Welcome to TPES, newbies!
Here’s a quick list of things you can do to get ready for next school year today.
Some steps listed here you can do right now and some might not be available until late summer.
Please click the floating button at the bottom of this page to translate this article | Por favor, haga clic en el botón flotante en la parte inferior de esta página para traducir este artículo | ይህንን ጽሑፍ ለመተርጎም እባክዎ በዚህ ገጽ ግርጌ ላይ ያለውን ተንሳፋፊ አዝራር ጠቅ ያድርጉ።
1. Register your kindergartener for the 26/27 school year
The sooner the school gets registration numbers, the earlier they can hire the appropriate number of teachers and other staff to support the class.
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/enroll/
Feel free to use the PTA’s Enrollment Assistant! It’s available 24/7 in Spanish & Amharic.
2. Get signed up to ParentSquare & ParentVUE
ParentSquare is a messaging platform used by MCPS schools, teachers, students and parents. Most TPES-specific communications are sent out here.
Note: You can find your child’s Student ID in ParentSquare: Just click your student’s name in the top left corner after you log in and it should be listed.
ParentVUE is the parent portal for MCPS. It’s your secure window into important information about your child’s education – attendance, class schedules, grades, report cards, enrollment, athletic registration and more. It also links to MyMCPSClassroom where you can see class materials.
If you need any help with either of these platforms, MCPS has very responsive email support for this: ASKMCPS@mcpsmd.org
3. Prepare child’s cafeteria account and review free and reduced-priced meal options
Unless you qualify for free and reduced-priced meals, there’s a small cost for breakfast and lunch at school. You can make those payments here.
Note: to load money into the account, you’ll need to enter your child’s Student ID (found in ParentSquare, detailed above). It also needs to be close enough to the beginning of the school year. If you’re unable to load money, don’t sweat it! Just wait until it’s closer to the first day of school.
4. Activate SchoolCash Online account
Students sometimes go on field trips that come with an additional cost. You can make those payments here.
https://identity.schoolcashonline.com/Account/Login
5. Review MCPS resources
6. Sign up for MCPS emergency alerts
The Alert Montgomery System provides accurate and immediate emergency notifications from Montgomery County to your cell, work, or home phones via text, email, or voice message. Receive notifications about emergencies that may affect your home, workplace, child’s school, or any other locations within Montgomery County, Maryland.
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/office-emergency-management-homeland-security/get-emergency-alerts
7. Join the PTA’s TPES WhatsApp Community
We’ve created a chat group there just for you to plan meetups, share upcoming events and just get to know each other before school starts. We haven’t made the invitation link public to avoid spam but ask around and it shouldn’t be hard to find.
Incoming kindergarten parents are already scheduling group play dates at the TPES playground this summer so don’t miss the chance for your little to meet fellow future friends and for you to meet fellow incoming K parents!
We also have all-Spanish and all-Amharic chat groups available as well. Please contact Joy Paz via WhatsApp or email the school for details: sheila_e_dutch@mcpsmd.org.
8. Join the PTA’s email list
We send out the Dolphin Digest newsletter every week and there’s a lot of other great school information shared there as well.
https://groups.io/g/tpespta
9. Subscribe to the TPES calendar for:
- MCPS Non-Instructional Days
- MCPS Early Release Days
- TPES Special Events
- PBES Special Events
- All TPES & PBES PTA Events (Back to School Social, Parents Night Out, etc)
10. Join an upcoming PTA meeting
They’re all scheduled on the school calendar mentioned above. Come see what it’s all about!
11. Block your calendar for late-summer school events
See details for events in the calendar above! You don’t want to miss out on events like:
- Incoming Kindergartener Popsicle Party
- Kindergarten Information Session
- TPES Sneak Peek
- Back to School Night
- The first PTA Meeting of the year
- Back to School Social
12. Keep an eye out for back-to-school supply sales
Every year, the school sends out a small list of supplies every incoming kindergartener needs.
Don’t wait until the last minute and have to fight the crowds!
If you see a sale on some of these items from previous years, why not buy them when they’re discounted and save a few bucks?
Below are B2S supply lists for kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade.
NOTE: “blue tip” is supposed to say “blunt tip”!
You can find a full list of local businesses who have signed a pledge to support a Free DC here: https://freedcproject.org/local-businesses
13. Become a PTA member
Anyone can be a member of the PTA! You can be a grandparent, a concerned neighbor or citizen, a student, a parent, etc.
The Takoma Park Elementary PTA is the nonprofit that will directly benefit the students that you care about the most!
Your purchase of a membership helps us deliver these services to the school: teacher training, online resources (such as BrainPop), after-school programs, classroom supplies, library books, cultural arts assemblies, field trips, sports equipment, instruments, special events, teacher and staff appreciation, and much more!
https://tpespta.net/join/
14. Consider joining the PTA Executive Team or as a Committee Chair
There’s no better way to support your new kindergarteners education and the public school system than to be an active participant in making your local school better.
We have a few open positions for this upcoming year so please take a look and think about putting your hat in the ring.
Most positions require only minimal volunteer hours and make a world of difference for our students, teachers, families and entire school communities.
Teamwork makes the dream work!
Learn more about our open positions here
