Panda Nation News

Welcome to February!

Join us in celebrating Black History Month! We've planned a series of exciting and meaningful activites designed to honor & celebrate the legacy of Black Americans, whose power to lead, to overcome, and to expand the meaning and practice of American democracy has helped our nation become a more fair and just society.

February also brings lots of ways to celebrate our PAWSitively Amazing students! Report Cards come home on February 6th, and our 2nd Quarter Recognition Assemblies are on Wednesday, February 14th, with K-2 celebration at 9:00 and 3-5 at 2:00. Join us to celebrate & honor the students of Panda Nation!!

February's Wellness theme is PEACE. Last month's focus on Empathy last month laid the foundation for creating a culture of peace in Panda Nation. Why?

Why?

• Students need to learn how to express their needs and opinions while respecting & empathizing with others' point of view
• Students need tools & a process to successfully resolve conflicts so all parties feel they're valued and their voice is heard.

Stay tuned to learn more about HOW Panda Nation will teach & celebrate Peace!

Peace & Panda Love to all!🐼❤

Mrs. Schou, Principal

Mr. Engel-Cope, Assistant Principal

Mrs. Melissa Bean, Academic Dean

"Peace can not be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding."

-Albert Einstein

It is time to order your 2023-2024 Yearbook! Capture this year's school memories by ordering your yearbook TODAY!

Link: https://shop.yearbookmarket.com/lexingtonparkelementary
Store Opens January 2nd
Closes April 15th
Yearbook Cost $16.00 plus Tax and Conv. Fee

Additional Options Offered
Personalization $4.99

Love Lines $14.00

Yearbook Flyers are coming home soon! Please contact Ms. Hawkins if you have any questions at rahawkins@smcps.org. Thank you.

• Evening Counseling: SMCPS is once again offering School-Based Counseling Support in the evening for SMCPS students. Counseling support focuses on the following areas: Healthy Relationships, Social Skills, Self-Esteem, Stress Management, Worry, Sadness, and Emotional Regulation. Services will be located at Margaret Brent Middle School and Greenview Knolls Elementary School on Tuesday evenings from 4-7:30 p.m. Please complete the Parent Contact Form for Evening Counseling to request services.

We are committed to partnering with you to make sure the sky is limit for our Panda Nation scholars! Our Family Engagement Plan outlines how we will do that, and our Family Engagement Calendar lets all of us know when we will come together to make our plan come alive. Please take a few minutes to review both the plan & the calendar!

Our Home/School Compact in both English & Spanish outlines our commitment to ensuring student success. Hopefully you received and signed a copy at the August 21st Open House & September 28th Back to School Night, but if you didn't get on yet, don't worry, your child's teacher will have one for you at the Family/Teacher Conferences on October 9th.

Thank you for working together with us to make this a PAWSitively Amazing Year!

The SMCPS Equity for All Website features updated monthly celebrations, best practices resources, and a newly added Community Resource page. The purpose of the Equity for All site is to provide resources and supports for promoting excellence and equity in St. Mary's County Public Schools.

• Feb 5: 100th Day of School
• Feb. 6: Report Card Distribution
• Feb. 8: 9:00: Kindergarten & First Grade "Pajama Party" Music Program
• Feb. 8: 6-8: PTO Movie Night
• Feb. 9: 2-hr. Early Dismissal
• Feb. 14: Valentine's Day!❤
• 9:00: K-2 Quarterly Recognition Assembly
• 2:00: 3-5 Quarterly Recognition Assembly

• Feb. 19: President's Day-School is closed for students
• Feb 22: Second & Third Grade "Arf" Music Program
• Mar. 1: Professional Day-School is closed for students

Please update your contact information with the office. It is critical that we have the most recent information for contacting our families.

UPDATE MY INFORMATION

Volunteers are an essential component to our Panda Nation students' success!

Please apply and remember that volunteers must apply annually for approval.

To help you navigate all the new elements of the school year and keep you informed about upcoming programs & events, we will communicate information frequently and in several ways. They are listed below for your reference.

• Weekly Phone/Email & Schoology Message: At 6:00 on Sunday you will receive a phone message & email from us sharing information about the upcoming week.
• Class DoJo: Very soon your child’s teacher will invite you to join Class DoJo. We use this platform because it is secure/members only and allows us to share a wide variety of information with you. Please join our DoJo family!
• Our LPES Website and Twitter feed: The LPES website has a wide variety of information for you and is updated regularly. We love to share all the wonderful things our students & teachers are doing, so we tweet just about every day. Follow us on Twitter @lpes_smcps
• Technology Needs: if you are new to the school or need a device from SMCPS please complete the survey here.

Email: raschou@smcps.org
Website: https://schools.smcps.org/lpes/
Phone: (301)863-4085
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smcps.org/posts/971720426301468
Twitter: @lpes_smcps