Happy New Year!
🎉 Week of January 5th 🎉
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Dear Laurel Woods Community,
Happy New Year, and welcome back! We hope you had a joyful, restful winter break filled with time to relax, recharge, and celebrate together. We are so excited to welcome our students and families back as we begin a brand-new year—2026!
As we return to school, we are looking forward to reconnecting with our students and jumping back into learning with fresh energy and enthusiasm. January is a wonderful time for new goals, renewed focus, and continued growth, both academically and socially.
Thank you for being such an important part of our school family. We look forward to a fantastic start to the new year and all that 2026 has in store!
With Pride,
Dr. Burks, Ms. Braxton, & Ms. Lee
⏰ Important Morning Schedule Reminder 🍳🥞
🕣 Instruction begins promptly at 8:45 a.m.
🍽️ Breakfast Information
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Students who need breakfast must arrive before 8:45 a.m.
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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!
Save the Date for February Parent/Teacher Conferences
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.
Measured Academic Progress (MAP) assessment
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
🤝 🌟Partnership Spotlight🤝 🌟
🐾 Community Corner! 🐾
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! 👇
LWES Open Feedback Form
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.
Related Arts Color Days for this Week
PTO Panther Tracks
🥢🍝🍜January 7th - Visit Noodles & Co. at 14700 Baltimore Avenue in Laurel from 4-8pm to support the PTO in fundraising for student, staff, and school activities.
☕🚶🏾♀️👟January 9th - get a healthy start to the new year by joining our Inaugural Coffee & Connection Walking Club for LWES parents and guardians. After drop-off, we’ll walk to the North Laurel Community Center to chat and enjoy coffee with friends and neighbors. A NLCC representative will also be available to chat about programs and the new swimming pool.
👩🏽💻🎦👋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
Upcoming Dates and Events
January
01/05: 1st Day of School, Schools Re-open
01/07: 4:00-8:00pm 🥢🍝🍜 PTO January dine out @ Noodles & Co. at 14700 Baltimore Avenue in Laurel
01/09: 2:00pm 4th & 5th Grade Spelling Bee; PTO Inaugural Coffee & Connection Walking Club for LWES parents and guardian
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
01/21: 4:00-5:30pm Targeted Math Fact Family Night
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: 5:00pm Mobile Library; PTO Domino Pizza Fundraiser
For a complete list of dates and events visit https://lwes.hcpss.org/events
Happenings around Town
Registration for BSAP Saturday Math Academy
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)
CAREapp Howard County
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/
Mental Health Advisory Council (MHCAC)
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.