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Dear Laurel Woods Community,

We are so proud of the incredible work our students have been doing! Every day, they are showing empathy and kindness toward one another, themselves, and the adults around them. We’ve also seen great determination and responsibility as they take ownership of their learning—way to go, LWES students!

Be sure to check your mail—yes, mail, not email 😊! Our staff have been excitedly writing and sending Positive Postcards to spread a little joy and celebrate our students’ efforts. If your child receives one, please take a moment to read it together and join us in celebrating their success!

Warmly,

Tanisha

Parents and guardians of children receiving special education and related services were mailed the Maryland Special Education Parent Involvement Survey from the Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services. Parents are asked to complete the survey and return it in the postage paid envelope by Friday, June 5, 2026. The survey can also be completed onlineLinks to an external site.. Your feedback will help guide efforts to improve special education and related services in HCPSS. Your voice can make a real difference for your child and many other children across the state of Maryland.

We’re so proud of the effort our students are showing during testing. Each day, they are showing up focused, doing their best, and staying engaged. It’s great to see their steady effort and commitment to their learning.

This week, 3rd and 4th grade will wrap up ELA MCAP on Tuesday and Wednesday. Fifth grade will begin ELA MCAP this week, taking sessions 1 and 2 and Thursday and Friday. They will finish next week. Remember, All testing takes place in the morning, so being on time is very important.

Tips for Test Days:

• Make sure your child gets a good night’s rest and eats a healthy breakfast before testing, either at home or at school.

• Students should arrive at school on time (8:45) on testing days so they do not need to be pulled out of class instruction for make-up sessions. If your student eats breakfast at school they should arrive at 8:30. Breakfast ends at 8:45.

• Please avoid early dismissals during testing sessions to ensure their time is uninterrupted.

• Personal electronic devices (cell phones, iPads, smart watches, etc.) are not permitted in the testing areas.

Last week, our students participated in a bus evacuation drill to practice important safety procedures. Upon arrival, students who ride the bus received a refresher on the different types of bus evacuations and then practiced a rear door evacuation with support from staff and drivers.

We recognize that not all students ride the bus daily, however, many may use school buses for field trips or special events. To ensure all students are prepared, we also participate in National Bus Safety Week each October. During that time, teachers provide classroom lessons and discussions focused on safe boarding and exiting, appropriate behavior while riding, and emergency procedures.

Our goal is for every student, whether they are bus riders, walkers, or car riders, to understand and be prepared to follow bus safety expectations.

We’re excited to celebrate National Take Your Child to Work Day on April 23, 2026! This is a great opportunity for students to explore the world of work, learn from real-life experiences, and participate in a meaningful day alongside you.

If your child will be joining you for this special experience, please email LWESAbsence@hcpss.org to notify our front office.

To ensure your child’s absence is marked as excused, written notification must be received in advance. We hope this day is both fun and inspiring for our students!

We’re excited to celebrate math in a fun and engaging way all month long! During Spirit Week, students will have the chance to show their school spirit while building excitement around math.

We encourage all of our families to join in the fun by helping your child participate and get excited about the activities. We can’t wait to see our students showing their spirit and love for learning! ➕➗

The Virtual Family Resource Center is open for monthly orders. The order form is available here: Family Resource Order Link. Please return reusable bags. Thank you!

Generation Teach is returning to Laurel Woods! Monday - Friday 8:30am - 4:00pm. No cost to families. Breakfast, lunch, and materials included. Classes in engineering, law, math, and reading along with arts, sports, games, field trips, competition and prizes! June 29th - July 31st. All students currently in K - 4 are welcome! Registration open! Please let Alesia Richter, Community Schools Site Coordinator know if you have any questions. Generation Teach Enrollment

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.

💙 Hello Laurel Woods Families! 💙

We hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break! Welcome back for the final stretch of the school year! We have some upcoming events and recaps to share with you, but first, take a moment to read about the differences between being a PTO Member and serving on the PTO Board. The PTO is in need of individuals to serve on the PTO executive board for the 2026-27 school year - in fact, without these volunteers the PTO will move to an “inactive” status which will mean PTO sponsored events and initiatives will not happen for the 26/27 school year. If you are interested in serving on the PTO Executive board, please email Kelly at ptolwes@gmail.com and be sure to join us on Thursday, May 21st to vote on the future of the LWES PTO.

📅 Upcoming PTO Events

Mark your calendars! Here are some of the awesome events and initiatives we’ve got coming up:

• 📕 Yearbook sales are open online through May 1st! Use code: 15436926. Yearbooks are $30. Don’t delay, order your yearbook today!
• 🏆Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week - May 4-8, more information coming soon!
• 📅 PTO General Meeting – May 21st

Mark your calendars! Our May PTO General Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 12. This will be an important meeting as we determine the future of the PTO - We’d love to see you over Zoom!

• 🎉Save The Date - End of Year Block Party - Thursday, June 4th

Thank you for participating in our events!

✨ PTO Event Recaps ✨

Raise Craze wrapped up in March and we raised $796.77 for our school and PTO and completed 67 acts of kindness! Great job, Panthers!

Chuck E. Cheese Fundraiser Success!
Our Chuck E. Cheese fundraiser raised $162.62! Thank you to everyone who showed up to support the LWES PTO.

Thank you for joining us for our March General Membership Meeting! If you missed it, you can find the meeting slides here. Please reach out with any questions!

📸 Do you have photos to share with us from any of our PTO events? Would you love to see them in the yearbook? Please email photos to ptolwesmedia@gmail.com, making sure that any students who are pictured have photo release consent on file within their HCPSS Family File.

🌟Get Involved!

Our last meeting this year will take place from 7-8pm on May 21st. All meetings will be on Zoom. At our next meeting, we will share a recap of the year, end of year events and vote on board positions for the 2026-2027 school year!

Looking for even more ways to lend a hand? Read on!

• Sunshine Families: Help show love to our teachers with appreciation events in April, and May.

• Media Center Volunteers: contact Sarai_Gray@hcpss.org for details.

• Would your restaurant like to host a LWES PTO fundraiser? Let us know!

• PTO Board Positions for the 2026-2027 school year

Have a great idea for an event or project? Let us know—we’d love to hear from you!

Reach out to ptolwes@gmail.com to sign up for any of the opportunities above or recommend your own!

📱 Stay Connected

Follow us on Facebook to stay up to date on events, reminders, and ways to be involved.

Warmly,

💙 The LWES PTO

April

• 04.19-04.25: National School Library Week - Theme: “Find Your Joy”
• 04.20: 9:00-10:30 Kindergarten In-House Library Visit
• 04.22: 5:00-6:00 Mobile Library; Earth Day; Report Cards Issued
• 04.23: Take Your Child to Work Day
• 04.24: 7:00pm Battle of the Books; 1st Grade Zoo Field Trip; Report Cards Issued and sent home
  
• 04.27-05.01: Math Month Spirit Week
• 04.27: Vision Van
• 04.28: Vision Van
• 04.30: 7:00pm Spring Band/Strings Concert @ RHS

May

• 05.01: Last day to purchase Yearbook online
• 05.02: 8:30am Best Buddies Walk at University of Maryland College Park
• 05.04-05.08: Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week
• 05.07: 7:00pm Spring Musical - Wizard of Oz
• 05.08: 7:00pm Spring Musical - Wizard of Oz
• 05.13: 4th Grade Field Trip to Maryland Zoo
• 05.15: 6:30pm Culture Night
• 05.19: 5:15pm Middle School Transition Night
• 05.21: 7:00pm PTO Meeting
• 05.22: Field Day
• 05.25: Memorial Day- School Closed
• 05.29: 8:45am Coffee and Conversation w/Admin

For a complete list of dates and events visit https://lwes.hcpss.org/events

As you can see from our year-to-date attendance, we have been maintaining 93.9% attendance rate. With your support, we can reach our end-of-year goal of 95%!

As we enter the final stretch of the school year, we encourage all families to maintain strong attendance habits. April is an important time for learning, assessments, and preparing for end-of-year success. Each school day helps your child stay connected, confident, and on track.

We truly appreciate your partnership in making daily attendance a priority and supporting your child in finishing the year strong!

🌼 3 Quick Tips for Families

• 1. Stick to routines- Keep consistent bedtime and morning schedules to start the day strong

• 2. Plan ahead- Schedule appointments after school hours when possible

• 3. Stay engaged- Talk with your child about what they’re learning and why showing up matters

We are excited to celebrate and reward our students for being present and engaged through our April and May Attendance Incentive!

Each day we reach 95% schoolwide attendance, we earn a green apple as we track our progress together. So far, we’ve earned 3 green apples—great start! Our goal is to reach 15 green apples.

Once we hit our goal, we’ll open the Mystery Box, and students will earn a sweet surprise!

Thank you for helping us build strong attendance habits and supporting our students every day!

Congratulations to our K through 5th grade students whose artwork is featured in the 53rd Annual HCPSS Art Exhibit at the Mall in Columbia! This exciting event highlights the creativity, dedication, and artistic growth of students from across Howard County—and we're proud to share that 47 LWES students have their work on display this year!

We invite our LWES families and community members to stop by and celebrate these young artists as well as Mr. Griffin and Ms. Forman. The exhibit will be open April 9-April 29, and our school’s display can be found on the lower level near Lolli and Pops.

All students who ride a school bus to and from school will participate in a bus evacuation drill on Wednesday when they arrive at school. The driver will instruct students on the 3 types of evacuations (rear door, side hatch/door, top hatch) and then practice exiting the bus from the rear door in a safe and orderly fashion. School staff will be present to assist the bus teams in conducting the drill.

All 5th graders will gather to take a panoramic picture of the whole grade. This picture will be used in the yearbook and is also available for purchase either by returning the order form or ordering online at mylifetouch.com and using our school ID: MJ865020T0

We hope to see all our 5th graders present on Friday so everyone can be a part of this memory as they begin to close out their time in elementary school.

Howard County Public School's Title I Office receives Title I funds to provide additional support and resources to Title I Schools. The Title I Office supports family engagement through the implementation of its Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Plan and by providing schools with funds to support family engagement.

A drive-thru medication disposal will take place on Saturday, April 25 in the Wilde Lake Village Center Parking Lot near the CA Swim Center from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Safely dispose of prescription and over-the-counter medication, vitamins, pet meds, vape devices, inhalers, and more. Unlike previous events, we will not collect sharps (needles, syringes and EpiPens). HC Drug Free is in need of student, adult, and medically-trained adult volunteers. Earn Community Service Hours! Giving away 100 medication lockboxes. For more information and to volunteer, visit HC DrugFree's website: https://hcdrugfree.org/drug-take-back-day-1/.

The Mental Health Community Advisory Council (MHCAC) is a group of Howard County mental health professionals and community members who seek to remove barriers and build awareness of mental health support for our children and families.

Please view their MHCAC Spring 2026 Newsletter filled with mental health resources, upcoming events, Spring Break Tips, coping skills, and kindness resources, in your school newsletter.