Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that “2019” is here!!! Time sure does fly when we are having fun!!! Hopefully everyone had a restful Winter Break and we are all ready to begin the ‘new year’ with fresh and eager minds!

January 25th marks the end of the second marking period. Teachers will be continuing to assess your child’s learning and report cards will be available in ParentVue soon after the end of the marking period. If you have not yet set up your ParentVue account, please stop by the school with your ID to sign up today! Please remember that you are welcome to request a parent teacher conference at any time by contacting your

child’s teacher via DoJo, email, note or phone call.

Kathy Forrest

Principal

Two changes have been made to the school calendar in January 2019. Monday, January 28 will be used as a make-up day for students. It had originally been scheduled as a professional day but will now be used to make up the school closing due to snow on November 15. Also, Friday, January 25 has been changed from a full day for students to a two-and-a-half hour early dismissal to allow teachers to work on finalizing grades at the end of the marking period.

YOU MUST SHOW PHOTO ID TO RECEIVE A PASS TO THE FOOD PANTRY

Eastern Elementary and Ruth Ann Monroe families in need of emergency food may visit The School Food Pantry located at Eastern Elementary. All visitors MUST enter through the main office and show PHOTO ID at Eastern Elementary to receive a pass to the pantry. Each family may visit only once per month.

When: THURSDAYS, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm

Where: EASTERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Compliments of the Maryland Food Bank

Coordinated by Title I Parent Involvement

This month, our school wide theme is friendship skills. In our morning announcements and school assembly, we’ll be reminding students to invite others to play, play in fair ways, take responsibility for mistakes by making amends, and how to handle name-calling assertively. These skills help students make and keep friends.

Second Step lessons specifically teach these friendship skills. You will be receiving Home Links describing why friendship skills are important and including fun activities to do with your child to help him or her learn and practice the skills.

In addition to our Second Step skills, our Guidance Counselor, Ms. Rebert, will begin teaching a Child Protection Unit to help your child learn self-protection skills and also train the school’s adults to recognize, respond to, and report abuse and neglect. All children deserve to be safe and protected from abuse and neglect, and all adults need to know how to protect children and intervene if abuse or neglect does happen. Children will learn self-protection skills, including how to report abuse to adults. The Child Protection Unit will be taught in six Weekly Themes from January through May. Each theme contains a short activity for each day of the week. Children learn skills through puppet scripts, stories, and discussion, then practice the skills. The more times children practice a skill, the better they are at using it, both in and out of school. The six themes are: Ways to Stay Safe, The Always Ask First Rule, Safe and Unsafe Touches, The Touching Rule, Practicing Staying Safe, Reviewing Safety Skills.

Accidents and spills happen all the time. Wet clothing is uncomfortable and in the Winter months it is too cold to be wearing wet clothes. We are asking that ALL STUDENTS bring a change of clothes to school so that everyone is prepared in case an accident or spill occurs.

I hope you and your family are settled in after the holidays. This is the time of year when winter takes a toll on school attendance. Snow and slushy weather can keep parents from getting their children to school. So can the colds, fevers and earaches that often come with the winter months.

These absences, even if they are excused, can add up to academic trouble. If it is a snowy or rainy day but school is still open, students miss out on learning if they aren’t in class. These absences can result in lower test scores and grades.

There’s not much we can do about the weather, but there are two key steps every family can take to help avoid absences this year.

1. Develop back up plans for getting your children to school in winter weather. That could mean checking with other families who have a car that can manage in the snow or forming a “walking school bus” to walk your children to school with other parents. If you’re stuck, call the school. We can connect you with other parents or staff members who can help.
2. Keep your children healthy. Dress them warmly for the cold weather and make sure they’ve got hats and gloves. Encourage them to wash their hands regularly, and send them to school with a bottle of hand sanitizer. If your children do get sick, talk to a doctor or the school nurse about whether they should come to school and when it is okay for them to return. Below, you will find some tips about when children are too sick for school.
   
   Above all, let us know how we can help. We want your children and all our students to succeed. And that means attending school every day possible

Beginning March 11th, you may register your upcoming kindergartner at Ruth Ann Monroe Primary's front office between 8:00am - 3:00pm. Call 301-766-8668 if you have any questions.

In order to improve our school community and our home to school communication, please consider the following:

• Check your child's book bag and folder daily

• Sign up for ParentVue (visit the front office with ID) and Class DoJo (contact your child’s teacher)

• Update the front office with any change of address and/or phone number(s) for parent/guardian and emergency contacts

• Visit our school Facebook page by searching Ruth Ann Monroe Primary School