Lutherville Lab Report

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

March 31, 2023

Lutherville Families,

I decided to write you all this week given the event in Tennessee on Monday.

Monday morning here at Lutherville we completed a safety drill with our students practicing what they would do if there were an intruder in our school. Our drill concluded ~13 minutes before police in Tennessee received their first phone call notifying them of the intruder in a school in Nashville. As our children returned to classrooms and carried on with their learning and their day, other children's lives were being changed forever, or lost entirely.

And as Monday continued -- for us -- we planted trees.

Planting a tree is an act of faith, an act of hope. On our back fields right now you can see fledgling trees juxtaposed against huge stumps of trees taken down in recent years. The contrast is stark seeing such meager, tiny trunks against the scattered, thick stumps. It shows how much growth is ahead of those young trees.

Each student packed some mulch around one of the young trees placed in the earth. They placed their thumb-print on a slate marker to identify that this was their tree and their class will care for it.

Those small trees, planted and cared for in hope and expectation for their growth -- it's a pretty good metaphor for the work we do at Lutherville. The rest of this week we had teacher candidates visiting and interviewing each morning. I got to share with them our mission of helping build foundations for excellence in each child, and helping them to live in harmony with themselves, each other, and the world around them. I got to describe the incredibly caring staff and community. And as each visitor walked the halls for arrival and visited classrooms for morning work and morning meetings, each commenting on the joy and relationships they could see and feel in the building.

We are lucky to do such meaningful work, and we do it postured in the same faith as planting those trees -- in hope that our students will grow up strong, and help lead us to a world where incidents like those in Nashville on Monday are a thing of the past.

Thank you, Lutherville Families, for trusting us on that journey, and each day along the way.

-Mr. McComb

Calendar Reminders

March 31st -- Spring Break Begins at end of the day

April 11th -- Schools Reopen

April 14th -- Yearbook order deadline

April 21st -- Schools Closed (professional development)

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Calling STEM Family Members!!

Do you work in the STEM field, or have someone who does!?

For our Spring Family Night on May 2nd, we're anchoring the event with a STEM Fair in the gym. We're interested in family members or family friends of LL students who would be like to share something from their career/field with our students and families! We're open to demonstrations, video, hands-on, etc! Let's share the fun and wonder of the STEM fields with our students.

If you are open to joining us, please email PTA Treasurer, Liz Roe at lizroe7@gmail.com.

Lutherville Lab Fun Run!

The PTA will be hosting a fun run to as a fundraiser for the school on the afternoon of Saturday, May 13th (rain date May 20th) on the school fields. Popsicles will be made available to every participant, with larger prizes up for runners. We will be having a fun run and a competitive run. Please be on the lookout for a signup in the next week!

Thank you -- Lutherville Lab PTA

5th Graders Rocked Ballroom Dancing!

Middle School Transition Workshop

We know that the transition to middle school and all that comes with that time in a child's life and be daunting. To be proactive in equipping our parents to best support their children in middle school, the Lutherville Lab PTA and Mr. McComb have organized a special middle school transition workshop on April 18th from 6-8pm.

Parents will have the opportunity to choose two of the four sessions below. We plan to open the opportunity to parents at some neighboring schools, so please here register ASAP before spaces fill. We're giving our Leopard families a leap ahead of the pack.

Internet Safety with Joe Dugan, Maryland State Police Internet Safety Specialist

We will discuss the many ways our children can find themselves in trouble on the internet, such as, loss of privacy, exposure to graphic content both from imagery and online games. We will touch on the subject of our children creating and sharing CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material, also referred to as child pornography) and how this can create a lifelong problem for our children.

Academic Transition with John Ayres, Social Studies Department Chair Ridgely Middle School

We will discuss middle school academic expectations, processes, and study habits. Mr. Ayres will focus on some of the common challenges students encounter in transitioning to middle school and the increased independence and step up in expectations and how to help your child prepare for and navigate that change.

Social-Emotional Changes with Tammi Coit, Coordinator of Multi-Tiered System of Supports

Using the social emotional competencies, we will examine the typical changes in navigating friendships and emotional development that occur during the middle school years, including understanding common challenges and opportunities for a child in 2023.

Understanding and Navigating Conversations on Gender and Sexuality with Dr. Gregory Brightbill, University of Maryland Baltimore

We will discuss terms of identity for gender and sexuality that adolescents may encounter with peers or identify with themselves. We will build foundational knowledge and discuss how to navigate these conversations in ways that are supportive, show care, and keep communication open with your child.

School Spirit Days

Please see the list of upcoming Spirit Days, below. Additional opportunities may be added as we move through the year, but want to send this now for planning purposes:

March 31st – Lutherville Lab Spirit Day – Go Leopard!

April 14th – Pirates Day, Matey!

April 28th – Our brains are so bright we need to wear Shades (Sunglass Day)