HAMMOND NEWS
HAMMOND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
8110 Aladdin Drive Laurel, MD 20723
410-880-5890
Safe-to-School 301-725-9250

August 30, 2007

August 30 HES PTA Back to School Picnic 5 o’clock

AUGUST 31 NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS – PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY

SEPTEMBER 3 SCHOOLS CLOSED – LABOR DAY

September 4 PTA Executive Board Meeting

September 10 Back to School Night K, 1, 2 – PTA General Meeting - 7pm

September 11 Back to School Night 3, 4, 5 – 7pm

GT Back to School night 6 pm – general overview of GT Program

SEPTEMBER 13 SCHOOLS CLOSED – ROSH HASHANAH

September 20 Overview of the GT Math program for students already enrolled– 6pm Media Center

October 5 Interim progress reports issued

OCTOBER 19 SCHOOLS CLOSED FOR STUDENTS – MSTA CONVENTION

NOVEMBER 2 SCHOOLS CLOSED FOR STUDENTS – PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY

BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT 2007
Please mark your calendar and be sure to attend Back To School Night. Monday, September 10th will be for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade. Tuesday, September 11th will be for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. Back To School night will start at 7pm on Monday and Tuesday with a general overview of the GT program starting at 6pm on Tuesday.

Questions About School System Policies and Procedures?
During the course of the first marking period we will be highlighting some important HCPSS policies in the newsletter. If you want more information the school system has two excellent resources. First, the school system website www.hcpss.org, contains a great deal of user friendly information about Howard County schools. For all the official policies, visit www.hcpss.org/board/policies. Second, check the school system calendar that was sent home on the first day of school. The back half of the calendar is the HCPSS handbook that has answers to many important questions.

Change in Attendance Policy 9010: PLEASE READ
As of July 2007, the determination for full and half-day attendance is as follows:

By state law, school attendance is mandatory for students ages 5-16. A student is counted present for a full day if a student is in attendance 4 hours or more of the school day.

A student is counted present for a 1/2 day if in attendance for at least 2 hours of the school day, but less that 4 hours.

Please know that in implementing this school system policy, it is our recommendation that students attend school every day that they are well enough to do so. All students should arrive at school as close to 8:45am as possible so that they will be in their classroom and ready to begin school work by 9:00am. If they arrive after 9:00am a parent needs to sign them in in the front office.

In addition to calling the safe to school line, you MUST send in a note regarding your child's absence the first day of their return to school. If a note is not received within two days of your child's absence they will be marked unlawful or truant.

CHANGE IN LUNCH PRICES!
There has been a change in lunch price for the 07-08 school year. The price for elementary students is $2.25, milk prices will stay the same at .50 cents.

eSchoolnewsletter
Just a reminder to update your child’s grade if you received eschoolnewsletter last year. If you would like to sign up to receive this newsletter and other important HES and HCPSS information via email, go to www.eschoolnewsletter.com . When you get to the webpage just follow the directions for new user sign up.

OVERVIEW OF THE GT MATH PROGRAM FOR GRADES 4 & 5
This curriculum overview is for parents of students currently enrolled in the GT math program for grades 4 and 5. The meeting will take place on Thursday, September 20th at 6:00 pm in the Media Center .

JOIN THE PTA!
Look for the PTA Membership Form in your child(ren’s) Friday folder. Turn in your form before Thursday, September 13th and your family will be entered into a drawing to win a custom embroidered Hammond Elementary School Blanket. The winners will be announced on Friday!

There’s more… the grade with the most memberships will get cool Tuffy Paw Print Tattoos during Spirit Week!

So, do it now, fill out the short form, attach payment and send it to school. It’s that easy!

Girl Scout Recruitment Night
Does your daughter want to be a Girl Scout?

Learn more about Girl Scouts, meet local leaders, and organize new troops at a parents’ meeting on September 6 at 6 pm in the HES media center. Parents and interested girls welcome. For more information, call Mary Jo Fisher at 301-776-3169.

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!
A BIG THANK YOU to the following parents who were a tremendous help with the stuffing of the green folders last week: Andrea Francesconi, Amy Shugar, Erin Dorn, Lori Osterman, Margaret Barry, Patty Jackson, Patty DeBenedetto and Sharon Gilbert.

Thank You Classroom Volunteers!

The volunteer schedule for the first month is now on our website.

http://www.hespta.org/back-to-school_classroom_volunteer_list.html

RESERVED PARKING SPOTS
We would like to respectfully remind everyone that the reserved spots in the lower lot are reserved for administration and staff members of the week only. Thank you for your cooperation.

DISCIPLINE (POLICY 9200)
Student behavior is the shared responsibility of the school, the student, and the home. The professional staff at a school has the responsibility for taking appropriate action when a student is involved in a situation that is not conducive to a safe and orderly environment. The student has the right to be informed of the reasons for disciplinary action. The Board of Education has taken the following positions on various forms of discipline:

• Alternative Educational Settings are settings within or outside of the home school designed to accommodate the needs of students who have demonstrated, due to disciplinary reasons, an inability or unwillingness to function in a regular setting, or who present a serious physical threat to themselves or others. Alternative educational settings include but are not limited to in-school alternatives, Saturday School , Gateway School , home teaching, and evening school.

• Detention is the placement of a student in a supervised school setting during the school day, before or after school, and on Saturdays.

• Suspension is the denial of a student’s right to attend regular classes or school for a specified period of time for cause.

• Expulsion is the removal of a student from school, either for a specified period of time or permanently, as determined by the Superintendent or designee.

Restricted Access limits the time a student may be present on school property to the academic school day

Howard County Public School System Dress Code(Policy 9210)

It shall be a violation of the Howard County Board of Education

Policy #9210 for any student to wear attire that interferes with the educational mission of schools, is disruptive to the school environment, provocative, or that could endanger the health and safety of that student or others during school hours and school activities.

We understand that the weather will be warm for quite a while and our students are continuing to wear summer clothing. However, we must emphasize that some clothing is not appropriate to wear to school, such as; halters, tank tops, tops that are strapless, low cut, or expose midriff, short shorts, short skirts and pants worn low or loose which expose skin or undergarments.

Thank you for your understanding of this important policy. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the administration at HES.