Panda Nation News

Before we jump into January, please join me in reflecting on the delightful activities December brought to all of us. Some are pictured below, but there were so many more in this wonderfully magical month! Many thanks to all our staff & community partners who made all of this "wonderfulness" possible for all our students! 🐼❤

January's Wellness theme is EMPATHY. Throughout the month, we will engage our students in learning about and practicing empathy in their classroom, our school, and our community. You may wonder, why we need to teach and foster empathy to all the students in Panda Nation!

Here FOUR reasons!

1. Empathy builds community in each classroom & throughout the school
2. Empathy promotes considering others & taking selfless action
3. Empathy helps children build resilience
4. Emathy positively impacts student achievement

If you want to learn about how you can foster empathy in your child, visit this family-centered website, or this video. Thank you for joining us in our quest to create a kinder, more empathetic school and world!

Panda Love to all!🐼❤

Mrs. Schou, Principal

Mr. Engel-Cope, Assistant Principal

Mrs. Melissa Bean, Academic Dean

"The magic in new beginnings is truly the most powerful of all"

-Josiyah Martin

Please join us in congratulating both Ms. Brotherton & Mrs. Santos for being chosen as our nominees for the SMCPS 2024 awards. Ms. Brothrton is our nominee for Educator of the Year and Mrs. Santos is our nominee for the Educational Support Person of the Year. They are both PAWSitively Amazing and we think the world of them!

• 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.

• Jan. 2: School resumes
• Jan. 15: Martin Luther King Jr. Day-All Schools are closed
• Jan. 18: 6:30-8:00-Polar Pandamonium Concert
• Jan. 24: 5:30-7:30: Judy Center Family Night
• Jan. 25: 4:30-6:00: Title I Family Math & State Assessment Night
• Jan. 26: No school for students=Prefessional Development for staff
• Jan. 31L Hawkins & Hall's Classes to ELMS
• Feb. 1: Brady & Gibson's Classes to ELMS

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