Dear LCMS Bobcat Family and Friends:
We hope that you will join the LCMS PTA on Saturday, November 15 in the LCMS Cafeteria. This should be a fun event for all. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and games start at 6:00 p.m. Prizes include purses from Michal Kors, Kate Spade, and Coach; gift cards; and much more!
As always, please feel free to contact me at chenlc@lcps.k12.va.us if you have questions, concerns, or any feedback that you would like to share.
The following are some important updates and announcements.
Announcements
Thanks to Morning Announcers – Eithan Hayes and Dylan Holz
Thank you to Eithan Hayes and Dylan Holz for their announcements with Dr. Chen each morning. On November 10, we will have announcers Antoine Hope and Olivia Hurley. My staff, students, and I certainly appreciate the information we receive daily from our morning announcers.
PTA Information and More
Do not forget to attend the private auction to be held at Belk this Saturday, November 8 from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. If you are interested in purchasing a ticket for this event, please contact Megan Jackson at jacksoml@lcps.k12.va.us We hope to see you there! All ticket proceeds will go to the LCMS PTA, which supports programming for our middle school students.
The LCMS PTA will be hosting Bobcat Bingo on Saturday, November 15 in the LCMS Cafeteria. The PTA is seeking donations of baked good items to be auctioned in between games. If you would like to donate a baked good item to auction, please email Shanna Hart at rustyandshanna@gmail.com We appreciate your help and support of the PTA and our students!
Safe, Caring, and Orderly Correlate
The Safe, Caring, and Orderly Correlate reminds our students for the following four anti-bullying rules:
1. We will not bully others.
2. We will try to help students who are bullied.
3. We will try to include students who are left out.
4. If we know that somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.
LCMS Wrestling Tryouts – Wednesday, November 5; Thursday, November 6; and Monday, November 10
The LCMS Wrestling Program is expanding! We are fortunate to have talented coaches who have coached wrestling for several years while wrestling themselves at the state and national levels. Ty Boyer is the Head Middle School coach. DaVell Smith is the Assistant Middle School Coach. Trevor Gallo is the Head Varsity Coach. Dan Leale is the Assistant Varsity Coach. All wrestlers who do not make the team are encouraged to join the youth league in order to gain the experience needed to compete at a middle and high school level. In order to participate for tryouts, students must have a physical on file. If your child has an “F” for the first nine weeks in English, Math, Science, or Social Studies, he or she is unable to tryout. For more information, please contact Ty Boyer at boyertg@lcps.k12.va.us or 540 894-5457 ext. 2174. DaVell Smith can be reached at smithdm@lcps.k12.va.us or 540 894-5436 ext. 1175. Trevor Gallo can be reached atgallotj@lcps.k12.va.us or 540 894-5457 ext. 2157. Dan Leale can be reached at lealeds@lcps.k12.va.us or 540 894-5457 ext. 2141. We look forward to a great wrestling season!
More Information for Students Visiting VMI – Tuesday, November 18
This is a reminder about the upcoming “American Mathematics Contest 8” field trip to the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) on Tuesday, November 18 for those students attending. Each year, VMI hosts this event on its campus in Lexington, Virginia. This year, VMI will have approximately 825 students and approximately 100 teachers and chaperones in this day’s events. Among the schools participating will be Amherst Middle School, Monelison Middle School, Shelburne Middle School, Nelson Middle School, Auburn Middle School, William Byrd Middle School, Central Academy Middle School, Warren County Middle School, Benjamin Franklin Middle School, Linkhorne Middle School, and Montgomery County Schools.
As previously mentioned, students who are attending the VMI trip will need to leave from the middle school prior to the start of the school day on November 18. Students and chaperones should arrive no later than 6:40 a.m. We will take attendance and load the buses starting at 6:45 a.m. Students should plan to be dropped off on the right side of the school building next to the school cafeteria (same location as the drop off and pick up for the dances). Breakfast will not be provided by the school. So, if your child is attending, please plan for your child to eat a big, healthy breakfast prior to arriving, or he/she may quickly eat his/her own breakfast in the cafeteria before boarding the bus.Unfortunately, students who arrive late risk missing the bus and not being able to attend.
Students may bring #2 pencils. Additional supplies will be on hand, such as scratch paper. No calculators are permitted or the use of cell phones during the exam. After students have finished taking the AMC8 examination, lunch will be provided to students via VMI, and students will be engaged in Fun Math Talks.
Students should then be picked up by a parent or will ride the activity buses home that afternoon. We anticipate we will arrive back by 3:30 p.m. Activity buses will pick up from the middle school at 5:50 p.m. We ask that parents arrive between 3:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. to pick up their students.
For questions about the trip, please contact Assistant Principal Joel Rupert at rupertjd@lcps.k12.va.us Chaperones may contact Sarah Mayfield at mayfiesr@lcps.k12.va.us
We look forward to an exciting trip and a day of learning math with our students!
Goals for LCMS Student Council Association (SCA)
This year, SCA’s main priority is to promote awareness and knowledge of student government around LCMS through more student involvement. This organization will become more student run than teacher run, where students are held more responsible for coming up with fundraising ideas, planned events, and spirit week themes. This process will begin by electing class officers to be able to hear ideas from the student body. SCA also plans to promote school spirit with random spirit days, moral boosters, and planned events for each grade level.
SCA will also become more involved with the community of LCMS by showing support to our PTA. SCA members will help out in many functions that the PTA hosts, beginning with Bingo Night on November 15! Members will also get involved with community service projects, such as Bully Awareness, the annual LCMS Angel Tree, and a canned food drive to support our local families.
Overall, SCA’s mission is to make this organization spirited and to show tons of love for LCMS! For more information, please contact Megan Jackson (Grade 6 SCA Advisor) at jacksoml@lcps.k12.va.us
Hope Hamblin (Grade 7 SCA Advisory) at hamblihc@lcps.k12.va.us or Sarah Mayfield (Grade 8 SCA Advisor) atmayfiesr@lcps.k12.va.us
SCA Hosting Canned Food Drive – Monday, November 3 to Friday, November 14
The SCA will be hosting a Canned Food Drive from Monday, November 3 to Friday, November 14. The SCA is accepting all non-perishable items, such as macaroni and cheese boxes. However, please do not bring in class jars. The SCA representative will be responsible for keeping track of how many cans each students brings in each day. SCA advisors will further collects cans from rooms. The student in each grade level who brings in the most cans will win a gift card. The grade level who collects the most cans will have the opportunity to prank the grade level administrator. We look forward to seeing how many cans our students will collect for others in need this holiday.
Middle Years November 2014
For more information on Middle Years, a parent newsletter, please click here, “Middle Years November 2014.”
Student Schedule for Monday, November 10 to Friday, November 21
On Monday, November 10 (B): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 (This is a “B” day for electives. Students go to Period 1, Period 2, Period 3, Period 4, Period 5, and then for the last period of the day, students return back to their Period 1 class.) Because of the upcoming holidays, please note that on Wednesday, November 19, students return to their Period 4 for the last period of the day. This is the same for Thursday, November 20; Friday, November 21; Monday, November 24; and Tuesday, November 25.
On November 10: (B): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1
On November 11: (A): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 2
On November 12: (B): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 3
On November 13: (A): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4
On November 14: (B): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5
On November 17: (A): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1
On November 18: (B): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 2
On November 19: (A): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4
On November 20: (B): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4
On November 21: (A): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4
Updates
Yearbook Recognition Ads
Attention 8th Grade Parents/Guardians: Yearbook recognition ads are a great way for parents, families, and friends to commemorate student achievements and important milestones. In addition, revenues from recognition ads help our school to create a better yearbook. To purchase your ad online, use this linkhttp://www.jostens.com/apps/shop/yrbk_ra_flash.asp?CID=222039&PFID=2014100404163725788 Jostens is managing our school's yearbook ad sales so please do not contact or send materials to the school. Please take into account our school's ad content guidelines on the bottom of this form during the creation of your ad online. All ad orders must be placed online by Monday, February 16.
Important Upcoming Dates – Added information and dates are marked in purple.
Saturday, November 8: PTA Belk Charity Event
Thursday, November 13: Veteran’s Day Concert at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 15: PTA Annual Bobcat Bingo
Tuesday, November 18: Grade 7 and Grade 8 students attend AMC8 Competition @ VMI at 9:30 a.m.
Tuesday, November 18: Interim Reports for Marking Period 2 go out with students.
Tuesday, November 18: LCMS Parent Advisory Meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the LCMS Main Office Conference Room with Dr. Chen
Tuesday, November 18: PTA meeting at 7:00 p.m. in LCMS Main Office Conference Room
Thursday, November 20: National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) Induction Meeting at 7:00 p.m. in LCMS Forum
Tuesday, November 25: Grade 8 students attend The Encore! Presentation @ Altria Theater, Richmond at 8:30 a.m.
Wednesday, December 3: Grade 6 students take English benchmark tests.
Thursday, December 4: Grade 6 students take Math benchmark tests.
Friday, December 5: Grade 7 students take English benchmark tests.
Friday, December 5; Saturday, December 6; and Sunday, December 7: LCHS’s Mainstage presents Pride and Prejudice at LCMS Forum at 7:00 p.m. on December 5 and December 6, and 3:00 p.m. on December 7.
Monday, December 8: Grade 7 students take Math benchmark tests.
Tuesday, December 9: Grade 8 students take English benchmark tests.
Wednesday, December 10: Grade 8 students take Math benchmark tests.
Thursday, December 11: All grades take Science benchmark tests.
Friday, December 12: All grades take Social Studies benchmark tests.
Tuesday, December 16: LCMS Parent Advisory Meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the LCMS Main Office Conference Room with Dr. Chen
Tuesday, December 16: PTA meeting at 7:00 p.m. in LCMS Main Office Conference Room
Friday, December 19: End of Marking Period 2
Monday, December 22 – Monday, January 5: Winter Break for students
Tuesday, January 6: Classes resume for students. LCMS doors open at 7:40 a.m.
Tuesday, January 13: Report cards for Marking Period 2 are sent home with students.
Tuesday, January 13: LCMS Parent Advisory Meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the LCMS Main Office Conference Room with Dr. Chen
Tuesday, January 13: PTA meeting at 7:00 p.m. in LCMS Main Office Conference Room
Friday, January 16: LCMS Dance 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Monday, January 19: Martin Luther King Jr. Day No School for students and staff
Tuesday, January 20: Classes resume for students LCMS doors open at 7:40 a.m.
Monday, February 9: Interim reports for Marking Period 3 are sent home with students.
Monday, February 16: Staff Development Day No school for students
Tuesday, February 17: School resumes for students. LCMS doors open at 7:40 a.m.
Wednesday, February 11: LCMS Science Fair Awards @ LCMS Forum at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 21: Battle of the Books Competition for LCMS Students @ Cedar Lee Middle School
Tuesday, February 24: Grade 8 students take the English reading benchmark tests.
Wednesday, February 25: Picture Day for students
Thursday, February 26: Grade 8 students take the English writing benchmark tests.
Saturday, April 25: Battle of the Books Competition for LCMS Students @ Culpeper Middle School
Tuesday, May 19 – All A Banquet at LCMS Cafeteria at 6:00 p.m.
Thank you for taking the time to read these updates. As I will say to my students each day, “This is important. You belong here. Effort makes a difference.”
With warm regards,
Lisa C. Chen
