Strawberry Knoll News
STRAWBERRY KNOLL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
June 8, 2011
18820 Strawberry Knoll Road
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20879
E. Frank Kaplan, Principal
Rosemary Ford, Assistant Principal
Web Site Address—
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/strawberryknolles/
Reflections
The Gaithersburg cluster principals and I had the privilege, once again to attend
Gaithersburg High School’s commencement ceremony at DAR last Friday morning.
Amongst the sea of graduates in their blue gowns were waves of Strawberry
Knoll graduates, waiting like the rest of us for the traditional graduation march,
“Pomp and Circumstance” to play. As a Strawberry Knoll teacher told me prior to
attending graduation, “Our children come in line as they start school and then
walk in line for the last time as they end their secondary school career.” How
true, and then the music played!
Miss Shannon Taruc, senior class president and yes, a former Strawberry Knoll
knight , challenged this year’s graduating class to pursue their professional
dreams and personal endeavors, two journeys we continue to take into and certainly throughout our adulthood lives. As I sat with my cluster colleagues, shouldered by this year’s graduating class of 407 students along with the many proud
families seated all around us, I was reminded of our upcoming fifth grade promotion celebration. It has been the staff’s absolute pleasure and certainly my
honor to have worked with this year’s fifth grade students, and their families.
Our many years together have passed all too quickly!
Congratulations to our first-time kindergarten parents. You have passed the
test and matriculated on to first grade. Undoubtedly school these next few
years will seem routine for you as your children continue their learning at the
Knoll. “Oh the places our noble knights will go,” until they, like many others before them will walk across the stage in 2016 to also receive their promotion certificates Suddenly I feel old!
Plans are already underway for the upcoming school year here at the Knoll. Consider joining us for our July 21, 2011 work session here at school as we craft the
coming school year’s School Improvement Plan (SIP.) Your input is valued. As
studies have shown, a school’s success is influenced by the relationship it has
with its parents. Strawberry Knoll exemplifies such a school. Thanks to those
parents that served on this year’s SIP committees. Equally important, we extend
the greatest of hugs to our P.T.A. for their support and unwavering dedication
throughout this school year.
On behalf of the Strawberry Knoll staff, we wish our students a safe vacation.
Encourage your children to read and practice their math facts. Equally important create fond memories. Happy summer!
E. Frank Kaplan
Principal
Happy Retirement, Mrs. Allen
Our Mrs. Allen, ESOL Teacher, will retire at the end of this year. We certainly wish Mrs. Allen our very best as
she looks forward to spending more time with family, friends, and traveling! Congratulations, Mrs. Allen for your
10 years of service to MCPS. Happy trails!!
Keeping Score
You may have heard, “First our children learn to read. Then they read to learn.” The statement rings true for
us at the Knoll as we, staff and students, and certainly parents have kept track of the children’s instructional
reading progress. We have included for your review, a chart that shows grade specific reading levels for each of
the four quarters. Our most current student reading data show fine results as follows:
Kindergarten- 93% at/above level
First Grade- 87% at/above level
Second Grade- 87% at/above level
Third Grade- 73% at/above level
Fourth Grade-86% at/above level
Fifth Grade- 92% at/above level
Our work is far from finished. Included in this final edition of the “Knoll News” are resources you can access to
ensure your child continues reading during the summer. As always, we are ready to answer any questions you may
happen to have about your child’s end of year reading performance. Call us!
Grade Level
First Quarter
Aug/Sept/Oct
Second Quarter
Third Quarter Fourth Quarter
Feb/Mar
Kindergarten
(Not Applicable)
Level 1 (A)
Level 2-3 (B-C) Level 4 (C)
First Grade
Level 5—7
Level 8—11
Level 12—15
Level 16-17
(D-E)
(E-G)
(H-I)
(I)
Second Grade
Level J
Level K
Level L
Level M
Third Grade
Level M
Level N
Level O
Level P
Fourth Grade
Level Q-R
Level Q-R
Level S-T
Level S-T
Fifth grade
Level T-U
Level T-U
Level V-W
Level V-W
Fifth Grade Promotion Celebration
All fifth grade families and friends are invited to attend this
year’s promotion celebration on Monday, June 13, 2011 starting
at 7:00 p.m. This year’s guest speaker will be Dr. Christine
Handy-Collins, principal of Gaithersburg High School. Fifth
grade students are asked to dress appropriately for the evening
program and are expected to be here at the Knoll by 6:30 p.m.
We wish to thank Mrs. Burstein and those fifth grade parents
that served on this year’s Promotion Celebration Committee.
Our committee members have worked hard to make sure this
year’s event is the best. We also want to thank
our fourth grade parents for their help in arranging the finger-food and dessert tables.
Congratulations to Mrs. Marzano on the birth of her new
baby boy, Drew Marzano,
born May 20, 2011.
IMPORTANT DATES
June Dates
6/13
7:00 p.m. Fifth Grade Promotion
Celebration
6/14
9:30 a.m. Town Hall Meeting
5th Grade Pool Party
6/16
Last Day of School for Students
12:35 p.m. Students Dismissed
Celebrate Flag Day with Us!
We will host our final Town Hall Meeting of the year on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 in the gym at
9:30 a.m. Join us as we recognize students for the following: Honor Roll for Three Consecutive
Quarters, Perfect Attendance, African American Academic Excellence, Fine Dining, Golden
Sneaker, Red Knight, and Character Counts awards! We also look forward to celebrating Flag
Day by singing several patriotic songs. Strawberry Knoll knights, make sure to dress in red,
white, and blue!
Yearbooks are Fantastic!
Thanks to Mrs. Kerry Wilson-Bankert for taking on the job of putting our yearbook together this year. The
yearbook looks fabulous! Copies of this year’s edition are still available to purchase in the main office.
Summer at the Knoll
Our school will once again serve as a summer school site for the Pre-School Education Program (PEP) and Autism.
It’s always a pleasure to have our rooms filled with summer school staff and students. This summer’s building
occupancy wouldn’t be complete without Kids Co., our before and after school daycare program.
KidsCo. will begin their summer camp program here at the Knoll on Monday, June 20, 2011. PEP summer school will
begin on Tuesday, July 5, 2011, and our Autism summer school begins on Monday, June 27, 2011.
Plans are also underway this summer for the removal of the exterior faux brick on those walls facing the courtyard and those classrooms facing our portables to continue. Once done, our entire building will be covered in “real
brick” and more energy efficient. There’s more.
Unfortunately, due to the extensive amount of work that must be done to the courtyard walls, all the plant material including our dogwood trees will have to be removed. This means our courtyard will be bare and certainly in
need of staff/parent advice as we look to making the courtyard even more accessible and accommodating for all
once restored. We have been ensured that our azaleas and crepe myrtle will be balled for subsequent transplanting. Although the original dogwood trees can’t be saved, the construction company assigned to do this summer’s
work will provide us with the same type and number of dogwood trees. Our pond will remain!
If you would like to provide your input as we upgrade our courtyard, please contact us. Your feedback is welcome
and certainly important.
Summer Reading
Research shows that students who do not read during the summer can lose up to three months of reading progress . Therefore, it is our charge to encourage students to continue to read while enjoying their vacation time
with family and friends. On Thursday, June 9, 2011 and Friday, June 10, 2011 each student will be able to choose
a new book to take home for their summer reading. This is courtesy of our generous PTA who has purchased a
books to ensure that all students have a book to read during the summer. Students who wish to obtain additional
reading materials are encouraged to go to the Montgomery County Public Library. There is a small MCPL branch
inside Lake Forest Mall, and the Germantown and Quince Orchard branches are open all summer. Library cards
are free and can be obtained by visiting a MCPL branch. Additionally, Montgomery County Public Libraries have
also written a suggested book list for grade levels that can be found at http://
montgomerycountymd.libguides.com/summerreadinglists2011. Summer reading activities for students will be available on the SKES website at http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/strawberryknolles/
on Thursday, June 16, 2011. There will also be copies available in the main office during the summer. Happy
Reading!
Shorter School Supply List
Please check your child’s report card envelop for next year’s supply list. As you will see, we will provide next
year’s students with much of what you usually purchase like pencils and crayons. Next year’s grade level supply
lists are also available on-line.
Reminders…Reminders…Reminders

All fees (for lost textbooks, missing library books, and any other obligations) must be paid before students may receive their report cards.

Report cards will be mailed on June 23, 2011.
Please make sure that we have your correct home address.
Summer Office Hours- Our school will remain open during the summer for business as usual. If you wish to
speak with Mr. Kaplan, please call ahead. Additionally there will be times when the main office staff may be out
of the building.
Summer Mailing
Our Strawberry Knoll ES website will be updated throughout the summer with important upcoming dates and information. We look forward to seeing you at our annual Sneak Peek Open House on Friday, August 26, 2011
from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
See You in August
This is our final edition of the “Knoll News.” If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and visit us. We wish our
“berry best” to our rising fifth grade students and those families leaving the Knoll. Keep in touch with us. We
look forward to seeing all noble knights including our new class of kindergarten students in August. Our
first day of school is Monday, August 29, 2011.
Student Informational Profile
As the school year comes to an end, we are in the process of creating class groupings for next year. We use as much
information as possible in the creation of classes. If there is information you would like to share with us as we create
next year’s classes, please complete the Student Information Profile form and have your child return the form to Mr.
Kaplan by Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
Student Profile
Student’s Name _____________________________
Date __________
Current Homeroom Teacher ____________________
Grade _________
Please comment if applicable
1. Special Needs
2. Learning Environment
3. Other Issues//Concerns
STUDENT PROFILE
Student’s Name_________________________________
Date ___________________
Current Homeroom Teacher _______________________ Grade __________________
Please indicate any areas that are special strengths or particular weaknesses for your child.
Strength
Weakness
________
reading
________
________
spelling
________
________
handwriting
________
________
written expression
________
________
oral communication
________
________
mathematics
________
________
working independently
________
________
organizational skills
________
________
completing tasks
________
________
study skills
________
________
attention span
________
________
handles change in routine
________
________
flexible
________
________
athletic
________
________
artistic
________
________
musical
________
________
self-motivated
________
________
well-behaved
________
________
outgoing
________
________
intuitive thinker
________
(picks up ideas quickly; makes quick connections)
____________
visual learner
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We are in the process of creating next year’s classroom assignments. As we plan for the coming school year we need to know if any of our students, other than fifth graders, will be leaving Strawberry Knoll. Additionally, if you have recently moved or plan to relocate out of our
attendance area we need to know.
Please complete the form below and return it to the school office.
Our Child(ren)
_______________________________
Present Grade ___
Present Grade ___
Present Grade ___
_______________________________
New Address
Present Grade ___
______________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
New School
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Address of
________________________________________________
New School
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Approximate Date of Move
____________________________________