January 27, 2017


Good afternoon.

I hope that your week has gone well.

For your information, I will be away at a conference next Monday and Tuesday.  I will try to keep as current as possible regarding emails.  With that being said, please be aware if I am not able to respond to messages until mid-week.

CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU’s

    Congratulations to 6th grader Sassy Saleeby, winner of this year's LMS Spelling Bee.  Sassy will go on to compete in the semi-finals of the Regional Spelling Bee sponsored by the St. Louis Post Dispatch on March 11, 2017. Finalists from that written bee will go on to compete in an oral bee on March 18, 2017. The winner of that Spelling Bee will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D. C. later this spring.  
    Ashna Chali and Anna Demkovitch both also got perfect scores on the written bee (including getting all of the tie-breaker words correct).  An oral bee was then used after the written bee between the three finalists to determine the winner of the school bee. The winning word this year was "edamame".
    Thank you to Brian Beracha, Laurie Lambie, and Janice Davis, the teachers who helped grade spelling tests and supervise the 45 students who participated in the bee.
         
CALENDAR ITEMS

2/3/17
Ski Trip #3
Registration forms for 2017-18 due in the LMS office

2/6/17
School Counselor week
2/10/17
Ski Trip #4

2/13/17
DE Testing (through Thursday) - block day schedule
2/14/17
LMSPA Executive Board meeting; 1 pm
2/17/17
No school; district-wide professional development

2/20/17
No school; Presidents Day
2/24/17
Ski Trip #5

2/27/17
World Languages Week
3/3/17
Early Release day; 12:40 pm
Ski Trip make up day (if needed)

NEW ITEMS

Registration forms for 2017-18
    The deadline for these course request forms is February 3, to the LMS Office.  It is highly encouraged that we get these forms in as soon as possible.  If they are completed, next Monday would be great.  This information is critical to begin working on courses and section numbers for next year.

High School counselor visits regarding scheduling
    LHWHS counselors will be meeting individually with 8th grade students on Monday (last names A-E and Ro-Z) or Tuesday (last names F-Ri) to review registration forms and input class selections into the computer.  Students will receive a printout with their selections to bring home after their appointments.

Schedule Questions for 2017-18?
    The link Schedule FAQs may address some questions you may have about our programs and schedule for the coming year.  

Spring Portfolio Conferences
    Spring Portfolio Conferences are March 15 (4:00-8:00 pm) and March 16 (1:00-7:00 pm)  The information sheet will be sent home with students on Friday, January 27 and is attached to the Blackboard Connect parent email.  Please follow instructions on the sheet to sign up.  The system will open on Monday, January 30 at 8:00 am.  Please sign up ASAP as slots fill quickly.  We look forward to seeing you.

UPDATED/CORRECTED ITEMS

REPEATED ITEMS

Early Release on Ski Trip days
    Please refrain from picking up your child early on Ski Trip days in order to “beat the buses” to Hidden Valley.  This has caused lost instructional time in period 8 classes in the past, while also causing challenges in coordinating transportation back to school.  Although there will always be special circumstances, we ask for your cooperation in this.

Dad’s Clubs Trivia Night
    The LMS and LHS Dad's Clubs are collaborating to host the 2nd Annual Dads Club Trivia Night at7:00 p.m. on Saturday March 11th at the JCCA in Creve Coeur. This is a really fun evening that is a great opportunity to meet new people and build new relationships with parents, teachers and administrators of LMS and LHS, as well as other members of the Ladue School District community. For LMS parents, it’s a great way to begin building social relationships with parents and teachers of LHS students, which can be helpful resources as your young adult begins the transition process to the high school.
    There are only 18 tables available and last year’s event sold out, so we encourage you to act quickly if you would like to join us. If you are interested in participating, but do not have enough people to fill a table of ten, contact us and we will see if we can place you at another table.  Tables of ten are only $150, which includes complimentary soft drinks and adult beverages.  Please visit the Dad’s Club website at www.laduedadsclub.com  if you would like additional information about the event or would like to purchase a table. If you want to be involved, but are not interested in playing, you can also participate by serving on the event committee or volunteering to help at the event itself. For additional questions, please contact the LMS Dad’s Club President – Joe Mulligan – at 314-503-4384 or joemulligan910@gmail.com.
Fundraiser for St. Louis Children’s Hospital
    The “Run and Run S’More” 5k run and 1 mile fun run/walk to raise funds for the Jackson Hill Wellness Center and St. Louis Children’s Hospital will occur on February 26, from 9 - 11 am.  The route will begin and end at the Ladue Middle School campus.  
    More information can be accessed at www.runandrunsmore.com or by contacting Melissa Hill at melissa@runandrunsmore.com

A message from the 8th Grade Party Committee
    The 8th grade party committee needs your help! This is a parent funded event based on donations. We have raised 1/3 of our goal so far through car wash and raffle ticket sales. Here’s how you can help.....
1. Donate online on myschoolbucks.com
2. Drop off a check in the welcome center made out to LMSPA with 8th grade party noted.
3. Purchase raffle tickets during conferences. Prizes are front seats at the end of the year assembly and reserved parking. $1.00 each.
    Money raised will go towards DJ, photo booth, games, decorations and food. The slide show will be presented as well so please submit your photos of your kids from Kindergarten to current to lms2017slideshow@gmail.com. We prefer school related activities, please.

Yearbook Orders
    Don't forget to order a yearbook for your son or daughter.  Currently the cost for the book is $28 but prices will go up on January 20 to $35 so get your orders in this week.  Deadline for ordering personalized name tags for the books is also the 20th.  You can find a link to the order website on the LMS home page.  If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Cognac at scognac@ladueschools.net  or 314-983-5602.

Eagle Scout Project
    James Beiser, a former LMS student and currently a senior at LHWHS, is coordinating a Bicycle Drive for his Eagle School Project.  James and volunteers will be collecting used bicycles for Bworks’ Earn-A-Bike program, that provides children opportunities to earn a bike that can’t afford one.  They will be accepting bicycles and bicycle parts, new or used.  The collection will occur in from of LMS on Saturday, January 21 and Saturday, January 28, 11 am to 3 pm on both days.

Winter Reading
    St. Louis County Library is pleased to offer its popular Winter Reading Club again this year. The Winter Reading Club runs from December 1-February 28th. Anyone of any age (including parents and grandparents) can participate!
Log sheets are available from your child's ELA teacher or at any St. Louis County Library branch.  Bring the completed log sheet back to your library branch to pick up your coupon and be entered into a drawing for fabulous prizes. Raffle prizes include Kindle Fires, $20 movie theater gift cards, and $50 Amazon gift cards.  More information is available here: http://www.slcl.org/winter-reading-club
In addition to the County Library's Program, this year sixth grade students may also participate in the Six Flags Read to Succeed program. If your child is interested in earning a free ticket to Six Flags, all they have to do is read six hours and log their reading on the Six Flags Read to Succeed form, which was distributed this week. The deadline to return the completed and signed forms is February 24th. If you need another copy of the form, please email Melody Frese, our library media specialist at mfrese@ladueschools.net, or contact your child's ELA teacher.
As an extra incentive, any child who participates in either reading program will also receive a gift from the LMS library! Simply show the completed reading log to an LMS librarian before turning in your form, or make a copy of the form to show us!

8th Grade Slideshow
    As a part of celebrating the accomplishments of 8th graders next spring, a slideshow) is shown at the 8th Grade party and at the Farewell celebration. We would like to ask for your help in contributing photos for the slideshow. We’re looking for good-quality photos (preferably taken with a digital camera instead of a cellphone) of school-related activities…sports events, field trips, musical performances, classroom experiments, etc. Our goal is for every LMS eighth grader to be included in the slide show!
    If you have any photos to share, please email them to lms2017slideshow@gmail.com. If you’d prefer to put your photos on a flash drive, there will be a couple in the LMS office, designated for parent use, after winter break. Simply pick one up, load your photos, and return it to LMS.
If you have any questions, please contact Julie Schuster at lms2017slideshow@gmail.com

NURSE DANI NOTES

Immunization Requirement Changes
​     In the past year 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 verify if these have been completed. If not, please begin making appointments at your earliest convenience. Take advantage of the upcoming breaks to get this requirement out of the way. Do not wait until August when physician offices are booked.   
    You can send the updated immunization records that reflect that your child has these immunizations. The nurse's office will accept these records immediately - no need to wait until summer.
    You may email, fax, or send in a copy of the record to the nurse's office.   
​​​Email: ​ dbernholt@ladueschools.net
​Fax:  314-9​97-8736​
HEALTHY THOUGHTS

 Five productive ways to deal with stress . . .
  • Simplify your schedule.  Take a look at your calendar for the upcoming week.  Is there any appointment or activity you can remove or at least scale back?
  • Declutter.  Even spending 10 minutes getting rid of the expired coupons in your kitchen drawer can give you a feeling of accomplishment while taking your mind off daily life for a few precious minutes.
  • Scale back the multi-tasking.  Research shows multi-taskers do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one task to another as effectively as someone who does one thing at a time.
  • Exercise daily.  Exercise is known to boost endorphins (those "feel good" hormones in your brain) and improve mood, both of which reduce stress.
  • Don’t be afraid to say no.  You can’t be everything for everyone all the time.  And, if you try to be, you might find that there is not much left for yourself.

LMSPA
    You can access the Ladue Middle School Parent Association website at http://mylmspa.com and subscribe to email blasts from the LMSPA 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 weekend.

Greg

Gregory Baber  B.S.Ed., M.Ed., Ed.S.

Principal, Ladue Middle School

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