The Panther Post

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Dear Laurel Woods Community,

Last week, we had a wonderful turnout at our first Coffee and Conversations on Friday. Despite the cold weather, we stayed warm with coffee, hot chocolate, and great conversation. We have compiled the questions and answers here so that families who were unable to attend can still review them.

For those who joined us, please take a moment to provide feedback so we can continue to ensure this is a valuable and meaningful use of your time.

With Pride,

Dr. Burks, Ms. Braxton, & Ms. Lee

• If your child needs breakfast, please ensure they arrive before 8:45 a.m.
• Breakfast service will stop at 8:45 so classrooms can begin preparing for the instructional day.

The theme this year is the 5 LWES success factors. All submissions should be returned to Mr. Griffin no later than December 19th.

Stay in the loop with all the exciting events hosted and organized by our Family Resource Center — you won’t want to miss what’s coming up! 👀📅

Click on the link below! 👇

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.

❄️Don’t miss this month’s edition of PTO Panther Tracks—your December update is here!❄️

Dive in to see what’s happening and what’s coming up!

December

• 12/15: 6:30pm Winter Concert 🎶 @ RHS
• 12/16: Optional Spirit Day: Comfy Cozy Day: Wear PJs; 🥤🍔🍟 PTO December dine out @ Wendy's at 8850 Gorman Rd. in Laurel
• 12/19: Yearbook Cover Contest Submissions due to Mr. Griffin (5th graders only).
• 12/23: Optional Spirit Day: Festive Sweater Day: Rock a sweater that brings you joy; Pumped Up Recess; Last Day of School Before Winter Break
• 12/24-01/02: Winter Break

January

• 01/05: 1st Day of School, Schools Re-open

• 01/07: 4:00-8:00pm 🥢🍝🍜 PTO January dine out @ Noodles & Co. at 14700 Baltimore Avenue in Laurel

• 01/09: 2:00pm 4th & 5th Grade Spelling Bee; PTO Inaugural Coffee & Connection Walking Club for LWES parents and guardian

• 01/14: 8:45am Family School Partnership Team Meeting

• 01/15: 7:00pm PTO Meeting Zoom (password: LWESPTO)

• 01/19: Schools & Offices Closed- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

• 01/21: 4:00-5:30pm Targeted Math Fact Family Night

• 01/22: 8:00am Conference Scheduling Opens, 8:00 am; 12:15pm LWES closes, early dismissal (Staff professional learning day)

• 01/23: 8:45am Coffee and Conversation w/Admin; End of 2nd quarter

• 01/26: Schools Closed for Students (Professional Work Day)

• 01/28: 5:00pm Mobile Library; PTO Domino Pizza Fundraiser

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

This year, the Howard County Public School System will be administering the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) to students in grade 3. The CogAT is a group-administered abilities test that measures students’ reasoning abilities, which they develop through in-school and out-of-school experiences. It is not designed to test a student’s academic achievement, but their potential.

The test is made of three batteries – Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal. Each battery takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. The CogAT helps educators understand a student’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses and assists with adapting instruction to meet the needs and abilities of each student.

The CogAT will be administered on December 9, 10, and 11 from 9:00-10:00. No special preparation is required. Just send your child to school ready to learn as you do daily.

The Gifted and Talented Education Program will use the data from the CogAT as one criterion for placement into fourth grade Gifted/Talented mathematics classes and middle school Gifted/Talented content classes. Students’ individual scores will be reported to parents in late February/early March.

The HCPSS Black Student Achievement Program Saturday Math Academy Spring Session is approaching! The BSAP Saturday Math Academy will offer an in-person enrichment program for Howard County Public School System students in all levels of math for grades 3-12, based on course availability. Registration will take place online on Saturday, January 10, 2026, from 9:00 am until capacity is reached. Class space is limited. Families can register by accessing the HCPSS Connect Website on the registration date. For more information, please visit HCPSS News

Flyers for distribution:

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (English)

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (Spanish)

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (Chinese)

BSAP SMA Spring 2026 Flyer (Korean)

Howard County is full of wonderful resources for families. Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start looking. There’s a helpful website that brings all these resources together in one place. You can search by topic and zip code. You can visit the website using the link below or download the CAREapp Howard County on your phone for easy access. We hope this tool makes it easier to find services for food, health, housing, transportation, education, employment assistance, and more https://findhcresources.org/

The Mental Health Advisory Council (MHCAC) is a group of community members who seek to remove barriers and build awareness for behavioral health support in Howard County for our children and families. Check out this flyer for more information.