WSMS Principal Newsletter, 12-18-19

Lovejoy Independent School District

A Message from the Principal

Willow Springs Middle School Principal Newsletter - December 18, 2019

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Dear WSMS Parents and Guardians,

Our students have done an excellent job adjusting to the final exam schedule this week and I am confident that their preparation and hard work will pay off. As a tradition at WSMS, our teachers and staff served "Flapjacks for Finals" on the first day of final exams. Over 700 pancakes were served to our students on Monday! Thank you to all of our teachers and staff for their help in supporting this fun tradition. To finish out the week, some of our band, choir, and orchestra students showcased their talents by providing holiday music in the rotunda and cafeteria every morning. This was a great way to start every day this week!

Thank You--Parent Volunteers
This week we had over 21 parent volunteers on campus to assist with final exams in our Center for Academic Training (CAT). Some of these volunteers were on campus for more than one day. Thank you to the following volunteers for support our students by administering final exams in the CAT this week.

Julie Yow Kasey Havens

Karie Aguilar Andrea Simpson

Daniela Konecny Lisa Wilkins

Appy Born Christy Payne

Karrie Thomason Carolyn Rasmussen

Ashley Aleman Yerkes Regina Lenart

Sue Wyll Christina Nash

Anna Cady Jana Manders

Susan Elliott Regan Campbell

Shannon Verschage Diane Jensen

Rhonda Tiedt

We are officially halfway through the 2019-2020 school year. I hope you and your family have a safe and relaxing holiday, see everyone back on campus on January 6th, 2020.

Kent Messer

Principal

Willow Springs Middle School
1101 West Lucas Rd, Lucas 75002

Office: 469-742-8417

Mobile: 214-293-9938

@WSMSLovejoyISD
#wsmslovejoy

Upcoming Dates

Lost and Found - Donating December 19th

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 19th will be donated to area shelters.

Early Release/Student Holiday

Just a reminder that we will have full days each day until December 18th. Due to exams, the high school has half days on December 16th-19th. However, our only half day is December 19th . 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.

Friday, December 20 - Friday, January 3 is Winter Break. School will resume on Monday, January 6.

Final Exams Make Up

If a student was unable to take a final exam this week, they can make it up tomorrow during 4 th or 7 th period class time (if they do not have another final) or after winter break on Monday, January 6 th through Friday, January 10 th . Please feel free to contact your son or daughter's teacher to schedule a time to make up a final exam.

Final Exam Grades
Final exam grades will be posted in PowerSchool by Wednesday, January 8 th . 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. The summative data from final exams will provide teachers with a road map for instructional planning and intervention during the spring semester.

Geography Bee - Thursday, January 23

All 7th and 8th grade history classes took a preliminary quiz to determine which students qualify for the National Geography Bee the week before finals. The school Geography Bee will be held January 23 at 4:15 p.m. in the WSMS cafeteria. Typically, about 30 students qualify for the school bee. Students that qualify for the school bee will receive a letter the week of January 6 letting them know specific details about the school bee. Additional information about the National Geographic Bee can be found here .

Signs of Suicide Presentations at WSMS

This year, WSMS counselors will present, Signs of Suicide, a Suicide Prevention presentation to our 7th graders on January 29th and to our 8th graders on January 30th. Dr. Messer's January Principal's coffee will offer parents a preview of this presentation. Please join us on January 16th from 9am to 10am at WSMS to preview this important program. If you have concerns or do not wish your student to participate in this program, please contact your child's counselor.

Campus Information and Reminders

Junior Thespian Festival Recognitions

This past Saturday was the first time for our Theatre students got to attend the Junior Thespian Festival in North Texas. They were able to participate in various workshops of their choosing from Commedia Dell'arte to Musical Choreography and everything in between!

Several of our students choose to compete in IE's, or "Individual Events". These students prepared and rehearsed on their own outside of class and then had to perform in a room of 3 Adjudicators and students from other schools. Each judge gives a rating of Fair, Good, Excellent, or Superior. The three scores are then tabulated to give a final rating.

If you have the following students or see them in the hallways, please congratulate them on a job well done!

Reece R and Jacob S - Received a rating of SUPERIOR for their musical duet.

Audrey B and Zoe S - Received a rating of SUPERIOR for their musical duet.

Alana V, Jelai J, and Chloe R - Received a rating of EXCELLENT for their small group scene

Zoe N and Lainey C - Received a rating of EXCELLENT for their duet scene

Olivia L and Gianna B - Received a rating of EXCELLENT for their duet scene

Lucy S, Asher M, Riley R and Brayden N - Received a rating of EXCELLENT for their small group musical

All Region Band results for 2019-2020

Our outstanding results at the middle school level are really something to celebrate!!! Please look at this list and help me in congratulating these students on their success.

Willow Springs Band:

Kevin Zhang, Flute, Wind Symphony, 2nd chair

Tamanna Verma, Flute, Symphonic Band, 8th chair

Caleb Born, Clarinet, Concert Band, 12th chair

Noah Marsden, Clarinet, Alternate

Joshua Varughese, Bass Clarinet, Concert Band, 3rd chair

Kat Smith, Alto Saxophone, Symphonic Band, 6th chair

Adrian Phan, Tenor Saxophone, 1st alternate

Davis Miller, Baritone Saxophone, Symphonic Band, 1st chair

Reagan Wagner, Trumpet, Wind Symphony, 5th chair

Jonah Vuong, Trumpet, Wind Symphony, 6th chair

Joe O'Brien, Trumpet, Concert Band, 3rd chair

Aaron Wimbish, Trumpet, Concert Band, 4th chair

Payton Archer, French horn, Concert Band, 6th chair

Joe Bluestein, Trombone, Wind Symphony, 4th chair

Liam Dunleavy, Trombone, Symphonic Band, 4th chair

Brady Kofahl, Euphonium, Wind Symphonic, 6th chair

Nicole Young, Euphonium, Concert Band, 4th chair

Justin Poteet, Tuba, Symphonic Band, 2nd chair

Ashby Lyn Williams, Tuba, 2nd alternate

Joshua James, Percussion, 1st alternate

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.

ParentPortal Update - FINAL REMINDER

The PowerSchool ParentPortal is now open for you to complete the online Enrollment & Student Information Forms. Please click here 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, FERPA Acknowledgments, General Waivers, and other information.

As of today, there are 76 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.

PowerSchool App

The PowerSchool app is now available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. You use the same PowerSchool online login. Enter the District code NJBC.

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.

LISD Calendar

Please go here for LISD calendars.

WSMS Twitter Feeds #wsmslovejoy

@WSMSLovejoyISD (Campus Event Updates)

@sscwsms (Counseling updates)

Athletics

7th Grade Basketball vs. Wylie McMillan

Girls

A-Team Won 37-17

B-Team Won 37-6

C-Team Won 24-4

Boys

A-Team Won 31-30

B-Team Won 44-31

C-Team Won 41-18

8th Grade Basketball vs. Wylie McMillan

Girls

A-Team Won 40-14

B-Team Won 43-12

C-Team Won 20-19

Boys

A-Team Won 42-27

B-Team Won 39-21

C-Team Won 27-18

Spring Tennis Tryouts, January 13th-17th

If your son or daughter is interested in trying out for the WSMS Tennis Team this next spring, please see below for important information about the tryout process.

Students interested in trying out will participate in a scheduled 2 day tryout at 7:30am-8:30am at LHS during the week of 1/13-1/17.
The tryout will consist of 2 matches against 2 players of the same age level and skill level that are currently on the team.
Skill level evaluation will be based on players form
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.
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.
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.
Please contact Coach Davis for any further questions.

WSMS PTA

Reminders To have reminders sent to your phone about donations needed, volunteer time, PTA meetings and parent presentations please text @wsmspta2019 to 81010

Donations We know you can give to so many organizations and many within our district. Your financial donations to WSMS PTA go to funding both parent and students programs on safety, AIM for success, kindness, college preparedness and more. You may donate to us here

Recognition Willow Springs PTA will be recognizing two special individuals who have given outstanding service to our children this year. This recognition is one of the highest honors which can be bestowed upon an individual by our PTA. The only requirement for receiving this honor is that the recipient has promoted students' well being and demonstrated care for children.

A nominee for recognition may be a parent, volunteer, teacher, administrator, or a community leader. The recipient is not required to be a PTA member.

If you would like to nominate someone for this award, please fill out the form here . The recognition committee will carefully consider each candidate. The two award recipients for this year will receive their awards at the Lovejoy Council of PTAs Recognition Banquet in February. Please email the completed nomination form to [email protected] .

Nominations are due by Wednesday, January 8.

Sincerely-

Kasey Havens

WSMS PTA President 2018-2019

214-534-6200

District and Other News

Community News

The Lovejoy ISD Community News Page includes news from our schools, programs, booster clubs, student organizations, Foundation for Lovejoy Schools, community, and more. Check back often for up-to-date news on events and activities.

This Weeks News:

For more information on the following topics click the "Lovejoy ISD Community News Page" link above.

Inclement Weather

School closures will be determined based on safety. In the event of a school closure, notifications will be announced on the district's website, Facebook, and Twitter pages. We will also announce any closure through the media and through a special edition of Message from Mike. Links to our social media accounts are listed at the end of this communication.

Save the Date! Lovejoy ISD STEM Festival

February 29, 2020

Lovejoy High School School Store

Open December 16 - 19 from 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Foundation for Lovejoy Schools

Application Process Open for Administrative and Financial Assistant

Senior Judges Needed!

Now Enrolling! SAT Prep Classes

Senior Project! School Supply Drive

Kendra Scott Gives Back