The Pony Express

Dear JRR ECC Families,

Welcome to a brand-new school year at James Ryder Randall Early Childhood Center! 🐴💛

There is something special about the beginning of a new school year—the freshly prepared classrooms, new backpacks, excited little faces, and the anticipation of all the learning, friendships, and memories that are still ahead of us. For many of our children, this may be their very first experience with school, while others are returning to familiar faces and routines. Wherever your family is beginning this year, we are so happy that your journey includes JRR ECC.

The start of school is also a time of transition and growth. Our children will be learning new routines, meeting new friends, developing independence, and discovering new things about themselves and the world around them. There may be big smiles, a few tears, and lots of new experiences along the way—and our JRR ECC team will be here to support each child every step of the way.

At JRR ECC, we believe children thrive when families and schools work together. You know your child best, and we value your voice, your partnership, and your involvement. Our goal is to create a school where every child feels safe, loved, included, challenged, and excited to learn and where every family knows that they belong.

Throughout the year, The Pony Express will help keep our families connected to everything happening at JRR ECC. You can look here for important dates and reminders, upcoming events, family resources, school news, classroom highlights, celebrations, and glimpses of the wonderful learning taking place throughout our building.

We have an exciting year ahead of us, and I cannot wait to see how much our children will learn and grow. Thank you for trusting us with your most precious little ones and for allowing us to be part of these incredibly important early years.

Here’s to a joyful new school year filled with learning, laughter, friendship, discovery, and plenty of Pony Pride! 🐴💛

With Pony Pride,
Dr. Reina Guartico, NBCT
Principal
James Ryder Randall Early Childhood Center

We are excited to welcome our Pre-K families to JRR ECC! Join us for Pre-K Orientation on Monday, August 24, from 1:15–2:15 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room. This will be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Pre-K experience, hear important information for the school year, ask questions, and begin getting connected to our JRR ECC community.

Important: Families should enter through the JRR ECC entrance, not the elementary school side.

We can’t wait to welcome you and begin an amazing year of learning, growing, and Pony Pride together! 🐴💛

We are excited to welcome our 3-year-old and 4-year-old families to JRR ECC! Orientation is a wonderful opportunity to meet members of our team, learn more about the school day and classroom routines, ask questions, and help your child get ready for a successful start to the year.

3s Orientation: Thursday, August 27 from 10:00–11:00 AM
4s Orientation: Friday, August 28 from 10:00–11:00 AM

Our 3s and 4s classes officially begin on Monday, August 31. We can’t wait to welcome our newest Ponies and begin a year full of learning, growth, friendship, and fun! 🐴💛

Get all the answers to your questions on the school district's Back-to-School webpage, including questions about buses, school meals, and many more.

Transportation Update — As the new school year begins, some bus stop assignments are still being finalized. Bus assignments are released in waves based on when your child's registration was completed and verified.

WHY YOU MAY NOT SEE A BUS YET

Bus assignments are released on a rolling schedule based on verified registration:

• Registered by July 31: Bus assigned

• Registered Aug 10–14 → assignment by Aug 31

• Registered Aug 17–21 → assignment by Sept 10

• Registered Aug 25–28 → assignment by Sept 21

If you don't yet see a stop for your child in ParentVUE or the Chipmunk app, you can find a stop to use right away.

FIND A STOP TO USE NOW WITH BUSPLANNER WEB

Until your child's permanent bus appears, use BusPlanner Web to find the closest eligible stop for your child's school:

1. Go to pgcps.mybusplanner.com/TransportationEligibility

2. Enter your home address and select your child's school.

3. BusPlanner Web will show the single closest eligible stop for that school. Use that stop until your permanent assignment appears in ParentVUE and Chipmunk.

Please note: BusPlanner Web shows only the one closest eligible stop — it will not list multiple stops.

PLEASE DON'T SUBMIT A TRS REQUEST YET

Do not submit a Transportation Request (TRS) for a missing stop before school starts. Extra requests add processing steps and can delay your child's final assignment.

A FEW REMINDERS

• Permanent bus assignments appear in ParentVUE and the Chipmunk app once they are ready.

• Changes or new stops for late enrollments cannot be guaranteed before the first day of school.

• Per Administrative Procedure 5131, parents and guardians are responsible for their child's safe travel to and from the assigned bus stop.

Thank you,

PGCPS Department of Transportation

STEP 1: Find Your Child’s Bus Route

Log into ParentVUE for bus route information. Postcards with route information were also mailed to families of fully enrolled students this week.

STEP 2: Download the Chipmunk App

The free Chipmunk app takes the stress out of school commutes with real-time bus tracking and arrival updates for your child's bus.

STEP 3: Learn more about Transportation
View transportation FAQs, learn about our transportation improvements, and find out how to resolve any bus-related concerns.

Synergy has replaced SchoolMAX as the student information system for Prince George's County Public Schools. Families will now use the Synergy ParentVUE portal, in place of the Family Portal, to access important information about their students.

ParentVUE is the portal that allows parents and guardians to view information about their student, including classroom assignments and scores, attendance, transcripts, graduation status and more. In ParentVUE, families can also update their phone numbers and emergency contact information and access the Online Registration (OLR) Application.

Families are an essential part of everything we do at JRR ECC, and we would love for you to be part of our Parent Teacher Association (PTA)!

Joining the PTA is a great way to stay connected, share your ideas, support school events and activities, and help strengthen the partnership between home and school. Whether you have a lot of time to give or can only participate occasionally, every voice and every contribution matters.

Together, we can create even more opportunities for our children, support our staff, and continue building a strong, welcoming JRR ECC community.

We hope you’ll join us and help make this a wonderful year for our Ponies! 🐴💛