Penguin Press News
July 26, 2021
A Message from Principal Bame
Dear Laurel Park Families,
Happy track out week to our track 3 families! Next Monday, August 2nd, we will welcome back track 4 families to school. Please be aware that we will be working through systems and structures with our track 4 families. We appreciate your patience in advance.
Track 4 Kindergarten families: be on the lookout for a welcome message Tuesday, July 27th.
This particular newsletter contains updates on the following topics:
- Overview of sick policy
- L.E.A.R.N. events (formerly known as Curriculum Night, now called LP Engagement and Resource Nights). Please save the date for our upcoming parent/guardian partnership events on August 19th (tracks 1 and 2) and September 9th (tracks 3 and 4). These evenings are meant to provide parents and guardians with academic and social/emotional resources. Grade level teachers will present an overview of their grade level curriculum, along with important parent resources. Other instructional staff members will present information which will include topics like mCLASS assessments, Academically Gifted programming, Positivity Project curriculum, and much more. This event is geared for adults. We hope to see you there!
- Virtual Academy materials pick up information.
- Laurel Park Spirit ROCK acquisition!
- Picture day information by track
- Conflict resolution chart for kids
- AIG information for 5th grade only
- Specialist updates
- PTA updates
What is coming up?
- Tuesday, July 27th - 3rd grade BOG (Beginning of Grade Reading) test (tracks 1,2,3)
- Thursday, July 29th - PTA meeting 6:30 pm via Zoom
- Friday, July 30th - teacher workday for all tracks (no school) - Supply drop off for Track 4/ 1st - 5th grades only at 1:00 pm
- Monday, August 2nd - First day of school for Track 4/ 1st - 5th grades
- Monday, August 2nd - Thursday, August 5th - Staggered Entry for Track 4 Kindergarten
- Friday, August 6th - Meet the Teacher for Track 4 Kindergarten 1:00 pm
- Monday, August 9th - First Day of School for Track 4 Kindergarten
- Thursday, August 12th - Lucky's Bedtime Stories Night (Virtual Read- aloud)
- Thursday, August 19th - LEARN event for tracks 1 & 2
Kind Regards,
Principal Raleigh Bame
Conflict Chart for Students
5th Grade AIG Updates
Dear 5th Grade LPES Families,
It's that time of year when we accept Academically and Intellectually Gifted nominations from classroom teachers and parents! This is a time that we ask you to really reflect and determine if higher-level differentiation is needed for your student in Mathematics and/or Language Arts. If you are unsure, please talk with your student's classroom teacher or last year's classroom teacher to determine if AIG Testing, may be needed to meet the needs of your student.
AIG Nomination Process
When a student is nominated, the AIG teachers will send home an AIG Testing Consent form and an AIG Parent Observational List. Please complete these forms and return them back to the AIG team as soon as possible. The AIG teachers will go to your student's current and last year classroom teacher to interview the teacher about your student's performance in the classroom, ask for unit assessments, enrichment opportunities, and classroom samples. The classroom teachers will complete a teacher AIG Observational Checklist and a Gifted Rating Scale. The AIG teacher will also pull formal data such as your student's ISIP data, COGAT and IOWA scores, EOG scores and Report Card grades. All of the above data is collected for each AIG candidate and presented to the Laurel Park Elementary's School Based Committee for Gifted Education (LPES SBCGE) for review. The LPES SBCGE will review the above data and decide whether the AIG candidate should be tested for AIG consideration. If a student is being considered, they will be given the COGAT and IOWA tests on the below dates:
Fall AIG Nomination Window
Track 1 - Beginning of school year - August 13th
Tracks 2 - 4 - Beginning of school year - September 10th
Fall AIG Testing Window
Track 1 - August 23rd - September 1st
Tracks 2 - 4 - September 20th - 29th
If you should have any questions about the AIG program or the process, please feel free to email Amy Stone at astone@wcpss.net.
PE Update from Mr. Edwards
Dear Laurel Park Families, Welcome back Penguins!!!! I would like to take a few moments to introduce myself and express how much I am looking forward to working with all your children this year. To the returning students I have seen so much growth over the past several years and to any new students I look forward to getting to know you this year helping in any way to make growth no matter what level you may be at right now.
My name is Mark Edwards and I am the Physical Education Teacher at Laurel Park. I have been teaching in Wake County since 2000 and overall since 1987 in the states of Iowa and North Carolina.
Below is some important information that I hope you find helpful in regards to making your child’s journey this year a success:
Safety in class during activities is my number one focus. This being said please have your children wear or bring a pair of tennis shoes to school each day. These should either have shoe laces or Velcro to keep the shoes on their feet during class activities. These same shoes should also be used for recess. Please no opened toed or back shoes, crocs, sandals, boots or dress shoes. On the day that they have Physical Education please have them wear clothes that they can be active in. Please try to not have girls wear dresses on these days. With this in mind if you have any gently used tennis shoes that no longer fit your children please bring them into school and drop them off at the main office with my name on them. I am also in need of new socks so if you can help me with this please also drop them off at school with my name on the bag. This will help out for the children that sometimes forget their shoes. The children may also bring a water bottle to use during PE class.
I will see your child’s class about once a week. Grades K-3 classes will be on a six day rotation. Please see the specials calendar your child’s homeroom teacher sends home. Grades 4-5 will be on a five day rotation. They will have PE class on the same day of the week, each week. This may change depending on what track is out. During my track outs your child will have a substitute teacher several times during the school year.
In grades K-5 Physical Education is divided into three main sections that we will focus on throughout the year:
- Personal and Social Responsibility: This includes following school, class and game expectations, showing self-control, showing good sportsmanship and demonstrate the willingness to work in groups.
- Motor Skills/Movement Concepts: This includes showing the ability to move around the play area under control using different movement concepts such as walking, galloping, skipping, jumping and running during class activities and games. They will also be assessed on the skills of throwing, catching, dribbling, kicking and striking.
- Fitness: This includes working on pacing and doing moderate to vigorous activities for short and long periods of time. In the upper grades, they may also be assessed for muscle strength, muscle endurance and flexibility.
Lastly, If your child has any medical concerns that you feel I need to know about such as asthma, heart issues or anything else please email me at mjedwards2@wcpss.net. If your child is hurt or sick and needs to be excused from class please send me a written note or email prior to class if possible. Again I look forward to helping your child along their journey this school year. Please feel free to contact me whenever you have a question or concern.
Thank you, Mark Edwards
A Social Learning Welcome from Mrs. V
Hello Penguin Families!
We have gotten off to a great start in Social Learning class. All the grades have been getting an idea of what to expect in Social Learning class and getting to know each other at the same time. We have been talking about "RESPECT". It is a word we use so often, but it means different things to different people and in different places. We talked about respecting opinions and differences in 5th and 4th grades. In 2nd and 3rd grade, we talked about what respect looks like at home, at school, and for ourselves. In Kindergarten and 1st grade, we talked about what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like. Please encourage your children to think of all the ways they show respect- not just at school, but at home and in your community as well.
Susannah Vitaglione
Social Learning Teacher
Technology Update from Ms. Trent
Is your child using a personal device?
WCPSS has changed their stance on Chromebooks since they ordered enough for everyone in the district. Everyone K-12, no matter their financial situation, is getting a Chromebook. Some parents for various reasons, do not want their child to use one from the school. That is the rare exception and not the rule now. If you want your child to continue using their personal device, that is perfectly fine of course, but we highly recommend using the school device since WCPSS supports those when any technical issue happens. If you would like to have a WCPSS device, please let Ms. Trent know ASAP.
Student Devices
All students in Tracks 1 - 3 have all have their chromebooks if they wanted them. Here is a video of how to properly care for your device. There are other videos in your child's STEM Google Classroom too. More information can be found on this website.
If you have not sent in the Student Device Program Agreement form yet, please send that in ASAP! It is required for every student who attends WCPSS.
If there is ever a problem with the student devices, Go to the WCPSS Tech Help Page to get help or just contact your teacher.
Tiffany Trent
STEM Teacher/Tech Contact
Laurel Park Elementary School
Need Tech Help? Try the WCPSS Tech Help Page
Need More Tech Help? Fill out this form.
PTA Go Play Save Fundraiser Information
Positivity Project Resource for Families
P2 for Families is an easy and effective way for families to discuss the importance of character strengths and positive relationships. It is differentiated for grades Pre-K – 2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Each character strength follows a 1-1-3 model: 1 quote, 1 video, and 3 questions to drive conversations around character at home.
Please choose your child’s grade level found at the link below:
Do you know your child's email address?
Want more answers to tech questions?
Go to Students and click on Remote Learning Resources and FAQ on the Laurel Park Website.
Parent and Student Tech Guides (WCPSS)
Grocery Store Rewards Cards
Laurel Park Elementary School
Website: wcpss.net/laurelparkes
Location: Laurel Park Elementary School, Laura Duncan Road, Apex, NC, USA
Phone: 919.290.2333
Twitter: @LaurelParkElem