Lutherville Lab Report
What's gone down & what's coming up at the leopards' lair.
June 9, 2023
What a joyous week at the Lab! This week we held 4 picnics, Kindergarten Celebration, 5th grade Farewell, Food Truck Night, and Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast. Our amazing front office team printed almost 600 visitor badges this week. My great gratitude to the school teams that put on such wonderful events and to our family partners for engaging and celebrating their children. I hope we all can share in the gratitude for the community we have here at Lutherville, and sleep well this weekend.
Having Kindergarten Celebration and 5th Grade Farewell back-to-back was an impactful reminder of the transformation that occurs in the 6 years students spend in elementary school. From learning letter sounds, counting by 5s and how to share...to learning to multiply decimals, write essays, and how to share -- it's a journey. This week was a great reminder of the opportunity and responsibility we have here to lay a firm foundation our students can build upon.
I also want to take some space in this issue to extend gratitude to Amanda Wolfe, who has completed her second term as PTA President and made significant contributions to this school community; Amanda is term-limited and we welcome Lisa Reagle as our new PTA President. Amanda was one of the first members of the Lutherville family to reach out to me and welcome me to the principalship. Her passion for this school, for supporting the teachers and staff, and for rebuilding and building the culture and community was evident from our first conversation.
And she has more than lived that out during the two years that I have worked with her. She has brought Food Truck Night, Build-A-Leopard, and Read-A-Thon to us as new events. She has advocated for our school with BCPS Executive Leadership, helped to interview teacher candidates, and even stepped up to substitute at school...some of our students even earn the chance to play basketball against her. She will move mountains to make things happen for Lutherville Lab. And she will be the first to tell anyone that she has not done any of this, but is blessed to have an incredible team around her through which they have accomplished much together. As she "passes the torch" of the PTA Presidency, (and will still support us for a couple more years), please be sure to share your gratitude with Amanda.
This is our last Lab Report of the 2023-2024 school year. Thank you to all families for your partnership in supporting your children this year. We are very fortunate to do this important work, and even more fortunate to do so with such a committed, collaborative community.
Have a great summer, Leopard Families!
Calendar Reminders:
Monday 1:05 dismissal; PM Caliday
Tuesday 1:05 dismissal; *no* Caliday after school; last day of school
Summer office hours are 8:00 - 3:00
In partnership,
-Mr. McComb
Kindergarten Celebration
PTA Opportunities!
As we send another group of wonderful Leopards off to middle school along with their families, we have opportunities for others to step forward with contributions through the PTA. Below are a few ways that parents and guardians can help our school continue to create opportunities for our community to be together and nurture the strong culture we have as a school.
In partnership with the PTA, we would like to also state our shared interest in diversifying our PTA leadership and board, so that our PTA can better reflect the diversity of our student body. To that end, we'd like to particularly invite parents of color to consider opportunities through the PTA. This will allow us to better program for and be responsive to the needs and preferences of our whole community. Please reach out to Mr. McComb at school or Lisa Reagle, our newly elected PTA President, at luthervillelabpta@gmail.com for more information or a conversation.
Open Co-Vice President Position:
An opportunity for great influence is to join our newly elected VP, Catherine Pilotte Mullins, on the Executive Board of the PTA. This position is held for a two-year term and specific areas of interest can be discussed and considered.
Open Committee Chairperson positions:
- Spirit Wear (year-round position, help order and keep stock on spirit wear, help with events where we have spirit wear available for purchase)
- Spirit nights (identify, with suggestions of others, places to do Spirit nights with such as THB, Baskin Robbins, Rita's etc to assist with fundraising and coordinate with restaurants/organizations)
- Hospitality co-chair with Hayley Rose (year-round position, stocking teachers lounge with items, coordinating special events like pizza lunches, Cultural Love snack break etc and coordinating Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week the first week in June)
- Reflections chair or co-chair (creativity contest to promote the arts in education, will promote program to students and families, encourage and coordinate entries from LL)
- Cultural art/assemblies (work with Mr. McComb and Mrs. Hart to identify and coordinate assemblies and if necessary, funding for them)
- Build-a-Leopard (fall event, advertising event, ordering materials, likely an outdoor event)
- Pizza Bingo co chair with Kate Bloom (winter/spring, indoors at Ridgely Middle School again, advertising event, coordinating pizza orders and event details, setting up for event)
5th Grade Clapout!
Staff Transitions
Suzanne Baker, 5th Grade: After 27 years of teaching, and 23 (!) contributing to Lutherville Lab, Suzanne is transferring to Arbutus Elementary School to finish her teaching career. This will give Suzanne the opportunity to relocate and better support her mother, who lives in Annapolis.
Sarah Fischer, 1st Grade: Mrs. Fischer is retiring after this school year. We are grateful that she could come back to Lutherville, the school she attended as a child, to close out her career. You can find her on the course or the court this fall.
Brittany Martinez, Para-Educator: Brittany will be taking on a classroom of her own, a Kindergarten classroom at Dundalk Elementary. We are so glad she can take this next step. She's ready! Best of luck, Brittany!
Mx. Sol, SEL Classroom: Sol will be moving on to serve children at another school. They are looking forward to working as a handyman this summer; reach out if you have a need!
Maki Zylstra, Speech-Language Pathologist: Maki has been an incredibly skilled SLP and member of our Special Education Team during her temporary relocation to Maryland. We wish her all the best at her new school as she heads back to South Dakota.
Previous Lab Reports
Please find previous Lab Reports via the following links:
June 2nd
March 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st
February 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th
November 4th, 11th, 18th
October: 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th
September: 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
August: 5th, 19th, 26th
July: 25th
June 17th, 2022 (with links to 21-22 Lab Reports)