Woodholme Families:

Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful winter break and enjoyed the holiday season. Now it’s time to brave the winter weather as we continue to push forward with important learning at school. Please be sure to always check the BCPS website and/or the communications from BCPS in the event of a possible closure or delay due to winter weather.

As we open 2023 together, we are so pleased to announce this year’s Woodholme candidate for the Baltimore County Public Schools’ Teacher of the Year: Ms. Stacie Cooper! Ms. Cooper is a 4th grade teacher at Woodholme, and she is well-loved by children, families, and colleagues. She can be counted on to teach impactful lessons to help children succeed, and she treats her students with kindness and fairness each and every day. Please join me in congratulating Ms. Cooper!

January is a very busy month. Our students will be assessed for their reading progress throughout this month and teachers will share progress with you in early February. We have no school on Monday, Jan. 16 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and schools close three hours early on Tuesday, Jan. 17 because it is the end of the 2nd marking period. Woodholme will dismiss that day at 1pm. There is no school on Monday, Jan. 23 for a teacher professional development day. We will be sending report cards home on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Our next PTA meeting is on Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 6pm via Zoom. Watch out for the Zoom link in your email and please join us. It’s a great way to get involved at Woodholme!

Please stay warm and stay in touch with any questions you may have. Thank you!

Julie McDivitt-Principal

The importance of attendance/attendance matters!

Attendance Frequently Asked Questions:

What are some examples of absences that are considered excused /lawful? What is unexcused/unlawful?

Excused/lawful:

Student illness with a note from parent up to ___ days*

Student illness with a note from a doctor after ____ days*

Death in the immediate family

Court Summons for student

Observance of a religious holiday

*These numbers will vary based on the number of parent notes that are written for illness.

Unexcused/unlawful:

An absence, including absence for any portion of the day, for any reason other than those cited as lawful are presumed to be unlawful.

Student illness without a note

Family vacation

Family illness

What should my note include when my child is absent?

The note should include the following: student name, date, and reason for absences.

What is the state attendance rate?

How many days does that equal?

Students are expected to maintain satisfactory attendance of 94% or greater for the duration of the school year. There are approximately 45 days in a quarter so…

A child can miss approximately 2.5 days per quarter to meet the standard:

CUMULATIVE TOTALS ROLL OVER TO EACH QUARTER:

1st quarter – 2.5 days total out of 45

2nd quarter – 5 days total out of 90

3rd quarter – 7.5 days total out of 135

4th quarter – 10 days total out of 180

What if my child’s attendance is below the state standard BUT they are all excused?

Students are expected to maintain satisfactory attendance with all excused absences. Regardless of excused or unexcused reasons for absences, the school is responsible to assist a family with improving a student’s attendance.

What supports will the school take to help my family if my child’s attendance is a concern?

Supports include the following: contact by the school via phone or letters requesting information, a required parent conference with administration, or support from the Pupil Personnel Worker.

It is crucial that your child attends school every day to avoid missing important learning and to develop important social and emotional learning skills. Attendance reports are sent every Friday to your email. Please keep an eye on your child’s absences. Please contact me if you have any questions!

Alonna Thompson, Assistant Principal

1/16 -MLK Day-No school

1/17 -End of MP 2-Schools close 3 hours early (1:00 pm dismissal)

1/17 -PTA meeting online at 6pm (link will be sent out)

1/20 -Starlab begins

1/23 -Professional Development for teachers -No school

1/25 -Report cards distributed to students

It is imperative your child's personal devices are to be turned off during the school day. Cell phones and tablets are a distraction during learning hours. It takes away from your child's education. Thank you!

Parents as a reminder, please be sure to initial your child's coats, gloves and any extra gear. Initial the inside tag of your child belongings with a black sharpie. We appreciate your assistance and it is helpful to our students and teachers.

It is winter season and many families have asked when to keep their child at home. If your child has a fever, diarrhea, or is vomiting they should stay home. They need to be symptom free for 1 day (24hrs), without the help of medication, and then they can return to school the following day.

If your child has RSV, the flu, or Covid your Pediatrician can guide you.

Please have a plan of care in place if your student is sick and has to stay home or if they are sent home from school sick.

If you have questions call the Nurse at 443 809 6043 or email iberman2@bcps.org.

Spirit Week - Students were able to participate in a fun filled week!

Students enjoyed our Winter sing-a-long event. Spirits were bright and smiles were all across the room!

Our counseling lesson theme for this month is on character and accepting differences. All classes will have a lesson taught by their school counselor to help students think about and learn about how differences make us important parts of our school community. Some differences are easily seen from the outside but some differences are less obvious include ways that our brains work and think. Woodholme Elementary School is proud to have students who are unique, have differing strengths, and learning needs. If you would like to speak with a school counselor regarding your student please do not hesitate to reach out us by calling Woodholme.

Michelle Washington

School Counselor Grades K,2,4

Alyssa King

School Counselor - Grades 1,3,5

Starting in January, our students who are acquiring English will be taking the annual WIDA assessment. This test will measure their English skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Scores will determine the level of extra English support your child will receive next year, and results should be available in May. How can you help your child? Please be sure that your child gets a good night's sleep and brings their computer, fully charged, each morning. We are excited to see how their English skills have grown! Parent to school connection so important. Please come to our school to volunteer, we would love to have you!

If you have any questions about this assessment, or about any other matter, please feel free to contact us. Here are our Talking Points numbers!

Anne Jones - (562) 454-1311

Rebecca Boynton – (415) 612-6168

Grade 3 will work on standards related to measurement and fractions in the month of January. Families can help students by encouraging the children to read analog (a clock with hands) frequently. Because most clocks are digital, children need a lot of practice with learning to tell time on an analog clock than in previous generations. The students will be introduced to finding elapsed time (the amount of time that has passed). At home, you can help the children understand by saying, “We’re leaving to go to the store at 3:25 PM and will be gone for 45 minutes. What time will it be when we get back from the store?”

The second half of the unit is devoted to fractions and understanding fractions as part of a whole. The children will use blocks, geoboards, number lines, and paper to represent fractions. At home, you can use measuring cups to have children understand that one needs to put 4 (1/4 of a cup) of water to make 1 whole cup of water. If affordable, consider going to the Dollar Store to purchase measuring cups and spoons for your student.

Grade 4 will work on standards related to the subtraction algorithm. They will learn to regroup first with place value pieces and drawn models. Then, they will move to using the algorithm to regroup (what you may call “borrowing”) to master this standard. This is a strategy that takes practice, so be sure your student is completing the home connections homework. In this case practice makes perfect! Subtracting with regrouping can be very difficult for students, so patience is required as they learn to master this standard.

Grade 5 will work on the very important standards of multiplying using the standard algorithm and using multiplication to divide. If your student does not know their multiplication facts, which is a third-grade master standard, please spend time with them each day helping them memorize those facts. When children need to spend so much brain energy figuring out the basic facts, they are too fatigued to learn the new content.

If you have any questions, need resources, or want to talk about strategies, contact

Karyn Ginesi, Math Resource (kginesi@bcps.org or 667.251.5417)

Happy 2023! I am looking forward to learning and growing with all of our families. One of my first goals is to improve communication with families. If you have questions, or concerns regarding your child's experience at Woodholme please contact Ms. Velez our C.A.R.E. (Caregiver, Assistance, Resource and Engagement Liaison) at dvelez@bcps.org or by calling 443-809-6700. Thank you!

Woodholme Elementary School

300 Mt Wilson Ln

Pikesville, MD 21208

(443) 809-6700