Volume 2, Issue 1
August 25, 2008
Celeste Klima, Principal
Lillian Cockrell, Assistant Principal

Phone: 410.612.1535                       Fax: 410.612.1573                     www.deerfieldelementary.org/

           

     

Message from the desk of the Principal…
Well, hello and welcome back to school.  I must tell you that you have been missed over the summer.  I want to welcome all of our new families to our community and to our school.  We have been very busy this summer preparing an increasingly rigorous academic plan to maintain our success.  We did make substantial gains in many areas of the Maryland State Performance Assessment.  We are proud to share that we made Adequate Yearly Progress in all of our subgroups.  This simply reinforces the direction that we are taking to ensure that our children are challenged daily to meet the expectations that the world will place on them in the near future. 

When you find yourselves reaching my age, I am sure that you will spend time reflecting just as I did often this summer.  When I think about fall, I always begin thinking about Back to School.  We cannot do anything in my house without a Back to School reference.  I truly cannot remember a time when August didn’t bring the sensory smells and feelings of the school house to mind.  I always skip the last few weeks of summer and go right into fall.  Each year, I think about those childhood memories of some new clothes, sharpened No. 2 pencils, binders, erasers, dozens of folders, etc. etc.  I always marvel at the exhilaration of the night before the first day of school.  It was the best night of the school year because I was absolutely sure that I wasn’t missing any homework.  On the other hand, my brother would sit in his room and moan aloud.  Well, actually, he would wail loudly for hours.  Evidently he didn’t share my fond feeling for our annual return to school.  This is really a very sensual time of the year. There are definitely sights, sounds, and smells associated with the opening of school.  The next time you come by, stop and take a look and a sniff.  You will see what I mean.  I can also tell you that your mind will immediately go to work and bring back a memory or two from your school days. 

Construction News
With all of that aside, we are ready for a rigorous and hard working year of learning and growth.  This is only references the staff, just imagine what we have in store for our children.  One of the newest things that you will notice is the reconfiguration of our campus.  With two new buildings under construction, I am counting on you for patience.  I have had to have mine renewed several times this summer.  Several staff members have me in their prayer groups for increased patience.  This is not because I was behaving badly, but rather as a preventative matter.   Construction schedules and construction problems/issues do not always cooperate with the school system calendar and scheduled activities.  However, I’ve handled this before and I will assure you that I will handle it every step of the way.  I just want our families to become familiar with the situation and to try their best to understand the issues that will be constantly arriving on our doorstep.  The good news is the fifth grade portables have been moved to the side of the building nearest the kindergarten.  That is because the front door of the new school will be sitting where these portables had been located.  Also the parking lot has been reconfigured.  This is actually the new parking lot for the middle school, however, we will be sharing it for a few years.  There is a new overflow parking lot in the grass plot between the high school and us.  That will relieve some parking congestion for the time being.  However, all three schools will be issuing parking passes for staff, be careful not to park in an area marked for the high school or the middle school.   The growing pains have started and we are excited because just as our Olympic Athletes have shown us, “No pain, no gain.”  When appropriate, from now on, our newsletters will be including a construction update.  Please look for a construction symbol and read the news about progress. 

Once again, welcome back.  I have missed all of you.  I hope to see you in the parking lot, at a school event, or someplace in our growing and impressive community.  Have a great school year. 

 
Sincerely,
Celeste Klima
Principal

Mark Your Calendars

Monday, August 25, 2008-  First day of school

Wednesday, August  27, 2008-  Pre-kindergarten opens at Edgewood Elementary  (Deerfield pre-selected Students.)

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT- 6:00 p.m.
Deerfield Elementary- Classroom Visitations.

Monday, September  1, 2008-  LABOR DAY- SCHOOLS AND OFFICES CLOSED

Tuesday, September  2, 2008-  School reopens following Labor Day Holiday

Mark Your Calendars

 

Monday, August 25, 2008-  First day of school

Wednesday, August  27, 2008-  Pre-kindergarten opens at Edgewood Elementary  (Deerfield pre-selected Students.)

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT- 6:00 p.m.
Deerfield Elementary- Classroom Visitations.

Monday, September  1, 2008-  LABOR DAY- SCHOOLS AND OFFICES CLOSED

Tuesday, September  2, 2008-  School reopens following Labor Day Holiday

Tuesday, September 9, 2008-  Boy Scout Registration in Deerfield Lobby beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008-  McDonald’s Night for Deerfield – Edgewood McDonalds 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008- Volunteer Breakfast in Deerfield Café- 9:00 a.m.

Saturday, September 27, 2008-  Greater Edgewood Education  Foundation will hold an Education Conference. (Edgewood High)

Monday, September 29, 2008-  Elementary Early Dismissal-  Deerfield Dismissal is at 1:30 p.m

Tuesday, September 30, 2008-  Rosh Hashanah-  SCHOOL CLOSED

 

SAFETY AT DEERFIELD

It is one of our greatest desires to keep your children safe.  We are well past the times when we can just allow anyone to walk through our building, sit-in without identification, or pick up a child.  At times, we find that parents become upset when we won’t release a child, or just let them roam unannounced.  I would rather explain this to you twenty times, then to tell you that your child is missing once.  Please try to understand that we are protecting your children.  Always bring identification with you and stop by the office when you visit.  Instruction is our highest priority and we do all that we can to keep it from being interrupted.  On any given day, we have more visitors than we can count.  If we just let each one go, we would have ten, twenty, or more interruptions to instruction.  Without mentioning that each one of these interruptions has potential for at least one child’s safety, which also has consequences.  Please forgive us for handling each case carefully, but we are in the business of educating children in a safe environment.  I know that you want to support us in those efforts.  We appreciate your understanding.  We do have a Visitor ID system which will print picture badges for each visitor as well as mark itself invalid within twelve hours.  We can scan your driver’s license or take our own picture.  We have some of the hardware in the office now, although the initial year of implementation has provided us with growing pains, we believe that this system is a wonderful tracking tool.  

You may have noticed that we have a camera entry system.  You will need to ring the doorbell on the right hand wall next to the front doors.  We will answer you and once we have determined your business, we will buzz you in.    This is intended to be one more thing to keep your children that much safer.  We realize that all of these things will be an issue for some people.  That is not our intent.  We are just trying to keep everyone in our building as protected as we possibly can.  We certainly thank you for your support. 

Please be very careful in the parking lot.  I have been out there monitoring cars and have found that most people have been courteous and careful.  The issue that has me the most concerned at this point is the walking between cars.  As the adults walk in to pick up children and/or walk out with them, I am witnessing people just walking into the lane where cars move with little or no awareness of the traffic situation.  This then presents itself as adults signaling to children that it is safe to cross.  Please become dramatic when moving through this area.  Let the children see you check both ways.  This teaches them to do it also.  Try not to walk out in between cars.  Show them how to walk to the area where we unload cars in the morning.  Most days, I am there and will assist to keep all safe as they drive and walk.  I have stopped people to allow cars to pass, and some people have come up from behind and just walked in front of the car that I just waved forward.  I realize that many families have busy schedules but is it worth having your child hit by a car?  Just as a reality, our parking area will be a busy and congested place in the afternoons.  I will do all that I can to ensure that everyone is as safe as possible. Please make yourself my partner in this endeavor.  Unless I am attending a meeting, I am in that parking lot every morning and afternoon.  You will see me there with wind chills below zero as well as in 100 degree heat.  I will stand in the rain some days and will get so wet that I just never dry.  I do it to keep our children as safe as I can.  However, the job is much larger than I can handle alone.  I appreciate your help; this just might be the most important job that we ever have focused on.  In this one area, we want zero data to support our hypothesis.   

MEET OUR CERTIFIED STAFF

Special Area Teachers

Ms. Stephanie Cosgrove Media, Ms. Dawn Stickles Media, Ms. Debbie Perry Art, Mr. Oscar Torres Art, Mr. Casey Kerr  P.E., Ms. Kate Maynard  ( out on leave substitute is Mr. Buerhaus) P.E., Ms. Heather Urban Instrumental Music, Ms. Ann Pape Strings, Ms. Miranda Strobl Vocal Music, Mr. Andrew Rising Vocal Music

Specialists and Special Education

Ms. Karen Briguglio Literacy Leader, Ms. Barbara Concini Literacy Leader, Mrs. Jennifer Markoff  Math Specialist, Mr. Paul Bercik Special Education, Ms. Lauren Burton Special Education, Mrs. Colleen Sasdelli Special Education, Mr. Macon Tucker Special Education, Ms. Lori Zavoyna Speech and Language Pathologist, Mrs. Ellen Fielder Educational Evaluator, Mrs. Victoria Antal Guidance Counselor, Ms. Diana Miller, Nurse.

 

Grade Level/Homeroom Teachers

Kindergarten: Mrs. Linda Dart, Mrs. Samantha Walton, Mrs. Charlene Cosentini, Ms. Sara Watson, Ms. Rena Spicer.

First Grade: Ms. Emily Wiechec, Ms. Megan Pardick, Mrs. Joan Giordano, Mrs.  Joanna Johnson, Mrs. Doris Haskell.

Second Grade: Mrs. Laura Bethke, Mrs. Wendy Roe, Ms. Shannon Stephens,  Ms. Jennifer Simone.

Third Grade: Ms. Kim Heller, Ms. Marlyn Lyons, Ms. Taylor Hegeman, Ms. Deidra Klein, Mrs. Myong Critchlow.

Fourth Grade: Mrs. Jessica Manns (out on leave substitute is Ms. Jennessa York), Mrs. Christina McHugh, Mrs. Patricia Wolkow, Mrs. Michele Lassen, Mrs. Tara Warren.

Fifth Grade: Ms. Jennifer Edwards, Ms.  Jennifer Dupilka, Ms. Angela Humphrey, Ms. Shelyn Abbott, Mrs. Amanda Rutherford.

In our next edition, we will feature our Para-educators, our Inclusion Helpers, our Office Staff, our Custodial Staff, and our Cafeteria Staff. 

 

MISSION

                We believe that the Deerfield Students will learn every day with instruction that is data driven, in a positive, safe and nurturing environment.

VISION

Deerfield Students will continuously learn in order to be successful members of society. 

 

 

 

   

Home / Our Staff / Newsletter / PTA / Events