Lutherville Lab Report

August 22, 2025

Lutherville Families,

It was lovely to see so many of you at Tuesday and Thursday evening events this week! It has been a week brimming with activity, learning, and preparation as we get set to welcome our Leopards on Monday. Please partner with us by making sure your children are getting good sleep this weekend and practicing morning routines.

Below are key reminders and information for arrival on Monday. Please expect that busses may be running a few minutes late at dismissal. We are the 4th run of the day for many, following HS, MS and early ES runs, and we are taking our time to minimize students missing and ensure students get on the correct bus. Your patience is appreciated!

Reminder on Family Action Items:

• Transportation Survey (help us get your kiddo home to you smoothly!)
• Discretionary Medicine Form
• Volunteer Application (Chaperoning trips, volunteering in school or at events)
• Teachers can always use donated health and sanitation items (tissues, paper towels, sanitizer, ziploc bags). Feel free to send those in next week if you are able to donate.

A few quick hitters:

• Please see some additional BCPS System Back to School reminders for the 25-26 school year.
• In accordance with HB 416, Principals are tasked with providing families with Gun Storage Safety information.
• Voluntary student accident insurance is available during the 25/26 school year. The voluntary student accident insurance contract is between the parent/guardian and the insurance company. All premiums are paid to Bob McCloskey Insurance.

In partnership,

-Mr. McComb

Aug 25 - 9:05 First Day of School for SY25-26

Aug 27 - First full day for Kindergarteners
Sept 1 - School Closed

Sept 7 - PTA Back to School Picnic, 1:00 - 4:00

Sept 9 - Back to School Night! 5:30 - 7:30

Sept 16 - PTA General Body Meeting

• If coming through car loop to drop off in the AM, please pull at the way forward to the where the purple star appears on the image. We will have an orange cone placed at that point. This will help us minimize the number of cars extending into York Road when the line backs up. We generally do not need to continue this after the first week (once more families have moved to the bus or arrive later in the drop-off window of 9:05 - 9:20).
• Walker door will open at 9:05 by the Rec Room.
• No cars should enter through the bus loop. If you miss the turn for the car loop, please proceed up to Ridgely Rd and use a business/shopping center to safely re-approach the turn. We'd prefer a student be a few minutes late and safe than have any extra vehicles coming through the bus loop during arrival.

• Reminder from the Family Welcome Letter that Bus Information (time, location) for your child is available to you through the Parent Focus Portal under "Child Info." Reminder to please have children at the stop 5 minutes before the scheduled arrival time and to wait 10 minutes past the scheduled time before returning home from the stop (note as routes are being worked out in the first weeks, additional flexibility is recommended, see below).
• Download and utilize the BusWhere App. If you are wondering where your bus is, if running late, or how long until it arrives -- this will provide you that information. Calling the school will at best be asking Kelly or Levi to do this for you, while also managing the many needs to get school going and get students in and out safely. Please partner with us by not pulling our staff away from those tasks.
• Please review School Bus Safety with your child before Monday. We will reinforce from school as well and appreciate being of one accord with families in reinforcing these important safety reminders.
• Lutherville Lab staff do not supervise bus drivers or bus aides and we do NOT have expedited access to the Office of Transportation during arrival of dismissal. We are your partner in managing student behavior and needs on the bus. Sometimes we receive concerns about drivers or aides or inconsistency of service. In these cases we can at best strive to relay your concern in full, but it does create the potential for some details to be lost. Parents may contact Transportation directly.
• Additional Information and expectations can be found with the Student and Parent Guide to Transportation below.

BCPS has updated device allocations. Classrooms in K-2 have a reduced allocation (no longer 1-to-1). At elementary schools devices will no longer come home with students. Students and their parents/caregivers will be financially responsible for intentional damage to or loss of any Chromebook or other devices assigned to the student.

To provide an added convenience for families and reduce the possibility of lost/misplaced money in the hands of small children, this year, Lutherville Lab is adding an online payment option for families to pay for field trips. Additional information will come to families once we're through the first few weeks. We will no longer be accepting checks, as the frequency of errors and bounced checks made that payment method inefficient. There is a small fee associated for the online payment. Families for whom that fee is not worth the convenience may choose to pay in exact cash instead (charges will be to the nearest dollar; we're not going to ask for exact amounts and collect coins).

BCPS will be automating a weekly message this year providing families with attendance information through FOCUS and grades through Schoology. Grade information is also available to all families throughout the year (and for previous years!) through the Parent FOCUS Portal. In our continued efforts to reduce our environmental impact, as a National Green Ribbon School, and to be judicious in where we expend time and energy, Lutherville Lab will print 4th quarter report cards for all families (which will have grades and comments from all Marking Periods for the year, for your records), but not for Quarters 1, 2, and 3, as a default practice. To ease this transition for any families with concerns, we will provide a link for individual printing requests at the close of quarters 1-3.

On Thursday, families should have received a message through Talking Points reminding about Sneak-a-Peek. Talking Points is a great communication tool that some of our teachers used last year and we will be using as a school this year. It allows families to send and receive messages in their preferred language and as texts or through the app. Please accept the texts (don't block) and if you don't want texts, please add the app!

Alison Doubet is joining our Lutherville Lab Second-Grade Team from Joppa View Elementary in Perry Hall. Mrs. Doubet is currently serving as the Staff Development Teacher at Joppa View following ten years of experience teaching students in the first and third grades. In her time at Joppa View, Mrs. Doubet has coached teachers and presented professional learning on a wide range of topics, including her practice with "flipped learning" as a classroom teacher. She has served as Technology Liaison, Broadcast Studio Facilitator, and was the 2023 Joppa View Teacher of the Year. She lives in Timonium with her husband and two children.

Sarah Becker Hopkins joins Lutherville from Campfield Early Learning Center where she has taught children in Pre-K3 - Kindergarten Art for over 20 years. Mrs. Hopkins has also served as adjunct faculty in the Department of Early Childhood Education at Towson University for 17 years. She has been a BCPS Curriculum Designer and Contributor, Presenter of a host of Professional Learning topics and community event nights, and trained docents at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Christine "Chrissy" Morrissey joins Lutherville as our IEP Facilitator from Riderwood Elementary. Mrs. Morrissey has 20 years of experience in Special Education in Baltimore County Public Schools where she has worked in Self-Contained and Inclusion settings. She served as IEP Facilitator at Riderwood and Timonium this past year and will be shared between Lutherville and Timonium Elementary Schools this upcoming year. She is pictured here with her sixth grade daughter.

Ms. Aprell Reid rejoins Lutherville Lab as Assistant Principal, joining us from Timber Grove Elementary effective July 1st. Ms. Reid served Lutherville as Principal Intern during the month February. She has served Timber Grove as AP the last three years and the ten years prior to that, taught at Cedarmere Elementary. Ms. Reid, a graduate of Towson and Loyola, is pursuing her Doctorate at Morgan State University. She is elated to rejoin her Leopard family and we are grateful to have her leadership moving forward.

The above offerings were shared on the BCPS Facebook Page. We recommend following for opportunities such as these, updates on system happenings, and weather-related updates as well.

If you'd like to register for any of the above events, you may do so here.

Over the last few years, we've worked hard to nurture partnerships with Goucher College, Towson University, and Loyola University to bring tutors and teacher interns into our classrooms. This fall we welcome six interns from Loyola. During the Fall semester, they will be with us 1.5 days per week and will be with us full-time in the second semester where they will experience a second classroom placement. This week they were a huge help in getting classrooms and the school as a whole ready for students! They're also usually a huge hit with the students.

(from left to right)

Carey Williams - MAT Art - working with Powell and Hopkins

Danny Walsh - ELEM+SPED - 5th grade (Team)

Tara Larson- ELEM + SPED - 3rd grade (Ellingsworth)

Camille Burton - ELEM - 3rd grade (Hernandez)

Faye Krelic - ELEM + SPED - 1st grade (Myers)

Hannah Kilduff - ELEM - 1st grade (Navarro)

For SY 25/26, BCPS will be following emergency response protocols in accordance with the "I Love U Guys" foundation. Staff were trained on the protocol and language today and students will be introduced to the language and processes in the new year. There will be one active shooter drill this year in the month of November or December. The drill will be announced, students will be prepared for the drill, and no scare tactics will be implemented. Families will receive additional information in advance and an impact survey following.

In the spring, we sent a letter sharing our continued practice of collectively contributing to purchasing of student school supplies. The letter outlines details and has an FAQ section. The target contribution amount is $40.00 and can be offered in cash or check (made out to "Lutherville Lab PTA") to the school office or online at the PTA Online Store (small fee applies).

This is an important practice and opportunity to live out our values as a school community and we appreciate all the support and generosity to continue this approach to collectively meet the needs of our students.

Let's get spirited for a new school year! The PTA is providing a free LL spirit shirt to every student this year. If you missed Sneak-A-Peek, please be sure to submit your child's t-shirt size to be sure it fits just right!

We know this is a busy time of transition, but we want to make sure you don't miss these upcoming events:

• Tuesday, 8/26 @ 7:00-7:15pm Virtual - BRIEF budget vote. (Members Only)
• Sunday, 9/7 @ 1-4pm LL Family Picnic- Free food & activities. BYO Blanket and maybe a dessert or side to share. (Open to all LL families & staff)
• Tuesday, 9/16 - @ 6pm General Body Meeting: Discuss important topics including events, needs, strategy, etc. (Open to all LL families & staff)

Please find previous Lab Reports via the following links:

June 13th, 2025 (with links to 24-25 Lab Reports)

June 7th, 2024 (with links to 23-24 Lab Reports)

June 9th, 2023 (with links to 22-23 Lab Reports)

June 17th, 2022 (with links to 21-22 Lab Reports)

Website: https://luthervillees.bcps.org/
Location: 1700 York Road, Lutherville-Timonium, MD, USA
Phone: 443-809-7800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LuthervillePTA/
Twitter: @LuthervilleLab