December 5, 2014
18820 Strawberry Knoll Road
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20879
E. Frank Kaplan, Principal
Elise Burgess, Principal Intern
School Number: 301-840-7112 , Fax Number: 301-840-7114
Web Site Address—http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/
Dear Strawberry Knoll Community,
Strawberry Knoll News
STRAWBERRY KNOLL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Our Character Counts!
Our Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, December 4, 2014 was a great success. Our
students were recognized for exhibiting both ‘Citizenship’ and ‘Respect.’ Classes earned ‘Red
Knight’ awards for exhibiting positive hallway behavior. We are truly proud of our Strawberry Knoll Knights.
We continue to work with our students this month on the Stop and Think skills of ‘Dealing
with Anger,’ ‘Using Nice Talk,’ and ‘Accepting and Delivering Compliments’ when working collaboratively with their peers and their teachers. Students will focus on these skills during
their weekly class meetings. When ‘Dealing with Anger,’ we remind our students to:


Take a deep breath and count to ten
Think about the Good Choices you can make. You can:
-Tell a person that you are angry and talk about it.
-Walk away from the person to a safe place.
-Ask a teacher or another adult for help.
Using similar language at home and at school really helps our students generalize the positive
behaviors we all are helping them to exhibit!
PARCC Information
As a parent and an administrator, I know how important it is to be involved in your child’s
education. In the upcoming months, you will be getting more information about the PARCC
(Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) assessment that will be
given in grades 3 through 5 in both Mathematics and Reading. MCPS is offering parent evenings to help inform parents about the upcoming assessment. The next parent evening will be
held on February 2, 2015 at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland from
6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
There are many resources online for parents to access information about the PARCC. You
may want to see what the PARCC looks like and what kinds of questions our students will
experience when they take the assessment later in the year. Please take time to go to the
following website:
http://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/
On this website, you will be able to experience practice items and gain more information
about the assessment and its components.
Weather
As the weather continues to be variable, we continue to monitor the temperature and conditions to determine if outdoor recess is possible. Our children enjoy being outside on the
playground and playing with their peers. Please remember to send your children to school
each day with appropriate clothing for outdoor play, including gloves, hats, jackets, etc. Bundling up certainly makes play more enjoyable! If you find that your child comes home missing
one of the items sent to school, be sure to check the lost and found located outside of the
gym!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Burgess
Principal Intern
Quick Facts about the 2015-2016 Calendar
On November 11, 2014, the Montgomery County Board of Education made the decision to remove references to religious holidays from the 2015-2016 calendar. This is similar to what is done in many other districts in the region and across the country,
including Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Baltimore City, Fairfax County, Arlington County, Gwinnett County (Georgia), and Hillsborough County (Florida).
This Board action DOES NOT CHANGE the days that students have off—students and teachers will still be off on Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 14) and Yom Kippur (September 23) next school year. All schools and offices will also be closed on Christmas
Eve and Christmas (December 24 and 25), the Friday before Easter (March 25, 2016) and the Monday after Easter (March
28, 2016), which are all state public school holidays. However those holidays themselves will not be named on the posted
school calendar.
The Board’s action also does not change the operations of our school, the instructional program, or any activities in the school
building.
This change was made by the Board to recognize that the decision to close schools must—under federal and state law—be
made for a secular or operational reason, such as high absenteeism of students and/or staff. MCPS cannot close for religious
reasons.
This was affirmed in a 1999 U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision (Koenick vs. Felton), which involved Montgomery County
Public Schools, as well as a decision by the 2005 Maryland State Board of Education, ADC Baltimore v. Baltimore County Board
of Education.
MCPS is an extremely diverse county and our students and staff celebrate a wide variety of religious and cultural holidays.
While the operational impact of some holidays may not rise to the level of requiring us to close school, we do respect the
rights of students and staff to celebrate those holidays.
The Board of Education has made a commitment to develop criteria and guidance and work with the community to ensure
there is a fair and equitable process for determining when it is appropriate for MCPS to close for operational reasons.
Students who miss school to celebrate a holiday for which MCPS is not closed are granted an excused absence and are given
an opportunity to make up any work. Major religious holidays on which MCPS schools are opened, such Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha
and Lunar New Year, are designated “no testing days” districtwide. Teachers are encouraged not have major tests or major
project deadlines on such days.
A very inclusive list of religious holidays is published in the MCPS Comprehensive Calendar, which is provided to all staff (see
page 34 of the calendar).
The Montgomery County Board of Education has approved the calendar for the 2015-2016 school year. The school year will
begin on Monday, August 31, 2015 and is scheduled to end on Friday, June 17, 2016. Winter Break will run from Thursday, December 24, 2015 to Friday, January 1, 2016. Spring Break will run from Friday, March 25, 2016 to Friday, April 1, 2016. Students will also be off on Monday April 4, 2016 (teacher work day) and Tuesday April 5, 2016 (primary elections). You can view
the full calendar on the MCPS website.
As you may be aware, the Board of Education also voted to remove references to religious holidays from the school calendar.
It is important to understand that this action does not change the days that students have off—MCPS will be closed for the
same holidays next school year as it has been in the past. This action also does not impact the operations of our school or the
instructional program in any way. For more information about the decision, please read this blog post from the President and
Vice President of the Board: http://news.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/mcps-board-of-education/following-the-law-on-theschool-calendar/
View the 2015-2016 Calendar: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/calendars/future/index.aspx
El Consejo de Educación del Condado de Montgomery ha aprobado el calendario para el año escolar 2015-2016. El año escolar
comenzará el Lunes, 31 de agosto de 2015 y está previsto que finalice, el viernes 17 de junio de 2016. Las vacaciones de Invierno están programadas del Jueves, 24 de diciembre de 2015 hasta el viernes, 1ro de enero de 2016. Las vacaciones de primavera serán desde el viernes, 25 de marzo 2016 hasta el viernes, 1ro de abril de 2016. Los estudiantes también estarán li-
Public Announcements
Information about school operations is announced publicly as soon as possible on area radio and television stations, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Cable TV (Comcast Channel 34, Verizon FIOS Channel 36, RCN
Channel 89), Outlook, on the Internet a www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org, and on a recorded telephone message at
301-279-3673. Emergency announcements are available by signing up for MCPS QuickNotes and Alert MCPS text
and e-mail notifications on the school system’s home page. If schools are closed or delayed, the announcement is
made no later than 6:00 a.m. (or the night before if possible). If schools are closing early, the announcement is
made by 11:00 a.m.
Annuncios Públicos
Información acerca de las operaciones escolares se anuncia públicamente cuanto antes posible, a través de las
estaciones de radio y televisión, por Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) TV por Cable (Canal 34 de Comcast, Canal 36 de Verizon FIOS, Canal 89 de RCN), Outlook, por Internet ingresando a
www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org y por mensaje telefónico grabado, llamando al teléfono 301-279-3673. Los anuncios de emergencia se pueden recibir por correo electrónico suscribiéndose al boletín informative QuickNotes de
MCPS y a través del servicio de mensajes de texto y correo electrónico Alert MCPS (Alerta MCPS). Si las escuelas deben permanecer cerradas, o si se demora el inicio de la jornada escolar, el anuncio se difunde a más tardar a
las 6:00 a.m. (o la noche anterior, si fuese posible). Si las escuelas deben cerrar temprano,el anuncio se difunde a
más tardar a las 11:00 a.m.
The Cold Weather’s Here! The change in weather reminds us winter is here. Please make sure your children are
dressed appropriately. Thermostats throughout the building are set to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Additionally,
students will continue to go outdoors for line-up/recess when the outdoor temperature including wind chill factor
is at or above 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Seasons’ Greetings!
The holiday season is here! As nature surprises us with rain, perhaps sleet, and maybe snow, we rise each morning filled with noticeable excitement and hope. We look forward to long-awaited celebrations and home-comings.
A quote seemingly appropriate for posting on our message board the final week of school before winter break is
the following:
“The past is history. The future is mystery. Today is a gift.
See You Next Year!
We wish you and your family a safe winter break. School will remain closed for students and
staff December 24, 2014— January 4, 2014. We look forward to seeing our noble knights on
Monday, January 5, 2015!
UPCOMING REMINDERS
December 2
December 12
6:30 p.m. PTA Meeting—Media Center
11:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m. Head Start to Imagination Stage
7:00 p.m.—9:00 p.m. Movie Night—PTA
December 23
2:00 p.m. All-School Sing-A-Long—Gym
December 24, 25, 26 HOLIDAY