The Panther Post

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Dear Laurel Woods Community,

As we approach the winter break, we want to take a moment to wish you and your loved ones a joyful, restful, and relaxing time together. We hope this break provides an opportunity to recharge, reflect, and enjoy special moments with family and friends.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support throughout the year. We are grateful to be part of such a wonderful community.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back in the new year and beginning 2026 together. Until then, please enjoy a safe and happy winter break.

With Pride,

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

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.

❄️Don’t miss this month’s edition of PTO Panther Tracks—your December update is here!❄️

Dive in to see what’s happening and what’s coming up!

December

• 12/23: Optional Spirit Day: Festive Sweater Day: Rock a sweater that brings you joy; Pumped Up Recess; Last Day of School Before Winter Break
• 12/24-01/02: Winter Break

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

• If your child needs breakfast, please ensure they arrive before 8:45 a.m.
• Breakfast service will stop at 8:45 so classrooms can begin preparing for the instructional day.

Last week, we had a wonderful turnout at our first Coffee and Conversations on Friday. Despite the cold weather, we stayed warm with coffee, hot chocolate, and great conversation. We have compiled the questions and answers here so that families who were unable to attend can still review them.

For those who joined us, please take a moment to provide feedback so we can continue to ensure this is a valuable and meaningful use of your time.

The theme this year is the 5 LWES success factors. All submissions should be returned to Mr. Griffin no later than December 19th.

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)

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (Chinese)

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (Korean)

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.