March 4, 2016


Good afternoon.  I hope that your week has gone well.
 
CONGRATULATIONS and THANKS

Addison Steinbach, our 7th grade student who won the school wide geography bee, recently took the State Qualifying test and advanced to the State Competition.  Only the top 100 contestants statewide advance.  Great job, Addison.  

On Saturday, ten LMS students participated in the MathCounts St. Louis Chapter competition at Florissant Valley Community College.  Those students were Jeremy Ouyang, Anna Zhong, Stephen Jiang, Jason Ding, Harry Chen, Will Bender, William Xie, Samuel Chen, William Pan, and Daniel Xu.
The LMS team of Anna Zhong, Jeremy Ouyang, Jason Ding, and Stephen Jiang scored 1st in the  team competition.  In the individual contest, Harry Chen - 1st, Stephen Jiang - 2nd,  Jason Ding - 3rd, Will Bender - 7th, Anna Zhong - 9th, and William Pan - 11th.  In addition, Jason Ding finished 1st in the Countdown competition.  All of these students will move on to the state competition in Columbia, MO on March 12.

Thank you to every LMS staff member and student who helped plan, and contributed to, today’s I AM LMS DAY.  This is a wonderful yearly event that allows us to formally celebrate, and raise awareness of, our diversity.  This is a big job and I appreciate the efforts that go into making it happen.

CALENDAR ITEMS
 
Tuesday, 3/8
LMSPA Board meeting; 1 PM
Wednesday, 3/9
Full day for students
Parent Portfolio Conferences
Thursday, 3/10
End of Quarter 3
Early Release day for students; 12:40 PM
Parent Portfolio Conferences
Friday, 3/11
No School

Monday, 3/14
Spring Break (through Friday, 3/18)

Thursday, 3/24
Jazz Concert; 7 PM; LHWHS Performing Arts Center

Tuesday, 4/5
Election Day; LMS Library (this will affect parking in our front lot)
Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) testing
Wednesday, 4/6
Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) testing
Friday, 4/8
Science Olympiad team leaves for State Finals (on Saturday, 4/9)

CORRECTIONS
HEALTHY THOUGHTS (from Nurse Patrick and Coach Wojtow)

Energy Drinks
Recent research has added to the evidence that energy drinks may be bad for your heart.  Findings suggest that certain energy drinks may increase the risk of having an abnormal heart rhythm when consumed in high volumes.  Such findings are of special concern among youth and young adults.  Energy drinks are widely consumed within the teen and college population, which further extends the need and relevance of the study of their consumption.  Heart rate increase, blood pressure increase, and heart rhythm disturbance are statistically significant findings of the research done to this point.  

NURSE NOTES

Immunization Information
There have been some immunization changes required by the state of Missouri that will affect students going into 8th grade next school year. Students entering 8th grade will now be required to have a meningitis immunization and a Tdap immunization prior to starting 8th grade. Your child may have already had both of these immunizations. Please check with your pediatrician to see if these have been completed and, if not, get an appointment scheduled.  Please send the updated immunization records that reflect that your child has these immunizations. The nurse's office will accept the records immediately - no need to wait until summer!
You may email: cpatrick@ladueschools.net, fax (314)-983-5965, or send in a paper copy of the record to the nurse's office. For more information please go to:
Christina Patrick, MSN, RN
Ladue Middle School Nurse
Phone: 314-983-5530
Fax:     314-983-5965

Spare Clothing
While spring cleaning, please consider the LMS Nurse’s Office when purging outgrown or unwanted clothing.  Larger sizes are especially appreciated, with elastic waistbands.
NEW ITEMS

Dads Club
The Ladue Middle School Dad's Club, in partnership with the Ladue High School Dad’s Club, is sponsoring a Trivia Night on Friday, April 1 at 7 PM at the JCC in Creve Coeur.  The event is sure to be a fun evening and is intended to provide LMS parents with an opportunity to socialize with other LMS parents, while also creating an opportunity to begin building new relationships with parents and administration of the Ladue High School community.
The event is designed as a “friend-raiser” and is very affordably priced at $15 per person, or tables of ten for $150.  There are only 18 tables available and they are selling quickly.
Registration for the event and additional information can be found at http://laduedadsclub.com/2016-trivia-night.  The Dad’s Clubs of LMS and LHS will hold a joint meeting on Tuesday March 8 at 6:30 PM in room 116 at Ladue High School to discuss the event further and how you can participate as a table captain, registrant or volunteer for the event.  Questions can be directed to LMS Dad’s Club President Joe Mulligan at 314-503-4384 or joemulligan910@gmail.com

Cardinal Glennon fundraiser
Two of our own Jessie Eastlund (8th grade) and Christina Von Ruecker (6th grade), will be participating in the 6th annual Drea's Dream Gala at the Edison Theater on April 2, 2016 at 7pm. Proceeds from the Gala will benefit the dance therapy program at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital for kids with cancer and other special needs.  Tickets can be purchased through the following link.

UPDATED ITEMS

LMSPA Evening Lecture  
The LMSPA evening lecture on Social Media with Professor Julie Smith, that was canceled due to the last Snow Day, will now occur on March 23.  The time remains at 7 PM.  

8th Grade Slide Show
This year, our goal is to have every child represented with at least 1 photograph.  The slide show is intended to be a stand alone activity at the party and will be around 10 minutes long.
We would love to have your photos from 6th, 7th and 8th grade school activities such as school parties, ski club, field trips etc. Group pictures with higher resolution are preferred.  We would appreciate you including as much detail as possible (childs names, activity and year photo was taken). Please submit your photos to lms8thgradeformal@gmail.com.
If you have a large amount of group photos we can accept DVDs during our Spring conferences March 9th & 10th. Please mark the DVD with your child’s name.
To allow enough time to produce a slide show, please submit your pictures byApril 4th.  If you have any questions please e-mail Julie Eastlund at:  lms8thgradeformal@gmail.com.

REPEAT ITEMS

MAP Testing schedule
MAP testing will occur in April.  We ask that parents avoid the following dates in terms of planned absences, appointments, etc.
Grade 6:  Monday, 4/11 and Tuesday, 4/12
Grade 7:  Wednesday, 4/13 and Thursday, 4/14
Grade 8:  Monday, 4/18; Tuesday, 4/19; and Wednesday, 4/20
Spring Parent Conferences
Our Spring Portfolio Parent Conferences are scheduled for March 9 (3:40 - 7 PM) and March 10 (1:40 - 7 PM).  PLEASE NOTE: Conference times and format are different than in the fall.
An information sheet was sent home with students on Monday, February 1, as well as information about the spring conference format.  Please follow instructions on the sheet to sign up online.  The system opened on Monday, February 1 at 6:30 PM.  Please sign up ASAP as slots fill quickly.  We look forward to seeing you.

Book Drive
Trey Fruend, LHWHS freshman, is sponsoring a book drive for children and teens of patients at Siteman Cancer Center.   Trey, who is working on his Eagle Scout Project, wishes to collect new or gently used children and teen books.  A collection bin is located in the LMS lobby, by the Welcome Center, with a final pickup of donated books scheduled for April 15, 2016.

Challenger Baseball Program
Does your child enjoy helping others, playing baseball or need volunteer hours for activities, such as National Junior Honor Society?  My Name is Maya Wasserstrom, and as part of my Girl Scout Gold Award, we are continuing to expand our LMS partnership with Challenger Baseball. Last year, LMS students provided over 100 hours as buddies or special event help.  Challenger Baseball is a program for children and adults with developmental disabilities, and they are always in need of buddies to help out players during the games.  We welcome volunteers ages 10 to 20 and no baseball experience is required.  Most games are at Tilles Park and you can attend once or come weekly.  Starting in April, Challenger Baseball will have games every Saturday at 9 AM and 10:30 AM.  You can register (takes 2 minutes) or learn more about Challenger at: www.challengerbaseball.org.  Please feel free to contact me at,  mayaerin1@gmail.com and I would be happy to answer questions.  I am also tracking LMS hours for special projects and would love to record them for you.
WANTED:  Gently used baseball gloves (especially adult size).  I will be collecting these during the LMS Spring Parent Portfolio Conferences to provide to players with the Challenger Baseball Program.

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
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

Thank you and have a great weekend.

Greg

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