DUCKETTS LANE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
OWL OBSERVER
January 17, 2020
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
Jan 17 PTA Book Bingo 7:00-8:30pm
Jan 20 Schools and offices closed-Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jan 22-24 No half-day PreK/RECC classes
Jan 22 Advanced Concert at Thomas Viaduct MS 6:00-7:30pm
Jan 27 Schools closed for students-Professional Work Day for staff
Jan 29 Beginning Concert at DLES 6:00-7:30pm
Feb 3 Report cards issued
Feb 4 Schools and offices closed- Special Primary Election
Feb 5 Hearing and Vision Screening
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATION
Be Prepared for Early Dismissals Related to Inclement Weather
Thanks to all DLES families who had their Family File up to date for last week's unexpected early dismissal!
In order to be prepared for unscheduled school closings during these winter months, or in the event of an emergency closing for any reason, please sign into your Family File at https://www.hcpss.org/connect/ to review how your child is scheduled to go home in the event of an UNSCHEDULED CLOSING. Please make sure that it reflects how you want your child to be dismissed in these situations. In addition, please have a conversation with your child about this dismissal procedure if it is different than their normal dismissal.
PTA NEWS
PTA BOOK BINGO tonight! 7:00-8:30pm in the DLES cafeteria
Bring the whole family out for a fun night of BINGO! Everyone who attends can choose a FREE book to take home. Winners will get to pick another book to add to their collection!
The DLES PTA Read-a-thon started on January 6th! We're starting off a new year with the resolution to improve our reading while helping fund school programs at the same time. We hope your students will be excited to use our interactive owl avatars to log extra reading minutes each day, answer questions about the books they are reading, and share the fun with their classmates! Instructions for setting up individual online accounts came home with each student (they are all different, so please be sure to keep track of accounts if you have multiple readers for DLES).
PTA Silent Auction 2020
The PTA's annual Silent Auction and Raffle will be held on April 16, 2020. This event is one of the cornerstones of the PTA's fundraising efforts. Our committee is hard at work gathering donations from the community, but we can always use more help!
Do you have an item or service to contribute? Or maybe you have a personal or professional connection that can provide a unique experience to include in the auction? We'd love to hear from you!
If you'd like to make a donation or join our committee, please contact Brian Stauffer at brianstauffer10377@gmail.com for more information.
Advanced Winter Concert Wednesday, Jan. 22nd, 2020
Thomas Viaduct Middle School Cafeteria 6:00pm
All performers should report to TVMS by 5:30 pm
5th Grade Wind Ensemble
4th & 5th Grade Orchestra
5th Grade Chorus
Handbells
Beginning Band, Orchestra & Chorus Winter Concert
Wednesday, Jan. 29th, 2020
Ducketts Lane Elementary School Cafeteria 6:00pm
All performers should report to DLES by 5:30 pm.
3rd Grade Orchestra
4th Grade Concert Band
4th Grade Chorus
IMPORTANT MESSAGE- Schools closed Feb. 4th
All Howard County Public School System schools and offices will be closed on Tuesday, February 4, 2020, due to the special primary election to fill the 7th congressional district seat vacated following the passing of Rep. Elijah Cummings. HCPSS schools and offices already are scheduled to be closed April 28, 2020, when the special general election will be held. HCPSS schools and offices are typically closed on all election days as county school buildings are used as polling sites by the Howard County Board of Elections.
HEALTH ROOM NEWS
Cold, flu, and stomach virus season is in full swing. As a reminder, per HCPSS Health Room Procedures, students who come to the health room with a temperature of 100 degrees F or higher, with or without symptoms, should be sent home and not returned to class. Students should be kept at home until their temperature has been normal for 24 hours without medication assistance. Students should be free from vomiting for 24 hours before returning to school. If you are unsure, please call the Health Room between 8:00am-3:30pm at 410-313-1739 or e-mail the school nurse at diann_rocha@hcpss.org.
As a reminder, if your child is enrolled in Telemedicine, and with your day-of permission, we can complete a doctor's appointment to check for ear infection, strep throat, and other sinus/upper respiratory related illnesses. Depending on the symptoms we may be able to get a doctor's permission for your child to return to class. If medication is prescribed, we will have the prescription sent to the pharmacy of your choice so that you can start treatment at home.
COUNSELING NEWS
We need you for our DLES Annual Career Day on April 2nd!
We are looking for volunteers for our annual Career Day for our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders for the following time slots:
3rd Grade: 1:00-3:00
4th Grade: 9:00-11:00
5th Grade: 11:00-1:00
We have presenters present the same presentation four times (student groups rotate), so the presenter would share 10-15 minutes of a presentation, then leave 5-10 minutes for a Q&A session with our students.
Please reach out to Danielle_W_Tobin@Hcpss.org for any questions or if you are interested in volunteering.
TITLE I TIDBITS
ROAD TO KINDERGARTEN WORKSHOPS
Jan. 22nd 6:30-7:30pm Hammond HS 8800 Guilford Rd., Columbia
Jan. 23rd 6:30-7:30pm Oakland Mills HS 9410 Kilimanjaro Rd., Columbia
Jan. 30th 6:30-7:30pm Centennial HS 4300 Centennial Lane, Ellicott City
Do you have a child who will be 5 years old by September 1st? If so, HCPSS is hosting a workshop where you will learn:
Please select one night for the presentation. Doors open at 6:00pm and a large crowd is expected. No registration is required. The session is designed for adults only. Childcare is available for children ages 2 and older
COMMUNITY NEWS AND PROGRAMS
Please visit the Community News and Programs page at
http://www.hcpss.org/community-news-and-programs/ for announcements of upcoming events and programs sponsored by non-profit organizations.