The Panther Post

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Dear Laurel Woods Community,

We wrapped up last week with our PTO Back-to-School Picnic, and it was a wonderful evening for families to connect and catch up as the new school year gets underway. While parents visited with one another, students enjoyed playing on the playground, basketball courts, and other fun games.

A big thank you as well to our PTO for hosting a delicious breakfast for our staff last Friday. Your thoughtfulness and support are so appreciated!

In other exciting news, our year-to-date attendance rate is 96.3%! That’s a strong start toward our goal of maintaining at least 95% attendance this year. Thank you for supporting your child’s consistent attendance, and remember to email LWESabsence@hcpss.org whenever your child will be absent.

With Pride,

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

The Howard County Public School System is committed to ensuring equity and giving every child an opportunity to succeed. Essential to this mission is hiring and retaining highly effective teachers and support staff who are invested in providing safe and secure classroom environments where every child is encouraged to thrive.

Your school has been identified as a Title I participating school for the 2025-26 school year. Title I is a federally funded program that is part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. Title I is designed to close achievement gaps and ensure all children have an opportunity to access a high quality education by providing funding for supplemental academic services and supports.

The Federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) contains several provisions that promote a parent/school partnership through communication. One such provision gives parents at Title I Schools the right to ask for and receive information in a timely manner about the professional qualifications of their child's classroom teachers. A parent may request the following information:

• Whether the teacher has met State qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction.
• Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which State qualification or licensing criteria have been waived
• Whether the teacher is teaching in the field of discipline of the certification of the teacher
• Whether the parent's child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications

If you would like to request the above, please submit a written request to the principal. The principal will provide the information to you within 30 business days of the date of your request.

Thank you for supporting your child’s education. Strong partnerships with parents and families are essential to a student's academic success and social-emotional well-being.

Do you have a child in kindergarten this year?

Stop by your child's classroom this Thursday, September 11th from 6:00-7:00pm to learn more about what your child will be learning about this school year. Childcare will be available for children in PreK and up.

If you have any questions, please reach out your child's teacher.

Date: Saturday, Sept. 27, 9:00 am–12:00 pm
Location: Oakland Mills High School
This districtwide event is open to all HCPSS families and will feature:

• A session with Superintendent Bill Barnes
• Resource tables hosted by HCPSS offices and local organizations
• Information on programs, resources, and services available throughout the school year
• Childcare and language access provided

For additional information, please visit the Family Academy Kickoff HCPSS News Post
Flier: English | Spanish | Chinese | Korean

This fall, HCPSS again will offer a no-cost, evidenced based training program to assist parents/guardians in helping their children manage anxiety. Facilitated by HCPSS licensed social workers, school counselors, and school psychologists, the SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) program is specifically designed for parents/guardians of children and adolescents with anxiety issues, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and other related concerns.

Learn more by clicking this link

Wednesday, September 17 will be the first 3 hour early dismissal for HCPSS schools. LWES will dismiss at 12:15. Please make arrangements for an on time pick up.

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 are looking forward to seeing everyone at our annual Back to School Picnic this Friday, 9/5 on the blacktop from 5:30-7pm. Bring a blanket and/or chairs and your picnic dinner! Frozen treats will be available for purchase.

Don't forget to join the PTO for the 2025-2026 school year! Membership is annual and is $10 per family. We are 30% of the way to our goal of 100 members this year - join today!

Upcoming Dates:

• Non-Event Fundraiser 9/5-10/3
• Chipotle Dine Out 9/23 4-8pm
• PTO General Membership Meeting @ Title 1 Night 9/25 4-6pm
• PTO Ice Cream Social 9/30 6-7pm

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our annual Back to School Picnic this Friday, 9/5 on the blacktop from 5:30-7pm. Bring a blanket and/or chairs and your picnic dinner! Frozen treats will be available for purchase.

Don't forget to join the PTO for the 2025-2026 school year! Membership is annual and is $10 per family. We are 30% of the way to our goal of 100 members this year - join today!

Upcoming Dates:

• Non-Event Fundraiser 9/5-10/3
• Chipotle Dine Out 9/23 4-8pm
• PTO General Membership Meeting @ Title 1 Night 9/25 4-6pm
• PTO Ice Cream Social 9/30 6-7pm

September

• 09/15:CAW to Action: Wear Ravens spirit wear or Purple!
• 09/17: 12:15pm Student Early Dismissal
• 09/23:Rosh Hashanah - Schools and Offices Closed
• 09/25: 4:00-6:00pmTitle 1 Night w/PTO
• 09/30: 6:00-7:00pm PTO Ice Cream Social (Cafeteria)

October

• 10/02: Schools & Offices Closed, Yom Kippur
• 10/17: Schools Closed for Students, MSEA Convention/Professional Work Day
• 10/20: Schools & Offices Closed, Diwali
• 10/31: 12:15pm Schools Close 3 Hours Early - Professional Work Day, End of 1st Quarter
  

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

In accordance with Maryland’s Ready to Read Act (2019), COMAR (2021) and the direction from the Howard County Board of Education, all Howard County Public School System students in kindergarten to grade 5 will participate in the 2025 - 2026 administration of the Amplify mClass with DIBELS 8th Edition universal screener to identify potential reading difficulties during set windows throughout the school year. Please review the details at this link

The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is committed to providing a safe, engaging, and supportive school environment that fosters the social and emotional safety, dignity, and well-being of all students. HCPSS acknowledges the need for employees

1. to use an array of research-based positive behavior interventions, strategies, and a tiered system of supports to address student behaviors and keep students safe and free of harm

2. to minimize the practice of exclusion from the classroom environment

3. to minimize the use of physical restraint (which may only be used when necessary to protect a student or other person from imminent, serious, physical harm and only after other less intrusive, nonphysical interventions have failed or been determined inappropriate).

It is the expectation of the Board that HCPSS employees will be knowledgeable of and implement proactive positive behavior interventions in an effort to reduce the need for exclusion or physical restraint.

Additional information can be found at HCPSS Policy 9400 - Student Behavior Intervention. If you have any questions regarding this policy or its implementation, please contact Tanisha Burks at tanisha_burks@hcpss.org.

Please visit HCPSS Connect to update your Family File for this school year. Parents must complete the Family File every year to ensure that we have the most current and accurate information for each and every student.

Parents must complete the Family File every year to ensure that we have the most current and accurate information for every student. Parents/guardians will be asked to provide or update the following information:

• Student Information
• Parent/Guardian Contact
• Emergency Contacts
• Please list multiple emergency contacts!
• Medical Information
• Arrival/Dismissal Procedures and Transportation Options
• Photo Approval
• Data Confidentiality
• Student Creative Work Approval

Resources:

• FAMILY FILE QUICK REFERENCE CARD (ENGLISH)
• FAMILY FILE USER GUIDE (ENGLISH)
• FAMILY FILE USER GUIDE (SPANISH)
• HOMEPAGE FOR HCPSS CONNECT GUIDES & TUTORIALS

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.