November, 2015
Lee F. Derby, Principal
Courtney Jones, Assistant Principal
www.mcpsmd.org/schools/cedargrovees
Checking In
It’s hard to believe that we are already a
quarter of the way through our school year.
Such milestones are great opportunities to
reflect on progress, individually and
collectively. Much has been accomplished
since the beginning of the year by both
students and staff. As we reviewed our
students’ performance on initial reading
assessments, we were pleased with the skills
that our students maintained or improved
over the summer. While we have not
examined all the quantitative data, there
definitely seems to have been a much smaller
“summer slide” this year. So whether you
participated in the CGES or Montgomery
County Public Library reading program,
enrolled your child in summer school, or
simply ensured that time was devoted to
reading during the summer break -- whatever
many of you did worked and we appreciate
your efforts.
To ensure that the reading growth continues,
teachers in all grades have learned and
applied daily formative assessment as part of
their reading groups and used the information
from those assessments as they plan their
instruction. We have also continued our
study of the connection between high
expectations and achievement and how we
can consistently communicate to all students
that we believe they can perform at high
levels.
Our students demonstrate outstanding
behavior as well, and our revised Bear Way
program has been a great way to recognize
that behavior and build teamwork. We
recently held the first of our quarterly Bear
Way assemblies to review our expectations,
discuss how they apply in different school
settings, and recognize those classes that had
been “caught being good” the most over the
past month. Those classes were:
Kindergarten
Grades 1&2
Grades 3-5
Mrs. Schofer
Mrs. Strong
Ms. Thompson
The appearance by our new mascot, Grover
(pictured below) was the highlight of the
assemblies and further motivated our students
to act The Bear Way.
The beginning of the second quarter of the
school year also brings with it a wonderful
opportunity for parents and teachers to
collaborate to improve student success: our
annual parent/teacher conferences. These
meetings are important venues to share
information about students and how home
and school can work together to enhance
every student’s achievement. Please make
every effort to attend your conference as
scheduled and participate actively and
openly. You may want to review the
conference information found on our
Parents Web page to help you prepare for
and get the most out of your conferences.
Saturday School Continues
Are you looking for some additional
instruction and reinforcement of classroom
concepts and skills for your child? Saturday
School may be for you. Although the
program started in October, students may
enroll at any time. We have several current
and former Saturday School attendees, and
the feedback from their parents has been
consistently positive. Additional information
is also available at www.saturdayschool.org
The Results Are In!
The votes have been tallied, and our 20152016 Student Government Association
officers are already hard at work. They are:
President
Vice
President
Secretary
Treasurer
Ellie Tsahalis
Irene Lee
Elizabeth Sanford
Kaden Alguard
We have a tradition of a strong student
government and I look forward to another
year of working with our young leaders to
improve our school. A big thank you to
Mrs. Jackson, our SGA sponsor, for
coordinating the election and working with
the officers and representatives throughout
the year to better our school.
Food Drives Begin
This week we have two canned food drives
beginning that will benefit families in our
community. Our guidance counselor, Mrs.
Spoales, is once again coordinating a
canned food drive to in conjunction with
Damascus HELP. We have held this drive
for many years, and I have always been
very impressed by the caring and
generosity shown by our families, as shown
by the overflowing bins of food collected.
In addition, Girl Scout Daisy Troop 2953 is
hosting a food drive to benefit the local
food pantry Clarksburg CAN. Clarksburg
CAN serves residents of the 20871 zip code
and families who have a child enrolled in a
school located in the 20871 zip code.
Families can donate non-perishable canned
or boxed foods. At the end of the food
drive members of Daisy Troop 2953 will
re-stock the food pantry shelves with all the
food they collected.
Collection bins for both drives will be
available in the school lobby from
November 9-25, 2015. Thank you for your
support!
Field Days a Success!
Thank you to Mr. Jansson, Mrs.
Hirschhorn, teachers in grades 2-5, and all
of our fantastic parent volunteers for two
fantastic field days in October. The kids
had a blast at the different stations and
showed great skills, teamwork, and
sportsmanship. We’re looking forward to
the K-1 field day in the spring.
No Toys Allowed
We’ve seen an increase recently in the
number of students bringing toys and other
personal items, including Pokemon cards,
to school. While we know that kids are
kids and want to have and show off their
favorite things, this is not a good idea for
many reasons and is against school
policies. These items often cause
distractions and can be broken, misplaced,
or stolen. Please help us and your child by
making sure that Pokemon cards, toys,
electronics, and other personal items
remain at home. Thank you.
Sign Up
For Rescheduled Flu Vaccine Clinic
Flu season is upon us. There are simple
steps you and your child can take to stay
healthy and help prevent the flu. That
includes getting a yearly flu vaccine. The
Montgomery County Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS) will conduct
a free nasal spray flu vaccine clinics
(FluMist) at Cedar Grove on Wednesday,
December 16, 2015.
The clinic is free, but registration is
required due to limited vaccine supplies.
Parents/guardians must sign up for their
child(ren) to receive the flu vaccine by
contacting the health room. Health room
staff will send home the Vaccine
Information Statement and parental consent
forms only to the families who contact the
health room to set up an appointment. For
more information, visit the DHHS website
or call 311.
Make-Up picture Day is this
Thursday, November 12. No
order forms are needed.
Proofs will be sent home.
Parent Representatives to Testify on
Capital Improvements Program Budget
Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers has
recommended a $1.72 billion six-year
construction plan that focuses on increasing
capacity to serve MCPS’ growing
enrollment. Mr. Bowers’ recommendation
includes 10 new classroom additions and
one new school, and places a priority on
upgrading the district’s aging infrastructure,
including heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning (HVAC) systems. The CIP
recommendations also maintain the timeline
for many projects that are already approved
in the current CIP (FY 2015-2020).
The Montgomery County Board of
Education will review Mr. Bowers’
recommendation and is expected to approve
a CIP request in November. The Clarksburg
cluster PTA will testify at the Board’s public
hearing on the CIP this Thursday, November
12, at 7:00 p.m. To learn more about the
CIP, visit their Web page.
Options, an Online Resource for Parents
The 2015–2016 Options guide is designed
to help MCPS families learn about the
various programs that are available in
MCPS at the elementary, middle, and high
school levels. Many of these programs are
available to students regardless of where
they live. Each program is designed to
provide enriched learning opportunities
based on student interest and motivation.
The guide is available online in English,
Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish, and
Vietnamese. Visit the Web page for more
information.
Thanks to the parents and others who
support Cedar Grove through
participation in different fundraising
programs, we are able to purchase
items beyond those covered by our
MCPS budget. Recent purchases
include:
Giant-Cedar Grove zipper pulls; this
year’s birthday gifts
Harris Teeter-materials to support
The Bear Way program
Target –tooth holder necklaces given
to students who lose teeth during the
school day
Please visit the PTA fundraising page
to register or renew for the programs
to ensure that Cedar Grove will
benefit when you shop
Dates to Remember
11/11 Early Release-Parent Conferences
11/12 Early Release-Parent Conferences
Make-Up Picture Day
11/18 Pajama Day
11/20 Bullying Assemblies
11/25 Early Release @ 1:20 PM
11/26 No School-Happy Thanksgiving
11/27 No School
11/30 PTA Spirit Night @ Chipotle
12/1 PTA Meeting @ 7:00 PM
12/3 Winter Chorus Concert @ 3:00 PM