I want to thank all of our families who came out to enjoy and support our students during Friday’s Halloween parade and classroom parties. We hope you had as much fun as the students and enjoyed the WJ pep band and jazz ensemble during the parade! Thank you to our room parents for putting together such great parties. I would also like to thank all of our parents who volunteered to coordinate another amazing Fall Festival!
We had a well attended and meaningful Walk to School Day on October 7th. This event really made us proud at Ashburton of our staff, students and whole community for emphasizing the importance of safety and walking. We also had an excellent turn out for Open House on October 12th. It was wonderful to see so many families visit classrooms. Please talk with classroom teachers for volunteer opportunities throughout the year.
Friday marked the end of our first grading quarter and November 3rd begins the second quarter. It is hard to believe that time has passed by so quickly. On November 11th and 12th students will be released from school early so you can attend parent-teacher conferences to discuss your children’s academic progress. You can expect to hear about your child’s specific learning progress and how well your child is meeting grade level objectives. Your partnership with the school is critical to the success of every student.
I would like to inform you of a staff transition that will take place in a few months. Mrs. Rachel Ralles will be leaving Ashburton in January, 2010. Her husband recently accepted a job as a Foreign Service Officer within the diplomatic corps of the United States Department of State. He has been assigned to serve at the U.S. Embassy in Praia, Cape Verde. This has been a very difficult decision for Mr. and Mrs. Ralles as they have grown to love the area, especially everything about the Ashburton community. Mrs. Ralles will be greatly missed as she is an exemplar teacher and an asset to our community. We will begin the hiring process in search for a qualified candidate in order to have this position filled for January.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Frank Stetson, our Community Superintendent, as he has been appointed to be the acting Chief School Performance Officer. He will replace Mr. Stephen Bedford who will retire on December 1, 2009. Dr. Stetson’s extensive knowledge and vast experience in district and school leadership, including principal at Walter Johnson High School and our Community Superintendent for over ten years, will serve him well as he leads the Office of School Performance in fulfilling their mission of providing support for school communities, building staff capacity, strategically monitoring performance, and facilitating open communication among stakeholders, in order to optimize outcomes for all students. Dr. Stetson states: “I’ve been very privileged to work with wonderful school communities and have greatly enjoyed the many relationships I have with members of school staffs and the communities. I am very proud of the work our schools are doing and look forward to the schools continuing their many successes. I am also very pleased that Mr. Bulson will be succeeding me. He is an exceptional educator and leader.”
Mr. Sean Bulson, Director of School Performance for the Northwest, Poolesville, Quince Orchard, Seneca Valley clusters, will serve as acting Community Superintendent for our quad cluster. Mr. Bulson was formally the principal at B-CC High School and is familiar with the Walter Johnson, Whitman, and Wheaton cluster communities as well. Mr. Bulson tells us: “I am excited to be returning to the Bethesda–Chevy Chase, Walter Johnson, Wheaton, and Walt Whitman quad-cluster. I had the privilege of working for Dr. Stetson as a school-based leader in the quad-cluster prior to moving to the Office of School Performance. Thus, I am aware of the tremendous accomplishments that have been made under his leadership. In the coming months, my goal is to acquaint myself with each of the schools and their communities so I can begin to understand what makes each one unique. I am fortunate to be working with our talented Director of School Performance, Dr. Denise Greene, who I have known since we were principals together in the quad-cluster. The vision of the Office of School Performance is to provide leadership for equity and excellence. As a team, Dr. Greene and I will provide the support necessary to allow our schools to continue serving all students through the lenses of equity and excellence.” We congratulate Dr. Stetson on a well-deserved promotion; however, we will miss him as our advocate and supporter. We welcome Mr. Bulson into his new role.
We have sent home a number of letters from the Montgomery County Health Department and the school system with information about seasonal flu vaccinations, flu symptoms and locations of clinics for families to obtain the H1N1 vaccination. I will continue to update you as official information comes in; we have just received information about the cancellation of the Montgomery County clinics on November 4, 11, and 18 due to lack of vaccine. At Ashburton, we are experiencing a little higher than normal rate of absentees. Some of this we attribute to parents being extra diligent in keeping sick children at home so that cold and cough germs are not spread, and we appreciate parents using their best judgment on when to keep children at home. We will continue to call parents if their children are in the health room with fevers or other symptoms that necessitate the child going home. Please notify the school if your child is going to be home sick.
I would like to thank you for your continuous support and partnership to help students achieve their very best. I hope to see you at many of our November events.
Sincerely,
Charlene Eroh
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