Tiger Families

Registration for Girls on the Run Spring 2025 Season is open! Girls on the Run® inspires participants in grades 3-5 to be joyful, healthy, and confident by using running to teach valuable life skills. Volunteer coaches facilitate lessons that blend physical activity with life skill development, including managing emotions, fostering friendships, and expressing empathy. At the end of the season, the team completes a Community Impact Project and a 5K together, which provides a tangible sense of accomplishment and sets a confident mindset into motion. Guilford GOTR will meet on Monday and Wednesday from 4pm - 5:15pm starting March 17. The season-ending 5K for Howard County will be on Saturday, May 31 at 8:00 a.m. The program registration fee is $185, which includes lessons, all program materials, 5K and program shirts, a water bottle, and more. Financial assistance is available! Visit www.gotrcentralmd.org to register. Questions? Call 443-864-8593

We will have a yearbook this year. We have not received the order forms yet, but they will be available. The cost is $25. You may have received an email to pre-order online via email from Lifetouch.

On January 30, 2025, the Board of Education approved adjustments to Policy 8080 - Responsible Use of Technology, Digital Tools, and Social Media that changes the ability for students to use personal devices during the school day. The Board approved the following changes related to the use of personal devices by students at school:

• No students, PreKindergarten-12, will be permitted to use cell phones and other personal technology devices during the student day (first bell to last bell of the day or posted school hours) except for reasons detailed in a student’s IEP, 504, or health plan. Under the prior version of the policy, elementary and middle school students were not permitted to use personal devices during the school day at any time. For high school students, this policy removes access to personal device in between classes and at lunch. For all grade levels, the addition of consequences for violating the policy is new.

• When a personal device is used in violation of the new policy, the device will be confiscated for the remainder of the student day. Following the first violation, the student may retrieve the device at the end of the student day. For all subsequent violations, a parent/guardian must retrieve the device from the school.
• A device that is confiscated during the final period of the student day will be confiscated for the entire next student day. The student may retrieve the device at the end of the day it was originally confiscated to take home but must provide it to the front office upon arrival on the next student day.

• Students may be in possession of personal devices, but they must be “away and silenced,” meaning devices are not able to be seen by either the student or staff member and are set to make no noise. Additionally, devices may not be a distraction.
• Smart watches will be permitted to be worn to check time but may not be a distraction.
• Personal laptops may be used for instructional activities in high school when permitted by the teacher.
• A staff member on a school-sponsored field trip may permit the use of a personal technology device by a student in limited situations where capturing a picture or video may be appropriate or contacting a parent/guardian is necessary.
• School administrators and school administrators’ designees may authorize use of a personal device in rare instances such as an emergency for communication purposes.

These new expectations will take effect on Monday, March 3, 2025. The complete changes and expectationsLinks to an external site. may be found online. Please take time to review these new expectations with your student to ensure they do not violate the new policy.

Our school will adhere strictly to the policy with hopes that the elimination of the distractions that personal devices cause use will result in healthier and more productive learning and social environments during the school day. More information will be shared before the implementation date.

Thank you for your collaboration in the successful implementation of these changes.

The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) 2024-2025 school year calendar included five inclement weather days, June 12–13 and June 16–18. As of Feb. 28, HCPSS has used six days. In order to meet the State-mandated 180 days for students, HCPSS must add a day to the school year calendar.

At its Feb. 27 meeting, the Board of Education approved making Monday, March 31, a full day for students, shifting the scheduled Professional Work and Development Day for school staff to Monday, April 14, which is the first day of spring break. HPCSS did request a waiver for the sixth inclement weather day from the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), but it was not approved.

The Board also approved moving the end of the third marking period from March 28 to April 4, which accounts for inclement weather days and better balances the number of days in each marking period.

Barring any additional inclement weather days, the last day of school will be Wednesday, June 18, 2025. Updates to the June calendar include the following:

Friday, June 6: Schools dismiss three hours early; No half-day pre-K/RECC

Monday, June 9-Friday June 13: Full school day

Monday, June 16-Tuesday, June 17: Schools dismiss three hours early

Wednesday, June 18: Last day of school; schools dismiss three hours early

An updated HCPSS calendar can be found online.

This is just a friendly reminder to families who have not yet completed the Community School Family Survey, there is still time!

The responses will help us make decisions regarding the allocation of funding and resources for Guilford Elementary over the next three years.

The survey results will let me know where my focus should be directed, whether that be towards food support, health services, tutoring, after-school programs, etc. The results will help guide my role and my work.

I am heavily relying on your responses to help inform our decisions. I appreciate your partnership and your help with completing the survey. Thank you in advance!

English: https://forms.gle/kuxmSodWosZDtVoQ8

Spanish: https://forms.gle/LQEvZu7rvXJtjjVA6

Yesenia Portillo,

Your Community School Site Coordinator

The team is working hard to implement changes based on our plan. HCPSS has ordered additional materials and resources for the classroom. Those are starting to arrive.

Free Parenting/Grandparenting Classes - Open to parents, guardians and grandparents residing in Howard County or with school-age children/grandchildren residing in the County. Evidence-based, interactive prevention program that provides families with the skills and knowledge to reduce the risk that their children will use drugs and alcohol or engage in other dangerous behaviors. The curriculum was written for families with children 9-14 years olds, but we believe it is appropriate for K-12 families. Class dates: March 18, 21, 25, 28 and April 1 from Noon to 1:30 p.m. on Zoom. Visit HC DrugFree’s website for more information and register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Spring2025GGC

Drive-Thru Medication and Sharps Disposal – Saturday, April 26 in the Wilde Lake Village Center Parking Lot near the Swim Center from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Safely dispose of prescription and over-the-counter medication, EpiPens and other sharps, vitamins, pet meds, vape devices, inhalers, and more! Need student, adult, and medically-trained adult volunteers. Giving away 100 medication lockboxes.

For more information: https://hcdrugfree.org/drug-take-back-day-1/

To sign up to volunteer: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/4-26-25TakeBack

Teen Advisory Council - Open to Howard County students in grades 8-12. Earn Community Service Hours and make meaningful contributions to the community. Next meeting: Monday May 19, 2025, from 5:30-7:00pm on Zoom. For more information, visit: https://hcdrugfree.org/teen-advisory-council/

3rd grade Zoo research project presentation- see communication from your homeroom teacher.

Please join us Friday, March 21-Saturday, March 22, 2025 at Harriet Tubman Cultural Center for The People's Conference II: Returning to Who We Are

Returning to Who We Are serves as a reminder of the core principles and values that define restorative justice through its indigenous roots. It encourages us to reconnect to our authentic selves, communities, land, and the fundamental human dignity that restorative justice seeks to uphold. This theme underscores the necessity of returning to our shared humanity and inherent worth; reflecting on our personal and collective journeys; and serves as a call to action, inspiring participants to cultivate a more just and compassionate society based on healing and unlearning.

We look forward to seeing you! Register here.

Spring Individual Pictures

Full day of school for students

Book Blast Kick Off

Career Day!

Mobile Dentist

5th grade Panoramic Picture

Family Reading Night

5th grade SCH (Simulated Congressional Hearings)

Cultural Night

Spring Concert

Field Day!

To update your phone number or address, email: GESRegistrars@hcpss.org

To provide a note for an absence, email the child's name, homeroom teacher, and date of absence, along with any images of notes to: GESAbsence@hcpss.org