August 26, 2019

Families of TSES Kindergarten Students,

We are looking forward with great excitement to the arrival of your children to our Talbott Springs Elementary School Kindergarten! It is of great importance to me that your children feel as though they are welcomed into our school and that they find a find a sense of belonging within the Kindergarten team and their specific classrooms.

This past week, the Howard County Public School System added a 4th Kindergarten class to our team which had originally been allocated 3 classes. I am so grateful to HCPSS for adding this class to our Kindergarten team as the number of students assigned to the existing 3 classes grew through enrollment this summer. Instead of having a very high number of students in 3 classrooms, we will have a much more comfortable number of students in 4 classes.

Because of the timing of being given the additional class, we are now working to hire a teacher. It is very important to have the ‘just right’ teacher in a classroom rather than hiring someone quickly. Finding the perfect teacher for our students takes focus and a little time. We are currently hiring a substitute to open the school year as the 4th teacher in Kindergarten. There are many supports planned for this substitute including assuring that the classroom is set up in a welcoming manner and that there are additional staff members in the room until the permanently hired teacher is settled into his or her new role at TSES. We have had terrific success with this plan in years gone by and I believe that this year will be no different.

When your child’s completed HCPSS Connect Family File is populated with a teacher name on August 28, 2019, approximately ¼ (20) of our students will have a teacher assignment of ‘vacancy’. Please note that this is temporary! As soon as we have the name of a substitute, we will share it with you. Please speak with your child in a positive manner to assure him or her that there are many staff members at TSES and each of them is looking forward to having them in our school for Kindergarten. We are asking for your patience and understanding as we work as quickly and as thoroughly as possible through these next days.

If you have any questions, please contact me at nancy_thompson@hcpss.org or via phone at 410-313-6915.

Sincerely,

Nancy Thompson

Principal