Middleton Moments - Owlet Edition

Middleton Families,

We are excited to celebrate our students and school community with two fun events! This Thursday, we will hold our first-quarter Referral-Free PBIS Assembly during the school day. Students will enjoy watching the top six teachers who earned the most money get pied in the face! The fun continues with our annual Boo Thru on Thursday, October 29th, from 5:30–7:00 PM. The cost is $2 cash per family or $3 per family for online payment. As an extra treat, Ms. Hawkins and Ms. Specht will be getting pied in the face at 6:30 PM! Tickets will be available for purchase throughout the event for a chance to pie them before the big moment. We look forward to a spooktacular evening filled with fun, laughter, and school spirit!

Have an amazing weekend,

Ms. Hawkins, Principal (nhawkins@ccboe.com)

Ms. Specht, Assistant Principal (lspecht@ccboe.com)

Unity Day was celebrated by all!

It is with great excitement and pride that we share the news that Mrs. Karen Ferruzza has been selected as our 2026-2027 CCPS Teacher of the Year Nominee!

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is hosting a virtual Zoom meeting at 6 p.m., Monday, Nov. 2, for parents to learn about i-Ready assessments and reports. CCPS administered i-Ready Inform assessments in both reading and mathematics to students in September. Students who took i-Ready assessments include the following.

• Students in Grades 1-8 participated in both a reading and math assessment.

• High school students with math Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) goals completed the math assessment.

• High school students with reading IEP goals completed the reading assessment.

All participants must have an active Zoom account to participate. The meeting link is below.

Meeting Link:

https://ccboe.zoom.us/j/83037242509?pwd=rFCsDaPpSUxC7XHlf6vHvfsAWHKN7E.1

During the meeting, staff from the CCPS Office of Teaching and Learning will discuss the meaning of the reports, share information on how parents can review their child’s data, and how they can support areas of reading and math at home.

Parents can access their child’s fall i-Ready data reports through the i-Ready student portal. To access the report, students will need to log in to their CCPS Office 365 account, go to Clever, and then click on the i-Ready icon. Directions for accessing student reports are posted on the i-Ready page of the website.

All student Microsoft Office 365 accounts include a student’s six-digit student identification number and @ccboe.com, such as 123456@ccboe.com. Student passwords are located in ParentVue and StudentVue accounts, under the student information menu area.

The code to access i-Ready Family Reports for the 2026-2027 school year is 88SCZX. This code is for all students in all schools. Parents should contact their child’s teacher to request a paper copy of their child’s i-Ready family reports. Additional parent resources including a video about i-Ready are posted online here. CCPS has also posted i-Ready resources on the i-Ready page of the website.

Please take a moment to look through the attached photos to see if any of these coats belong to your child. Each coat is tagged with a number to make identification easy—if you recognize one, simply contact me or your child's teacher with the corresponding number, and we will get it returned to them right away.

As we head further into fall, the weather can be quite unpredictable, with cold mornings turning into warm afternoons. To help prevent items from going missing, please make sure your child's name is written inside their jackets so we can return any misplaced coats promptly.

Thank you for your help, and have a great week!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Moving forward, white drop-off bins labeled by grade level will be placed outside the front entrance. If you need to drop off an item for your child during the school day, please:

1. Locate the bin labeled with your child’s grade level.
2. Complete the blue tag.
3. Tape the slip to the item.
4. Drop it in the appropriate grade-level bin.

This new procedure will help us reduce the number of times the front door needs to be opened throughout the day, which is an important safety consideration. It will also help minimize interruptions to the front office so that our staff can remain focused on assisting students, families, and school operations.

Parents and students can use Where’s the Bus, an app that employs GPS technology, to track their bus while its in motion. Click here for directions in setting up the Where’s the Bus mobile app.

Late Arrival: Our late bell is at 9:15 AM and students are expected to be in their classroom at that time. If your student is late to school, please park in a parking space and walk up to the door to sign them in. If it is after 9:20am, please ring the bell to enter the building to sign your student in. Thank you!

Early Dismissal: In order to pick your student up as an early dismissal, you must be at the school prior to 3:20 PM. Any parent/guardian arriving after 3:20 PM will be directed to the Parent Pick Up process rather than being granted the early dismissal. Thank you!

Below are the current dates for upcoming PTO events. If they change we will update accordingly.

What is Dual Language Two-Way Immersion?

It is an educational program that delivers grade-level content instruction in two languages, English and Spanish. The program begins in early childhood and lasts for a minimum of six years. The goal of a dual language immersion program is for students to be bilingual and biliterate rather than just fluent in English.

What are the benefits of Dual Language Two-Way Immersion for English Learners?

The U.S. Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition identified several areas of learning in which multilingualism benefits students. This includes improved learning in various subjects, comparable or higher achievement of students in dual language programs as compared to their peers, increased levels of creativity, and promotes higher levels of abstract thought and reasoning.

Why did CCPS create this program?

The launch of the program is part of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation’s focal area to accelerate the achievement of English learners.

Additionally, priority two of the CCPS Strategic Plan focuses on the expansion of access and opportunities for all students to better prepare them for post-graduation.

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) launched its first dual language, two-way immersion program at the start of the 2024-2025 school year.

The first two grade levels to participate include both prekindergarten and kindergarten students. These students will receive instruction in two languages – English and Spanish – throughout their elementary school years.

After the launch of the program, the next grade level will be added each school year. This year the program adds second grade! The program will fully be implemented at Middleton at the start of the 2029-2030 school year. With the start of the 2029-2030 school year, all students who attend Middleton will participate in the program.

Families, please remember that students may only bring a cell phone or personal electronic device to school with written parent/guardian permission and approval from the principal. The form below is what they should submit for approval. Once approved, the device must remain completely powered off (NOT on silent or vibrate) and stored in the student’s backpack throughout the school day. Please practice with your student on how to power off and on their devices.

Important: The Cell Phone & Personal Electronic Device Permission Form must be completed and submitted each and every school year. Approval does not automatically carry over from one school year to the next. Families should complete a new form at the beginning of each school year if their child needs permission to bring a device to school. Failure to follow the expectations may result in consequences, including the revocation of device privileges.

The Dr. Chinnadurai Devadason School Based Health Center on the campus of Indian Head Elementary School opened last school year. While the center is housed on Indian Head’s campus, staff is available to see any CCPS students regardless of where they attend school.

Health services provided include:

• Sick visits for minor illnesses like colds, flu or infections.
• Physicals for school, sports and other activities.
• Well-check visits to monitor general health and development.
• Health education to support healthy habits and decision-making.

For more information about the clinic, please visit the website at https://charlescountyhealth.org/school-based-health-clinic/ or call 301-944-1087.

MSDE has developed Family Guides for Student Success for students in Pre-K through 8th grade. These resources outline key literacy and math skills students should learn at each grade level and provide practical activities and strategies families can use to support learning at home. The guides are designed to strengthen the partnership between families and schools by helping parents better understand grade-level expectations and ways to reinforce classroom learning. Please use this link to access the guides.

We must work together as a Middleton family to ensure the safety of all our students comes first! We appreciate your efforts in this process!

ARRIVAL: All students will enter through the main doors (walkers, drop off, bus riders, and daycare van riders). Doors open at 9:00 AM. All students MUST be in their seats by 9:15 AM or they are considered tardy. Breakfast is served daily from 9:00-9:15 AM. Please ensure our scholars arrive on time daily! If you are driving your student to school, please use the map below (the green arrows) to locate where to pull in and wait.

DISMISSAL: Walkers and Parent Pick Up will be dismissed first starting at 3:45PM. Walkers will exit through the back doors of the school where the gym/cafeteria are located (the blue area on the map below). It is understood that as walkers, these students ARE NOT being monitored by school staff once they leave the gymnasium exit doors for the day. They are instructed to walk home and not linger around the school. Parent Pick Up students will meet their pick up person on the side of the school near the trailers. Signs will be set up by grade level and we ask that parents line up behind their signs. Parking is located in green on the map below. If you have students in various grade levels, you will have to go to each grade level to retrieve each of your students. ONLY adults aged 18+ with a photo ID and that are on the child's emergency contact list will be permitted to pick up their student. NO EXCEPTIONS!! This is for the safety of our students and this is the policy of Charles County Public Schools. Bus riders and daycare van riders will dismiss from the front doors at the end of the school day.

No cars are permitted in the main lot during arrival and dismissal (red area on map below) - we have a lot of students dismissing and coming from various directions during these times. To keep all our children safe, we cannot allow any cars to move through our lot during these timeframes. For the safety of all our students, we ask that you PLEASE DO NOT pull into the main lot of the school. Thanks for your cooperation!

Change in Dismissal? Please notify teachers at least 24 hours in advance of any changes in transportation for your student(s). It is often difficult to have changes made on short notice. While we understand that emergencies occur, we ask that you put in writing any changes in dismissal to the teacher 24 hours in advance. If the teacher DOES NOT respond to your change request as they are engaging in instruction with their classes throughout the day, please notify the following staff members so they can notify the teacher of the change: lspecht@ccboe.com (Assistant Principal) and nhawkins@ccboe.com (Principal).

For the 2026-2027 school year, CCPS has updated student laptop allocations to balance accessibility with fiscal responsibility.

• Pre-K & kindergarten: Continue using the shared iPad model.

• Grades 1-2: Devices will be shared at a 2:1 student-to-device ratio and remain at school.

• Grades 3-5: Each student will have a dedicated device for in-school use only.

• Grades 6-8: Devices will be available in shared carts for classroom use. Students who need a device at home may request to check one out through their school, based on availability and identified need.

• Grades 9-12: Students receive a one-to-one take-home device for school use.

Students may request approval to use a personal device, excluding smart/cell phones, through the CCPS Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) application. The application is available on the CCPS website. A school-issued device is still required for state testing and may be needed for some school activities.

Due to allergies, students and their parents/guardians are not allowed to bring to school and distribute any outside food products unless the products are commercially manufactured, individually wrapped in single serving sizes, and are marked with the ingredients and the nutritional facts label. Parents/guardians must obtain permission from their child's teacher or school administrator prior to bringing outside food for distribution so that the teacher/administrator can review the timing and impact on the school day, the benefit and fairness to students, and other considerations. Pizza parties/celebrations are not considered birthday treats!

Middleton will again participate in federal and state programs called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) which provides free meals at qualifying schools. All Middleton students will receive free breakfast and lunch this year!

For those parents/guardians who are coming in to have lunch with their children, please make sure you are making prior arrangements with your child's teacher. We love having our parents/guardians come in and show our students love and support, but we have increased in size and want to make sure we have plenty of space for all of our guests. Children that are not school-aged are unfortunately not able to attend. Thanks for being flexible!

CCPS is launching a new two-way communication tool for parents and teachers called Rooms. To view the information in Spanish, click here. Rooms is built into the new CCPS mobile app, and the school system website.

Use of Rooms by teachers is optional (it is not required but offered as an approved, secure CCPS approved communication tool). Rooms will launch live the week of Aug. 17, when teachers return.

Parents can respond to a Rooms message through the CCPS mobile app or from the CCPS website (housed in a ribbon on the right side of the main page). Text alerts are sent to parent/guardians any time a Rooms message regarding their child/the schools is sent by a CCPS staff member or teacher (parents can turn off these notifications at any time).

For more information visit https://www.ccboe.com/page/mobile-app.

Please know that while the Middleton staff welcomes communication with our Middleton families, it is always good practice to schedule a meeting with the staff rather than to do an impromptu meeting at arrival and dismissal through parent pick up or by coming into the school requesting to speak with staff. If you personally would like to schedule an in-person meeting with administration, please reach out to them via email at nhawkins@ccboe.com, lspecht@ccboe.com, and include Ms. Andrews, secretary, on the email at sandrews@ccboe.com. You can also call the school to schedule an appointment with the front office staff based on the availability of administration at 301-753-1749. In addition, our standard operating procedures for arrival and dismissal do not allow us to meet/talk with parents anytime before 10:00 AM daily, nor between the hours of 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM daily. Our main priority at those times are to get all our students into the building for instruction and home safely. Thanks for this consideration!

Attendance is important to us! We want our students here everyday, but we know that they get sick sometimes...

We have a new attendance notes mailbox: AMESAttendance@ccboe.com

Please email all attendance notes to this email moving forward. This is for absences/illnesses, NOT CHANGE IN TRANSPORTATION. Medical notes for the students allow for absences to be excused. Parent notes are listed as illnesses with a note, but do not excuse the absence.

Arthur Middleton was identified in 2022 as an Additional Target Support and Improvement (ATSI) school by MSDE for our underperforming student group students with disabilities. The school has put in place strategies to support these students, including providing high quality intervention programs and additional materials and resources for small group instruction.

Please click on the attachment to read the AMES Title 1 Parent Compact. The school-parent compact is a written agreement between teachers and parents and provides an opportunity to create new partnerships in your school community. It is a document that explains what families and schools can do to help children reach high academic standards of excellence.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in all activities and programs of educational institutions receiving federal funds, which includes Charles County Public Schools (CCPS). Prohibited sex-based discrimination includes discrimination based on gender, gender identity, or pregnancy. It also includes sexual harassment and sexual assault. Inquiries should be made to a school-based Title IX coordinator, Mr. James Fisher, at jrfisher@ccboe.com, or Ms. Lauren Specht, assistant principal, at lspecht@ccboe.com. Both staff members can also be reached by calling the school at 301-753-1749. Information regarding the process for filing a sexual misconduct complaint and/or supportive measures, can be found on the CCPS website at: https://www.ccboe.com/departments/student-services/section-504title-ix/title-ix

Charles County At-A-Glance Calendar 2026-2027

Charles County Parent Handbook/Calendar 2026-2027

Charles County Code of Conduct

School Supply List