Cooper Lane Elementary School
The
Cooper Chronicle
3817 Cooper Lane, Landover Hills, MD 20784
Ofc. 301-925-1350
A Monthly Newsletter
September 2013
School Hours:
Office Hours:
7:45am-1:55pm
7:15am - 2:45pm
Principally Speaking...
September
Hispanic Heritage Month
2- Labor Day– Schools Closed
5– Rosh Hashanah-Schools Closed
10– Back to School Night & Title I Orientation, PreK-2, 5:30-7:30pm
11—Back to School Night & Title I
Orientation, 3-6 grades 5:307:30pm
14 - Yom Kippur
15– Beginning of Hispanic Heritage
Month
27 - Professional DevelopmentSchools Closed
Access your child’s
grades online!
PGCPS offers online access to
student’s grades through the
SchoolMax Family Portal. Visit
our school to obtain your Family
Key and access online at
https://family.sis.pgcps.org
I extend a warm and friendly welcome to you as we begin our
new year with your children. It is enjoyable to see them entering each morning with bright and sunny smiles and dispositions
and ready to work!
Our staff team is available daily to assist them with skills that
will lead to the world of work in the future.
Thank you for the work and preparation you provide for our students that help them remain ready for a powerful instructional
day.
We will see you soon at Back to School Night. Use this opportunity to learn all you need to know about Cooper Lane Elementary School.
Help us demonstrate "togetherness" as we work as partners in
education.
"We Are One!"
Educationally yours,
Principal Sims
Cooper Lane’s Mission Statement
It is the mission of the Cooper Lane Elementary Staff, to respectfully and professionally provide a fulfilling
workplace for students that adequately prepares them for the world of work, which emphasizes STEAM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) as it connects to The Common Core State Curriculum.
Additionally, the environment will focus on Trust, Respect, Care, Teamwork, Inquiry and rich Complex Textual
Experiences with Writing.
C O O P E R C HR O NI C LE
PAGE 2
A MO NT HLY NE WS LE T T E R
School Hours and Attendance
7:25-7:40am: Arrival and Breakfast, 7:45am: Instruction Begins, 7:46am: Late Arrival Passes begin,
1:30pm: Cut off time for Early Dismissals, 1:55pm: Dismissal Time
The school day at CLES begins at 7:25am.
Please do not allow your children to wait
unsupervised before this time. If you are
accompanying your child, please drop
him/her off at the front door. (Meetings
with teachers are not allowed at this
time. Please call or visit the Main Office
to request a meeting.) Upon drop off, he
or she is to walk by themselves to class.
Staff members are positioned in the hallways guiding students to their destination until 7:45am.
Every child has access to a FREE breakfast between 7:25am-7:40am.
ALL students must be in their classroom
by 7:45am.
Any student who enters the building at
7:46am and onward will be marked as
“tardy”.
Throughout the first quarter of the
school year (August 19-October 25,
2013) CLES will be motivating students
to stride towards having “Perfect Attendance” by rewarding them with a
“Dress Down Friday” award. In order to
win the award, students must be present in school ALL day (no late entry or
early dismissal) EVERY day between
Monday through Thursday. Students
who achieve perfect attendance will
receive a slip indicating that they have
permission to come out of uniform on
the Friday of that week. Unless your
child is ill, please make sure he/she
comes to school every day! We suggest
you make any doctor appointments
after 2:00pm.
If your child is very ill, please refrain
Safety Practices/Visitors
Parents, day care vans, and buses are
allowed to enter the drop off zone in the
parking lot in the mornings. Only day
care vans and buses are allowed to enter
in the afternoon. All adults and children
MUST walk on the sidewalk at ALL TIMES.
All students must walk home or picked
up by 1:55pm. All parents must wait for
their student either by the Cooper Lane
fence or the Cooper Crossing fence at
pick up time. Please do not stand in front
of the building to receive your child as
you will block students trying to exit. For
safety purposes, we ask that you not pull
out your child from their class line as
they are make their way to the pick up
zones.
VISITORS
All visitors are to ring the door bell and
wait until you are buzzed in. You must
then proceed to the Main Office with
your valid photo ID. Every person who
from sending them to school. Upon their
return, you must submit a note explaining
their absence to their teacher. This allows
for their absence to be marked as
“excused” and to receive any work they
missed while they were away.
YOUR FAMILY’S DISMISSAL PLAN
Does your family know what to do in case
you are not able to pick your child up from
school on time? All parents/guardians are
required to arrive on time if you are picking
up your child. Let the office know in writing
if someone other than the parent will be
picking up the student. Please understand
that NO STUDENTS are to remain in the
building past 1:55pm unless they have
written permission to participate in a
school sponsored activity. Your child is
must either listed as a DAY CARE VAN
RIDER or a WALKER (this includes car riders)
and must exit campus by 1:55pm.
enters the building is required to sign in in
the “Visitor’s Sign-In” notebook and given
a Visitor’s Pass. If you do not have a visitor’s pass, you will be asked to return to
the Main Office by a staff member. Thank
you for your cooperation as these policies
have been put in place to ensure student
and staff safety.
Health and Wellness
Students are permitted to take medication at school only when it is
deemed absolutely necessary and only
under the supervision of school personnel. (This includes over-thecounter medications such as aspirin,
cough drops, etc.) A “Physician’s
Medication Authorization” form must
be on file for each individual situation.
No medication (Aspirin, etc.) is to be
accepted by school personnel or allowed to be self administered under
the supervision of school personnel,
without the receipt of the appropriate
“Physician’s Medication Authorization
Form” completed by the physician in
its entirety without deletion or alteration. The school system reserves the
right to refuse to accept, administer, or
supervise self-administration of any
medication. All medication must be
brought to school in the container the
pharmacy issues.
WHEN YOUR CHILD IS ILL, HE BELONGS AT
HOME WITH YOU.
Please keep your child from school if child has:
-A fever 101.0°F or higher
-Rash with a fever or behavior change
-Diarrhea
-Vomiting
-Eye Drainage
-Mouth sores with drooling
Please send an excuse note with them upon
their return to school. You are required to
submit a doctor’s note after three consecutive
absences.
A MO NT HLY NE WS LE T T E R
C O O P E R C HR O NI C LE
PAGE 3
Success For All (SFA)/Common Core
Lunch Fees and Applications
Call-Outs
The Success for All (SFA) program is designed to engage the whole school in
meeting the needs of the student.
Students in Kindergarten through Second
grades will incorporate these practices
through a Reading block between
8:30am-10:00am every day. The student’s attendance, punctuality and preparedness are key components to the
success of this program. Please ensure
your child is present every day and on
time and completing their homework
assignments.
The Common Core State Standards
(CCSS) describe what students are expected to learn from Kindergarten
through Grade Twelve in the areas of
Mathematics and English/ Language
Arts. CCSS was developed to prepare
students for success in colleges and careers, and to include content that is relevant to the real world in order for students to compete in a global economy.
The school lunch application you have
received for Free or Reduced Price meals
needs to return to school as soon as possible. The 2012-2013 application is valid
until October 1, 2013, however, please
do not wait until this deadline to submit
your NEW application because it may not
be processed in time for your child to
continue receiving their lunch free/
reduced price.
You will receive a phone call every Thursday evening from Cooper Lane announcing
upcoming news and events. We also use
this system to alert you in case of a school
wide or weather emergency. In order for
you to receive these calls, your phone
numbers must be kept updated with the
Main Office at all times.
For more information as to how Cooper
Lane is transitioning to the Common Core
State Standards, please visit our county
website at:
http://www1.pgcps.org/commoncore/
All forms must be filled out using BLACK
or BLUE INK. Please remember to SIGN
the application. All incomplete applications will be returned to you. For faster
service we suggest you apply ONLINE by
clicking on the link at www.pgcps.org
If your phone numbers have changed,
please visit the Main Office to complete a
new Student Registration Form (PA-14).
Breakfast if FREE for all CLES students.
Lunch is $2.60 for all students.
Reduced price lunch is .40 cents for
all students.
Please visit the cafeteria with your
child’s PIN number between 7:25am
-7:45am to deposit funds into his/
her account.
Pleas
e help
your
child
orize
his/h
er
lunch
PIN n
umbe
r!
mem
School Uniform
Cooper Lane Elementary has a MANDATORY uniform policy. Below are the consequences for violating the
School of Conduct mandatory uniform policy.
First Violation - The child's teacher contacts the parents or guardians and notifies the principal that a violation has occurred.
Second Violation - The teacher refers the students to the principal who contacts the parents or guardians by
telephone and in writing that a second violation has occurred.
Third Violation - The principal sends a letter and telephones the parent or guardians of the third violation.
Fourth Violation – The school administration arranges a parent/guardian conference and reiterates the parameters of the policy and consequences of future violations.
Fifth Violation – Student is removed from class for one full day and completes assignments provided by the
classroom teacher in another classroom.
Boys
Girls:
Light Blue Polo Shirt
Light Blue Polo Shirt
Navy Blue uniform pants or
shorts
Navy Blue uniform pants, shorts or skort
White or Navy socks or tights
White or Navy blue socks
Black belt
ALL Students
Navy blue or white sweater (uniform or hooded styles)
Shoes of choice
(NO ROLLER, SANDALS or LIGHTED shoes)
BACK TO
SCHOOL
NIGHT &
TITLE I O
RIENTAT
ION
SEPTEMB
ER 10
PreK-2 gra
de s
5:30-7:30
pm
SEPTEMB
ER 11
3-6 grade
s
5:30-7:30
pm
JOIN THE PTSO!
If you have not joined our PTSA, please do so! We are
very involved in the quality of our children’s education
and fitness, as well as the fun side of life at Cooper
Lane! Working together we can achieve so very much.
Some of the areas we are involved in and fund or assist in funding are listed below.
Field Trips
Field Day
Family Fitness – Get Movin’ Night
Sixth Grade Camp/Promotion Ceremony
Assistance to Teachers to Purchase Classroom
Items
Teacher Appreciation Week
Stay tuned for meeting dates!
us
nd S!
e
s
OP
ase
Ple BOXT
r
yo u
PAGE 4
Volunteers
Students feel a sense of pride when they see their parents volunteer at school. We at Cooper Lane invite parents to help.
Please complete one of the following requirements to become a
school volunteer:
For $7.00 you can get a commercial background check. This is
good for one school year (8/19/13 through 6/5/14) and allows
you to regularly volunteer in the classroom and as a field trip
chaperone.
For $61.07 you can get fingerprinted. This is a one time requirement and is valid until your child exits PGCPS. In addition, this
requirement must be fulfilled in order to attend overnight
field trips with your child.
Acceptable forms of payment for background checks only include
cash, Visa, MasterCard and money orders. Personal checks are
not accepted.
Fingerprinting Office Location
14201 School Lane
Temporary #472 (rear of building)
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
301-952-6775
Office Hours:
Monday through Friday, 8AM to 11:45AM
and 12:30PM to 3:45PM
COOPE
R
VOLUN
LANE
TEERS
ARE T
HE BE
ST!
*Valid photo identification is required to go through any part of
these processes.
Cooper Lane Elementary – Title I School Wide Program
What is the Title I Program? The purpose of Title I Program is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessment. As a Title I Parent, you are entitled to:
Be involved in the decision of spending of parent involvement funds.
Jointly develop Parent Involvement Plan, Policy and Parent Compact.
Know your parental rights and the specific requirements of the Title I Program.
Be involved in the review of the school Parental Involvement Plan.
Submit comments about the school-wide program if you are not completely satisfied with it.
Have full opportunities to participate in your child’s education. We serve parents of students with limited English proficiency,
parents with disabilities and migratory children.
Participate in SPMT meetings for decision-making.
Our Parent Resource Room is open daily and offers parent literature, and connection with community resources and programs.
Please leave any comments or suggestions in our suggestion box.
Our parent involvement activities are aligned with Prince George’s County Public Schools Board Policy 0105 and Parent Involvement Procedure 4217. If you would like to know more about these policies, please contact Karla Reyes at 301-925-1350.