Ashburton Elementary School PRINCIPAL NEWS

Ashburton Elementary School
6314 Lone Oak Drive, Bethesda, MD 20817 * 301-571-6959
PRINCIPAL NEWS
April, 2016
Dear Parents:
It is so great to see all of our students back in the building after the long break! We hope you had a
wonderful and energizing spring break. I travelled south with my family and explored the history and
fine cuisine of Charleston, South Carolina! And now, I’ll have to work really hard to burn off all of my
spring break calories! Many staff members took trips or enjoyed time with family and friends and the
great spring weather. We look forward to the remaining months of school with renewed energy. Due to
the snow delays this winter, the third quarter has been extended to Friday, April 8 th. You will receive
third quarter report cards on April 22nd. I am proud of our students’ efforts and progress.
Just before the break, our first grade students did an amazing job showing off the many skills they learned
this year in music class at the First Grade Music Night on March 11th. I would like to send a special
thank you to Ms. Barr and Dr. Whalen for coordinating this fantastic performance. I would also like to
thank Mr. Roth and Mrs. Hausknecht for the artwork and the first grade teachers for being so caring and
supportive of our first graders.
One of our pre-break highlights was an in-store Barnes and Noble Book Fair coordinated by Katrina
Sukduang and the PTA. It was amazing! Families came out in great numbers and purchased many books.
Staff also came and read-aloud to the children. Barnes and Nobles will give our Media Center twenty
percent of the sales to purchase new books. Ms. Walker was able to purchase many new books for the
Media Center that will go directly into the hands of our students, and we thank you for your support!
On March 22, we had a wonderful celebration for Ms. Segovia during which she was awarded the Marian
Greenblatt Award. The third grade and her former students, parents
and special guests, including Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers,
Calendar:
enjoyed the presentation of her award. Her acceptance speech was
April 13- PTA Meeting
moving and we were all touched
April 15- Career Afternoon
by the words that Ms. Cino read
on behalf of Mrs. Garran. She will April 18-22- Dine Out with
also be honored at the Champions Ashburton at California Pizza
Kitchen
for Children Awards Celebration
rd
April 20-22- Spring Book Fair
on May 3 as she is a finalist for
MCPS Teacher of the Year! The April 22- revised report card
celebration will be held at distribution
Wheaton High School from 6:30- April 26- Primary Election day,
school closed
8:30 p.m. From the three Greenblatt Master Teacher Award winners
at the elementary, middle and high school level, one will be selected May 5 & 6 - Kindergarten
as the Montgomery County Teacher of the Year. Anyone interested Orientation
May 9- June 1- PARCC Testing
in attending can find information and RSVP at
Window- see our testing calendar
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/events/champions-foron page 2
children/
The school year is very cyclical and, even though we just finishing the third marking period, we are
beginning to prepare for the new school year. This week you will receive a form to indicate whether
your child will be returning to Ashburton next year. Please fill this out and return it as soon as possible
so that we can accurately plan for classes next year. Staffing is based on actual enrollment so it is very
important to communicate with us if you will not return to Ashburton next year. Please make sure that
we have your correct mailing address and if you have moved, you must give us updated proof of
residence. Later in the spring we will ask for your input about the learning style of your child. I value
the input of parents but ask that you do not request a teacher by name.
Kindergarten Orientation will be held on Thursday, May 5th and Friday, May 6th. All Kindergarten
teachers will be involved with orientation; therefore, there will be no school for kindergarten students
on Thursday, May 5th and Friday, May 6th. Kindergarten classroom allocations are based on
enrollment with one teacher for every 26 students. Again, it is critical for us know who is coming to
Ashburton next year and we hope to enroll each eligible student at our orientation. If you have a child
who will be five by September 1, 2016 or know a child in the neighborhood, please call the main office
for an appointment. I look forward to meeting all of our new and returning kindergarten families!
I look forward to seeing you during many of our April events including the PTA Fun Run which is
scheduled for this Friday, April 8, during the lunch and recess blocks! As I mentioned above, this event
will be great for me on a personal level as it helps me to balance out all of that “fine dining” I did over
break! As the weather gets warmer and more students are walking, I urge you to use caution as you drive
near our school grounds. Also please note that dogs are not allowed on school property from 8:30am
until 4:00pm.
Sincerely,
Greg Mullenholz, Principal
PARCC Testing Schedule
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
English Language Arts
Math
English Language Arts
Math
English Language Arts
Math
May 9, 11, 20
May 16, 17, 18, 25
May 16, 23, 31
May 25, 27, 31, June 1
May 10, 12, 13
May 17, 19, 24, 26
Take Your Child to Work Day- April 28, 2016
If you wish to participate in take Your Child to Work Day, you must send a note to the school prior to April
28th in order for your child to be excused from school. If your place of employment does not have a special
program for Take Your Child to Work Day, consider taking your child to work during the spring break,
summer, or another non-school day.
Kindergarten Orientation will be held on May 5 and 6!
Please pass the word to neighbors and pre-school aged children who will be 5 years old by September 1, 2016.
Prospective parents should call the office to set up an appointment for the orientation. Parents will have an opportunity
to meet staff and complete registration paperwork, and most importantly children will have a fun introduction to the
classrooms. Parents may call the school 301-571-6959 or email Marney Jacobs at [email protected] to
set up an appointment.
+Current kindergarten students will NOT have school on May 5th and 6th.
Community Use of Public Facilities: Continuing Partnership with Rockville Daycare
Association, Inc.
Every seven years, schools in MCPS go through a process whereby the public facilities are put out
for rebid and the selection of a childcare provider in each school is undertaken. This process is a
rigorous one and involves many hours of application review, committee meetings, interviews, and
ultimately the selection of an organization to partner with a school who will provide high-quality
childcare for each community. I am happy to announce that Ashburton’s CUPF Committee has
selected Rockville Daycare Association, Inc. as its provider and we are looking forward to
continuing what has been a strong partnership for so many years. I want to thank Barb Cino, Nihan
Cinar, Michele Greco, Marney Jacobs, Hilary Jones, Ted Lieber, and Paula McGee for their service
on the committee. Each committee member had to review over 500 pages of documentation and
their insights and perspectives were so valuable in selecting our childcare provider. I look forward to
partnering with RDCA in continuing to provide our students with the best before- and after-school
care in MCPS!
Rockville Day Care has been at Ashburton Elementary School since 1984. They have a long history
of relationships with the school and families. The current director and staff have been at Ashbuton
for several years. They also have several young teachers who are former Ashburton students.
Current parents are pleased with the quality of service and experiences that their children have at
RDCA. They are generally fully enrolled with the maximum number of students that they are
licensed for (60 children) but do offer summer camp opportunities to all families.
Update on Fiscal Year 2017 Operating Budget
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett has released his recommended operating budget for
FY 2017 and is proposing a $135.9 million increase in spending for MCPS. This is about $44
million less than the $2.5 billion operating budget that the Board of Education had requested. The
Montgomery County Council will hold public hearings on the County executive’s budget
recommendation on April 5, 6, and 7. This is an opportunity for members of your school
community to share their thoughts with county leaders on why it is important to fully fund the
MCPS budget. Those who are interested in testifying can call 240-777-7803 to sign up to speak or
register online at: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/PHSignup.html.
Stay informed and engaged on the budget request on the MCPS operating budget website:
www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/budget/ A blurb is provided below.
Upcoming Community Dialogues on the Choice Study
MCPS has released its comprehensive study of choice and other special academic programs. The
study was commissioned by the Board of Education to analyze how well choice and special
academic programs advance the district’s mission, core purpose, and core values, and to
recommend ways MCPS can improve these programs. You can view the report at the following
site: www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/choice/report.aspx.
Over the next several months, MCPS will engage with the community and work to develop a
plan to address the report’s findings and recommendations. Three community dialogues are
scheduled to discuss the recommendations and the vision for choice within MCPS. The meetings
will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on April 6 at Gaithersburg High School; April 18 at
Kennedy High School; and May 5 at Walter Johnson High School. Parents and staff also can
provide feedback on the study online. Please encourage members of your school community to
read the report, provide feedback, and attend one of the community dialogues. A blurb is
provided below. A flyer in multiple languages will be sent via email to principals next week.
14th Annual Champions for Children Awards Celebration
Please join us at the 14th Annual Champions for Children Awards Celebration on Tuesday, May
3, 2016 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Wheaton High School, 12401 Dalewood Drive in Silver
Spring. The annual event, hosted in partnership with the Montgomery County Business
Roundtable for Education, will honor the MCPS Teacher of the Year finalists—Andrea Segovia
from Ashburton Elementary School, Kimberly Skufca from Shady Grove Middle School, and
Michael Williams from John F. Kennedy High School. In addition to the three Teacher of the
Year finalists, the winners of the following awards will be recognized: Rising Star Teachers of
the Year, Dr. Edward Shirley Award for Excellence in Educational Administration and
Supervision, MCPS Supporting Services Employee of the Year, MCPS Business Champion of
the Year, and MCPS Volunteer Champion of the Year. The event is free and open to the public.
For more information and to RSVP, visit www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/events/championsfor-children/.
MCPS Moments
MCPS Moments are two-minute videos that highlight recent events, school programs, and more.
The videos are featured online and on MCPS TV. Following is a list of some recent MCPS
Moments:
 Rock ‘n Roll Revival at Sherwood High
 Interim Superintendent Hosts Student Town Hall at Blair HS
 Students Read Original Poetry During Literacy Celebration
PEP NEWSLETTER
Theme of the month: Growing Up Healthy
Dear Parents,
We are continuing our up unit called:
“Imagine It Make It”, and then we will be
moving on to our next unit, which is “Growing
Up Healthy”. We will be learning about our 5
senses, self-awareness, safety awareness,
healthy eating, exercise, community helpers
that keep us safe and healthy and how to take
care of yourself and others.
Week 1: My Senses
Week 2: Taking Care of Myself
Week 3: Eating Well
Week 4: Staying Safe
VOCABULARY: hear, smell, see, sound,
senses, taste, touch, sight, exercise,
medicine, fitness, nutrition, healthy, rest, hurt,
fruit, grains, health, nutritious,
protein, vegetables, accident, harm. caution,
danger, emergency, injury, and safety.
April Happenings
in Kindergarten
Happy spring! We hope
everyone had an enjoyable
spring break! As we are
reaching the last quarter of
school, please continue to
practice the kindergarten
word wall words with your child and counting
from 1 to 100. Kindergarteners will not
receive a quarter 3 report card, but will bring
home their data notebooks. Please review
your child’s progress and return to school
promptly. As homework journals fill up, let
your child’s teacher know if you need a new
one. It is also important to note that current
kindergarten students will not have school on
May 5 and 6th due to Kindergarten
Orientation, which is only for incoming
students. Please plan accordingly!
First Grade News
Dear First Grade Families,
We hope everyone had a wonderful spring
break! Can you believe we are almost at the
start of the 4th quarter? Please look out for
quarter 3 report cards as they will be coming
home within the next few weeks.
Our first graders will be going on a field trip
to see the musical ‘Looking for Roberto
Clemente’ at Imagination Stage in Bethesda.
The trip may need to be rescheduled due to a
conflict at the theater; we will send home a
new permission slip as soon as the date is
confirmed. We apologize for any
inconvenience for parents who are
volunteering to help on the trip.
Students will be eating their lunch when they
return to school after the field trip. Please
make sure your child comes to school with
their own lunch that day. If you will be
chaperoning on the field trip, please bring
your own lunch as well so you can join us to
eat when we return to school!
Thank you for your continued collaboration.
Sincerely,
The First Grade Team
Second Grade Town News
Welcome back! We hope everyone had a fun
and relaxing Spring Break. We’re finishing up
third quarter and can’t believe the final
marking period is upon us. Students are
reading and writing poetry this month,
discussing how poetic techniques such as
alliteration, sensory imagery, rhythm and
rhyme are used to make poems more
interesting to read and listen to. Encourage
your child to check out a poetry anthology
from the library. Poems and poetry writing are
much different than the prose kids are more
familiar with! There are many fun projects
and activities coming up during fourth quarter.
As always, feel free to
email your child’s
teacher with any
questions or concerns.
Third Grade
Newsletter
Get ready for the 3rd grade Spring Field Trip!
3rd graders will head to a local farm to view
exhibits and see performances of various
cultures such as Native American tribes and
African regional groups. It is always such a
fun experience to learn with people of
different cultural backgrounds than our own!
Third grade will also begin a unit on
biographies in reading. Does your child enjoy
researching? See if they can learn about a new
person – either from the past or present day.
We will compare biographies with
autobiographies and get to interview a
classmate to write a biography based on their
life. In addition, we will focus on the words
“effort”, “motivation” and “persistence”. Talk
about ways your 3rd grader demonstrates
these throughout their day!
News 4 You
We had a fabulous month of March, and ended
with an excellent trip to Annapolis! Thanks to
our volunteers who helped make it possible!
Our next and last field trip of the school year
will be in May to Historic St. Mary’s City.
Students are currently involved in painting
silhouettes with the Artist in
Residence. They are thoroughly
enjoying the project! We love
seeing the progress and are
looking forward to seeing the
final products displayed in the
gym lobby.
During the remaining weeks of the third
quarter, students worked on memoirs. We
enjoyed hearing and reading about the
memories of our fourth grade students! The
final quarter of the school year focuses on
Earth Materials in science. Students will
become involved in various hands-on
activities as they investigate rocks and
minerals! We are more than 75% of the way
through the school year and several students
are still struggling with their basic math facts.
It is imperative that these are mastered by the
end of the school year, and continuously
studied over the summer, as the fifth grade
curriculum is rigorous and students need to
depend on their basic facts to solve more
complex math problems. We hope you and
your family had an enjoyable spring break!
It’s hard to believe the fourth marking period
is already here, but we are excited and looking
forward to what’s in store for the students!
Thank you,
Mrs. Brenner, Ms. Ewing, Ms. Greco,
Ms. Leiser, Mrs. Weaver, and Mrs.
Wloszczowski
Grade 5 NEWS
Reading
In the final marking period, students will focus
on nonfiction texts first reading a variety about
animals, including honeybees and bats. (Be
sure to ask your child about Colony Collapse
Disorder!) In addition to learning the content
of the texts, they will be identifying the text
structures used in the articles, such as problem
and solution, chronological order, and
descriptive. After reading a number of articles
on the same topic, the students will compare
and contrast them, using a Venn diagram as an
idea organizer. Students also will continue to
develop their summarizing skills, as they
identify the main idea(s) in each article and
support their answers with reasons and
evidence. At home, your child can practice
these skills with other media, such as by
identifying two or more TV shows and/or
books with the same theme or topic. Then,
they can discuss how the sources are both
similar and different. Perhaps they can find
two fun game shows to compare and contrast.
Math
In math, the students are wrapping up their
extensive work with fractions and returning to
multiplication of multi-digit whole numbers
and decimals. We look forward to seeing if
their additional practice with multiplication
facts will make this work more fluid and more
accurate. The students will continue to use
concrete models, drawings, written methods,
place value strategies, and properties of
operations to multiply and divide decimals to
the hundredths level. As they work on
dividing decimals, they will be evaluating the
reasonableness of their answers in
consideration of the place values of the
numbers. The work with decimal operations
will lead to a brief foray into measurement.
They will work on making unit conversions in
the metric system by applying what they have
learned about decimal multiplication and
division.
The compacted math students will extend their
work constructing and solving equations with
a single variable to working with two variable
equations, as they gain a fuller understanding
of what the variables represent and how they
work together. They will use “real life”
examples of dependent and independent
values, constructing tables and plotting values
on coordinate grids. They will follow up that
work with explorations in geometry, finding
the area of various polygons and exploring the
connections among the areas of different
polygons.
Science
In science the students will begin the quarter
with their health units, on family life and
human sexuality and disease prevention and
control (or for those who opt out, the personal
health independent studies). The remainder of
the quarter will involve biology and genetics,
as they move from studying the objects that
are best viewed with a telescope in the third
marking period to those that are better seen
and understood via a microscope. They will be
applying and extending what they have
learned about light, lenses and the
technologies that use them, as they explore
and use microscopes. They will learn to
troubleshoot them as they have done with
other technological tools. Once they
understand the
mechanics of the
microscopes, they
will use them to
compare and
contrast animal and
plant cells. The
study of plant
structures and the roles of specialized
organelles within cells will lead into their
study of the role of specialized cells in
multicellular organisms.
Social Studies
In social studies, we will explore the great
West and the vast expanses of land that
became part of the US and how it happened.
After mapping out the 19th century’s
expansion, we’ll shift to the developments that
created 21st century economics and finance,
culminating with a focus on “personal
financial literacy.” This unit is designed to
give the students the vocabulary, the concepts,
and skills associated with informed,
responsible financial decisions. They’ll begin
by looking at Maryland, the goods that have
been produced and consumed during different
historical periods and then examine the role
that technology plays in production and
consumption in Maryland for good and for bad
today. Students explore the privacy
challenges of technology with problems such
as identity theft.
Writing
In the first half of the fourth marking period,
each student will complete a research project
on a job or career of interest to the
student. Students will be asked to conduct an
interview with an adult in their selected
field. We will celebrate their research
findings and presentations with a “career fair”
to which we invite the fourth graders to be
“recruited.”
Ashburton Elementary is happy to
announce to start of a (edible)
school garden!
The Health and Wellness Committee
is sponsoring this new endeavor and
will be working hard to get the
garden prepared for planting this
spring.
We will unveil the garden during
Spring Fling!
More news to come...but if you are
interested in lending a hand and
helping us get the garden ready for
planting, please contact Rebecca
Subbian at [email protected]
PTA Insider – April 2016
UPCOMING EVENTS (April 2016)
April 7:
April 13:
April 15:
April 18-22:
April 20-22:
April 26:
County Council Operating Budget Hearing, 7pm
PTA meeting, 7-8pm, Ashburton
Career Day
Dine Out at California Pizza Kitchen, Montgomery Mall
Spring Book Fair, Ashburton
SCHOOL HOLIDAY, Primary Election Day
News from our President and PTA Board
Dear Ashburton Families,
Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing break. It is hard
to believe we have only 2 ½ months of school left.
The PTA has been hard at work creating new initiatives for the students! Coming up this Friday,
April 8th, is Ashburton’s first ever Fun Run - Race for the Stars! This is a non-competitive
fun event for the students and will occur during the school day during lunch and recess. The fun
run will provide an opportunity to teach children about healthy choices and the importance of
physical fitness. Each grade will have a chance to run during their recess time on Friday. We
encourage parents to come cheer their children on during the fun run! We need many parent
volunteers to make this run a success, so please sign up to volunteer on the PTA website.
The new Health and Wellness Committee is working to create our new school garden which will
be housed in the courtyard area. We will be announcing a planting day in the near future and ask
parents who are avid gardeners (or just those who don’t mind digging in the dirt!) to grab a
shovel and help out! We will have a lot of work to do to prepare the area for planting. If you are
interested in being a part of the school garden, please contact Rebecca Subbian at
[email protected]..
We have two very important advocacy dates coming up: April 7th is the County Council
Operating Budget hearing. If you have EVER said that you want smaller class sizes, or asked
for another counselor, you need to show up at this hearing on April 7th. Our cluster will be
testifying and we need people to come to the hearing.
County Council Hearing, April 7 at 7pm
Third Floor Hearing Room
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
Also, next Wednesday, April 13th is our PTA meeting at 7pm. We will be discussing the
proposed solutions to elementary school overcrowding in our cluster. Please make it a priority to
attend this meeting. This is your chance to provide input to the Roundtable process. We need to
hear from the entire community so please set aside to come to the PTA meeting on April 13th.
As always, childcare for school aged children is provided free of charge.
Below is a link to the roundtable documents, under the Walter Johnson Cluster Roundtable:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/roundtable.aspx
International Night was a resounding success last month! Special thanks go out to our Chairs:
Sharon Watts, Gaby Cohen and Ami Vandevelde for creating a fun-filled evening for all
families. We are so thankful to all of our Ashburton families who served as ambassadors and
hosted a country - we are fortunate to have such rich cultural diversity at Ashburton. I also want
to thank our SSL coordinators, Laura Tucker and Cathy McKaig, as well as the many SSL
students who made this event such a success.
Our Barnes and Noble book fair was a hit! Thanks to Katrina Sukduang, our Book Fair Chair,
for coordinating this event. The proceeds from the Barnes and Noble Book Fair go directly to
Ashburton’s Media Center to purchase books for the students- so every purchase truly is the gift
that keeps on giving. Coming up later this month is our final Scholastic Book Fair of the year
from April 20-22. Please mark your calendars and plan to load up on books for the summer!
Also later this month is our most popular dine out of the year - The California Pizza Kitchen
Class Challenge! For one week in April, CPK hosts Ashburton for a dine out and the class with
the most participation wins a pizza party! So - mark your calendars and get ready to dine out!
Thanks to Michelle Notley, our Dine Out Chair, for setting up these fun nights out that give back
to our school.
Have Fun...Make Memories... Get Involved.,
Laura Chace
Ashburton PTA President on behalf of the PTA Board
New PTA Website and Listserv –Please go to www.ashburtonpta.org to join the new site and listserv for the
Ashburton PTA. Once you register on the new site you will be automatically signed up for our new listserv. The
next step is to click the "Join the PTA" tab at the top to join the PTA online.
We will be posting ALL important information on this new site as we get started with the school year, including
calendars, lunch menus, after school activities, event information and more. Don't miss out visit www.ashburtonpta.org today!