February 1, 2015


Good afternoon.  I hope your weekend has gone well to this point.  We have a pretty busy week coming up with the third round of Discovery Education testing for the entire building (see our schedule below in the Calendar section) and LHWHS Counselors meeting with the current 8th grade students to discuss registration for next year.  In addition, Tuesday is an election day and the LMS Library is once again designated as a polling place.  I will make every effort to ensure that parking and traffic are impacted minimally, particularly at dismissal.

CONGRATULATIONS and THANKS

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Old Bonhomme Elementary “Socks and Sandwiches” service event, held on Martin Luther King Day.  As a result of our community’s generosity, they were able to make and deliver over 2000 sandwiches and 1300 pairs of socks to area homeless shelters.

Congratulations to the Ladue Middle School Science Olympiad teams for placing first and third at yesterday's Regional Competition.  The Competition team has advanced to the State competition, which will be held in April at Westminster College.  Mrs. Steck and the Science Olympiad event coaches are very proud of the following students:  Kate Prablek, Justin Chen, Annie Liu, Albert Liu, Seema Patil, Raj Paul, Nevan Giuliani, Max Kornfeld, Kevin Jiang, Ethan Wang, Akhil Kondepudi, Katie Shaw, Gavin Giuliani, Cindy Wang, Christopher Ye, Kevin Li, Joji Sherman, Jack Madden, Felix Hu, Boran Li, Akshay Govindan, Shelei Pan, Michael Wayne, Jeremy Ouyang, Fayzan Ali, Ansh Rana, Anna Zhong, Stephen Jiang, Louis Li, and Alexander Ye.  Congratulations as well to our outstanding LMS Science Olympiad coaches:  Amy Baniak, Brian Scheidt, Christine Allen, Elizabeth Petersen, Emily Chu, Hugh McMonigle, Kathleen Mercury, Kathy Murphy, Kelly Hake, Laurie Lambie, Peggy Doty, Mark Biernbaum, Martin Long, Matt Mortillo, Melody Frese, Michael Clay, Paul Turney, Reva Davis, Sara Eller,
Theo Washington, and Beth Steck (Coordinator).

Tomorrow begins School Counselor Appreciation Week.  Thank you to our LMS Counselors (Beth Mothersbaugh, Janey Worthington and Roger Scherck) for all that they do for our students and staff.

CALENDAR ITEMS

Monday, 2/2
Counselor Appreciation Week
Discovery Education (DE) testing, round 3 (through Thursday, 2/5).  Block Day schedules.
·      2/2: Blue/Odd
·      2/3: Blue/Even
·      2/4: White/Odd
·      2/5: White/Even
High School counselors begin meeting with current grade 8 students regarding registration for next year.
Tuesday, 2/3
Election Day: LMS Library is a polling place (am and pm parking and traffic may be affected)
Friday, 2/6
Hoops For Heart (PE)
Hidden Valley Ski Trip

Monday, 2/9
Hoops For Heart (PE)
Tuesday, 2/10
LMSPA meeting; 1 – 3 pm
6th Grade Party; 3:10 pm
Wednesday, 2/11
NAEP Testing; selected 8th grade students; Library & 105
Thursday, 2/12
I AM LMS Day
Friday, 2/13
District Professional Development day (No School for students)
Saturday, 2/14
VALENTINE’S DAY

Monday, 2/16
No School; Presidents Day
Friday, 2/20
Hidden Valley Ski Trip

Friday, 2/27
Hidden Valley Ski Trip (makeup date)

CORRECTIONS/ADDITIONS

NEW ITEMS

Registration/Scheduling for next year
I currently have six staff members who anticipate retiring at the end of this school year.  There are typically changes in staffing that come unexpectedly, due to family situations and transfers.  With that being taken into account, I would like to shift emphasis from teacher or team requests for next year to more specific information about your child’s preferred learning styles, etc. on the registration form (not on additional notes or in emails). 
We will work with our Human Resources department soon to address our staffing for next year, but at this moment, I cannot in good faith guarantee teachers and team configurations at this time.

NJHS Fundraiser
The members of our National Junior Honor Society chapter will hold a “Pennies for Patients” fundraiser to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Their goal is to raise $2000 between February 2 and February 11.  Activities will include:
·      Feb 2 through Feb 6: Clean Out Your Console; members will stand outside at carpool to accept spare change that you may have in your car.
·      Feb 9 through Feb 11: Movie At Lunch; a teacher volunteer will host a moving in their classroom during lunches.  For a $5 donation, students will get three days of movie watching, plus popcorn and soda.
Thank you to our NJHS members and sponsors Laila Crabtree and Laurie Lambie for putting this together.

Hoops For Heart Fundraiser
On February 6 and 9, the LMS PE Department is sponsoring Hoops for Heart during PE classes for all grade levels.  Hoops For Heart is an exciting fundraising event where students play basketball and raise money for the American Heart Association.  LMS has been a top fundraiser in this effort for the past ten years.  Please join in the fun and help make this another successful event.

Girl Scout Community Take Action Projects
     One of our students has started a middle school kids book blog as part of her Silver Award project.  Book reviews will be posted each week, along with information about new books by favorite authors, author visits to the St. Louis area, and guest posts from other middle school kids.  There is a place on the blog to subscribe to updates by email.  Here's the link to the blog:
     A second Take Action project is entitled “Kids Knitting It Forward.”  This project involves knitting items like baby socks, hats, and scarves for charities such as Newborns in Need of Eastern Missouri and HavenHouse St. Louis. Knitters of any age and skill level are welcome.  More information can be found at kidsknittingitforward@gmail.com and meeting dates/times can be accessed at http://kidsknittingitforward.blogspot.com/
Current 7th grade students/Immunizations for next year
Students entering 8th grade in the state of Missouri are required to receive the TDaP (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) immunization.  This is usually given by a doctor at age 11 or 12.  If your child has not received this immunization, please consult your physician.  If you have records showing that your child has received it, please provide them to the nurse's office.

MAP testing dates (these should be pretty firm)
6th Grade: April 27
7th Grade: April 30
8th Grade: April 22, 23, and 24

UPDATED ITEMS

REPEAT ITEMS

Selma the movie/free student tickets
In an unprecedented effort led by a team of African-American business leaders in New York, organizations across the U.S. coordinated a massive national campaign to find African-American business leaders to underwrite free admission to the Oscar-nominated film “SELMA” for students around the country.
 Area theatres are offering free admission to see SELMA to any 7th, 8th and 9th graders who show a student ID or report card at any of the following St. Louis locations: Wehrenberg O’Fallon 15 Cine, AMC Creve Coeur 12, Moolah Theatre and Lounge and the Regal St. Louis Stadium 18 & IMAX.  Ticket are available while supplies last.
http://selmastudentstickets.com/ 

Registration for next year
Current 8th grade students:
·      All current 8th graders will have met with their Counselor, Janey Worthington, by January 29.  Their registration forms are due to their LMS mathematics teacher no later than February 2.  LHWHS counselors will be at LMS February 3 and 4 to meet with 8th graders individually.
Current 6th and 7th grade students:
·      Beth Mothersbaugh and Roger Scherck will be going into 6th and 7th grade classrooms (respectively) beginning next week to meet with students regarding registration for 2015-2016.  Students will be provided with Curriculum Handbooks and registration forms.  Forms will be due to the Welcome Center by February 12.  Copies of the Curriculum Handbook and registration form are also available online on our LMS website, under the Information tab.
Current 5th grade students:
·      Registration forms for next year’s 6th graders will be due to the Fifth Grade Center teacher by February 6.

Guest Speaker/LHWHSPA
Join us in the Black Box Theater on February 9 from 7 - 8:30 pm.  The LHWHS Parent's Association will host an evening with Laura Huff, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist, Director, Eating Disorders Program, at the St. Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute.  She will present "Updates on Eating Disorders:  What we know about causes and treatment.  How to raise resilient teens who have a healthy relationship with food and their body.”   All parents are welcome since this is a topic that touches the lives of many:  male, female, and even the student athlete.  Invite a friend and join us.  Questions:  Elizabeth Cobin, cobin@att.net

8th Grade Video
An 8th grade video will be shown at the Semi-Formal on May 1 and at the Farewell Assembly on May 22.  The parents making it (Amy Walker, Amy Hobbs, Ben Schilders) need photos from elementary and middle school.  They may be uploaded to the site below, emailed to the address below or hard copies may be labeled and sent to Mrs. Worthington in the LMS Welcome Center.
To access the gallery and upload photos:
http://dropevent.com/gallery/lmsphotos
Please put your child’s name as the caption after upload.
To email photos:
lmsphotos@dropevent.com
Please put your child’s name in the subject line of the email.

I Am LMS Day
On February 12, we will conduct our annual I Am LMS Day, which celebrates and raises awareness of our rich, diverse student, staff, and community population.  Sessions developed by our Diversity Committee and student Diversity Council will be held on that day, at each grade level.
 
Yearbooks On Sale 
Yearbooks are on sale now. 
Orders can be placed by going to www.yearbookordercenter.com
and entering #8647 to order (or there is a link under the Activities tab on the LMS webpage).  Phone orders can also be made by calling 1-866-287-3096.  Please email any questions to Sharrie Cognac, one of our yearbook sponsors.  She can be contacted at scognac@ladueschools.net

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

Thanks for your time and have a great remainder to your weekend.


Greg

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