Eagle News

As I write my final newsletter as principal of University Park Elementary School, I find myself reflecting on the incredible journey we have shared together over the past 12 years. If my math is correct, I have written approximately 24 newsletters each year—nearly 288 newsletters in total during my time as principal. Considering that there are roughly 180 school days in a year, that means I have spent part of nearly 13% of my days as principal communicating with and celebrating this amazing community through these newsletters.

While I have shared countless updates, celebrations, reminders, and reflections over the years, the message I want to leave with you today is simple: thank you.

Thank you for your partnership, your trust, your support, and your unwavering commitment to our children. I have always believed that University Park Elementary School is the best school—not because of any one person, program, or initiative, but because of all of us. Together, we have built a community that values learning, embraces diversity, supports one another, and always puts children first.

I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together. We have celebrated successes, faced challenges, navigated change, and continued to soar to new heights because of the collective dedication of our students, families, staff, PTA, and community partners.

As I prepare to retire after 32 years in education and 12 years as principal of this remarkable school, I leave with a heart full of gratitude. I am deeply humbled by the kindness, love, and support that you have shown me throughout the years, and especially since I announced my retirement. The messages, cards, hugs, memories, and well wishes have meant more to me than I can adequately express.

Serving as your principal has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your children's stories and for becoming such an important part of mine.

As a reminder, the last day of school is Thursday, June 18, 2026, and it is a full day of school for students. Attendance still counts, and we will continue taking attendance through the final day of the school year.

While the end of the year is in sight, there is still plenty of learning, celebration, and fun taking place in our classrooms. Teachers have planned engaging activities, students are completing important learning experiences, and we want every child to be part of these special end-of-year moments.

I know it is becoming harder and harder to stay focused with the beautiful weather, longer hours of daylight, and the excitement of summer vacation right around the corner. However, I am asking our students and families to continue leaning into being Present and Proud for these final weeks. Every day matters, and every day is an opportunity to learn, connect, and create lasting memories.

You've done an amazing job all year long. Keep going, you can do it! Summer is almost here, and together we can finish the year strong.

As we close another successful school year, I am proud to share that our students made tremendous progress in attendance! Our overall attendance rate increased to 94.3%, up from 92.5% last year, while our chronic absenteeism rate dropped dramatically from 27.5% to 18.0%, a reduction of nearly 10 percentage points.

This improvement reflects the commitment of our students, families, and staff to being Present and Proud every day. We also celebrate several grade levels with chronic absenteeism rates below 20%, including Kindergarten (16%), Grade 2 (14%), Grade 4 (16%), and Grade 5 (17%).

Thank you for making attendance a priority and for partnering with us throughout the year. Your support helps ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn, grow, and soar to new heights. Together, we made a difference! 🦅

The PGCPS Office of Communications and Community Engagement will continue to deliver timely communication that achieves our goals of safety, equity, and excellence.

Communication Tools

The Office of Communications and Community Engagement uses five key tools to reach audiences:

School Messenger

○ Email

○ Text/SMS

○ Robocall

Websites

○ PGCPS (www.pgcps.org)

○ PGCPS en español (www.pgcps.org/es)

Newsletters

○ Engage PGCPS (families and communities), weekly

○ Acción PGCPS (Spanish-speaking families and communities), weekly

○ Partner PGCPS (business, faith-based and nonprofit

groups), monthly

Social media

○ Facebook (@PGCPS)

○ Facebook en español (@PGCPSenespanol)

○ X (@PGCPS)

○ Instagram (@PGCPS)

○ LinkedIn

○ YouTube

PGCPS-TV

○ Verizon 38

○ Comcast 96

○ YouTube

○ Video-on-demand

As families begin preparing for the new school year, I would like to remind everyone that the school will send official class placement notifications in mid-August. While families may have access to Clever during the summer and may see information that appears to identify a teacher assignment, please understand that class placement has many moving parts. Student schedules, staffing, enrollment changes, and other adjustments may occur throughout the summer. Therefore, no class placement is considered official until families receive communication directly from the school.

Please also know that Dr. Freeman, our staff, and I dedicate a significant amount of time and careful consideration to the class placement process at the end of each school year. We thoughtfully balance academic, social, emotional, and programmatic factors to ensure students are grouped appropriately and positioned for success.

Because of the extensive work that goes into this process, we cannot accept teacher requests or make changes to class placements. We appreciate your understanding and trust in the professional judgment of our staff as we work to create the best possible learning environments for all students.

Thank you for your partnership and support.

As I prepare to begin a new chapter, I want to take a moment to say thank you to the University Park community.

While I’ve taught at several schools throughout my career, there was something special about my time at University Park. Over the past three and a half years, this community has helped shape me both professionally and personally, and I was truly happy to call it home. My time here helped deepen my practice as an educator and strengthened my passion for social-emotional learning, advocacy and relationship-building. More importantly, it reminded me that the real impact of this work often happens in the spaces between the lessons, in the relationships, the trust and the moments when children feel valued, supported and loved for exactly who they are.

The children I have had the privilege of teaching will always be part of my story. They challenged me, inspired me, made me laugh and reminded me daily why I chose this work. Their growth was a privilege to witness, and the relationships we built helped shape me just as much as I hope I helped shape them.

There is a special kind of magic in the relationships we build with children. In so many ways, my students helped me reconnect with my own inner child, the part of me that is curious, playful, creative and hopeful. Through their laughter, honesty, curiosity and joy, they reminded me not only why this work matters, but also who I am at my core. That gift is something I will carry with me long after I leave University Park.

To the parents and families, thank you for trusting me with your children and for supporting me throughout the years. Your partnership, encouragement and kindness have meant more than you know. It has been an honor to be part of your children’s journey and to work alongside you as they learned and grew.

To my colleagues, thank you for the countless ways you’ve shown up for me. Thank you for your collaboration, support, laughter and encouragement. You continually reminded me that I was a valued part of this community, and I will always be grateful for the relationships I built here. Thank you for affirming not only my work, but also the care, energy and passion I brought to our students and school community.

Thank you to Dr. Freeman and Dr. Davis for your leadership, encouragement and support during my time at University Park.

As I move forward, I do so with a full heart. I am grateful for the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with students, families and staff, and I am equally grateful for all of the love and support I received in return. University Park will always hold a special place in my heart. I will carry the lessons, memories and relationships from this community with me wherever I go.

With gratitude,

Greetings everyone!

I am retiring from teaching at the end of this school year! I have joyfully served the University Park Elementary School for 4 years as a 4th grade teacher and PGCPS for 18 years. The UPES community, from staff and students, to parents and colleagues- I thank you! I am grateful for my fourth grade team (Mr. Favero and Ms. Romero), their dedication, encouragement, and ongoing support! There are some extraordinary teachers here who genuinely care for our students; willing to go above expectations to meet the needs of our families! You are amazing and valued!!

This is my 40th, YES! 40th, year teaching and I continue to love what I do! I began in New Mexico serving children and their families of the Navajo Nation. Next, was Florida with inner city kids and a largely Haitian population. My next stop before Maryland was Ohio. I ‘landed’ in Maryland in 2008. It truly is a beautiful state with intriguing people from all over the world!!

Thank you to the PTA and their support of our students and teachers! From the STEM FAIR, pollinator garden, veggie planting, field trips, supplies, and celebrations!

I am moving forward to new adventures, travel, grandkids, and new experiences. There are many things I love to do, so I’m certain to jump into the future with anticipation!

Many blessings, much joy, and health to you all!

As this school year comes to a close, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the University Park Elementary School community and share that June 5 will be my last day as the UPES Community School Coordinator. The long commute from Hagerstown influenced my decision to pursue this new opportunity, but leaving this remarkable school community was not an easy decision. As I prepare to begin a new chapter as Director of Impact with the Cook Center for Human Connection, I do so with a heart full of gratitude for the relationships, experiences, and memories that made this year so meaningful.

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to serve Prince George's County Public Schools over the last 10 years in a variety of roles, including a classroom teacher, a partner with Waterford.org alongside the PGCPS Title I Department and Early Learning Department, and now as a Community School Coordinator. Supporting the students, families, educators, and communities of Prince George's County has been one of the greatest privileges of my career, and no matter where my professional journey takes me, I will always be PGCPS Proud. Although I have only been part of the University Park Elementary School community for one year, the impact this school has had on me will remain with me forever. I have been inspired by the dedication of our staff, the partnership of our families, the enthusiasm of our students, and the unwavering support of our PTA and community partners.

Thank you for welcoming me, collaborating with me, and allowing me to be part of the important work happening here every day. Together, we have celebrated successes, strengthened partnerships, and worked to ensure that every child has the support they need to thrive. Thank you for an incredible year. I am deeply grateful for your support, your trust, and your partnership. I will deeply miss the connections, partnerships, and shared commitment to supporting students that made University Park such a special place. It has been an honor to work alongside you, and I look forward to watching University Park Elementary continue to grow and shine.

Dear Parents and Community Members,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and partnership throughout the

school year. It has been a pleasure working with your children and watching them learn and grow. I

am proud of all they have accomplished, and I know they will do well in first grade next year.

Thank you for being such an important part of our classroom community and helping to make this

school year a success. I wish you and your families a safe, relaxing, and enjoyable summer.

With gratitude,

Our in-person Honor Roll Assembly will take place on June 11, 2026, from 12:00 pm to 1:30 p.m. approximately. We will honor students in grades 2-4 at this assembly. Parents will receive invitations prior to the event.

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the families who attended the PTA meeting on May 20, 2026, and voted almost unanimously to use PTA funds to help eliminate outstanding student lunch balances.

This decision was especially meaningful because our families have worked hard throughout the year to reduce the overall debt. The total outstanding balance decreased from $3,887.50 to $3,800.25 as of last week, demonstrating that families recognize the importance of paying down their balances whenever possible. Despite these efforts, many families continue to face financial challenges, making this PTA support even more impactful.

We are deeply appreciative of this extraordinary gesture and are anxiously awaiting the PTA's cashier's check so these funds can be applied to family accounts. This act of kindness helps alleviate a burden for families and demonstrates the very best of who we are at University Park Elementary School. When one family is in need, we come together to support one another.

Thank you to our PTA leaders and members for your compassion, generosity, and willingness to put children and families first. This is what community is all about, and it is yet another reason why I firmly believe University Park Elementary School is the best school anywhere.

1. School finder...know what school your child belongs to… Buscador de escuelas... sepa a qué escuela pertenece su hijo... http://gis.pgcps.org/schoolfinder/

Registration requirements...know exactly what you need to register your child... / Requisitos de inscripción... sepa exactamente qué necesita para inscribir a su hijo...

https://www1.pgcps.org/registration/

2. Lunch...apply for free/reduced meals... / Almuerzo... solicitar comidas gratuitas/reducidas... https://www.myschoolapps.com/ |

Email: upark@pgcps.org
Website: https://www1.pgcps.org/universitypark/
Location: 4315 Underwood Street, University Park, MD, USA
Phone: 301-985-1898
Facebook: facebook.com/UniversityParkElementary-PGCPS
Twitter: @UPSoaringEagles