Owl News

Learning and Growing Safely Together Every Day,

That's The Featherbed Way!

Dear Featherbed Lane Families,

Welcome to the 2024-25 school year! I hope this letter finds you filled with excitement and anticipation for the upcoming year. As the proud principal of this wonderful school, it is my honor to extend a warm welcome to both returning faces and new members of our Featherbed Lane Family!

Our teachers and staff have been working tirelessly to prepare an engaging and enriching curriculum that will empower our students to reach their fullest potential. We will partner with you as we focus on providing a strong educational experience rich with creativity, learning, and collaboration.

At Featherbed Lane Elementary, we believe that we are developing the "whole child" and we want children to grow in academics and in their character to be a well-rounded student. We work to created a safe, helpful, and kind learning environment where students work hard and are brave. Our school family values one another and helps to build relationships so that each individual is able to learn and grow in a safe and caring environment.

As we journey into this new school year. I challenge students to be brave, take risks, and strive for new challenges. We will build math skills and foster a love of reading throughout each day. Our teachers have planned lessons throughout the summer and they are excited to welcome students back and for new learning to begin.

To our families, I extend a special thank you for your continued partnership. I appreciate your involvement and your support as they are key to the success of our students. I welcome your feedback and I look forward to your collaboration. I seek to be open and transparent in my communication. Please feel free to reach out to me or our Assistant Principals Mrs. Hall or Mr. Marthe with questions at any time. We are always happy to support you and your student.

Please mark your calendars for Internationational Night and Back to school 2.0 on September 19. This will be an excellent opportunity to connect with your child's teacher, celebrate the many cultures of Featherbed Lane and explore the joy in elementary school.

Once again, welcome to Featherbed Lane Elementary for the 2024-25 school year! Whether you are a returning student or joining our family for the first time, I look forward to collaborating with you this school year.

With kind regards,

Mrs. Webster, Principal

We welcome parents to visit. However, to ensure the safety of our students, Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) utilizes a system called Raptor to screen visitors and issue photo identification badges for use when guests enter the building. This process helps to ensure that your children are safe and that the building is secure. If you registered previously, you are still in the system. This process required you to give your driver’s license, or other government-issued identification card to our school secretary to scan at her desk.

Starting the first day of school, August 26, BCPS policy dictates that all visitors, including parents, grandparents, and regular volunteers, check in at the office and wear a new badge each time they enter the building. It only takes a few minutes to register for the first time. On subsequent visits to the school, you do not need to provide your license.

At Featherbed Lane, we greet families at the door. We can not see families clearly from the office. Please be patient as you ring the buzzer as a staff member will respond and be quickly on the way to greet you. We want to ensure the safety of all of our students and staff. Thank you for your cooperation.

BCPS has a cell phone policy and as Featherbed Lane follows along with BCPS. All cell phones must be off and away. Cell phones may not be used during the instructional day. If you need your student for an emergency reason, please contact the school office and we will get the message to your student. Families are encouraged to monitor social media use on students' cell phones as this often becomes an interference impacting the school house. Social media concerns often overflow into school impacting instructional programs. Thank you for your partnership!

All students will report to a location in the building to meet with their homeroom teacher. We will have staff located at bus doors and the car loop. Staff will be boarding buses to tag student bookbags and staff will be located in the carloop to assist students as they exit cars. Our staff will be All Hands on Deck to support students in locating teachers and to welcome students Back to School. If a parent decides to stop in we will have a Kiss and Go zone for parents. We are looking forward to a fantastic year!

Are you interested in volunteering with the PTA? If so, you must complete the online training for Baltimore County Public Schools. This training must be completed each school year prior to volunteering at any event where children are present. Some examples of events where PTA has needed volunteers include: Trunk-or-Treat, American Education Week, Teacher Appreciation Week, Fundraisers, Multicultural Night, Reflections arts program, or providing support onsite at school during the day!

BCPS Volunteer Application
Instructions for BCPS Online Volunteer Orientation
Safe Schools Training-New User
Safe Schools Training-Returning Users

Thanks so much for attending Back to School night. Our families were excited to meet our administrators, teachers, and school staff. Parents were able to participate in a raffle at the Judy Center table for an Instant Pot and we are happy to announce that we have two winners! This year, we are focusing on student attendance-everyday and on-time. Featherbed Lane and The Judy Center will be working together to award prizes and special events for our families who maintain great attendance throughout the year. Parents, thanks for working with us and we are counting on you to help us exceed our expectations."

Breakfast:

Throughout the school year all Featherbed Lane students will have the opportunity to receive a free breakfast each morning.

Lunch:

All students will have the opportunity to receive a free hot lunch or they are welcome to bring a packed lunch. We will not be accepting lunches dropped off from fast food restaurants. If your child forgets their packed lunch, you may drop it off to school prior to 11:00 am so your child can pick it up in the office on the way to the cafeteria.

How do I provide funds to my student for snacks?

Every student has an account! To add money to your student’s account for snacks, please visit www.MySchoolBucks.com Don’t worry about lost snack money, ever again!

School attendance is essential to ensuring student success. If your child is absent for any reason, please let your child’s teacher know and send in a note signed by the parent. Blank Absence note pads will be sent home for each family. Absence notes must be presented no later than five days after the student returns to school. Students arriving after 9:20 a.m. are considered late and must be signed in by an adult. We are striving for 94% attendance for all students at Featherbed Lane!

Mrs. Hall ~ Assistant Principal lhall8@bcps.org

Mr. Marthe ~ Assistant Principal jmarthe@bcps.org

We have a new website coming soon!​

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Featherbed Lane Elementary​