Ashburton Elementary School PRINCIPAL’S NEWS

Ashburton Elementary School
6314 Lone Oak Drive, Bethesda, MD 20817 * 301-571-6959
PRINCIPAL’S NEWS
November, 2015
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We had a wonderful Halloween celebration at Ashburton! We hope you had as much fun as the students
and hope that you enjoyed the Walter Johnson pep band during the parade! I am amazed at the great
community spirit here are Ashburton and it has been a pleasure to work alongside you and the amazing
staff and students. I want to thank all of our families who came to last Friday’s Halloween parade and
classroom parties. Thank you to our all of our fantastic room parents for putting together such great parties!
Ms. Cino and I visited each party and were floored by your creativity and spirit!
I would also like to thank all of the volunteers for a wonderful Fall Festival! Without them, the 1,000-plus
people that came wouldn’t have had such an amazing time. It takes hours of planning and we thank the
awesome team of Allison Peppelman, Mary Roberts and Alicia Burgos for coordinating it, the many parents
who helped in a variety of ways, and the middle and high school volunteers. We also thank Richard Hsu
for creating the Haunted Hallway—it was a huge hit! I walked the Haunted Hallway 4 times and marveled
each time at the amazing technical effects! This is a very successful event as both a fundraiser and a fun
evening for Ashburton families.
October 30th marked the end of our first grading period and November 3rd begins the second quarter. On
November 11th and 12th students will be released from school early so you can attend parent-teacher
conferences. You can expect to hear about your child’s specific learning progress and how well your child
is meeting grade level objectives. You will also have an opportunity to ask questions about your child and
the curriculum. Your child’s teacher will send a reminder regarding your conference time; please try to
honor it since the teachers have many back to back conferences. First quarter report cards will be sent home
on November 12th or handed out at the parent conference. Please remember that our parking lot is closed to
cars from 8:30 until 9:00 a.m. and from 3:10 until 3:50 p.m., if you come to school before or after school
for your conference. On the early dismissal days, we get out at 12:45 and the lot will reopen at 1:05 p.m.
As you know, the Ashburton community has continued to increase in size. Given our growth, the Interim
Superintendent has made a few recommendations directly related to providing the Ashburton community
with support and relief. The FY 2017 Capital Budget and the
Calendar
Recommended FY 2017–2022 Capital Improvements Program was
November 9-13- PTA Book Fair
just released. It shows that our addition is slated for completion in
November 11 & 12 Early Release, Parent
2019. It was previously proposed for 2019 but the Montgomery Conferences 12:45 p.m.,
County Council approved a completion date of 2020. Additionally,
November 11- Jump Rope for Heart
the MCPS Department of Facilities is recommending to expand our 12:45-3:25 p.m.
addition, which would possibly include a third floor and increase November 11- Flu Mist Clinic 12:45the capacity of the school to accommodate 881 students. We are 3:00 p.m.
pleased that the Interim Superintendent has noted that due to new November 12- Report Cards Distributed
November 17- Dine Out with Ashburton
projected enrollments, the deficit of seat at Ashburton makes the
at California Tortilla
completion of the addition a much higher priority and thus the need
November 25- Early Release, 12:45 p.m.
for the addition to be sooner.
November 26-27- Thanksgiving Holiday
– No School
Our cluster coordinators will represent our schools with testimony to the Board of Education this month on
November 9th; parents are welcome to attend in support of Ashburton. Our PTA President, Laura Chace,
will also have the opportunity to speak on Ashburton’s behalf. The Interim Superintendent has
recommended reinstating several projects to the original completion date, including Ashburton’s proposed
addition. Parents can help support the revised request by attending the testimony, writing letters or visiting
Council and State representatives. You can learn more about the capital budget approval process from
Board of Education approval to County Council funding in May on the MCPS website at
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/cipmaster.aspx
Additionally, the CIP calls for a planning study to look at the overall increases in enrollment in the Walter
Johnson Cluster. There will be a roundtable discussion group with representatives from each school to
gather input on a range of options to accommodate near-term and long-term enrollment in the cluster. This
roundtable group will meet and make recommendations for October 2016.
From building to books! The PTA will hold their annual Book Fair during the week of November 9-13.
Classes will visit the Book Fair so that children may see the offerings and purchase books. Parents are
encouraged to visit during the week or when they come for conferences.
Mr. Dartouzos will sponsor the Jump Rope for Heart program again this year, held on November 11th from
12:45 to 3:25 p.m. Second grade through fifth grade students will participate in an active afternoon as they
increase their health and wellness awareness, and work to be physically fit while highlighting the need for
cardiovascular research (although a financial donation is not required to participate). Students must have
a signed permission slip in order to participate.
Attendance is critical to instruction in school. We have noticed that a number of children are late each day
and miss the beginning of their class work. I urge you to make it a priority to have a morning routine where
children have ample time to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and get to school on time. Using the
neighborhood school bus helps with the routine. Students are late if they arrive after 9:00 a.m., and must
stop at the office to sign in and get a late pass. Students who are habitually late miss important directions
and class work. Please note that the doors into the school from the back drop-off loop are closed at 9:00
a.m. and children who arrive after 9:00 a.m. will need to be brought to the front entrance and signed in at
the office by the parent. Also, please make every effort to limit the amount of school missed due to
appointments. Teachers plan instruction through 3:20 p.m. and students are responsible for work missed if
they are not in class.
I would like to thank you for your continuous support and partnership to help students achieve their very
best. I hope to see you at many of our November events and wish you and your family a Happy
Thanksgiving.
Sincerely,
Greg Mullenholz, Principal
Information from the Health Room:
Don’t let the flu catch you by surprise! Influenza is more serious than you may think. Vaccination is the
single best way to protect against the flu and an annual flu vaccine is recommended for everyone 6
months and older. However, Montgomery County Department of Health DOES NOT have FluMist
available to administer this fall. The Health Department will notify us if FluMist becomes available but
recommends that you contact your child’s pediatrician for advice on getting the FLuMist or vaccination.
Remember these hints about staying healthy: get your family vaccinated against the flu; wash hands
frequently; cover your coughs and sneezes; avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed
hands; clean and disinfect germ “hot spots” such as phones, doorknobs, light switches, faucets, remotes,
iPads; contact your healthcare provider for advice if illness develops; and stay home when you are sick.
At Ashburton, we do not have a lice problem but like most schools, daycares, and camps see occasional
cases. Our practice has been to notify parents whenever there is a case in a classroom so that you can be
extra diligent in checking your child. It is critical that parents notify the school if you find evidence in
your child’s head. There is no shame in reporting it and could help deter the spread of these pesky bugs. If
you need help in identifying nits or lice, we can help you. Children who have lice should be treated and
checked in through the health room prior to returning to school.
Emergency Closing/Inclement Weather Information
Announcements
about the closing of schools in Montgomery County, delayed opening or early dismissal due to winter
.
weather emergencies are available through a number of outlets:
 MCPS QuickNotes e-mail news service (subscribe at www.mcpsquicknotes.org)
Or schools-out.com
 Local radio and television stations – WMAL (AM-630), WTOP (AM-1500), MCPS Cable Channel 34, NBC-4,
Fox 5, ABC-7, CBS-9
 MCPS website www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org
 MCPS information telephone line at 301 279-3673
 ASK MCPS at 301 309-6277 (7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. M-F )
 Twitter: http://twitter.com/mcps
 Decisions to close or delay opening are usually made by 6:00 a.m.
 When school opening is delayed, it is usually by 2 hours, so that Ashburton opens at 10:50 a.m., with buses
making their usual pick-ups 2 hours later than normal. There is no PEP when we have a delayed opening.
 Decisions to close early are usually made by 11:00 a.m. An early dismissal usually means Ashburton students
leave the school around 12:30
Please do not call the school for weather related questions. Often the news outlets know of decisions before we do.
Dress for the Weather: Please note that we send children outside for recess every day unless we have
inclement weather or it is below 32 degrees. Please make sure that your child is dressed for going outside.
Please label your child’s clothing and lunchbox with his/her name as we accumulate numerous items in the
Lost and Found that are unmarked.
Child’s Name
PEP Newsletter
Dear Families,
This November we are finishing
up our My Family unit and starting our
next theme, “Our Community”. This
theme spans the 2nd half of November
and all of December due to the amount
of days we have off for holidays. We will
be learning about communities,
neighborhoods, diversity, community
helpers, recycling, and
transportation. During the fourth week
of November we will also talk about
Thanksgiving and holiday travel.
Reminders:
 No school
November 11th and 12th: Parent
Teacher Conferences
 No school November 25th, 26th,
and 27th: Thanksgiving
 No school December 14th
: Preschool In-service
 No school December 24th to
January 3rd: Winter Break
Thanks!
The PEP Team
November Happenings in
Kindergarten
A special thank you to all of the parents who
came to help out with our Halloween parties! It
was a fun day! We look forward to seeing
parents for Parent Teacher Conferences this
month. Please be sure to contact your child’s
teacher if you need to reschedule your
conference time.
As the weather gets colder and students start
wearing more layers it is important to label your
child’s clothing! Many clothes find their way to
the lost and found and having a label is very
helpful! Also, please be sure to change out the
extra clothes that you sent in for your child so
that it is appropriate for the weather (long
sleeves, pants, etc.) We hope everyone has an
enjoyable Thanksgiving break!
-The Kindergarten Team
First Grade News
Dear First Grade Families,
October was a great month in the First
Grade!! The field trip to the National Zoo was a
huge success and an enjoyable learning
experience outside the classroom. The
Halloween Parade and class parties were a blast
and help to end the first quarter of the school
year. Now that the first quarter is over, we will
be holding parent teacher conferences on
November 11th and 12th to discuss your child’s
progress so far this year. Please be sure to sign
up for a conference with your child’s teacher if
you have not already done so.
In November we will also be starting
first grade spelling! Students will be receiving
differentiated spelling lists based on their current
spelling needs. They will learn each set of words
for two weeks and will be given a test every
other Friday. Further information on the spelling
program will be provided for by your child’s
teacher during your parent-teacher conference.
Please note that our annual
book fair will be held during
parent- teacher conference week,
November 9th to 13th. Your child
will have a chance to visit the book
fair in class, but you may also accompany them
before or after school that week.
We are looking forward to another
fantastic month of learning in first grade!
Sincerely,
The First Grade Team
November Second Grade Town
News
A huge thank you to all of the adults
who volunteered to help our classroom
Halloween parities run smoothly. The kids had a
great time. November is another fun month in
second grade! Keep an eye out for field trip
forms to Strathmore to see the Philharmonic
Orchestra. This is a free trip for MCPS second
graders that we will attend on November 18th.
Though we’d love to take you with us, this trip
is for students and teachers only.
The second grade teachers are excited
to meet with you for conferences over
November 11th and 12th. Please contact your
child’s teacher if you need to change or schedule
a conference. We’re looking forward to a great
month!
Third Grade Newsletter
Happy Fall! We had such a fun time
celebrating Halloween with all of the
students this past month – we always love
seeing the creativity everyone displays with
their costumes.
Please prepare for our first grade level field
trip to the Baltimore Science Center to be
scheduled soon. Students will have the
opportunity to put their knowledge of force,
motion and the engineering design process
into action through interactive exhibits at the
Museum.
Students will begin learning multiplication
processes in math, so please begin working
on memorizing math facts at home. Teacher
recommend starting with the 0, 1, 2, 5, and
10 fact family first before moving onto the
more difficult factors.
Finally, look for another Reading BINGO to
come home for the month of November!
Parent-Teacher conferences will be held
throughout the afternoons and evenings for
November 11th and 12th. Please contact
your child’s teacher if you have yet to
schedule a time to meet!
News 4 You
It is hard to believe that the first quarter of the
school year is already behind us! We are hard at
work in fourth grade! The students are still
adjusting to the new challenges and
responsibilities as a fourth grader. Thank you to
all of the parents who volunteered for the SERC
field trip. None of our field trips would be
possible without your help and support!
If you have yet to schedule a Parent/ Teacher
Conference or need to change the date/time you
signed up for, please contact your child’s
homeroom teacher as soon as possible. Each
teacher will send home a reminder with the
date/time your conference is scheduled for.
Please arrive at your conference at the time
scheduled, as the conferences have back to back
time slots. We look forward to meeting with you
soon! Students are taking home Friday Folders
at the end of each week. Empty folders are
expected to be returned the following Monday.
Graded student work can be found behind the
“graded work” tab in your child’s binder. Please
check often, but do not remove as we will be
storing these items in our graded work binders in
the classroom which are always available for
you to review. Please remind your student to
study their basic math facts daily, as well as read
20 minutes. As the weather gets begins to get
colder, please make sure students have warm
clothing to wear when they go outside to
recess. The temperatures in our classroom may
vary a bit day to day, so layers are a good idea.
Speaking of adjusting to temperatures, students
have just finished an animal adaptations project
in reading, where they got to
describe and draw their own
made-up animal suited to a
specific environment. Ask your
child about the unique adaptations
they designed to help their animal
survive!
We look forward to an exciting second marking
period! Please help your child be prepared each
day by providing an adequate supply of pencils.
Feel free to donate tissues, hand sanitizer,
antibacterial soap, and cleaning wipes to help
keep our classrooms free and clear of germs as
cold and flu season begin!
The Fourth Grade Team,
Mrs. Brenner, Ms. Greco, Ms. Ewing, Ms.
Leiser, Mrs. Wloszczowski, and Mrs. Weaver
Fifth Grade’s Fabulous News
In addition to all that the fifth graders
will be doing in math and reading, as described
in the parent newsletters, they will be using their
wonderful imaginations to create pour quoi tales
in writing classes. For those who may be
unfamiliar, pour quoi tales are a kind of
legend. They explain how something came to be
in the natural world through a narrative
story. They are a lot of fun to write and bring
out remarkable levels of creativity.
Away from those widely imaginative
stories to the practical realities of life, the
students will be learning in science classes about
electrons and their magnificent roles in both
magnetism and electricity. In addition to doing a
lot of hands-on exploring in class, they’ll enjoy
an in-school field trip presented by Mad
Science.
In Social Studies, they will continue to
investigate the challenges of forming a nation,
particularly as the country functioned under the
Articles of Confederation. They will explore the
conflicts and compromises that provided the
groundwork for our Constitution and our
national governmental structure.
Opportunities for Students
Montgomery College Youth Programs continues
to sponsor engaging and meaningful classes for
students of all ages. For more information, visit
www.montgomerycollege.edu/youth or call
Montgomery county Youth Programs at
240.567.7917. These programs have fees and
application deadlines. Also, Johns Hopkins
Center for Talented Youth (CTY) is now
accepting applications for their Talent Search. If
you would like more information, please visit
their website at www.cty.jhu.edu/start
Attention Grade 3 parents/guardians: MCPS
has sent letters to each third grade family about
the Highly Gifted Centers. “These centers are
designed for students whose academic needs for
advanced instruction may not easily be met in
their local school” (Division of Accelerated and
Enriched Instruction). The deadline for applying
to the centers is November 6, 2015. Please mail
the forms directly to:
HGC Application, Division of Consortia
Choice and Application Program Services,
11721 Kemp Mill Road, Silver Spring,
Maryland 20902
If you need another copy of the application,
please visit
www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/sp
ecialprograms/
Gifted and Talented Screening Information:
All second graders will participate in the InView
assessment which is part of the screening
process used each year to identify gifted and
talented students “whose performance,
motivation or potential ability indicates the need
for accelerated and/or enriched
instruction” (Division of Accelerated and
Enriched Instruction). New third, fourth, and
fifth graders who have not had this screening
will also be given the opportunity. Also,
teachers or parents can request a rescreening for
third, fourth, and fifth graders; these students
will need to submit a completed permission slip.
These permission slips, along with a parent
questionnaire, will be sent home in early
November. This screening will begin in
December, with the InView test, and will end in
the spring once all data points have been
collected. Parents of students involved will
receive letters explaining the results of the
screening at the end of the process.
most importantly, they are able to use the
comments to analyze their work and make
upgrades to their papers. Effective feedback can
be oral or written.
Should you have any questions about the above
programs, please do not hesitate to contact Ms.
Elaraj, Reading Specialist, at
[email protected]
Another way that we are working together to
support student success is by collaborating with
one another to provide differentiated instruction.
One way that we differentiate is by product. This
refers to the ways that students use to
demonstrate what they have learned. Sometimes,
the product is a paper or quiz. Increasingly, the
product is a project, an informative poster, or
ideas discussed orally. These outcomes are
wonderful for your students because they give
them a chance to communicate in ways that best
match their learning style. Some students can
share their thinking best through discussion, by
reasoning with their peers. By providing more
than one way to show what they have learned,
we create opportunities for every child to shine.
Therefore, students will receive grades for their
mastery of learning objectives that do not
necessarily come home as a paper for you to
review. Teachers are working to capture the
reasoning and ideas of your students in various
ways.
- Karen Scarborough,
Staff Development Teacher
Staff Development News
“Academic feedback is more strongly and
consistently related to achievement than any
other teaching behavior”. Bellon, Teaching from
a Research Base.
As parents and educators, we are always striving
to provide our students with feedback. You hear
it on the soccer fields, at social gatherings, and
in the classroom. Oral and written feedback is a
powerful teaching strategy. Research has shown
that feedback is most effective when it is
specific, timely, and corrective in nature. In the
classroom, we want to go beyond saying “good
job”. We want to provide specific feedback to
students to help then become aware of the skills
they are using, and to learn from errors they may
be making. Feedback for written work allows
students to tell more about the subject they are
learning about. For example, we might say,
“You have a good topic sentence that tells the
reader about your subject. You have factual and
interesting details that relate to your subject.
Now, you need to revise your conclusion so that
it connects back to your topic”. In fifth grade
this marking period, students are working on an
energy project on their Chromebooks. Their
teachers have been able to open their documents
during writer’s workshop and provide written
comments as the students develop their paper.
The students have enjoyed seeing the notes, but
PTA Insider – Nov 2015
UPCOMING EVENTS (Nov 2015)
November 3:
November 9-13:
November 11 & 12:
November 11:
November 17:
November 25:
November 26 & 27:
7:00-8:00pm, PTA Meeting - Keeping Your Child Safe Online
Scholastic Book Fair (Media Center at Ashburton)
Early Release - Conferences, Dismissal at 12:45pm
Jump Rope for Heart Event, 12:45 -3:25pm
Dine Out at California Tortilla, Cabin John
Early Release, Dismissal at 12:45pm
School Closed, Thanksgiving Holiday
News from our President and PTA Board
Dear Ashburton Families,
The Fall Festival on Friday was spook-tacular! I would like to thank our Fall Festival Chairs,
Allison Peppelman, Alicia Burgos and Mary Roberts for a fantastic and well run event. I also
want to thank Richard Hsu for creating the haunted hallway this year. An enormous amount of
time and energy went into the planning and execution of this event and we, as a community, are
so appreciative. I’d also like to thank the many parents who stepped forward to volunteer, our
SSL student volunteers, the teachers and staff who came back to school for this evening event
and the Building Services team for helping to pull off this extraordinary event for our school
community. The kids and their families clearly had a wonderful evening because of all of your
efforts. THANK YOU!!
We have had a wonderful response to our PTA membership and donation drive and met all of
our goals which means the children will get to celebrate with an extra recess and popsicles! Mr.
Mullehnolz and Ms. Cino will be coordinating the special recess for the students. Thank you to
everyone who has joined and donated to the PTA. With our growing numbers comes increasing
costs, we really do need and appreciate your support. If you have not yet joined it is never too
late! Visit www.ashburton.org to join today.
Please note that we are not sending out flyers for most events this year, but rather are publicizing
them on our listserv. This is both in an effort to conserve paper and time - with our large student
body is it simply not efficient to use so much paper. I can’t say it enough - PLEASE JOIN THE
LISTSERVE! It is the best way to receive important PTA and school-related information in a
timely manner. To join the listserv, simply register on our website:www.ashburton.org. It’s that
easy!
Please join us this week for our PTA meeting on November 3rd from 7-8pm in the Media
Center. We will hear from an MCPS expert on online safety, Donna Flewellyn, Instructional
Technology Specialist, Office of the Chief Technology Officer. With technology such an
integral part of our lives, Ms. Flewellyn will discuss tips and strategies to ensure that we teach
our children how to be safe online. We will also address how the chrome books are being
integrated into the classrooms as part of Curriculum 2.0. As always, childcare for school-aged
children is provided during the meeting free of charge.
We have had two dine outs so far this year - Ledo’s in September and BGR in October. Our
November dine out is at California Tortilla in Cabin John on November 17th. Dine in or
take it to go and support your school. We rely on our dine outs for funds to go directly back to
Ashburton, so please consider attending future dine outs and take a night off from cooking!
Our Scholastic Book Fair week is coming to the Media Center November 9- 13. This is a
very popular event for the students and each class visits the book fair during school hours. Your
child’s teacher will let you know which day their class is visiting, but you don’t have to wait shop the book fair anytime that week during the posted hours! Check the listserv and PTA
website for a full listing of hours. Spirit wear will also be available for purchase at limited times
during the book fair. Get some early holiday shopping done and encourage a love of reading -it’s
a win/win! Please contact our Chairperson, Katrina Sukduang,
at [email protected] if you have any questions about the book fair.
An upcoming event of note is Camp Ashburton on December 4th from 6:30-8:30pm. This
event has a limited number of attendees, so if you want your kids to participate, don’t wait to
sign up, because it ALWAYS sells out. There will be a DJ, arts & crafts, plus games and food to
make the night especially fun. Look for more information, including registration, coming out
soon on the listserv about this fun evening.
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, if you haven’t done so already, is to join the PTA by clicking on the "Join the PTA" tab at the top.
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!