A Message from the Principal
 
Willow Springs Middle School Principal Newsletter - October 11, 2018

 
 
 
 
 
 


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Dear WSMS Parents and Guardians,

Tomorrow is the last day of the first grading period.  On Thursday, October 18 th , all students will receive a hard copy of their grade report for the first eight weeks. In an effort to "go green," we will not be mailing home report cards for this school year. Please be on the lookout for your son or daughter's report card, you can also view finalized grades in the Power School on Wednesday, October 17 th .  As we wrap up the first grading period, feel free to contact your student's teacher, counselor, or administrator if you have any questions or concerns about grades and/or assignments.

Have a great weekend.  Go Leopards!


    
Sincerely,

Kent Messer
Principal
Willow Springs Middle School
1101 West Lucas Rd, Lucas 75002
Office: 469-742-8417
Mobile: 214-293-9938
@WSMSLovejoyISD
#wsmslovejoy

ParentPortal Update Needed ASAP
The PowerSchool ParentPortal is now open for you to complete the online Enrollment & Student Information Forms. Please click here to access the Parent Portal. Completion of these forms is required every year for every student. Please take a few minutes to update your contact information, emergency contacts, authorized pickup, FERPA acknowledgments, Student Code of Conduct, Student Handbook, etc. As of today, there are 59 students whose forms have NOT been updated.

PLEASE NOTE: Regarding the Release of Directory Information for School Use:

In order for your child's picture to appear in the Yearbook, you should answer "YES".

IMPORTANT - Students and parents have a separate login/password for PowerSchool. Students should never have access to ParentPortal or use their parent login. If students were to access the ParentPortal on a school or public computer and not log out, family demographics as well as sibling's grades would be open for others to access. If you have any questions, you may contact Carol Vik at 469-742-8415.




Lunchtime Entertainment - Friday, October 12
Next Friday, October 12th and on the 2nd Friday of every month for the remainder of the year, we will be hosting lunchtime entertainment during all three lunches.  This is a time for students to perform during lunch to showcase any talents they have (singing, instrument performance, juggling, dancing, etc.) Students will be able to sign up next Wednesday  to perform next Friday. Looking forward to some great performances.


WSMS Choir Concert - Monday, October 15
The first Willow Springs Choir Concert of the year is Monday, October 15th at 7pm in the Lovejoy High School auditorium. Admission to the concert is free. The concert will feature pieces performed by the Concert Treble Choir, the Tenor Bass Choir, and the A Cappella Choir. Both Pop Groups, Limelight and Centerstage, will also be performing. Come out and experience the beautiful music that these singers have been working on so diligently!
 

WSMS Robotics Club - 1st Meeting Monday, October 15
The WSMS Robotics Club is a club for Any student that loves robotics and wants to learn more.  It is our goal to become skilled enough to compete, first within our school and eventually with other schools. We will use the Design Process to design and build competitive robots that will eventually compete in the Vex IQ "Next Level" challenge. If you would like to give robotics a try, SIGN UP!! Once you sign up, all other details will be emailed to you.  Our first meeting will be after school OCTOBER 15th, in room C603.



WSMS Band Concert - Wednesday, October 17
Fall Band Concert, Wednesday, October 17, 6:30 PM Our Fall Band Concert is next week at the Lovejoy High School auditorium. The dress is formal uniforms. Please remember to invite all your family and friends!


Club Day - Friday, October 19
Club Day is Friday, October 19 and we will be on an activity bell schedule. For copy of the activity bell schedule, please go here. Students participating in the Extreme Club must wear a helmet. Students who are in the K9 and Kritters Club must have permission from Mr. Abney before bringing an animal to school. Students may leave their equipment for Guitar Club, Extreme and Remote Control Club in the front office. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kathy Stone.


Save The Date - Sebastian and Friends Sing-A-Long, Saturday, October 20
Join Sebastian and his "Under the Sea" friends for a morning of singing your favorite Disney's The Little Mermaid tunes! Meet the characters and enjoy fun activities with the cast of Disney's The Little Mermaid, Jr. Click here for more information. Tickets $25 per student and can be purchased online at the Parent Payment Portal.




Red Ribbon Week October 22-25
Red Ribbon Week will be here in just a few weeks! It will be a busy week filled with parent presentations, student presentations, activities and a Pep Rally... all designed to help students learn about the dangerous impact of drug and alcohol usage.

Here are few special events for the week:
  • Every day is a different theme. Click here for the RRW Flyer.
  • The PALS will have a Coin Drive for the Breast Cancer Foundation. All donations will be made in honor of Angie Carraway.
  • Thursday, October 25 - RRW Pep Rally
  • Thursday, October 25 @ 9:00 am - Parent Drug Awareness Presentation
  • Each day during 2nd period, teachers will present an IMAP Mini-Lesson to students.


 

WSMS Theatre - Save the Date!  November 1, 2 and 3
The WSMS Theatre and Choir department will be presenting Disney's The Little Mermaid Jr.  Tickets go on sale Monday, October 15, 2018 at 10:00 AM.




WSMS Career Day 2018
On Friday, November 2, WSMS will hold our annual Career Day!  This event will give students the opportunity to visit with professionals from various professions to learn about potential career fields.
 
Students will sign up online Monday, October 15 th during 2 nd period.  Students will sign up for TWO career fields of interest.  Students will also sign up for TWO alternate career fields (in case their first choices are full).
 
On November 2nd, students will visit FOUR career presentations - two they have selected, and two they will be assigned - perhaps a career field they didn't know existed!
 
If you are interested in presenting your career to students, but you have not signed up yet, please sign up here .  


PTA Reflections- "Heroes Around Me" - Deadline, November 2nd
WSMS PTA is excited to kick off another year of celebrating Arts in Education with participation in the National PTA Reflections Competition. All students are encouraged to get in touch with their inner artist by interpreting the 2018-2019 theme, "Heroes Around Me." Students may submit work(s) in dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, or visual arts. For rules and entry forms click here or visit the WSMS front office. Entries are due to the Willow Springs office by November 2nd. Please contact Nicole Dubree at nicolemdubree@gmail.com with any questions.




Your student could earn a $25 Cinemark card!
It's time for the annual WSMS Battle of the Books! Please encourage your students to participate in this fun event. Student and teacher teams are already forming. Using books as ammunition, participants will go head-to-head in this epic battle that will test each competitor's knowledge of the 4 selected titles. Students may compete as individuals or as teams with up to 4 students per team.The student champs will earn a $25  Cinemark card and will get to compete against our teacher teams to see who will be the Overall Grand Champions. The EPIC battle will take place on Tuesday, November 13 , starting at 4:15 pm. Tell your students to stop by the library to get more details and to sign up a team.



Campus Information and Reminders
Safety Corner - Protecting Your Kids Online and On Apps!
It's important for parents to know the basics of popular social media, live-streaming video apps, microblogging, and online trends! Are you equipped to guide your teens through this new era?

Most parents are not well-equipped or experts in what their children are doing online, but should be aware of how to quickly access information about the sites your child is visiting most often. Please click here for the articles on how best to Protect your Child Online and how to find out more information on the Social Sites.


Students feeling under the weather?
As you know, it is prime cold and flu season. To help best manage our students and to keep in line with the policy in the Student Handbook, if students are not feeling well at school, they need to be checked out through the school clinic. The student must be fever free (Temperature of 99.9 or less for 24 hours without the use of over the counter medications to keep the temperature down) and must NOT have vomited or had diarrhea in the last 24 hours. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.


WSMS School Store
The WSMS Store will be open every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Stop by to get your school spirit gear!

If you are interested in volunteering in the school store this year, please email

Reporting an Incident at WSMS
One of our top priorities at Willow Springs Middle School is to ensure the safety of all of our students.  Our most important asset in this is the eyes and ears our students can provide us on campus. We will begin using the Safe Schools Alert System this year for students and parents to report incidents they are aware of happening.  You can access the system by going to www.lovejoyisd.net .  Under Quick Links click on "REPORT IT!"  You will have four ways to submit an incident.  Furthermore, you will receive an access code to follow the progression of how an incident is being handled.  


Developing Student Ownership in Learning
One of our goals is to work with students to build ownership and responsibility in their own learning. Consider having your student make first contact with his/her teachers by emailing them about assignments and/or tests. For example, if your student has not completed a homework assignment or a test, please encourage your student to do the following:

  • Log into Power School to determine what test/assignment is missing.
  • Go to the Google Classroom to print off and complete the assignment and/or any test preparation materials
  • Email their teacher and ask questions about the assignment or missing work
  • Talk to their teacher about the missing assignment or test
  • Know how and where to turn in the assignment or complete the test

LISD Calendar
Please go here for LISD calendars.




Athletics
 
Volleyball Results vs Allen Ereckson - October 4th
7th Grade
A Team - Won
B Team - Won
C Team - Won
 
8th Grade
A Team - Won
B Team - Won
C Team - Won
 
 
Football Results vs Allen Ford - October 2nd
7th Grade
Red - Won
Black - Won
 
8th Grade
Red -  Lost
Black - Lost


RUN-A-THON ---SAVE THE DATE!!! MONDAY, OCTOBER 15th
We are planning on having our first ever Run-a-thon at the middle school on October 15th!! Coach Kelly and I are still tossing ideas around... but we thought it would be really fun if we did this in an evening under the stadium lights around the track and had glow in the dark gear for the kids. We asked the kids about it, and they were pretty excited.  We will start the event at 7:30. There will be a cap of 25 laps (around 6.2 miles).Mark your calendar ASAP because I think it will be a blast for the kids!


Girls Basketball Meeting - Monday, October 22nd
The preseason Parent Meeting for Middle School Girls Basketball Tryouts is Monday, October 22nd at 5:30 in the WSMS Main Gym. We will go over tryout dates, times, and procedures.


Boys Basketball Tryouts for 7th and 8th Grade
Tryouts for 7th and 8th grade boys basketball will take place October 31st-November 2nd.  This year the basketball team will have three teams for each grade with 10 players on each team.

Tryouts will take place at Willow Springs Middle school. The boys need to have turned in a physical and completed the online forms found at:  www.lovejoyathletics.com

If you have any questions, please contact Jeff Higgins at jeff_higgins@lovejoyisd.net

The schedule for tryouts can be found below:
Tryout Schedule - Practice at Willow Springs MS

7th Grade:
October 31 - 8:00 am through 1st period
November 1 - 7:00 am through 1st period
November 2 - 7:00 am through 1st period - pickup tryout letter after school

8th Grade:
October 31 - 8th period through 5:30 pm
November 1 - 8th period through 5:30 pm
November 2 - 8th period through 5:00 pm - Decisions Made



WSMS PTA

Did you know Willow Springs PTA collects Box Tops ?  We do, it is a great way for us to earn money to support programs for the students and parents of Willow Springs. We have a collection box in the office and our first deadline for Box Tops this year is coming up on October 24th ! We would appreciate you clipping and send your Box Tops to us!

Mark your calendars for our next Parent Presentation from Susan Hoemke on Thursday, October 25th at 9am.  Ms. Hoemke is the author of, Healing Scarred Hearts: A Family's Story of Addiction, Loss, and Finding Light. Designed to help young adults find and focus on their unique goals for the future, the I Make a Plan (IMAP). We hope to see you there!

Willow Springs PTA will be recognizing two special individuals who have given outstanding service to our children this year. An Honorary Texas Life Membership is one of the highest honors which can be bestowed upon an individual by the Texas PTA. The only requirement for receiving this honor is that the recipient has promoted students' well being and demonstrated care for children. Please click here to nominate a parent, teacher, administrator that you have seen give extraordinary service to our children this year!

To get involved and volunteer at WSMS please view our volunteer calendar here . Or you can visit our website,

Our Center for Academic Training is in need for parents volunteers to orally read tests, it is a very easy way to volunteer and also very rewarding if you would like to help in the CAT please sign up here:

Volunteers are also needed to support the office staff during lunches and staff meetings as well as parents that would like to help serve in the school store during student lunch periods. If you are interested in serving in one of those areas please email, our volunteer coordinator, Jennifer Archer at jenniferparcher@hotmail.com .

If you would still like to support our PTA or you haven't joined yet and would like to, please follow the link: Willow Springs PTA Membership





Kasey Havens
WSMS PTA President 2018-2019
kasey.havens@yahoo.com
 

District and Other News


Foundation for Lovejoy Schools
Men's Tailgate Tournament - Tickets on Sale Now!
Gentlemen, please plan to join the Foundation for food, beer, and a double elimination corn hole tournament, guaranteeing all players two games. The tournament will be at the home of John and Kris Dunaway on Wednesday, October 24. Sponsors for the event are Renfrow Dunaway Group, Lee Lewis, Fable Security, Chick-fil-A Stacy Road and Twin Creeks Village, and Lovejoy HVAC.  Click here to register now.

Please contact Vicki Deerman, Interim Executive Director of the Foundation with any questions.




Google Classroom Email Summaries for Parents/ Guardians
In the next few days, you may receive an invitation to subscribe to summaries from your student's Google Classroom classes if your email address is in PowerSchool. As a parent/ guardian, you may receive email summaries showing your student's progress in Google Classroom. You may choose daily or weekly emails, and unsubscribe or remove yourself from Google Classroom anytime. Guardian summaries include missing work, upcoming work, and class activity. As a parent/ guardian, you must receive and accept an email invitation before you receive email summaries. If you accepted an invitation last year, you will have remained connected to your student and continued to receive email updates.  When accepting the invitation if you are logged into Google on the web browser, the Google account logged into will be accept the invitation instead of the email address the invitation was sent to. Please make sure you are not logged into a different Google account than the email was sent to when accepting the invitation. Following is a sample of the email invitation you may receive:



For additional information regarding Google Classroom email summaries for guardians, please click here .  If you have questions, please contact the Library Media Specialist for your campus:
Lovejoy High School
Willow Springs Middle School
Sloan Creek Intermediate School



NEW! Circle of Partners


Lovejoy ISD is pleased to welcome Tutoring 101 to the Circle of Partners. Tutoring 101 and Lovejoy ISD have formed a revenue generating/sharing partnership to bring their services to Lovejoy families. Please see below for several offerings.

Private tutoring is available for students in grades K-12 in all subjects. Tutoring 101 recommends once a week tutoring for an hour to increase grades and learn subject matter more deeply. A once a week appointment usually results in an increase of one letter grade or more. Turn those C's into B's.

What is your SAT/ACT score? Want a better one? What do you need it to be?

Invest in a PSAT/SAT/ACT Prep program not just a class. Tutoring 101 helps high scorers get top scores, average students raise their scores and poor test takers achieve the scores colleges want. Tutoring 101 students have earned admissions and scholarships, and have saved thousands of tuition dollars every year.
  • Specialize in working with individual students and their specific needs
  • Day-of-test strategies
  • One-on-one/small groups
  • PSAT/SAT Classes: Tues or Thurs or Saturdays
  • ACT Prep Classes: Mon/Wed or Sat
  • One on One and Online Prep also available
  • School District Employee Discount
Learn about Tutoring 101's all-inclusive PSAT/SAT/ACT programs:
  • 11th-12th Grade SAT/ACT  
  • 10th-12th PSAT/SAT/ACT
  • 9th-12th Grade PSAT/NMSQT/SAT/ACT
  • Duke Tip (7th Grade)
Classes are conveniently located at Lovejoy High School. Call 972.359.0222 or email Robyn@Tutoring101.com for additional information.




 

New! Senior Project - Raised Funds for Autism
Zachary Taylor , a senior at Lovejoy High School, thanks the Lovejoy community for their support of his Senior Project:

"Hello! I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who bought a ribbon or two at Leopard Friday and to those who donated online for the Autism Walk this past weekend.  We had a great turnout and the weather was perfect during the walk. We finished just in time before the rain started to come down on us. Not only did I meet my goal of raising $500 toward the walk, the donation total was over $700. If you would still like to donate, the deadline is October 29. The combined donations from the ribbons sale and the walk was over $850.  We had a fun time walking for such a great cause. Thank you everyone for your love and support of Autism Awareness!








Red Out Homecoming Shirts - Available from LHS Band, Order Now!
Have you purchased your Red Out Homecoming Shirt?  Click  here for more information and a printable order form. The deadline to order is October 12, 2018.

Join the Band for the Lovejoy Community Garage Sale on October 27 from 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The event will be held in the back parking lot of Lovejoy High School by the tennis courts. You rent a spot, you keep the profits!  Click here to rent a spot or click here for additional information.





LHS Majestics Dance Team - Mums the Word!
The Lovejoy Majestics will be selling mums in the high school commons area during A, B and C lunch beginning Tuesday, October 9 through October 22 between 11:25 AM and 1:00 PM; and in the evenings, on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 5:30 PM and 8:00 PM.

Majestic Mums are a great Lovejoy tradition with all profits supporting the Majestics Dance Team. A dazzling array of mums and garters will be offered to suit any taste and budget.  Unique custom designs are available for mums and garters with numerous decorative ribbons, bling, and sports specific trinkets from football, basketball, baseball, band, theater, choir, fishing, wrestling and so much more.  Come by the LHS Commons Area to see the offerings.

NEW THIS YEAR : Give back to the community by purchasing a teal colored ribbon to place on your mum representing Allen Community Outreach (ACO).  $10 for every ribbon purchased will go to support ACO's ongoing efforts to help serve its neighbors and friends facing financial crisis in Allen and the surrounding communities.  

 
  • Why purchase your mum from the Majestics?
  • Mums are reasonably and competitively priced beginning at $50
  • Your support helps the Lovejoy Majestics fund their Spring Show
  • You have an opportunity to serve our community by purchasing an ACO ribbon
  • The selection process is easy because each basic mum has a variety of ribbons/trinkets- all you do is personalize
  • Convenience!  Select at school & pick it up there a few days later
  • Each of our mums is unique; no two are alike



   
Lovejoy Upper 90 Soccer Boosters Host Juggling-A-Thon - Saturday, October 13th
The Upper 90 Soccer Booster Club will host a "Juggling-A-Thon" to help raise money for the program.  Each Soccer player will have 30 minutes to get his or her highest number of consecutive ball touches.  Prior to this event, the players will be seeking sponsorships for the number of touches they complete during their 30-minute juggling drill.  Please help support our 2019 Boys and Girls Soccer program with a sponsorship.
For additional information, please contact:
Alex Duran, Head Boys Soccer Coach
Ian Keeble, Head Girls Soccer Coach
The team will perform their juggling drills for funds on Saturday, October 13th.  Additional information will be made available as the event nears.

Lovejoy Leopards, Inc. Annual Golf Tournament - Monday, October 15
The 10th Annual Lovejoy Leopards, Inc. (LLI) Golf Tournament has been moved to Monday, October 15 at "The Dye Course" at Stonebridge Country Club. The start time also has been changed to 1:00 PM. Registration and check in begins at 12:00 PM. The cost is $150 per player, which includes green fees, cart, gift bag and awards luncheon.  To register visit www.lovejoyathletics.com and click on the LLI Golf Tournament link.
The Tournament is limited to 144 golfers.  Golfers should indicate the booster club they are playing in support of and LLI will return 90% of the net after expenses to that booster club.  Golfers may also purchase a Super Ticket for $50, which includes 10 raffle tickets and all games on the course.

2nd Annual Lovejoy Professional Network Golf Tournament - Friday, November 2nd
The Lovejoy Professional Network is pleased to announce the 2nd Annual Lovejoy Professional Network Golf Tournament on Friday, November 2 from 1:30 PM - 8:00 PM at Heritage Ranch. This year the proceeds will benefit the Lovejoy family of Casey and Jamie Sullivan. Casey passed away earlier this year.  He was an avid golfer, music lover, coach and proud father of Ainsley (9th), Ryder (8th) and Piper (4th).
The Lovejoy Professional Network's goal is to fill the course with 144 golfers. The event will include a dinner with a silent auction and raffle giveaway. If you are unable to attend the tournament, you are invited to attend the celebration dinner for Casey. You may click here for details. Please contact Mark Urbin for additional information.   
10th Annual Turkey Chess Tournament - Saturday, November 3rd
Register now for Lovejoy's 10th Annual Turkey Chess Tournament. This is a five round USCF (United States Chess Federation) event that will be held at Sloan Creek Intermediate School. Click here to register for the event.

3rd Annual Running Over Depression - Saturday, November 10th
Please join us for the 3rd Annual Running Over Depression Run on Saturday, November 10th at Lovejoy High School. The 1K Fun Run will begin at 8:00 AM and the 5K Run will begin at 8:30 AM at Leopard Stadium. Running Over Depression is an event being organized by Lovejoy Seniors Brett Pedersen , Michael O'Brien and Carson Hockersmith for their Senior Projects. The goal of this run is to raise awareness about teenage depression and suicide prevention. All proceeds from the run will be donated to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Please click here to register. If your business is interested in sponsoring Running Over Depression please email runningoverdepression@yahoo.com.


Lovejoy Fine Arts Festival - Save the Date! November 30 and December 1
The Lovejoy ISD Fine Arts Festival is around the corner. Click here for updates on performance schedules, art galleries, and more!