January 4, 2016
Good afternoon. I hope
that you and your families enjoyed the time over Winter Break.
Most of the following is a repeat from my update email from two
weeks ago. I do want to remind you of
two items that will relate to this week:
Class Meetings on January 5
The Character Ed committee reviewed the results of the student
School Climate Survey that was taken earlier this month and voted to have class
meetings on the first day of third quarter, January 5th. These will occur at the beginning of the
school day, with a full 8-period day to follow with slightly shortened class
periods.
The class meetings will continue the discussion about how to be
an ally to students who are teased/bullied/disrespected.
Ski Trip Fridays and Morning Traffic
Ski Trip Fridays will begin on
January 8 (see dates below). These
mornings result in significant increases in car traffic as parents bring their
children, with their ski or board equipment, to school. After experiencing these mornings over the
past five years, I would suggest that you try to drop your student(s) off at
school prior to 7:45 am, if possible.
Students entering the front and back entrances will be able to deposit
their equipment (clearly marked with their name and grade level) in a
designated location in our Welcome Center Lobby for safekeeping during the day.
CONGRATULATIONS and THANKS
Thank you to Ann Parish, Kelly Becker and the Executive Board of
the Ladue Middle School Parent Association for providing breakfast for our
staff on the morning of January 4. It
was great appreciated.
We wish to welcome Daniel Ross Smallwood IV to the LMS
family. Daniel was born at 5:39 pm on
New Years Day to LMS Teacher Megan Smallwood and her husband Dan.
The Science Olympiad coaching staff would like
to say thank you to all the students who participated in the Science Olympiad
club during first semester. We initially had 100+ students at our kickoff
meeting on August 27 and the kids have been working hard ever
since. Unfortunately, by national guidelines we cannot take more than 15
team members to competitions so the club came to an end at Winter Break. The Ladue Science Olympiad program has been
in existence since 1989 and has qualified for state finals every year for the
past 24 years straight. The team has represented the state of Missouri 22
times out of the last 24 years.
We want to congratulate the following 15 students who have been selected by the coaching staff to represent Ladue Middle School in this year’s upcoming spring competition season: Fayzan Ali, Gavin Giuliani, Nevan Giuliani, Akshay Govindan, Kevin Jiang, Akhil Kondepudi, Shelei Pan, William Pan, Stephen Jiang, Raj Paul, Katie Shaw, Cindy Wang, Christopher Ye, Eric Yin and Anna Zhong.
We want to congratulate the following 15 students who have been selected by the coaching staff to represent Ladue Middle School in this year’s upcoming spring competition season: Fayzan Ali, Gavin Giuliani, Nevan Giuliani, Akshay Govindan, Kevin Jiang, Akhil Kondepudi, Shelei Pan, William Pan, Stephen Jiang, Raj Paul, Katie Shaw, Cindy Wang, Christopher Ye, Eric Yin and Anna Zhong.
CALENDAR ITEMS
Tuesday, 1/5
Students return to School
No After School Activities buses this
week
Friday, 1/8
Ski Trip to Hidden Valley (after
school)
Tuesday, 1/12
LMSPA Executive Board meeting; 1 pm
Semester 2 After School Activities
begin
Thursday, 1/14
8th Grade Parents to Lunch;
12:14 pm
Friday, 1/15
Ski Trip to Hidden Valley (after
school)
Monday, 1/18
No School; Dr. King Holiday
Wednesday, 1/20
6th Grade Registration Night
for 2016-2017; 6 pm
Friday, 1/22
6th Grade Parents to Lunch;
10:38 am
Thursday, 1/28
7th Grade Parents to Lunch;
11:26 am
Friday, 1/29
Ski Trip to Hidden Valley (after
school)
CORRECTIONS/ADDITION
HEALTHY THOUGHTS (from Nurse Patrick and Coach
Wojtow)
NURSE NOTES
As we begin to enter cold and flu season, please recall Ladue
guidelines regarding ill students staying home from school. Please follow this
link for details:
When to Keep Your Child Home
From School
Fever is a
symptom of illness and not an actual diagnosis. Fever usually indicates that
the body is battling an infection. A child with a fever greater than 99.9
degrees Fahrenheit needs to stay home from school until the fever is gone for
at least 24 hours without medication (acetaminophen or ibuprofen).
Students are not permitted to bring any medication (over the
counter or prescription) to or from school. All medications must be
transported by an adult. All medication (over the counter and / or
prescription) requires a doctor's note or prescription label. See link
below for further information.
Ladue Medication Policy
Hand washing is like a "do-it-yourself" vaccine—it
involves five simple and effective steps (Wet, Lather, Scrub, Rinse, Dry) you
can take to reduce the spread of diarrheal and respiratory illness so you can
stay healthy. Regular hand washing, particularly before and after certain
activities, is one of the best ways to remove germs, avoid getting sick, and
prevent the spread of germs to others. Scrub vigorously for 20
seconds...try singing "Happy Birthday" to yourself for a timing
guide! Hand washing is quick, it's simple, and it can keep us all from
getting sick. Hand washing is a win for everyone...except the germs.
NEW ITEMS
UPDATED ITEMS
REPEAT ITEMS
Registration Dates for 2016-2017
Information will be made available on the following dates:
8th grade registration meeting @ LHWHS 1/13/16, 7pm
8th grade Parents to Lunch - 1/14/16
7th Grade Parents to Lunch - 1/28/15
6th Grade Parents to Lunch - 1/22/16
To
Parents of 7th Grade Girls
The 8th grade girls basketball team does not have enough players
to make a team, so we are opening up 5 spots for 7th grade girls. This is a free, no cut, all- play program that
practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:10-4:10. Games are after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays
or Thursdays. In order to play, students
must meet academic and citizenship requirements and turn in signed forms,
included a physical dated after February 1, 2015. You can find the forms on the “activities” tab
under “8th grade sports” on the LMS website.
If your child would like to play, please download and return the forms
ASAP. Practices have already started, so
your child may practice on the first day back to school (January 5) if her
forms are submitted that day to Mrs. Schwartz in the Assistant Principal’s
office.
LHWHS Basketball Chili Supper
The yearly Basketball Chili Supper
will be held at LHWHS on January 22. I
am attaching a flier to the Blackboard Connect Parent Update email if you are
interested.
From our Library
We will be having a "Winter Reading Club" over winter
break.
To participate in our winter reading program, students need to
simply read two books over winter break, and then write a short (50-100 words)
review of each book. They will then be
entered into a drawing to win a $15 Amazon gift card!
To submit the review they need to
log into the Destiny catalogue using their network username and password, look
up the book, and submit a review. If
they are unable to log in, they may also email reviews to mfrese@ladueschools.net
LMS Yearbooks
Don't get left out
of this year’s school memories. Order your 2015/16 yearbook today. You
can place your order online at https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/index.cfm/job/8647
You can also place an order by phone at 1-866-287-3096.
The price of the yearbook is $28 and orders can be placed
through winter break to guarantee that pricing. After January 3,
prices will increase to $35.
Any questions about yearbook purchases can be directed to
Sharrie Cognac at scognac@ladueschools.net
Infinite
Campus Messenger
We plan on beginning the following after the beginning of semester
2:
In an effort to provide consistent communication about missing
assignments, an email will be sent each Thursday afternoon through Infinite
Campus indicating any assignment your child has not turned in. We are
hoping this communication will help you assist your child with the completion
and submission of assigned work. We chose Thursday because it would give
students the day on Friday to either turn in already completed work or discuss
with teachers what needed to be done for various assignments over the weekend.
Messages will be sent to anyone identified as a “guardian” of a
student at LMS and will be sent at 3:30 pm on Thursdays. More information
about the missing assignments can be found on the Parent Portal or on
individual teacher websites.
Field Trips and payment options
We are now providing a third payment
option (if needed) for field trips. This
will be an online option through the MySchoolBucks program (currently being
provided to make online payments to student lunch accounts) through a section
designated School Store. MySchoolBucks
can be accessed through our district website, near the bottom of the page.
Our first two preferred forms of
payment for future field trips will be either the online option noted above or
by personal check. Should either of
these payment options not be possible, we will accept cash as a last resort.
If you prefer to take advantage of
this online option, please look for the “Field Trip title” noted on the permission
form sent home with your student, as well as the “Open date” and “Closing date”
to submit payment.
Ski Trip Dates
The following are Ski Trip dates for 2016:
·
Jan 8
·
Jan 15
·
Jan 29
·
Feb 5
·
Feb 19
Feb 26 - Make up day if needed
Feb 26 - Make up day if needed
LHWHS Renovation Initiative Information
For your information, the Ladue Schools Today - High
School Renovation Initiative segment is now online.
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
Have
a great remainder to your Monday afternoon.
See you tomorrow morning.
Greg
