Elkridge Landing Middle School
Rolling Thunder Newsletter
FROM THE ADMINISTRATION
Dear Parents, Guardians, and Friends of Elkridge Landing,
It’s hard to believe it but we are already halfway through the first quarter! Students
will be bringing home progress reports on Wednesday, October 7. Please take some
time that night to talk with your child regarding their academic progress. When you
receive your child’s progress report next month, grades for any classes that follow
an A/B schedule will not appear. This includes all PE, health and any reading module
classes that are taught as part of the related arts schedule. Progress report grades
for these classes will appear on the first quarter report cards with final grades being
reported at the end of second quarter.
I have been spending time logging into Canvas/Synergy as a principal, a parent, and
a student and have noticed some recent improvements. Grades are being synched
three times a day now and I am able to see grades in the parent view. I still cannot
see assignments in the calendar but when I log in as a student, they are visible there.
I was also able to set up my email preferences in the parent view. You can be
notified anytime your child is marked late or absent and set a threshold and
frequency for grade notifications. We still have more than 260 students whose
emergency information has not been updated so please make sure you take the time
to do that as soon as possible. This is especially important if your address or phone
numbers have changed since last year. Once all parts of this system are working it
will be a really great tool to use to keep track of your child’s progress. In the
meantime, keep using your students’ log in to check missing assignments! The
school system is hoping to have all aspects of Synergy and Canvas fully functional by
mid-October.
We had a great turnout at our first PTSA meeting; hope to see just as many folks
there on October 20th at 6:30 in the media center. During the September meeting, I
presented information on the Classroom Focused Improvement Process being used
by the staff and will plan on sharing information about the Teacher Evaluation
System at the next meeting. If you have any requests for topics you would like to
hear more about, please email me at gina_cash@hcpss.org.
Enjoy the beautiful fall weather this weekend and…
GO RAVENS!!!
Gina Cash
Principal
Elkridge Landing Middle School
Gina_Cash@hcpss.org
410-313-5040 410-313-5045 (FAX)
Needed - Many Paper Towel Rolls for an outdoor ed project. Please recycle your
empty cardboard paper towel rolls (still round, not crushed or bent, please) through
ELMS. About 200 are needed. Gift wrap rolls, mailing tubes, or any similar
cardboard tube at least one foot long also will work. Donations of patterned duck
tape, no longer wanted, would also be appreciated by the sixth grade. Drop off
donations to the office or Ms. Garland in Room 202.
Volunteers - If you plan on volunteering in school this year, here is the link for the
on line training you will need to complete:
http://www.hcpss.org/parents/volunteer-information/ Please email a copy/screen
shot of your certificate to your child’s counselor.
Coffee & Conversation - The Board of Education of Howard County regularly holds
Coffee & Conversation sessions at schools throughout the county. These meetings
provide citizens with an opportunity to share a cup of coffee and chat informally
with Board members. The meetings are held in various regions of the county;
however, interested persons from throughout the county are invited to attend any
or all of the meetings. The next Coffee & Conversation with the Board of Education
will be held:
Saturday, October 24, 2015, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
Deep Run ES Cafeteria
6925 Old Waterloo Road, Elkridge, MD 21075
ADHD Awareness - The Howard County Public Schools (HCPSS) will be holding its
9th Annual ADHD Awareness Evening on October 8, 2015 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in
the Centennial High School auditorium. Our guest speaker will be Dr. George
McCloskey a professor in the Psychology Department at the Philadelphia College of
Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. McCloskey's presentation "Executive Functions and the
Gap between Knowing and Doing" will provide participants with information
regarding executive functions and strategies to improve them. This event is free to
the public and there is no registration required. For more information, please
contact Sally Dorman at 410-313-1252 or e-mail sally_dorman@hcpss.org.
Dates to Remember:
Sept 24-Oct 9
MAP testing window
October 1
PTA Yankee Candle Fundraiser begins
October 2
Closed for students
October 7
Interim reports issued (note new date)
October 7
School Picture Day
October 13 & 14
7th Grade Service Learning trip
October 15
8th Grade Lock-In 6:30 PM
October 16
Closed
October 20
October 21-23
October 29
October 29
October 30
PTSA meeting 6:30 PM
6th Grade Outdoor Ed trip
Food drive ends
Finding Kind program 7PM, Cafeteria
Close 3 hours early (11:45 AM)