Dr. Lisa Chen, Principal, Louisa County Middle School, Mineral, VA

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Principal' Update for November 25, 2015

Dear LCMS Bobcat Family and Friends:

First of all, I want to wish all of you and our children a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving holiday. Secondly, I want to take the time to thank you for your children. You have such incredible, creative, and kindhearted students. My staff and I continue to look forward to always partnering with you to ensure that all of our children have the best educational opportunities possible.

I have truly enjoyed my time here as your principal for the second year and having the opportunity to be closer to my Mom, Dad, Uncle George, Aunt Vicky, Grandpa, Cathy, Michael, Toshiro, and Emiko. There is nothing like family and being home.

As always, please feel free to contact me at chenlc@lcps.k12.va.us if you have questions, concerns, or anything that you would like to share.

The following are some important updates and announcements.

Announcements
Morning Announcers – Harmony Key and Austin Libby
Harmony Key and Austin Libby did an outstanding job with morning announcements. They were clear in their delivery of messages, and they enunciated each word with great accuracy. Without their help, Morning Announcements would not be as fun, enjoyable, or even as informative! From Monday, November 30 to Friday, December 4, we will have two new guest speakers to assist us with the announcements: Ashton Lonce and Skylar Loving.

Community Action Team (CAT)s Club
The LCMS CATs have been hard at work again! In the past couple of months, they have created “thank you” cards and sent them to veterans in local nursing homes and hospitals. They are also working hard to collect new socks to be donated to the Louisa Santa Council! The CATs Club Members converted an ordinary box into an extraordinary turkey, “Tom the Turkey.” Many students and staff have stuffed Tom with their sock donations. The CATs further wrapped books for the Louisa Santa Council. These books will be distributed to youth across the county who receive their Christmas gifts and food from the Louisa Santa Council. The CATs will also be helping to assemble our Angel Tree in the Main Office. Thank you to Katie Jones (Special Education teacher) for her leadership in this club!

Angel Tree – Home, School, and Community Correlate
The Santa Council of Louisa has provided our school with one local family to "adopt" this year. Additional families may be added. Currently, the Angel Tree has the wishes of three children. Angels may select gifts from the tree in the Main Office. The Home, School, and Community Correlate is sponsoring this event. Each family will have a different color, and each ornament will have a specific need or want of each family member. The family who is on our tree at this time has yellow tags. In an effort to keep things organized, our staff have been doing the following. Volunteers select an angel from the tree. Once the item has been purchased, the angel ornament is attached to the unwrapped gift(s). Gifts should be given to Claire Schreck (Special Education teacher) by Thursday, December 10. Monetary donations for the Christmas families may be given to Donna Rivers (Bookkeeper). I really appreciate staff members and the Home, School, and Community Correlate for sponsoring such an event each year! It makes a difference to our students and families.

National Junior Honors Society (NJHS)
With over 100 students in NJHS, we have had two more teacher volunteers to assist in this club. Marsha Key (Special Education teacher) and Conner Waldron (Social Studies teacher) will be working with Mary Eden (English teacher) and Gregory Palmer (Science teacher) in organizing events for students in NJHS. Presently, all four staff members are finalizing what days students will be meeting as some students are already in other clubs. In this way, students will still have the opportunity to attend their previous clubs while attending NJHS. Robbie Garnes (Assistant Principal) will further be working with these teachers to help streamline and organize upcoming events. We are excited about the prospects and the good work that will come from our student leaders! How exciting to have more than 100 students in NJHS!

2016 All-District Chorus Yesterday afternoon, 47 students auditioned for a spot in the 2016 All-District Chorus event. We are very grateful for two of our county music teachers who gave their afternoon to audition our students. I further appreciate the vision and leadership of Sharon Wills (Chorus and Drama teacher). Congratulations to all students who participated!

Sopranos:
Kassandra Barentine
Katie Harris
Moriah Moss
Brook White
Rachel Upshur (Alternate)

Altos:
Abbie Alpern
Olivia Grubbs
Ashton Lonce
Ashley Schultz
Mikayla Carpenter (Alternate)
Baritones:
Ken Allison
Jamori Harris
Karsten Thompson
Ryan Wheeler
Drake White

After School Help – Tuesday, December 1 and Wednesday, December 2

Student Schedule for Monday, November 30 to Friday, December 11
Monday, November 23 (A): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 (This is a “A” 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.)

On Wednesday, November 25                        No school for students and staff.
On Thursday, November 26:                          Happy Thanksgiving. No school for students and staff.
On Friday, November 27:                               No school for students and staff.

On Monday, November 30 (B):                      1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 Classes resume. School doors open at 7:40 a.m.

On Tuesday, December 1(A):                         1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 2
On Wednesday, December 2 (B):                   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 3
On Thursday, December 3 (A):                      1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4
On Friday, December 4 (B):                           1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5

On Monday, December 7 (A):                        1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1
On Tuesday, December 8 (B):                        1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 2
On Wednesday, December 9 (A):                  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 3
On Thursday, December 10 (B):                     1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4
On Friday, December 11 (A):                         1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5


Updates

Louisa County Rotary Essay Contest – Monday, February 15
For more information about the Louisa County Rotary Essay Contest, please see the attachment, “Rotary Essay Contest 2016.”

Girls Exploring the Universe – Monday, July 15 – Friday, July 15
A summer day camp for middle school girls sponsored by the University of Virginia will be offered from Monday, July 11 to Friday, July 15. This program is designed to increase student interest and curiosity for middle school girls in astronomy and science. GETU is free of charge to students who are selected to participate. For more information, please seehttp://www.girlsexploringtheuniverse.com/apply/ Applications are due by Friday, January 15 athttp://getu2016.questionpro.com I hope that as many of our students apply to this free program!

Important Upcoming Dates – Added information and dates are marked in purple. *Please note that the week students return to school, they will be taking benchmark tests.
Wednesday, November 25: No school for students and staff.
Thursday, November 26: Division Holiday. Happy Thanksgiving. No school for students and staff.
Friday, November 27: Division Holiday. No school for students and staff.
Monday, November 30: Classes resume. School door opens at 7:40 a.m. 
*Tuesday, December 1: English 6 Benchmark
Tuesday, December 1: Winters Sports Meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the LCMS Forum. All athletes and parents/guardians are encouraged to attend.

*Wednesday, December 2: English 7 Benchmark
*Thursday, December 3: English 8 Benchmark
Thursday, December 3: Grade 6 Band, Grade 6 Chorus, and Grade 7/8 Guitar Concert at 7:00 p.m. at LCHS Auditorium

*Monday, December 7: Math 7 Benchmark
*Tuesday, December 8: Math 8 Benchmark
*Wednesday, December 9: Math 6 Benchmark
Friday, December 11: Social Studies Benchmark
Monday, December 14: Science Benchmark
Tuesday, December 15: Dr. Chen meets with the LCMS Parent Advisory Council from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Main Office Conference Room. PTA Board meeting from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Main Office Conference Room.

Friday, December 18: End of 2nd Marking Period.
Monday, December 21- Friday, January 1: Winter Break. No school for students.

Monday, January 4 – Teacher Workday. No school for students
Tuesday, January 5: Staff Development Day. No school for students.
Wednesday, January 6: Classes resume for student. School doors open at 7:40 a.m. 
Saturday, January 9: Battle of the Books Competition. Snow date is Saturday, January 23. This event will take place at Warrenton Middle School, 244 Waterloo Street, Warrenton, VA Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. The competition begins at 10:00 a.m.

Thursday, March 24: All County Music @ LCHS Auditorium from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 16: Final Battle of the Books Competition will take place at Cedar Lee Middle School, 11138 Marsh Road, Bealeton, VA Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. The competition begins at 10:00 a.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
Lisa C. Chen, Ph.D.
Principal
Louisa County Middle School