From the Desk of the Principal, August 22, 2025

Dear Patuxent Valley Families and Community,
This week was a great week, from seeing our young people meeting old friends on Monday, students playing Gaga Ball at recess, to visiting classrooms, it's hard to pick just one highlight!  Suffice to say that I'm so glad that your young people are at our school, and that we have the amazing, skillful and caring educators that we do at Patuxent Valley.

All of this is both for our community and dependent on its support.  Thank you for your patience with all the new things this week, and especially for your support at arrival, dismissal and with buses.

This week we shared our new school values with our students and asked them to reflect on how they see themselves in them, and how they can use these to show up as their best selves at school.  What do you think?  Look out for more information on #BulldogStrong as the year goes on!

See here for the slides that were shared in Home Room this week including information on Back to School Procedures, Code of Conduct, and Emergency Preparedness.  We took time each day to share important information with our young people and hope you'll take a moment to review yourself and check in with them to see if they have any questions about anything we talked about.

Next week we have Back to School Night on Thursday and we hope to see someone from each of our families.  It will have a slightly different structure to previous school years with a welcome fair including school and community activities from 6pm to 6:20pm and six sessions for you to visit grade level content teams, hear about the curriculum and meet your students’ teachers. The main doors will open at 5:45pm and the sessions with content areas will run from 6:30pm to 8pm.  There's more information posted on our website here.

Did you know that the public calendar on our website is a Google Calendar that allows anyone to subscribe and add into your other calendar systems.  Check it out - we are adding events every month!

Check out the information below for items we’ve been sending out this week and some new things to help us all be prepared for the new school year!  Let us know if you have any questions or if there is something you’d like to see in the newsletter.  All of this information is also posted on our website at http://pvms.hcpss.org/. 

There is nothing too big or too small for us to work on together, so don’t hesitate to reach out.

Regards,
Richard Smart, Principal (richard_smart@hcpss.org)

Calling all Dads, Grandpas, Uncles, Brothers, and/or Coaches! Join us for a special morning of connection and community! 

This is a time to enjoy donuts and coffee, meet other father figures in our school community, and strengthen the connection between home and school. Together, we’ll share values, celebrate the important role you play in your child’s success, reflect on your hopes for your child(ren) this school year, and explore meaningful ways you can support your child and our school community this school year. 

What: PVMS presents: Donuts with Dads and Father Figures – Coffee & Conversations

Where: Patuxent Valley Middle School (Cafeteria)

When: Thursday, September 18, 2025

Time: 8:45 - 9:45 am

To assist us plan and make sure we have enough for everyone, please complete this form to rsvp by September 15, 2025. 

We look forward to sharing space with you.

Please direct any questions to: Mr. Lee or Ms. Peguese: john_lee@hcpss.org or tiffani_peguese@hcpss.org 

PVMS Presents: Donuts with Dads and Father Figures -- Coffee & Conversations

The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is committed to providing a safe, engaging, and supportive school environment that fosters the social and emotional safety, dignity, and well-being of all students. HCPSS acknowledges the need for employees

  1. to use an array of research-based positive behavior interventions, strategies, and a tiered system of supports to address student behaviors and keep students safe and free of harm
  2. to minimize the practice of exclusion from the classroom environment
  3. to minimize the use of physical restraint (which may only be used when necessary to protect a student or other person from imminent, serious, physical harm and only after other less intrusive, nonphysical interventions have failed or been determined inappropriate). 

.

It is the expectation of the Board that HCPSS employees will be knowledgeable of and implement proactive positive behavior interventions in an effort to reduce the need for exclusion or physical restraint.

Additional information can be found at HCPSS Policy 9400 - Student Behavior Intervention. If you have any questions regarding this policy or its implementation, please contact a school administrator.

HCPSS Guide to Policy Notification, SY2025-26

At Patuxent Valley we work hard to support our students in showing up as their best selves at school.  This year we are building school culture around our BulldogStrong values.   In addition, we follow the Howard County Public School System’s Student Code of Conduct, and teach both of these to our students during classes, assemblies, and in SEL lessons.  We also ask that you review the HCPSS Student and Parent Handbook with your child.

In addition to the information contained in the HCPSS Student Code of Conduct and Student and Parent Handbook, we ask that you review the policies listed below with your child.  Your support helps us maintain a positive school environment. Thank you for your ongoing support!

Weapons, Policy 9250