Our 4th Annual Fall Festival was a HUGE success! THANK YOU to everyone who came out to support and especially those who volunteered! We had an amazing night filled with bouncy inflatables, delicious snoballs and snacks, passports with goodie bags, carnival games, a live band, raffle prizes galore, and of course friends and community members!  Being the largest in-person event of the school year it would not have come together without the support of over 77 volunteers! Thank you for helping us offer this enjoyable event that helps keep our school community connected.   

A special shout out to the volunteers who have been planning and organizing this event for months: Sarah, Kristen, Gabby, Kristin, Erica Jessica, Robyn, Deirdre, Adrienne, Caitlin and Jess.  We are so grateful for all of your hard work!  

We appreciate the following local businesses who helped us host this event: 

• Bach to Rock
• Gotta Have HeART
• Kogen Dojo
• Mathnasium
• Oxblood Ink
• Cub Scout Pack #858

Of course this fundraiser wouldn't be possible without the support of our generous local community!

The most valuable asset within a PTO are THE MEMBERS! There are over 40 programs we manage to support at our school and it all comes together with a tremendous team effort. While we have a recommended membership due, we invite you to join us in any capacity that best suits you.  

Keep in mind that memberships do not roll over year to year. If you would like to become a member for this current school year, please click below and be sure to update your profile information at the same time! Although PTO membership is optional, everything we do benefits every SPES student, and we couldn’t do it without your support.  

Fall club registration is scheduled to open on Friday, October 2nd, and will close at noon on Friday, October 9th.

Please note that due to space availability there are a limited amount of spots available per club. Clubs are led by parent volunteers and require additional volunteers weekly. Registration does not guarantee a spot but indicates your student's interest in a particular club. Participants are chosen by random lottery and students will be notified if accepted at the email used during registration.

The following clubs will be available this Fall:

Lego Club (3rd - 5th grade), Mondays 

Kickball Club (2nd - 3rd grade), Mondays

Lego Club (1st - 3rd grade), Wednesday 

Cooking Club (2nd - 3rd grade), Wednesday

Registration and additional information will be shared via email from the PTO and on the PTO website, the link is below. 

We invite you to our first virtual PTO Meeting of the school year! You will notice this meeting will take place during the 2nd week of the month as we could not bring ourselves to add yet another activity to the first week!  All SPES families are welcome, whether you're a current member or not. 

Our first meeting will be chock full of important information to help you get the school year started off right! Items that will be discussed include:

• Book Fair and Bike to School update
• after-school club details 
• Fall Festival recap
• Ways to volunteer including Chessie, Bobcat bookclub, lunch & recess monitors and more! 

We will also have a special presentation from a SPES student and his service dog! We welcome students to join the first 10 minutes of this meeting to meet Hayden and learn appropriate ways to interact with this service dog when they might encounter her at school 

Whether you’re new to the school or a returning family, your voice and participation are always valued.  We hope you can join us!

October Meeting

Chessie, our voluntary reading program for K through 3rd grade returns this year, from Monday October 12th to Thursday May 6th.

The Chessie schedule is as follows:

• Mondays/Wednesdays: *Kindergarten & 2nd grade

• Tuesdays/Thursdays: 1st & 3rd Grade

* Kindergarten students will join in the new year

 As part of the program, students can earn an ice cream celebration at the end of the year for reading at least 30 books. (1st-3rd grades) The program relies on volunteers, and our budding readers need you in the mornings! Start your day in the school Media center at 7:45 am for 20 minutes, where you will meet the kids and ask them questions about the books they read.  Volunteer sign-ups to assist during the times above can be found below.

If you are new or would like a refresher Mrs. Person is hosting an "Intro to Chessie" virtual meeting on Monday Oct 5th from 8:30-9:00AM https://meet.google.com/jbp-fsyc-vpj

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Michele Person at mperson@aacps.org, or Jessica Elmore at jelmore19@gmail.com

Thank you for volunteering. We are looking forward to a fantastic year of reading!

Scholastic Book Fair is Coming!  Students will have an opportunity to browse and make a wish list during their scheduled media center class Thursday and Friday this week (Oct 1-2), and Monday, Tuesday (Oct 5-6) next week. Our Book Fair will be open during the Ice Cream Social on Tuesday Oct 6 from 5:30–7:00 PM for families to shop together.  All students will be able to shop Wednesday Oct 7th during their class visit. 

You may also shop an expanded selection online Oct 1 - October 14. We encourage families to set up a Scholastic e-Wallet rather than sending cash—it makes checkout faster and easier, and unused funds can roll over to the next fair. All students with a funded e-Wallet for this fair before the Ice Cream Social will be entered into a drawing for a free book. 

Volunteer sign-ups are also available for anyone who would like to help us make the fair a success!  See the class schedule below!

Set up or add to your child's "Scholastic e-Wallet" here: Book Fair Homepagehttps://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/severnaparkelementaryschool

Students in grades 3-5 are invited to become an Environmental Service Leader for SPES!  

Students will plan school-wide action plans for conservation of our schools resources and energy, create all school announcements, label storm drains, partner with local organizations to recycle and reuse items, help maintain our native species, participate in a citizen science project, as well as planning displays for the Severna Park Earth Day event in the spring. Projects will be both inside & outside.

Meetings will be after school from 2:35-3:30 on the 2nd Monday of the month in the EEE Room.  Interested students should complete the attached form and return it to Mrs. DeWalle, STEM teacher, by Friday,Wed. Oct 7th. 

 Student Green Team applications