Lutherville Lab Report

What's gone down & what's coming up at the leopards' lair.

December 6 2024

Lutherville Families,

Hoping you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break! It was great to be back with our students this week. The students did an excellent job of jumping back into their routines and we enjoyed a full week of learning together.

Star Rating

This week, MSDE released school report cards for the 2023-2024 school year. We are celebrating a 5-point increase in our rating and year-over-year gains in Academic Progress and School Quality, moving Lutherville into the 84th% of elementary schools in the state of Maryland. And in our continuous efforts to improve, have some additional data with which to resolve to continue to grow. I am grateful for the dedicated work of our staff, students, and community that has made this growth possible.

One factor not all families are aware of is that each child's individual attendance factors into our Star Rating. Any child chronically absent (missing 10% of school days or more, excused or unexcused -- 18 days in the year), negatively impacts our score. We appreciate the efforts of each family to have their child at school every day possible -- for their own learning and growth first and foremost, of course.

Lost and Found

As has been our practice for many years, when the Lost and Found reaches unsustainable levels, we donate items to those in need. We will make our first donation of this school year on Friday afternoon of next week. Please encourage your child, as we have been, to check the Lost and Found for any of their personal items.

Spirit Week

Next week is our Winter Spirit Week! We hope to bring some joy to the children with these spirit-filled days. Please see some additional descriptions on the image below:

Monday: Snowflake Day (blue and white)

Tuesday: Pajama Day

Wednesday: Winter Sweater Day

Thursday: Candy Cane day (red and white)

Friday: Holiday Wear Day

Finally, Mrs. McDevitt and Mrs. Hart are aware of a glitch that is sending emails regarding transportation information from the beginning of the year that are being resent. Please disregard if you receive and thank you for your patience. =)

In partnership,

-Mr. McComb

Calendar Reminders:

12/10 - Winter Concert

12/11 - Make-up Picture Day (see information below and attached)

12/16 - Chick-Fil-A Spirit Night

12/20 - 1:05 Dismissal, Winter Break begins

1/2/25 - Schools Reopen

YeeDee, in Mrs. Myers class dons the class "Lab Coat." Each classroom teacher has a coat to give to highlight a student's special contributions or achievements. In Mrs. Myers classroom, the chosen student comes from those who are "ROAR-Ready" all week long: Respectful, On-Task, Achieving, and Responsible!

Spirit Week 12/9 - 12/13

December Counseling Lesson: Personal Safety

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As part of our School Counseling Program, your child’s class will be participating in a counseling core curriculum lesson during the month of December on personal safety and decision-making. The lessons are based on Baltimore County Public Schools’ Personal Safety Program PreK-5: Making Healthy Decisions curriculum. This program includes age-appropriate information on body safety and neglect and abuse prevention strategies and highlights the importance of telling a trusted adult about uncomfortable situations. Our goal is to help children be better able to handle the issues of personal safety should they arise.

Keeping your child safe is a priority to all of us at Lutherville Lab Elementary. It is our hope that these lessons will help to reinforce the information and strategies that you have already given your children, and that your family can discuss together the important information presented in these lessons. Please feel free to contact me with any questions about the program. I can be reached via phone at 443-809-7835 or via email at ikiewe@bcps.org.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kiewe

School Counselor

Our students thoroughly enjoyed the kickoff event of the Young Entrepreneurs Initiative and some initial exploration of designing and delivering products that match interest and need. Stay tuned for additional opt-in events that your child might want to engage!

BCPS Message Regarding Inclement Weather Plan

Please see the message below that was sent to BCPS Families on Wednesday, December 4th:

As we head into the winter months, we want to share important information about our Virtual Inclement Weather Day Plan for the 2024-2025 school year. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is providing local school systems with the option to repurpose inclement weather days as virtual school days. MSDE has approved BCPS' 2024-2025 Virtual Inclement Weather Day Plan. Our plan is to transition to virtual school days after three inclement weather closures.

After those three full-day closures, when inclement weather is forecasted, families will be notified if BCPS will transition to virtual learning for that day. Students will be reminded to bring devices, chargers, and other instructional materials home. Staff will also be asked to prepare lessons and materials.

Virtual Instruction Days

Lost & Found -- LAST CALL!

Our Lost and Found is overflowing. At the end of next week we will be donating items to those in need. Please urge your child to check if any of the found items are theirs (they can check any day at lunch). We will be donating the items on Friday 12/13.

Art Newsletters

From Mrs. Powell

From Mr. Weigle

Notes from the PTA

THANKS AND KUDOS

Young Entrepreneur Initiative (YEI) Kick-off

On Wed Nov 27th, thanks to the amazing support of 15 volunteers, each class received a 45 minute introduction to entrepreneurship including hands-on time learning about product development and customer service. If your child has brought home their Business Math and/or coloring sheet/logo design opportunity, please remind them that they have until Wed Nov 11th to return to their teacher who will give it to the PTA. Each child who completes one of these sheets will be entered into a drawing for a prize. Next steps for the YEI will be communicated in January. Thank you to Danielle Quinn for chairing this new initiative.

Filling the Pod for our Savers FUNDrive - Ending Fri Dec 13

Thank you to all who have brought us bags and boxes of items. The pod in the school parking lot is filling up but we still have space for your gently used clothes and other items - see the list here. Please see the calendar for dates this weekend and next week. Our last drop off will be Fri Dec 13th. Thank you to PTA VP Catherine Pilotte for organizing this fundraiser for us.

Annual Soup & Salad Lunch for Teachers and Staff

Thank you to all who contributed funds and yummy food for our marvelous lunch this week! To see pictures, check out our Facebook or Instagram page. Thank you to our Hospitality Co-chairs, Hayley Rose and Kim Harcum, for planning and providing this annual tradition.

Save the Date! Both Cockeysville & Hunt Valley locations

UPCOMING

Recognizing and Appreciating ALL Teachers & Staff

In December, many Room Representatives/Parents collect funds for a Dec gift for the lead/homeroom teacher(s) and those helping directly in their classrooms. You will hear shortly from your reps if they are doing this. Cards, gifts or tokens of recognition from individual families are also common.

Last year families also contributed funds so that EVERY LL teacher, staff member, intern and high-flyer/frequent substitute teacher received a token of recognition. They were so appreciative! Our goal again this year is to provide a gift of thanks for the staff who serve us school-wide (i.e. custodians, cafeteria staff, front office staff, related arts and resource teacher.

Please by Wed Dec 11th: sign up on the SignUp Genius (scroll to the last item) and send payment via Venmo* to @ Hayley-Rose-9 with the note “LL staff gift”. * Reach out to Hayley Rose - hrose859@gmail.com - if you'd like to arrange an alternative payment method.

FYI

Maryland Holiday Light Spectacular at the Fairgrounds

Looking to take in something festive? Head over to mdholidaylights.com and use the coupon code: LLAB10 to receive 10% off the advanced purchase of tickets and ticket add-ons. A nice bonus is that the PTA will also receive 10% of all sales purchased with this code.