It is the most wonderful time of the year - back to school! 

We hope everyone had a wonderful summer and we are getting excited for the 2024-2025 school year. Though it is exciting, back to school can also be overwhelming, especially for those new to the Sligo community. Here are a few notes we hope you find helpful.

School Supplies

The official Sligo Creek ES school supply list, broken down by grade, can be found here:

School Supplies List

MCPS Back-to-School Fair at Wheaton Westfield Mall: Saturday 8/24 from 10-1:00 pm

The event is a wonderful opportunity for families to learn about the school system, and county programs and services. Enjoy family activities, music, entertainment and giveaways. There will also be an immunization clinic. Free bus shuttle transportation will be provided. More information at:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/community-engagement/fair/

Orientation for K and New Families: Friday, August 23,2:00-2:30 

Sligo Creek Cafeteria, please enter through the cafeteria door.

Sneak Peak Open House: Friday 8/23 from 2:30-3:15

SCES is hosting a sneak peek of Sligo Creek. Students and parents are welcome to visit their classroom and become reacquainted or acquainted with the school.  

Buses

Typically routes are run in reverse in the afternoon.

• What you should know about riding the bus
• Parent Letter
• Arrival Routes
• Arrival Routes French Immersion
• Dismissal Routes French Immersion
• Dismissal Routes

SCES Listserv

SCES PTA has a listserv for parents, caregivers and teachers of SCES students.  If you would like to join, please visit https://groups.io/g/sligocreek

Major platforms you need an account for with MCPS for elementary school

1. ParentVUE: how to access grades and a route for emailing teachers.  It is also vital that you have the correct email address with ParentVUE so the school can reach you with communications, which come from NoReply Synergy or Blackboard.   

2. Canvas/MyMCPSClassroom — separate from ParentVUE, but you must access it through your ParentVUE account. It gives alerts about assignments and grades — and you can see a bit more into what’s due in each classroom. This is for those who want a deeper dive into what is going on for their students and perhaps an earlier heads up about how things are going in the classroom.  

3.AlertMCPS: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/emergency/alertmcps.aspx  This provides information about school closures or other emergencies.  

4. School Cash Online: https://www.schoolcashonline.com — all school financial obligations outside of cafeteria meals.

5. My School Bucks — https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain?requestAction=home  This year, meals (lunch and breakfast) will not be universally free.  If you are not a FARMS family (free or reduced price meals based on economic circumstances), and your student wants to buy lunch in school, they will need a mybucks account with money in it. 

Another great SCES tradition is the Welcome Back Social! This PTA-hosted event will be on Friday, October 4th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the Sligo Creek playground. Teachers will also be celebrating the beginning of this school year with us.  Mark your calendars!

We are gearing up for our fall session of Sligo Creek Striders run club. We had an amazing group of 80 kids join us last spring! We need your help to make it happen again!

We are currently recruiting coaches for grades 1-5. No running or coaching experience necessary!! 

Our 8 week session starts Monday September 9th and ends Monday October 28th with a run celebration. We meet every Monday from 3:50-5 pm at the SSIMS track.

The PTA-sponsored Sligo Creek Striders after-school run club: 

• Introduces students to running as a lifelong form of exercise with a focus on participation and self improvement. 
• Improves social emotional skills and provides opportunities to socialize and bond with other young runners.

The Sligo Creek Striders are gender and ability inclusive for grades 1-5. The kids run with friends every week and the season ends in a fun run celebration. 

We will send out a separate sign up for students to join the club in a couple of weeks but we need to make sure we have enough coaches. If you are interested or would like to know more, please email sligocreekstriders@gmail.com. Again no running or coaching experience necessary!

As you get ready for the first day of school next week, please consider taking a minute to help stock the staff lounge with snacks and drinks in the coming weeks. Many thanks to everyone who's already signed up and sent snacks to my house - it's much appreciated! 

We'll be doing a first stock of the lounge on the first day of school—Monday, August 26th—and generally every Monday after that. At the moment, we’re in pretty good shape for sweet snacks, oatmeal, tea and hot cocoa, but we’d very much appreciate more contributions of breakfast bars, savory snacks, coffee and paper cups. The easiest way to contribute is to order off our Amazon Wish List as items will be sent directly to my house. But if you don’t want to go the Amazon route, just reach out to me directly and we can figure out a time and place for you to drop off snacks.
Many thanks!

Claire Darby + Ashley Briefel co-chairs of the Staff Appreciation Committee