What's Quackin' at Sussex

Hi, Sussex families!

Happy February! Although the weather has us off to an unusually cold start to the year, our students' kindness and excitement for learning are keeping us warm at Sussex! We enjoy seeing students come in each morning with hugs and high-fives. We recently started the STAR winter assessment and are seeing many students excited about their personal growth!

Thank you for your continued support of our school community. We appreciate everyone's support maintaining safe arrival and dismissal procedures. The snow and ice has caused frustration, but your patience and support of arrival and dismissal procedures continues to ensure students get to and from school safely. A few reminders:

• When coming to and from school, if there is staff member directing traffic, all those crossing the street must wait for direction from the staff member. Do not cross the street until directed to do so.
• Ensure you are parking in a legal parking spot- The accumulation of snow and ice is making parking even more challenging. We must still park legally to ensure safe flow of traffic and walking areas.
• Please remember there is no supervision prior to 9:00 a.m. Due to the contract negotiations and working hours, student supervision begins at 9:00 a.m. Please be mindful that we open our doors at 9:00 a.m. and students arriving to school significantly earlier than 9:00 a.m. are not under adult supervision. The late bell rings at 9:15 a.m. On a typical day, the flow of our car rider line provides time for students to arrive to school on time (between 9:00-9:15 a.m.) without having to arrive significantly early. Please note, should there be a complication and a student be late due to the car rider line, we would adjust his/her attendance accordingly!

We are excited to kick off February with our pop-up spirit week celebrating and acknowledging kindness as we head into Valentine's day and look forward to seeing everyone at the PTA Valentine's Day dance!

As always, Mr. Peregoy and I are here to serve you and welcome your communication. The best way to reach us is via phone at the main office, 443-809-0182, or email at jszymanski2@bcps.org and aperegoy@bcps.org.

Stay warm and QUACK-tastic!

Your Proud Principal,

Miss Szymanski

Our doors open for students at 9:00 a.m. * The late bell rings at 9:15 a.m.

For safety purposes, early dismissal of students ends at 3:40 p.m.

Dismissal begins at 4:00 p.m. * Dismissal ends at 4:15 p.m.

(For more details on arrival and dismissal procedures, please see bottom of the newsletter)

Sussex is excited to have their new website interface from BCPS! HUGE shout-out to Ms. McLaughlin for help get our website up-to-date and fun to view!

• Please follow all safety assistants directions and signs
• Pull all the way into the drop off lane
• Stop next to an orange cone
• Do not get out of the car

Did you see the new addition to our school campus? Thanks to The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools and their partnership with Little Free Library organization, we were able to install a library to increase access to books, improve literacy, and celebrate the diversity of our community.

Don't forget to stop by the Little Free Library and take a book!

Hello, Sussex Families!

Winter clubs are officially underway and off to a great start! Thank you for your flexibility and understanding during recent weather-related closures. All club make-up times have been communicate; please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Please take a look at the upcoming community school events.

Food Distribution

Tuesday, February 24th

Sussex Elementary School

Starting at 4:00 pm

First come, first served.

Y Fit n Fun! After School Program (free program)

• Registration is now open
• Only 60 spots available
• Snacks and transportation available
• See flyer below

Stay tuned for our winter and spring programs. We will offer limited spots!

Did you know about our care closet?

Sussex has a care closet with home cleaning products, hygiene products, school supplies, and new/gently used clothing/coats, hats and mittens. Reach out if you would like to learn more!

Please feel free to each out if you have any questions!

Thank you,

Liz McLaughlin

Use the "Sussex Community Resources" link below for additional resources!

The 2026 BCPS Climate Survey is available from Monday, February 2, through Friday, March 6.

The survey is for all stakeholders: students in Grades 3–12, parents/caregivers, community members, and all staff. It takes three minutes or less to complete and is anonymous. The information from this survey will help BCPS understand how to best support all stakeholders and improve student and organizational performance.

Message from your School Counselors

Hi, we're Mrs. Barbara Parker and Ms. Sarah Tate, your Sussex school counselors. We teach monthly classroom lessons, facilitate small group counseling with select students (pending parent permission), and offer short-term individual counseling as needed. Please see our caseload below:

Mrs. Parker- Pre-K (Ryan), 2nd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade

Ms. Tate- Pre-K (Riley), Kindergarten, 1st grade, 3rd grade

Mrs. Parker - bparker@bcps.org, (443)-809-6613

• Magnet Schools liaison

• McKinney-Vento liaison

Ms. Tate - state2@bcps.org, (443)-809-6618

• Advanced Academics liaison
• Volunteer Coordination - field trips, school visitors, etc.
• Girls on the Run liaison

Both Counselors

• Counseling partnerships - we offer in-school therapeutic services through The Children's Guild and Tidemark Behavioral Health. We refer based on insurance provider (Medicaid and private insurance). Please reach out if you're interested in getting your student school-based therapy.

• Attendance committee

We look forward to working with you and your students all year long!

• Please make sure your child is wearing athletic style shoes for gym and recess or they will not be able to participate. They can wear other shoes to school and change before recess and gym.

• If you are able to, please place an extra set of clothes in your students' bookbag to keep in their locker. If no change of clothes is provided for spills and bathroom accidents someone will have to bring in a set of clothes.

• Students cannot go on the bus if their clothes are wet (from bathroom accident), they have a fever, vomiting, or have diarrhea. Someone will have to pick them up.

• If you are keeping your child home due to an illness please provide a doctor's note if taken to be seen.

• Please inform the school nurse of any medical concerns, upcoming surgeries, any new allergy or medical diagnosis. The nurse's phone number is 443-809-6062. Email dbrown30@bcps.org

• If able, please have your child in appropriate seasonal clothing.

• PLEASE check your child's bookbag regularly for any important papers from the nurse, teacher, or office.

Attached are the instructions to submit a volunteer application. Once you are approved as a volunteer, you can be a classroom volunteer, field trip chaperone, or school-wide event volunteer. Submit your application early to get on the approved list.

Sussex "Show Kindness" Spirit Week

February 9th-13th

See flyer below

PTA Valentines Dance

Tuesday, February 10th

Sussex Elementary School

See flyer below

National Kazoo Day Assembly

Thursday, February 12th

Sussex Elementary School

President's Day

Monday, February 16th

Schools and Offices Closed

Lunar New Year

Tuesday February 17th

Schools and Offices Closed

3 Hour Early DIsmissal

Friday, February 20th

Schools Close 3 Hours Early for All Students

Food Distribution

Tuesday, February 24th

Sussex Elementary School

Starting at 4:00 pm

FIrst come, first served.

Learning Carnival

Wednesday, March 4th

Sussex Elementary School

Doors open at 5:45 pm

RSVP here: https://forms.gle/wLy5UsNfDD5EB6tW9

Systemwide Professional Development

Friday, March 20th

Schools and Offices Closed

The Mind Over Matters campaign has been updated for the 2025-2026 school year and is available for viewing here.

Mind Over Matters is an ongoing initiative designed to raise awareness about mental health and promote wellness among students and staff at Baltimore County Public Schools. This year’s campaign is organized around themes aligned with the 5 Social Emotional Learning CASEL Competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. A 10-month SEL Calendar (September 2025-June 2026) in alignment with the 5 themes is also available.

Parents and caregivers play a vital role in supporting their children’s mental health journey. When caregivers have strong mental health literacy, they are better equipped to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges their children may be facing. This awareness can lead to earlier intervention and access to the right support and resources. Improving family and caregiver mental health literacy not only benefits children, it also empowers caregivers to care for their own mental health and overall well-being.

Mental Health Literacy empowers families to better understand and learn about mental health. It promotes awareness of the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, available treatment options, and community resources. By increasing mental health literacy, families can more easily recognize, manage, and seek appropriate support for mental health concerns.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) created Facts for Families to offer clear, up-to-date information on issues affecting children, teens, and their families. For more information, please visit https://mentalhealthliteracy.org/parents/

Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) is partnering with Backpack Health to offer free virtual caregiver wellness and mental health literacy workshops on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month from 6–7 p.m. These sessions are open to all BCPS families and provide valuable tools and strategies to support both caregiver and child well-being.

This initiative is made possible through the support of the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission and the Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports.

Please see the link for more information: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/YoKwqFnCTOehafNnIMg5Yw#/registration

We send important school-related messages via phone, email, and text using BCPS' automated School Messenger system.

If your contact information (phone, address, e-mail address) has changed over the summer and/or if you never provided the school with your email address, please be sure to update your information with our main office!

To opt-in to text messages, text the word “Yes” to 67587.

Teachers and staff at Sussex are using the TalkingPoints app to communicate important information about the classroom and schoolwide events taking place. Please consider downloading the app to stay connected!

Tuesday Take-home Folder

All schoolwide information will be sent home on Tuesday via a schoolwide communication folder. We ask that caregivers commit to checking this folder on Tuesday evenings to learn about important school wide events, programs, clubs, etc.

BusWhere

Click the link below for more information.

https://www.bcps.org/operations/transportation/bus_where

Click on the link below to view the full document shared by BCPS.

BCPS worked in collaboration with school administrators, the PTA Council of Baltimore County, and other stakeholders, BCPS has refined its cell phone use and expectations plan for 2025-2026.

Sussex's cell phone policy will remain in place and in alignment with BCPS. Students will turn in their cell phones at the start of the school day and collect them at dismissal. This allows for increased safety of students and personal belongings as students are not permitted to have cell phones on their person and lockers do not have locks in elementary schools. This also supports reduced distractions from technology and social media. We thank you for your continued support of our cell phone policy!

Reminder/Overview of Our Procedures

Students are dismissed one of three ways:

1. Walker- Student exits through classroom exterior door by foot by being picked up by responsible adult/sibling (depending on age) or walks home independently. If an adult/older sibling is picking a student up as a 'walker,' he/she must report to the exterior door of the student (see more details below). These students will not exit the main entrance and will not be called to the lobby.
2. Car rider- Student reports to the gym where staff will supervise students and call students as their car/driver arrives in the car rider line. These students will exit from the exterior gym door. Important things to remember: 1) Students may not be picked up on foot at the exterior gym door as it impacts safety and flow of the car rider line and 2) Drivers choosing to use the car rider line do not park, must pull as far forward as instructed by Sussex staff on duty, and must follow all dismissal procedures.
3. Bus rider- Student is called to the lobby when assigned bus arrives. Students are accounted for prior to boarding the school bus. Please note: BCPS Office of Transportation oversees the process of determining which students live in a 'bus zone' and which are in a 'walking zone.' Sussex receives this information along with bus numbers and pick-up/drop-off times from the BCPS Office of Transportation. These decisions are not part of a joint decision-making process.

3rd Grade Classes in Learning Cottages

Walkers in Ms. Bounelis' class, Ms. Lawson's class, and Ms. Wittman's class will dismiss from the doors near the cafeteria that exit to the back baseball fields. These classes will be escorted to the cafeteria by their teachers after their special area class ends at 3:55 p.m. to prepare for dismissal at 4:00 p.m. (Please note: Walkers in Ms. Loving's class will exit through their exterior classroom door.)

During Dismissal...

• Vehicles are not allowed to enter the car rider line from Cedar Ave. as it impedes the flow of the car rider line (no right turn from Cedar Ave. into the bus loop).
• Vehicles are not allowed to make a left when exiting the car loop (no left turn from the bus loop onto Cedar Ave.).
• Be sure to follow Maryland traffic laws when coming to and from school to pick-up/drop-off your student.
• Do not block driveways of our community members when you arrive for dismissal.

Car Rider Line...

Dismissal begins at 4:00 p.m., during which our car rider line moves along and last year was generally complete between 4:10-4:13 p.m. However, each year, the first several days of school often run longer than usual as everyone is reacquainting themselves with the policies and procedures! Please see below for a few tips and reminds:

• We encourage families to not line up in the car rider line significantly before 4:00 p.m. as it is causes stand-still traffic on Woodward Drive.
• This creates a chain reaction of events such as: buses are not able to reach the school, families trying to park are unable to reach the school, and community members are unable to get to/from their homes.
• Our dismissal line moves efficiently once it begins at 4:00 p.m.
• We encourage families to arrive at 4:00 p.m. to join the car rider line in an effort to prevent the length of time stand-still traffic occurs on our neighborhood streets.

BCPS added numbers to all exterior exits on school buildings for emergency purposes (all exits- not just exterior classroom doors). These numbers were placed in the upper, left corner of exterior doors. Unfortunately, these numbers DO NOT align with our actual classroom numbers! Again, these new numbers are for emergencies purposes and are shared with local authorities.

How do I locate my student's exterior classroom door- the CORRECT door, during dismissal?!

To help families and caregivers locate students' classrooms, we have added the actual classroom numbers to the center of all exterior doors. When you are looking for your student's exterior door for dismissal/pick-up, look for the small number posted in the center of the exterior classroom door!

We have provided an example in the photograph and attached document below:

The photograph below shows the exterior classroom door to Sussex classroom 10. All family members picking-up students at their classroom door should reference the smaller number in the center of the door (the 10 in the photograph) and disregard the number in the upper, left corner.

Photo ID Required

Per BCPS Policy and for the safety of all students, photo ID is required when picking-up students. For the safety of your student, your child will not be released unless a photo ID can be presented by the individual picking up. Please be mindful that this includes parents and guardians. As we welcome many new staff members to Sussex, there may be new faces when picking up your child- Please do not assume someone will be able to recognize you.

Students Called to Office Upon Arrival

For the safety of students and to minimize the loss of instructional time, students will be called to the office for early dismissal once the adult picking-up the child arrives at Sussex. All adults picking-up students must come in to the main office and show photo ID.

Early Dismissal- Ending Time

To ensure all students are dismissed safely, all early dismissals will end at 3:40 p.m. This will help alleviate any miscommunication or confusion at the end of the school day. If you are picking a student up for a doctor appointment, please be mindful of the 3:40 p.m. end time for early dismissal.

Our School Promise continues to guide our actions every day! We recite our School Promise as a school family on the morning announcements every day. We regularly discuss how we can demonstrate the virtues of respect, responsibility, safety, and kindness in different parts of the school building, as well as outside of school!

As students earn QUACKS for demonstrating the virtues in our School Promise, they turn their QUACKS in to their 'class pond' with a goal of earning 100 class QUACKS each month. All classes that earn 100 QUACKS by the end of the month are invited to participate in a Final Friday, school-wide celebration!

Students can also earn Positive Office Referrals for going above and beyond in demonstrating one of the virtues in our School Promise! Be sure to check-out the Positive Office Referrals display board during your next visit to Sussex!

The BCPS Student Handbook for the 2025-2026 school year is now available! During the first month of school, all students will participate in 'handbook talks' with Ms. Szymanski and/or Mr. Peregoy! During 'handbook talks,' each student will receive a copy of the Student Handbook to take home.

All students and parents/guardians are required to acknowledge receipt of the handbook each school year. This can be done online or on paper via a form in the back of the Student Handbook- more details to come in September!

You can access the Student Handbook online below- available in multiple languages!

It is with great excitement that I get to introduce you to our PTA board members for the 2025-2027 term! We are grateful for everyone's continued support and look forward to the year to come!

• President: Ms. April Jankowiak
• Vice President: Ms. Aria Davis
• Treasurer: Ms. Brooke Lester
• Secretary: Ms. Victoria (Tori) Baker
• Parent Outreach Coordinator: Mr. Doug Black

You can contact the PTA, anytime, via email at sussexpta@yahoo.com (or click the link below)!