February 19, 2016
Dear Farmland Students and Families,
It was a short but eventful week again between the snow and the flooding. I know that we are longing to get back to
a regular, five-day week of school. Hopefully, that will be next week!
As I had shared previously, we had the MCPS Maintenance Department and Rolyn Disaster Team come in
immediately on Monday when the break was discovered. I am still so impressed by how quickly they, with the
assistance of our outstanding own Building Service team, worked to clear the damage and return a sense of
normalcy as much as possible to the five affected classrooms and office. They will continue to work after school and
throughout the night with huge drying fans through Saturday evening. This will ensure that no mold can result. I will
keep you updated when I receive the final report, but due to their immediate and intense response, no mold indication
is expected to be found.
Did you know that there are 540 farms in Montgomery County and 28,000 state-wide? That's one of many facts that
students at Farmland learned this week. The mobile science lab from the Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation
arrived at our school this week despite the snow and ice. Many excited students were able to visit the tractor trailer
for science demonstrations and hands-on experiments. There were smiling faces and a lot of ah-ha moments as fifth
graders experimented to extract DNA from bananas. Fourth graders learned how farmers protect the environment by
designing their own 100 acre farm. Third graders got to make glue from soy beans (and then compared it to Elmer's
glue). Second graders learned about how soybeans grow and were able to take a bean home. All the students in
grades one through five had the opportunity to experience the mobile science lab's various displays, videos, and
lessons about the agricultural industry in Montgomery County. Even teachers and our PTA volunteers enjoyed their
time in the mobile science lab. I hope your first through fifth grade children spoke to you about the opportunity they
had to visit the Science Mobile Lab this week!
Guest Speaker, Sgt. Ken Sanger of the Montgomery County Police, Child Exploitation Unit, will be the PTA guest
speaker on Tuesday, March 1 at 7pm, after the business portion of the PTA Meeting. Sgt. Sanger will speak on
Internet Safety. Come hear this informative lecture about websites, apps, and predator tactics while learning the
latest laws on these issues. Sgt. Sanger welcomes you to bring questions and concerns you have on this topic. This
presentation is not appropriate for children to attend. Hope you'll join us!
“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”- Dalai Lama
Warmest Regards,
Mrs. (Mary) Bliss
Principal
Farmland ES
Mark Your Calendars!
February 22


Celebration Assemblies 9:30 K-2 and 10:30 3-5
Kindergarten Dental Health Presentation 1:00 pm
February 24

Group and Club Photographs
 Science Fair 6:00 pm
February 26
 Early Release 1:20 pm
February 29

March 1
Piano Recital 7:00 pm

PTA Meeting 7:00 pm
March 2

Family Life – Parent Info. Mtg 4:30 pm
March 4
 Bingo night at Tilden MS 6:30 pm
March 23

3rd Marking Period Ends
March 24
 No School for Students
March 25
 Holiday – No School
March 28
 Holiday – No School
March 29 – April 1

Spring Break – No School
April 4

Students return to school