Harbison Herald

Attention 3rd, 4th & 5th grade parents, please mark your calendars for our state testing dates in May.

Report cards were issued today (October 22nd) in Parent Portal. Parent portal can be accessed through this link - https://lexrich5.powerschool.com/public/

Parent Portal Reminders:

Lexington District Five’s online student information system, PowerSchool Parent Portal, provides parents with real-time information to access student schedules, attendance, grades, and test scores. We highly encourage each parent to sign up for Parent Portal.

Before you can log into PowerSchool Parent Portal, you will need a PowerSchool username and password. If you have previously received a password and username, it will remain the same. A username and password for new students will be made available at the beginning of the year.

• If you have not set up your Parent Portal account, please email a copy of your photo ID to our registrar, Marlene Contreras, (mcontreras@lexrich5.org).
• If you already created an account, but are unable to login, please contact Ms. Contreras for assistance.

Congratulations to our HWES students who were selected to be part of the Elementary District Honor Choir! There were 120 students in grades 4th through 6th who auditioned.

Students selected:

• Vivienne T.
• Luicy F.
• Amiyah B.
• Alyson O.
• Maizii J.

Looking for some "new to you" treasures? The Bridge Transition Program of LexRich5 is hosting a yard sale to support student led businesses. Check out their yard sale tomorrow (10/23) from 10am to 2pm at 7500 Woodrow Street in Irmo.

October 23

Celebration of Learning (3-5)

3rd grade: 8:10am-8:40am

4th grade: 8:50am-9:20am

5th grade: 9:20am-9:50am

October 26-30

Red Ribbon Week (see spirit day flyer below)

October 28

Fall Makeup Picture Day

1st grade Field Trip

October 29

Vision & Hearing Screenings (see flyer & information below)

November 3

All schools & offices CLOSED for Election Day

Make up Picture Day is Wednesday, October 28th.

• Absentees and New Students/Staff should plan to be photographed on this day so they may be included in the yearbook. (No purchase necessary.)

• We recommend letting your students' teacher know that you wish to have a picture done so that they are sent to the photographer.

• In order to submit a new online order, families will need to wait for the updated proof sheet and submit an order using their student's personalized online code. Online orders will be mailed directly to the home address rather than to the school.

• Retakes: It does not cost to have a retake. If you or your student are not happy with the original picture, please have a new photo taken. It is helpful to the photographer to add a note to the returned pictures explaining what you would like to have changed with their picture.

• The student does need to return the complete Picture Package in the envelope to the photographer on Retake Day. We cannot exchange your order with the Retake picture until the Picture Package envelope and its contents have been returned but we can still take a new photo if that information is not provided on picture day.

• If there are questions, please contact our customer service department at 855-773-3321 (M-F, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm).

Next week we will celebrate Red Ribbon Week with some spirit days.

October 26 - Pajama Day

October 27 - Wear Red

October 28 - Wear Orange

October 29 - Dress like an athlete

October 30 - Dress like a hero or wear HWES gear

Join us for our 3rd annual Pajama Palooza Family Engagement Enrichment Cluster Showcase. Wear your favorite pajamas, have breakfast for dinner, enjoy student performances, presentations and visit the HWES book fair. You MUST respond by 5pm on Thursday, October 29th to reserve your meal. Don't miss this exciting event!

RSVP Link - https://bit.ly/4hz2fZm

Where:

Harbison West Elementary Gifted and Talent Development Magnet

257 Crossbow Drive, Columbia, SC 29212

When:

Tuesday, November 17, 2026

5:30pm-6:30pm

Vision & Hearing Screenings will take place on Thursday, October 29th.

The following students will be screened:

• 4K
• Kindergarten
• 1st grade
• 3rd grade
• 5th grade
• New District 5 students

Please note that students who are absent will not be screened unless requested by parent or teacher.

Any parent who does not want their child's vision or hearing screened may email Nurse Carrie at czier@lexrich5.org to opt-out. If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Carrie at 803-476-3809.

All schools & offices will be CLOSED for Election Day on Tuesday, November 3rd.

We would like to honor the Veterans in our hero family. If you would like to submit a picture of a loved one in uniform for our Veterans day slideshow, please email it to Mrs. Towson at ktowson@lexrich5.org by October 31st.

Our Veterans day program will take place on November 10th. More details are forthcoming.

Do you pick your student up in our afternoon carline and wish you could be at the front of line? We are selling FAST PASS raffle tickets for a $1/ticket with no limit on amount purchased for each month. Every month beginning in October we will choose 6 winners to receive a "fast pass" to the front of the line for a month. To be eligible to win, you must a purchase ticket(s) for the current month's drawing. Tickets will be available in the car line and front office. Cash or check payable to HWES accepted.

Celebrate your hero's birthday with a message on our digital sign. Fill out the google form to reserve your spot.

• 🎈 Cost: $25 per birthday message
• 🎉Each message will say "Happy Birthday {name}"
• 📅 Messages displayed by noon on Monday through Sunday for week selected
• ⭐ Only 4 birthday message spots are available each week, so be sure to reserve early!
• 🗓️ Birthday messages will begin the week of October 5th
• 💰Payment MUST be received by the 1st day of the month in which the message will be displayed.
• 📢Requests are processed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once a week is full, it will be removed from the google form. If the week fills up before it is removed, you will receive notification.

TRI-DISTRICT ARTS CONSORTIUM

Nominations for Tri-DAC 2027

CONTACT:

Donna Wilson

Tri-District Arts Consortium

Richland School District Two

124 Risdon Way

Columbia, SC 29223

Email: director.tridac@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COLUMBIA--- Nominations are now being accepted for the 2027 Tri-District Arts Consortium Summer Program. Middle school students who attend the public schools of Lexington One, Lexington Richland Five and Richland Two are eligible to attend. In addition, students residing in one of the three districts who are home-schooled or attend a state-supported charter school are also eligible to participate. This year Tri-DAC celebrates its 41st anniversary of providing students an outstanding and concentrated study in the arts.

The program is designed for artistically gifted and talented students who are currently in fifth through eighth grades. Students may audition in creative writing, dance, music (band, strings and vocal), theatre or visual art. The Summer Program will be hosted by the Palmetto Center for the Arts on the campus of Richland Northeast High School in Richland School District Two. The program will be held Monday through Friday, June 7 through June 25, 2027 from 9:00am until 3:15pm each day. Accepted students must commit to attending the entire three weeks of the program.

Arts teachers, language arts teachers, administrators and parents may nominate students. Nomination forms for all art areas, along with general information about the Tri-District Arts Consortium are available online in each school district and on our website at www.tridac.org.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, December 4, 2026. Applications will be sent to each student nominated. To nominate a student, fill out this Nomination Form.

Auditions for Creative Writing, Strings, Theatre and Visual Art students will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2027 at Richland Northeast High School. Auditions for the areas of Band, Dance, Vocal and Visual Art students will be held Saturday, March 6, 2027 at Richland Northeast High School. There will be no make-up auditions.

For more information, see our Landing Page. You can also contact Shirley Cope at sfcope@lexrich5.org or (803) 476-8129.

Did you know that Afternoon Safari is held here at Harbison West afterschool each day? The program operates each day afterschool until 6pm.

Benefits of attending Afternoon Safari:

• No bus ride to daycare for your student. It operates on the Harbison West Elementary campus.
• Snacks provided each day.
• Discounted rates for those who qualify
• Operates on early release days.

Download the registration packet today to sign up or pick one up in the front office! Completed forms must be dropped off at Seven Oaks Park located at 200 Leisure Lane, Columbia, SC.

We are looking for volunteers to help with Vision & Hearing Screenings on Thursday, October 29th from 8am-2pm. You can volunteer all day or just an hour or two. Any and all help is appreciated. Sign up to volunteer - https://bit.ly/4eHHHM2

Join us for our next PTO meeting on Wednesday, November 18th at 8am. If you are signed up for PTO emails, you will receive a virtual link.

Irmo High Student Council is hosting "Sting or Treat" Trunk or Treat event on Wednesday, October 28th from 5:30pm-7pm in the IHS Stadium parking lot.

Details:

• Free admission for the community
• Food trucks on site to purchase food
• Donations for Harvest Hope Food Bank will be accepted *optional* (Donation requests: canned items, rice, cereal, peanut butter, pasta)

The Education Studio will host a free adult workshop at Richland Library Main, called Building Confident Readers, on Saturday, October 24th from 9:30-12:30.

Join us as we explore essential literacy skills that set the foundation for reading success! From phonemic awareness and phonics to fine motor skills, letter formation, letter-sound connections, blending, syllable types, and decodable readers—these tools are key for helping young learners thrive.

Whether you're a parent or educator, you'll leave with practical activities and ready-to-use materials to support your children at home. Let’s make learning to read fun and effective!

Because we want participants to be fully present, we ask that caregivers/parents attend without their children or bring a second caregiver who can be with the children while they are attending.

Please feel free to post the attached flyers or share with families that might be interested.

We would love to see you there! Please use the link below to register:

Register Here!

Website: www.lexrich5.org/hwes
Location: 257 Crossbow Drive, Columbia, SC, USA

Phone: (803)476-3800
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HarbisonWestElem

Instagram: @HarbisonWestElem