Panda Nation News

November promises to be another really exciting month!

• Report Cards,
• Recognition Assemblies,
• First Marking Period Panda Round-up
• American Education Week
• Thaksgiving Vacation & so much more!

Be sure to read all the November Important Dates listed below and stay tuned for more information about each event!

Our Wellness theme for November is Gratitude! During this month we will engage in activities to foster a spirit of Gratitude throughout our school & community.

Why Gratitude? Because Gratitude helps us. . .

• Experience more positive emotions,
• Relish good experiences,
• Improve our health,
• Deal with adversity, and . . .
• Build stronger relationships!

In other words, Gratitude is the super power we ALL need! Let US start this month of Gratitude by saying just how grateful we are for you and your PAWSitively Amazing children! THANK YOU!

Panda Love to all!🐼❤

Mrs. Schou, Principal

Mr. Engel-Cope, Assistant Principal

Mrs. Melissa Bean, Academic Dean

Hello November!

Thank you for reminding us we have so much to be grateful for!

Congratulations to the winners of our annual Pumpkin Book Character Contest! We are so proud of all your artistic talent and hard work! BRAVO!!

On November 8th at 1:30 we'll host our first Panda Round-up! Let me share what a Panda Roundup is and why it's important.

• What is a Panda Round-up? Panda Round-up is a time for Panda Nation to come together in our house teams once every quarter to build community and celebrate each others accomplishments.
• Why are Panda Round-ups important for our students? Recognizing & celebrating success is crucial for students' social, emotional, and academic growth. By coming together as school to recognize individual and group accomplishments, we lift everyone up and lay the foundations for future goals.
• What will we celebrate at this first quarter Panda Round-up?
• House Team Chants: Each House will share their chant
• Excellent Attendance: Any student with a 94% attendance rate earns a MAGIC ticket with reward options
• Positive Behavior: Each house team is awarded points based on the number of office referrals. The house team with the lowest number of referrals gets the most points, but EVERY team earns points.
• Our Ability to Make Beautiful Music: Ms Baker will lead all of us in singing a song to celebrate our strength & unity

SMCPS receives federal grant funds to operate and maintain our schools for federally-connected students. To receive these federal funds, the United States Department of Education (USDE) requires the school system to survey each student.

Online Federal Impact Aid Forms are now available through your student’s Home Access Center (HAC). Once logged in, directions to access the online form can be found HERE. A video with instructions is available HERE. The deadline for the online submission of Federal Impact Aid Survey forms is November 14, 2023.

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.

• Nov. 7: Report Cards Distribution
• Nove. 8: First Quarter Panda Round Up
• Nov. 9: 9:00: K-2 First Quarter Recognition Assembly
• Nov. 9: 2:00 3-5 First Quarter Recognition Assembly
• Nov. 9: 6:00: PTO Movie Night
• Nov. 10: Veteran's Day-SCHOOL IS CLOSED
• Nov. 13-17: American Education Week-Stay tuned for more information about the visitation schedule!
• Nov. 22-26: Thanksgiving Break
• Dec. 1: Fall Picture Retakes

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