Owl Observer News

Greetings Ducketts Lane Friends and Families,

We want to thank all the families that were able to attend the PreK-2nd grade reading night at the Elkridge Library. What an amazing group and event. We had close to 100 people (students, siblings, family members, and DLES staff members) come together and enjoy the gift of reading and our local library.

We also want to thank our PTA for providing a wonderful trail mix bar and fun sticker collection for staff. What a fantastic treat!

We hope that everyone who was able to attend a parent conference was able to leave with a better understanding of how their child is performing and how you can best support learning at home. Don't forget to review your child's report card and celebrate their progress.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Monday.

Proudly serving you,

Mrs. Caroland, Mrs. Van Osdel, and Mrs. Yerashunas

The ACTIVATE™ cognitive training program is available for free (right now) for 1st-5th grade students in our school. This program has helped students across the country build important skills like focus, self-control, and memory, and improve their reading and math scores. Students who participate in ACTIVATE will win prizes throughout the year.

To learn more about ACTIVATE™ or sign up today, please visit https://www.brainfutures.org/youth/activate-in-howard-county/

Friday, February 7th- School closed for students

Monday, February 10th-Kindess Week Starts-please review our week of fun activities below

Monday, February 17th- President's Day-School closed for students

The MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) winter testing continues. The following are the testing dates for grades 3 and 4 during this window:

3rd grade - Math February 10 (AM)

4th grade - Math February 11 (PM)

Each student will complete one session of reading testing and one session of math testing. The MAP assessment allows teachers to view instructional strengths and needs for each student. MAP is an adaptive test in which it adjusts based on the students’ answers to each question. The test gets more difficult as correct answers are given and easier as incorrect answers are given until an instructional match is found.

At the conclusion of the test, each student receives a RIT score that aligns to their instructional level. MAP, in conjunction with other measures throughout the school year, helps teachers differentiate instruction within their classrooms. Please be sure your students are present and on time to school each day to set them up for success during this testing period.

Please reach out with any questions and thank you!

DLES Administration

The start to 2025 has brought with it a lot of significant national and world-wide news stories, much of which can be distressing for adults, who have prior knowledge, experiences, and logical thinking abilities to process the news. Without context or fully developed logical thinking abilities, children do not have the same ability to process the information they hear on the news. Here are some things to consider when exposing children to media coverage:

• Monitor what children are looking at on tv and the internet; if they are watching news coverage, make sure you are watching with them to know what they have heard and to evaluate their reactions.

• Have a conversation with them about what they heard, in order to provide necessary (and age-appropriate) context, but also to correct any misperceptions or false assumptions they may have.

• If information they hear is upsetting to them:

• Validate their feelings, acknowledging that you understand why they are feeling the way they are in response to the news.

• Reassure them where you can, but don't offer promises that you can't reasonably make;

• Limit their exposure to coverage about that event going forward; many children operate with an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality.

• If the information is upsetting to you as an adult, assume it will be upsetting to your child. If you need to have conversations with other adults about the subject, do so when your child is not within hearing distance.

• If your child isn't exposed to news coverage, consider whether you actually need to have a conversation with them about it at all. Most likely they are fine, if not better off, not knowing the information. If you feel there is something they do need to know, limit it to the absolute minimum information they need to know.

If you are aware that your child is overly distressed about anything that they heard, do not hesitate to let your child's teacher and/or school counselors know that they are having big feelings, as this can impact their ability to focus and function in school.

Sincerely,

Mr. L and Mrs. Barron

Sight words (we sometimes call these heart words here at school) are common words that children learn to recognize by sight, rather than sounding them out. We encourage you to ask your child's teacher if there are any sight words that your child could work with at home.

Here is a website that has a list of fun games and activities you can use with sight words to help your child be a stronger reader.

It is extremely difficult to teach students higher order math skills when they are not fluent with their basic facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). If children are not automatic in responding to math facts, their attention is taken away from the necessary steps to solve more complex problems. If children are not automatic with math facts, it often results in simple, computation errors in higher grade level math. Getting those facts down early is so important!

Here is a website that offers some ideas on how to practice math facts at home.

Here is a website that offers some ideas helping to teach math facts, books to read, songs to sing, and websites that might be helpful with math facts at home.

On behalf of Mrs. Mellendick, Ms. Bresky and the rest of the DLES staff we would like to celebrate Brielle A., Alina T., and Lysander P. who will have their art on display at the HCPSS Department of Education.

We’re excited to invite you to our 2nd Annual DLES Family Fun & Fitness Night! This special event is open to students, staff, and parents, offering an evening full of engaging fitness activities, games, and fun throughout the building.

Enjoy activities like cornhole, mini-golf, bowling, Giant Jenga, Uno, and even Lava Lamps—plus much more!

📅 When: March 27, 2025

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to connect, have fun, and strengthen our school community. We hope to see you there! Please click the link below to register your family today!

DLES Family, Fun & Fitness Night 2025

If you have any questions, please contact Kevin_anderson@hcpss.org. Thank you for your continued support and partnership:

The DLES Family, Fun & Fitness Committee:)

#WEAREDUCKETTS

Ducketts Lane is proud to host its first DLES Talent Show on Friday, March 21st at 5:30 pm! Students will have a chance to share their skills with our school community in an evening performance. We can’t wait to watch our students shine!

If your student is interested in participating, please complete this sign-up form (the form is in English & in Spanish). Participation will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. All acts must be approved to fit the DLES and HCPSS expectations.

If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Abrams at hana_abrams@hcpss.org.

Take a moment to see all of the amazing options available to show your Ducketts Lane spirit and pride.

Click here to see all the options and deals!

Family Glow Dance

Ready to light up the night? Join us on Friday, February 21st, from 6:30-8:00 PM for the ultimate glow party! It will be a glowing good time with music, dancing, and fun for the whole family! Remember, this isn’t a drop-off event – all students must be accompanied by an adult.

Poems and short stories that won at the school level were submitted to the county level of the Young Authors' Contest. Students in grades 1 through 12 from public and private schools participated in this writing contest. The names of all winners are posted on the Howard County Literacy Association website. Congratulations to all the winners!

DLES students that participated in the Young Authors' Contest by submitting a short story or poem were recognized during an in-school celebration on Tuesday! Congratulations to all of you for your hard work and effort!

Please click on the Feedback Form to share your thoughts with how we can make DLES the best for everyone.

• Principal, Mrs. Caroland Molly_Caroland@hcpss.org

• Assistant Principal, Mrs. Van Osdel Amy_Van_Osdel@hcpss.org

• Leadership Intern, Mrs. Yerashunas Brianna_Yerashunas@hcpss.org

• Principal Secretary, Mrs. Canter Teresa_Canter@hcpss.org

• Registration Support, Secretary Ms. Lynette Carmen_Lynette@hcpss.org

• Attendance, Synergy and Family File Support, Secretary Mrs. Forman Julie_Forman@hcpss.org

• Counselor Mr. Leisawitz Alexander_Leisawitz@hcpss.org

• Counselor Mrs. Baron Krista_Baron@hcpss.org

• Community School Coordinator Ms. Medina Alejandra_Medina@hcpss.org