Burtonsville Beat (September 10, 2023)

September 10, 2023

Good evening, Burtonsville families!

Mark your calendars:

  • 9/11 - Back-to-School Spirit Week begins
  • 9/18 - BES Replacement Facility Meeting
  • 9/22 - Early Release Day
  • 9/23 - Burtonsville Day Parade
  • 9/25 - No School

School & Community News…

Show your Back-to-School Spirit all week - Monday, Sept. 11 - Friday, Sept. 15 (flyer)

  • Monday: Wear school colors (blue and yellow)
  • Tuesday: Wear a hat that you love
  • Wednesday: Wear your silliest socks
  • Thursday: Wear grade level colors (K-Blue, 1st-Red, 2nd-Yellow, 3rd-Green, 4th-Purple, 5th-Grey)
  • Friday: Bring a stuffed animal to school

Instrumental Music Parent Information Meeting: Parents and Guardians of current 4th and 5th-grade students may attend the final scheduled meeting, on Wednesday, Sept. 13 at 6:00 p.m. at Stonegate Elementary School.  Topics discussed: Instrument suitability, rental cost, scheduling, performances, expectations, & parent questions. Contact daniella_e_krohn@mcpsmd.org  with questions. 

Your attendance is not mandatory for your child to participate in the program. Parents and Guardians who wish to register for the program can fill out the form here: https://forms.gle/7LSRc8HcegWxwfDp6

Burtonsville Day Parade: Saturday, September 23rd. Make signs, wear your Burtonsville t-shirt, or our school colors (blue & yellow), and come out to show your school spirit and represent Burtonsville Elementary! More information to come!  If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the main office at (240) 740-5700 for additional information. 

A Message from our PTA:

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who joined us for our Back to School Bash! It was a great event because of you!

BES Replacement Facility Meeting will be on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, at 4:15 p.m. in the All Purpose Room/Cafeteria. This is the LAST of the scheduled meetings for community input. Please attend IN PERSON to help BES have their voices heard. For more information, please visit: Burtonsville Elementary School Replacement Facility

Interested in joining the PTA but don’t know where to start? We invite you to join us for an Internal Planning Session on Google Meet (https://meet.google.com/vmf-rxep-xdr) as we discuss the finer details, on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm.

We're thrilled to introduce our PTA Amazon Wishlist! Your purchases directly support the PTA, easing costs for staff and student support, community events, beautification days, and more. Please take a moment to visit: BES PTA Amazon Wishlist. 

Need Labels for your students’ items? Please consider ordering from Mabel's Labels, where their fundraising program will give 20% of your purchase back to BES PTA!  Please see the attached flyer for more information or go to campaigns.mabelslabels.com and search for Burtonsville Elementary PTA.

For information about the PTA and what we do, please visit www.burtonsvillepta.org

County News…

MCPS Homepage - Things to Know

The Pathway to College, Career, and Community Readiness  (updated)

MCPS created a new guide to help families, students, and teachers work together to ensure student success.  Read about The Pathway to College, Career and Community Readiness: English | Español | Tiếng Việt | 한국인 | Français | 中國人 | አማርኛ | Português.  

You can also view a short parent-friendly video in English and Spanish to learn more. 

ParentVue – Quick Guides

ParentVUE provides a way to view all school-related information and data for all your students. Register for athletics, and special programs, communicate with teachers, and verify your student information annually. The Office of Technology Innovation has one-pagers to help families with ParentVUE that are available in all the MCPS languages linked here: 

English /  Español  / 中文  / français / Português / 한국어 / tiếng Việt / አማርኛ  

Student Code of Conduct/ Student Rights & Responsibilities

In order to ensure a safe, productive, and positive learning environment, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) publishes two documents that help students, parents, and staff understand school rules and regulations; the expectations for student conduct; and the possible consequences for violating the rules. 

As well the Guidelines for Student Gender Identity are available which align with the Montgomery County Board of Education's core values, guidance from the Maryland State Department of Education, and the Montgomery County Board of Education Policy ACA, Nondiscrimination, Equity, and Cultural Proficiency, which prohibits discrimination, stigmatization, and bullying based on gender identity, as well as sex, gender, gender expression, and sexual orientation, among other personal characteristics. 

If you have comments about any of these publications, please send them in writing to the MCPS Department of Communications at pio@mcpsmd.org.

Meal Services

Division of Food & Nutrition Svcs (DFNS)

Breakfast will be FREE, and students will have the opportunity to eat breakfast in their classroom. We encourage families to check out menus here and students to eat breakfast at school, fueling them to learn each day.

Daily Lunch - $2.55 - Students who qualify for Free and/or Reduced Meals (FARM) will not be charged for lunch. 

Free and/or Reduced Meals (FARMs) Families can now apply online and avoid longer processing times in September. Online FARMs applications are available now. Please visit www.MySchoolApps.com to complete and submit the 2023-2024 online application. 

Paper application forms will be distributed to all MCPS Schools the week of August 28th. Households that complete an online application DO NOT need to submit a paper application. The paper version of the 2023-24 Household Application for FARMS is designed to allow for electronic scanning. Due to this, only original applications can be processed. Please do not duplicate the paper applications. Again, while we will accept paper applications, online applications are strongly encouraged. 

Please complete the FARM application, even if you think you do not qualify. We have had parents think they don’t qualify so they don’t fill out the forms.  Student meal eligibility from the 2022–2023 school year will carry over into the 2023–2024 school year through October 11, 2023, or until a new application is processed. After that, if a student has not newly qualified for free or reduced-price meals, meals will be charged at the regular meal price; of $2.55.

Transportation

GIVE BACKpacks Campaign

More than one-third of MCPS’ 160,000 students qualify for Free and Reduced-priced Meals. Now more than ever, in recovering from this global pandemic, more students will need help accessing school supplies for the beginning of the school year. Your donation to the MCPS GIVE BACKpacks campaign will play a critical role in helping all students thrive academically. Donate now at MCPS GIVE BACKpacks or text “Backpack” to 301-329-2238.

Saturday School

The Saturday School program will open in the fall with physical locations at Wheaton, Northwest, Einstein, Montgomery Blair, Paint Branch, and Clarksburg High Schools.  Each of these centers will serve your students in Pre-K through 5th grade and includes breakfast and transportation over 23 Saturdays from September to May.

Saturday School serves MCPS as a strategic partner and provides mentoring and tutoring from 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings, which is what we consider the 6th Day of Learning.  The elementary Saturday School curriculum is aligned with the MCPS curriculum and taught by MCPS teachers with the goal of extending and supporting the weekly grade-level learning outcomes.  

Course Flyers: English | Español | Francés  | Fill-in Registration Form

Yours In Service,

 Kimberly Lloyd, Principal

Terry Gobourne, Assistant Principal