Owl Observer News

Students dismss at 12:15 and there are no Preschool Classes

What a fantastic week it's been here at Ducketts Lane! We're so grateful to Mr. Abramson and Mr. Anderson for organizing our "Fun Run Into Summer" last Friday, which was a huge success. A special thanks also goes out to our wonderful PTA for treating all students to a refreshing snow cone at the end of the run!

As we count down the final days of the school year and look forward to summer, it's always bittersweet to say goodbye to our 5th graders, whom we'll be celebrating later this morning. We also had the joy of celebrating our kindergarten students as they completed their first year and get ready to enter first grade this fall!

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of hosting a breakfast to thank our incredible community partners for their time and investment in our school and students throughout the year. Their dedication truly makes a difference.

Quarter 4 report cards will be available in HCPSS Connect Synergy at/after 4 p.m., Monday, June 23. Click here for directions on how to access the report card online. Click here for more information regarding the report card.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday. Just a reminder that students will dismiss at 12:15 PM on that day.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership!

Proudly serving you,

Mrs. Caroland, Mrs. Van Osdel, and Mrs. Yerashunas

As we begin planning for the upcoming school year, we are gathering information to help us prepare for afternoon dismissal routines.

Even if your plans aren’t final yet, any information you can share at this time will be extremely helpful to our planning process.

We ask that you please take a moment to complete this survey so that we can best prepare for next year.

EARLY DISMISSAL DAYS

Monday, June 16th-Students dismiss at 12:15pm NO PRESCHOOL CLASSES

Tuesday, June 17th-Students dismiss at 12:15pm NO PRESCHOOL CLASSES

Wednesday, June 18th- Students dismiss at 12:15pm NO PRESCHOOL CLASSES Last Day of School

End of Year Medication

If your child has medication in the Health Room at school, please be sure to pick it up during the last week of school. Please contact the school Health Room to arrange a time to pick up medication. Medication is not able to be kept in the Health Room over the summer and may be discarded if not picked up by the last day of school. Please contact the school Health Room to arrange a time to pick up medication.

Annual Health Checkups

As you schedule your child/ren to have an annual health checkup, please remember to send completed forms to the Health Room.

Immunization Reminder

If your child/ren receive any immunizations, please be sure to provide a copy to the Health Room. Each year we must submit data to the State showing we are in compliance with student immunizations. If all required immunizations are not complete your child/ren may be excluded from school within the first few weeks of returning for the 2025-26 school year until immunizations are updated.

Medications in Health Room for 2025-26 school year

Students who require medications to be kept in the Health Room for 2025-26 school year, both Prescription and Over the Counter Medications will need to have new orders provided to the Health Room. New orders must be dated on or after July 1, 2025. We are unable to use orders from 2024-25 school year for next year (2025-26). Medication orders expire at the end of the school year. ALL MEDICATIONS, BOTH PRESCIPTION AND OVER THE COUNTER REQUIRE A NEW MEDICATION ORDER EACH YEAR. Please note HCPSS Health Rooms do not provide any medication to students unless provided by Family with proper order form.

If your child has borrowed an instrument from DLES this school year, Mrs. McKay has begun collecting those instruments during class.

All borrowed DLES instruments we due back to DLES by Wednesday, June 11th. If you still have an instrument, please return on Monday.

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. McKay - amanda_mckay@hcpss.org

Starting on Monday, students are no longer allowed to check out a book from the Media center for the remainder of the year. Mrs. McAfee and Mrs. Hastings have begun their inventory, and we have found that we have a lot of books still checked out. ALL BOOKS MUST BE RETURNED BY JUNE 6th.

Please have your child look in their room, backpacks, closets, cars and any other location that a book may have been placed and return them to school as soon as possible.

Families will begin receiving an invoice for the cost of the hardcover book replacement. We will need the book returned or the funds required to purchase the book again. It is important that we all work together to get these books back so that they can be available next year.

If you have any questions regarding an overdue book, please contact Mrs. McAfee at rebecca_mcafee@hcpss.org or Mrs. Hastings at cathy_hastings@hcpss.org.

As the school year comes to a close, I wanted to share some personal news. I will be leaving Ducketts Lane at the end of the year to begin a new role as a Community School Site Coordinator at one of the community schools within Howard County. This is an exciting opportunity for me, but it is certainly hard to say goodbye to a school community that has meant so much to me these past two years.

It has been a true joy getting to know your children and partnering with you to support their growth. I have learned so much during my time here, and I will always carry Ducketts in my heart. I hope to visit in the future and reconnect with all the amazing students, staff, and families.

Thank you for your continued support, trust, and kindness. It has been an honor to be part of your child’s educational journey.

~Mrs. Y

We want to welcome Ms. Laurie Poquette to our school community in her new role as Leadership Intern. Ms. Poquette has served as the lead ELD teacher for 12 years at Waterloo Elementary School and the Leadership Intern at Hollifield Station Elementary School for one year. During her career, Ms. Poquette earned her Masters degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from University of Maryland, College Park and her Administration 1 Certificate from Towson University. Ms. Poquette served as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Liaison for 9 years at Waterloo and submitted all four components of the National Board for Professional Teacher Standards over the last two school years. She is excited to join our community effective July 11. In a future communication, information will be shared regarding opportunities to meet Mrs Poquette.

As we prepare for our upcoming school year, it is important to have your child registered to ensure we have the correct amount of teachers for our students. Please do not delay! Help us with the process by registering your new kindergartner or first grader as soon as possible.

Children must be 5 years old by 9/1/25 in order to enroll in kindergarten next school year. Every child who is 5 years old by this date must be enrolled in a kindergarten program this fall or have an approved waiver. HCPSS kindergarten is a full day program.

• Please make certain you are on the screen for 2025-2026 if registering for the next school year.

• Parents or guardians are to register students at the school serving the address where the child’s parent or guardian resides. Information on neighborhood schools can be found through HCPSS School Locator.

• Complete your child’s registration online by providing the documents listed below. The registration process will be more efficient if you upload the required documents during online registration. Otherwise, you will be asked to submit the required documents via email as pdfs, or you may contact the office to make arrangements to bring the documents in and we will copy them for you. The following documents are needed for registration and should be submitted during the online registration process: Click here for a checklist for registration.

  • Child’s evidence of birth (i.e. birth certificate, baptismal certificate)

  • An authorized record of immunizations

  • Proof of residency in the form of your entire signed lease/deed including signature pages.

  • Current utility bill with your name and address that has been issued within the last 45 days. (cellular device bills not accepted)

  • Photo ID of parent/guardian

Additional Documents to bring if applicable to your child:

Proof of custody - only if there is information the school must adhere to during school hours (full document including the signature pages)

• Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for Special Education Services

• 504 plan

• Psychological report or related services reports/plans

• English Language Learner (ELL) plans or previous assessments

These forms should be completed by your child's pediatrician and dentist and emailed to our Health Room prior to the first day of school or as soon as your child has their 5 year check-up

• Blood Lead Testing

• Dental Health Form

• Physical Exam Form

• Immunization Form

It is recommended that you work on a laptop or desktop to complete registration. Cell phone registration is not recommended. Please call our front office at 410-313-5050.

The HCPSS Pre-K Program is accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year! The Pre-K Program is offered at no cost to families that qualify and is made available to eligible children in all attendance areas. Children must be four years old on or before September 1, 2025, to be considered for fall 2025 enrollment and must also meet the eligibility criteria. Families who are interested in applying should submit their completed application along with the required documentation to hcpss_pk@hcpss.org or to their local elementary school. Please visit the HCPSS' Pre-K Program website for an application, information about the program, and eligibility criteria. If you have additional questions about the program, please contact the Office of Early Childhood Programs at 410-313-6836.

The Learning Together Program will be accepting applications to attend one of our early childhood classrooms for the upcoming school year. Families of children who will be 3 by September 1 may apply. Locations of RECC programs for the upcoming school year are budget-pending and will be confirmed prior to June 15th or the last day of the current school year. Locations with available LTP programs may vary each year.

Take a moment to see all of the amazing options available to show your Ducketts Lane spirit and pride.

Click here to see all the options and deals!

To continue meeting the growing need to feed hungry children and families in Howard County and fill the nutritional gap over the summer months, the Howard County Public School System announces its free summer meal program, which will run weekdays June 23-Aug. 1, 2025. Meals will be served only on days schools are open and there will be no meal service Friday, July 4.

There are no applications, enrollment or fees to participate in this program, however children must be present to receive free meals.

Meals will be provided at no cost to any HCPSS students, as well as any children aged 18 and under. In addition, free meals will be provided to all students participating in HCPSS summer programs.

Meal sites and pickup times are subject to change. Any changes will be noted on this webpage.

Meals will be served weekdays, Monday, June 23 through Friday, Aug. 1 (except July 4), from 12:30-2 p.m. at the following locations:

• Atholton High School, 6520 Freetown Road, Columbia
• Bollman Bridge Elementary School, 8200 Savage-Guilford Road, Savage
• Clarksville Elementary School, 12041 Clarksville Pike, Clarksville
• Deep Run Elementary School, 6925 Old Waterloo Road, Elkridge
• Ducketts Lane Elementary School, 6501 Ducketts Lane, Elkridge
• Elkridge Landing Middle School, 7085 Montgomery Road, Elkridge
• Hammond High School, 8800 Guilford Road, Columbia
• Long Reach High School, 6101 Old Dobbin Lane, Columbia
• Murray Hill Middle School, 9989 Winter Sun Road, Laurel
• Talbott Springs Elementary School, 550 Basket Ring Road, Columbia
• Thunder Hill Elementary Schol, 9357 Mellenbrook Road, Columbia
• Wilde Lake Middle School, 10481 Cross Fox Lane, Columbia
• Howard County Library System Central Branch, 10375 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia
• Howard County Library System East Columbia Branch, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia
• Howard County Library System Elkridge Branch, 6540 Washington Blvd, Elkridge

The DLES PTA would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported us this school year. Whether you became a member, donated items, volunteered your time, or attended our events — your support truly made a difference!

As we look ahead to the upcoming school year, we are still looking for passionate and dedicated individuals to join our Executive PTA Board. The following positions are currently open:

President

Treasurer

Recording Secretary

Corresponding Secretary

We also have several Chair positions available:

Membership Chair

Ways and Means Chair

PTACHC Representative

If you’re interested in getting involved and making a positive impact at Ducketts Lane Elementary, we’d love to have you on our team!

Email us at duckettslanepta@gmail.com or connect with us on Facebook: @dles.pta

GPHS Boosters is offering summer camps for rising 4th-9th graders in football, boys/girls basketball, boys/girls soccer, field hockey, baseball, volleyball, wrestling, and girls lacrosse! Camps will be run by GPHS coaches and all campers will receive a GPHS t-shirt upon the completion of the camp. Registration is now open at https://gphsboosters.com/summer-camp

BAD (Byte-A-Dynamo) is a series of workshops to support students (ages 10-16) in Maryland who have no or very limited computing background or experience exploring the computing fields. The participants will have opportunities to have some tastes of basic Python coding, cryptography, and have team-based projects using Arduino. The BAD workshops will be held on July 12, 19, and 26, 2025 in the Howard County Library System (HCLS). The specific activities: Let's Code (Python), AI for Cybersecurity and STEAM (Arduino+Art). This is a free workshop. Click here for more information.

Read, listen, learn, connect, and celebrate all summer by participating in one of the Howard County Library System’s summer reading programs for all ages. For book lists, classes, events, and summer fun, visit us in person or online at hclibrary.org/summerLinks to an external site.. Visit one of their branches to select your Summer Reading program. Return completed gameboards for a chance to win a prize.* Pick up a prize after finishing 10 books and/or activities before August 31. *while supplies last.

Click here to find other summer programs that might be of interest during the summer months.

We strive to be a school that actively partners with our students, staff, families, and surrounding community members. We welcome your feedback.

Please click on the Feedback Form to share your thoughts with how we can make DLES the best for everyone.

• Principal, Mrs. Caroland Molly_Caroland@hcpss.org

• Assistant Principal, Mrs. Van Osdel Amy_Van_Osdel@hcpss.org

• Leadership Intern, Mrs. Yerashunas Brianna_Yerashunas@hcpss.org

• Principal Secretary, Mrs. Canter Teresa_Canter@hcpss.org

• Registration Support, Secretary Ms. Lynette Carmen_Lynette@hcpss.org

• Attendance, Synergy and Family File Support, Secretary Mrs. Forman Julie_Forman@hcpss.org

• Counselor Mr. Leisawitz Alexander_Leisawitz@hcpss.org

• Counselor Mrs. Baron Krista_Baron@hcpss.org

• Community School Coordinator Ms. Medina Alejandra_Medina@hcpss.org