News from the
Administration
September 2013
Beverly Farms Elementary School, 8501 Postoak Road, Potomac, MD 20854 301.469.1050
Welcome Back!
Thank you for helping to make our school opening a success. We appreciate
you working collaboratively with us to model our school guidelines to ensure
that our children are safe. We are off to a great start and look forward to
working with you for another successful year.
Back to School Night (BTSN)
During the second week in September, we look forward to seeing you at our
Back to School Night(s). Back to School Night provides parents of children in
kindergarten through fifth grade with an overview of their child’s grade level
educational program. We are fortunate that our school events are well
attended. Given that, our school was built with ample space for
implementing the instructional program, some of our popular events still
present challenges with parking. Please be sure to take note of the parking
signs and please be respectful of our neighbors. So that parents with several
children in multiple grades can attend each child’s class session, we have
scheduled two nights instead of one. We hope that this better meets your
needs. Please note if a parent(s) can only attend one night, please contact
your child’s teacher so that they can send home materials which were
distributed during the missed session.
Grading and Reporting
Teachers will communicate regularly with you throughout the school year
about your child’s educational performance. If at any time you have a
question, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. In addition,
parents of children in grades one through five receive a report card at the
end of each of four marking periods. Students in kindergarten receive a
report card at the end of marking period 2 and 4. During Back to School
Night parents will get information from the teachers about our November
parent conference days. As many of you know, MCPS designates two days at
the end of the first marking period, as early release days, so teachers can
meet with parents. This year the half-days are November 11th and 12th.
There have been changes to grading and reporting over several years. It has
meant a shift in thinking for anyone accustomed to “letter grades”. If you
are new to MCPS or the parent of a fifth grader you can attend an informal
question and answer session on September 11th (Back to School Night). You
can also go to the following link and learn more about this topic:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/2.0/reportcardfaq.aspx.
Important Dates
Tuesday, September 3
o 7:00 p.m. PTA Meeting
Media Center
Thursday, September 5
o No School
Rosh Hashanah
Tuesday, September 10
o 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Back to School Night
Grades: K, 1 and 2
Wednesday, September 11
o 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Back to School Night
Grades 3, 4 and 5
Friday, September 27
o 12:35 p.m. Early Dismissal
Teacher Planning Day
(Children eat lunch earlier)
Tuesday, October 8
o 7:00 p.m. PTA Meeting
Media Center
Plan Ahead
Monday, October 14
MCPS Schools Open House
o Beverly Farms ES Open
House. 9:30-10:45
Friday, October 18
No School for Students and Staff
o Maryland State Education
Association conferences
Administration News October 2012
September 2013
Parents of Children in Third Grade:
MCPS will mail you information about the Highly Gifted
Center programs in September. Applying for this 4th and
5th program, located at Cold Spring Elementary School,
Potomac, MD is optional. The packet will include dates,
times and locations for parent information sessions, an
application and directions for completing it. Each school
Medication
will compile
information requested by the MCPS Division
of Consortia Choice and Application Program Services (i.e.
second grade report card and first quarter of third grade
report card). The MCPS website provides an overview of
the program at the following link:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/speci
alprograms/elementary/highly-gifted-centers.aspx
Page 2
Parents of Car Riders
Parents of Car Riders: Call our main office
if you pick up a child (ren) and still need to
be assigned a “car rider number” and
receive a number card. Attach the yellow
card to your visor or display it so it is easy
to read. A staff member uses a radio to
inform the “indoor staff” of which cars are
in line. Children wait for the staff member
to call the number before going outside so
children need memorize the number on
your card. Please work with your child to
memorize their car-loop number.
Weather Related Schedule Changes
There are times when weather conditions warrant the cancellation of school, an early dismissal (12:35 p.m.)
or a delay of the school start time for students. Individual schools wait for MCPS central office staff to
declare if there will be any changes. You can find out about MCPS decisions in different ways. You can sign
up to get text or email alerts. If you have a Twitter account you can follow an MCPS Twitter feed. You can
tune in to a cable channel, radio station or call a phone number with provides an automated message. The
following link will take you to the emergency information portion of the MCPS website:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/emergency/sources.aspx
Connect-Ed Messages
As many of you know, individual schools can send Connect-Ed messages to communicate with the parent
community. Connect-Ed enables a school to send a short voicemail or email message. The information you
provide the school on the Student Information Form (when enrolling) is what is accessed by the Connect-Ed
software. Contact the main office staff directly if you need to update contact information. Connect-Ed
messages from the school usually contain information about upcoming events.
Parent -Child Reunification (PCR)
There may be a situation that may arise when a school must plan for a parent(s) or an authorized individual to come
to the school and sign out a child (ren). Perhaps the weather or other emergency conditions warrant holding students
instead of allowing them to walk home or board school buses. If you get a message about a PCR please remember
that the intent is to conduct a safe and orderly dismissal of each child. We are not trying to evacuate an area during a
PCR or expedite the dismissal for hundreds of children. We can proceed more efficiently if the MCPS PCR form and
Student Information Sheet is up to date and if parents and other authorized adults can present identification (i.e.
driver’s license). Contact the main office to update information. For PCR information:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/emergency/preparedness/CrisisPreparedness.pdf
Beverly Farms: Where the Eagles Soar with Pride