Arcola Elementary School
Gator Gazette
1820 Franwall Av enue
Silver Spring, MD 20902
(301) 649-8590
FAX (301) 649-8592
http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/arcolaes/
Emmanuel Je an-Philippe, Principal
Gregg Baron, Acting Assistant Principal
Nothing but the best
will do!
October 2014
Dear Arcola Families:
The school year is moving along and there are a lot of great things happening at
Arcola thanks to the commitment of our great staff members, students and parents!
As you may know, we will soon add an 8 th class section of first grade. While we
continue to grow in our number of students, we are able to keep the teacher to
student ratios of all our classes within the Montgomery County Public School
guidelines. As communicated in our last newsletter, Mr. Baron will return to the
classroom as a first grade teacher upon his completion of service as our acting
assistant principal. At the present time Ms. Claire Lieberman is serving as his long
term sub and supporting the first grade team during instructional blocks. The first
grade teachers have a very thoughtful plan of transition to create an 8th class. We
greatly appreciate the administrative support Mr. Baron is providing to us and the
first grade team is excited to welcome him as a member. Ms. Ventura is looking
forward to her return from leave, which is scheduled for October 21 st .
By now, each Arcola student in Grades 1 – 5 have been provided a progress report to
ensure families are kept up-to-date regarding academic progress. Please be sure to
review this information with your child and contact your child’s teacher if you have
any questions.
It was great to see so many of you at Back-to-School Night. I appreciated hearing a
lot of positive feedback from parents regarding how much they enjoyed the
experience and the presentations by the teachers. On Monday, October 13th we will
host our annual Open House from 9:15 am- 12:00 pm. This is a time for families
(adults only, no small children please) to visit classrooms, work with your children,
and participate in the school experience. We will begin the Open House with a brief
gathering in the APR at 9:15 a.m. The Open House will begin with a brief welcome
in our all-purpose room from 9:15 to 9:30 a.m. A parent station for refreshments and
information will be available in the all-purpose room. The Arcola administration,
Ms. Ochoa, parent coordinator, along with other Arcola staff members and partners,
will be on hand to answer any general questions you may have. Please make every
effort to join us!
Have you joined our PTA? This year we hope to break an Arcola record for
membership. We can achieve our goal with everyone’s help! Please plan to join us
for our next PTA meeting on Wednesday, November 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the APR.
Have a great October!
Sincerely,
Emmanuel Jean-Philippe
Gregg Baron
Principal
Acting Assistant Principal
Important
October Dates

October 9
Grade 1 to the Zoo
9:30 am to 1:00pm

October 10
Picture Day
Volunteers Needed

October 13
PTA Fundraiser Ends

October 15
Grade 4 Fieldtrip

October 17
No School

October 23
5th Grade to Strathmore

October 30
End of Marking Period

October 31
No School for Students
News from the Parent Community Coordinator
Thank you to everybody that was able to come out for our first monthly coffee of the year!
The turnout may have been the greatest ever and we hope it becomes the norm. At this
coffee we heard from Ms. Holly Hill, our Title I Specialist who presented the “gifts” our
school is able to obtain for our students through federal funding. The title I funds are used to
provide the following “gifts” to our school: support from central office, highly qualified staff,
additional staff, instructional materials, professional development, extended learning
opportunities, family involvement resources, extended day and equipment.
For more details on this program and how you can participate in the decision-making process for
allocation of funds, please contact Mr. Jean-Philippe. We welcome and encourage you to contribute
to our School Improvement Plan and attend meetings held every quarter. We are also seeking
parent members for Arcola’s Family Involvement Committee which meets every month.
ATTENTION PARENTS OF THIRD GRADERS
If you are interested in having your child attend a Center for the Highly
Gifted in MCPS for fourth and fifth grade, the application deadline is November 7 th. If
you did not receive an application in the mail, you can access it online at
www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/. Students submitting an
application by the above deadline will be tested at Arcola in January 2015. For more
information, you can contact Ms. Parizer-Velez at Arcola.
THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING! DO YOU NEED A LITTLE HELP?
Anyone interested in receiving support for the holidays is asked to contact Mrs. Carla
Williams or Magda Sobalvarro-Ochoa by Oct. 20 to fill out a request
form. Montgomery County provides qualifying families with the opportunity to apply for funds through the Holiday Giving Program. Due to
the limitation on funds, please note that it will not be possible to honor
all requests and therefore assistance is not guaranteed.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Walk to School Day
Walk to School Day is October 8, 2014. Click on
www.walkbiketoschool.org for ideas on how to get others to join you.
We encourage everyone to walk for better health and fellowship! . The
grade level and class with the most students who walk to school will be
announced to the school and included in the November issue of the Gator Gazette!
THE BOOK FAIR IS COMING!
Mark your calendars for the 2014 Scholastic Book Fair! This year’s Book Fair
will be November 10-14. More details to come! If you are interested in volunteering to help staff the Book Fair, please contact Amy Rosenblum at
[email protected] or 301-649-8590.
PICTURE DAY IS COMING!
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!
Arcola’s student picture day will be on Friday, October 10th. We are in
need of parents who will assist with escorting students to and from the
gym where the cameras will be set up. For your volunteering efforts we will give you a
voucher for a complimentary “Package B”. Please call Mrs. Ochoa if you would like to
volunteer.