Carole Quental, Principal
Paul Balsamo, Assistant Principal

PHILOSOPHY:

Fifth District Elementary School has been educating children since 1932. Our mission is to provide our students with a rich and rigorous program reflected in the vision statement, "Reaching All Children Through Instructional Excellence."

COMMUNITY:

The school is located in the northwestern section of Baltimore County.

SCHOOL:

Fifth District opened its doors in September 1932 with a faculty of eight-full time teachers and a student body of 340 youngsters in grades one through eight. The building was remodeled and a new wing was added in 1968-71. Today the school has an enrollment of approximately 300 students in grades kindergarten through five. The school colors are green and gold, and the school mascot is a dragon.

PTA is an educational organization that joins parents and teachers together with one goal in mind - to support our children and youth. We hope to raise standards, secure a safe environment, and bring school and home closer together.

Fifth District's PTA helps our school by maintaining an open line of communication between school and home. The PTA and the staff work together to support a safe, friendly school. The PTA sponsors fund raisers for our school. Our biggest fund raiser is May Day. All cultural art assemblies are sponsored by the PTA. The PTA gives money to our teachers so they can buy additional classroom resources. Additional new equipment for the school is purchased, such as computers for the Computer Lab. Our school has a scholarship fund that presents a scholarship yearly to a Hereford High School graduating senior who formerly attended Fifth District Elementary.

PROGRAM: 

Students attending Fifth District are taught the Baltimore County Essential Curriculum reading, mathematics, language, spelling, science, social studies, art, physical education, and music. The school provides a strong values program that focuses on character building and responsible citizenship. In addition, special services and assistance are provided in the areas of the library science, computer technology, nursing, special reading, learning disabilities, speech/language pathology, and guidance. A computer network lab has been established to support the instructional program. Childcare is available to students in grades kindergarten through five.

Maryland State Department of Education (M.S.D.E.) Assessment Program:

Fifth District continues to outperform state standards on the current M.S.D.E assessment entitled MSA (Maryland School Assessment). This has occurred through a strong instructional program focused on the M.S.D.E. Content Standards and the Voluntary State Curriculum. We expect to enhance our performance on this measure of our students’ achievement. This will be accomplished by continuing to concentrate on a strong instructional program, by tracking multiple data sources, by focusing our additional resources into the areas of reading and math where our data indicates they are needed, and by continuing to maintain strong communication with and support from our parents. We have a deep commitment to providing all our students with the enrichment, rigor, and remedial support that they need in order to have a successful, rich elementary school experience.