We Are TEAM Fort
Garrison!
December 2016
Technology
Fort Garrison Elementary
School
Principal: Karen Harris
Assistant Principal: Melissa Powers
3310 Woodvalley Drive
Baltimore, MD 21208
T: 410-887-1203 F: 410-887-1204
www.fortgarrisones.bcps.org
www.fortgarrisonpta.com
Environment
Accessing
Tomorrow
Motivated students
& teachers
A MESSAGE FROM MRS. HARRIS
Our turnout during American Education Week was impressive again
this year. This year we had over 275 visitors representing the majority of
our students! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules
to spend time in our school. The feedback from our visitors was very
positive. They shared that they were impressed with the quality of the
instructional program that they observed taking place. It is always a
pleasure to see so many parents, grandparents, friends and relatives
visiting our school. Your interest demonstrates your commitment to
helping your child have a successful school career. This year our
visitors had the opportunity to visit the new BCPS Mobile Innovation
Lab. Fort Garrison was the first school in Baltimore County to have the
Mobile Innovation Lab visit. Every class had an opportunity to spend
50 minutes on this amazing bus, engaged in hands on activities using
a variety of both hi and low tech materials. Even our youngest
students were able to do simple coding using a set of Ozobots! I was
so intrigued with these mini bots that we purchased a class set for our
own Innovation Station. We have also borrowed a set of Little Bits
from BCPS. The last couple of weeks when our students visit the
Innovation Station they are experimenting with how to attach
different “bits” to create electrical circuits. Ask your child what they
have discovered.
Over the winter break I hope that you will all have a chance to spend
some quality time together as families. I wish you a wonderful New
Year and look forward to the second half of the year when students
return from Winter break.
Upcoming Events
December 9
Professional Development
Day- Schools Close 3 hours
early
December 16
School Banking Day
December 23
Schools Closed for Winter
Break
January 3
Schools re-open
1
INNOVATION STATION
Thank you so much for all your wonderful donations to the Innovation Station. The children are truly enjoying
this part of their day. We love all the old appliances that have been sent in and will take more anytime you
want to unload some! We just appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness. Please follow us on
Twitter @FortZiegler
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
This is a great time of the year to check your child’s school supplies. Not surprisingly, many supplies are used
up, broken, or lost by this time of the year. The holidays are a wonderful time to replenish these supplies.
SAFETY
Please remember to drive slowly and carefully around the school, especially during arrival and dismissal times.
Parents may not make u-turns on Woodvalley Drive. Remember that we have a working speed camera in the
front of our school and the posted speed limit is 25mph. In addition, pay close attention to the “No Stopping,
No Standing” signs posted near the school. Cars parked in these areas will be ticketed. Please be
considerate of others as you make your way past the school. Report any dangerous or disrespectful actions of
our drivers to the administration.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Our Kindergarten Registration will take place on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. Children who will turn five on
or before September 1, 2017, are eligible to register for kindergarten. You will need to bring the following
documentation with you in order to complete the registration process:
1. Your child’s birth certificate
2. Your child’s immunization records
3. Your proof of residency, which may include a copy of your lease, your tax bill, or your mortgage coupon
book.
4. Three pieces of current mail with your current address (no junk mail)
5. Your photo ID showing current address.
If you know a family who has a child entering kindergarten who might not receive our newsletter, please
share this information with them and have them call the main office.
COLD WEATHER HAS ARRIVED
Fort Garrison does not open the doors to students until 9:05 a.m. To avoid having your
children stand outside in the cold unsupervised, parents are reminded to adjust their
morning schedules to drop their children off between 9:05 and 9:20 am, and to 9:05.
2
WEATHER INFORMATION
With the arrival of colder weather and the chance for inclement weather, parents may find the following
resources helpful in determining if and when schools are closing early. To hear the latest information about
weather related delays or closings, please call Baltimore County Public Schools at 410-887-5555 at any time.
Please do not call the school office with questions related to weather or school closings. In addition,
information about school closings, weather related closings, school policies, and current events may be
obtained by visiting the Baltimore County Public Schools website at www.bcps.org. Parents are also
encouraged to sign up for email notification through www.schoolsout.com.
LIBRARY NEWS-MRS. O”DONNELL
December is the month of giving. Why not give the gift of reading! Check out the suggestions below for
some fun reading gifts for kids.


Magazines: Kids love getting mail and they love reading about their favorite things. A magazine can be
a win-win for a reluctant (or enthusiastic) reader. Here are some top picks:
o Lego Club – This magazine is fun for girls and boys. Each issue has comics, stories and building
instructions. Best of all, IT’S FREE!
o ChopChop – You gotta eat! Why not have some fun reading and trying new recipes? Available
in Spanish and English, it also has fun food facts, games and puzzles, and interviews with healthy
heroes ranging from kid chefs to professional athletes to the White House Chefs.
o Sports Illustrated Kids – Perfect for your sports fan!
Popular Series: Here are some popular series that kids may enjoy owning.
o Flat Stanley Chapter Books – An adventure series about everyone’s favorite flat character.
o Lola Levine series by Monica Brown – Great for readers who love Junie B. Jones and Judy Moody
o Olympians series by George O’Connor – Graphic novel series great for readers who love graphic
novels, mythology, Bones and Percy Jackson
o Elephant and Piggie by Mo Willems and Fly Guy by Ted Arnold – Proven favorites for brand new
independent readers
Looking for some games to keep your kids engaged (and learning!) on cold winter days? Check out some
of these top picks for educational family games and activities that reinforce the skills your children are
learning at school and, most of all, BRING THE FUN to learning.
STEAM (Science,
Technology, Engineering,
Arts and Mathematics)
games/activity sets
o Legos
o Osmo Coding Set
o Scientific Explorer: My
First Mind Blowing
Science Kit
o K'NEX Education ‒
STEM Explorations:
Roller Coaster Building
Set
o Growing Crystals
o Ozobots
Games That Reinforce
Math Skills
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
The Allowance Game
Payday
Clumsy Thief
Monopoly Jr.
Battleship
Uno
Dominos
Qwirkle
Trouble
SET: The Family Game
of Visual Perception
3
Games That Reinforce
Reading/Critical Thinking
Skills
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Guess Who
Connect Four
Wordplay for Kids
Hedbanz
Sequence/Sequence
for Kids
Quiddler
Memory
Scrabble/Scrabble Jr.
Play on Words
Word Around
o
o
Makey-Makey
Code and Go Robot
Mouse
o
o
o
Karma Card Game
Math for Love Prime
Climb
Phase 10
A NOTE FROM THE READING OFFICE-MRS. SIEGEL
Thank you to all of our Fort Garrison Families and Friends for supporting this year Read A Thon! We raised over
$10,000! We are excited that we are able to order some new books and lots of reading materials for our
students. In addition, the fifth grade almost met their goal! As a parent, I know how difficult finding time to
read during the holiday season is. Here is a wonderful resource to help busy parents find time to read with
our children. I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season! Mark your calendars for Doughnuts with Dad
2/28/17 and Muffins with Mom, 5/16/17 at 8:40-9:00 A.M. Reading/Innovation Night will be Tuesday, March
14th! Our new reading incentive will begin in January. Students will earn tickets again to redeem at Reading
Night for teacher auction items and fun treats!
COPYING FEE
This is the time of the year when parents often request copies of student transcripts to send with private
school applications. To address the increasing cost of copying, paper, and postage, parents will be assessed
a $5.00 fee per school to cover these costs. It is not necessary for you to send envelopes with postage. In
addition, if you need duplicate copies of any of your child’s documents that you have already received,
there will be a copy fee assessed — 10ɇ per page with a minimum charge of $1.00. Please do not distribute
any forms to your child’s teachers. These forms need to come
directly to Mrs. Mazurek in the front office.
COUNSELOR’S CORNER
Happy Holidays! We are in the midst of a busy but wonderful time of
year filled with family celebrations, and a nice break from school. I
hope that each of you can find time to rest, relax, and enjoy this
season with your family!
Classroom Counseling Lessons:
This month, I am visiting classrooms to talk about Personal Safety with
the students. This includes abuse prevention and talking with the students about staying safe when they are
home and out in the community. This would be a great time to review your family’s safety procedures with
your child. Some ideas for topics you may want to cover could include: what to do if a child gets separated
from you at a store or busy place, what to do if a parent is late to pick up a child, what to do when home
alone, how to take care of ourselves and how to keep our bodies safe, requesting privacy and respecting
privacy of others.
Cultural Fair:
We are beginning to plan a Cultural Fair this year at Fort Garrison to celebrate the many cultures that make
up our school and also to explore cultures around our community and in the world. We are in need of many
parents and students who are willing to share information, styles of dress, music, dancing, holiday
celebrations and traditions, and more from their own culture. If you and your children would be willing to
4
participate in this event, please contact me at [email protected]. I would love to have tables in the gym set
up and allow the students to “travel” around visiting and learning about other cultures.
Screen Time:
As a parent of elementary school kids, and as a school counselor, screen time is a topic I am often thinking
about. My own kids love to play on our home computer, an iPad, and use video games and it feels like a
constant conversation of setting time limits, and enforcing them. Sometimes it is so easy to allow the kids
extra screen time because I can get so many things done around the house while they are busy! Sometimes
I have found myself checking my own screen time when I have been tied to email or scrolling on my phone.
There are no rules or guidelines that are set in stone when it comes to screen time, so you really have to
make up your own family rules based upon your priorities as a family. How much is too much? Here are some
good questions to consider:
How is the screen time impacting your child’s ability to focus or interact socially with others?
What is your child’s behavior like after they have had screen time?
What are your priorities for each day and are they being met?
Am I modeling appropriate use of screen time? (ex: not using a phone during dinner or while interacting with
my child)
If any of the answers were cause for concern, it is time to set limits. Be open with your children about what
you have noticed and allow them to have input into the conversation as well. Encouraging our kids to get
outside or play with a friend or sibling are great ways to replace some screen time with face to face
interaction. The more kids interact with peers, the more they work on getting along with others, resolving
conflicts independently, coping with difficult situations in a healthy way, and developing vocabulary and
social skills.
HEALTH SUITE THOUGHTS- MRS. CAULK
Nosebleeds and other Dry Winter Air Distractions
Winter is here and the very cold air creates some difficulties for our students. The very dry air
causes many students to experience bloody noses, dry throats, chapped lips, and itchy skin.
These things are both uncomfortable and distracting for the students.
Using a humidifier in the bedroom at night can be very helpful in reducing these symptoms, as well as the
use of body lotion and chapstick (No doctor’s order needed!). If your child tends to have recurring nose
bleeds, review with them the need to apply constant pressure for 5 full minutes, pinching the nose between
the thumb and index finger, in order to stop the bleeding. It can also be helpful for children with frequent
nosebleeds to keep a change of clothes in their locker (all children should keep a change of clothes in their
locker!). I find students who know how to handle their nosebleeds, and know they can change into their
own clothes if needed, are much less upset or frightened by the bleeding.
Flu and Illness
5
Also, Flu season is upon us, so in addition to getting your family immunized and keeping their
immune system strong with adequate sleep and nutrition, here are just a few reminders below.
Remember that any medication needed on a regular basis requires a Doctor Order Form and a
supply of the medication, even over the counter medications. The Discretionary Consent form
allows me to give Tylenol and cough drops for the occasional headache or cough, in keeping with the
protocols. Students are not allowed to carry medication; it must be provided adult to adult. You may send in
cough drops with a note if you have already given permission on the Discretionary Consent form, but they
must be accompanied by a note from you, and go directly to be stored in the health suite.
Vigilant Habits that Help
Be sure to review hand washing with your children, especially related to before and after
eating, and after using the bathroom. Remind them to use tissues for sneezing and coughing,
washing their hands afterwards, and to use their arm if there are no tissues nearby.
Remember that students need to be free of fever (temperature 100 F or above), vomiting, or
diarrhea, for 24 hrs. before returning to school. Most of you have been wonderful in responding to my calls
quickly. Thank you for that attentiveness, for your child’s sake, as well as the positive impact of reducing
illness transmission in the school.
Head lice continue to plague us off and on, with a few cases at all grade levels. Many of you are vigilant in
checking your student’s heads at least once a week, looking for those tiny glued-to-the-hair-shaft white
ovals that are nits – the eggs of lice. Although lice do no harm, they are distracting with the itchiness, and
certainly a tremendous amount of work to eradicate. Therefore I ask that all parents join in the vigilant head
checking.
Catherine Caulk RN
School Nurse
PRIVATE SCHOOL APPLICATIONS
When applying to private schools, please submit the entire packet that you received from the private school
to Mrs. Mazurek in the front office. All Common Referral Forms will be distributed to your child’s teachers for
completion. There is a $5.00 fee per school assessed to cover transcript copying and postage. It is not
necessary for you to provide stamps. Transcripts will be sent to private schools after report cards are issued on
November 15. Any question, contact Robin Mazurek 410-887-1203.
MUSIC NOTES- MRS. CASE & MR. STOJAK
Thanks to all the families and friends that came out to support students in Fourth and Fifth Grade at
their first concert of the year. We are really proud of the children and their accomplishments!
FAMILIES OF THIRD GRADE STUDENTS: please log onto OPS and purchase a recorder for your student by
Friday, December 9th. An order will be placed by the school, and students who bought a recorder will
receive it the first week of January. Students who are bringing their own from home MUST have had it
examined by Mrs. Case, and should bring it to Vocal Music Class immediately following the New Year.
6
Students in First and Second Grade are making great progress in preparation for their musical on
Thursday, February 2nd, 2017. Students in Second Grade who earn speaking parts will be receiving practice
binders to take home before the break. They should be practicing at home with their family members a
couple times per week. Thanks for your help, moms and dads!
Students who applied to participate in Recorder Ensemble will receive written notice next week if their
child has been accepted. Rehearsals will being on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 8:20, starting January
10th.
FROM THE ART ROOM- MRS. HULSE
Save the Date!
Empty Bowls Event sponsored by the Student Council
Empty Bowls is St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore’s signature event that raises
funds, friends and awareness of our work to serve those who are hungry
and homeless in our community. Empty Bowls takes place Saturday,
March 25, 2017 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Maryland.
http://emptybowlsbaltimore.org/
Individuals, artists school and community groups create bowls to donate to the Empty Bowls project. The
bowls are auctioned off at the March event.
FGES is sponsoring an evening event on January 18, 2017 for anyone in our school community to come
together and design a bowl to donate. Participants can use glazes to decorate a bisque fired bowl any way
they wish. The bowls will be fired and delivered to St. Vincent by ceramic artist Kathy Fick. Completed bowls
will also be displayed on her website http://www.kathyfickdesigns.com/empty-bowls-photos
Information will be sent to our families the first week of January to sign up,
Contact: [email protected] or [email protected]
SCHOOL BANKING
Our banking program is in full swing and we are always looking to open new accounts. Please see Mrs.
Grapes to get an application. Please bring your deposits to the lobby in the morning between 9:05-9:20 on
the upcoming banking dates:
Dec. 16th
Jan. 26th
Feb. 17th
March 17th
7
April 21st
8