October 4, 2013

Happy Friday. 

This has been a good week.  Sixth Grade Camp has gone well.  Congratulations and thanks to Mark Biernbaum, Scott Lackey, Roger Scherck and all the other staff members who devoted their time and energy to make this happen.

Upcoming Calendar Events:

Saturday, October 5

LHWHS Homecoming - Parade begins at LMS at 11:00 a.m. and proceeds to the High School.  LMS students who are participating in the parade should have already been contacted by Mr. Scherck.  Homecoming Game at LHWHS begins at 1:00.  

Wednesday, October 9

Picture Re-Take Day (see below)

Thursday, October 10

Fundraiser Kick Off Assemblies

Friday, October 11

Early Release Day – 12:40 p.m.

End of Quarter 1

Fundraiser Post Card turn in (all lunches)

Tuesday, October 15

Ladue Education Foundation Breakfast, Frontenac Hilton – 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday, October 16

Fundraiser Turn In day 1 (all lunches)

Monday, October 21

Scholastic Book Fair (in the Library, all week)

Wednesday, October 23

Fundraiser Turn In day 2 (all lunches)

Red Ribbon Week (through October 31)

Parent Conferences 3:50 – 7:40 p.m.

Thursday, October 24

Early Release Day – 12:40 p.m.

Parent Conferences 1:00 – 6:40 p.m.

Friday, October 25

No School

Monday, October 28

Fundraiser late order turn in

Tuesday, October 29

7^th Grade Party, LMS Cafeteria and Gym – 3:10 to 4:10 p.m.

Wednesday, October 30

7^th Grade Parent/Chaperone meeting re: Kansas City Trip (6:00 – 7:00 p.m., LMS Cafeteria)

Thursday, October 31

Halloween (see below)

6^th Grade Party 3:10 to 4:10, LMS Cafeteria

Pictures (new)

Pictures packages from August 29 were delivered today, near Noon.  Picture Re-Takes are scheduled for next Wednesday.  In a perfect world, we would have received the packages at the latest prior to today, so that we could have delivered these to teams with distribution through specific classes.  Obviously, that didn’t happen.  As a result, picture packages will go home with students on Monday.  This will give you two days to review these prior to Re-Take Day.  If something is very wrong with the original pictures, please return the complete package with your child on Wednesday morning to give to the photographer.  We will call students from morning classes by grade level who need re-takes or who were absent on August 29.  Even if you do not wish to purchase a package, we would like all students photographed to update our student database.

If you have questions, concerns or special requests, please direct them to Wagner Portrait Groups at 314-567-5900. 

A Message from our Communications Office (new)

Tired of Friday Folders Stuffed with Flyers from Outside Organizations?

Electronic Flyer Delivery Begins Next Week!

As you know, Friday Folders often contains flyers from non-profit organizations about services, events and organizations which may be of interest to you and your child. We
want to continue to make sure you receive this valuable information. However, as you can imagine, this paper process not only requires literally tons of paper to be used each year, the administration of this process takes valuable time away from our teachers, office staff and volunteers.

So, beginning next week, you will begin to receive these communications in email form from the district’s service provider, Peachjar.

The information can also be accessed through your individual school’s website, as well as the district website. In addition, a small quantity of the flyers will be printed and placed on a table near your school’s office, in case you do not have easy access to a computer or smart phone.

This new districtwide initiative comes at no cost to the district and save trees and time. Also, if you need to refer back to a flyer or you lose one, they will remain on your school’s website until the offer or event has passed.

Peachjar can also be used for internal communications from our staff and parent organizations. So, stay tuned for more information!

No action is required on your part. You will receive a welcome email from the service provider, Peachjar, which will include a username and password. To ensure smooth delivery of this communication, we suggest you add “school@peachjar.com” to your email contacts. (Do not change “school” to the name of our school. Leave it “school@peachjar. com.”)

Please Note: If you don’t receive an email from Peachjar by October 7, click on the Peachjar logo on your school website to register. If you have children at more than one school in the district, you will need to register initially through one school before adding the others. (After your initial registration is complete, go to “My Account” – “Notification Settings” – then “Add a School.”)

Thank you for helping us save time, money, and lots of trees!

Seventh Grade Field Trip (updated information)

Seventh graders will select their partners for the Kansas City trip at the beginning of first hour on Tuesday, October 8.  They are guaranteed to be in a chaperone group and hotel room with their partner.  Many students have decided on their partners; those who have not will have the opportunity to find someone at the Tuesday morning meeting.  Parents who have questions or concerns may contact Counselor Janey Worthington at 983-5509.

Report cards/Parent Conferences (updated information)  

The last day of Quarter 1 is October 11.  Report cards will be handed out at Parent Conferences on October 23 and 24.  If you would like to view your child’s grades prior to that date, you may access them through the Infinite Campus parent portal beginning on October 16.  Your student can also access this information as well for you.  If you are not able to attend Parent Conferences, your child’s grades will be mailed on October 28.  Should you not have parent portal access, please contact Peggy Briedenbach at 993-3900.

As a reminder, you may be still able to sign up for open time slots through our LMS website at http://www.ladue.k12.mo.us/lms/ if you have not done so already.   Signups have been available since August 9.

Fundraiser (repeat)

Magazine and Cookie Dough sales kickoff is coming Thursday, October 10.  Students will learn about the program and bring home information.  Of course, you can always place online orders at gaschoolstore.com.  Enter the school code 2652758 and indicate the student.  In addition to magazines there are many gift items available on the website.  Thank you for supporting Ladue Middle School! 

LMS Dad’s Club Meeting (updated information)

The Ladue Middle School (LMS) Dad’s Club held its first meeting of the school year on Monday September 30th at 7:00 p.m. in the LMS library to discuss, among other things, the possibility of establishing a Junior Rams Baseball program for the Spring 2014 season and beyond. There were 20 LMS and Fifth Grade Center dads that attended the meeting. Joining us at the meeting was Rob Garrett, the Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Ladue High School and Physical Education Instructor at the Fifth Grade Center. There was good dialogue and visioning amongst the participants about the possible short-term and long-term opportunities, goals, constraints, challenges and realities of establishing a Junior Rams Baseball program. Central feedback themes of the evening were that there was significant community support for a program that would help our kids “fall in love with the game”, accommodate various levels of play (i.e. allow participation by both select and recreational level players), help foster school spirit and build camaraderie and rapport with both classmates and their parents.

The LMS Dad’s Club has created a short survey (Junior Rams Baseball Survey) to help ensure that any Junior Rams baseball program is shaped and molded to best meet the goals and objectives of the LMS and Fifth Grade Center community. If you have a child at LMS or the Fifth Grade Center that is interested in playing baseball, this is a terrific opportunity to provide valuable input, feedback and help influence the outcome of this exploratory initiative.

Because many of the local baseball leagues have registration deposits and/or deadlines as early as the first week of November, our goal is to conclude the exploratory research and present possible directional options by the end of October. While it is likely the community feedback intake process will continue after this timeframe, this will at least help parents begin making informed decisions in light of some of the early deadline programs. Participation in the survey will only be available until October 14th, at which point the results will be tabulated and presented at a follow-up meeting scheduled for Monday October 21st at 7:00 p.m. in the LMS cafeteria.

For questions or additional information, please contact the President of the LMS Dad’s Club – Joe Mulligan – at 314-503-4384 or at joemulligan910@gmail.com.

I hope you have the chance to enjoy the cooler weather that is forecast for this weekend.  As always, my apologies if I have forgotten anything.  If so, a subsequent message will be sent out.

Best,

Greg