Steve Buettner, Principal Phone 410-887-7800 LAB NOTES February 6, 2015 Joanne Chapline, Assistant Principal Fax 410-887-7804 BCPS IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS Focused on Success For Each Student February 13 SCHOOLS CLOSE 3HR EARLY (teachers on duty-professional development) February 16 SCHOOLS CLOSED PRESIDENTS DAY February 18 SPIRIT DAY Storybook Character Dress February 19 Assembly: Women in History prek-2 1:35-2:20 & Gr. 3-5 2:35-3:20 February 23-February 27 Jump Rope for Heart (see message from John Bruns within newsletter) March 2-March 20 PARCC testing (see schedules in Mr. Buettner s message) March 4 College & Financial Planning Seminar 7:00-8:00pm March 9 3rd grade field trip to Baltimore Museum of Industry 9:30am-2:30pm March 20 Spring Photo Day Class and Individual Pictures March 24 1st grade to Peking Acrobats at Goucher College 9:30am-12:00pm March 27 Kindergarten Round Up 9:30-3:00 Gr. 1 field trip to Walter s Art Museum 9:15am-12:45pm March 30 STEM Fair Judging March 31 Drama Club Performance 9:30-10:15 and evening performance 7:00-8:00pm Web Site: www.bcps.org/schools/ces/luthervillelab
A Message From Mr. Buettner Page 2 February and March are very busy months. This year s Scholastic Book Fair was a great success, and Family Learning was a lot of fun on February 3. Thanks for coming out to the school to show your support of learning new things as a family. Schools will be closing three hours early on February 13 for professional development activities for teachers and staff. On February 16, schools will be closed for Presidents Day, as well. Jump Rope for Heart begins February 23 and ends February 27. This worthwhile event raises much needed money for the American Heart Association. More importantly, it gets our students motivated to help others while improving their own physical fitness From February 23-March 15, Vision and Hearing Screenings will also take place in our school. Believe it or not! February 25 marks the middle of the third quarter. Therefore, interim reports will be distributed to parents. Parents are reminded to keep up-to-date with the online gradebook for their children. If you have any issues accessing the online gradebook, please contact your child s teacher for immediate access. On March 4. Our PTA will sponsor a College and Financial Planning workshop for parents from 7-8pm. More details are coming soon. On March 7, the county-wide Math 24 Tournament will take place at the North Baltimore Plaza. Each year, our school wins in this competition because our students are the tops in BCPS. On March 20, our students will get their class pictures and individual pictures taken. On March 24, our Pizza Bingo Night will take place in the cafeteria from 6:30-8pm. More details are coming soon. A new tradition continues at Lutherville Lab in its third year! Our THIRD annual Drama Club performance will take place on March 31 from 7-8pm in the gym. Based on their rehearsals, I can tell you they are excellent! Our students in grades 3-5 will be taking a new state assessment in Reading and Math. This new test is called PARCC (Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers). Students will be tested beginning on Monday, March 2, 2015. Testing ends on Thursday, March 19, 2015. Each grade will be testing for five days. These tests will assess objectives from the Common Core State Standards. There are many things parents can do to encourage students to do their best on these tests. You can make the testtaking process easier by conveying a positive attitude about the tests. You may remind your children that the tests will assess things they have learned in school. As in all test situations, your child should be well-rested. We recommend at least eight hours of sleep the night before each test. It is also important to have a nutritious breakfast the morning of each test. We recommend a breakfast with lower sugar content in order to stabilize your child s energy level. Attendance during this testing period is critical. Excellent attendance not only helps your child, but it also improves our overall school results. (continued next page.)
Page 3 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday March 2- March 3- March 4- March 5- March 6- Grade 3- Reading Grade 3- Reading Grade 3- Reading Grade 4- Reading Grade 4- Reading March 9- March 10- March 11- March 12- March 13- Grade 4- Reading Grade 5- Reading Grade 5- Reading Grade 5- Reading Grade 3- Math March 16- March 17- March 18- March 19- March 20- Grade 3- Math Grade 4- Math Grade 4- Math Grade 5- Math Testing Make-Ups March 23- March 24- March 25- March 26- March 27- Grade 5- Math Testing Make-Ups Testing Make-Ups Testing Make-Ups Testing Make-Ups I hope to see everyone at our wonderful events or around the building! Have a great month with your children! Sincerely, Steve Buettner Attention Parents of Grade 5 Students...coming soon! We are letting you know ahead of time that letters will go home to all Grade 5 parents in April 2015. This letter will inform you that resident families with students currently enrolled in grades 5 or 8 are required to provide photo identification for the parent/guardian and new residency documentation prior to the start of the school year. In order to meet the above requirement, parent(s)/guardian(s) must provide the following prior to the end of this school year: A copy of one (1) of the following home ownership documents: deed, signed settlement papers, or mortgage coupon book, Baltimore County real estate tax bill or current lease. Copy of three (3) different pieces of mail sent to your address within the last sixty (60) days. Acceptable documents include: W-2 form, mailing to the parent(s)/guardian(s) from a government agency, credit card account billing statement, bank account statement, utility bill, cable, voters registration card, Motor Vehicle Administration vehicle registration, first class from a business or agency, a mailing from a Baltimore County public school or office, or paycheck/pay stub stating name and address. A copy of the parent(s)/guardian(s) photo identification. (If driver s license is used, it must have correct address) For your convenience, there will be several ways you can meet the above requirements: 1. Make copies of the documents and send them in with your child in an envelope marked Office-Lisa Wulff ; or 2. Bring documents to the office any day between the hours of 10:00AM-2:00 PM Thank you for your cooperation to ensure compliance with Baltimore County Public Schools Policy and Rule 5150.
Page 4 Lutherville Lab Physical Education News Just a reminder, Lutherville Lab is holding our Jump Rope for Heart events during the week of February 23-27. The deadline to turn in all donations is Friday, February 20th. We would like to thank those who have already turned in their donation forms and are helping us fight heart disease. The class that raises the most money and the class that has the most participants will win an extra Phys. Ed. class. Also, students who raise $40 or more will be placed in a raffle to throw a pie at a brave teacher. Five students names will be drawn to throw a pie at a participating teacher. Finally, if the school reaches its goal of $12,000 Mr. Bruns will dress up as ducks for the JRFH events. This will go along with this year s JRFH rubber duck prizes. If you would like to volunteer for this event please see the schedule below and email Mr. Bruns at JBruns@bcps.org. Thank you for helping us fight heart disease and stroke. Kindergarten-During their regular PE class 1 st grade- Friday, Feb. 27 2:40pm-3:30pm 2 nd grade- Friday, Feb. 27 12:50pm -1:40pm 3 rd grade- Wednesday, Feb. 25 11:15am -12:10pm 4 th grade- Thursday, Feb. 26 10:25am -11:15am 5 th grade Friday, Feb. 27 9:30am-10:20am
Page 5 ATTENTION: CONTINUED SECURITY MEASURES..Please be advised that security protocols require us to ask for your name and purpose for visiting before we grant you access to the building. When asked, please state your name and why you are here. Once allowed to enter the building, please enter the office immediately to sign in and receive a visitor s badge BEFORE walking through the building. Thank you for your attention to this matter. As we enter into our second half of the year, PLEASE be aware that your child may need his/her school supplies replenished. PLEASE ask your child. Along those lines, classrooms are always in need of extra supplies...things like tissues, hand sanitizer, dry-erase markers and pencils are ALWAYS IN NEED as a classroom donation. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!!
Page 6 Seeking Judges for Lutherville s Annual STEM Fair Lutherville s 4 th and 5 th graders are gearing up for STEM Fair judging, which will take place on Monday, March 30 from noon until 3 PM. Our students so enjoy sharing their learning with the scientific, engineering, and mathematics community. Their pride in their work is palpable and speaking to the judges is the highlight of the STEM Fair experience for many of them. We do NOT invite Lutherville parents to judge, because we want to avoid any awkward situations where you are asked to evaluate a child that you know. We do hope that you will share this invitation with any friends, colleagues, extended family members, or neighbors who may work in the STEM fields. We provide lunch (along with tasty desserts we re not above bribing!), time to review the scoring tool, and an explanation of the judging process. Please contact me with any volunteers or questions you may have. Remember to mark your calendars for our STEAM Sharing Night on April 16 th as well. In addition to student projects and team engineering challenges, we will have a special technology connection to share that evening for families who bring their smart phones or tablets. Save the date! Deidre Austen dausten@bcps.org FIELD TRIP VOLUNTEERS. Spring brings many field trips, and field trips need volunteers. If you are planning on chaperoning your child s field trip, you MUST have your volunteer training up to date! This can be done through the office OR online!! Please call the office to find out if you need to update your volunteer certification OR if you have questions about the volunteer training. Directions on completing your volunteer training online can be found on the last page of this newsletter!! Thank you for taking part in your child s education!!
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Page 9 Attention Volunteers!!!!! GREAT NEWS!!!! Volunteer orientation now available online!! The brief orientation that individuals must complete to become Baltimore County Public Schools volunteers is now available online at http://bit.ly/1hc7j1w. Each year, more than 20,000 parents and family and community members volunteer their knowledge, skills and time to BCPS. They contribute to students' academic progress in a number of ways, from assisting in cafeterias and libraries to accompanying students on field trips and organizing special events and projects. To ensure the safety of BCPS students, parents and others interesting in volunteering in county schools must complete an annual application process and participate in a brief orientation. This orientation covers topics such as volunteer expectations and guidelines, school safety and security and important information regarding BCPS policies and procedures. While most schools hold in-person orientations near the beginning of each school year, the new online training makes the sessions available year-round and at a potential volunteer's convenience. At the end of the online orientation, certificates can be printed to document completion. This online school volunteer training was developed through a partnership between the BCPS Office of Family and Community Engagement and SafeSchools.com. For more information about the BCPS volunteer program, please visit www.bcps.org/community/volunteer_info.