Assistant Principal: Dana Bisker

BALTIMORE HIGHLANDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HOME OF THE BULLDOGS! http://baltimorehighlandses.bcps.org PRINCIPAL: BRIAN WILLIAMS ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: DANA BISKER ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: CINDY METHENY

Baltimore Highland’s Mission Statement:

The BHES community meets the individual needs of the whole child while providing a safe and nurturing environment. We establish high expectations to create a foundation that inspires students to become lifelong learners. We believe: Collaboration among staff, parents, students and community members is necessary to achieve academic excellence. All community members serve as role models and should be valued. Students should be challenged academically and socially to achieve their personal best. Differentiated instruction is essential for our diverse learners. All community members should show respect for self and others. That teaching our students to think, dream, believe and achieve is vital to their future. Our students will be responsible citizens and productive community members.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL:

It’s hard to believe that we are in the month of February already. We are in the middle of the winter season and that means interruptions to school days are possible if we get snow or have icy conditions. We have been very lucky so far this year, but the weather can change at any time. As we work through this time of the year, I remind parents to please watch the news everyday to listen for school closings and delays.

I would like to provide an update about the construction for the air conditioning project at BHES. So far, the project is going well and the contractors are keeping to their timelines and are on schedule. If you come to visit the school, you will notice that we have ceiling tiles that have been taken down in the hallways and some in the classrooms. As the contractors complete a section of the building with new pipes and air ducts, they will replace the tiles in the classroom and hallways as they go along. Since this construction work is being completed during after school hours, unfortunately we had to cancel some of our afterschool and evening programs for the remainder of the school year. We will not be able to offer our afterschool Math program nor will we be able to offer the Drop In Program, roller skating or any other rec. and parks events. We are truly sorry for this inconvenience, but the contractors will be working throughout the building and we have to look at the safety of our students and provide the construction crew the space they need to complete their work. The only program that we will be able keep for the remainder of the school year, will be the Learn and Play

DATE : February 2017 program. We are going to do our best to work with the contractors, so we can still have our Music concerts that we have planned for the remainder of the year and any other evening family events.

I would like to remind parents of a few procedures that we have in place to ensure a safe and orderly learning environment. Please remember that we have an automated message system that will be sent to you by 10:00 am each day, to let you know that your child is absent from school. You do not have to respond to this message. This is our way of keeping in communication with parents when students are not in school. In addition, please remember that if you need to pick up your child early from school because of a doctor’s appointment etc., they must be picked up before 2:50 pm. We appreciate your understanding.

If you are picking up your students as a car rider, please use the car loop system. If you need a new number car tag or would like to apply for a car tag, please notify the office and talk to Ms. Bisker. We appreciate your patience with the car loop. We have 250 car riders, and we do our very best to keep the flow of traffic moving and to make sure students get to their cars safely.

I would like to share with the community that we have been doing very well with our attendance rate. On average for the month of January, we had about 95% attendance. We appreciate your support with making sure your students come to school each and every day ready to learn. Please remember that you will receive a letter to keep you informed of your child’s attendance if they are in danger of unsatisfactory attendance. This also includes students that are late for school. We ask that you help to make sure your child gets to school before the 8:40 bell each day. In order to keep up our great attendance, BHES has entered into a contest with our neighboring elementary schools (Riverview and Lansdowne Elementary) to see who can have the highest attendance rate for the month of February. Our goal each day is to reach 96% or better with our attendance rate. Last year we entered into the same contest and we won! The students have incentives in place to recognize individual students and their classes for excellent behavior. Parents, please help by making sure your child gets to school on time each day. We are going to work hard to win this challenge because the principal of the losing school will have to wear the winning schools spirit wear for an entire day. I know we can win again this year

I want to thank you for your ongoing support of our school.

BCPS One Gradebook Registration:

Parents, have you registered for BCPS One yet? BCPS One is an online Grade Book that will allow parents to check their child’s grades and to communicate with your child’s classroom teacher via email. If you have not registered, please notify the office to make an appointment to receive help to register. The process will take about 20 minutes. All you need is an active email address and the verification code for your child to get set up. We want to get all 715 students registered by the end of the school year. If you have questions or want to register, please call the office 410-887-0919.

BCPS Perception Survey:

Starting Friday, February 3 through Friday, March 3 the BCPS Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey will be available online for all BCPS stakeholders to offer their opinions about what the school system is doing well and areas for improvement. The goal is to double last year’s historic participation from 40,000 to 80,000 responses in order to hear from even more of our stakeholders.

DATE : February 2017 The survey may be completed on a smart phone, tablet, or computer, and takes only five minutes to complete, is confidential, and is available in several languages for parents/guardians and community members. Please refer to the BCPS homepage at www.bcps.org to complete the survey.

Physical Education:

Ms. Frech and Mr. Capece would like to remind parents that when your child has PE class, they must wear appropriate shoes in order to participate. Since we are in the winter season, a lot of students are wearing boots to school due to weather conditions. Please remind your child to bring tennis shoes with them on their PE day, so they will be able to participate in class. If children do not have the appropriate shoes for PE, they will not be able to participate for safety reasons, and this could potentially affect their overall participation grade in PE. Thank you for your help.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:  February 6-PTA meeting-5:30 pm  February 13: Dental Sealant program begins  February 17- Schools close 3 hours early for teacher professional development. BHES will close at 12:10  February 20- President’s Day- Schools and Offices are Closed

Giant A+ School Rewards: This is a reminder that Baltimore Highlands Elementary School is participating in the Giant A+ Rewards Program. Please help our school by completing the information below so we will have the opportunity to earn cash for our school through the Giant A+ School Rewards program.

All you have to do is: Log on to www.giantfood.com/aplus to register online or call 1-877-275-2758 to register your card over the phone (phone numbers cannot be accepted in place of GIANT CARD numbers. Our ID # 01549 should be used..

Box Tops for Education: We can earn cash for our school when we collect, clip and return the box tops from participating products. Happy Collecting!

A NOTE FROM THE CAFETERIA: When a reminder is sent home with your student stating a balance is due on their lunch account, please submit the payment as soon as possible. If the balance due exceeds $5.80, your child will receive cereal and milk until the balance is paid. Thank you for your attention to this matter. You now can also go on line at

DATE : February 2017 www.mylunchmoney.com. and place money on your child’s account.

Your support is a very important part to Baltimore Highlands Elementary School. The following are ways that you can support Baltimore Highlands Elementary School:

 Participate in the education of your child;  Participate in parent education activities(parent/teacher conferences, etc);  Communicate regularly with the school with your interests and/or concerns:  Share your talents with our school;  Offer suggestions for success; and/or  Continue to partner with our school for the good of all students.

A list of parent support services is available on the district web site: http://www.bcps.org/parents/. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at [email protected] or (410)887-0919/0920.

ID BADGES Baltimore County requires each student to have an id badge. If your child is new to Baltimore Highlands we will issue a badge to them. Any student that has attended our school and has misplaced their badge we will issue a new badge at no charge. Once a new badge is issued this year any replacement badges will cost $5.00. Please help us to enforce to the students the importance of theses badges. Thank you for your help.

DATE : February 2017