The Panther Post

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Dear Laurel Woods Community,

It was such a wonderful week to be back at Laurel Woods! On Monday, our staff welcomed students back from Winter Break with open arms and jumped right into learning. On Thursday, our 4th and 5th graders performed in the Chorus Concert—it was so exciting to see them singing, smiling, and bobbing their heads along to the music.

On Friday morning, families joined us for our Coffee & Connection Walking Club event. The goal of this initiative is to strengthen family connections to LWES, foster community-building, and highlight the North Laurel Community Center (NLCC) as a local resource hub for families. We were thrilled to have 32 individuals participate! We are so grateful to the North Laurel Community Center for hosting, as well as Ms. Wilder and others who helped facilitate this meaningful opportunity.

We wrapped up the week with our school Spelling Bee. We are so proud of all the students who participated—it takes a lot of courage to stand on stage in front of your peers and spell!

We are also approaching the end of the second marking period on January 23rd. We encourage you to review your child’s grades in Canvas and contact your child’s teacher should you have any questions ahead of the grading period deadlines.

With Pride,

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

Our Year-to-Date (YTD) Attendance Rate reflects the percentage of school days our students have attended LWES from the beginning of the school year up to the current date. Last year, we finished the year with a 93.2% attendance rate. This year, our goal is to reach 95%. Currently, we are at 94%, and with your continued support, we know we can reach our goal by the end of the year.

To keep you informed of our progress, we will share our updated YTD attendance rate each week in our newsletter.

Thank you for your continued support in helping our students be present and engaged in school every single day!

We are “searching” for volunteers to read in our classrooms from now until the end of the school year. Since this is meant to be a MYSTERY, all information is meant to be kept from your child, including the day that you are reading and the clues you will share about yourself. Students love having a family member or special person visit and share in learning by reading a favorite story aloud!

Your child’s teacher can provide you with a book to read, or you can bring one of your favorite books. (the book will need to be approved in advance by LWES staff)

Any adult (parent, guardian, grandparent, aunt/uncle, older sibling) is welcome to join in the fun! If you are interested, please fill out and return this form.

Interest Form

Interest Form-Spanish

Our Family and Community Engagement Contact, Nikee Singh will contact you to schedule a date and time for you to be a MYSTERY READER.

During our most recent Coffee and Conversation, a suggestion was shared to allow students to enter the building early during rainy or stormy weather so they are not standing outside in inclement conditions. To help bring this plan to fruition, we need your support!

If you are available between 8:20–8:30 a.m. and are flexible to be notified the day of to help supervise students, please complete this form. An LWES staff member will be in touch with you soon.

On Thursday, February 5th, and Friday, February 6th, all elementary schools will close 3 hours early for parent-teacher conferences. Teachers are excited to conference with their math class families!

Please pay careful attention to the details below:

• On February 5th, from 12:30-3:30pm, all conferences will be held in-person only.
• On February 5th from 3:30-6:30pm, all conferences will be virtual only.
• On February 6th, all conferences will be held virtually from 12:30-3:30pm.

On January 22nd, the scheduling window opens for families to schedule math conferences in synergy at 8am. On January 30th, the scheduling window closes. If you miss the window, please email your child’s math teacher directly to schedule your conference.

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.

• 👩🏽‍💻🎦👋January 15th - PTO General Meeting: Join us on Thursday 01/15 at 7pm on Zoom (password: LWESPTO) to hear PTO updates! Our new meeting format gives us an opportunity to hear from families, too.

• 🍕🍕🍕January 28th - Ever wish your Dominoes pizza order could double? Our coupon card fundraiser will help make it a reality all year long - buy a large and get a large pizza for free with the Slice the Price card! The cost of the card is just $20 and doubles all your large pizza orders all year long - use the card as many times for as many pizzas as you’d like until it expires. Be on the lookout for a flier and links.

• 🌞☀️🌞 January (date TBD) Sunshine Families Cheer Cart - We will be visiting teachers and staff during planning periods so they can select their favorite treats. Donate prepackaged items or drinks

January

• 01/14: 8:45am Family School Partnership Team Meeting

• 01/15: 7:00pm PTO Meeting Zoom (password: LWESPTO)

• 01/19: Schools & Offices Closed- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

• 01/22: 8:00am Conference Scheduling Opens, 8:00 am; 12:15pm LWES closes, early dismissal (Staff professional learning day)

• 01/23: 8:45am Coffee and Conversation w/Admin; End of 2nd quarter

• 01/26: Schools Closed for Students (Professional Work Day)

• 01/28: 4:00pm Targeted Math Night; 5:00pm Mobile Library; PTO Domino Pizza Fundraiser

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

🕣 Instruction begins promptly at 8:45 a.m.

🍽️ Breakfast Information

• Students who need breakfast must arrive before 8:45 a.m.

• Breakfast service will end at 8:45 a.m. so classrooms can prepare for the instructional day.

✅ Please plan arrival times accordingly to ensure a smooth and successful start to the morning.

Thank you for your support!

On Thursday, February 5th, and Friday, February 6th, all elementary schools will close 3 hours early for parent-teacher conferences. Teachers are excited to conference with their math class families!

Please pay careful attention to the details below:

• On February 5th, from 12:30-3:30pm, all conferences will be held in-person only.
• On February 5th from 3:30-6:30pm, all conferences will be virtual only.
• On February 6th, all conferences will be held virtually from 12:30-3:30pm.

On January 22nd, the scheduling window opens for families to schedule math conferences in synergy at 8am. On January 30th, the scheduling window closes. If you miss the window, please email your child’s math teacher directly to schedule your conference.

All students in grades 1-5 will take the Measured Academic Progress (MAP) assessment during the Winter testing window.

The data from the MAP assessment will help schools and teachers measure your student’s academic progress. The MAP test does not affect grades and the difficulty adjusts depending on how your child responds. To learn more about the MAP assessment, please visit: https://www.nwea.org/the-map-suite/common-questions-families/

Please note that there is no need for your child to study for the MAP assessment. Arriving on time to school on testing days is very important, however, if your child is absent, makeups will be offered within the testing window. As usual, please make sure they are well rested and eat their normal breakfast the day of testing.

The Winter testing schedule is:

• Grade 1 - 2/3 ELA, 2/11 Math

• Grade 2 - 1/29 ELA, 2/11 Math

• Grade 3 - 2/3 ELA, 2/19 Math

• Grade 4 - 1/27 ELA, 2/9 Math

• Grade 5 - 1/7 ELA, 1/9 Math

HCPSS families are invited to save the date for the 2026 Family Academy Conference on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, from 6:00–8:30 pm at Long Reach High School. Families can look forward to a light dinner, a community resource fair, and interactive workshops focused on academic achievement, well-being, and family engagement. Workshop topics will include college and career readiness, special education supports, curriculum updates, hands-on learning strategies for use at home, and more. For more information, visit HCPSS News

If you have a child who will be 5 years old by September 1, 2026, please join HCPSS for a Kindergarten information session. All sessions will begin promptly at 6:30pm. No registration is required and child care is available at each session for children ages 2 and older. In the event the in-person sessions are cancelled due to snow, please join the virtual event on 1/28. For more information, please visit HERE.

• Monday, January 12 @ Centennial High School
• Tuesday, January 20 @ Guilford Park High School
• Wednesday, January 28, Virtual Event Hosted by the Howard County Library.

This FREE and VIRTUAL event, scheduled for January 27th at 6pm, is open to all. Participants will engage in a read aloud of the book Like THAT Eleanor: The Amazing Power of Being an Ally by Lee Wind, followed by a discussion with the author. The first 50 families with children in grades 5 and under who register for the program will receive a free copy of the book, courtesy of our partner, CARY.
Flier
Register HERE

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.