Hello Duke Families, We're delighted to welcome you back as we gear up to SOAR into an exciting new school year.
Our teachers and staff are eagerly preparing for a fantastic year ahead and are looking forward to seeing you at Monday's Open House (more details below). Open House is a wonderful opportunity to get a sneak peek at your child’s classroom, meet their teacher, and drop off any school supplies. We'll have folders and information ready for you as you enter. Please be sure to stop by the cafeteria where several informational stations will be set up to assist as needed. Nurse Dana's office will also be open for those of you who need to drop off medications.
Parents/Guardians using the student drop-off/pick-up line, please see the guidelines listed below. There are a lot of moving parts to arrival and dismissal and we truly appreciate your assistance to ensure safety for all. If you haven't done so, fill out the transportation survey linked below so we can get an early start on assigning car placards.
Keep reading for more important details to help ensure a smooth and joyful start to our school year together. We are extremely excited to get this year started, and we look forward to a great year at CWFDES as Aviators! Kindly, Mrs. Kelsey Kiehlmeier, Principal
Mr. Todd D'Imperio, Assistant Principal |
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- Monday, August 24: Open House
- COMPASS: 9AM-10AM
- K-5: 1PM-3PM
- Wednesday, August 26: First Day of School for K-5
- Open House Pre-K at 10AM-11AM (Orientation will include a classroom and a bus introduction!)
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Thursday, August 27: Pre-K First Day of School.
- Monday, September 7: No School - Labor Day
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Reminder: Friday's are Spirit Days! Make sure to wear your Duke gear and/or red, white, and blue!! |
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Open House Information & Back to School Resources |
We are so excited to welcome all of our Aviator students and families into the building TOMORROW (Monday, 8/24/26). During your visit, you'll get the chance to meet your student's teachers, visit classrooms, visit the PTA table, and enjoy the excitement of a new school year.
Avoid the crowds and lines! Teachers and staff will be available to meet students and families throughout the entire 120 minutes of Open House. A later arrival may mean less time in line! Feel free to bring in classroom supplies the day of Open House to leave in the classrooms!
The following tables will be available in the cafeteria: Transportation: (Car Rider Placards, Walker/Biker Permission Forms, Bus) Buses
Before/After Care
Meal Benefit Applications
PTA Information
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
MFLC (Military Family Life Counselor) & Anchored4Life
Student Insurance |
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Parents who are in need of their HAC login information should email cwfdesoffice@smcps.org. We will retrieve the information at our earliest convenience and will email the information to you. HAC login information will not be provided over the phone. *Please note: There will be no classroom changes on the day of Open House.* |
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Transportation Information |
ATTENTION: DISMISSAL SURVEY
This survey is for daily car riders, walkers/bike-riders, daycare vans, Parks & Rec after care, and students with unique transportation needs only. If your student(s) will ride the bus to their home on a daily basis, you do not need to fill out this survey
This survey will help our teachers and staff know how your student(s) will dismiss during the school year. This needs to be completed prior to the beginning of each school year to ensure all information is accurate. Please fill out one survey for each of your CWFDES students. |
The survey will close at 8 a.m. on Monday, August 24, but we ask that families please submit the survey as soon as they can, so we can have adequate time to prepare for the upcoming school year.
If you have any questions, please email cwfdesoffice@smcps.org.
Please note: if you will be transporting your child home from school by car, you can pick up your carpool placard at Open House. You will be asked to present ID to receive your placard. (You do not need a pass to drop your child off in the morning.) |
 | Attention Every Day Car Riders |
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- Car riders begin unloading following these procedures:
- Pull forward as far as possible into the designated carpool lane before unloading.
- Unload in the semi-circle drop-off area only - follow staff directions.
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For student safety, unload from the passenger side of the car only.
- Keep “good-byes” brief.
- Guardians should remain in the driver’s seat.
- Do not pass other cars that are unloading.
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Do not park in the drop-off lane and never leave your car unattended. Parents who need to enter the front office must park in a designated parking space.
- Exit the carpool lane promptly after unloading children.
- All students must enter through the front doors of the school building.
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Grades 2-5: use front door
- Grades 1, 3, 4: use side door by Pre-K playground
- For the 1st 3 days of school, Kindergarten students will meet their teachers in the gymnasium. Students should wear their lanyard they received at open house. Staff will provide assistance.
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Any student getting breakfast, should enter through the MAIN ENTRANCE and will be permitted to enter the building at 8:15.
- We will release car riders from the loop starting at 8:25AM.
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Make sure you have filled out the transportation survey & picked up your car placard from the main office.
Each family gets 3 placards. Please display on your review mirror for drop-off and pickup. Dismissal: Car riders will be called to the cafeteria at 3:05. Students will be escorted to the car-rider loop in the order of the vehicles in line. Please have your car placard hanging. |
Attention Daily WALKERS & BIKE RIDERS |
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Make sure you have signed your daily walker/biker agreement and physically signed the printed contract. If your child is going to be a car rider on any given day, please call the school BEFORE 2:00PM so that we can ensure your child is dismissed appropriately. WALKERS who arrive early will wait near the bike rack in the morning. Students should not arrive before 8:15am They will enter the building through the main entrance. Staff will open the doors at 8:25 when bus riders are released. Students eating breakfast will be permitted in the building at 8:15. BIKERS will secure their bicycles at the bike rack and will enter through the main entrance beginning at 8:25 (unless the student is eating breakfast).
DISMISSAL - Walkers/bikers will be called down at 3:05 (with car riders). They will proceed to the main doors to "sign-out" with a staff member. PRE-K and KINDERGARTEN - Parents/guardians MUST sign-out their Pre-K/K students DAILY. Please meet Ms. Gardiner at the main doors at 3:05 PM, and bring your ID to ensure student safety. |
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| Bus Routes are now available through the SMCPS online look-up feature, MyBusPlanner. These routes and stops will be constantly updated between now and the start of school. |
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Be familiar with your bus route.
- Be at your stop 5-10 minutes EARLY the first week as drivers familiarize themselves with routes.
- Expect that bus drivers will assign seats.
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Pre-K and Kindergarten students - to ensure safety a responsible person (at least 13 years old) must be at the assigned stop. This applies to when a student is boarding the bus at the bus stop and when a student is disembarking the bus at the bus stop. When a responsible person is not available to receive a Pre-Kindergarten and/or Kindergarten student on a return trip home, the driver will return the student to the school. Parent(s)/legal guardian(s) will be notified by the principal/designee to come and pick up their child from the school. The school administrator will discuss this concern with the parent(s)/legal guardian(s).
- Students are expected to SOAR on the bus. Please show service, ownership, accountability and respect on the bus at all times.
- Parents/guardians, please review the importance of remaining seated, keeping hands to self and following directions with your child(ren).
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For more information about Student Rules for Transportation, please visit the Student Handbook.
- The first week of school, pre-k and kindergarten students will get off the buses first and will meet their teachers in the gym. Staff will provide assistance.
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Getting off the bus and into the building...
- Students in grades 1-5 will be dismissed off of the bus by grade level.
- 2nd and 5th grade students should enter through the MAIN ENTRANCE.
- 1st, 3rd and 4th grade students should enter through the side entrance.
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For the 1st 3 days of school, Kindergarten students will meet their teachers in the gymnasium. Students should wear their lanyard they received at open house. Staff will provide assistance.
- Students getting breakfast will be dismissed from the bus at 8:15. They should enter the building through the main entrance.
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 | Early Departure/Student Sign-out |
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Early departures during the school day require that a parent enter the school, sign the student out in the office, and wait while the student is called to the office. Picture identification is required, and parents/guardians are asked to arrive before 2:45 p.m. to avoid disrupting dismissal procedures. Students returning during the day should be brought into the office to be signed back in by their family member. Students cannot be picked up by anyone other than a designated parent/guardian or authorized emergency contact. Picture identification is always required. Parents/guardians or authorized emergency contacts must be physically present in the office for a student to be called out of the classroom.
Please remember the instructional day ends at 3:05 p.m. It does disrupt classes and instruction for all students in that class if we have to interrupt a teaching moment to get your student. Please make every effort to schedule appointments following the school day. |
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 | Food Service Information |
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ACTION REQUIRED: School Meal Benefits Do Not Roll Over!
Did your children receive free or reduced-price school meals last school year? Please remember that a new FARMs application must be submitted every school year to maintain eligibility. Benefits do not automatically carry over from year to year. To prevent any gap in your child's meal services when school starts, please take a moment to fill out the annual online form. Click the application link below to get started. |
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Children need healthy meals to learn. SMCPS offers healthy meals every school day.
Breakfast costs $1.75;
lunch costs $3.00.
Your student may qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Please complete the meal benefit application.
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| Cafeteria breakfast and lunch menus can be found on the SMCPS Nutrislice website. They will also be shared each week in the Captain's Log. |
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SMCPS families may pay for school meals with MySchoolBucks! View balances and purchases, schedule automatic payments, receive notifications when your student's meal balance is low, and make payments on the go with the mobile app. In addition, field trips, musical intruments, etc, will be paid for via MySchoolBucks. A unique payment link will be provided for each item when the time comes. |
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Google Permission and Acceptable Use Policy
Students need permission to use Google's Additional Services. The Google Permission must be completed each school year. Only a parent or guardian can complete the Google Permission form. If a student fills out the permission form, the submission is invalid; SMCPS does not notify students that the form needs to be resubmitted. If a student fills it out, the form IS NOT PROCESSED. A parent/guardian must complete the form. |
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| Please turn any needed Medical Forms to the School Nurse ASAP.
Please use the attached link to obtain any medical forms: https://www.smcps.org/health-safety/immunizations-medical-forms.
If your student takes medication at school, requires an Emergency Action Plan, or has any other unique medical needs, please take the pertinent form(s) to your student's medical provider to complete them before the start of the school year. |
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SOARing Expectations for the New Year! |
As we begin a new school year, it is important to remember the CWFDES school-wide expectations. New students, take a moment to review. Returning Aviators, can you remember what it means to SOAR? |
We had a great time at Popsicles with the Principals! Thank you to all who came out, we're excited to see you for the new school year! |
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| The CWFDES community is privileged to have such a supportive PTA. We are grateful for all that they do and wouldn't be as successful without their help. We're looking forward to another great year.
2026-2027 PTA Board Members President: John Crisman
Vice President: Nikki Smithson
Vice President: Melissa Brach
Secretary: Jocelyn Gauvin
Treasurer: Mary Courtney Wright For questions or concerns, please e-mail cwfdespta@gmail.com. . |
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Time to get into School Spirit |
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| Principal: Mrs. Kelsey Keihlmeier Assistant Principal: Mr. Todd D'Imperio |
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The St. Mary’s County Public School System does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, age, national origin, marital status or sexual orientation, religion, or disability in matters affecting employment or providing access to programs. |
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