We hope all students, teachers, parents and staff have a great first day of school on August 30th! The PTA welcomes everyone back to Wayside, and sends out a special welcome to those families who are new to the Wayside community.

Read the PTA welcome letter here.

The PTA is an integral part of making Wayside a success year after year.  Last year, the PTA funded the following:

— Wayside’s wellness program (MyGym and MSA)
— Online learning resources (IXL and BrainPOP)
— Hand sanitizer stations
— Laundry baskets next to each desk when lockers were unable to be used
— Bingo Night
— Halloween and Valentine’s Day parties
— Staff appreciation lunches, breakfasts and snacks
— 5th Grade Promotion Celebration
— Wayside Chess Tournament

Your donations made all of this possible.

Help us make Wayside a success this year by joining the PTA now!
To access the new Wayside AtoZ Connect site, visit: https://waysidepta.membershiptoolkit.com/ and create a new account.

1.    Click Register/Login
2.    Click Create Account
3.    Create your family’s account and click verify my email.
4.    Check your email for a link to complete the process. The link expires in 2 hours.

a.    Check your spam or junk folders if this doesn’t show up right away5.    Complete registration
a.    Parent/Family and Student info
b.    Directory Publish Preferences
6.    To Join the PTA – Click Membership Store
7.    Pay the $35 membership fee
a.    and with a suggested $100 Direct Donation per family, you can help make the 2021-2022 school year amazing by providing additional support for our programs at Wayside

Have questions or need more information, contact our Membership Chair, Ellen Giller, at eshaw21@gmail.com

Grab a blanket and your dinner and meet your friends on the upper field behind the school!

Take advantage of FREE SHIPPING on any order from September 3rd -20th

1. Go to waysidespiritwear.com
2. Choose a product
3. Customize the design

(More options available online!)
4. Purchase your items
5. Show off your Wayside spirit!

The Wayside PTA is currently looking for volunteers to assist with the following:

• Staff Appreciation
• Bingo Night
• KINDH
• STEM Night
• Logo Wear
• Hospitality

If you are interested in helping with one of these, please contact Kirsten Carr at volunteers@waysidepta.org. Don’t know the best way to get involved? No problem! Please feel free to email volunteers@waysidepta.org if you have questions or want to learn more. With your help, we look forward to having some fun this year!

Plan to attend our first PTA general membership meeting of the school year on September 13th  and 14th during the virtual Back to School Nights.  We will review our plan for the PTA and approve the budget.  See you there!

If you missed the email from MCPS earlier this week, here is the letter they sent and the link to opt in for COVID-19 testing.

Important Information from MCPS:
COVID-19 Random Screening Testing in
Grades PreK Through Grade 6 to Begin in September

Dear MCPS Parents and Guardians,

One significant mitigation tactic Montgomery County Public Schools will use this fall is random COVID-19 screening tests for students in grades PreK through 6. MCPS, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health, is offering COVID screening tests to students in these grades, at no cost.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends random asymptomatic COVID-19 testing because it detects and can limit the spread of the virus, even in the absence of visible symptoms. Currently, students 11 years and under are unable to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.  This is a significant reason for focusing our COVID screening test for this student population.

This individual screening test requires that families “opt-in” and consent for students to be tested. A random sample of students in these grades will be identified and tested on a weekly basis with parental consent. Fully vetted and authorized contractors, not MCPS staff, will administer the tests. The Opt-In form is necessary to allow your child to be a part of this testing process can be found here (LINK).

The information gathered on this form will only be shared with MCPS and the vendor, and will not be used for any other purpose. Testing is anticipated to begin the week of September 13. We are asking that families complete the consent form by September 8. Forms completed after September 8 will be added to the screening test program as they are processed.

Thank you for partnering with MCPS to promote student safety as we return to in-person learning, five days per week.

Link to form (English)
Link to form (Spanish)

Email Montgomery County Public Schools at: ASKMCPS@mcpsmd.org

Over the summer, the financial review committee audited the PTA books to keep our PTA in good standing. Thanks go out to Antonella da Camara, Ziyang Su and Wei Wang for their work!