GPES Parent Information

Important Phone Numbers and Web Sites
Garrett Park School 301-929-2170
(Fax) 301-929-2008

Montgomery County Board of Education 301-279-3301
The public is welcome to attend Board of Education meetings. Location is the Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, MD, 20850.

Special Education Elegibility 301-279-3135
Information about programs for students with special needs.

Absence from School
Students may be excused from school because of: 1) death in the family, 2) illness of the student, 3) quarantine, 4) court summons, 5) physical incapacity, 6) mental incapacity, 7) observance of religious holidays, 8) state emergency, and 9) an activity accepted by school authorities as reason for excusing student.

Parents are asked to telephone the school office between 8:00 - 9:15 AM if their child will not be attending school that day, or, before 8:00 AM, to leave a message on the school answering machine. The school will telephone parents, usually before noon, if their child does not report to school. Please inform the school if your child has contracted a communicable disease, such as chicken pox, mumps, strep throat, head lice, etc. An explanatory note must be written to the teacher on the day a child returns to school after any absence.

Students may not leave the school or its grounds without permission. A child who needs to leave school early must bring a note from home and the parent must sign the child out in the office. When students are late for school, they must sign-in at the office and present a note of explanation.

After-School Activities
Garrett Park sponsors activities that begin in November. Examples of clubs offered in the past: Chess, Musical Production, Computer, Studio Art, Cross-Stitch, Board Games, Environmental and ESOL.

An activity bus leaves the school 4:00 PM to take students home. A teacher supervises walkers who need to cross Strathmore Avenue.

Bicycles
Fourth and fifth graders may ride bicycles to school if they observe school guidelines and safety rules, including the use of helmets. Students need to walk their bikes from the comer of Strathmore and Kenilworth to the bike racks.

Breakfast/Lunch
Breakfast may be purchased each morning between 8:15 and 8:45 AM for $1.25.

Lunch Schedule
Kindergarten 12:10 - 12:40 Recess 12:40 - 1:10 PM
Ist grade 11:35 - 12 :05 Recess 12 :05 - 12:35 PM
2nd grade 12:35 - 1:05 Recess 1:05 - 1:35 PM
3rd grade 12:45 - 1:15 Recess 1:15 - I :45 PM
4th grade 11:25 -11 :55 Recess 11:55 - 12:25 PM
5th grade 12:00 - 12:30 Recess 12:30 - 1:00 PM

Hot or cold lunches (including milk) may be purchased for $2.25 and breakfast for $1.25. Orders must be placed by 9:15 AM. MENU
Deposits can be made directly into your child's SNAP account in the Garrett Park Cafeteria. Milk may be purchased for $.50, ice cream for $.5O--exact change please.

Chorus
Membership in Chorus is open to all students in grades 4-5. Auditions are held during the first few weeks of school; however, students are permitted to join throughout the school year. Chorus members and their parents sign a contract that describes responsibilities and expectations for the year. In the past few years the Chorus has staged musicals and participated in International Day, Winter Holiday concerts and a Spring Musical Review.

Crossing Guards
Montgomery County Crossing Guards are on duty from 8:05 to 8:50 AM and from 3:00 to 3:45 PM at the intersection of Kenilworth and Strathmore Avenues, and from 8:05 to 8:50 AM and from 3:00 to 3:30 PM at Flanders Avenue (near Strathmore ). All children must cross at these points and walk along Kenilworth Avenue to the school. They may not cut through the Holy Cross Church parking lot. Children from Parkside must use the steps near the east side of the building.

Children should not arrive at the school grounds before 8:40 AM. They may enter the building when the first bell rings at 8:40 AM. Since crossing guards leave their posts promptly at 8:50 AM, children who are late to school will have no assistance crossing Flanders and Strathmore Avenues.

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
ESOL is a program to help speakers of other languages learn English and adjust to their new environment. The ESOL teachers are in the building five days a week.

Foreign Languages in the Elementary Schools (FLES)
French and Spanish classes (FLES) are offered after school one day a week at a cost of $120 for the year. Any student in grades 3 to 5 may participate. Introductory Spanish and French classes for grades 1 and 2 are offered for $58 (8 weeks) after school.

Guidance Counselor
Garrett Park School has one full-time guidance counselor. The counselor works with all of our students in their classrooms, and meets with individual students or small groups as needed. Parents may contact the counselor through the school office.

Health Information
All students must be in compliance with immunization requirements. Immunizations and TB tests are required for children entering Kindergarten and are available at:

School Health Services Center 301-468-4529
4910 Macon Road, Rockville, MD

The Centeris a walk-in clinic. Immunizations and TB testing can be obtained for a donation of $5.00-$10.00 each (call for clinic hours). Please bring any records of immunizations to the clinic.
Note: parent or guardian must accompany children under the age of 18.

Hearing and vision screenings are given in school to all kindergarten children and 4th graders. Other students can be screened upon referral.

Head lice can become a serious and annoying problem in school, requiring children to remain at home. Please check your child on a regular basis.

The school office maintains a file with emergency information for each child. Included in the file is the name of the person to contact in case of an illness or accident when the parents cannot be reached, doctor's name, dentist's name, and hospital preferences. It is essential that parents keep these cards up-to- date and notify the school office of changed addresses, phone numbers, etc.

The school cannot give medicine to children (aspirin and cough syrup included) without the parent and doctor completing Montgomery County Public Schools form 525-13 Authorization to Administer Prescribed Medication to an MCPS Pupil While in School. Forms for this purpose may be obtained from the school office. Students are not permitted to bring medicine to school.

Homework Policy
Garrett Park Elementary School has a written policy concerning work that students must complete outside of class. Copies of the homework policy are distributed to parents and children early in the school year. Click here to view Garrett Park's Homework Policy.

Instrumental Music Program
Class instruction in brass, woodwind, and string instruments is offered to students in grades 4-5. Classes are part of the school curriculum and are scheduled during regular school hours. An informational conference with the instrumental music teacher is scheduled in the fall. There is no charge for the instruction but instruments and method books must be furnished by the parent.

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Lost and Found
Lost items are collected behind the stage in the All Purpose Room or in the office for valuables. Parents are urged to check the box periodically. Easily lost items (mittens, boots, coats, sweaters, etc. ) should be clearly labeled. Unclaimed items are donated to a charity.

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Notices
Official notices from Garrett Park School will routinely be sent home with the children on Mondays (or the first school day of the week). All other notices (PTA, Dept of Recreation, etc.) will be sent home as they arrive at school.

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Parties
Two holidays are celebrated with parties in the classroom--Halloween and Valentine's Day. Also, for Halloween the children parade through the neighborhood in costume before returning to the classrooms for parties. Room parents coordinate the parties with the assistance of the teachers and other parents.

Individual birthdays are celebrated in different ways in different classrooms, according to the preference of the teacher. Parents should always check with the teacher before sending food to the class.

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Report Cards and Conferences
Kindergarten children receive a written checklist report twice a year, in January and in June and Grades 1 to 5 receive report cards four times during the school year. Montgomery County Public Schools has begun to implement the first phase of a new standards-based grading and reporting policy. Click here if you would like to view this new MCPS policy.

At least one parent-teacher conference will be scheduled during the first semester. Parents wishing additional conferences should make arrangements with the individual teachers by note or by telephoning the office to request an appointment. Parents having concerns or questions about their child's schoolwork or other school-related activity should contact the classroom teacher. If their concerns are not resolved after talking with the teacher, parents should then talk with the school principal.

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Safety Patrols
Fifth grade patrols ride the school buses and are on duty in and around the school from 8:20 to 9:00 AM and from 2:45 to 3:30 PM. Their primary purpose is to help children get to and from school safely.

School Hours

Regular Hours:
Grades K-5 8:50- 3:05 p.m.
8:30 - 8:40 a.m. Arrive at school and line up in the All Purpose Room
8:40 a.m. First bell rings - move to classrooms, begin morning routines and warm-up work
8:50 a.m. Second bell rings - instruction begins Half Day Dismissals:
Grades K-5 dismissed at 12.35 p.m. (after eating lunch)School Hours in Inclement Weather:
During bad weather, schools may open one or two hours late or dismiss early. School buses will make their regular morning runs one or two hours later than usual. Information on school closings and delayed openings is provided to many local radio stations, such as WTOP (1500AM), WMAL (630AM), WASH (97.IFM) and WINX (1600AM).

Announcements are usually broadcast between 6:00 - 7:00 AM. Please do not call the school! Early dismissal decisions are usually made by II:00 AM. Activities scheduled after school or in the evening will be canceled when school is closed due to bad weather.

Parents are urged to arrange for a responsible person to care for their children in the event they are not at home when the school closes early. Make plans with your child covering what to do in this event.