August 2012
Dear Parents and Guardians:
Welcome to another exciting year at Strawberry Knoll Elementary School. While many were on summer
break, some of our students were here for summer school. Our school also served as a site for the Kids Co.
Inc. Daycare camp, and location where over 30 teachers from around the county participated in a reading
course taught by Mrs. Schoenfelder, staff development teacher. Word is out in Montgomery County.
Strawberry Knoll is the place to be!
As many of you know, work has begun on the new Maple Hill townhouse sub-division along Emory Grove
Road. We expect to welcome students from Maple Hill later this school year. Our welcome mat also
extends this year to those families from the newly completed Hidden Creek apartment complex. Mrs.
Anderson, administrative assistant and I had the great pleasure of meeting the senior sales and service
representative for Hidden Creek Apartments when we visited and toured the facility. According to the sales
representative, prospective families are looking forward to sending their children to the Knoll!
Our enrollment continues to fluctuate as families move into and out of our area. Another contributing
factor to the movement of our enrollment numbers is the requests made by families outside of our
attendance area for their children to attend our school. We expect at this time to maintain the same
number of grade level/program sections we shared with you in June. If there is a need for us to alter our
staffing based on actual student enrollment, we will certainly inform you of any changes that may occur.
“Strive for Knowledge, Excellence, and Success- Make a Difference Everyday!” continues as this year’s school
theme. Once again, our students’ recent performance on the Maryland School Assessment (MSA) reflects
everyone’s hard work, including yours. As in year’s past, we will continue to ensure your children become
competent and confident readers and writers, enthusiastic and precise mathematicians, inquisitive
scientists, and avid users of technology. Let us not forget to include the importance of making sure our
students remain caring and respectful citizens in our commitment to making sure this our twenty-fourth
school year is the best!
A school’s success extends beyond the hard work of its staff and students. It is our partnership with you
that makes a difference. Our P.T.A. is fabulous! Thank you to Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Reba, our P.T.A. copresidents whose two-year terms ended in June. It was my sincere pleasure to work with them and the
executive board. I look forward to working with Mrs. Halling and Mrs. Thomas our new P.T.A. copresidents! They along with the executive board are positioned for a productive year. Stay tuned.
Kindergarten parents, please mark your calendars for Wednesday evening, August 22, 2012. We will host
an important meeting for you and your kindergarten children in our Multi-Purpose Room from
7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. We kindly ask our kindergarten students to wear sneakers. The children will only
spend a brief time with you. Mr. Matesa, physical education teacher, along with other staff will supervise
our Class of 2018 in the gym where children will engage in games and meet their new friends. You, our
parents, will remain in the Multi-Purpose Room to learn about first week of school expectations from Mr.
Smith, kindergarten team leader and other staff. We will make sure we provide you with ample time to ask
questions.
We will host an important meeting for our fifth grade patrols, also on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 in the
Media Center from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. All patrols are expected to attend this meeting. Feel free to
contact Mrs. Row, our patrol sponsor, for additional information.
Class lists will be posted on Thursday, August 23, 2012 after 6:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing you and
your children at our annual Sneak Peek Open House on Friday, August 24, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00
noon. This is a popular event for our Strawberry Knoll families. We suggest you walk with your children to
our open house or carpool with another family to minimize traffic congestion. Look for the flamingos in our
front yard when you visit!
Finally, I want to let you know of a change you will see upon visiting us in the Main Office. Mrs. Karolick,
attendance secretary has retired from her position. Mrs. “Care-A lot” as I would call her, opened
Strawberry Knoll back in 1988 when she assumed a lunchroom/playground assistant position. Soon after,
Mrs. Karolick worked as a para-educator and then in 1996 became our attendance secretary. We as a
school and community will miss Mrs. Karolick. Her commitment to the Knoll went beyond making sure our
students attended school and arrived on time. Mrs. Karolick provided sage advice to parents, and always
volunteered to remain with students that were waiting for someone to pick them up at the end of the
school day…sometimes until 5:30 p.m. Mrs. Karolick loved the Knoll and was quite the ambassador for our
school. We plan to acknowledge our “Miss Karen” (one of her other names) with a heart-filled recognition
program sometime this fall. We welcome your input as we plan a “special-something” for a special person.
Enjoy these final days of summer. Remind your children to send us their reading postcards. Recognize your
children for making good health choices. Establish bedtime rules and routines. As we approach the first
day of school, August 27, 2012, talk to your children about their goals for the coming year.
If your family is new to the Knoll, welcome aboard. If you’re a returning family, welcome back. Join us as
we “Strive for Knowledge, Excellence, and Success,” and “Make a Difference Everyday!”
Most sincerely,
E. Frank Kaplan
Proud Principal