July 29, 2016
Good afternoon. I hope your week has gone well.
Please be aware that a few schedule changes have been made for August 8, 9, and 10. These changes involve packet pickup times and times when our office will be closed for district- and building-level meetings. I have highlighted these changes in RED in the Calendar Items section below.
CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU’s
Welcome to Stacie Grant, who will be serving in the role of Counselor Secretary. Stacie has a degree in Business Administration from Lindenwood University and eleven years experience in school and non-profit administrative support.
A huge thank you to Milan Rakic, JB Tate, Steve Bell and Jimmy Gender for getting the building in fantastic shape. This is a challenging task each summer and they have done a wonderful job.
CALENDAR ITEMS
We are now on our regular five-day work week schedule. Our office is open 7:45 am to 3:15 pm Monday through Friday.
8/2/16
Election in LMS Library
8/8/16
District Opening Meeting; LMS office will be closed that morning
Packet pick up: 12 noon - 5 pm
8/9/16
Packet pick up: 7 am to 12 noon
8/10/16
LMS Breakfast and Staff Meeting; LMS office will be closed 7:30 - approx 10 am
8/12/16
Community Night; 4 - 7 pm
8/15/16
New 7th and 8th grade student orientation; 8:30 - 10 am
8/16/16
First Day of School
All 6th grade students orientation with team teachers.
8/19/16
Parent Coffee; 8:30 - 9:30 am
8/22/16
SRI testing; all grades
8/23/16
Fire Drill with Ladue FD; 2nd period
After School Activities begin
8/24/16
Meet The Teacher Night; 6:30 - 8:30 pm
8/29/16
DE 1; block days (through 9/1/16)
8/31/16
6th Grade Camp Parent meeting; 7 - 8 pm
9/2/16
Early Release day; 12:40 pm
Professional development
9/5/16
Labor Day: No School
9/6/16
Picture Day (updated date)
NEW ITEMS
LMSPA items
Members of the Ladue Middle School Parent Association will be on hand to distribute school supply orders on the days of packet pickup. They will also have a limited supply of locks for purchase should your child need one during Community Night, as well as offering LMS logo wear for purchase.
Online Parent Portal signups
You should be receiving an email from our district Technology Department on or around August 12. This email will provide an activation link that will allow you to set up an account for our Infinite Campus Parent Portal if you do not already have one. The link will be active from that point forward for a period of two to three weeks. Once the link expires, please contact Carol Stephens in the LMS office to establish your account. As a reminder, access to the portal and all forms and information are available on the district website: http://www.ladueschools.net/district/content/our-district/departments/technology/infinite-campus.shtml
UPDATED/CORRECT ITEMS
Staffing update
New Staff
Linda Deposki - Special School District
Rebecca Faintich - Reading/Literacy Coach
Stephanie O’Brien - Apogee
Elizabeth Rendine - Grade 6 ELA
Stacie Grant - Counseling Secretary
Chip Thompson - Maintenance
Staff Changes
Peggy Breidenbach - Principal Secretary/Budget Specialist
Carol Stephens - Registrar/Scheduling
Orientation
I failed to mention in my previous message that all 6th grade students will be involved in an orientation with their team teachers on the first day of school.
The orientation scheduled for Monday, August 15, is only for those 7th and 8th grade students who are transferring into the school district.
REPEATED ITEMS
Packet Pickup
Packets (including student schedules and locker assignments) may be picked up at the LMS Lobby on Monday, 8/8, 12 noon - 5 pm and on Tuesday, 8/9, 7 am - 12 noon. If you have an 8th grade student for the coming school year, please take special note of the item below regarding immunizations. Please note that we are prohibited from allowing any 8th grade student from beginning classes until the necessary immunization information is provided. As a result, 8th grade student schedules will be held until we receive that information from your child’s doctor.
In regard to lockers, I would highly suggest that you and your child bring at least a lock (students supply their own) when you pick up your packet. In this way, you can at least locate the correct locker and secure it before the crowds typically associated with Community Night. Most lock types will work on our lockers, but please try to select one that does not an exceptionally thick hasp (or whatever the curved metal thing is named that goes through the hole in the locker handle). Signs will be posted throughout the building to help in locating your student’s assigned locker.
If you ordered school supplies through the LMSPA, orders should be ready for collection in the LMS Gym.
Student schedules are finalized. Unless we have made an error, please refrain from asking for schedule changes (particularly of the “I want to be with my friend” or “I’ve changed my mind about an Elective class” variety). A significant amount of time has been invested to trying to meet course requests, locating course sections to optimize our classroom/teacher time and resources, and balancing section sizes. Please also be aware that some Elective course requests may not have been possible to meet due to class size limitations or other student needs.
Community Night
The Ladue Middle School Parent Association Community Night will occur on Friday, August 12, from 4 - 7 pm. This is an opportunity to place supplies in students’ assigned lockers, locate classrooms, and drop off completed forms and donations of tissues/antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizers. The LMS Dads Club will also be providing dinner in the cafeteria (more information regarding menu items will be forthcoming). Past large turnouts have resulted in some crowding and parking issues , so we ask that the following schedule be followed if at all possible:
- 6th grade: 4 - 5 pm
- 7th grade: 5 - 6 pm
- 8th grade: 6 - 7 pm
Please be aware that teachers will not be in classrooms during Community Night. School personnel will be located in our Library to take forms, enter locker combinations,
assist with Parent Portal sign up, and distribute remaining student packets if immunization (grade 8 only) and/or residency requirements have been met. LMSPA members will be in the Lobby for information, assistance and LMS logo wear will be available for purchase.
NURSE NOTES
Immunization information/Grade 8
As a result of immunization changes required by the State of Missouri, students entering 8th grade for the 2016-2017 school year will now be required to have a meningitis immunization and a Tdap immunization prior to beginning school. Your child may have already had both of these immunizations. Please check with your child’s pediatrician to see if these have been completed and, if not, get an appointment scheduled.
Updated records from your pediatrician that reflect that your child has received these immunizations may be faxed to (314) 997-8736 or mailed to the LMS School Nurse at 9701 Conway Road; St Louis, MO; 63124-1646. Information regarding the immunization requirements for 8th grade can be found at:
Please note that we are prohibited from allowing any 8th grade student from beginning classes until the necessary immunization information is provided.
Please also note that any records faxed to our Nurse Fax Line of (314) 983-5965 prior to this week may not be accessible. If you previously faxed this information to the number above, or asked your child’s doctor to do so, I would ask that this information be re-sent to our Nurse Fax Line of (314) 983-5965 or the school’s LMS Fax Line of (314) 997-8736. Any new faxes sent to the Nurse Fax Line of (314) 983-5965 from this point on will be automatically forwarded to our District Nursing Coordinator, Ann Body.
HEALTHY THOUGHTS
LMSPA
You can subscribe to email blasts from the Ladue Middle School Parent Association at http://www.mylmspa.com/eblast-newsletter/
BOARD BRIEFS
Information regarding Ladue Board of Education meetings and work sessions can be found at http://boardbriefs.blogspot.com
Have a great Friday and weekend,
Greg
Gregory Baber B.S.Ed., M.Ed., Ed.S.
Principal, Ladue Middle School
