School Information
Attendance
School Hours
Students are expected to be seated at their desks at 8:50 a.m. and will be dismissed 3:05 p.m. daily. Children are not allowed in the building prior to 8:30 a.m. unless they participate in the day care program. Between 8:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., students may eat breakfast in the cafeteria or line up their grade level’s assigned area.
•Office Hours 8:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m.
•Grades K-5 8:50 a.m. -3:05 p.m.
•Early Dismissal, Grades K-5, 12:35 p.m.
•Early Dismissal, Head Start, 10:30 a.m.
Absences
A child may be excused for personal illness, death in the immediate family, religious holiday, or other serious reasons. A written excuse from the parent or guardian is required when the child returns to school. We urge parents not to schedule vacations during instructional time. Also, students reporting late (8:50 a.m.) must be signed in at the office by a parent or guardian.
For the safety of our children, please call the school early in the morning to advise us if your child will be absent or late that day. We will try to make follow-up calls to parents of absent children by noon, if we have not heard from you.
A note from the child's parent or guardian is required for the following situations:
•The child is to be excused from school at any time other than the regular dismissal time.
•A child is to leave school with another person.
•A child is to ride a different bus.
•A child needs to be excused from any school work due to a physical handicap, whether
temporary or permanent.
Any email messages to classroom teachers in reference to afterschool arrangements or homework requests for absent students should be sent by 11:00 a.m. to ensure that they will be received by the teacher.
Early Dismissal by Parent Request
Requests for pupils to leave during the school day shall be made in writing by the parent or guardian. Children may leave school with a parent or guardian from the main office and must be signed out.
Bus Transportation/Walkers
Children need to be at their bus stops at least five minutes before the scheduled arrival time of the bus. Children who are repeatedly reported for misbehavior on the bus may lose the privilege of riding the bus.
Please assist your child in selecting a safe, regular route for walking to and from school. Your cooperation in teaching your child the correct procedures for crossing streets safely will help us to maintain a safe environment for all students.
We rely on the patrols to report dangerous practices and behavior so parents or the police department can be informed. These authorities and parents can take appropriate measures according to the information supplied.
The roadways and directional signs posted around the school are to protect your children from motorists. At arrival and dismissal, cars are not allowed to enter the front driveway; this area is restricted to buses. Parents picking up their children by car should wait in their car, in line, on the side of the building and pull up by the side door where all car riders will be waiting. Children will not be permitted to walk to cars in the parking lot unaccompanied.
If students are to be picked up by someone other than their parent, the school should receive written permission from the parent (notes are to be sent to the office).
DayCareCenter
Clearspring Elementary houses the Children's Center Day Care program for students in grades K through 5, from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.,and from 3:05 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. For information about the program and fees, please call 301-253-9618.
Delivery of Belongings
When it is necessary to deliver books, glasses, lunches, or other personal articles during school hours, please take them to the office. Office staff will notify homeroom teachers of the delivery by email in order to minimize interruptions to the instructional program.
Discipline Policy
Our school has certain rules and regulations in order to perform our primary function of providing and maintaining a safe, healthy, and happy environment in which to offer our educational programs. Please review this policy, which is distributed at the beginning of the school year, and support our efforts in creating the best possible atmosphere for learning.
Emergency Schedule Changes
Delayed Opening
In the event that the situation warrants (inclement weather, hazardous roads, or other reasons), the opening of schools may be delayed two hours in order to permit buses to travel under safer conditions. For Clearspring Elementary, this means starting at 10:50 a.m. When the decision is made to delay the opening, announcements will be given on radio and TV stations no later than 6:00 a.m. Please try to avoid calling the school at these times to keep lines open for emergencies.
Buses will travel their routes two hours later than their regularly scheduled times. All students who normally ride school buses will be transported. Head Start classeswill not be held on two hour delayed opening days.
Early Dismissal
When early dismissal of students is necessary due to inclement weather, all schools will dismiss 2 1/2 hours early. Students at Clearspring will be dismissed at 12:35 p.m. and will ride their regular buses which will travel routes in the same order as on a normal school day. Buses may run late because of road conditions.
The lunch period will be scheduled for students prior to dismissal. Announcements will be made on TV and radio. Parents are urged to listen to local stations to find out about school plans in the event of inclement weather.
Please discuss the possibility of delayed openings and early closing with your children from time to time so they are aware of any changes these emergencies may take in their normal routine.
Emergency Information
In order to keep our records up-to-date, please notify the school of changes in telephone, address, work, or emergency information. It is very important that emergency information be up-to-date.
Enrollment and Withdrawal Procedures
Families who are new to the ClearspringElementary School area and wish to enroll their children should contact our attendance secretary at 301-253-7004 to arrange an appointment time. In order to assure a smooth transition to the new class, students will normally begin school the day after they have registered.
Before moving to another MCPS school or another school district, please notify the office in advance.
All textbooks, library books and money owed to the school must be cleared before student records can be transferred to another school.
Extracurricular Activities
The following activities are usually offered for student participation during the school year:
•Patrols
•Student Government Association
•Chess Club
•Weather Club
•Knowledge Master Open Team
•School of Rock Club
•Science Club
Field Trips
Field trips are a very important part of the instructional program of each grade level. Our students are generally transported on chartered or MCPS buses. The cost of the trip will vary with distance and time and will be divided equally among the students. A permission slip signed by the parents is required before a student may participate in the field trip
Fire Drills
We are required to hold 10 fire drills each school year and 2 Code Red and Code Blue drills. We try to conduct the drills at various times during the school day and year.
Health and Safety
In order to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, including colds, parents are requested to keep children at home if illness is suspected. Children who are not feeling well usually cannot do their best work and their attendance on those days does not prove worthwhile. If a child becomes ill during the school day, the health room aide or a secretary will notify a parent; in the event that we are unable to locate either parent, we will contact the relative or neighbor listed on the child's enrollment card.
MontgomeryCounty policy requires written parental consent for the administration of medication to a pupil. This includes both prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. The parent must obtain MCPS Form 525-13, AUTHORIZATION TO ADMINISTER PRESCRIBED MEDICATION TO AN MCPS PUPIL WHILE IN SCHOOL, from the office or online from the MCPS website. This must be completed by the parent and physician. Medication must be brought to school by the parent or guardian.
Maryland health regulations require that "all students entering grades K-6 must furnish evidence of immunization for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, rubeola (measles), mumps, rubella (German measles), Hepatitis B, and varicella (chicken pox)."
Hearing and Vision Screening
Each year children in kindergarten, children new to MCPS, and other students who are recommended, are tested by a trained technician from the Department of Health. Any irregularities are noted and parents are notified.
Homework
The Montgomery County Board of Education policy requires homework as part of the school's responsibility to insure that each child receives a thorough and systematic grounding in basic skills and in all other areas of instruction. Homework gives pupils reinforcement of skills taught in the classroom and provides them with an opportunity to establish good work and study skills. We encourage extra efforts in learning for our pupils and feel that time spent doing school work at home can be most beneficial for them.
Planning and Assigning Homework
Pupils are assigned homework three to five times a week (K-5 policy). Homework will not be assigned, or due, preceding or following religious holidays.
Homework assigned will be planned and discussed previously by the teacher. It will be an extension or review of concepts already taught.
Each pupil is expected to take library books of his/her choice to read on a regular basis.
At the beginning of the school year, each teacher will communicate to the pupils and parents a statement of the general homework plan for his/her class.
Lost and Found
Lost and found articles of clothing are housed in the all-purpose room. Some articles are new and are never claimed. Please have your child check if articles are missing. If articles have not been claimed after a reasonable length of time, they will be given to charity. Parents are invited to come and check for lost articles but should contact the office first.
Money
When it is necessary to send money to school for field trips, pictures, etc., all checks or cash should be placed in a sealed envelope with the child's name, homeroom teacher's name, amount, and purpose for which the money is intended written on the outside. Please do not let children bring extra money to school. It is impossible for the school to replace lost or stolen money.
Parties
There will be two parties held during the school year: Halloween and Valentine's Day. Parties are held during the last hour of the day and are planned by the teachers and room representatives. Parents who wish to bring snacks or treats to celebrate a birthday in the classroom should first contact the teacher to arrange a time.
Physical Education
All students are required to wear tennis shoes in the gym because of the rubberized floor.
Property: Damaged or Lost
Parents are informed about any damaged or lost school books or equipment that are issued to their child(ren). It is the policy of the Montgomery County Public Schools that such property if damaged or lost will be paid for by the child's parent(s). Students will not be cleared at the end of the school year (including issuing of the report card) until all accounts have been settled.
Policy on Smoking on School Grounds
Smoking is prohibited in the building and on the grounds of Clearspring Elementary.
Report Cards and Conferences
The report card is basically a list of the major subject areas. In grades 1 and 2, "O," "S," and "N" indicate outstanding performance, satisfactory performance, and needs improvement. In grades 3 to 5, "A," "B," "C," "D," and "E" are given for each classroom subject and "O," "S," and "N" are used to indicate progress in Art, Music, and Physical Education. Students are evaluated on the basis of their individual progress. At the end of the first marking period, a parent teacher conference is scheduled. Kindergarten students receive a report card twice a year with at least one parent-teacher conference held in November.
Learning Skills
Each student in Grades 1-5 receives a code for learning skills. These skills include: Task Completion, Participation, Feedback, Teamwork, and Rules and Procedures.
Contacting the Teacher
Throughout the year, requests by parents for conferences are encouraged. They should be arranged in advance through the teacher. Arrangements can be made by a note to the teacher or a call to the office (253-7004). Teacher email addresses are listed on the Clearspring website and in the student directory provided by the PTA.
Student Lunch/Breakfast
The price of lunch is $2.50. Reduced lunch is $.40. The price of breakfast is $1.30. Reduced breakfast is $.30. The cafeteria provides milk, fruit punch, apple juice, and range in price from $.40-$1.25. Snacks may also be purchased on specific days and range in cost from $.40-$1.00.
Visitors
For the safety and security of the children, all visitors, including parents, must stop at the office before going elsewhere in the building or on school grounds. All visitors must wear appropriate identification badges. Any item that you might bring for your child must be brought to the office and we will see that your child receives it.