August 12, 2015
Dear Families of First through Fifth Grade Students,
It is hard to believe that the summer break will soon be over and the start of the new school year is just around the corner. We are eager to have our classrooms and hallways filled with our enthusiastic and energetic learners. We have been very busy here at Mechanicsville this summer preparing for the upcoming school year.
Our office staff and custodians have been working extremely hard to make sure the building is ready for the 2015-2016 school year. Ms. Halvorsen and Ms. Morelock, our outstanding office secretaries, have worked diligently to ensure that we will be ready for students on August 31st. Our terrific custodians have been cleaning and polishing to ensure that the building will be in peak condition. In order to be ready in time for our staff and students, we ask that you please do not come in and ask to walk around the classrooms before the scheduled Open House/Meet the Teacher event on August 28th, as the custodial staff is still working feverishly to have the rooms ready for students. We understand your eagerness to see the classrooms, but we just want to make sure we are ready for our students on August 31st.
You will find the most important piece of information, the student’s homeroom teacher assignment, on the Home Access Center (HAC). No one other than the child's parent/guardian will be able to view the child's homeroom assignment. Classroom assignments will be available to view on the HAC on Friday, August 14, 2015 after 4:00 p.m. Please see the information at the bottom of this letter for how to view your child’s homeroom assignment. Most third, fourth, and fifth grade students will have a different teacher for Humanities (English/Language Arts and Social Studies) and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The teacher’s name on the Home Access Center indicates the homeroom teacher, which is the teacher that the student will have in the morning. If your child is in Third, Fourth, or Fifth Grade, you will receive a schedule at Back-to-School Night on September 1st or during the Open House session on August 28th. This schedule will identify the other teacher your child will be working with this school year.
Several staff members have moved on to new roles and are not returning to Mechanicsville. We wish all of them the very best:
· Ms. N. Jensen Assistant Principal, transferred to Carrolltowne Elementary.
· Ms. T. Purper, Grade One teacher, has accepted a position in Howard County.
· Ms. G. Stimmel, Kindergarten teacher, has retired.
· Ms. S. Wineke, Kindergarten teacher, has retired.
· Ms. T. Haislip, Music teacher, has retired.
· Ms. D. Nott, Special Education Teacher, transferred to Manchester Elementary.
· Ms. L. Kilroy, Braille Instructional Assistant, has returned to Carroll Springs.
· Ms. J. Dorsey, Grade Two teacher, has accepted a position in Howard County.
· Ms. S. Kahler, Media Specialist, has accepted a position at New Windsor Middle School.
· Ms. S. Wilhide, Teacher of the Hearing Impaired, has accepted a position in Baltimore County.
· Ms. K. Gill, Grade One teacher, has accepted an ELA specialist position at Sandymount Elementary.
We are extremely excited about the new additions/changes to our staff. We would like to welcome:
· Mr. G. Messier, Assistant Principal
· Ms. J. Morelock, Special Education Teacher
· Ms. A. Vehovic, Pre-K Teacher
· Ms. M. Weaver, Fifth Grade Teacher
· Ms. M. Presley, Vocal Music Teacher
· Ms. S. Goldsmith, Media Specialist
· Ms. L. Nalepa, Teacher of the Hearing Impaired
· Ms. D. Wixted, Braille Instructional Assistant
The following staff members are working with a different grade level or position this year:
· Ms. L. Tighe, Kindergarten
· Ms. M. Winebrunner, Kindergarten
· Ms. N. Karner, First Grade
· Ms. S. Basham, Second Grade
· Ms. K. Stauder, Second Grade
· Ms. K. Thurston, Second Grade
· Ms. J. Ring, Fourth Grade
· Ms. M. Chrencik, First Grade
· Ms. E. Barcikowski, County IA
· Ms. T. Chrencik, Special Education IA
We are excited to continue our partnership with Stevenson University as a Professional Development School (PDS).
We are pleased to have many Stevenson University interns and students in our classrooms again this year. Mrs. Rampata, Mrs. Mull, Mrs. Karner, Ms. Lynch, and Mrs. Stauder will all have senior interns (or student teachers) in their classrooms this year. These interns will be at MES two days a week in the fall and full-time in the spring. We will also be welcoming other interns throughout the school year who will be working with our wonderful teachers and staff.
We have several important dates that you will want to put on your calendars:
Event / Date / Time / AudienceKindergarten Orientation / Thursday, August 27th / 10:00-11:30 / Parents and incoming K Students
New Student Orientation / Friday, August 28th / 3:00-3:30 / New Parents and Students
Grades 1-5 Open House/Meet the Teacher / Friday, August 28th / 3:30-4:30 / Parents and Students
BTS Night Grades 3-5 / Tuesday, September 1st / 6:00 / Parents
BTS Night Grades 1-2 / Wednesday, September 2nd / 6:00 / Parents
Ice Cream Social / Thursday, September 10th (9/17 Rain Date) / 6:00 / Students and Families
Back-to-School Nights and Open House/Meet the Teacher Sessions:
The schedule of events for our Back-to-Schoolactivitieshasbeenset! Please note that the two Back-to-School Nights will be held during the first week back for students. In order to tailor our presentations to specific audiences, we have structured the Back-to-School Nights just for our parents/guardians.Students will have the opportunity to meet their teachers, see their classrooms, and drop off any school supplies duringthe Open House/Meet the Teacher event on August 28th. The Open House/Meet the Teacher event will provide students the opportunity to meet their teachers in an informal setting. TheNew Student Orientation is for students new to MESinFirst through Fifth Grade.New students and their families willget a "behind the scenes tour" of MES. They will also have the opportunity to meet their teachers, administrators, guidance counselor, school nurse, and other school staff.
Back-to-School Nights:
· Back-to-School Night is a time for teachers to share information with parents/guardians. Please understand that this is not a time to conference with teachers. We will continue to have conference nights for families throughout the school year, but please feel free to contact your child’s teacher should you need to schedule a conference at any point during the year.
· Parents will be asked to verify information on the emergency cards, so be sure to bring: physician and dentist’s names and telephone numbers, day care provider and number, and the names and phone numbers of those adults who are authorized to take your child from the building. This will ensure that we have the most current information on the first day of school.
· Our nurse, Ms. Parker, will be available for those parents who need to drop off medications, health forms, etc. The medication form is on the MES website.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO BRING YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL SUPPLIES TO THE OPEN HOUSE SESSION SO STUDENTS DON’T HAVE TO CARRY AN OVERLOADED BACKPACK ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. Our school supply lists are posted on the MES website. School supply kits purchased from the PTA will be delivered to your child’s classroom and will be available during the Open House/Meet the Teacher event.
If your child is a bus rider, we cannot stress enough the importance of having your child ride the bus consistently throughout the school year. You are demonstrating your confidence in the child, the bus driver, and the school, and letting your child know that this is what is expected. It also gives the bus driver an opportunity to get to know your child and the location of your bus stop.
Please be patient with bus pick-up and drop-off times the first few weeks of school – delays are common. It takes several weeks for the routes to become consistent. An adult is responsible for being at the bus stop when a student is transported home. Bus drivers are authorized to leave the child at the bus stop even if there is not an adult present.
We look forward to seeing you at the Open House/Meet the Teacher event, at Back to School Nights, and at the Ice Cream Social. Remember school starts for students on Monday, August 31st. Doors will open for students at 9:00. Students must be in their classrooms by 9:30 or they will be marked tardy. Dismissal begins at 4:00. If there are any changes to a student’s afternoon plan for dismissal, please send a note to school with your child in the morning. We hope that each of you had a wonderful summer break! Please feel free to contact us at school if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Mr. Wernick and Mr. Messier
Home Access Center Directions
MES will use the Home Access Center (HAC) to inform parents of their child's homeroom assignments. This process will ensure protection of personal information of our children. No one other than the child's parent/guardian will be able to view the child's homeroom assignment.
If your family does not have access to a computer, please call the school (410-751-3510) as soon as possible to make other arrangements to receive your child's homeroom assignment.
Please follow the steps below to access and become familiar with HAC:
• Go to http://www.carrollk12.org/.
• Hover over the Quick Links tab and select the Home Access Center link.
• Enter your username (email provided to the school) and password. If you do not have a password or forgot your password you may select the link to the right of the log in menu to obtain this information.
• Select your child's name to access homeroom and other information.
· Technical or login issues can be addressed by email to .