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Willow Springs Middle School Principal Newsletter - November 29, 2018
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Dear WSMS Parents and Guardians,
We officially have two and half weeks left in the fall semester. Our students are doing an excellent job of staying focused on their academic responsibilities. I visited several classrooms this week and enjoyed seeing the continued commitment of our teachers as they challenged and engaged our students to excel at a high level. As we wrap up the week, our winter sports teams are off to a great start and our fine arts programs are gearing up for the 9th Annual Fine Arts Festival this weekend at Lovejoy High School (please see below for a performance schedule). Thanks for all your support. Go Leopards!
WSMS Needs You
Would you like to help out at Willow Springs? Please view this short video on how you can help out at WSMS during final exams.
2018 Fall Final Exam Scheduled Time Slots for the CAT
December 14th 8:50-10:23 & 2:32-4:00
December 17th 9:45-11:13 & 1:41-3:09
December 18th 8:50-10:23 & 12:51-2:19
December 19th 8:50-10:48 & 10:52-12:50
We would appreciate your help in volunteering in the CAT to support our students. To sign for one of these times and/or dates, please
click here.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Center for Academic Training (CAT)?
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What is the purpose of the CAT? The CAT is designed to assist all students by providing before and after school support in all subject areas. It is also where all students with testing accommodations such as small group testing, oral reading of exams, etc. take their test during class time.
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On average, how many students use the CAT during semester exams? On the testing side alone, we will see approximately 330 students during the week of final exams who have some type of testing accommodation. This number does not include the students without testing accommodations who utilize the CAT during finals weeks.
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Who else helps students?Teachers and Instructional Aides are available to help; however, their priority is helping students in class during instructional time.
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Does a volunteer need previous knowledge of an exam before they arrive? Volunteers do not need any special training or knowledge to help in the CAT. Volunteers will be reading the questions and answer choices on an exam to a small group of 1-5 students. The students are not permitted to have help understanding any of the content on the exam, so the volunteer would strictly be reading verbatim from their own copy of the exam.
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Lovejoy ISD Fine Arts Festival This Weekend, November 30th & December 1
On Friday and Saturday, our Lovejoy ISD Fine Arts Department will host its 9th Annual Fine Arts Festival! Our students have worked hard over the course of this semester to prepare performances and visual art for this very special celebration of the Performing and Visual Arts in our school. We invite you to join us for a truly extraordinary weekend!
For those of you new to Lovejoy ISD, every student involved in the Fine Arts, from kindergarten to the varsity level, is represented this weekend. Our Fine Arts parents also provide delicious treats, beverages, and homemade chili to purchase for a nominal fee. There is also a Children's craft area - and Santa Claus even makes a stop to visit with our Lovejoy students! It is a wonderful event for our Lovejoy family and community.
I hope you will find time to stop by, visit the Festival, see your students perform, or stroll through the galleries of art and enjoy the amazing talent we have to share.
For a listing of our performances & gallery times, click
Friday
and
Saturday
.
The Festival team will need a great deal of donations and volunteers to make this year's event a success. If you have a student in the visual or performing arts, please take time to review the following and lend your support.
Open House for Prospective Families
Do you have friends, family members, or co-workers interested in Lovejoy ISD? Lovejoy ISD will host an Open House for prospective families in conjunction with the annual Fine Arts festival on Saturday, December 1. Open House events will be held at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM. Interested families can:
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Learn about the Lovejoy Pre-K-12 academic, fine arts and athletic programs.
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Visit with students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
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Meet personally with elementary, intermediate, middle, and high school principals.
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Tour Lovejoy High School.
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Enjoy our Fine Arts Festival with our award-winning visual and performing arts students and teachers.
We hope you will help us share this information. Any family interested in attending the Open House may email
Stacey Dillon
, Assistant to the Superintendent, for additional information, or to register for the event. You may also contact Stacey by phone at 469.742.8003.
Technology Survey - December 3rd-19th
Lovejoy ISD is partnering with BrightBytes, an educational research organization, to learn more about our students' school and home technology use and the impact it has on instruction. We are reaching out to ask you to take part in the Technology & Learning questionnaire. This is a semi-annual initiative, and your participation is essential in helping us form a more complete picture of the role technology plays in your students' learning.
Please know that all of your responses will remain anonymous to protect your privacy. Please
click here
to begin the survey.
College Board PSAT 8/9 - Wednesday, December 5th
On Wednesday, December 5th, WSMS 8th graders will take the College Board's PSAT 8/9 test. This assessment is an opportunity for students, parents, and teachers to assess a student's math, writing, and reading skills needed to be college-ready. For more information on the College Board's PSAT 8/9 test, you can visit
this website
.
The PSAT 8/9 assessment will begin promptly at 9am on Wednesday, December 5th and will last approximately 3.5 hours. 8th graders may want to bring a bottle of water for testing. All 8th graders will eat C lunch that day. We ask all 8th graders to leave their cell phones at home on testing days. If students choose to bring their phones to school, they will be asked to sign a waiver and place their phone in a bin that will be removed from the room during testing. Phones will be returned after testing. While we will take precautions to keep all phones safe, we cannot be held accountable for lost or damaged phones. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Kay Bordelon,
[email protected]
.
Flapjacks for Finals - Thursday, December 13th
As a middle school tradition, we will be kicking off final exam week with "Flapjacks for Finals" on Thursday, December 13th from 8:00 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. in the cafeteria. Please encourage your son or daughter to stop by the cafeteria for hot cakes.
Principal's Coffee - Friday, December 14th
I would like to invite you to our upcoming Principal's Coffee, on Friday, December 14th at 9:00 a.m. The Principal's Coffee is a forum discussion for all 7th and 8th grade parents. Topic for this session will be Test Performance and Final Exam Prep.
Final Exams, December 14th-19th
For a copy of the fall semester final exam schedule, please
click here
.
Final exams will officially begin, Friday, December 14th. Teachers are expected to provide students with final exam reviews by Friday, December 7. In addition, all final exam reviews will be loaded on the WSMS website on December 7 (under both student and parent) and teachers will upload exam reviews into their Google Classrooms. Please encourage your son or daughter to begin working on their final exam reviews early. As they begin to study, encourage them to study every night in short 15-20 minute increments rather than "cramming" the night before the test. Research shows that students who study in small chunks of time over a period of days are more successful on assessments.
We will be sending out more information about middle school final exams over the next two weeks.
Early Release/Student Holiday
Wednesday, December 19th will be an early release day. Students will be taking their 4th period final exam from 8:50 a.m.-10:48 a.m. and 8th period exam and lunch from 10:52 a.m.-12:50 p.m. School will dismiss at 12:50 p.m.
Thursday, December 20 - Friday, January 4 is Winter Break. School will resume on Monday, January 7.
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Campus Information and Reminders
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For security purposes, we will be locking all exterior doors to Willow Springs at 8:50 AM. This means that students that arrive after 8:50 AM will not be able to enter the building through the courtyard; they will need to enter at the front of the school and obtain a late pass from the front desk. If you drop your student off in the morning, please assist us in getting your son or daughter in the building prior to 8:50 AM. During the school day, teachers and students have been asked not to open exterior doors for anyone. This means they are not to open doors for parents, teachers, coaches, custodians, etc., even principals. All parents and/or visitors should enter the building through the front door. All campus or district personnel are expected to use their access badge or keys to enter the building. Thank you for assisting us in keeping Willow Springs safe and secure during the school day.
Final Exam Reviews
Teachers provided students with a copy of the final exam review December 7th. In addition, an electronic copy will be posted in Google Classrooms and on the WSMS website under "Parent Resources." Teachers will be going over their review in class prior to the final exam. Each review will provide vocabulary, concepts, and/or skills needed to be successful on the final. Students will be expected to take the information from the review and apply it to questions on the exam that include graphs, charts, maps, diagrams, and excerpts. These application based questions provide a foundation for the level of thinking that aligns with the higher level thinking of our state standards in middle school and high school. Rather than studying the review for 2-3 hours the night before the final exam, we encourage students to prepare for each exam by studying for approximately 15-20 minutes a day. In addition, students should refer to notes, handouts, assignments, and their textbook to support their learning and preparation. For an example of a final exam review topic and how it might be tested on the final exam in each of the core subjects, please
click here
(these questions are from the 7th grade curriculum in ELAR, math, science, and social studies).
Final Exam Grades
Final Exams are a summative assessment over material that has been covered during the first semester. Teachers will be closing out their grades for the first semester once final exams have been completed. As a result, students will not have the opportunity to re-take their final exam. The summative data from final exams will provide teachers with a road map for instructional planning and intervention during the spring semester. As the semester comes to a close, please continue to work with your son or daughter to stay on top of their school responsibilities. This time of year is traditionally very busy for our students and families, both often get pulled in several different directions as we approach the holidays. If you or your student needs any assistance or support with academic or behavioral support, please partner with our teachers, counselors, and administrators. Let's work together to ensure that our students finish strong in their first semester of learning.
PALS Food Drive for Vogel Alcove
The PALS would like to thank the WSMS student body for their help in the Vogel Alcove Bye-Bye bag food collection. Thanks to your help WSMS will be donating an abundant amount of items for Vogel Aclove to use through the holiday season.
Results of our Thanksgiving Box Food Drive
WSMS NJHS students organized a Thanksgiving Box Food Drive, and they want to thank students, staff, and parents for making this year's food drive a huge success! Thanks to your generosity, WSMS contributed 2,431 pounds of food and 42 gift cards to Allen Community Outreach. ACO reports that they were able to serve 1,250 due to donations this year. WSMS NJHS students want to thank everyone who donated food items or gift cards to this year's drive!
Please encourage your son or daughter to look through the lost and found and claim any sweatshirts, shoes, hats, etc. they may have left behind. All lost and found items are located on the stage in the cafeteria. Students can visit the lost and found before or after school or during their lunch. All items not claimed by December 18th will be donated to Allen Community Outreach.
School Store T-Shirt Sale
The school stores, located at Lovejoy High School and Willow Springs Middle School, are getting ready for the cooler weather. Don't miss special sales as they make room for the new season. Be sure to stop by the LHS Store on December 1st during the Fine Arts Festival. The store will be open 10:00-2:00.
All Gildan and Comfort Color Short-Sleeved T-Shirts - 50% off!
If you are interested in volunteering in the school store this year, please email
[email protected]
.
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.
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.
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8th Grade Girls Basketball vs. Rockwall Cain
A Team: 29-21
B Team: 31-2
C Team: 8-6
8th Grade Boys Basketball vs Rockwall Cain
A Team: 22-25
B Team: 39-16
C Team: 48-28
7th Grade Girls Basketball vs. Wylie Burnett
A Team: 11-26
B Team: 17-20
C Team: 26-18
7th Grade Boys Basketball vs Wylie Burnett
A Team: 34-27
B Team: 37-11
C Team: 27-12
Wrestling Update
Friday before the break we took a dual team to St. Marks where we won both duels as we defeated Highland Park 58-4 and St. Marks 48-12. What a way to start our season with decisive wins over two very good programs.
This Saturday is our first tournament at Allen's A-Town showdown.
Please note that this is the same date as our Fine Arts Festival. Please let me know if your wrestler has a commitment Saturday regarding the festival. It maybe something we can work around but not likely. There will be other competitions but the Fine Arts Festival only happens one time per year.
WSMS Cross Country Results
What an awesome day for our "first" Cross Country meet yesterday! We finally got some agreeable weather, and the kids showed up ready to rock and roll!!! We could not be more proud of the way the youngsters performed! Their months of hard work and extra running most certainly paid off - we DOMINATED!!! We won all 4 divisions AND had the individual champion in all 4 divisions!!! Whoo hoo!!! PLUS the 7th grade girls had a PERFECT score by placing first, second, third, fourth and fifth!! (top 5 score in XC for team scoring) 8th grade girls came close by going 1, 2, 3, 4, 6---- and putting 7 GIRLS IN THE TOP 10-- awesome! The 7th grade boys put 6 in the top 10 and 8th grade boys put 5 in the top 10!
All runners
gave so much effort and competed very hard... that is all we ask for - DO YOUR VERY BEST AND CHALLENGE YOURSELF!!!! That, they did.
7TH GRADE GIRLS - PERFECT SCORE - 15 POINTS
Kailey Littlefield - Meet champ
Sara Morefield - 2nd
Cambry Patrick - 3rd
Taylor Person - 4th
Gracyn Thompson - 5th
Brielle Scholle - 10th
7TH GRADE BOYS - 28 POINTS - TEAM CHAMPS
Luke Wright - Meet champ
Colin Milliken - 3rd
Grant Anderson - 6th
Andrew Poulton - 8th
Maximo Sanchez - 10th
8TH GRADE GIRLS - 16 POINTS - TEAM CHAMPS
Amy Morefield - Meet champ
Callan Snider - 2nd
Emily Reyna - 3rd
Dresden Colston -4th
Sammie Basson - 6th
Chloe Schaeffer - 8th
Emma Smith - 9th
8TH GRADE BOYS - 34 POINTS - TEAM CHAMPS
Logan Pedersen - Meet champ
Devon Larimer - 6th
Hunter Reck - 8th
Jack McClure - 9th
Jacob Migura - 10th
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| 7th Grade Girls Had A Perfect Team Score By Placing In The Top 5 Spots |
Spring Tennis Tryouts, January 14-18
Students interested in trying out for the WSMS Tennis Team this spring, please see below for important information about the tryout process.
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Students interested in trying out will participate in a scheduled 2 day tryout at 7:30am at LHS during the week of 1/14-1/18.
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The tryout will consist of 2 matches against 2 players of the same age level and skill level that are currently on the team.
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Skill level evaluation will consist of forehands, backhands, serves, volleys, and match play.
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Coach Cherry and Coach Davis will evaluate all players and base their decision on the players skill level and the scores that they have against players who are currently on the team. During match play games, Coach Cherry and Coach Davis will evaluate forehands, backhand, serves, volleys, and overall match play ability.
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There is not a certain number of athletes that we will keep. The final team number will be determined based on the level and skill set of current players and players that are trying out.
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To schedule a day and time for a two match tryout with current players, please contact Coach Davis at [email protected] to schedule. Once he receives your email, he will schedule two matches with two separate players of equal skill set that are currently participating in the WSMS tennis program.
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On behalf of Lovejoy ISD we would like to thank
Jones Solar and Roofing
for participating in the Lovejoy ISD
Circle of Partners
. We thank
Jones Solar and Roofing
for their support of Lovejoy ISD and the important value they place on the education of our children.
Chadd Jones of
Jones Solar and Roofing
is pledging 10% of their profits on roofing and solar work completed in the Lovejoy ISD. Jones Solar and Roofing provides free inspections of your residential or commercial roof and property. They also offer free estimates on Solar/ Battery and Energy Efficiency upgrades to your home or business. Their website is:
https://jonessolar.com/
or you may reach them by phone at 214.412.7444 for residential or commercial properties. Members of his family have been supporters of the Lovejoy ISD since 1979. Chadd and Liesl Thompson Jones are the proud parents of Puster Elementary 1st grader Maxwell.
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.
Classes are conveniently located at Lovejoy High School. Call 972.359.0222 or email [email protected] for additional information.
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Foundation for Lovejoy Schools
New! Foundation's Annual Appeal Reaches $185,200
If you have not yet made your gift to the Foundation, please help us close the gap to reach our $200,000 goal. The money raised impacts the education of every Lovejoy student. You may click here
to donate. All gifts are tax deductible.
Denim and Diamonds - The Party - We Need Your Help
Donations are needed for the silent and online auctions. The online auction will be different this year. A few of the big items will be in the silent auction at the event, but most of the items will be online, so that everyone will have the opportunity to bid. What can you donate? Here are some ideas:
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Perhaps you have a vacation home that you could share for a week,
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Create a fun experience - in the past we have had Crawfish boils, private dinners with live entertainment, fishing excursions, hunting excursions, etc.
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A business service,
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Restaurant gift cards (over $25 please)
You may
click here for the donation form. Donation form. For questions, please contact Kelli Litchenburg or Vicki Deerman.
Don't miss The Party.
Click here
to purchase tickets.
Kendra Scott Gives Back Party - Thursday, December 13
Benefitting the Foundation for Lovejoy Schools
Light the World - The Allen Christmas Nativity Exhibit - November 29, 30 and December 1
The Lovejoy Community is invited to attend the Light the World event featuring the Lovejoy Children's Choir, Willow Springs Middle School Choir, and Lovejoy High School A Cappella.
Click here for details.
Lovejoy Family Requests Assistance in Remembering Our Troops
SafeSchools has launched their new mobile application for anonymous reporting. You may
click here
for the SafeSchools Alert Mobile Application Download Instructions.
Lovejoy GT Holiday Social - December 10th
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STAY CONNECTED
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