February 21, 2014
Good
afternoon and Happy Friday.
It has been
“a week” and I am very, very glad
for the upcoming weekend.
I hope
holding students for a few minutes in 8th period classes yesterday
didn’t cause stress for any of them. We
had some weather rolling in and wanted to see what transpired. As it happened, it passed quickly. Buses were dismissed only about a minute or
two behind schedule.
The calendar
items below run through the week of Spring Break. I was hoping to extend the calendar through
the month of April on this update, but time is running short and I am trying to
concentrate on getting this out before the day ends. I will do my best to update the calendar
items on the next update.
CALENDAR ITEMS
Tuesday, February 25
6th Grade Party 3:10 – 4:10
Thursday, February 27
Pioneer Team field trip to Springfield, IL
7th Grade Party 3:10 – 4:10
Friday, February 28
Hidden Valley Ski Trip; 3:00 – 9:30 pm
(make up day)
Tuesday, March 4
Vocal Concert, Grades 5 -
12; 7:00 pm
Wednesday, March 5
Jazz Band Concert, Grades 7
– 8; 7:00 pm
Friday, March 7
I Am LMS activities
Early Dismissal; 12:40 pm
Wednesday, March 12
Parent Teacher Conferences
(full day for students)
Thursday, March 13
End of Quarter 3
Parent Teacher Conferences
(early release day for students at 12:40 pm)
Friday, March 14
No School
Monday, March 17 through
Friday, March 21
No School: Spring Break
(Yah!)
CONGRATULATIONS
and THANKS
Ten students from LMS
participated in the Regional Mathcounts Competition this past weekend.
The students who competed were: Anna
Zhong, Kevin Jiang, Justin Chen, Edward Wu, Seema Patil, Moses Schindler, Jeremy
Ouyang, Albert Lui, Jacqueline Zeng and Ben Phung. The Team of Anna Zhong, Kevin Jiang, Edward
Wu, and Justin Chen placed 1st at Regionals and will represent LMS at the state
competition in March. Moses Schindler will also represent LMS at the state
in the individual competition. Way to go to all who participated!
The LMS
Chess team placed 1st at last Saturday’s Gateway Chess League Action
Tournament in the Grade 8 and Under division.
Team members were: Ronit Kirumaki,
Thomas Xiong, Max Baker and Yan Ryback.
Great job!
CORRECTION(S)
NEW ITEMS
LMSPA Nominations for
2014-2015
The Ladue
Middle School Parent Association is beginning to plan for the 2014-15 school
year. If you would like to nominate yourself or another person for a
position on the LMSPA Executive Board, please print out and complete the attached
Nomination Form and return it to the LMS Welcome Center by Monday, March 24th.
6th Grade
Party
6th graders
are encouraged to join in Mardi Gras fun with food, music, crafts, beads and
more on Tuesday, February 25 from 3:05 to 4:10 pm in the LMS cafeteria and gym. Late buses will be available for
transportation home. Ticket sales will continue during lunch on Monday,
February 24 and Tuesday, February 25. Tickets are $3.00.
Click https://peachjar.com/user_images/8951410.pdf
to view the party flyer on Peachjar.
Thank you to
all of the 6th grade parents who have already signed up to help with the
party! More volunteers are needed. If you can help, please sign up
at
Laduette Dance Team
Attention
all 8th grade dancers! The Laduette Dance Team clinics will be held
Monday and Tuesday, March 3rd and 4th, from 4-6pm with tryouts on Wednesday,
March 5th beginning at 4pm. Both the clinics and tryouts will be held at
the LHWHS Ramming Gymnasium. If you did
not attend the meeting and would like to try out you can email laduettes@gmail.com
to get an informational packet. We hope to see you there!
Parent
Conferences/Quarter 3 Grade Cards
In past years,
the end of Quarter 3 has occurred prior to spring Parent Conferences. This has allowed us to post and finalize
grades, print grade cards, and distribute these directly to parents who were
able to attend Parent Conferences (thereby cutting down on mailings). Those report cards that were not picked up
were then mailed the following week.
This year’s
calendar does not give us that option.
The end of Quarter 3 falls on the second day of spring Parent
Conferences. As a result, we will not be
able to post and finalize Quarter 3 grades until the end of the day on Monday,
March 24. Once grades are posted, we
will need to print grade cards and prepare all of them for mailing. We hope to get them out by Wednesday of that
week.
Food on Buses
Please help us
discourage our students from taking food items on the buses. This is for two reasons: 1) So many of our
students have food allergies and taking food items on public transportation is
restricted, and 2) the resulting mess that it makes for the drivers to clean
up. Thank you for your help.
La'Due It 5K
On Sunday, March 30,
2014
Ladue walks, runs, and cares!
This event is brought to you by the
Ladue Schools Physical Education Department and District Wellness Committee.
Proceeds will support Due Care, an organization which provides financial
assistance to district families and students in need. Bring your old
shoes to donate to Shoeman Water Projects, helping bring clean water to
communities around the world. A T-shirt is guaranteed with pre-registration by
March 15th. To pre-register, go to: www.ladueschools.net
Used Sports Equipment
Swap.
A service project from
Girls on Track will occur on March 29 in the LMS Gym from Noon to 3:30 pm. Please see the attached flier for more
details. For questions, contact Lisa
Witzofsky at blwitz@charter.net
UPDATED ITEMS
Philippines
Typhoon Relief
Thanks very
much to everyone who brought in cash and/or items on Thursday, 2/20 and Friday,
2/21!
LMS
Students, Parents and Staff. Would you like to help people in the
Philippines affected by Typhoon Haiyan? Typhoon Haiyan was an
exceptionally powerful tropical cyclone which struck the Philippines in
November 2013 and caused massive destruction. People affected by the
typhoon still have many needs.
The LMS
Character Council and a Conway 3rd Grade Junior FIRST LEGO League
robotics team are co-sponsoring a collection for the Philippine Nurses
Association of Greater St. Louis.
WHAT TO
DONATE
- Cash
-
Toothbrushes for children, toothbrushes for adults, toothpaste, soap, shampoo,
other personal hygiene items
- Children's
flip-flops
WHEN TO
DONATE
Thanks very
much to everyone who donated cash and/or items on Thursday, 2/20 and Friday,
2/21!
We will continue
to collect donations of cash and items through the end of the school day
Friday, 2/28 in the LMS Welcome Center Office.
Lunchtime Lecture Date Change
Due to the
snow day on February 5, Debbie Granick's presentation Communication Without Conflict – How to
Get More than Grunts, Groans and Eye Rolls has been moved to Wednesday, March 5th from 12-1pm in the LMS Library.
REPEAT ITEMS
7th Grade Party
7th
graders are encouraged to join in Mardi Gras fun with music, food and more on
Thursday, February 27 from 3:10 to 4:10 pm in the LMS cafeteria and gym.
Late buses
will be available for transportation home. Wrist bands may be purchased
during lunch that week for $3 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Parent
Teacher Conferences (Sign Up ASAP)
Spring
Portfolio Conferences are scheduled for 3/12 (3:40-7:20 p.m.) and 3/13
(1:20-6:40 p.m.) Information was sent home in Friday Folders with students and
is also posted on our school website.
Sign ups are
online and can be accessed through the following website: http://www.myconferencetime.com/laduems.
Please sign
up ASAP as appointments fill up fast. The deadline for signing up is March 7, 2014.
To ensure
your conference runs smoothly here are a few reminders:
1.
Plan to be at conferences for at least an hour. You will meet with
core teachers for a total of 20 minutes. The other time will be spent meeting
with the elective and/or off team teachers. Plan to arrive on time. If
you arrive late, we may not be able to accommodate you.
2. Upon
arrival, please stop at the table in the lobby to pick up a Conference Room
Location sheet. This will help you know where you are going.
3. Note
dinner times and plan accordingly. Teachers will have a 40 minute dinner break
both evenings. When elective teachers are at dinner team teachers are
conferencing and when team teachers are at dinner elective teachers are
conferencing. Dinner breaks are as follows:
Wed. 3/12
-Elective @ 4:20, Team @ 5:00
Thurs. 3/13 -Elective
@ 3:40, Team @ 4:20
8th Grade Dates of Interest
The
following are dates specific to parents of current 8th grade
students in order to make plans for this spring:
May 2
7:30-10 8th grade dance
May 19 and
20 (all day) 8th grade boat building
May 21 (all
day ) 8th grade boat races
May 22 (all
day ) 8th grade to Six Flags
May 23 8th
Grade Promotion 12pm
LMSPA eBlasts
If you are
not currently receiving LMSPA email news blasts but would like to, please click
on the following link to subscribe:
LMS Lunchtime Parent Lecture Series
Stepping Off the Hamster
Wheel – Tools for Frenzied Families
Wednesday, February 26;
12-1; LMS Library
Feel like there’s never
enough time to do it all? Jill Farmer
will give you tools for unraveling the business in your lives. Learn how to replace the craziness in your
house with some calm. Tips for
overscheduled parents and middle schoolers.
Jill Farmer is the Author of “There’s Not Enough Time
. . . and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves” and is a Master Certified Life Coach
and speaker.
MAP Testing
Please note
that MAP testing will be held on Monday, April 7 through Thursday, April
10. If possible, please try to avoid
scheduling doctor appointments or other time away from school during this
period for your children. We would
appreciate it very much.
Board Briefs
Information
regarding Ladue Board of Education meetings and work sessions can be found on boardbriefs.blogspot.com
I hope you have a great day
today and weekend. Thanks always for
your support and your great kids.
Greg
