WHEN:

Grade-Level Newsletters: Fridays

School-Wide Friday Updates: Fridays at 7:00 p.m.

PTA Roar Report-Sundays

Montgomery Alert

The​ Alert Montgomery System​ provides accurate, immediate emergency notifications from Montgomery County to your cell, work or home phone, via text, email or voice message. Receive notifications about emergencies that may affect your home, workplace, child's school, parents' home, or any other locations within Montgomery County, Maryland.

• Government and School Closures for county government or public school closures, cancellations or delays due to inclement weather or other emergencies

• Weather Advisories for you or your family's home, business, school, child care, or more

• Infrastructure Issues including Water and Power Outages

• Up-To-The-Minute Traffic Issues including accidents, closed roads, alternative
  routes and more

To receive automated email notification of school closings, you may sign up for the free ​AlertMontgomery​ service provided by Montgomery County.

Remind

School updates will be sent via Remind. Bethesda ES will use a SMORE newsletter format for all Friday Updates. The link can be found here. 

Parent Vue

Parents have access to an online platform ParentVUE that allows them to access school information.  Synergy ParentVUE has replaced the Parent Portal as the primary home-to-school communication vehicle for schools to share information regarding grades, attendance, scheduling, and more. 

MCPS guides and resources on this platform can be found online. 

Need help with your ParentVUE account?

Please contact the front office for assistance.  MCPS will be mailing login information to families upon enrollment and for existing families prior to the school year starting. 

Grade Level Teams

 will provide their school communication plans to families at Back-to-School Night. Every grade will have a weekly grade-level newsletter. 

School Directory (PTA-sponsored for parents, staff and teachers)

If you are a new B.E. family, join the online school directory at https://bepta.membershiptoolkit.com.  Returning families need to verify their information at the start of each school year.  If this is your first time accessing the directory, Click here to join. 

You can access the directory online at https://bepta.membershiptoolkit.com or through the membershiptoolkit app (apple, google). This is a great tool to connect with your child’s classroom and classmates. 

Weekly PTA Newsletter (Roar Report)

The PTA sends out a weekly newsletter every Sunday evening with important announcements, reminders, and event information. You will need to be verified in the school’s directory to receive the newsletter by email as the PTA uses the directory as its email listing. 

The PTA sponsors several different listservs for the B.E. community that parents are welcome to join. Please go to our PTA website for more information on each listserv/subscription list and how to sign up. 

• Technology Code of Ethics

• Bullying, Harassing, or Intimidating Reporting Form

• Student Code of Conduct

• User Responsibilities for Computer Systems, Electronic Information, and Network Security 

• Family Educational Rights and Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment and Directory Form

  • This form explains and defines the definition of ​directory information and parents may sign and return the form to school to direct the school not to release the identified directory information (includes name, address, phone number, photographs, etc). 

  • Please make sure to look for this form and review the information. 

  • This form only needs to be returned to the school if you are directing the school to not release the identified information and must be returned in September. 

  • Parents must understand that if they choose to withhold directory information, this decision affects all lists of or references to students distributed or used outside MCPS, whether prepared by the school, the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), central services or other school organizations

Medications

• ALL​ medications ​MUST ​be delivered to the Health Room or the Office ​by a parent or adult​. They must be accompanied by a doctor's order (MCPS order form, 525-13). This form is available on the MCPS website. 

• Prescribed medications must be in a container with a pharmacy label, packaged by the pharmacist.

• Over the counter medications must be in the original container with the manufacturer's label and safety seal intact.

• Students should not carry any medications with them to deliver to the Health Room or should not take medications on their own. ​ALL ​medications must be administered in the Health Room.

• If your child has any CHANGES (starting new medications, dosage change, or discontinuation) in medications, please notify the health room.

Health and Wellness Expectations

Bethesda Elementary will follow all guidelines released by local health officials for best health practices. This includes adherence to wellness checks, and health precautions. We will monitor all individuals in the school building for temperature, cough, shortness of breath, and other Covid-19 related symptoms. Students and staff exhibiting symptoms or those who have been in contact with a sick person should not attend school. If your child has a health plan, revisit the Health Room section. 

For information about when to keep your child home from school, click ​here​. Feel free to check for more information, if needed on the MCPS website or with the school Health Room @ 240-204-5300. 

Emergency Preparedness
Over the course of the school year, students will participate in safety drills. In addition to a monthly fire drill, students will experience the following drills as part of the MCPS Emergency Preparedness plan:

• Lockdown

• Shelter

• Severe Weather

• Drop, Cover and Hold

• Evacuation

• Reverse Evacuation

The following links provide additional information on the drills that are practiced and monitored throughout the school-year.  

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/emergency/preparedness/ 

Visitors’ Management System (VMS)

The visitors’ Management System is an automated system intended to enhance MCPS security measures to ensure a safe and secure learning and working environment at schools.

Upon entering the school, ​ALL ​visitors report to the office where their driver’s licenses or state issued identification card will be scanned. For those without identification, their information will be entered manually. The system checks the individual’s information against the state sex offender registry and will also produce a nametag. This name tag is to be worn at all times while on the school campus. Once the visitors’ information is entered into the system, a badge will be issued. 

Dogs
Dogs are not permitted along the Moorland Circle and all paths leading to school during arrival or dismissal. Please refrain from tethering your dog on school grounds. Please note, that dogs are prohibited from school grounds during school hours according to MCPS Regulation ECJ-RA located ​here​. For more information, see Montgomery County Code Chapter 5, Animal Control, Section 5-203(a) (7) ​here​.

Parking
There is ​NO PARKING​ in the numbered parking spots or the school’s Drop-off/Pick-up zones during the following hours:  7:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

There is ​NO PARKING​ along the yellow curb -- this area is for ​EMERGENCY VEHICLES.

Again, you are not to park OR leave your car in the bus Drop-off and Pick-up zones because it causes traffic to back-up on the street. Adults and patrols will be on duty daily to assist students during arrival and dismissal.

Please utilize the local parking garages when possible, especially for large school wide events. There are garages located on Cordell Avenue/St. Elmo Avenue and Del Ray Avenue.

Meal information can be found here. 

Application Process for Free and Reduced-priced Meals Please NOTE all families should complete the form!

• The application for the Free and Reduced-price Meals system (FARMS) is a per household application. Parents and guardians will need to submit just one application that lists all the children in their household who attend Montgomery County Public Schools. 

Recess:
The playground area will be sectioned into ZONES. 

• Recess will be outside barring extreme weather conditions – PLEASE make sure that your child has outdoor wear – coat, rain boots/coat and/or extra shoes, hats, gloves.

• ONLY students attending school will have access to the playground and school facilities between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. 

SchoolCash Online helps parents and guardians pay school-related fees that are not for their lunch account — such as field trip costs — safely, quickly and easily. This service will increase efficiency and security by making payments directly into schools’ bank accounts and eliminating the need for teachers to handle money. The new system puts all school-related fees online so payments can be made using a credit card or e-check. Cash and check payments directly to schools are still an option.

To register, visit: https://mcpsmd.schoolcashonline.com/ 

Helpful Resources

• Parent Registration Instructions - English

• Parent Registration Instruction - Spanish 

My School Bucks is the account for School Meals
Please refrain from sending in any cash or checks for student lunch accounts. Instead, please open an account for school lunch prepayment at https://www.myschoolbucks.com

Open House

Open House is a time for you and your child to see the classroom and meet the teacher. It is not an appropriate time for parents to conference with the teacher. You will have opportunities for sharing personal information after school begins.Teachers will also share welcome videos with their students in the event families are not able to attend Open House. 

During the Open House, signs and maps will be available. We will be sending home letters to all families welcoming them back to school and informing them of their class assignment. However, if the welcome letter does not reach you in time for Open House, there will be staff available to assist you when you arrive on Friday, August 25th. You will need to present your ID to the staff member before he/she can give you the name of your child’s teacher. During Open House, feel free to drop off student supplies in the classrooms.

Back-to-School Picnic

Information will come out from PTA at the start of the year. 

Birthdays
In the interest of health and wellness, our student birthday celebration policy is as follows:

•  Student birthdays will be recognized during our morning announcements.

  • Birthdays falling on a weekend or holiday date will be announced the last day before the weekend or holiday, or the first day after returning.

  • Summer birthdays will be announced over a period of days at the end of the school year.

• Birthday students receive a birthday pencil and will be given a birthday sticker to wear during the day.

Birthdays are NOT celebrated with food items brought into the classrooms or cafeteria during lunch time. Please do NOT send or bring in food, gifts, or other items for your child’s birthday.

Class Parties​: Fall and Valentine’s Day
Information will come out from the school closer to the events.

Report Cards

The report card for students in Grades K-5 gives parents information about what a student knows and is able to do in relation to grade-level expectations. This standards-based report card will break subject areas into groups of related skills or topics and provide specific information about how a student is doing in each area. See the MCPS website page on report cards for more information. 

Curriculum

Instruction will follow the MCPS approved curriculums of CKLA (Literacy), Eureka Math (Mathematics), and Next Generation Science Standards (Science).  In grades 4 and 5, some students will participate in the MCPS ELC Reading Curriculum.  More information on the ELC can be found here.  Parent letters for the reading and math curriculum have been linked.  

Teachers will be sharing the unit letters for CKLA and the Eureka Module Parent Tip Sheets in their weekly newsletters throughout the year.   The letters are also linked here. For more information on curriculum, visit the Montgomery County Public Schools website. 

Student Privacy Policies and Regulations
*Please make sure to review the entire message from MCPS on Computer Systems, Electronic Information, and Network Security.   MCPS has created an At A Glance Sheet about Personal Mobile Device (PMD) use for students. Click here for more information. 

MCPS has strict policies and regulations governing the use of its computer systems. Under Regulation IGT-RA, User Responsibilities for Computer Systems, Electronic Information, and Network Security, all users are prohibited from knowingly participating in the unauthorized disclosure, use and dissemination of personal information about minors, and any material or information purposefully posted or linked from an MCPS system or Internet site must be consistent with the educational purpose. During the in person learning that occurs in the school day, the MCPS Student Code of Conduct; Regulation JFA-RA, Student Rights and Responsibilities; A Student’s Guide to Rights and Responsibilities in MCPS; and all existing Board of Education policies and MCPS regulations continue to apply. We take student privacy seriously, and we maintain the right to discipline students or staff that violate this regulation consistent with our disciplinary processes.

Chromebooks

Students in grades K-4 have Chromebook carts in their classrooms for their use during the school day. Grade 5 students new to MCPS will be assigned a chromebook at the start of the year. Grade 5 student will take their Chromebooks to and from school each day and should charge them every night at home. 

The following steps should be followed if a student has broken their primary Chromebook device, and returns it to the school for repair.

1. If a chromebook is broken and there is a fee associated with repairing this device, due to accidental or intentional physical damage, the parent will be sent an obligation email informing them of the fee and how to pay online.​​

​​-If the parent would like to dispute the obligation, they can send an email to communitytechsupport@mcpsmd.org to appeal. 

4. Parent or guardian will receive an email receipt from the Online School Payment Management Portal, which they can present to school staff to confirm payment.

5. Once payment is confirmed, the school checks a new primary device out to the student and checks the loaner device back in.

Student Passwords

Students in Grades 3 to 12 will be responsible for their own passwords. While students can change their passwords as often as they like, the maximum age of a student password according to MCPS policy is 365 days. 

What will this look like? 

Students are returning to school with their same/current passwords. 

The MCPS Student Password Manager allows students to change their passwords from within an MCPS building or from home. The process takes about five minutes to complete. Students with special needs may require assistance from an adult. 

When students change their MCPS passwords using this new system, their Google passwords will immediately change. Student password reports and lists will be immediately updated. There will be no interruptions in accessing other online platforms.  

The process only takes a few minutes to complete. Here are the directions: 

Student navigates to SPM.mcpsmd.org. 

Student logs into SPM with their current userid and password. 

Student enters new password. 

Volunteers:

Montgomery County Public Schools requires school volunteers and partnership agencies to complete certain compliance measures in order to volunteer within our school district.

• Online Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect Training via their myMCPS Classroom/Canvas account  See this page for more information from MCPS on Child Abuse and Neglect. 

• Background check (dependent upon the type of volunteer service, per the Volunteers regulation and FAQ)
  
  

Please review the MCPS Volunteer Page for details on this process.

PTA Volunteer Opportunities:
There are many additional opportunities available to volunteer as part of the B.E. PTA Executive Board or on a PTA committee! Please contact Joyce Bensman, president@bethesdaelementarypta.org ​or Brittany Wolf, vicepresident@bethesdaelementarypta.org  ​if you are interested in volunteer positions within the B.E. PTA.