Mr. McNeil's fifth graders tried their hand at writing their own play. They are excited to share their debut of Recess Ruckus tomorrow, January 19, beginning at 9:05 am, in the Langstaff Auditorium. If Potomac has a 2-hour delay tomorrow due to inclement weather, Mr. McNeil's play will begin at 10:30 am in the Langstaff Auditorium. Here is the livestream link for anyone unable to attend. 

Beginning at noon on Wednesday, January 31, parents can sign up for a conference time with their child's homeroom teacher via the Parent Portal section of CampusNET. These conferences are an excellent opportunity to connect with your teacher if you have questions after reading your report. The conference day is on Friday, February 9. There will be no classes for students. Drop-in childcare will be available during the time of your conference.

MidStream was sent to MS families on Tuesday morning with an error on class assignments for the February grade 5 field trips to our community partner, Higher Horizons. Below are the correct class assignments for February 6 and 7: 

February 6: ADM5 and YC5 
February 7: AMM5 and CS5 

Because of our snow day on Tuesday, grade 6 classes have postponed their field trip to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center to a later date. Please check future PawPrints issues for updates.  

Grade 6 parents are invited to join the conversation on January 23, from 8:30 to 10:15 am, in the Trundle Family Meeting Room in Spangler. Parent Forums are informal gatherings of parents in a particular grade. At these programs, parents have the opportunity to discuss topics and challenges that are most relevant to their children's developmental stage.

The LS/MS Kids Heart Challenge is just around the corner! This event helps raise funds for the American Heart Association (AHA) while teaching our students the importance of physical fitness, cardiovascular health, and community service. Potomac has supported the AHA for more than 40 years.

This year, Kids Heart Challenge will take place on Friday, January 26, in the Spangler Center for Athletics and Community. This K-6 event will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 am. The assembly will be a chance for the students to “showcase” their talents and display a variety of “heart-healthy” activities, including jump rope, hula hoops, basketball tricks, juggling, and more.

This week, an information packet, including a sponsor/collection envelope, is coming home with the students. Thank you for helping to support the American Heart Association. Please note that all LS/MS students, faculty, and staff are highly encouraged to wear red, comfortable clothes and sneakers on this day. Parents are welcome to attend this event.

On Wednesday, January 31, at 6:30 pm, the College Counseling and Athletic Offices will host Play On! - College Night For Prospective Student-Athletes, featuring a panel of college coaches from multiple divisions, speaking to athletics recruiting, admissions, and playing at the next level. The event will be held in the US Tiered Classroom.

Panelists include: 

• Meghan Ryan Nemzer, University of Maryland, Head Women's Soccer Coach
• Alton McKenzie, Georgetown University, Director of T&F and XC
• Travis Beauchamp, Catholic University, Head Men's Soccer Coach
• Bobby Picardo, Catholic University, Associate Head Coach for Baseball
• Allison Key, American University, Director of Undergraduate Admissions
• Marisa Brisbane, University of Maryland, Assistant Director of Compliance

Please RSVP and contact Christopher A. Zissi or Meredith Valmon for more information.

The indoor track and field team recently traveled to the VA Showcase meet in Virginia Beach to race on one of the country’s fastest tracks and test themselves against national competition. Matt Brow ‘24 won the 1-mile race walk event, and the girls 4x400m team of Ally Griswold ‘26, Tenley Overdeck ‘24, Kate Tuttle ‘24, and Reagan Exley ‘24 achieved a qualification standard for Nike Indoor Nationals coming up in NYC in March. Alex Mathew’s 1000m race was a lifetime best by 6 seconds and was only .36 off the nationals qualifying mark. In addition to several new VISAA indoor state qualifications— ninth graders Rose Barabanov ‘27 and Grayson Crittenberger ‘27 both qualified in the 55m and 300m events— the team racked up 20 personal records, including a packed weekend of three PRs for Noah Altschuler '25 in all three of his events, the 1000m, 1600m, and 3200m.

Indoor track and field is back in action this weekend with a split-squad schedule on January 19 at the Maroon & Black Relays at Episcopal HS and January 20 at Georgetown Prep.

Last Thursday, the swim team took on the Bullis Bulldogs and the SAES Lions. On the girls side, the Panthers beat the Bulldogs (65-33) but lost to the Lions (48-50) in a very close contest. The boys lost to the Bulldogs (40-61) but beat the Lions (63-27). One notable event for the night was Paige Schedler '25 and Charlotte Gabriel '25 going 1-2 in the 50 Freestyle! In addition, Luka Beslic '27 won the 100 Breaststroke, and Will Piester '26 was 3rd, out touching fourth place by 0.02 seconds. Finally, Logan Abbott '27 put together a great swim in the 500 Freestyle, or 20 laps in the pool, and raced the whole way through. Way to go, Panthers!