August 16, 2015

By Anonymous -

Good afternoon.  I hope you and your families have enjoyed your weekend.

We asked teachers to review afternoon dismissal procedures with students last Friday.  I am attaching a copy of the information teachers covered to the Blackboard Connect email for your reference.  A few reminders in addition to the attached information:
·      If you bring your child to school by car in the mornings, please be aware that I do not have staff to supervise the front doors and the lobby until 7:15 am.  This will become very important as our weather turns colder this fall and winter.
·      Please also be aware that parking in the First National Bank lot to pick up students in the afternoons is prohibited by businesses at that location.  If this practice is continued, I have been informed that the business owners will contact Ladue Police to begin ticketing and towing.

From the Office staff:
·      Please call our main number (314-993-3900), send a note or an email when you plan on picking up your child from school before our 3:05 pm dismissal.
·      If you could also let our office know when your student will be arriving late, that would help out a great deal.

CONGRATULATIONS and THANKS

Thank you to everyone involved with making our first four days of school successful.

CALENDAR ITEMS

Wednesday, 8/19
LMS Meet The Teacher Night; 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Monday, 8/24
SRI Reading assessments; Grade 7
Tuesday, 8/25
SRI Reading assessments; Grades 6 and 8
After School Activities for Quarter 1 begin (More information to follow.)
Wednesday, 8/26
School Pictures (More information to follow.)
6th Grade Camp Parent meeting; 7 – 8:30 pm; LMS Cafeteria

Thursday, 9/3
LMS Fundraiser Kickoff and Assemblies; LMS Gym
·      8th Grade – Period 1
·      6th Grade – Period 2
·      7th Grade – Period 3
Friday, 9/4
Early Release Day; 12:40 pm; Professional Development

Monday, 9/7
Labor Day: No School
Tuesday, 9/8 through Friday, 9/11
Discovery Education testing; Block Day schedules
Thursday, 9/10
Fundraiser turn in day #1 (all lunches)

CORRECTIONS/ADDITION

NEW ITEMS

MAP Individual Test Results
My understanding is that 2015 MAP test results for individual students are being printed at our Administrative Center, with the goal of mailing these to homes either today or the beginning of next week.

Picture Packets/Picture Day
Picture Day packets should be going home with students on Monday, August 17.  I am working on the Picture Day schedule for Wednesday, August 26 and should have this ready soon.  Please be aware that you can order pictures prior to August 26 by accessing www.WagnerPortraitGroup.com, using the password LMS.  If you wish to pursue this option, you can full out the envelope attached to the picture packet and include your online receipt.

After School Activities
After School Activities for LMS occur on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.  Activity buses are available for those who are on regular bus rosters.  Activities for quarter 1 will begin on Tuesday, August 25.  We are working on finalizing this list for quarter 1 and will post a list of activities on our website soon.

Sixth Grade Camp
All 6th graders will see the camp presentation either Aug, 18, 19, or 20 in their Middle School Skills class (8th period).  All camp paperwork will be sent home Friday, Aug 21.
Our informational 6th Grade Camp parent presentation/meeting with a Q & A session will be held August 26, at 7 PM in the LMS cafeteria.  All parents are encouraged to attend.  The students will have already seen this.

7th Grade Trip
To all 7th grade parents:  The permission packets for the 7th grade trip to Trout Lodge and City Museum on Monday, September 21 were sent home last week.   If your child needs another copy please see the home page of the LMS website. The cost of the trip is $75 and financial aid is available for any family that requests it.  Students that have an out of school suspension or more than one in school suspension assignment will not be eligible to attend.  We will gladly welcome donations to help cover the costs of scholarships.  We are also in need of parent chaperones.  We would ideally like 20 parents for Trout Lodge and 40 parents for City Museum.  Please email lcrabtree@ladueschools.net with any questions.  Thank you. 

From the LMSPA
An all-day Dine to Donate event for the Ladue Middle School Parents Association is scheduled at Granite City Food & Brewery in Creve Coeur on Tuesday, August 25.  Please see the attached flyer on the Blackboard Connect parent email for more information.

From the Nurse
Medication must be brought to the nurse’s office by a responsible parent or adult. Medications may not be transported by a student and will not be released to a student.

UPDATED ITEMS

Meet the Teacher Night
Join us from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 pm on Wednesday, August 19, 2015.  See the Meet The Teacher Night schedule attached to the Blackboard Connect update for more information. 
Please Note:  There has been a change in shuttle parking from Ladue Chapel to the South lot at Ladue Horton Watkins High School.  The shuttle will run between LMS and LHWHS from 6 to 9 pm.

REPEAT ITEMS

Fall Parent Conference format
We continue to work on finalizing our format for Fall Parent Conferences.  In years past, we have scheduled four sets of parents with each core team in 20-minute increments.  Parents enter the designated classroom and the four team teachers rotate around every five minutes.  This was aptly described by a former administrator as akin to speed dating.  The challenges that we have encountered with this method have included 1) not having enough time slots open for all parents wishing to schedule a conference, and 2) not providing enough time for much in terms of conversation.
We are looking at options to address the two challenges listed above and will communicate our final decision soon.  At that time, we will make online conference sign ups available.

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.

LMSPA eBlasts
     If you are not currently receiving LMSPA email news blasts but would like to, please click on the following link to subscribe:
http://mylmspa.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8186aab01aeae3b063b04d395&id=3b63071451

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 Sunday evening.

Thank you,

Greg


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