Stay Connected

Did you know there are more than a dozen ways to stay connected to MPS and MES? Listed below are the ways you can get information about staff, activities, curriculum, events - just about anything! Each one has a link/contact person/email next to it if you want to learn more!

EMAILS
1. Find Out First (FOF) sends important information directly to your email inbox.

If you do NOTHING else, you should sign up for Find Out First. You can specify which schools and special interests you like.

2. Each Teacher has an individual email address. They are listed in the staff directory here for MPS and here for MES .
3. You can reach anyone on the PTA through MiddletownPTA@gmail.com or contact PTA President, Carolyn Spehr directly.

WEBSITES
4. Each school has their own website. MPS is here and MES is here. Also, FCPS has a great website for more high-level information.
5. The PTA has its own website with a wealth of information and resources.
6. Some teachers maintain their own websites as well. You would find them on the teacher's homepage through the school website. 

BLOG
7. In addition to, or in lieu of a website, some staff maintain a blog. Ask your individual teachers if they have one. A blog is not always that different from a website, except that it may be updated more frequently.

FACEBOOK & TWITTER
8. The PTA Facebook Page posts volunteer opportunities, photos from events and highlights news relevant to our schools. "LIKE" them today! 
9. Some teachers, teams, extracurricular groups may have Facebook pages as well. Contact them individually to find out.
10. Do you Tweet?! Ask your child's teacher if they do!

NEWSLETTERS
11. Several newsletters/bulletins come out monthly or weekly from multiple sources, such as: the PTA, Specials Teams like Art, Music or PE, Grade-Level Teams, Media Center Specialists, the individual schools (every Thursday via FOF. The archives for past newsletters can be found here Newsletters are usually delivered via email right to your Inbox or via a link in a Find Out First email. Most groups have moved away from paper newsletters.

PEOPLE
12. The MPS/MES PTA (parent teacher association) joins parents and educators from BOTH school who want to be "in the know" about what is going on. You can find all sorts of information about the PTA here on this website.
13. Volunteer Coordinators - each school has a person dedicated to training and coordinating volunteer efforts. Go to our volunteer page to learn more.
(Many volunteer opportunities are organized through Sign Up Genius so it's an important website to get to know. It's free and an easy way to coordinate volunteer efforts)
14. Home-Room Parent - each classroom teacher has 1 or 2 homeroom parents who coordinate parties and other special events. Contact the volunteer coordinator or your child's teacher to find out who your child's home-room parent is. (Currently only MES has homeroom parents.)

OTHER
15. Student Directory (hosted through MySchoolAnywhere.com) Maintained by the PTA but open to EVERYONE, even if they don't belong to the PTA, the directory provides a service to students and their families so that they can search for contact info. Many people choose to use this for things like: birthday party invites, class rosters, individual contact information, playdates, etc. The Student Directory is also primary resource for communication. It is used to notify you about events and opportunities and is a wonderful resource for school friends (and their parents) to contact each other at home.

The directory is for student (and parent) use only. Any other use is strictly prohibited. Information in the directory may NOT be used for business or solicitation purposes under ANY circumstances.

16. Paper (brochures, fliers, handouts) - the Take Home Folder (orange folder the school supplies at the beginning of the year) often contains paper communications from the school, teacher or community. Sometimes those communications are duplicated in emails but other times they are not - so read everything!
17. Media Centers - think of the media centers as communication hubs for the schools. We have fantastic media center specialists at each school who help with a variety of tasks, so their communications often clue you in to what others are doing. Mrs. Robertson's website is http://education.fcps.org/mps/mediacenter and Mrs. Lees-Carr's is http://education.fcps.org/mes/mediacenter

Hopefully this overview gives you better access to the resources that help you stay "in the know" with regard to your child's education.