Dear Chatsworth Families,

October is already upon us and it is hard to believe that the first month of school is offi-cially completed. Your child has now settled into his/her classroom. Classroom routines and expectations are firmly in place allowing our teachers to provide a comprehensive and rigorous instructional program on a daily basis. It was very exciting to see such a wonder-ful turn out for our Back to School Night and it was my great pleasure to meet such won-derful parents.

Providing a safe and secure learning environment for your child is a priority at Chats-worth School. While we strongly encourage parent involvement and participation in the school and our program, we ask that all visitors follow our arrival and dismissal proce-dures. Visitors may not enter the building to wait in the lobby during arrival and dismissal times. Our guidelines are not to limit parent involvement in our school; our intention is to ensure the safety and security of our school community. Students may be dropped off be-tween 9:00 and 9:15 A.M. Any student dropped off before that time will not be allowed in the building, as there are no staff members available at that time to supervise them. This safety policy remains in effect regardless of the weather. Any student arriving after 9:15 needs to be signed in late in the main office by his/her parent. Our instructional day begins promptly at 9:15 a.m. It is important that ALL students are in attendance and on time dai-ly. Attendance does matter and impacts a child’s opportunity to acquire knowledge. We also ask that you limit your early pick-ups as this is a major interruption to your child’s learning. If you have an appointment or need to leave early, please send a note and pick your child up before 3:30 pm. Students will not be dismissed from the office between 3:30 and 4:00 pm.

In order to keep dismissal safe and efficient, students are dismissed from Chatsworth School via carpool and bus ONLY. If your child is a car rider, carpool lasts from 3:45p.m. to 4:00p.m. Parents, please remain in your car and wait for your student to be dismissed. Students are supervised in our gymnasium and dismissed by number when their car ar-rives. Anyone picking up a student without a number displayed in their car will have to park and sign the child out in the main office at 4:00p.m. No child will be dismissed to a person who is not listed on the student’s registration card, or given permission by the par-ent through a note approved by the office that day.

Additionally, please be advised that ALL VISITORS must sign in at the main office and obtain a visitor’s pass prior to going to a classroom or any location in the building. While we welcome your presence to participate in your child’s learning, we ask that our instruc-tional program is not interrupted by an attempt to hold an impromptu conference at the door with the classroom teacher leaving students unsupervised. This is distracting for our students and interrupts their learning. If you must discuss your child’s progress or address concerns, please request a conference time to meet. Remember that it is our goal to max-imize every child’s learning opportunity. Keep in mind that adhering to procedures mod-els proper etiquette for your child.

Best Regards,

Andrea Derrien, Principal

A Message from Mrs. Derrien

October 2019

Important Dates October 3

Fall School Portraits

October 9

BCPS Professional

Development Day

Schools closed for students

October 10

Interim Reports Issued

October 18

BCPS Professional

Development Day

Schools closed for students

October 21-25

PTA presents

Scholastic Book Fair

(Family shopping evening Tuesday, 10/22, 6:30 -

7:30 pm

October 22

Magnet Open House

10—11 am and 6:00—7:00 pm

Planning ahead:

See inside for upcoming November dates!

Andrea L. Derrien, Principal Mary Maddox, Assistant Principal

Chatsworth School

Our goal every day is a safe and orderly dismissal for all of our students. With your help, we can accomplish this goal! Dismissal procedure reminders are as follows:

Early Dismissal: You must pick your child up BEFORE 3:30 pm if you are picking a student up for a medi-cal appointment, etc. We use this rule so that the dismissal process is less confusing for teachers and students in transition at the end of the school day. Please know that this will count as an early dismissal. Early depar-tures add up and will count toward absences. We understand that medical appointments may have to take place during the school day.

Carpool dismissal: Carpool dismissal begins at 3:45 and ends at 4:00 this year. Please wait in the carpool line. We know the line may be long, however to avoid confusion, please remain in the carpool line with your carpool number displayed. If you come into the building after 3:30 pm, we will ask you to go back out and wait.

Dismissal Procedure Reminders

Carpool Reminder—Be A Nice Neighbor! Please be courteous to our neighbors on New Avenue and do not block the driveways while waiting in line for carpool.

Enter the carpool line on New Avenue from Chatsworth Avenue, NOT Bond Avenue. Attempting to enter from Bond Avenue and making a LEFT into Chatsworth holds up traffic and blocks our buses from leaving the school and delivering the bus students home on time.

Our neighbors who are inconvenienced DO call the school to report complaints. Thank you for being cour-teous.

We know that our students are very excited when it is the day of their birthday! This is why we offer recog-nition of their special day by announcing their birthday on the morning announcements and offering a birth-day pencil to our students. Our focus at Chatsworth School is on instruction and learning. With that mind, school is not the appropriate place to celebrate birthdays with classroom parties. Balloons, flowers, cup-cakes, etc. will not be permitted in the classrooms or cafeteria for birthdays or other celebrations.

While food is not permitted, you may choose to donate a book or game to your child’s class-room or donate playground equipment (ball, hula hoops), or you may choose to send in a small favor for your child’s classmates such as pencils, stickers, erasers, notepads, etc. If you would like to recognize your child’s birthday in one of these ways, please check ahead of time with your child’s teacher to ensure acceptability and to provide advance notice for scheduling purposes.

Birthday Celebration Information

Chatsworth PTA

PTA Membership: Please join the PTA Today!! Our Membership drive will continue through October, but we encourage all families, teachers, and staff to join as early as possible to help us better prepare for our year. Family memberships are $15 and Staff memberships are $10. Visit our website at chatsworthfamily.com to complete your order online or use the attached paper form to submit your membership dues.

Upcoming Events:

Book Fair

The PTA's annual coin challenge begins Monday, October 14th. See at-tached flyer for details! Mark your calendars for our upcoming Scholastic Book Fair! The Fair will be held Monday, October 21st through Friday, October 25th in the Chatsworth School Lobby with a Family Shopping Night on Tuesday October 22nd from 6:30pm-7:30pm. A book fair volunteer signup will be available beginning Monday, Octo-ber 7th. We will post the link on Facebook, Twitter and on the PTA’s website. Book Fair information packets will be sent home with students beginning Thursday, October 10th. This packet will include everything you need to know about

shopping the book fair!

Yearbook:

Yearbook Pre-Order Discount! Place your yearbook order now and save 10% off the regular price. Dis-count ends October 30th. Visit www.treering.com/validate and enter our school’s passcode: 1014756957913829 or login to your TreeRing Account. See attached flyer for more details.

November Fundraiser News:

We will be hosting the Cherrydale Fundraiser beginning November 4th. Details will be sent home in late October or early November.

If you have any questions about upcoming PTA events, membership or volunteer opportunities, please contact PTA President, Amber McGinnis at amber.smcginnis@gmail.com

Please take a moment to register or update your contact information on the PTA's web-site at www.chatsworthfamily.com. By registering, you receive updates directly from the PTA and have access to the Online School Directory for FREE!

From the Health Suite, Mrs. Redding, RN Should my child stay home from school today? When you child is possibly experiencing some symptoms or is not feeling well, you may have to decide whether or not to send them to school. Please see the information on the next page which will help you decide when you should keep your child home. Absence due to illness is an excused absence as long as you send in a note with your child when they return to school. Please take advantage of this time to help your child feel better and to alleviate the spread of germs. Also, please remember if your child has a fe-ver, they must be FEVER FREE WITHOUT MEDICATION for at least 24 hours before they can return to school. BCPS Medication Policy Medication for a student is best administered at home by parents or guardians. If for some reason it be-comes necessary for your child to receive medication in school, a written order from the physician and signed parent authorization must be given to the nurse by an adult with the medication. It is recommend-ed a first dose of a new medication be given at home. The medication form titled Parent’s Request to Administer Medication in School is attached for your convenience. This form is also available from the BCPS website. Any medication which is to be administered in school must be brought in an original container/ box, with a pharmacy label if it was dispensed. Children are not permitted to carry or use any medication on their own in school (this includes cough drops, medicated throat spray and topical ointments). Fluoride Mouth Rinse Program This program is offered weekly to elementary students in grades one through five whose home drinking water is supplied by a well. The program is provided by the Department of Health and managed by the school nurse. If you meet this criteria and would like for your child to participate, a permission form with additional details is attached. Please complete the form and return it to Mrs. Redding. Yikes, Lice

I’m glad to say we have not had any reports of lice this school year, but it is good practice to get in the habit of checking your child’s head periodically throughout the school year.

Head lice is a common occurrence in children, particularly during elementary school years. When children have head lice, they experience itching of the scalp and the presence of live lice in the hair or viable ova (nits) attached to the hair shafts. Lice are not known to be carriers of disease; they are unpleasant at least, and undesirable at worst. Your child will likely have had lice for several weeks be-fore you realize the problem.

Head lice are most often transmitted within the family or through close head to head contact with the infested person. Although less common, it may also be transmitted by contact with the infested per-son’s personal articles (e.g. combs, hats and clothing). Bed linens, pillows, stuffed animals, carpeting, and upholstery that come in contact with the head may also serve as a means of transmission.

Students who have lice must be excluded from school until they are treated and free of live lice. A small number of nits may still be viable after treatment, but it is not possible in a school setting to dis-tinguish the difference. Affected students will need to be examined by the school nurse upon return to school, and prior to admission to the classroom. The student will be rescreened daily for two calendar weeks after treatment to ensure they remain free of live lice.

If you have any questions on any of this information, please call Mrs. Redding at 410-887-1103.

Fluoride Mouth Rinse Program Form

Parent Request to Administer Medication Form

BCPS News and Calendars on Your Phone!!

BCPS has a mobile app that will send you notifications of school closures - right to your smartphone! Visit https://www.bcps.org/news/mobileapp.htm to download the BCPS NOW app! You can also check the Chatsworth School website for information at http://chatsworthes.bcps.org/ .

Different areas of the school building are warmer than others. For your child’s comfort, please consider dressing your child in layers or sending a light sweatshirt or jacket to keep in their bag or locker. And don’t forget to remind your child to check the lost and found by the cafeteria regularly!

We already have new items since we returned from break!

Remember: LABEL EVERYTHING SENT TO SCHOOL!!

Check Lost and Found Frequently

Follow us on Twitter - @ChatsworthSch

Follow Chatsworth School on Twitter! We tweet about happenings at school, some school ac-tivities, special dates and updates on bus dismissals, etc. You do not have to be a member of Twitter to view our feed!

BCPS Volunteer Training We LOVE our volunteers!! Parents and grandparents who would like to volunteer at school or serve as a chaperone at any BCPS school must complete the BCPS volunteer training EVERY YEAR. Once you finish this online training, please send the application and your certificate of completion in to school. (You may send it via email or with your child.)

Here is the location of the training on the BCPS website:

http://www.bcps.org/community/volunteer_info/

Please call us if you have any questions about volunteer training.

Chatsworth PTA Membership Form

Spanish Passport Program

BCPS Magnet Program Information BCPS Magnet Program applications are available NOW! Please see flyer on previous page for more infor-mation.

Chatsworth Parents: If you have a student in our magnet program and want a younger sibling to attend Chatsworth as a kindergartener in school year 2020-2021, you MUST fill out the magnet school applica-tion and indicate that you are applying for a child that is a sibling of a student already enrolled at Chatsworth. This is the ONLY way that a space is held for your younger child. If you do not submit an application and do not indicate that the child is a sibling, a space will not be held and your child will enter the general Magnet Lottery drawing.

Please contact the BCPS Magnet Programs office at 443-809-4127.

Applications are due by November 15, 2019.

****If you are a current Chatsworth family, you MUST

APPLY FOR ANY YOUNGER SIBLING through the application

process. Please call us or the BCPS Magnet Programs office (443-809-4127)

with any questions. ****

Planning Ahead: November

November will bring many of upcoming events:

November 6: Ident-a-Kid (more information will be sent home with students)

November 8: End of First Marking Period. BCPS elementary schools close 3 hours early

November 18-21: American Education Week (schedule to be provided soon)

November 21: VIP photos (flyers will be sent home with students)

November 22: Elementary Conference Day/Pre School and Pre K Conference Day. BCPS elementary schools closed for students

November 25: Pre School and Pre K conference day. No Students for Pre School or Pre K classes

November 28-29 BCPS Schools closed for Thanksgiving Holiday

Please call the school office if you have any questions.