A Message from the Principal
 
Willow Springs Middle School Principal Newsletter - October 4, 2018

 
 
 
 
 
 


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Dear WSMS Parents and Guardians,

I hope everyone is looking forward to fall break this weekend.  We had a great pep rally today with outstanding performances from our band, choir, cheerleaders, and colorguard.  In addition, we recognized all of our fall sports programs and their accomplishments so far this year. Enjoy the long weekend.  




    
Sincerely,

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

School Holiday - Friday, October 5 and Monday, October 8
Our fall break is Friday, October 5 through Monday, October 8. School resumes on Tuesday, October 9.


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 75 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.




No Pass - No Play: Six Week Progress Report Grades
With Friday, October 12th being the end of the first 9 week grading period, students who are not passing all of their classes will become ineligible effective Friday, October 19th at the end of the school day.  Students who were failing at the six week mark, can regain eligibility if they are passing all of their classes on Friday, October 12th. Students will regain eligibility on Friday, October 20th at the end of the school day.    Although we have moved to a nine week grading system this year, UIL requires all schools to check eligibility after the first six weeks and again at the end of the first grading period if it exceeds six weeks. Based on our district academic calendar, we will have two eight week grading periods in the fall.  Our first grading period will end on Friday, October 12th.  For a copy of the UIL eligibility calendar, please click here .


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.

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.



Career Day at WSMS!
How old were you when you decided what you wanted to be when you grew up?  What do you love about your career? What do you dislike? Do you enjoy sharing your experiences in your chosen career?  If the answer to the last question is YES, we want to invite you to share your career with WSMS students. On Friday, November 2nd from 9:30am to 12:50pm, WSMS will hold our 4 th annual Career Exploration Day.  This event is designed to provide students exposure to a wide variety of careers.  Face-to-face conversations and hands on investigation gives students the opportunity to consider careers in fields otherwise unknown.  We are looking for professionals in the following fields. This list is not exhaustive!


Advertising / Marketing
Agriculture
Architecture
The Arts - music, dance, theatre, visual arts
Automotive
Business
Computer Science
Construction
Culinary Arts
Data Science
Education
Engineering
Fashion
Government
IT
Journalism
Law
Media
Medical
Military
Nutrition
Research
Retail
Security
Science
Sports
Technology
Transportation
Veterinary

If you are interested in helping, please fill out the Career Exploration Presenter form here.  We look forward to seeing you on November 2nd!

PTA Reflections- "Heroes Around Me"
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 - Online Safety and Hidden Apps
The cell phone is a valuable tool for teens and their parents, as well as for use in the classroom. However, this technology can also provide temptations for misuse, with photo vaults or "ghost" apps. These apps allow for the password-protected storage of photos, videos, and some provide Internet access with no traceable history. In addition to these apps, there are also social media websites that parents should be cautious of. Gaggle, an internet safety company for schools, has created a list of social networks, websites and apps that pose a potential risk to students. This list is updated frequently, so you will have the most current list of potential threats. To view their most current list, visit this site


WSMS Yearbook
Parents - Do you have great pictures of your student from last summer's vacation, staycation or mission trip? We would love to use your favorite one in the yearbook. Please email the picture with your student's name and a brief description to catherine_laforge@lovejoyisd.net.


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
 
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

It was great seeing so many parents this week to hear from Sarah Pierson from the Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County. Sarah shared the dangers and risks our children's generation faces with the abundance of online access. She shared and encouraged us as parents to have some key conversations that can be difficult but ultimately  help protect them and support them as the navigate the balance of being a teen and living with so much online exposure. Thank you to all who have donated to our Leopard Drive so that we can have speakers out like Sarah Pierson to talk to our parents and students alike. 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
 
We also talked about software and apps available to help our students monitor the content they are exposed to with Parental Controls. The Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County suggests that you access Consumer Reports as they annually review many of those products so that you and your family can find the best Parental Control options for your home.
 
Our year has started off quickly and we will be looking regularly for parents who would like to volunteer in a number of ways. All of our current volunteer needs are available on our volunteer calendar here . Or you can visit our website,
 
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 .



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

District and Other News



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!








Lovejoy Softball Grand Slam Club - Flats for Bats
The annual "Flats for Bats" fundraiser is underway.  The sale will be held through October 11. Anyone interested in having flowers delivered to them please email lovejoysoftball@gmail.com.
For additional information, please contact Tien Nguyen at lovejoysoftball@gmail.com.

Checks should be made payable to the Grand Slam Booster Club. Flowers will be delivered on October 20 or 21.





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.


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.


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.   



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.