Another successful school year is coming to an end! Reflecting on the past school year makes us realize how fortunate we are at Ruth Ann Monroe Primary School. Our school has been successful due to the wonderful collaborative partnership between students, staff members, and parents. Our students are meeting high standards of performance due to the excellent teaching from our wonderful staff and support from our parents. We must recognize our students for their perseverance, hard-work, and effort displayed throughout the school year. We wish our Grade 2 students much success as they transition to Eastern Elementary School. They are poised and ready to take on Grade 3. It has been nothing but a pleasure to work with our fabulous students and families.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful PTA and executive board. Tara Louchery, PTA president, has provided excellent leadership and support to the PTA committees, the school staff and administration, and most importantly to our students. Job well done! Thank you to all parents on the PTA and the various committees for your endless contributions and dedicating a great deal of time to provide beneficial activities, programs and events to our school. Without your support and dedication we would not be able to have such wonderful and successful school activities. We are very thankful for your generous support and we look forward to next year.

During the next two weeks of June, staff and students are still busy with teaching and learning, assessments. Please be reminded that Friday, June 15th is the last day of school for students, which is a 2.5 hour early dismissal day. Dismissal begins at 1:15 p.m.

In closing, thank you for sharing your child/ren with our staff. The learning and growth of our students is a product of the continued partnership between home and school. Enjoy a safe, relaxing and adventurous summer!

2017/2018 Yearbooks are in and on sale now for $21

• The office will be open extended hours Monday through Thursday (7:00 - 5:00) and closed every Friday beginning June 22

• Registration for new students will take place on TUESDAYS, WEDNESDAYS, and THURSDAYS

• It is always best to call the school (301-766-8668) before coming to visit

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.

OPEN ALL SUMMER

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

Where: EASTERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Compliments of the Maryland Food Bank

Coordinated by Title I Parent Involvement

Students enrolled in the Summer Learning Program will be issued an iPad to use throughout the summer months at home.

• Provide access to leveled and appropriate reading texts for all students.

• Individual schools will be offering basic technology support on pre-determined dates.

• You will need to pay a $10 I-coverage fee. Only CASH will be accepted.

RUTH ANN MONROE DATES AND TIMES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20TH 1:00 - 4:00

THURSDAY, JUNE 25TH 1:30 - 4:30

See the attachment below for more information about the Summer Learning Program

These ideas will keep kids engaged in reading, writing, and thinking creatively even on the hottest days.

Water writer: Using a pail of water and a brush, have kids write words on the blacktop or sidewalk.

Sell summer: Tell kids: Try a new product or activity and write about it. How would you describe it? Would you recommend it? Create an advertisement to sell it to others.

Plan a trip: Have kids use the Internet, travel guidebooks, brochures, and maps to plan a dream day, weekend, week, or month-long trip.

Summer sleuth: Have kids follow a story in a newspaper during the summer, or investigate a local story (e.g., an upcoming fair). Tell kids: Write about the event as it unfolds so that you have it documented from start to finish.

Play it: Take an adventure book with a clear plot and invent a board game based on it.

Comic strip: Write a comic strip about a fictional character or yourself. See how long you can keep the strip going. Read classic comics for inspiration.

Build reading and writing into everyday activities. Some ideas: (1) watching TV with the sound off and closed captioning on, (2) reading directions for how to play a new game, or (3) helping with meals by writing up a grocery list, finding things in the grocery store, and reading the recipe aloud for mom or dad during cooking time.

Encourage writing. One way to engage young writers is to encourage them to keep a summer journal. They might also enjoy keeping a nature journal, create stories/poems, share a recipe, send a homemade postcard or letter to family or friends, or keep a scrapbook of reviews of summer adventures.

Make regular visits to the library. Find books, magazines, and movies on the topic your child is interested in. Look for related fiction as well as non-fiction.

Help students maintain their math skills and keep them thinking in numbers all summer long.

Shopaholic: What can you buy for $5 at the corner store? From the ice cream truck? In a hardware store? At the beach?

Change it up: Start collecting change in a jar on the first day of summer. On the last day, estimate your change, count it, and plan a special purchase.

Summer patterns: Create patterns using summer items (Popsicle sticks, shells, flowers). Or, draw patterns in the sand or dirt using a stick or your hands. See how long you can carry out your pattern — along the length of the sandbox, or across the grass.

Napkin fractions: Fold paper towels or napkins into large and small fractions, from one-half to 1/16. Use markers to label and decorate the different fractions.

Design hunt: Keep an eye out for shapes, patterns, and designs when you’re out and about. You never know what you’ll find in the architecture at the airport, the shopping mall, or even the grocery store.

Summer is the perfect time for children to explore their extracurricular interests, like science. Here are some activities that will have children hypothesizing all the way to September.

Map the weather: Keep a running log of the weather. Include temperature, humidity, clouds, precipitation, wind, air pressure. Can you predict what the weather will be tomorrow?

Invent a recipe for a summer drink and share it with your friends. For example, the Citrus Sizzler: 1/2 cup Sprite, 1/2 cup pineapple juice, 1 spritz lime juice.

Museum gallery: Collect pinecones, rocks, shells, or other natural objects to organize, categorize, and label. Present your own natural history museum.

Hot-weather inventor: Design an invention that you can use during summer. Some ideas: sunglasses that change color from red to yellow to blue, or a new beach toy.

Answer a question: How long does it take an ice cube to melt outside in the summer heat? In the refrigerator? In an air conditioned room?

Float or sink: In a pool or the bathtub, hypothesize which items (soap, dry sock, bottle of shampoo, rock, etc.) will float or sink. Test your hypotheses.

Parents, please be on the lookout for a special “Summer Fun Learning Bag” that will be coming home with your students the last day of school. As you finish the math and reading activities, have your student color in the Summer Fun Coloring Sheet. All students who return a completed Coloring Sheet on the first day of school next year, September 4, 2018, will receive a special prize!

Have a fun and safe summer and don’t forget to read, read, read!!

Be sure to check out the 2018 Summer Reading Club sponsored by the Washington County Free Library. This year’s theme is “Libraries Rock!” The reading club is designed for children ages birth to 18, and there is even an adult reading club so the whole family can participate! Please contact the Children’s Department at the Washington County Free Library at 301-739-3250 ext. 250 or email them at wcflchildren@wascholibrary.org

We have already started the planning and preparation process for the 2018-19 school year. One of the planning areas is to ensure our staffing exemplifies the very best of educators who demonstrate a passion for teaching and working with children. Next year, the school will be comprised of five full day PK programs, seven of each grade level Kindergarten - Grade 2, and four Regional Special Education programs.

Unfortunately, we will be saying farewell to several of our staff members at the end of this school year, who will be moving onto new experiences.. We would like to thank them all for their dedication and commitment to our students during their time at Ruth Ann Monroe Primary School:

• Mrs. Cory Yost, Life Skills teacher, will be teaching a three year old class at Funkstown School.

• Mrs. Heather McAllister will be teaching Grade 1 at Fountain Rock Elementary

• Mrs. Cassie Kisner will teaching Grade 1 at Maugansville Elementary

Replacing such teachers and staff members is always challenging, but our focus will continue to be recruiting and hiring talented teachers who are passionate, energetic, and creative in the art of teaching and learning. On behalf of the Ruth Ann Monroe staff and school community, I wish all of them the very best in their future endeavors. As we say farewell to some of our great staff members, we are looking forward to the new staffing in our school community.

Parent requests for specific teachers will NOT be granted. If there is compelling information that the school should consider when placing your child, please submit it to Mrs. Forrest or Mrs. Straw in writing (not the classroom teachers as it is unfair to put them in a conflicting predicament) by May 11th otherwise, please trust us to make decisions that have every child's best interests in mind. We realize that on occasion, there may be extenuating circumstances when a teacher preference needs to be considered. Examples of information staff find helpful are: “Please separate my twins.” or “Please do not place my daughter Mary in the same class as Jane, since we are neighbors and they are together all of the time,” or “My child has only been in the United States one month and needs ELL support.” Since our number one goal is to create balanced classrooms, we are not able to honor requests for students to be placed with special friends. Please note we do not accept letters that specify individual teachers by gender, experience level, or name. We want everyone positioned to have the best year possible while being appreciative and respectful of the wide range of diversity in a public school experience. Know that any letters we receive will be shared at the placement team meetings.

Beginning next school year, we will NO LONGER run a staggered opening for incoming kindergarten students. With the addition of pre-k classrooms across the system and schools running ‘kindergarten camps’ during the Summer School window in August, most of our new kindergarten students will have had the opportunity to become familiar with schools and ready to begin on September 4th – Day 1.

Thank you for your leadership during this change as we continue to increase academic rigor and provide high-quality instructional opportunities for our students.

Due to increased security at all WCPS schools we will be limiting the number of visitors next school year. Any visitation must be scheduled with the classroom teacher in advance.

Unfortunately, we will NO LONGER be able to allow visitors

during student's lunch times.

Co-Presidents: Sandra Balbuena and Kim Halsey

Vice-President: Tori Brumback

Treasurer: Meggan Breeden

Secretary: Heather Ware

Each Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st grade student will be receiving a baggie in their folders to save Box Tops in during the summer. Please return the baggie full of Box Tops at the beginning of next school year in September.