Free and Reduced Meals Program

Parents of students who quality for Free and Reduced Meals must submit a new application every school year.  Details on the HCPSS Free and Reduced Meals program are online, including how to apply.  Paper applications were sent home in the communication folder this week.  If you need assistance please contact Family Liaison Deborah Slater at 410-313-6907 or by email at deborah_slater@hcpss.org

Celebrating Birthdays and Holidays

We always want to celebrate our students and share special occasions, so we wanted to share with you our plans for celebrating student birthdays and holidays this school year.

Student Birthdays - We recognize all students who are celebrating birthdays on our school-wide morning announcements and they receive a special pencil from the front office.  Complying with HCPSS wellness policies, no food is allowed for birthday celebrations.  If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday with his/her class, you are welcome to send in a small token/gift for your child to share with his/her classmates, such as a pencil, or you could choose to donate a book to the media center in your child's name. 

Halloween - In order to provide a safe, enjoyable experience for all our students and families, we are partnering with our PTA to offer a Fall Festival and Trunk or Treat event on Saturday afternoon, October 26.  Look for more information about this to come home in a few weeks. We will NOT be hosting a Halloween parade during the school day. The Festival and Trunk or Treat will be in place of the parade.

Valentine's Day - Teachers and students will plan to exchange cards on February 14th. Teachers may also choose do a small activity in the classroom in conjunction with the card exchange.  No food/candy should be included with cards. This is extremely important to ensure no students with food allergies receive a food item they cannot have.  Parent/Teacher conferences are scheduled for that day and students will dismiss early.

End of Year Celebrations - Teachers will communicate plans for their team celebrations later in the school year. 

Changes in Elementary Report Cards

To align with changes recently made to HCPSS Policy 8010 Grading and Reporting, the PreK-5 Learning Behaviors section of the report card will be modified. Similar or related learning behaviors will be combined to support parents and teachers in identifying areas of focus.  Learn more at https://www.hcpss.org/academics/learning-behaviors/

School Visitor Procedures

The Howard County Public School System welcomes visitors to our schools. To limit
interruptions and distractions to teaching and learning and to maximize safety for all;
persons who wish to visit a school campus, building or classroom are asked to comply with the following procedures:

• Anyone wishing to visit a school is asked to contact the Principal to discuss the purpose of the visit and to establish a convenient time for both the visitor and the school.
• The school will arrange for an escort for the visitor.
• Upon entering a school, all visitors must sign in at the main office and receive a visitor badge. Visitors will be required to provide a photo ID.
• To avoid interrupting instruction, no students are allowed to shadow HCPSS students.
• Understandably, interactions between visitors and school staff and students will be limited.
• If a follow-up meeting with school staff is desired, the visitor will schedule it for a mutually convenient time.

In addition to the HCPSS guidelines above, Swansfield Elementary will follow the Howard
County Educators Association negotiated agreement to ensure a teacher is notified 24 hours in advance, either orally or in writing, of a visitor to his/her classroom. The teacher may request that the visit be rescheduled based on the instructional needs and the best interests of the students in his/her classroom.

We appreciate your cooperation as we work together to build a safe and productive learning environment for all our students.

Volunteers/Chaperones Must Complete Training