August 12, 2014
Good morning.
For some
parents of recent enrollees, this may be the first Parent Update you have
received. With that in mind, I am
including information sent out previously, over the past week or so, in order
to communicate what has already been shared (please see the section titled
“Repeat Items”). My Updates, once the
school year begins, should not be as lengthy as this.
CONGRATULATIONS
and THANKS
Congratulations to
Elizabeth Petersen, 7th Grade Science, who has been asked to present
at the Science Teachers of Missouri fall convention. This will be held on September 26 at
Washington University.
CALENDAR ITEMS
Wednesday,
8/13
Opening Day of School
Friday,
8/15
Parent Coffee (all
grades), 8:30 – 9:30 am, LMS Cafeteria
Wednesday,
8/20
Meet The Teacher Night,
6:30 – 8:30 pm (more information to follow)
Tuesday,
8/26
After School Activities
begin (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
Wednesday,
8/27
School Picture Day (more
information to follow)
6th Grade Camp
Parent meeting, 7 – 8 pm
Monday,
9/1
Labor Day: NO SCHOOL
Tuesday,
9/2
SRI Reading assessments;
Grades 7 and 8
Wednesday,
9/3
SRI Reading assessments;
Grade 6
Monday,
9/8
Discovery Education (DE)
assessments; through Thursday, 9/11
Block Day schedules
Friday,
9/12
Early Release day; 12:40
pm
CORRECTION/ADDITION(S)
NEW ITEMS
Fall Parent Conferences
Parent
Conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, October 22 (3:50 to 7:30 pm) and
Thursday, October 23 (1:20 to 6:40 pm).
Sign ups are
now available online at:
You may also
the website by going to the LMS webpage using the following link:
Prior to
completing your sign up, please carefully review the instructions that are
provided. Do not delay in signing up as
appointment slots fill up very quickly.
UPDATED ITEMS
Student Handbooks
As previously
communicated, teachers will review the Student Handbook with students during
the first days of school. Please pay
particular attention to the sections on Dress Code and Electronic Devices. Hard copies of our Student Handbook should be
coming home with your kids no later than next Friday (August 22).
Electronic Devices
After sending out previous
information regarding our expectations and practices regarding student
possession and use of electronic devices, a parent inquiry made up think about
e-readers (Kindles and Nooks). The
consensus of the staff and administration is that student possession and use of
e-readers is acceptable during the school day (using the same parameters for
use of traditional books). For those
e-reader devices that have game capability, it is stressed that they only be
used for reading purposes during approved class time.
Students who wish to carry
e-readers with them during the day should keep them in their possession at all
times. Please understand that student
possession of a personal electronic device at school is at the parent’s
discretion. The school cannot be liable
for damage or loss during personal use, improper/unapproved use, or use by
another student.
REPEAT ITEMS
8TH GRADE SPECIFIC
INFORMATION
Packet Pickup/8th
Grade Tdap Immunization
If you
have a student who is entering 8th Grade this fall, a Tdap
vaccination is required. It is a tetanus
booster shot with pertussis (for whooping cough). Most children have had this vaccine somewhere
around their 11th or 12th birthday. The nurse will need an updated vaccination
record to verify that your student has had this immunization prior to the
release of your child’s registration packet.
According to State law, your child may not begin the school year until
we have received the appropriate documentation.
If you need to check to see if your child has a current record on file,
you may contact the LMS Office at 314-993-3900.
If we do not have a record on file, you may have your child’s doctor fax
a current record to LMS at 314-997-8736 or it can be dropped off at our Office
prior to packet pick on August 4 and 5.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Lockers/Decorations
Historically,
we have allowed students to decorate the outside of their lockers. This year, we are asking that the outside of
lockers remain free of pictures, decorations, stickers, etc. This will include decorations placed on
lockers by other students to celebrate birthdays. We are working on an alternative to allow
students to help their friends celebrate, possibly using notecards which can be
deposited into the locker interiors through vents in the locker door. Our goal is to keep lockers and hallways
clean and clutter-free, and we thank you for your cooperation on this.
Fundraiser Update
We have
typically based our yearly fundraising efforts on magazine sales. We will continue to offer this option, as
well as provide new choices like photo books, photo cards, memory books, photo
gifts and photo calendars. You should be
able to view sample products at tonight’s Community Night at the LMSPA table.
Technology Forms
Parent/Guardian
Technology Agreement and Student User Agreement forms will need to be completed
by all 6th grade parents and students. These forms will be included in 7th
and 8th grade packets and will need to be completed if they do not
currently have one on file. Please
return these forms by Monday, August 18.
Contact Information
It is important for the
middle school to have the correct contact information, address, and phone
numbers for your child in case of an emergency. Address
changes must be done by contacting our registrar and providing appropriate
documentation. Please take a few minutes to make sure your
child’s contact information is correct by logging on to the Parent
Portal. If you have not signed up to access the Parent Portal,
please stop by the middle school with a picture ID and see our registrar, Ms.
Breidenbach. You can also update your information by contacting our
registrar, Ms. Breidenbach at 983-5511.
Lunch Pricing
Our district uses
Chartwells School Dining Services for our school meals program. Information regarding our meal program, as
well as a menu for the month of August, will be available on packet pick up
days. Also included in this information
will be forms for our Free/Reduced meal program for qualifying families.
Meals prices
for the coming year are as follows for LMS students:
Breakfast -
$1.55, ($0.30 for Reduced price)
Lunch - $2.65,
($0.40 for Reduced price)
Milk - $0.55
Chartwells
uses Ladue’s meal accounting system to record student payments and purchases
throughout the school year. A few
reminders:
·
Establish
your student’s meal account before the school year begins.
·
Checks
should be made payable to the Ladue Schools Foodservice, with the student’s
name and amount enclosed in an envelope.
·
Pre-payments
can also be made through myschoolbucks.com.
Please note that it takes 24 to 48 hours for these payments to show on
the student account.
·
Pre-payment
deposits are recommended weekly or monthly to avoid negative student account
balances.
Balances from
the previous school year are carried forward to the new school year, and from
school to school. For balance information,
you may call the LMS Office or check myschoolbucks.com.
Phone Routing System
We will be
implementing a phone routing system here soon.
Although it is great to be answered by a real person, this comes as a
result of the numerous calls we receive on our main line during a normal school
day. We have worked to keep the number
of options down to a minimum, to better meet your needs and respect your
time. Once implemented, calls to the
993-3900 number will offer the following options:
·
Clinic
·
Attendance
·
Assistant
Principals’ Office
·
Counselors
·
Registrar
·
All
Others
If the
extension your are attempting to reach is busy, my understanding is that your
call will be re-routed to our main Reception desk. Should this line be busy, it will go directly
to our Receptionist’s voicemail.
School Times
Our
school day begins with 1st period at 8:15 am. Our school day ends with the conclusion of 8th
period at 3:05 pm. Students arriving by car in the morning can access our Lobby
by 7:30 am (prior to that time, we do not have staff on duty for
supervision). Students arriving on
campus between 7:30 am and 7:50 am will be supervised in the Lobby. After 7:50 am, students will be directed to
the following areas, by grade level, before dismissal to the lockers:
·
6th Grade – Cafeteria
·
7th Grade – Gymnasium, Boys side
·
8th Grade – Gymnasium, Girls side
Staff
will be assigned to each area for supervision.
More information regarding traffic practices is below.
Traffic/AM and PM
Since most of
you are returning parents, I have save this for last. Nothing much in terms of procedure has
changed over the last two years.
If you are a
parent new to our building, or if it has been several years since you have had
a student at LMS, you might wish to review the following. Please bear with me, since this is easier to
explain in person than to type out.
Morning
Traffic
We will have
personnel outside to monitor and direct traffic each morning by 7:40 am at the
latest. I usually am located at the
Clayton Road entrance, while a second staff member will be located at the back
entrance to our Circle Drive.
·
Prior
to the arrival of buses at around 7:50 am, all students transported by car can
proceed to the back entrance to the Circle Drive, enter the Circle Drive, and
enter our building through our Main Entrance.
After dropping off students, cars can then exit the Circle Drive onto
Conway Road.
·
Once
buses begin to arrive, cars entering campus will be re-routed to our back
Blacktop. Cars should proceed down the
Maintenance Drive, turn left, and approach our building through the
Blacktop. Students can exit cars at the
rear door to the Gymnasium and enter there, under the supervision of a staff
member. Depending on time, students will
then be directed to their grade level areas listed above or to their lockers to
prepare for 1st period.
·
After
dropping off students, cars will then exit our campus onto Clayton Road (if
buses are still in the Circle Drive). We
ask that each exiting car PLEASE turn right onto Clayton Road to expedite
traffic flow. Cars waiting to turn left
onto Clayton impede traffic exiting our campus a great deal.
·
Once
all buses have arrived and dropped riders off, cars can then return to drop off
and exit through the Circle Drive (the staff member and I remain outside on
traffic duty until 8:05 am).
·
In
order to avoid the bulk of our traffic issues each morning, it is suggested
that students arrive by car between 7:30 and 7:50 am.
·
We
ask that you not drop off your child in the bank parking lot (causing traffic
stoppages as students must cross Conway Road) and definitely not have students
exit cars while on Conway Road.
Afternoon
Traffic
Buses begin
lining up in our Circle Drive around 2:50 pm.
This blocks the Circle Drive from car access and exiting onto Conway
Road. At the 3:05 pm dismissal, bus
riders are released from the building first, while car riders are held in the
Lobby until buses exit the campus at around 3:15 pm (we get faster after the
first few weeks).
·
Cars
entering our campus are directed to proceed through the Blacktop at the rear of
the building.
·
Cars
then line up in the Maintenance Drive and wait for the release of buses.
·
Once
buses have cleared the Circle Drive, cars can then proceed to the front of the
building to pick up students.
·
If
you will be consistently picking up your student by car in the afternoon, I
would suggest that you not arrive until between 3:15 pm and 3:30 pm.
·
If
you have a need to pick up your student prior to the 3:05 pm dismissal, please
park in our parking lot (rather than the Circle Drive) anytime after 2:45 to
2:50 pm to avoid being blocked by arriving buses.
LMSPA eBlasts
If you are
not currently receiving LMSPA email news blasts but would like to, please click
on the following link to subscribe:
Board Briefs
Information
regarding Ladue Board of Education meetings and work sessions can be found on boardbriefs.blogspot.com
Thank you. Please wish your kids a great last day of
summer break and let them know we look forward to seeing them on Wednesday.
Greg
