible to receive additional Willie Bucks for each week they attend school. They can turn in Willie Bucks for prizes in the classroom.

Powerful student and family engagement

Collaborative leadership and shared power and voice

Expanded and enriched learning opportunities

Rigorous, community-connected classroom instruction

Culture of belonging, safety, and care Integrated systems of support

Learn More About Community Schools:

Community Schools – Blueprint (marylandpublicschools.org)

Office of Community Schools and Expanded Learning Time (marylandpublicschools.org)

TU becomes home to Maryland Center for Community Schools | Towson University