Dear Cape St. Claire Elementary Families,

Happy New Year! I hope this message finds you and your family healthy, rested, and ready for a fresh start. As we welcome January, we are excited to continue our work together in supporting student learning, growth, and success.

January is a wonderful time to reflect on goals and set intentions for the months ahead. Our students are returning with renewed energy, and our staff is eager to build upon the strong academic and social-emotional progress already underway. We will continue to focus on high expectations, positive school culture, and meaningful learning experiences for every child.

We also want to thank you for your continued partnership. Your support—ensuring students attend school regularly, arrive on time, and come prepared to learn—makes a tremendous difference. Consistent attendance remains one of the most important factors in student success, and we appreciate your commitment to making school a priority.

As we move through the winter months, please remember to dress students appropriately for colder weather, as outdoor recess will continue whenever conditions allow. 

During the month of January, our students in grades 1 through 5 will be administered the i-Ready Math and Reading Diagnostic MOY assessment. Additionally, our students will also be administered the DIBELS MOY assessment starting on January 21st. These assessments will assist our teachers in planning for students as well as determining students' progress since the start of the academic year. 

Thank you for your ongoing support and trust. We look forward to a productive and positive new year filled with learning, growth, and celebration.

Sincerely, 

Tamara Kelly-Molock- Principal 

Rochelle Barrett- Assistant Principal

AACPS Cell Phone Policy

Students at Cape St. Claire and all AACPS elementary and middle schools must have their phones off or on silent mode and out of sight throughout the school day, including at lunch and in hallways during transitions between classes.

We would also like to encourage students' smart watches to be set to “school mode”, if possible. It is not required, but it would assist in our efforts.

Smartwatches should be in school mode and on silent mode during the school day. This includes riding to and from school on the bus.  If you need to deliver a message to your child, we ask that you call the school directly at 410-222-1685. Additionally, in the event of illness, our school health staff will contact parents and guardians. Please support optimal learning by reminding your students that texting during school hours on cell phones and smartwatches is prohibited. 

Thank you for your cooperation and partnership. 

To Our Families and Community,

Our school is looking to support our families affected by the furloughs, layoffs, and those in the military. We have identified a few local resources, which you are able to access for support. Additionally, we have local food pantries should the need arise. Below are resources to consider for additional information.

Maryland Resources for Federal Employees

https://response.maryland.gov/federalpublicservants/shutdown

Anne Arundel County Resources for Federal Employees

https://www.aacounty.org/federal-employee-assistance

St. Andrew by the Bay offers assistance and has a food pantry in conjunction with St. Vincent de Paul

The St. Vincent de Paul Society is committed to assist those in need on the Broadneck Peninsula. Meetings with Society representatives are kept completely CONFIDENTIAL.

Representatives are available to assist you at the Parish Center on Mondays & Thursdays from 2:30-3:30pm with rent, utility bills and other needs. If you are unable to come during these hours, please contact the office to make special arrangements.

My Brother's Pantry

Emergency food supplies are available on a one-time basis to anyone who asks for help. Continuing monthly assistance is available to eligible community members.

 For details, call 410-757-5190 or email Linda Rzepkowski.

The Caring Cupboard (Pasadena) offers diapers, frozen/cold food, call to make an appointment

8513 Fort Smallwood Rd, Pasadena, MD 21122

Phone: (443) 840-8079

Broadneck High School Pantry Information:

The next open pantry for families to pick up groceries will be Monday, January 12th, from 3:45-5:00 pm.

***Due to high demand, we are instituting an APPOINTMENT system for the pantry moving forward. You must sign up for a time slot, and you will only be admitted to shop the pantry during your assigned 15-minute time slot.*** 

Use this Signup Genius to reserve your spot (your name will not be viewable to others). Any families without an appointment will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis after all appointments have been honored.

If you have any issues with signing up, contact Ms. Watson directly at lbwatson1@aacps.org or Mrs. Jacobo (Spanish) at sjacobo@aacps.org. 

Click here for the dates for the whole school year. Please bring your own bags if you are coming to shop. If your family is in need of groceries in between our open pantry dates, please contact Ms. Watson directly. LBWATSON1@aacps.org  

If you would like to support our Pantry with a financial donation through OSP, click here. 

At this time, we are in dire need of: laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, baby items, dry goods (pasta, rice, cereal, snack foods, etc.) We are currently overstocked on canned goods. 

ALL DONATIONS CAN BE BROUGHT TO THE BROADNECK HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY OR DROPPED OFF IN THE MAIN OFFICE.

Birthday Treats

In support of our school's wellness initiatives and for the safety and comfort of our students, no food treats will be distributed to classmates for birthday celebrations. If you would like to recognize your child's birthday at school, stickers, pencils, or erasers are preferred.

The School Counselor’s Corner

As the year winds down, I hope the winter break brings comfort, encouragement, and time to recharge. I’m grateful to support our students and families. Happy Holidays!Counseling Lessons:

Counseling Lessons:

I am so proud of our third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students for their focus and engagement during the Start Talking Maryland lessons. Students learned the difference between prescription and nonprescription medicine, legal and illegal drugs, and how to refuse if someone offers them medicine or drugs confidently.

In the new year, we will shift our focus to Xello, where students will begin learning about the world of work and careers at all levels. Primary students will explore different jobs in Career Town as they take on the role of detectives, investigating where Ernistine McNohire has taken the town’s workers.

Intermediate students will use Xello by completing grade-level missions:

Grade 3: Missions focus on why people work, how interests and school subjects connect to jobs, and managing big feelings.

Grade 4: Students review previous missions, explore problem-solving skills, and practice goal setting.

Grade 5: After reviewing past missions and goals, students update their goals, learn about starting a business, and explore how to face big challenges.

5th-grade parents:

Starting towards the end of January and in February, the 5th graders will be learning more about Middle School. The middle school counselors will visit to meet the students and share how to choose classes and the options available. More information will be sent to you at that time!

Heather Bachman, M.Ed.

School Counselor

Cape St. Claire Elementary Spirit Days!

• January 5th: Pajama Day

• February 13th: Wear Red, Pink, or Purple

• March 13th: Dress like an animal or animal print

• April 10th: Super Hero Day

• May 8th: Mismatch Day

• June 12: Beach Day

   

Did you know that as many as one in three students in the country miss 10%, or about 18 days, of the school year? Let's work together to make sure all kids show up and participate every day possible. Being in school supports students' social, emotional, and physical well-being and provides students with opportunities to learn and reach for their dreams. Let's show up together and make daily attendance a habit.

Cape St. Claire Overall Year-To-Date Attendance (As of December 17, 2025) 96.5%

PreK 96.0%

Kindergarten 96.2%

1st Grade 96.5%

2nd Grade 96.2%

3rd Grade 96.5%

4th Grade 96.3%

5th Grade 97%

Parents and Guardians—If your student is late to school, please have them bring a note explaining their absence to the office. This can be from you or their medical professional if they were tardy due to an appointment. When they are absent, please submit an electronic attendance note through the Parent Portal, or you can write one.

Cultural Arts

Art:

Our art classes at CSCES are diving into our annual Art To Remember fundraiser! During this fundraiser, students will make a variety of beautiful Maryland-themed works of art. Towards the end of February, fliers will come home with information on how parents and families can purchase their student’s masterpiece on a keepsake item. 

Mrs. Morris and Ms. Howe’s Art Classes:

PK - ATR MD Crabs

K - ATR MD Skipjacks

1 - ATR MD Black Eyed Susans

2 - ATR MD Baltimore Checkered Spot Butterflies

3 - ATR MD Thomas Point Lighthouse

4 - ATR MD Flags

5 - ATR MD Terrapins

Mrs. Morris and Ms. Howe

Triple E: STEM

We are starting to wrap up some of the 2nd quarter projects in STEM, and you may see your student come home with a completed project if they are in kindergarten-second grade. Our intermediate students often work in groups, and some projects will be donated to classrooms in the building. Our 5th graders are finishing up building original Operation games and will be giving them to primary classrooms for indoor recess!

Upcoming 3rd Quarter STEM Projects:

Pre-K - Habits of Mind (Pt 2)

K - Wind Systems

1 - Whirligigs

2 - Pinball Wizard

3 - Poplar Island Problem

4 - Rooted in Survival

5 - EcoAdvocates

Our STEM classroom has received a grant to purchase a 3D printer from The Education Foundation of Anne Arundel County Public Schools! If you’d like to support the 3D printing projects, we’d love to receive donations of filament. Follow this link to check out what we’re looking for: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1IAR6HRB5UWOV?ref_=wl_share. 

Mrs. Bathras & Mrs. Shattuck

P.E.:

December was an exciting month in PE. During the first 2 weeks of December, all grades participated in a unit on balance and tumbling (basic gymnastic skills). The students learned a variety of stretches, rolls, and balances (both static and dynamic). For the last week of December, all students participated in winter-themed activities that utilized a variety of physical education skills. 

2025 was a great year in PE at Cape Saint Claire, and we are looking forward to 2026! Please continue to be mindful of when your child has PE to ensure they are wearing athletic shoes. 

In late January/early February, we will participate in the American Heart Association's Kids Heart Challenge. More information will be provided as we get closer to that time. Thank you for all of your support!

Mr. Gillette and Mrs. Venturella

Media: 

Moving into the new year, Intermediate grades will continue utilizing digital tools for digital storytelling and research. Primary grades will focus on projects related to our Black Eyed-Susan-nominated books this year. 

If anyone has gently used or new puzzles (100 pieces and under) or Legos that they no longer need/want, we would love to take them off your hands!

Happy New Year! 

Mrs. Crocker and Mrs. Smith

General Music:

Kindergarten will be working on dynamics, high and low sounds, and upward and downward melodic contour by singing, moving, and playing instruments.

First grade will be reviewing dynamics, high and low voices, and melodic steps, skips, and repeats through singing and playing instruments.

Second grade is playing a variety of melodic patterns that move by step, skip, repeat, and leap. The students will also work on the difference between staccato and legato while singing and playing instruments. A variety of dynamics will be used as the students sing and play instruments.

Third grade is working on a variety of forms and the treble clef note names. They will also be preparing to play the soprano recorder in the months ahead.

Fourth grade is reviewing melodic patterns and the treble clef note names. The fourth grade is preparing for the beginning of “Recorder Karate”. When a student passes a song, they will receive a ribbon to go on their recorder.   

Fifth grade will be working on playing a melodic piece independently that incorporates steps, skips, repeats, and leaps. The major and minor scales will be introduced. We will also begin listening and identifying music from different style periods. 

The 5th-grade chorus will be going to Broadneck High School on January 8th for a cluster chorus workshop and a performance in the evening. 

Ms. Harrison and Mrs. Rossell

Pre-Kindergarten

Dear Families,

Happy New Year! January is a busy and exciting month in Pre-K as we continue learning through play and exploration. Here’s a quick look at what your child is working on this month.

 Early Reading & Sound Skills

Children are practicing listening to sounds in words during our daily Heggerty lessons. We are learning how to break words into parts to help build early reading skills.

Try at home:
Play rhyming games, sound “I Spy,” or help your child break a word into two parts (sun → s–un).

Unit 3: How Things Work

Children explore tools, objects, and how things work through hands-on learning.

Science: Exploring objects and how they move

Math: Counting, adding one more, patterns, and shapes

Literacy: Simple how-to stories, steps in order, letters, and rhyming

Social-Emotional Learning

Children are learning to recognize feelings, talk about emotions, and practice calm-down strategies.

Thank you for supporting your child’s learning through talking, playing, and reading together. We’re looking forward to a great month in Pre-K!

Kindergarten

Happy 2026 to all of our wonderful families!  We hope everyone enjoyed their break and is ready to jump right back into learning.  

Language Arts: After the winter break, we will quickly finish up unit 5 in Skills and start unit 6.  In unit 6, students will be reading and blending more as well as start to learn the letter names.  They will also learn about consonant clusters and also learn three new tricky words. Please take the time to review the information coming home from the curriculum and practice the skills at home.  In Knowledge, we will be finishing our farm unit and then starting Unit 6: Native Americans.  Please continue reading at home and asking questions about stories with your child.  Some simple ideas:  Have them retell the main events of the story (fictional), have them retell the main topic (informational), ask questions about the setting and characters, and ask “why” questions.   

Math: We are working on understanding addition problem-solving, as "add to" or "put together". Students will use manipulatives, draw pictures, act out, and describe addition problems. They should be able to represent a given problem with drawings and numbers, as well as match a given picture to a number sentence. The next unit will focus on understanding subtraction problem-solving. Please continue to work on counting and writing numbers with your children.  Our goal is to reach 50 or higher without hesitation before the end of the month.

Science and Social Studies: After the winter break we will continue with Social Studies Unit 3 called “Consequences of Our Choices”. This unit also includes learning about jobs in our community, as well as what is meant by the terms “goods” and “services”.  During the second half of January, we will start Science Unit 4 called “Weather Patterns”. We will learn about different tools that are used to measure weather, as well as how the sun affects the weather. Examples of weather vocabulary we will use are “forecast” and "meteorologist". 

1st Grade

First grade had a blast at the Chesapeake Arts Center watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! Thank you to the volunteers who accompanied us on the field trip. 

Students will be learning many new and exciting topics during January. As mathematicians, students will be exploring 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes. They will also be reviewing addition and subtraction strategies while solving word problems.             

During the science and social studies block, we are studying the question, “How does culture connect people?” We will be continuing to discover how various cultures eat, play, and celebrate holidays.  

During reading, students will be diving into the Early American Civilizations: Maya, Aztec and Inca. They will learn about where and how they lived their lives. Students will be focusing on reading and spelling words with r-controlled vowels (er, ir, ur, ar, or). They will be applying their knowledge regarding nouns, verbs, and adjectives while reading and writing about our new skills and topics. 

At the beginning of the third marking period, first grade will be participating in their annual Top Dog Reading Competition. Please look for more information to come later this month. As always, we are thankful for all of your support. 

2nd Grade

We hope you all enjoy your winter break with family and friends!  As we dive into 2026, we have a lot of exciting happenings.  

In our Knowledge block, we will be finishing up our unit about the War of 1812 and moving on to Cycles in Nature. In this unit, we will introduce students to many natural cycles that make life on Earth possible. Our students will increase their knowledge of cycles in nature by learning more about seasonal cycles, and by beginning their study of flowering plants and trees, animal life cycles, and the importance of the water cycle. We will work on note-taking and graphic organizers, and by the end of the unit, students will write an informational paragraph summarizing the life cycle of a frog.

During Skills, we will begin Unit 4, where we will introduce more spelling alternatives for vowel sounds and three tricky spellings. The students will begin their new decodable reader called “The Job Hunt”, where we will work on text-dependent questions and utilize close reading approaches to dive deeper into the text. The students will learn more about persuasive communication, specifically how to incorporate persuasive writing as part of a friendly letter.  

For Math, we will begin Unit 6 with strategies to fluently subtract within 100. Students will focus on subtracting 2-digit numbers, and work towards regrouping 1 ten as 10 ones. We will use base-ten blocks to represent and solve subtraction problems without regrouping first, and then move towards regrouping along with other strategies such as decomposing/ adjusting and/or using addition to subtract. 

Lastly, we will begin our new unit “We are Environmental Stewards”, where students will learn that the word “environment” can mean just the natural world or everything around us, both natural and man-made. "Steward" means caretaker, keeper, or custodian. During the month, students will research habitats in small groups, explore living and nonliving things, and learn about features and conditions. At the end of the unit, we will plant seeds from a native plant. 

We are looking forward to a wonderful new year ahead!

3rd Grade

Third grade was excited to return to school after the busy holiday season and prepare to wrap up the second marking period!  We are only about halfway through the school year, but we have already seen tremendous growth socially, emotionally, and academically! 

In reading, we have started our study of the Vikings.  Students will participate in a Viking quest and "travel" to Scandinavia.  We will learn about the myths of the Norse gods and goddesses.  Students will write character description paragraphs and create their own comics! Later in the month, we will start our astronomy unit, which will continue into February.

In math class, we have practiced real-world applications of math by calculating the area of various rectangular shapes.  In our next unit, students will be introduced to fractions and equivalence.  

In science, the students have been investigating predictable patterns in magnets, motion, and static electricity.  We will begin studying life cycles, group survival in animals, and heredity soon.

In social studies, we recently learned about the production process and how changes in technology have impacted it over the years.  We will be ending our economics unit with an exciting cardboard engineering project!

As a reminder, please be sure to check and clean out your child's Wednesday folder each week so that you are familiar with their graded work and what we are learning in class. 

4th Grade

Math 

We are finishing our unit on division and will be transitioning into our fraction units! Students will decompose fractions in a variety of ways using visual models. Students will join and separate parts in order to add and subtract fractions with like denominators. Students will also determine equivalent fractions, and come to a generalization that multiplication and division can be used to generate equivalent fractions.  Finally, students will compare two fractions by reasoning about their size. 

Resources: 

Math Unit Letters are linked below:

Unit 7 Family Letter

Unit 8 Family Letter

Math Fact Fluency:  Mastering multiplication facts will be crucial this year.  This is the #1 skill we recommend to help your child with at home.  

Social Studies 

In January, fourth grade will be exploring the ways in which slavery shaped Maryland.  We’ll be looking at case studies of formerly enslaved Marylanders, many from Anne Arundel County to see what their lives were like.  

Science 

Science hits really close to home in the next few weeks as we discuss weathering and erosion.  We can spot examples of weathering (breaking down of rocks and minerals) and erosion (movement of broken down rocks and minerals) on our very own playground.  Can you find examples in your backyard?  In your neighborhood? 

CKLA  (Core Knowledge Language Arts)

We will continue unit 5 “Geology” this month. Students will learn about the theory of plate tectonics. They will also study geological processes like rock formation, weathering, and erosion to understand how the earth changes over time and why it looks the way it does.  Then we will begin unit 6 on contemporary fiction. 

Unit 5 Family Letter

Unit 6 Family Letter

5th Grade

Hello 5th Grade Families,

Happy 2026! As we begin the new year, please speak with your student(s) about your family's expectations for them at school and reinforce the importance of following directions, treating others with respect, and giving their best effort. They should record homework in their agenda books daily and bring home graded work each Wednesday in their blue folders. If you are not seeing that graded work come home, please let your child’s teacher know. As a reminder, if you are hoping to chaperone for our Water Readiness or extended day field trip in the Spring, you will need to have a fingerprint-supported background check completed through AACPS (call 410-222-5045 to make an appointment).

See below for updates about what we are learning this month:

Math:

We are picking back up with multiplying whole numbers (Unit 7) as we return from break and will move into dividing decimals as the month continues (Unit 8). We will also have our mid-year administration of the i-Ready Math Diagnostic at the end of the month. Please continue to encourage your student to complete their homework or an i-Ready Math lesson each night.

Science/Social Studies:

Students will begin learning more about the four spheres of Earth (atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere) and how they interact in Science this month. We will take our Science quarterly assessment on Monday, January 12th. In Social Studies, we will wrap up Theme 2: Challenges of a New and Expanding Nation (1800-1900) and begin Theme 3: The Challenges of American Economic, Political, and Civic Life (1865-1910).

Knowledge:

We will finish our unit on Don Quixote and take our checkpoint assessment in our first week back from break. Then we will begin our Renaissance Unit, which will culminate in students writing a biography on someone who embodies the spirit of the Renaissance. Students will continue to have take-home pages to complete for homework each night. Our mid-year i-Ready Reading Diagnostic will take place this month, as well.

Thank you, families, for your continued support at home!

Cape Families - Please keep in mind that domestic pets, such as dogs and cats, are not permitted on school grounds. Thank you for working with us to keep all students safe!

Upcoming Important Dates

Thursday & Friday, January 1 & 2,  Schools & Central Offices closed for Winter Break

Friday, January 16, Schools closed for students

Monday, January 19, Schools & Central Offices closed, Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Commemoration

Tuesday, January 20, Schools closed for students

School Hours

8:00 am to 2:25 pm Doors open at 7:45 am

931 Blue Ridge Drive Annapolis, MD 21409

Phone: 410-222-1685

When visiting the school, please remember to bring your government issued photo ID