Talbott Springs Elementary School
Newsletter - 8/29/25
Greetings TSES Families,
We’ve had a fantastic first week at TSES! Our attendance rate this week was 98% Let’s keep it up!
This is a reminder that schools are closed on Monday for Labor Day. I hope everyone has a great weekend, and we will see our students back at school on Tuesday, September 2 @ 8:30am.
This week’s newsletter includes the following:
Important Dates
Family File Updates
Free & Reduced Meals
School Based Wellness Center
Dental Clinic Registration
Title I Annual Night
Change of Address in Family File
Universal Screener Notification
Family Needs Survey
CA Points
Blessings in a Backpack
Flying Eagles Volunteer Program
Important Dates
September 1 - Schools & offices are closed for Labor Day
September 2 - First PTA Meeting @ 6pm @ TSES
September 9 - Primary (K,1st,2nd) Back to School Night @ 6:00pm-7:00pm
September 11 - Gifted & Talented Back to School Night @ 5:30pm
September 11 - Intermediate (3rd, 4th, 5th) Back to School Night @ 6:00pm-7:00pm
September 17 - Schools close 3 hours early - TSES will dismiss @ 12:15
September 18 - Fall Picture Day
September 18 - Title I Annual Night @ 6:00pm-8:00pm
September 23 - Schools & offices are closed for Rosh Hashanah
Update emergency info for each child via HCPSS Connect. Must be completed prior to your child(ren)’s 1st day. Full details on updating your Family File are available online. Please call our front office at 410-313-6915 if you need support with completing the Family File.
The Free and Reduced Meals application is available now! You must reapply every year. It is highly encouraged to complete this form as it provides additional benefits to you and the district such as grants, program funding, athletic waivers, and textbooks assistance, among others. TSES is a Title I school, and our funding is dependent upon the number of families enrolled in FARMs. All families please complete. Please call our front office at 410-313-6915 if you need support with completing the application.
School Based Wellness Center
There are currently 10 SBWCs in Howard County Public Schools - and one of them is at TSES! The Wellness Center is an option for ALL students, with parental consent. For children without insurance or with limited access to care, we provide appointments for primary care visits (physicals), care management, and vaccines. For all children, including those with health insurance, we offer urgent care visits (ear infections, strep throat, headaches, cramps, asthma visits, etc.), follow up visits, medication orders, labs, medications/prescriptions and other medical care as indicated. All children sent to the health room for illnesses or injuries are initially evaluated and cared for by the Health Assistant and School Nurse. Referrals to the NP in the Wellness Center occur if indicated, after parental contact.
On days without an on-site provider, a telemedicine cart for virtual visits with the NP is available. There is NO COST for any service. Our goals are to help students stay healthy, return to the classroom quicker, miss less days of school, and for parents to miss less days at work.
If a student has been enrolled in the past, they do not need to enroll every year, unless there are changes to their health history, family history, or insurance status that need to be updated.
The Howard County Health Department created a short informational video about what we are, what we do, who should enroll and w
Sign up today so your child can participate in the TSES School Based Wellness Center!
Dental Clinic
On October 13 & 14, 2025, Talbott Springs ES will hold an in-school dental clinic provided by the MD Smiles Program. Please keep an eye out for the permission slips that will be sent home in the next couple of weeks. You can also enroll your child now by clicking this link.
Title I Annual Night
Please join us for our Title I Annual Night on Thursday, September 18 @ 6pm. Check out our flier (in English & Spanish) for details and make sure to RSVP!
Change of address
Any change of residency must be reported through Family File within 10 school days of the move. Current residency documentation must be provided to the school each time residency changes.
Universal Screener Notification
In accordance with Maryland’s Ready to Read Act (2019), COMAR (2021) and the direction from the Howard County Board of Education, all Howard County Public School System students in kindergarten to grade 5 will participate in the 2025 - 2026 administration of the Amplify mClass with DIBELS 8th Edition universal screener to identify potential reading difficulties during the following windows.
Beginning of the year (BOY)
September 8, 2025 - September 22, 2025
Middle of the year (MOY)
January 12, 2026 - January 30, 2026
End of the year (EOY)
May 18, 2026 - June 2, 2026
Amplify mClass DIBELS 8th Edition has identified students for whom mClass is not an appropriate assessment. Students for whom this is true include those with limited verbal language skills, with fluency-based speech disorders or oral apraxia, and/or who are blind and/or deaf.
Please see below for screening areas measured in each grade. Students will complete the screener in four to twelve minutes and will be screened three times this year during the windows indicated above in the chart.
How will the results be used?
Performance is an indicator of overall reading status and is not intended to be an in-depth or comprehensive measure of reading. Just like using a thermometer to take a temperature, which provides a quick indicator of general health, these quick assessments provide information about reading health on particular early reading skills.
A student’s scores on the screener give school staff information about whether or not a student is on track for grade-level reading success. School staff can quickly identify students who may require extra help. Parents and guardians will receive a home report with their child’s scores.
Some information on this parent notification is taken directly from the Ready to Read Act and COMAR, while other content was summarized to reflect HCPSS procedures.
COMAR 13A.03.08 - Students at Risk for Reading Difficulties
Ready to Read Act Senate Bill 734
In accordance with Maryland’s Ready to Read Act (2019), COMAR (2021) and the direction from the Howard County Board of Education, all Howard County Public School System students in kindergarten to grade 5 will participate in the 2025 - 2026 administration of the Amplify mClass with DIBELS 8th Edition universal screener to identify potential reading difficulties during the following windows.
Beginning of the year (BOY)
September 8, 2025 - September 22, 2025
Middle of the year (MOY)
January 12, 2026 - January 30, 2026
End of the year (EOY)
May 18, 2026 - June 2, 2026
Amplify mClass DIBELS 8th Edition has identified students for whom mClass is not an appropriate assessment. Students for whom this is true include those with limited verbal language skills, with fluency-based speech disorders or oral apraxia, and/or who are blind and/or deaf.
Students will complete the screener in four to twelve minutes and will be screened three times this year.
How will the results be used?
Performance is an indicator of overall reading status and is not intended to be an in-depth or comprehensive measure of reading. Just like using a thermometer to take a temperature, which provides a quick indicator of general health, these quick assessments provide information about reading health on particular early reading skills.
A student’s scores on the screener give school staff information about whether or not a student is on track for grade-level reading success. School staff can quickly identify students who may require extra help. Parents and guardians will receive a home report with their child’s scores.
Some information on this parent notification is taken directly from the Ready to Read Act and COMAR, while other content was summarized to reflect HCPSS procedures.
COMAR 13A.03.08 - Students at Risk for Reading Difficulties
Ready to Read Act Senate Bill 734
Family Needs Survey
If you would like to receive information about the different services that TSES can help support, such as Holiday Support, Free Bikes for kids, and other similar programs, please complete this short survey to be included: https://forms.gle/sEv69zvm3CdBbKCC7
CA Points
The CA (Columbia Association) Points Program is offered to students in grades 3-12 who are enrolled in the Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS) program. Students can earn a free CA membership for themselves and their immediate family by meeting goals for grades and attendance. To participate in the CA Points Program, you must complete a FARMs application and complete the CA Points Enrollment Form. Online enrollment will close on Friday, September 28, 2025. For more information, visit CA Points Program or email CAPoints@ColumbiaAssociation.org. or jennifer_rothenberger@hcpss.org.
Blessings in a Backpack
Your child(ren) is eligible to be a recipient of the Blessings in a Backpack program. Your child(ren) will receive a bag of non-perishable food at the end of the school week. They will put the bag into their backpacks to take home. This program begins in September and will continue until the last Friday of the school year 2026. If you wish for your child to participate in the program, you will need to complete the form below. There is no cost associated with this program. Please complete the following Form to participate in Blessings in a Backpack: https://forms.gle/rurMvzKLKiwvbpjV9
Flying Eagles Volunteer Program
Volunteering at Talbott Springs is fun! We are especially seeking strong male role models to be present, though everyone is welcome to join and make a difference. Key components of the volunteer program include recess and lunch support, hallway duties, help in classrooms, drop off and pick up, and TSES Special Events. Parents, coaches, grandparents, godparents, aunts, uncles, clergy, neighbors, cousins, and sibling can join and support the TSES family. Please join us for our Kick-Off Party on September 30, 2025, from 6-8pm. Sign up and RSVP here: https://forms.gle/wzCgGdv2ZnN3j9FY8