August 2010
Dear Parents and Guardians:
Welcome to another exciting year at Strawberry Knoll Elementary School. Though many of our
students were on summer break, some of our students enrolled in Autism and Pre-School
Education Program (PEP) were here for summer school. Our school also served as a summer site
for the Kids Co. Inc. daycare and Autism summer enrichment programs. We truly enjoyed
having the children and adults in our building!
While our noble knights were on vacation, bricklayers returned and replaced the exterior faux
brick extending from our primary wing all the way to where the PEP wing meets the gym. The
“real” brick looks great! Our Technology Modernization, more commonly called, “Tech. Mod.,”
was also completed this summer. We now have brand new flat-screened desk top computers in
our computer lab, research hub, and classrooms. The modernization of computer technology also
enabled us to receive an N-Computing station and 10 wireless Netbooks for student and staff use!
Finally, technicians installed the Access Control System (ACS.) The ACS consists of two
surveillance cameras, one installed at our school’s main entrance and the other at the doors by our
portable classrooms. This means our front doors along with all others will be locked during the
period between our students’ arrival and afternoon dismissal times. Access will only be given for
visitors, including those of you bringing your children to school, after the 8:50 a.m. bell rings by
a control switch in the main office. To gain entry you will be prompted to press an alert button.
Office staff will communicate with you and provide controlled entry into our school. As always,
you will be asked to report to the main office and sign-in. Our fifth grade students and those
students in Mrs. Kahan’s music class will continue to use the same security swipe system used in
previous years by our third grade students to enter our building. The new ACS will certainly take
some getting used to, but in the end will further ensure the safety and security of our school’s
learning and working environment.
Our enrollment continues to fluctuate as families move into and from our attendance area. We
expect, at this time, to maintain the same number of grade level sections kindergarten through
fifth grade as we shared back in June. However, as a result of the county’s fiscal situation, it may
become necessary for staffing changes to occur in some schools if enrollment comes below
projection. If there is a need to make an adjustment in our staffing based on actual enrollment,
we will do our best to minimize the impact of any necessary adjustments. We will keep you
informed and alert you of any changes that may occur at our school.
As some of you may have already heard, Instructional Council members, all fans of well-known
children’s author, Dr. Seuss, selected Oh the Places You Will Go as this year’s theme. We are
already working with publishers to make sure we are in copyright compliance. We expect to use
the Dr. Seuss classic as a literary means to inspire our children as they set goals, monitor their
learning, and help us make this, our twenty-third year of school, the best!
We are certainly off to a good start. Our students did a fine job on last spring’s Maryland School
Assessment (MSA.) Members of our school leadership team, along with a parent representative
spent a day and one-half last month and crafted our 2010 – 2011 School Improvement Plan (SIP.)
The SIP is a working document we use to identify student learning goals in the areas of literacy,
mathematics, social skills, and technology. Still in rough draft, our 2010 – 2011 SIP will be
ready for your review as part of our annual Back to School Night presentation on Thursday,
September 16, 2010, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
We welcome those of you new to our Strawberry Knoll family. Doing our best for your children
and providing them with a quality education remains a school priority. We value our partnership
with you and encourage you to participate in all facets of our school community. You can keep
apprised of all school events, student achievements, and curricular programs through our biweekly editions of the principal’s publication, “Knoll News,” periodic classroom/grade level
newsletters, P.T.A. postings and our school website
http://ww.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/strawberryknolles/.
Class lists will be posted after 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 26, 2010. There will be a special
meeting for kindergarten students and their parents on Friday, August 27, 2010 from
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in our multi-purpose room. Our kindergarten students are kindly asked
to wear sneakers as they will only remain in the multi-purpose room briefly. Our Mr. Matesa,
physical education teacher, along with other school staff will lead our Class of 2016 to the gym
where our newest noble knights will interact with one another and play games until 11:00 a.m.
We look forward to seeing you and your children at our annual Sneak Peek Open House also on
Friday, August 27, 2010 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. There will be a special meeting for our
fifth grade patrols following Friday’s Open House, in the multi-purpose room. Our first day of
the 2010 – 2011 school year, begins on Monday, August 30, 2010 at 8:50 a.m.
Enjoy these final days of summer. Encourage your children to make good health choices. Help
your children transition between summer time and the opening of school by establishing bedtime
routines and reviewing the contents of this summer packet.
If your family is new to the Knoll, welcome aboard! If your family is a familiar one to us,
welcome back!! Imagine the places we will go in the coming school year!!!
Sincerely,
E. Frank Kaplan
Principal
Welcome New Staff
We are delighted to bring a team of caring and highly qualified individuals, to our Strawberry
Knoll staff. Please join us as we welcome the following:
Mrs. Marty Babcock, Focus Teacher
Mrs. Jennifer Forman, Reading Specialist
Ms. Christine Robinson, Physical Education Teacher
Ms. Stephanie Wallis, Primary Autism Teacher
Congratulations
We love to share good news with our Strawberry Knoll community. This summer was certainly a
memorable one for our staff. Mr. Paul Dowell, kindergarten teacher got married, as did our
Mr. Brian Palmer, physical education teacher. We are pleased to announce Mrs. Jennifer Forman
had a baby boy last month and will return to school in October. Also, we anxiously await the
birth of Mrs. Colleen Rucker’s, second grade teacher’s baby. We will have a long-term substitute
teacher on board and ready to teach before the new school year begins. Mrs. Rucker will return
in November.