The WEEKLY DUCK

Kelli Jenkins, Principal

Jennifer Zinn, Assistant Principal

Location ~ 11575 Frederick Road Ellicott City, MD 21042

Phone ~ 410-313-7165

Website ~ https://mwes.hcpss.org/

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Dear Manor Woods Families,

The month of November is GIVING SEASON and the MWES Food Drive is back! Beginning Nov. 9 through Nov. 13 we'll be collecting non-perishable food items for families facing food insecurity. Last year, we collected over 700 lbs of food! Donations can be sent to school with your child(ren) and dropped off in the collection bin in the front lobby. The most needed items can be found here (and below). Please help us reach our goal of at least 300 items!

During this season of giving, we will be collecting gift cards to make sure that we take care of our community members who may need a helping hand. We will be collecting gift cards from Wal-Mart and Safeway to distribute to families in need during the upcoming holiday season. Please drop off gift card donations in the Manor Woods front office during school hours: 8:30am-4pm November 9 through December 4.

As we move forward into the month of November, this is always a great time to share our appreciation, thanks and gratitude. Reflecting on our many blessings and sharing our gratitude with others can truly make a difference. The staff at Manor Woods works so hard every day to make sure our students and families are happy and successful and we would love your help in recognizing our staff during this month of Thanksgiving. Will you join us in recognizing a staff member? Will you recognize any staff member who is making a difference for your child(ren)?

Please take a moment to recognize a staff member who is making a positive difference. Use this link to SHOUT OUT a MWES staff member: #MWES STAFF SHOUT OUT. We will share the SHOUT OUT with individual staff members as they are received. Thank you for your support in recognizing our amazing staff!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Kelli Jenkins, Principal

Jennifer Zinn, Assistant Principal

November

• Native American Heritage Month
• 6 - 1st Quarter Report Cards ~ Viewable via HCPSS Connect @ 4:00 PM
• 6 - Parent Teacher Conference Scheduling Window Opens @ 8:00 AM
• 11 - Veteran's Day ~ Wear Red, White & Blue
• 13 - 4th Grade Field Trip To London Town
• 16-20 - American Education Week
• 18 - Picture Retake (1st thing In the Morning)
• 19 - Parent Teacher Conference Scheduling Window Closes
• 23 & 24 - School Closed 3-Hour Early Dismissal
• 23 - Parent-Teacher Conferences ~ IN PERSON ONLY
• 24 & 25 - Parent-Teacher Conferences ~ VIRTUAL ONLY
• 25-27 - School Closed for Students

Add the HCPSS online calendar to your mobile/online calendar by following the steps on the HCPSS calendar page.

PLEASE NOTE! The calendar is subject to change. The online calendar reflects the most recent version.

RELATED ARTS ~ COLOR DAYS

Tentative Related Arts Color Day schedule

The month of November is GIVING SEASON and at Manor Woods we are thrilled to kick off two ways to support our community members in need.

The MWES Food Drive is back! Beginning Nov. 9 through Nov. 13 we'll be collecting non-perishable food items for families facing food insecurity. Last year, we collected over 700lbs of food! Donations can be sent to school with your child(ren) and dropped off in the collection bin in the front lobby. The most needed items can be found here.

GIFT CARD Collection: We want to make sure that we take care of our community members who may need a helping hand. We will be collecting gift cards from Wal-Mart and Safeway to distribute to families in need during the upcoming holiday season. Please drop off gift card donations in the Manor Woods front office during school hours: 8:30am-4pm November 9 through December 4.

Thank you for your support!

American Education Week is the week of November 16th-20th. Each year, we look forward to honoring public education and the many individuals who contribute to ensuring that every student receives a quality education.

American Education Week is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen our collaboration and partnership with families. We invite parents and guardians to visit their child’s classroom during the week to experience the school learning environment firsthand.

Due to school security, student confidentiality, and limited space, we ask our parents/guardians to follow these guidelines:

• Only parents/guardians are allowed to visit.

• To allow for the safe arrival and dismissal of our students, we ask for parents/guardians to visit between 9:00 AM - 2:45 PM.

• All parents/guardians must sign in at the front office.

• Visitors must bring a scannable driver’s license.

• Visitor stickers are worn in a visible location at all times.

• Due to space, we ask that you limit your visit to one hour. Ask your child what part of the day they would like you to visit. See our master schedule below.

• Be mindful of confidentiality while visiting. Visitors are responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all private, sensitive, and personally identifiable information they may see or hear while visiting HCPSS schools. Please click here for more information.

• No photos/videos please.

• Please silence your phone throughout your visit.

• DUE TO A PTO-SPONSORED ASSEMBLY ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH, we are asking for parents/guardians to refrain from visiting on Friday, November 20th.

Important Notes

As of the 2026-2027 school year, parent lunch visits are no longer permitted at HCPSS schools due to safety concerns. Given the number of parents who visit our school during American Education Week, we can only accommodate classroom visits—we cannot make exceptions to allow for visits during lunch. In addition, parents are not permitted to attend recess. Please plan your visit accordingly based on your child’s class schedule.

Parking Reminders:

• Parking will be limited, so please consider carpooling.

• No cars can be parked in the bus loop between 8:30-9:00 AM.

• All cars must leave the bus loop no later than 2:45 PM.

• Please do not park in the fire lane at any time.

We look forward to welcoming you into our school to see the outstanding teaching and learning going on!

2026-2027 Quarter 1 Report Cards will be available at/after 4 pm, Friday, November 6th.

Parents/guardians may view/download report cards by taking the following steps:

1. Log in to HCPSS Connect Synergy using parent/guardian credentials

2. Select More Options from the left panel

3. Select Report Cards from the middle

4. Select the report card you wish to access

Screencast for How to Access Your Child’s Report Card in Synergy

Standards-Based Instruction and Reporting PK-5th grade (SBIR)

Elementary Standards-Based Instruction and Reporting for Families(Click) Canvas page

The updated www.hcpss.org/report-cards site is now LIVE.

Grades PreK-2:

• Understanding Your Child's Report Card (PreK-2) - English Links to an external site.

• Understanding Your Child's Report Card (PreK-2) - Chinese Links to an external site.

• Understanding Your Child's Report Card (PreK-2) - Korean Links to an external site.

• Understanding Your Child's Report Card (PreK-2) - Spanish Links to an external site.

Grade 3-5:

• Understanding Your Child's Report Card (Grades 3-5) - English Links to an external site.

• Understanding Your Child's Report Card (Grades 3-5) - Chinese Links to an external site.

• Understanding Your Child's Report Card (Grades 3-5) - Korean Links to an external site.

• Understanding Your Child's Report Card (Grades 3-5) - Spanish Links to an external site.

Standards-Based Instruction and Reporting (SBIR) provides information about how a student is progressing with grade-level standards. Evidence gathered over time helps articulate a student's relative strengths and growth areas compared to the grade-level standards. 504/ML/IEP accommodations and instructional supports ensure access to grade-level instruction but do not reduce, change, or lower grade-level learning or performance expectations.

Academic Performance Codes represent what has been learned and where the student is relative to the expectation of the grade-level standard. It is intended to reflect the progress toward meeting the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards for their current grade level.

For students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), detailed progress toward IEP goals is provided in the Annual Goal(s) Progress Report, which is sent at the same time as the HCPSS report card. A student’s IEP goals address the identified skills that support their progress toward meeting grade-level standards.

The Parent-Teacher Conference scheduling window will open on November 6th. Conferences will take place on November 23 through November 25.

• In- person conferences will be held on Monday, November 23rd only;

• Virtual conferences will be held on Tuesday, November 24th and/or Wednesday, November 25th only depending on teacher availability

• For fall conferences:

• Homeroom/Language Arts teachers will be available for all grades.

• Mrs. Parker will also be available for Math conferences for 4th Grade GT Math only. (Math conferences for all other grades/teachers will be available in February.) This will help allow for more teacher availability to meet with families in February when slots are limited.

• Related arts will be hosting one office hour during the conference window. The office hours are for general questions about the content area and expectations. Office hours should not be used for questions specific about your child. The office hours schedule will be shared with parents from the teachers' Canvas pages.

• If you have a child-specific question, please sign up for a conference spot with the related arts teacher. Each related arts teacher will have limited conference spots.

Families will sign up for conferences using Synergy beginning November 6th. Here’s how to schedule a conference:

Log in to HCPSS Connect to view and select your time slot:

1. Go to https://www.hcpss.org/connect/

2. Select “Conference” from the left menu.

3. Choose “Parent Scheduled Conferences” at the top right.

4. Pick a convenient time slot.

Please view the following helpful guides:

https://www.hcpss.org/connect/guides/

https://help.hcpss.org/when-and-how-can-i-register-for-parent-teacher-conferences

If you cannot access HCPSS Connect, please contact the school at 410-313-7165 for assistance. The scheduling window will remain open from Friday, November 6th, at 8:00 am through Thursday, November 19th, at 4:00 pm. After Nov. 19th, families must call the front office secretaries directly to check availability and schedule a conference.

MWES Girl Scout Junior Troop 4301- a wonderful group of 4th graders is teaming up with Mt. Hebron HS students again this year to put together care packages for local families in need.

The high school is focused on collecting fresh food items and our troop is collecting personal care products, specifically: new and full sized: shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss.

Donations can be placed in the boxes in the MWES front lobby or items can be bought directly from our Amazon Wish list: https://tinyurl.com/MWES4301

Thank you for supporting local families in need and helping the Girl Scouts reach their goal of 100 care packages!

November 11th is a National Day of recognition of our Veterans. We are excited to announce that we would like to honor all military veterans related to Manor Woods families. If you would like to honor a family member or friend, please complete the following form no later than Thursday, November 5th. MWES Veterans Day Recognition We will display these names for our school community to reflect on and appreciate their dedication and service. In addition, we would love for our students and staff to wear red, white and blue on the 11th.

The Howard County Literacy Association invites students in grades 1-5 to submit their original poems and/or short stories to the annual writing contest called The Young Authors' Contest. Please see the attached Young Authors’ Contest Guidelines for information about the rules and guidelines. Stories and poems must be typed and saved as a Word Doc or Googledoc. All entries must have a completed YAC Cover Sheet sent as a PDF. Submissions may be emailed to natalie_miskimins@hcpss.org by January 13, 2027. Contact Mrs. Miskimins with any questions. All Young Authors’ Contest information can be found on the HCLA website.

Howard County Literacy Association welcomes parents as members. Visit the HCLA Welcome Page for information about joining.

Yearbook Link