Eagle Express

On behalf of everyone at Veterans Elementary, home of the Eagles, I am delighted to welcome back our returning families and extend a warm greeting to those joining our community for the first time. We are proud to have you with us and look forward to partnering with you to support every student’s growth and success.

This summer, our custodial team has been hard at work thoroughly cleaning and preparing our classrooms to ensure a safe and inviting environment for our Eagles to learn and soar. Meanwhile, our staff have begun collaborating and planning engaging lessons designed to meet the needs of all learners.

Our theme this year, “Together We Will Achieve Our Goals,” reflects our commitment to teamwork and collaboration. We believe that when students, families, and staff work together, we can help every Eagle reach their full potential. This shared focus will guide us as we create a supportive community where everyone’s contributions matter and goals are realized.

School begins on Monday August 25, 2025 for student K-5. Our Pre-Kindergarten and RECC students will begin on Thursday August 28, 2025. Please remember our school hours: 9:25 AM to 3:55 PM, with student drop-off beginning at 9:10 AM. Regular attendance and punctuality are essential to your child’s academic success, and we appreciate your support in making these priorities.

We are excited and energized to begin this journey together and look forward to a year filled with growth, achievement, and community.

Warm regards,

Alexcia Redd

Principal

Introducing the 2025-2026 VES Staff!

Every new school year brings fresh energy, new faces, and evolving roles within our team. While we warmly celebrate those staff members who have moved on to pursue exciting new opportunities, we are equally excited to welcome new colleagues and share our complete staff roster for the 2025–2026 school year:

• Valeria Bell- Teacher Secretary
• Lauren Speiser - Pre Kindergarten Teacher
• Fanta Capers - Kindergarten Teacher

• Khadijah Supreme - 4th Grade Teacher

• Philip Patchan - 1st Grade Teacher

• Melissa Pilcher - Special Educator
• Janelle Carter-Small- Special Educator
• Matthew Curran- Vocal Music Teacher
• Shatana McMahon - Special Education Paraeducator
• Sandy Smith- Special Education Paraeducator
• Taylor Murphy - Special Education Paraeducator
• Melissa Mitchell - Student Assistant
• Meagan Reccardi - MINC-PK Paraeducator
• Caitlin Reccardi - MINC-EL Paraeducator
• Farzana Mashriqui - Student Assistant
• Helen Percy - Speech Language Pathologist
• Kimberly Miller - Physical Therapist (I&T)
• Marijke Hagerty, Vision Teacher
• Megan Holden - Speech Language Pathologist

Student Placement for the 2025-2026 School Year

Considerable time and thoughtful planning have gone into student placements for the 2025-2026 school year. We carefully reviewed input from staff and families, as well as student learning styles, to create balanced classrooms both academically and socially. Our goal was to ensure equitable class sizes across all grade levels.

Families will be able to view their child’s teacher assignment in Synergy starting at 8:00 AM on August 20, 2025. To access this information, it is essential that the Family File is completed for each child. Parents should log in to HCPSS Connect and select the "Family File" tab and then click on "Family File". Once logged in, you will be asked to provide your log-in information. Parents who have forgotten their login credentials may click the "Forgot Password" link on the sign-in page. If you need additional assistance, please fill out the Connect Help Form.

On Friday August 22nd RECC and Pre-K will host an Open House at 9:30 AM (this is a change in time from the last Eagle Express)

On Friday August 22nd the Kindergarten team will host an Open House at 10:00 AM. This will be followed by a playdate on our playground.

Friday August 22nd 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Our administration team will host a session for families new to Veterans.

On Friday August 22nd from 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM, student and families can visit their classrooms, meet their teacher and drop off school supplies.

Veterans will hold 3 Back to School Nights this year. Back to School Night is for parents to meet their child’s teachers and to receive relevant information about the grade levels. Students do not need to attend.

September 8, 2025

• 5:30 PM: Back to School Night for Pre-K, MINC and Kindergarten families

September 9, 2025

• 5:00 PM: ELD Parent Information Session (for parents of multilingual learners and students who receive ELD services in any grade during the school year)

• 5:30 PM: Back to School Night for 1st and 2nd grade families

September 10, 2025

• 5:00 PM: GT Parent Information Session (for parents of students participating in the Gifted and Talented Math program)

• 5:30 PM: Back to School Night for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade families

New Student Meals & Payments

Parent/Guardian website for all things food and nutrition. LINQ Connect is a secure, online portal that allows families to make online payments to their child’s meal account, monitor their child’s account, schedule automatic recurring payments, and set up low balance alerts.

Students whose families do not qualify for free or reduced lunch will be required to pay the daily meal price. Many HCPSS families are eligible to participate in the Free and Reduced Price Meals (FARMs) program, which provides children with a wide range of benefits including free or discounted college tuition, testing and application fees, academic and athletic program fees and many others in addition to free or discounted meals. Families are urged to check their eligibility and complete a FARMs application as soon as possible. Families must submit a new application every school year. Details on the Free and Reduced Meals program, including a link to apply, are available online.

School Supply List

The supply list for the 2025-2026 school year can be found here https://ves.hcpss.org/school-supply-list/2025-2026/en-us .Feel free to drop off your school supplies during Open House on August 22, 2025. Please be sure to clearly label your child's supplies with their name.

Student Residency

Policy 9000 requires families to notify HCPSS if they move to a new home address. Current residency documentation must be updated each time residency changes. Please contact our front office if you have any questions.

Health Services

Health Services information can be found online and will be continually updated. All families, students, staff and visitors should conduct daily health checks prior to entering any HCPSS building and/or school bus. Details, including infection control protocols for communicable, are available online.

Please note that health and safety protocols are subject to change, pending guidance and recommendations from federal, state and local health officials, among other sources.

Opening School Information

The first day of school is Monday, August 25th.

Bell Schedule:

• Doors open at 9:10 am

• Late bell at 9:25 am

• Instruction starts at 9:25 am

• Dismissal begins at 3:55 pm

Please work to ensure that your child arrives at school on time. A tardy student must be walked in and signed in by an adult in the front office. If you are dropping your child off at school, consider the car loop traffic as you make your plans for arrival. Students should not be dropped off or let out of your vehicle until 9:10 AM. Supervision is not available for students before this time. Before and after care is available through Howard County Parks and Recreation as well as other before and after school providers in the community.

We highly recommend all students that are eligible for bus transportation ride the bus to and from school in order to reduce traffic in the car loop. Once schedules are updated for this school year, please use the bus locator found on the HCPSS Transportation page to determine the specifics on bus stop locations and pick up times for the 2025-2026 school year. Our bus transportation is provided by Zum. Consider downloading the Zum app. Using the app will allow you to track your child's bus in real-time, receive pick-up notifications if you choose, and view the driver for each ride. Please be patient with us during the first week of school as we want to ensure all students ride on the correct bus.

Students who are eligible for bus service will receive an RFID (radio-frequency identification) card. If your child is eligible, but does not utilize HCPSS bus transportation, they can either keep their card in case they need to utilize the bus transportation or return it to the school’s front office.

Student bus cards use the same contactless RFID technology found in metro transit passes, corporate access cards, and other commonly used ID cards. Tapping the bus card records only the student boarding or disembarking the vehicle. The Zum RFID bus cards are not GPS-enabled and cannot track or follow a student’s movements outside of getting on or off their bus.

No eligible student will be denied bus service if they lose or forget their card.

Parents/guardians will have access to their student’s ridership information via the Zum app, which many families already use for bus pickup/drop off information. The Zum app is available for free download on the Apple Store and Google Play. Additional details on downloading and using the Zum app are available online.

While the use of an identification card for student bus riders is not required, it does assist us in providing safe and efficient bus transportation. With student safety at the forefront of everything we do, the use of the student bus card will:

• Ensure students on the bus are quickly identified in an emergency situation

• Allow parents to track when students enter and exit a school bus

• Assist if a student is reported lost

• Identify if an unauthorized rider tries to board a school bus

In addition, the use of student bus cards will help HCPSS increase the efficiency of bus service. The information will assist with the optimization of school bus routes by providing accurate ridership and capacity data so that the school district can make adjustments to routes and service.

Arrival and Dismissal~ All procedures are linked here and on the VES School Website

Car Riders:

Please register your child for Car loop

Drivers, at arrival, please:

• Student drop off is from 9:10 -9:25am

• Drive up as far as possible to the front so there are no spaces between cars. Students can start exiting their cars at the top of the sidewalk

• NEVER bypass the car loop line.

• ALWAYS have students exit the car on the passenger or curbside of the car. Adults should remain in the car. Practice having your child unbuckle the seatbelt independently.

• We encourage you to say your goodbyes before the actual drop off point. Let your child practice being ready to exit with his/her belongings quickly and safely. Remember there are other cars behind you.

• View the Car loop traffic flow map.

Students must:

• Go straight to their homeroom classes or to the cafeteria if they are picking up breakfast.

• Starting at 9:25 am, the adult parks and escorts the student(s) to the front office to sign in and get a tardy pass.

Staff will:

• Help students arriving by car to make sure the drop off process is safe and efficient for everyone.

Drivers, at dismissal, please:

• Be on time to pick up your child(ren). Pick up starts at 3:45pm in the car loop.

• Have the car loop sign visible to staff members for the entire year.

• Drive up as far as possible so there are no spaces between cars.

• ALWAYS have students enter the car on the passenger or curbside of the car.

• Stay in your car. It is dangerous and takes longer for other families when you exit.

• Pay close attention to the staff member directing traffic at the point between the car loop and the bus loop.

• Only use the car loop to pick up students. Do not bypass another car UNLESS directed by a staff member.

Students must:

• Pay attention and look for their car.

• Walk to the car, following the curb until they are in front of their own car.

• ALWAYS enter the car from the curbside and buckle their own seat belt.

Staff will:

• Look for your car loop sign.

• Direct traffic at the point between the bus and car loops.

• Assist students as they enter cars.

When you park your car, please park in a designated parking space. For everyone's safety, please refrain from double parking or blocking the lane in the parking lot. Also, please avoid walking between cars in the car loop.

If you are walking home with your child, please wait off to the side by the Parent Waiting Area sign. We need to keep the space under the awning and by the flagpole clear so staff can see who is picking up students.