Tiger Times
January 2022
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATION
While we know in-person instruction is the best, we do offer online tutoring to all students who must stay home due to testing positive for Covid or for quarantining due to being considered a close contact. Tutoring information will be provided to you by Mrs. Montalvo. She will reach out to families as needed. Please feel free to call the school with any questions or concerns.
BCPS has decided to change Monday and Tuesday, January 10th and 11th, to "asynchronous learning days" which means there is NO IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION IN THE BUILDING ON MONDAY, JANUARY 10th OR TUESDAY, JANUARY 11th. Students will access instructional materials online through their Schoology courses on these two days as teachers plan for possible future virtual lessons. .
Mrs. Whisner and Dr. D
Important Dates
- 1/10 and 1/11 - No In-person Instruction for Students - Asynchronous Learning Days
- 1/11 - At Home COVID Testing Kits being provided to families. Pick up at school throughout the day. You may drive by or walk up from the car loop in front of the school from 9-4 on Tuesday!
- 1/12 - Students return to building for in-person instruction
- 1/13 - Wear Blue for BCPS BLUE DAY!
- 1/14 - Port Discovery visits Martin Boulevard for K - 1st grade students
- 1/17 - No School - MLK Jr. observance
- 1/20 - SweetFrog Golden Ring PTA Fundraiser
- 1/21 - 3 Hr. Early Dismissal fir End of 2nd Quarter - Students will be dismissed at 12:45
- 1/28 - Port Discovery visits Martin Boulevard for 2nd and 3rd grade students
For the updated 2021-2022 BCPS calendar, please visit https://www.bcps.org/calendars
Here is What You Can Do to Help
- Please stay home if you are sick. This is critically important as many individuals with even the mildest of symptoms are testing positive for COVID-19.
- If your child tested positive for COVID-19, please alert your child’s school homeroom teacher, Nurse Gordon, or Mrs. Whisner as soon as possible. 443-809-0158
- Get the COVID-19 vaccine. It is safe and available to everyone ages 5 and older.
- Get the booster shot. This additional shot provides an added level of protection and is available for everyone 16 and above.
- Wear a face covering over your nose and mouth whenever you are in a BCPS building or in public buildings in Baltimore County
- Maryland’s guidelines for quarantine and isolation have not changed. Students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 will be required to isolate for a minimum of ten days. (see below) Should Maryland adopt the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s shortened isolation and quarantine guidelines, BCPS will update its practices accordingly.
What Happens If My Child Must Quarantine?
Free School Meals for All Students
The Office of Food and Nutrition Services will offer free school meals, including breakfast and lunch for the school year 2021-2022, effective August 30, 2021, through June 30, 2022, to all students enrolled and attending Baltimore County Public Schools in-person. Breakfast meals will be offered upon student entry to the school and consumed in classrooms. Students will go through the cafeteria line for lunch meal service and choose an entrée, fruit and vegetable side options, and milk. Menus are posted on the Office of Food and Nutrition Services Web site, Food and Nutrition Services - Division of Business Services (bcps.org).
Community Food Pantries
There are numerous food pantries in the area that are fully accessible to MBES families. Please click the picture on the right to access the most current food pantry list that includes pickup information and contact information. In addition, below are 2 local programs that are open to the MBES community as well.
Starting Wednesday, September 8th, the Essex branch of the Baltimore County Public Library will begin offering meals to all children under the age of 18 on select days. On Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays between 2:30 - 4:30 pm parents/caregivers can stop by the Essex branch ( 1110 Eastern Blvd, Essex, MD 21221) to pick up snack & supper. For more information, please visit www.bcpl.info.
Kenwood Food Pantry
Kenwood High School has a food pantry open to families in the community. Please contact the Kenwood High School Social Worker, Dana Reaves, at 443-809-0153, to schedule an appointment.Language Line Available for Parents to Call BCPS School Offices
The Language Line is now available for parents/caregivers to use when they need to contact BCPS schools and offices. If you have additional questions and need assistance in a language other than English, please use the Language Line Phone Interpreting Service. Please follow the steps below:
1. Dial 1-866-874-3972.
2. Provide Client ID 530771
3. Indicate the language you need assistance in.
4. Provide Access Code 505171.
5. Give the interpreter the BCPS phone number that you would like to call.
BCPS Parent University
BCPS Device - Tech Help
Please call the help desk at 443-809-4672 or enter a ticket on BCPS.org to report an issue with your device or your password as soon as possible. Issues to report include damage, won’t start up, missing charger, etc. These issues could also include a forgotten or non-working BCPS password.
Face Masks
How Do I Stay Connected?
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martin.boulevard.925
Follow us on our school website: https://martines.bcps.org/
Parent Access to Focus and Schoology
Parents are able to log in to Focus, BCPS’ Student Information System, and Schoology, BCPS Learning Management System. Parents will need to create a parent account with the same e-mail address they provided to their school to sign up. Parents must be marked in Focus as having educational access to gain access to their student’s information. It will take up to 30 minutes to gain access to Focus and up to 48 hours to access Schoology. There is a link within Focus that will take parents directly to Schoology. If a parent clicks the Schoology link before the connection is established, the parent will receive an error message. Parents can contact their child’s school to resolve any issues with this process.
The Creating a Parent Account in B2C document can be found online.