About Us

Robert Bruce

Robert Bruce Principal robert_bruce@hcpss.org
Welcome to the Veterans Elementary School official web site. We will update this site on a regular basis to bring you the most up to date information about Veterans Elementary School. Parents can also access the county curriculum and support links at www.hcpss.org. This website is just another effort to keep you informed. School security is always a concern but it has been made even more of a priority with the Sandy Hook tragedy. I am asking all of our parents and other visitors to please adhere to our policies regarding signing in and signing out, as well as, picking up and dropping off your children. As the county explores other options for helping to make our school campus even more secure, we all need to practice diligence in keeping your children and each other safe. There are so many changes coming to education. The transition to the Common Core Curriculum, new evaluations for teachers and administrators, and the creation of new assessments to measure your childrens' success with the curriculum are all issues that become more of a reality in 2013. Our defining goal is to implement programs and practices which prepare your children to be college and/or career ready by their graduation. Our School Improvement Team makes use of CFIP (Classroom Focused Improvement Process) to analyze and use data to make educational decisions about what your children need to be successful. The Veterans Academy helps some of our students accomplish their goals. Other programs include Before School Math Tutoring, Check In/Check Out, and a renewed focus on making students more purposeful writers. Our goal continues to be to establish a collaborative environment where all staff works together to ensure that students get the skills they need to be successful. The Maryland State Department of Education issued a School Progress Index for each Maryland school. This index is based on standardized achievement scores (MSA), the reduction in gaps among our student groups, and the growth of all students. The index is on a scale from 0 to 2.00. Schools are then placed in strands indicating the amount of interventions, support, and recognition they will receive. The strands range from 1 indicating that the school met all targets and 5 that means that the school met no targets set by the state. The Veterans Elementary School Progress Index for this year is 1.0497 and has been placed in Strand 1 indicating that the school achieved all targets set by the state in 2012. We will continue to analyze our data and make changes that benefit our students. All of this is to support student learning and to encourage a community where students truly respect learning. Sincerely, Robert C.Bruce, Principal

Alexcia Redd

Alexcia Redd Assistant Principal Alexcia_Redd@hcpss.org
I'd like to extend a warm welcome to each of you as we begin our new school year. As a staff, it is our commitment to uplift the Strategic Call to Action by ensuring that every student and staff member embraces diversity and possesses the skills, knowledge and confidence to positively influence the larger community. We want all of our students to experience a high-quality and well‑rounded education in a supportive and restorative culture that values connections, relationships and partnerships between home, school and the community. I received my Elementary Education Master of Arts Degree from Notre Dame of Maryland University, and my School Administration Master of Science Degree from John’s Hopkins University. This year marks my 17th year as an educator with Howard County Public Schools. I have taught at Deep Run Elementary, St. John’s Lane Elementary, and Cradlerock Elementary. I currently reside in Howard County where I enjoy spending time with my husband, three children, and my cockapoo Raven. When I am not at school, I participate in community service projects throughout the county. Also, I love to travel, dine out with friends, and watch football with my sons. I am truly looking forward to a great and productive school year!

School Overview

Soar to Excellence!

School Mission

Veterans Elementary School promotes life-long learning by embracing its diversity, providing students with dynamic classroom experiences and exposing them to the cultural arts in a climate that is rigorous, safe, nuturing and respectful.

PDS Partnership

What is a PDS?
A Professional Development School (PDS) is a collaboratively planned and implemented partnership for the academic and clinical preparation of interns and the continuous professional development of both school system and institution of higher education (IHE) faculty.  The focus of the PDS partnership is improved student performance through research-based teaching and learning.  A PDS may involve a single or multiple schools, school systems and IHEs and may take many forms to reflect specific partnership activities and approaches to improving both teacher education and PreK-12 schools.
~from Professional Development Schools:  An Implementation Manual, Spring 2003
 
About Our Partnership
Since 2008-2009 school year, Veterans has started a new Early Childhood Professional Development School partnership with Towson University and Rockburn Elementary, with Gorman Crossing Elemenntary joining in 2014.  Our University Coordinator (IHE) is Lisa Mason.  Deirdre Kleinow (VES), Troy Hoffman (GCES) and Chrissie Lazarus (RES) will serve as PDS site liaisons facilitating communication and professional development opportunities between the university and school partners.
 
As a part of this partnership Rockburn Elementary, Veterans Elementary and Gorman Crossing Elementary will host student interns completing their early childhood field experiences.  Student interns will participate in a 3-semester field experience rotation.  In their first semester they will have a 1 day/week experience in PreK or Kindergarten.  The second semester (1 day/week) field experience will be in one of the primary grades (1-3).  During the final semester student interns will return to each of their previous mentors’ classes to complete student teaching.
 
For Additional information about the PDS program, see the following link:

PDS Glossary.pdf

Our Mission

The Towson / HCPSS Early Childhood PDS (Rockburn Elementary and Veterans Elementary) strives to use collaboration, clear goal setting, and effective communication to develop reflective thinking and best practice instruction that supports life long learning for all adult and child stakeholders.

 

Board of Education Representative

Howard County public schools are divided into school clusters, which are assigned to individual Board members to facilitate school visitations, attend special events, and provide a point of contact for each school community. View all BOE school cluster assignments.

VES BOE Representative: Sandra H. French

School Profile: Veterans Elementary School
Fast facts about Veterans ES listing special programs, total enrollment, accomplishments and more.

MSDE School Report Card
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) School Report Card reflects overall school performance using a combination of academic and school quality indicators.

Community Superintendent

With a focus on instruction as a birth-through-graduation continuum, Community Superintendents better position the school system to support students throughout their entire journey with HCPSS. View community superintendents by regional area.

Community Superintendent Area 3: Kendra V. Johnson, J.D., Ed.D.

Board of Education Representative

Howard County public schools are divided into school clusters, which are assigned to individual Board members to facilitate school visitations, attend special events, and provide a point of contact for each school community. View all BOE school cluster assignments.

VES BOE Representative: Christina Delmont-Small