Stephen Beegle 301/572-0630
Principal 301/572-0671 (FAX) Assistant Principal
August 2005
Dear Parents/Guardians and Students:
Our goal in this year’s
We will be sending home our
This is our twenty-fourth year as an elementary
school in this forty-seven year old building. We will continue to be a highly structured,
academically focused school, stressing disciplined behavior. The mission of the
Sincerely,
Stephen Beegle
Stephen Beegle, Principal
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Attendance and
Tardy Policy |
2 |
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Breakfast |
6 |
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Bus Riders |
8 |
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Code of Student
Conduct |
5 |
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Dress Code |
7 |
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Early Departure |
1 |
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Early Dismissal |
1 |
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Emergency Plans |
1 |
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1 |
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Fundraising |
4 |
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Grading Factors |
3 |
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Health Services |
4 |
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Homework |
2 |
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Honor Roll |
3 |
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Illness at
School |
5 |
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Injuries and
Insurance |
5 |
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Late Bus Policy |
9 |
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Lunches Brought
From Home |
7 |
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Lunch Money/Pin
Numbers |
7 |
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Math Grades on
Report Cards |
3 |
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Medication |
4 |
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Missing the
Afternoon Bus |
9 |
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Parent
Bulletins Peer Mediation
Team |
4 6 |
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Profanity |
6 |
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Progress
Reports/Grading |
2 |
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School Hours |
1 |
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School Store |
4 |
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Textbooks,
Media & Classroom Supplies |
8 |
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Traffic
Guidelines |
9 |
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Visitors |
4 |
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Website/E-mail
Address |
3 |
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SCHOOL HOURS
Our school hours for the 2004-2005 school year for the
students are
The school
office opens at
All parents need to plan with their children for
emergencies. Your children need to know
what to do if:
In the event that school closes early or there is a
delay in opening, children will need to know the neighbor or friend he or she
would report to if parents are not at home.
This information should be discussed with each child. During the first week of school parents fill
out a Student Emergency Plan form, so that the school can help students reach
the appropriate people in the event of a change in the regular schedule. Please
be advised that the plan of having each child or the school call parents if
school is dismissed early is not practical and/or acceptable. If parents do not listen to the radio during
inclement weather, they must find someone who does and have him or her call to
let the parent know about the school closing situation.
P.G. COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM
When schools must be closed, opened later than usual, or
closed early because of weather or other emergency conditions, an announcement
will be made over all
EARLY DISMISSAL
If inclement weather or other emergencies develop during
the school day, please listen to the radio stations for possible early
dismissal. The following changes will
take place in the event of:
One-hour early closing: Two-hour
early closing:
School will be dismissed at 12:55PM School will be
dismissed at
The Superintendent of Schools has asked each school to
develop a plan to relocate students to another building in emergency situations
(i.e. power failure, no water, broken pipes, etc.).
In the event of such an emergency, students will be
picked up from
EARLY
DEPARTURES
Parents are requested to make medical and dental
appointments after school hours. When an
early departure is necessary a note from the parent given to the teacher in the
morning is helpful.
Should parents need to take their child out of school
for a necessary activity, they are to go to the school office, where the child
will be called. This must occur before
It is the parent’s responsibility to
have their child attend school on time every day. The child needs to be in his/her seat by
HOMEWORK
The Board of Education recognizes homework as an integral
and necessary part of the educational program for each student. Homework is a learning activity related to
instruction which is presented within the school. The purposes of homework are to reinforce,
supplement, and enrich work done in the classroom, to provide for individual
interests, to promote a competency in skills and content learning, to help
students manage time effectively, to apply learning, and to enable them to use
a variety of sources of information.
Please
note: Homework will be assigned each
evening, Monday through Friday.
No assignments are made until the skills or content
materials are covered by the teacher.
Therefore, students will have instructions, directions, and the
opportunity to ask questions before they are expected to do any
assignment. Specific homework policies for each grade level are approved
by the principal and sent home at the
beginning of the school year. These
policies will be followed throughout the year unless parents receive written
notice of a change. Teachers are aware that
family commitments may legitimately prevent students from completing an
assignment. In this event, a short note
from the parent to the teacher is requested.
Students
should spend a minimum of 15 minutes each night reading for pleasure. This policy can be modified for beginning
readers by encouraging a significant adult or older sibling to read aloud to
them.
PROGRESS
REPORTS/GRADING
Our reporting system for grades 1 - 6 provides for four
contacts to report pupil progress during the school year. These will include one parent-teacher
conference and three report cards, which are sent home with the children. Students in the ESOL program will receive an
additional progress report. Students in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 will receive grades
using the traditional A - E grading scale.
Students in grades 1 and 2 will be assessed using “satisfactory” or
“needs more time” grading scale. There are
no letter grades in grades 1 and 2.
Interpretation of the letter grades is as follows:
A - Excellent progress at the level of instruction indicated. A=90-100%
B - Above average progress at the level of instruction indicated. B=80-89
C - Average progress at the level of instruction indicated. C=70-79
D - Below average progress at the level of instruction indicated. D=60-69
E - Unsatisfactory progress at the level of instruction indicated. E=0-59
In addition, these letter grades may also be used as
needed: NA - Not scheduled this
grading period/Not yet introduced; I –Incomplete,
could not evaluate - explanation provided in teacher comment section.
Report cards are distributed on a quarterly basis. Parent
conferences are scheduled during at least one of the first three quarters. Report cards of students making less than
satisfactory progress during the first grading period will be withheld until a
conference has been scheduled.
All parents/guardians are required to attend at least
one parent conference during the school year.
The kindergarten report card is a description of the
child’s development physically, socially/emotionally, math skills, and
reading/language arts skills. At least one parent conference is required.
Interim
Progress Reports
For
grades 3-6, an Interim Progress Report will be issued during the quarter for
students who are making unsatisfactory progress (Grades of “D” or “E”).
Teachers will assess a variety of types of student performance
as follows: 25% class work, 25% class participation, 25% homework, and 25% projects,
tests & quizzes that incorporate the performance outcomes.
At Beltsville Elementary, we believe that students need to
have instant recall of mathematical facts. By the end of the fourth grade your
child should achieve instant recall of the basic facts. In order for a student to receive a grade of
an "A" after the third quarter, the following calculation skills must
be mastered (mastery is 90 correct answers out of 100 a 5 minute timed test):
Grade 2 - Addition and subtraction facts
Grade 3 - Multiplication facts, in addition to previous
goals set in Grade 2
Grade 4 - Division facts, in addition to previous goals set
in Grades 2 & 3
Grades 5 & 6 - Students must have met all previous goals
set in Grades 2 – 4
HONOR ROLL
Students
in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be placed on honor rolls at the end of each
reporting period if they meet the following criteria:
Highest
Honors Academic
Honors
Straight A’s on the entire report card. A’s
or B’s in all subjects.
Beltsville’s website address is: Beltsville’s
e-mail address is:
http://www.pgcps.org/~beltsvac beltsvil@pgcps.org
PARENT BULLETINS
Parent bulletins will be sent home monthly or when
necessary. Included in the bulletin will
be announcements, articles of interest, and PTA news. Please remind your children that it is their
responsibility to get the bulletin home.
This year’s bulletins will be printed on blue colored paper.
Visitors to the school are welcome; however, the Board
of Education policy states that all visitors must secure permission from the
school office to visit any classroom or personnel within the building. ALL
VISITORS must obtain a name tag from the office, wear it during their
visit, and return it to the office when leaving. Parents who desire to visit
the school or talk with teachers should call the office at 301/572-0630 to
arrange their visit. As teachers are
responsible for instructing students during the day, it is impossible for them
to meet with parents at unscheduled times.
If parents wish to visit the class in session, scheduling a visit will
ensure that they are able to see the class when students are not scheduled for
a test, a field trip, an assembly, etc.
Unscheduled, drop-by visits immediately before or after student hours
are discouraged.
FUNDRAISING
Fundraising activities are conducted to help the
school. The monies raised from these
activities provide instructional materials such as computers, supplemental
reading and math materials, educational software, plays, and concerts for all
the students as well as support for patrols, chorus, and student council.
We ask the parents to help us with this work.
Our school store will be open on Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays from
HEALTH SERVICES
A Certified Nurse’s Assistant (CNA), in consultation
with a registered nurse, provides health services in our school. This means that certain medical procedures
are beyond the capabilities of our CNA and need to be evaluated by the Health
Services coordinator. We stand ready to
assist parents with any concerns they may have regarding the health issues
related to their child
Our CNA’s direct phone line is 301/572-0638.
You can reach the Health Services offices at
301/749-4556.
MEDICATION
Students are permitted to take medication during the
school day only when it is deemed absolutely necessary and only
under the supervision of school system personnel. A “Physician’s Medication Authorization for
Prescription and Nonprescription Medication,” Form PS-51, or a
“Parent’s/Guardian’s and Physician’s Medication Authorization Form for
Emergency Medication —Epipen—for Management of Acute Allergic Reaction,” Form
PS-51EPIPEN, or a “Physician’s Authorization for Medication by
Inhaler/Mechanical Device,” Form PS-51/INH, must be on file for each individual
situation. No medication 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
medication authorization form completed by the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s)
and physician in its entirety without deletion or alteration. The school system reserves the right to
refuse to accept, administer, or supervise the administration of any
medication. The Supervisor of Health Services shall make such decisions.
Medication
forms must be updated each school year. Parents/guardians must request the
forms from the CNA (301-572-0638) and she will send them home with the child.
Parents
will notify school personnel, by telephone, when sending a medication to
school.
Controlled
Substance Medications (such as Ritalin) must be brought to school by the
parent.
Prescription medication will not be accepted by the
school system unless it is labeled by a registered pharmacist with name of medication, name of student, name
of physician, date, and directions for administering it. Nonprescription
medication or OTC drugs must come to school in original container labeled with name of student & physician, date, and directions
for administering it.
Please do not send sick children to
school. Check them carefully before they
leave home. Children often get sick
immediately upon arrival. When any child
gets sick at school, we call parents to come for him/her. Sick children are not allowed to leave without
permission from parents or guardians. It
would be helpful if arrangements were made with neighbors if you are not able
to come for your child within a reasonable length of time. This is necessary because of our limited sick room
facilities. We are able to provide only
minimal care for sick children. Children
should be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. Students who have
a bathroom accident must be picked up immediately. State law does not allow us to keep the
children in the health room.
INJURIES AND INSURANCE
In spite of our constant emphasis on safety, some
accidents involving injury to students do occur at school or on the way to
school. When this occurs, it is
important that the injured child receive proper care and medical
attention. Minor injuries are cleaned
and treated at school, but parents are called, as in the case of a sick child,
if the injury is serious. In many of
these serious cases the subsequent medical expenses are a financial hardship to
parents. To alleviate this problem our
Board of Education has endorsed a low cost health insurance program. Printed material explaining the policy will
be sent home during the first week of school.
School time or twenty-four hour coverage can be purchased. Students entering the school system during
the school year may enroll in this program within thirty (30) days of school
entry.
Please tell each child to inform his/her teacher if an
accident does occur during school or on the playground. Many children do not mention such incidents
until they are at home. We must fill out
an accident report and file papers for the insurance claim.
The basic policy of the Board of Education regarding
student conduct and discipline is found in the Code of Student Conduct, which
has been in effect since 1974. All
personnel in the
As part of the school’s orientation unit the Code of
Student Conduct is required subject matter for all students. At the conclusion of the unit, which includes
a session with the principal or his designee, students should be able to:
·
discuss the CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT in terms of the importance of accepting responsibility
for one’s own behavior
·
describe the consequences of inappropriate behavior
·
list alternative behaviors for problem situations
·
list acceptable and unacceptable bus behaviors
An overview of the
Code is included in the yearly Parent Information Brochure published by the County
and distributed to each home in September. Please
review the Parent Information Brochure with your child. Copies of the
complete Code are available at the school office for parents upon request.
A copy of the Student
Behavioral Contract will need to be signed by you and your child following
the Code of Student Conduct orientation.
Keep the pink copy and return the original and yellow copies to your
child’s teacher.
The staff of
Teacher/student conference Teacher/parent
conference or contact
Counselor/student conference Counselor/parent conference or
contact
Administrator/student/teacher
conference Administrator/student
conference
Administrator/parent conference or
contact Administrator/student/parent
conference
Student/program adjustment Referral
to Pupil Services
However,
the seriousness of a student’s behavior may also warrant the immediate use of
the more formal disciplinary procedures, including the denial of educational
participation.
The
Pupil Discipline Referral form is used in all instances in which student conduct
problems are formally brought to the attention of the school administrator for
action. A copy of the form is filed in
the cumulative folder with the student’s other records and is retained until
the child graduates from high school. If
the parent is not contacted regarding the circumstances of the referral, the
principal many times sends the parents a copy of the form to keep them informed
of their child’s conduct.
A
Peer Mediation Team was established at Beltsville in 1991. The team consists of 5th and 6th grade
students who are trained in the techniques of conflict management. Mrs.
PROFANITY
The
following school policy has proven quite effective in curtailing the amount of cursing
on the playground and in the school.
When a student uses a word or phrase that is unacceptable in the school
environment, the student is required to phone his/her parents and inform them
of the use of the word or phrase.
Hopefully, the phone call will solve the problem. Parents need not talk to the teacher or other
school personnel, just the child. Obscenities/gestures, swearing, vulgarity,
and cursing are included in this category.
Our breakfast program is open to all students. It is totally voluntary on a day to day
basis. In order to provide the most
effective and efficient education day for our students, the following breakfast
schedule will be strictly followed:
·
All walkers and students driven to school wanting breakfast
will enter at the front entrance from
·
All bus riders wanting breakfast will enter the building at the front
entrance as soon as they arrive at school.
We need parents’ help and cooperation in seeing that
their children understand and respect the time schedule and rules for having
breakfast at school. It is our intention
to limit the loss of valuable classroom instruction as much as possible while
providing a needed service to our students and parents. Students qualifying for
a free lunch may receive a free breakfast.
Students qualifying for a reduced price lunch may purchase a breakfast
at the reduced price.
LUNCH MONEY/PIN NUMBERS
Account numbers or PIN numbers are assigned to all students to provide for a more effective an