Upcoming Events:

 

 

Dear Patapsco families:

This week, we celebrated Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. I cannot begin to express how amazing and wonderful our teachers and staff are. They have done so much in so many ways this year to engage each and every student. 

We had a wonderful week full of many celebrations. First and foremost, we are extremely thankful for all of the notes, snacks, and tokens of appreciation from our students and families. In particular, our fantastic PTA provided each staff member a Chick-Fil-a boxed lunch and snack bags! Patapsco Middle School’s PTA is so supportive and our families make our staff feel very special and appreciated.  

Also, we had some very generous businesses in Ellicott City donate to our Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. They are: Starbucks, Sprouts, Target, Shannons Restaurant, Mission BBQ, and Jimmy Johns. We are so thankful for their support.

We have a one of a kind community and this is because of the people: our wonderful kids, supportive families, and dedicated staff. Thank you for embracing us with your kindness! 

Finally, Happy Mother’s Day to all of our Patapsco moms and the ones who serve the role as mother.

Mike Babe

Principal 

 

8th Grade Celebration!!!

We are so excited to recognize and celebrate our 8th graders (future high schoolers). Information and details will be shared soon but please know that our amazing PTA is working with administration and our 8th grade teachers to celebrate our students!

 

Our Voice Winners!

Congratulations to the following students for being selected to be published in this year’s Our Voice, a creative works magazine published by the Gifted and Talented Education Program office.

Lavanya A.

Ryan B. 

Ayush D. 

Abigail J. 

Lauryn L. 

Zahra G.

These students worked hard to create original pieces either in writing or photography. Look for their art in Our Voice in the coming weeks!

 

Congratulations to our MESA Team

Our students did a fantastic job in the 2021 Maryland State Competitions. Congratulations to the following students for their perseverance and ingenuity with their MESA projects. They recently participated in the MESA State Competition and earned the following accolades. Thank you Ms. Stephenson for your support and mentorship as our amazing MESA advisor.

1st Place 

Wearable Tech with Bolu Momodu and Tani Momodu

3rd Place 

Expanding Bridges with Jaini Bhavsar, Adhya Chagalamarri, Nihara Ekanayake, and Srisha Regulapati

Mobile App with Isaiah Kim, Mehin Pandya, and Himesh Patel 

Congratulations to our other team members for their participation in MESA.

Harini Sethuraman

Shivani Sethuraman

Brithi Settipalle

Samrudhi Tiwari

Aarush Kejriwal

Vishva Rao

 

Mr. Eyes Retirement

We have a remarkable staff member who is retiring at the end of this school year.  Mr. Eyes, Technology Education teacher, table soccer advisor, and former science teacher, will be missed tremendously. He has had an incredible impact on our community for over 20 years. We would love for our students and families to provide a message and wish him well as he goes into the next chapter. 

Please take a few moments to wish ;him a fond farewell before May 10th. Please share with former Knight Families too! 

Mr. Eyes retirement farewell form

 

MEALS REVISIONS FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 10-14

With schools being closed for students on Thursday, May 13, adjustments to meals pickups are in effect for next week. There will be no meal service on May 13 and additional meals will be available prior to the closure. Click here for details.

 

MAP Testing

On Wednesday 19th and 26th, students in grades 6-8 will take the Measured Academic Progress (MAP) assessment. The data from the MAP assessment will help schools and teachers measure your student’s academic progress. The MAP test does not affect grades and the difficulty adjusts depending on how your child responds. It is normal for students to only answer about half the questions correctly.  To learn more about the MAP assessment, please visit: https://www.nwea.org/the-map-suite/common-questions-families/ 

Testing dates & times:   

Reading Test – May 19 from 8:30AM – 10:45AM                       

Math Test –       May 26 from 8:30AM – 10:45AM

If your child is unable to attend, makeup testing will be offered during asynchronous learning times on June 2 at 9:00AM – 11:00AM and 12:15PM – 2:15PM. Teachers will share Google Meet information and your student’s testing group as we get closer to the May dates.

Please note the following exceptions for middle school testing:

• Students in 8th grade GT-ELA do not take the Reading Test

• Students taking HS level math classes (Alg1 or 2, Geometry or Statistics) do not take the Math Test.

Feel free to contact Mrs. Harmon at Andrea_Harmon@hcpss.org if you have any questions.

 

PTA General Membership Meeting

Wednesday, May 19, 2021 @ 6:30 pm EDT 

Last general membership meeting of the year! Come join us as we must vote on elected positions and the budget for next year! We'll try to do this one in person in the Patapsco parking lot weather permitting.

Access event details here: http://patapscomiddle.memberhub.com/HE53052I344415

 

Second HoCo VIRTUAL Rainbow Conference Registration

We are excited to share that our second HoCo Rainbow Conference will take place virtually on Saturday, May 15, 2021 from 8:45 am - 5:00 pm. All participants must register and can choose to attend only one session or as many sessions as their schedule will allow. Middle school students are asked to attend with a parent/guardian. Please browse our conference website to learn more about the sessions and view the conference schedule.

 

Drop Off and Pick Up

Due to the increase in car riders, please be sure to follow the arrows , closing any spaces between cars, during arrival and dismissal.

 

Tardy Student Protocol

If your student arrives late to school, they will need to go to Student Services to obtain a late pass. If your student is late due to an appointment or illness, please send them in with a parent or doctor note or email pmsabsence@hcpss.org .

 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

During the month of May, Patapsco Middle School joins the national movement to raise awareness about mental health. Starting the week of May 24th, we will share with student's information about mental health: why it is important to take care of your mental health (just as you would your physical health), provide strategies that everyone can use to improve their mental health, along with additional resources students can access over the summer. 

“The experience I have had is that once you start talking about [experiencing a mental health struggle], you realize that actually you’re part of quite a big club.” — Prince Harry

 

As a reminder, you are not alone, your Counselors are here for you!

* Ms. Kendra Lee-- (A-L) 

* Ms. Morgan Kempthorn (M-Z)

Patapsco Middle School Library Media Center – Closing June 1st. 

 

The Patapsco school library will close for this school year on June 1st.  All books must be returned to the Patapsco library by June 1st.   

In a few weeks, a note will be sent to 6th and 7th grade students with directions for checking out books to borrow and keep at home over the summer.  This opportunity will be available to rising 6th and 7th graders only.  Students who want to participate in summer book checkout must have returned all Patapsco books borrowed during the 2020-2021 school year by June 1st. 

If you have questions regarding the library, please email Suzanne McNabb, LMS at mmcnabb@hcpss.org

From the Health Room 

Dental Hygiene Clinic at Howard Community College - please click here for more information. Flyer

If you believe your child has symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or your child is a close contact with someone with COVID-19 symptoms, including anyone who lives in your home, please keep your child home from school and contact your Megan Blouse, School Nurse immediately. Megan_Blouse@hcpss.org 

For more information on HCPSS Emergency Preparedness, please visit the HCPSS website.

Medication Drop Off

Medication Drop off for all students will be every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 8:30-2:00.

When you arrive at the building, please go to the door and ring the buzzer. Let the front office know that you are dropping off medication and the nurse will come get the medication from you.

Please make sure all medications have a physician order, and that both the physician and the parent have signed the medication order form. All prescription medications must have the pharmacy label on the bottle. All over the counter medications must be in a new unopened bottle. Be sure to check that the medications are not expired. Please have the medications and orders clearly labelled with the student’s name and grade in a zip lock bag.

If you are unable to drop off medications during these days and times please contact the nurse at Megan_Blouse@hcpss.org or 410-313-2848 to make other arrangements.

Here is the link to medications forms:

https://www.hcpss.org/health/medications/

Parents of 6thgrade students…

Reminder that all students entering 7th grade are required by the State of Maryland to have the MCV4 and Tdap vaccines prior to the first day of 7th grade. Many students may have already received these immunizations, but the Health Room may not have the updated immunization record.  Please contact your child’s doctor and email an updated copy of your child’s immunizations to Megan_Blouse@hcpss.org.

**Symptom Check Daily**

Parents/guardians, please remember to perform a symptom check daily, prior to your child’s departure from home. Please reference the Health Room Updates Google doc for details.

**IMPORTANT** Parent Contact Information

Please ensure your contact information is current and up to date so that we can contact you in the event of an illness or emergency.  If possible, have a secondary emergency backup person identified who will be able to pick up your child if you are unable to.  All ill students must be picked up from the health room.

 

Food Distribution

• Free Food Distribution every Saturday in May - English - Spanish

• The Salvation Army - Food Distribution - May 19th & June 16th - information in English & Spanish

2021-2022 Academic Calendar: Click Here to DOWNLOAD in monthly format.

Menu for students who are eating breakfast/lunch at school or picking it up from school. https://hcpss.nutrislice.com/menu/menus-eula

 

Knightly Newsletters

All previous newsletters are posted under News at http://pms.hcpss.org/ 

Community Notices:

In response to community requests for resources, HCPSS’ new Community News and Programs website makes it easy for families to find educational and recreational resources, events and after-school programs beyond the school day by non-profit organizations.”

Community organizations requesting their announcements be shared in school newsletters should visit community-programs.hcpss.org for more information. Questions should be directed to the Public Information Office at publicinfo@hcpss.org.