The Panther Post

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Dear Laurel Woods Community,

Wow—what an incredible turnout for American Education Week! Each day, we welcomed 89 family members into our building to visit classrooms and see the wonderful learning taking place. It was truly heartwarming to see your smiling faces as you listened to your children proudly read their writing, and to watch those light-bulb moments during Heggerty and other activities.

Thank you for taking the time to join us and for being such an important part of your child’s learning journey. Your presence meant so much to our students—and to us.

We look forward to continuing to partner with you throughout the year!

With Pride,

Dr. Burks, Ms. Braxton, & Ms. Lee

We know the next two days are half days, but please don’t let your child miss out—there are fun activities planned, and we want every student to be part of the experience!

Thank you for helping us finish the week strong!

During American Education Week, we shared our Measures that Matter, giving families an update on our progress so far. Thank you for partnering with us and supporting the forward momentum toward our goals this year. We will continue to keep you updated as we move through the rest of the school year.

The HCPSS Black Student Achievement Program Saturday Math Academy Spring Session is approaching! The BSAP Saturday Math Academy will offer an in-person enrichment program for Howard County Public School System students in all levels of math for grades 3-12, based on course availability. Registration will take place online on Saturday, January 10, 2026, from 9:00 am until capacity is reached. Class space is limited. Families can register by accessing the HCPSS Connect Website on the registration date. For more information, please visit HCPSS News

Flyers for distribution:

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (English)

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (Spanish)

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (Chinese)

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (Korean)

Wear your PJ’s, bring your favorite stuffed animal, and join us for some reading fun!

🗓 Date: December 3, 2025
⏰ Time: 6:00–7:00 PM
📍 Location: Laurel Woods Elementary School

👇RSVP by November 21, 2025
📞 For information about transportation, please contact Mrs. Wehrmeister at 410-880-5960.

Stay in the loop with all the exciting events hosted and organized by our Family Resource Center — you won’t want to miss what’s coming up! 👀📅

Click on the link below! 👇

We truly value input from our families and community partners as we strive to grow and improve. Your feedback helps us better serve our students—so please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with our LWES administrative team. Your response can remain anonymous, or you can provide your name for a follow-up phone call.

🍂Don’t miss this month’s edition of PTO Panther Tracks—your November update is here! Dive in to see what’s happening and what’s coming up! 🍂

November

• 11/24-11/25: 12:15 pm Early Dismissal, Parent/Teacher Conferences
• 11/26-11/28: Schools Closed, Thanksgiving Break

December

• 12/09-12/11: 3rd Grade CoGAT testing
• 12/15: Winter Concert @ RHS
• 12/16: PTO December dine out @ Wendy's in Laurel (Gorman Rd)
• 12/24-01/02: Winter Break

For a complete list of dates and events visit https://lwes.hcpss.org/events

We truly appreciate you taking the time to let us know what is working well and what could be improved. We heard the request to schedule American Education Week classroom visits on separate days so families with multiple children can attend each class without overlap. We understand how important it is for you to be able to support all of your children, and we apologize for any challenges or overlap this year. Please know that you are welcome to begin in one classroom and move to another as needed. We will closely monitor how this goes and will explore adjustments for next year based on what we learn.🐾

To kick off our Book Fair, our staff and students participated in Book Character Day last Friday. We loved seeing all the creative costumes and the characters come to life! 📚✨ Check out some of our amazing book characters below!

Student shopping hours are 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM. We can’t wait to see our readers explore new books and discover new adventures!

We are excited to invite you to our fall Parent–Teacher Conferences on November 24th, 25th, and 26th. These conferences are a valuable opportunity to connect with your child’s teacher, celebrate progress, and discuss goals for the year ahead. We strongly encourage all families to participate!

Families may schedule a conference with their child’s ELA/Homeroom teacher, and our Related Arts Team will also be available for conferences for those who wish to meet with them.

📅 Conference Format by Day:

• Monday, 11/24 – All conferences will be in-person at LWES

• Tuesday, 11/25 – All conferences will be virtual (links will be sent)

• Wednesday, 11/26 – All conferences will be virtual (links will be sent)

🖥️ How to Sign Up:
Log in to HCPSS Connect to view and select available time slots provided by your child’s teacher. Step-by-step instructions can be found below.

If you do not have access to HCPSS Connect or need assistance, please call the school at 410-880-5960—we are happy to help!

As the colder weather approaches, we kindly encourage families to ensure that students come to school with warm clothing—such as a coat, hat, and gloves—to help keep them comfortable during the school day. Whenever possible, students will continue to enjoy recess outdoors, and we typically head outside as long as the temperature (including wind chill) is above 20°F.

The following factors are considered in determining if recess is to be held outside:

• Temperature and humidity
• Wind chill
• Heat index and air quality
• Age of students
• Length of time outdoors
• Adequacy of the children’s clothing
• Condition of the playground
• Falling precipitation (more than a sprinkle or mist)
• Thunder and lightning

If your child(ren) are in need of winter clothing (such as a coat, hat, or gloves), please contact our Family Resource Center. We would be happy to see how we can support you.

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our families for helping our students get to school on Wednesday, November 12th. Over the past several half days, we have averaged an 85% attendance rate, and we are thrilled to share that last Wednesday we reached an impressive 91% attendance rate!

To help motivate students, our administration team served freshly popped popcorn, and students enjoyed a short movie together. The halls were filled with the warm smell of popcorn and the joyful buzz of students having fun—what a wonderful way to encourage strong attendance!

Thank you for your continued partnership in helping us improve attendance. When students are here, learning happens, and we are grateful for your support in making that possible.

✨ Be on the lookout for more exciting surprises on upcoming half days! We can’t wait to continue making these special days fun and engaging for our students.

Together, we can keep the momentum going!

LifeTough Photography

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Don’t forget to order your FREE Digital SmileSafe card!
More about the Smilesafe program here.

We’re thrilled to invite our LWES families to join us as we shine a spotlight on the magic happening in our classrooms every day! Come see your Panthers learning, creating, reading, writing, and showing off all their hard work. 💙🐾

This year, we’re rolling out TWO special family morning events—mark your calendars!

📅 Wednesday, November 19 – Pre-K–2nd Grade
📅 Thursday, November 20 – 3rd–5th Grade
⏰ 8:30–9:30 AM (both days)

☕ Start Your Morning With Us!
8:30–8:50 AM — Coffee & Chat with Admin in the cafeteria (donuts included!)
8:55 AM — Families head to classrooms
8:55–9:30 AM — Classroom visits to see student learning in action
9:30 AM — Parent dismissal

✨ What Will You See?
Each grade level has something special planned:

• Pre-K: Welcome & Read Aloud

• Kindergarten: Heggerty/Whole Group Reading Lesson

• 1st Grade: Heggerty + one literacy rotation with families

• 2nd Grade: Students share their personal narrative writing

• 3rd Grade: Students share their personal narrative writing

• 4th Grade: Students share their personal narrative writing

• 5th Grade: Students share their personal narrative writing

✅ Please use this form to RSVP so we know you’ll be joining us! 👇

If you’re unable to attend the planned activity for your child’s grade, you’re welcome to visit any day during American Education Week! As per HCPSS policy, parents are not permitted at recess at any time. Just email your child’s teacher to let them know when you’ll be coming.

To help keep classroom disruptions to a minimum, please follow these guidelines:

• Only adult are able to visit: Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate younger siblings and non-school aged children.

• Sign-in & ID: For safety and security, please sign in at the front office and be prepared to show identification. Wear your LWES lanyard in a visible location at all times

• Cell Phones: Silence cell phones. If you need to make a call, please step out to the front lobby.

• Food & Drinks: No food or drinks are allowed in the classrooms.

• Photos: Per HCPSS policy, visitors may not photograph students during the school day. You may only take photos of your own child(ren).

• Respectful Observing: Unless invited by the teacher, please refrain from conversing with the teacher or students during the visit. Limit conversations with other parents as well.

• Teacher’s Instructions: Some teachers may invite you to assist students, while others may ask you to observe. Please follow the teacher's instructions.

We can’t wait to open our doors and celebrate the incredible teaching and learning that happens at Laurel Woods every day. Please use this form to RVSP so we can prepare. We hope to see you there! 💙🐾

Howard County is full of wonderful resources for families. Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start looking. There’s a helpful website that brings all these resources together in one place. You can search by topic and zip code. You can visit the website using the link below or download the CAREapp Howard County on your phone for easy access. We hope this tool makes it easier to find services for food, health, housing, transportation, education, employment assistance, and more https://findhcresources.org/

The Mental Health Advisory Council (MHCAC) is a group of community members who seek to remove barriers and build awareness for behavioral health support in Howard County for our children and families. Check out this flyer for more information.