Lisbon Elementary

Mrs. Debra Anoff, Principal
Mr. Bradley Scobie, Assistant Principal

15901 Frederick Road
Woodbine, MD 21797

(410) 313-5506
(410) 313-5508 - Fax

les.hcpss.org

As we reach the midpoint of the school year, we would like to take a moment to reflect on the importance of maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all our students. One of the most critical issues we face as a school community is bullying, which can have lasting effects on children’s well-being, social development, and academic success. We believe that addressing bullying requires a partnership between students, families, and school staff.

Understanding Bullying

Bullying is more than just occasional teasing. It is intentional, repeated aggressive behavior that can be verbal, physical, or social, and it often involves an imbalance of power. While some bullying behaviors can be overt, others are more subtle but just as harmful. Examples of bullying include:

• Physical bullying: Hitting, pushing, or damaging property.
• Verbal bullying: Name-calling, teasing, and hurtful comments.
• Social/Relational bullying: Spreading rumors, excluding others, and social manipulation.
• Cyberbullying: Using digital platforms to harass or intimidate someone.

How You Can Help at Home

Parents play an essential role in preventing bullying and supporting their children through difficult experiences. Here are some steps you can take:

• Talk to Your Child: Encourage open communication with your child about their social experiences, both online and offline. Discuss how they should handle situations where they witness bullying or experience it themselves.
• Set a Positive Example: Show your child how to be kind and respectful toward others. Modeling good behavior in your interactions will teach them valuable social skills.
• Monitor Online Activity: If your child uses social media or online platforms, make sure you are aware of their online interactions. Cyberbullying can be particularly damaging, and it’s important to stay engaged with your child’s digital life.
• Reinforce Respect and Empathy: Remind your child that treating others with respect and kindness is always the right thing to do, no matter the situation. Teach them how to stand up for others in a positive way, not by fighting, but by seeking help and offering support.
• Support School Efforts: Be an active partner in your child’s education and in the school’s anti-bullying efforts. Attend parent meetings, participate in workshops, and reinforce school policies at home.

Together, we can build a culture of respect, kindness, and safety in our school, ensuring that every student feels valued and supported. Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping our students safe. More information can be found on the HCPSS Stop Bullying website. An online version for reporting is available and can easily and confidentially be used by students, staff, and family members. If you have any questions regarding this policy or its implementation, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Mrs. Debra Anoff, Principal
Mr. Bradley Scobie, Assistant Principal

For a complete list of dates and events visit les.hcpss.org/calendar

January

• 24 - Lisbon Snow Ball, 6:30-8:30 p.m. - SOLD OUT - No tickets at the door
  
• 29 - Professional Work Day, schools closed
• 31 - Conference Scheduling Window Closes, 4:00 p.m.
  

February

• 4 - Report Cards Available at 4:00 p.m.
  

• 5 - Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hour early dismissal - 12:45 p.m.)
• 5 - Give Back Event at Chipotle, 5:00-9:00 p.m.
  
• 6 - Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hour early dismissal - 12:45 p.m.)
• 7 - Professional Learning Day, schools closed
• 12 - PTA Meeting (Virtual)
  
• 17 - Presidents Day, schools and offices closed
• 20 - STEM Night
• 24 - Vision & Hearing Screening

March

• 6 - Give Back Event at CarterQue, 4:00-8:00 p.m.
  

• 12 - Kindergarten Visits the Glenwood Library, 9:45-11:30 a.m.
• 13 - Spring Individual & Class Pictures
  

• 14 - Professional Work & Wellness Day (3 hour early dismissal - 12:45 p.m.)
• 31 - Professional Work & Development, schools closed
  

There will be no printed 2024-2025 calendars. Staff, students, and families may add our online calendar to their own mobile/online calendar by

1. Going to https://www.hcpss.org/calendar/
2. Scrolling down to Subscribing to a Calendar
3. Right-clicking on the calendar you wish to subscribe to
4. Selecting Copy Link Location/Address/Shortcut
5. Adding to your calendar of choice (See your calendar for specifics on adding a new calendar)

You also may view and/or download printable PDFs of the full calendar and/or important dates only. Updates to the PDFs will be noted on the HCPSS calendar page.

PLEASE NOTE! The calendar is subject to change. The online calendar reflects the most recent version.

Calendars in Spanish, Chinese, and Korean

Calendario en español

西班牙语日历

스페인어로 된 달력

Today was an exciting day for 18 of our fourth and fifth graders. These students participated in the Lisbon Elementary School Spelling Bee. Congratulations to Arjun Saxena from 5th grade who won the school bee with the final word, “alighted.” He will advance to the Howard County Library Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 22nd at 2:00 p.m. at Oakland Mills High School. Also, congratulations to Liam Hammond from 5th grade who was our second place winner. He will serve as our school’s alternate at the Howard County Library Spelling Bee.

Finally, congratulations to all of our contestants listed below who worked hard to prepare for the bee. They should be applauded for their good sportsmanship. We are proud of all of them as well as the audience of third, fourth, and fifth graders who exemplified ROAR expectations.

Max Blevins

Kaden Boyd

Lena Byrne

Dylan Gordon

Liam Hammond

Hannah Hess

Charlie Lanier

Krishiv Mehta

Rhett Musselman

Azzie Nuttycombe

Brandon Rodriguez

Jackson Rosenberg

Emma Ruhl

Arjun Saxena

Nicky Seo

Timmy Smith

Sanvi Sriramula

Bauer Weeks

Student report cards will be available for parent view after 4:00 PM on February 4th. Directions on how to access report cards through HCPSS Connect can be found HERE along with report card templates and documents to help you better understand student report cards. The Parent CANVAS Course is also linked to provide you with any additional information you may need to access and understand student report cards. Just a reminder that Related Arts Teachers report grades by semester.

Congratulations to everyone who entered the Young Authors’ Contest. There were so many creative, emotional, and suspenseful short stories and poems. We couldn’t be prouder of all the young authors here at Lisbon. Keep cheering the winners on as their short stories and poems are entered into the Howard County Young Authors’ contest.

1st Grade Short Story: Violeta Gahan

3rd Grade Poem: Diana Chang

3rd Grade Short Story: Alyssa Sampson

4th Grade Poem: Rhett Musselman

February 5th and 6th are designated for Parent Teacher Conferences this year. We will be holding 15 minute conferences. Parent Teacher Conferences are a terrific opportunity for staff and parents to partner together for each child’s success. All conferences will be held with your child’s Math teacher. Below are the details about how they will be held based on the date of the conference.

Wednesday, February 5th:

- Conferences from 1:30 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. will be IN PERSON at LES.

- Conferences from 4:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. will be VIRTUAL. A google link will be sent.

Thursday, February 6th:

- All Conferences will be VIRTUAL - A google link will be sent.

The Google Meet link will be sent to you with your confirmation email. If you have questions, please email your child’s math teacher.

Please note, Mrs. O'Connor will be holding conferences with parents of her 5th Grade GT Math class only.

If your conference is virtual, once you enter the google link, you will be put in a “holding space” until the teacher admits you. Because many conferences will be back-to-back, please only log on one minute before your designated time. If you have technology challenges or need assistance joining your conference, we will have a Virtual Conference Help Desk available. The link to the Help Desk will be sent out closer to conferences,

Scheduling Conferences:

Beginning on Thursday, January 23rd at 8:00 a.m., you can log into HCPSS Connect to view and select from the time slots provided by the teacher for conferences. Step-by-step directions are below. If you do not have access to HCPSS Connect, please call the school for assistance at 410-313-5506.

Directions to Select a Conference Time:

Login to hcpss.org/connect

Select Conference from the left-side choices

Select Parent Scheduled Conferences at the top right

Select a time slot for your conference

You will have access through Friday, January 31st at 4:00 p.m. to schedule your child’s conference by logging into HCPSS Connect.

We look forward to conferencing with you about your child’s progress!

Lisbon Elementary second graders will be collecting boxes of cereal to support our Lisbon Food Pantry as well as the Mount Airy Net Food Pantry. We will be collecting boxes of cereal from January 27th to February 6th. Once the collection is complete, we plan to celebrate by creating a school wide cereal box domino toppling through the building. Please consider donating if possible.

The MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) winter testing window for Grade 5 begins on Monday, January 6th and the testing window for grades 1-4 begins Monday, January 27th. All winter MAP testing must be completed by Thursday, February 27th. Below are the scheduled testing dates for each grade at Lisbon. Make-ups will provided for all students who are absent.

1st grade: Math- January 28 and Reading- February 3

2nd grade: Math- January 27 and Reading- February 5

3rd grade: Math- January 31 and Reading- February 10

4th grade: Math- January 27 and Reading- February 3

5th grade: Math- January 6 and Reading- January 8

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!

LES Administration

Save the date! HCPSS’ Road to Kindergarten workshops begin Jan. 21, with additional sessions available through the end of the month. Each workshop will provide information on expectations for school readiness, the HCPSS kindergarten program, and more. Childcare will be available for children ages 2 and older. No registration is required, but attendees are encouraged to allow ample time for parking, childcare drop off, and check in.

How Does HCPSS Determine to Close Schools?

To learn about the decision process for closing schools, please view the Vimeo video below.
You can also visit the section of the HCPSS website listing the many ways you can be informed of weather-related school closings. Lisbon ES will not send any additional email out because that communication comes directly from the HCPSS Communications Office.

Unscheduled Emergency Early School Closing

In the event that schools need to close early due to an unexpected weather event, please be sure to share with your child how he/she will go home if it is different than their normal dismissal routine.
All parents were asked to indicate how children are to go home in the event of an emergency/unscheduled closing when they completed their Family File information in August or September.

Weather Guidelines for Outdoor Recess

Exercise outdoors is healthy and is strongly encouraged. It provides a break from the regular school routine, a chance to get some outside air, and an opportunity to run off excess energy.

If conditions preclude the full recess time, even a five-minute break can revitalize children and prepare them for more sitting and academic learning. Children are expected to wear warm clothing to protect them during cold weather when participating in recess or outside activities.

The decision to go out or stay in for recess is the decision of the Administrator at individual schools. However, the following are to be considered in determining whether recess is to be held outside:

• Temperature and Windchill
  
• Age of students
  
• Length of time outdoors
  
• Adequacy of the children’s clothing
  
• Condition of the playground
  
• Falling precipitation (more than a sprinkle or mist)
  

Generally, it is assumed that students will be outside for recess when the temperature combined with the wind chill is not less than 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Children with certain health conditions may need special accommodations during extremely cold weather. Parents of those children should provide medical documentation and may be consulted to determine if other arrangements are necessary.

Parents can email LESabsence@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.

President: Elizabeth Hall

1st Vice President: Elizabeth Dudley

2nd Vice President: Diane Byrne

Treasurer: Kate Weiss

Recording Secretary: Tarah Theoret

Upcoming Events

February 5th - Giveback Night at Chipotle

February 12th - Virtual PTA Meeting

February 20th - STEM Night

March 6th - Giveback Night at Carter Que

March 12th - PTA Meeting

April 10th - Giveback Night at Yogi Castle

In alignment with Howard County Board of Education Policy 10010, Distribution and Display of Materials and Announcements, the following announcements have been approved by the Public Information Office for distribution. Please visit Distributing Community Information through the School System or contact the Public Information Office at 410-313-6682 if you have any questions.

The link below will take you to community notices are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Howard County Public School System.
http://www.hcpss.org/community-news-and-programs/