Ilchester Cheetah Chatter

LaShonne Wright, Assistant Principal

Website: ies.hcpss.org

Location: Ilchester Elementary School, 4981 Ilchester Road, Ellicott City, Maryland 21045
Phone: 410-313-2524

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دوسری زبانوں کے لئے ، نیوزلیٹر کا ترجمہ کریں پر کلک کریں اور اپنی پسند کی زبان کا انتخاب کریں۔

Parent-Teacher Conference time is quickly approaching. Conferences with Homeroom/Language Arts teachers will take place on November 23-November 25. For your planning purposes, please note the schedule below:

• In- person conferences will be held on Monday, November 23rd only.
• Virtual conferences will be held on Tuesday, November 24th or Wednesday, November 25th only.

Families will sign up for conferences using Synergy beginning November 6th. The sign up window will close on November 19th. After November 19th, families must call the front office secretaries directly to schedule a conference. More information will be shared in a separate email as the date approaches. We look forward to seeing you.

Mr. Cosentino, Principal

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

October

• 16 - Schools Closed for Students
• 23 - PTA Fall Fest, 6:00 p.m.
• 27 - End of First Quarter
• 28 - Schools Closed for Students

To subscribe to the IES calendar on your smartphone, electronic device, or email system, go to the bottom of the IES calendar page and subscribe to the calendars of your choice.

HCPSS Academic Calendar

Dear Families,

Our Fall Festival is almost here, and we are so excited to bring our school community together for this special event! But we need your help.

We are still in great need of donations for two festival favorites: the Cake Walk and Table or Treat. Right now, we simply do not have enough donations to make these activities the fun, successful experiences our students are looking forward to.

🍰 Cake Walk: Please consider donating a sweet treat! Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, or other family-friendly treats are all welcome.

🍬 Table or Treat: We need LOTS of individually wrapped candy! Even one bag from each family would make an enormous difference.

👉 Sign up to donate a sweet treat or candy:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805044AAEA829A7FC1-66166596-fall

We also still need parent volunteers to help make the festival run smoothly. If you can give us some of your time during the event, we would be incredibly grateful.

🙋 Sign up to volunteer:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805044AAEA829A7FC1-66765962-ilchester

Whether you donate a cake, pick up an extra bag of candy while you’re at the store, volunteer for a shift or do all three, your contribution directly helps make this event special for our students.

Thank you for always showing up for our school and for helping us make the Fall Festival a wonderful experience for our children and families. We truly cannot do it without you!

With appreciation,

The PTA

HCPSS is no longer offering the in-school flu vaccine clinics.

Please use this link to see a schedule of free flu vaccine clinics in the area if you're interested.

https://www.howardcountymd.gov/health/flu-respiratory-illness

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 Google Doc. All entries must have a completed YAC Cover Sheet sent as a PDF. Submissions may be emailed to Laura_Cohn@hcpss.org by January 13, 2027. Contact Laura Cohn 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.

It's time for all of our Ilchester Cheetahs to strut their stuff. The talent shows are being held on Wednesday, November 11 and Thursday, November 12 at 6:30 pm in the cafeteria. If your child has a talent they want to share, please use the form below to sign-up for the evening of your choice. Paper copies will go home this week too. Please sign up by Friday, October 23rd.

Mabel’s Labels makes personalized labels for clothing, shoes, water bottles, lunch containers, school supplies, and more.

When you shop through our school’s fundraising link, a portion of eligible purchases is donated back to our school. It’s an easy way to support our students while getting labels your family can use all year long!

Why labels?

✔️ Help prevent lost belongings ✔️ Great for school, camp, sports, and daycare ✔️ Dishwasher- and laundry-safe options available ✔️ Personalized with your child’s name ✔️ A simple way to support our school!

Maryland Coalition of Families Family Leadership Program

Howard County’s Local Children’s Board is partnering with the Maryland Coalition of Families (MCF) to bring to Howard County families!

MCF’s Family Leadership Program is a FREE, two-day training opportunity for Howard County parents & caregivers of school-aged children with mental health challenges, taking place Friday, October 23rd & Saturday, October 24th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Columbia.

Throughout the program, parents & caregivers will have the opportunity to learn more about:

• Understanding their child’s behavioral health needs
• Navigating special education services & other systems their family may rely on
• Finding their voice & strengthening their ability to advocate for their child, family & community
• The importance of caregiver self-care & well-being

The training is completely free and includes meals & overnight accommodations, and support for childcare and transportation expenses is available if needed.

A few important details: Space is limited, participants must be able to commit to both days, and the program is intended for first-time participants (previous HoCo Family Leadership alumni are not eligible to reapply).

Learn more & apply here: https://mcf.family/Family-Leadership-Howard-County

Support our Legacy Leadership students by ordering from Shake Shack at the Mall in Columbia on Thursday, October 15th! Just enter the code “DONATE” in the Shack App or on the kiosk when ordering, or mention HCPSS Pride fundraiser when ordering.

This fundraiser will directly benefit our middle and high school Legacy Leaders so they can attend their first extended day field trip to New York City next month. They will be visiting the historic Stonewall National Monument as well as the New York Public Library to learn more about LGBTQIA+ History.

Parents can email IESabsence@hcpss.org to report a student’s absence. Please include your child(ren)’s full name, parent’s/guardian’s full name and phone number, the date your child(ren) was absent and the reason. Parents may instead choose to send in a paper excuse note to their child’s teacher with the same information when the student returns to school.

For families requesting local discretionary absences, please complete a Local Discretionary Absence Request Form and submit it to the front office at least one week in advance.