Dear Laurence Community,

Welcome back! I am excited for everyone to return for the 2017-18 school year. We have been busy on campus, between four weeks of summer camp, planning curriculum, and renewing and refreshing our school. Be sure to check out the Lightning Field turf, which has been replaced with new grass and organic fill made of cork and sand, and the Corner Lot, which added 50 designated parking spaces!

There is always a lot going on at Laurence. And, most importantly, our kids are happy and thriving.

By Liz Silverman, Director of Kindergarten - 2nd Grade & Kevin Butler, 5th Grade Teacher/Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator

Reading, and the ability to understand and apply the information gained through reading, is more important than ever. By understanding how you can help your children accelerate their reading skills and our new "close reading" curriculum, you can help your children grow their literacy this school year.

By Eric Hogenson, Director of Grades 3 - 6 & STEAM Innovation K - 6

As computer science becomes the "literacy for the modern age," we recognize the need to teach students the computational thinking skills they will need to be successful, not just in school, but as lifelong learners and enriched citizens of the global world. This summer we began developing comprehensive coding and robotics curriculum that will spiral up through the grade levels.

Dear Laurence Community:

Who's ready for some on-site parking? Although our new lot does not accommodate every Laurence family, I am pleased to report that the addition of 50 new spaces will go a long way in alleviating some of the parking challenges we have faced as our neighborhood continues to undergo development and new city ordinances impacted valet parking. I am so pleased that we will have access to our new lot beginning this 2017-2018 school year. The completion of the parking lot was due to the combined efforts of a number of members of the Laurence community.

The Parent Association is well under way, planning for what we hope will be a great year for everyone. We will now have opportunities for your parents (our Laurence grandparents) to volunteer and are reimagining our Halloween Carnival. In planning our numerous events and fundraisers, we must count on all of you, our Laurence parents and community, to volunteer as much and as often as you can, within the wide variety of committee positions available. Committee information and the sign-up form can be accessed on our school website under the Parents section.

Each year, we like to help you and your children get to know our new faculty and staff by providing you with their educational and professional backgrounds, as well as a few fun facts. You may have already met some of our new teachers and specialists during Summer Camp, but you probably don't know their favorite foods, hobbies, or where they like to travel!

Please click on "Read More" for some very important back to school information about school hours, absences, parking, morning drop-off, and afternoon pick-up. With our new Corner Lot (Gate 2), some procedures have changed and we hope this information will provide for a smooth start to our school year!

We are thrilled to start the 2017-2018 school year with a brand new corner parking lot at Woodman and Victory! Everyone at Laurence is incredibly grateful to the many donors whose generosity made this project a reality. In addition to increased parking and improved curb appeal, this new property helps enhance our school's security. "Read more" to learn about using the new parking lot, our security procedures, and for photos to help orient you.

Laurence has many traditions of excellence, one of which is our uniform policy. Appropriate, clean, and tatter-free clothing sets the tone for the important work to be done at school and allows our students to be both physically active and focused on their studies, as opposed to on the latest trends. To support learning, we follow the "simpler is better" philosophy. Help us to Represent the "L" both here and out in the community by ensuring that your child is following our dress code. Click on "Read More" for the full Uniform Policy.

Order Laurence uniforms from Lands' End here. Laurence's preferred school number is 900024951.

We hope that you and your families are enjoying the final weeks of summer break. This fall, we have an exciting line-up of after school enrichment classes, including old favorites and new endeavors! Click here for class descriptions and to sign up or on "Read More" for important information about our after school enrichment program.

We are excited to introduce our new orchestra program through a partnership with Kadima Conservatory for Music! We will be offering several classes (based on enrollment) in Violin, Viola, and Cello for Kindergarten - 6th Grade students of varying levels of experience. Click here to sign up now!

The Kadima Quartet, comprised of the instructors who will be teaching at Laurence, will perform at our first Friday RWB&G assembly on September 8th. Afterwards, there will be a Q & A, and there will still be time to enroll your student(s) before classes begin on September 13th.

This summer, students had a blast working on our original musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, The Emperor's New Clothes. Students from Grades 1 – 6 took part in the musical production, which included two performances to packed, gleeful houses. "Read more" about this production and click here for photos from the show.

This year's Summer Camp was another fantastic program jam packed with fun, new STEAM and art electives, and the first-ever LS Snow Day! "Read more" to hear about our fantastic Summer Camp 2017 program!

Click here for a photo gallery of highlights, or here to see all of our camp SmugMug galleries!