A Message from the Superintendent
Dear
Lovejoy Community:
I hope this finds you and your family doing well. I am looking forward to seeing you this weekend at our Foundation's Denim and Diamonds Gala.
As we roll into the last two months of school, it is similar to trying to drink from a fire hose as we have so many things happening at once. I would like to draw your attention to the following:
School Funding
The legislature is in session and school finance is on the docket. We are tracking several bills closely that will have a huge impact on our funding for next school year. As things currently sit, the legislature is poised to cut our funding by almost $6 million. Multiple bills have been filed which would remedy this outcome. Watch the short video below outlining the challenge.
In the meantime, Lovejoy ISD is actively working on a plan to increase revenue to offset this potential legislative impact. Our local revenue can increase in a number of ways:
- Increase in our number of transfer-with-tuition students
- Addition of a Pre-Kindergarten program with tuition
- Increasing our Summer Enrichment Program
- Reviewing other options to mitigate any potential loss of state funding
Summer Enrichment Program
Our summer camps offer a wide variety of enrichment opportunities and will fill rapidly. You will find detailed information in the "News" section, or you may go directly to the Summer Enrichment page by clicking here.
New School Calendar
Last week our Board of Trustees approved the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school calendars. You may
click here
to view this information.
Teacher in Need
One of our teachers at Lovejoy Elementary School, Alissa Danielson, was recently hospitalized and experienced significant medical complications. We are very pleased to report Alissa is now home and undergoing rehabilitation. In an effort to support Alissa and her family, a GoFundMe page has been established. If you would like to help, please
click here
.
Lovejoy ISD Pre-Kindergarten
Lovejoy ISD is accepting applications for tuition-based Pre-Kindergarten. This comprehensive program will be staffed by credentialed teachers and housed on the Puster Elementary School campus. This program will offer enhancements in music, fitness, art, library, science, technology, engineering, and math. We are enthusiastic about providing a Lovejoy education for community members looking for a rich learning experience which will provide a firm foundation for kindergarten and beyond.
To apply, please
click here
. To schedule a tour of the Pre-Kindergarten program, please contact
Stacey Dillon
at 469.742.8003.
Pictured Below: Kevin Parker, Principal of Puster Elementary School, "shoots hoops" with incoming Pre-Kindergarten student, Crew Thomas.
LHS Majestics National Championship
The Majestics Dance Team competed in The MADance Nationals Drill Team competition over the weekend, and while the list of competitors in Large Team category were among the "cream of the crop" in talent this year, the Majestics held their own and returned home with both scores and placements acknowledging their hard work this season. Congratulations to the team on a job well done.
Nationals Champion Placements
Nationals Champion in Large Team Novelty
Nationals Champion in Senior 17-18 Trio - JoJo Bennett, Ashlynn Gaines, and Chloe Harris
Nationals Champion in Senior Small Ensemble - "Wade in the Water"
JoJo Bennett
, Kiersten Burno, Ashton Franquiz, Debbie Montalvo, Izzie Muirhead, Emily Ottinger, Alyssa Whitmore, Lauren Willmann, Kayla Wissmann
2nd Place in Senior 17-18 Trio - Ashton Franquiz, Lauren Willmann, Alyssa Whitmore
Majestics Dance Officers
JoJo Bennett
, Major; Ashlynn Gaines, Sr. Lt.; Chloe Harris, Sr. Lt.; Ashton Franquiz, Jr. Lt.; Alyssa Whitmore, Jr. Lt.; Lauren Willmann, Jr. Lt.
2nd Place in Large Team Officer Modern - "In this Shirt"
2nd Place in Large Team Officer Jazz - "Enter Sandman"
3rd Place in Large Team Officer Contemporary - "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
Majestics Dance Team
National Champion in Large Team Novelty - "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"
3rd Place in Large Team Hip Hop - "Purple Lamborghini"
The Majestics are currently rehearsing for their annual Spring Show: Simply the Best. Mark your calendars for this event on April 20, 21, and 22, 2017, at 7:30 PM.
The girls varsity team competed in their 3rd consecutive state tournament last weekend in Fort Worth. They had their best showing at the state level, placing 27th out of a total of 166 high school bowling teams. Congratulations for a job very well done.
Seniors
Katie Williams
Kathleen Kelly
Juniors
Alex Wingard
Katherine Carter
Sophomores
Kaitlyn Cinek
Kiersten Esposito
Sarah Nash
LHS Theatre UIL One Act Play
Congratulations to the cast and crew of this year's UIL One Act Play, Wit by Margaret Edson, for advancing to Area.
In addition to advancing, the team earned the top placement from all three judges, and the following awards:
All Star Technical Crew
Mason Taylor Long
Honorable Mention
Patrick Compton and Morgan Riddle
All Star Cast
Abby Yaeger
Best Actress
Rachel Bradley
The company will compete again on April 1st at Plano West High School.
The Lovejoy Visual Art program is honored to announce that 19 student works were selected to compete at the national level; with 7 (8 national medals) earning national recognition in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2017. These students have been identified by panels of creative professionals as the most talented young artists and writers in the nation.
Click here
for additional information regarding the awards and for a full listing of the LHS award winners.
Joelle Benigno, Drawing and Illustration Silver Medal:
Joelle Benigno, Painting, Gold Medal:
Tad Greenwald, Drawing and Illustration, Gold Medal:
Ryan Irwin, Photography, Gold Medal:
Hannah Lawson, Mixed Media, Gold Medal:
Elijah Ruhala, Painting, Gold Medal:
Emma Wigginton, Mixed Media, Silver Medal:
Jessica Wu, Art Portfolio, Silver Medal:
The AT&T Metroplex High School Hockey League has announced its Varsity All Academic Players for the 2016-2017 season. Thirty-five out of approximately 500 varsity players were selected to receive All-Academic Honors. Three awards went to LHS Ice Hockey team members. Congratulations to Junior Sydney Jones and Sophomores Matthew McLaren and Andy Pottinger. This award is based on GPA, a challenging course load, as well as extracurricular participation and community service.
Congratulations to the LHS Jazz Band for being named an Outstanding Ensemble at the Collin Jazz Fest this past weekend. In addition to the group recognition, the following individuals also received awards.
Outstanding Jazz Musician Award
Sam Oates, Trumpet
Jack Supan, Guitar
Anna Turner, Alto Sax
Patrick O'Brien, Trumpet
Ethan Etchieson, Vibes
Garrett Martin, Trombone
Leo Dobson, Bari Sax
Summer Jazz Camp Scholarship
Jack Supan
(This is a full ride to the summer jazz institute at Collin College.)
Collin College Jazz Scholarship
Leo Dobson, Bari Sax
Garrett Martin, Trombone
(Only three scholarships were awarded, two of which went to LHS students.)
LHS UIL Academic District Meet Results
Congratulations to the LHS students who competed in the UIL Academic District Competition this weekend, and to students and coaches advancing to Regionals in April. Please
click here
for competition results.
Photos by LHS student, Parker Nolan:
Texas PTA 2016 Reflections Contest Awards
The Texas PTA announced the awards for the state level of the Reflections program. While Lovejoy ISD doesn't have any entries advancing to the national level this year, we do have quite a few entries which placed at the state level. These students will be mailed an invitation from Texas PTA to attend an awards ceremony in San Antonio on May 6th.
Film Production - Award of Excellence
Carly Johnson
, LHS, "My Story: Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win"
Film Production - Award of Merit
Lauren Rogers
, SCIS, "My Life"
Literature - Award of Merit
Kassidy Litchenburg
, LHS, "Worth Writing About"
Literature - Honorable Mention
Carter Satterwhite
, WSMS, "Life's Decisions"
Photography - Honorable Mention
Virginia Smith
, Puster Elementary, "Getting Ready to Fly"
Photography - Honorable Mention
Allie Grace Benefield
, Lovejoy Elementary, "Hooves on Lava"
Visual Arts - Honorable Mention
Jocelyn Kim
, SCIS, "When You See a Sunset"
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A Message from the Deputy Superintendent
Dear Lovejoy Community:
Spring is always a busy, yet fulfilling time of year. With approximately 40 days of school remaining, our challenge in Lovejoy seems always to be how to recognize and celebrate our student successes. This challenge has caused me to pause and reflect on how success is typically measured in a school district.
As a school district, our guiding mission is to prepare each student for the future of his or her choosing. In terms of academics, this goal is the reason we want each student to master the content of the subjects and courses in grades K-12. As you know, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests are being given this week. As a state, we have had assessments in various grade levels and subjects for over 20 years. Each new version of the test has increased in rigor and has been better aligned to the state standards. However, as a district, we know there are important measures of learning, as well as children who have not been assessed on STAAR or any previous version of a state test.
In terms of STAAR results last year, Lovejoy had the second highest overall STAAR scores of the 1,217 districts and charter schools in Texas. We could certainly place this in the column of student success.
Another measure of academic success lies in results provided by The College Board in the Advanced Placement (AP) program. Just over 40% of our Class of 2016 took and passed at least three AP exams. This can also be considered a strong measure of academic success, given that all students in Lovejoy are able to enroll in an AP course, and all students take the AP test once they choose to enroll in the course.
In addition to academic successes, we know there are many other important "measures" of our students. For example, tonight I will be attending the awards ceremony for the Dallas Museum of Art's Young Master's Program. Several talented artists from Lovejoy High School had their works selected for an exhibit which will be featured at the DMA through April 16th. Only the most creative and skilled pieces are selected for the Young Master's Program.
We know the various components of an excellent education cannot always be quantified, and therefore we strive for excellence in academics, fine arts, athletics, competitions, and each experience made available in Lovejoy. Thank you for being our partners as we strive to ensure excellence in every aspect of the educational experiences in Lovejoy.
We hope you love where you have chosen for your child to learn. If you have feedback to help us improve, please do not hesitate to contact me on my cell at 214.385.1967 or via email at
dennis_muizers@lovejoyisd.net.
Respectfully,
Dennis Muizers
Deputy Superintendent
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This section of Email Express highlights news reports/articles in which Lovejoy has been featured over the previous week.
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Summer Enrichment Camps
The Summer Enrichment Camps have been finalized, and we are excited to offer opportunities for Pre-K through 12th grade. You will find everything from dodge ball to robotics, and cooking to coding.
Summer Enrichment Camps will be offered in three sessions:
Session I: June 12-16
Session II: June 19-23
Session III: July 10-14
Click here
to see the exciting summer enrichment camp offerings. Registration is open.
With a few exceptions (athletic camps and Lovejoy theatre camp), information for all enrichment camps is available through this link. If there is a need to register through the camp provider, the link will be provided with the session description for each session (e.g., PSAT Prep from Princeton Review).
Please review the enrichment camps and consider one or more of these excellent opportunities for your children this summer.
Kindergarten Roundup
Lovejoy ISD Athletic Summer Camps
Registration is now open for Lovejoy ISD Athletic Summer Camps.
Click here
for details.
Lovejoy Athletics is pleased to announce its partnership with Geno Pierce's Performance Course for the 2017-2018 school year. Performance Course brings with it a proven track record of championship success. Performance Course offers many different courses from high-intensity programs for males to foundational courses for 1st graders. There is something for everyone.
Click here
for details and registration links.
Kids 1st Summer Camp
Spring Sale at LHS and WSMS Stores
The school stores at LHS and WSMS are offering 50% off the entire store. The LHS store is open Monday - Friday from 8:30 AM - 4:15 PM. Please check with WSMS for store hours.
Gifted and Talented Referrals for 2017-2018
Deadline is March 31st
The referral window for gifted and talented services is now open.
Click here
for referral forms which are located online in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. The window will close March 31, 2017.
Testing will be Saturday, April 22 and/or 29 for students in grades 1-12. Kindergarten students will be tested during the school day.
If you were unable to attend our information session, and would like more information, a slideshow presentation is available on the
gifted and talented webpage
.
April is Autism Awareness Month
Substitute Nursing
Lovejoy ISD is currently accepting applications for substitute nurses. The application may be found by
clicking here
. Please contact Melissa Page with any questions at: 469.742.8013 or
melissa_page@lovejoyisd.net
.
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Chick-fil-A Spirit Night Benefiting the Special Olympics: Tonight
Chick-fil-A will be hosting a spirit night to benefit the Special Olympics this evening from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM.
Click here
for details.
PTSA Parent Workshop: April 5
One of the most difficult challenges of parenting is realizing you don't always know what children are thinking and feeling. You might even be aware suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents, but you can't imagine your child might become one of those statistics. When do normal ups and downs of adolescents become something to worry about? And if you are worried about it, what can you do?
Although adults don't often know about it, many of our kids experience symptoms of depression, think about suicide, make plans to die by suicide, and even make a suicide attempt each year.
The PTSA will host a parent prevention workshop. The guest speaker will be Bobbi Gilbert (former Lovejoy parent) whose own son committed suicide 23 months ago. The goal is to help parents equip themselves with signs to be aware of, and how we can help our children.
The first step is to learn about the factors that can put a teen at risk for suicide. The more you know, the better you'll be prepared for understanding what can put your child at risk.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
7:00 PM
Lovejoy High School Library
LHS Art Show: Through April 7
The 1st Annual Lovejoy Visual Arts Portrait Show is currently on display in the Lovejoy High School Art Gallery. This K-12 exhibit is a showcase of how our young artists represent themselves and others through portraiture. The concept of identity, both through representation and abstraction, is a core thread in every Lovejoy art studio, and is explored through a plethora of media and art forms. This exhibition celebrates the range of approaches used to explore identity at all age levels, and is a spectacular body of work to begin the tradition of a yearly Portrait Show. The show will be open daily during school hours through April 7th.
Fantastic Fossils: April 11
Join John S. Mead -- passionate Biology Teacher, Origins Explorer, and Nature Photographer -- as he takes us through his exciting participation in Dr. Lee Berger's excavation of a new human species, Homo naledi, from the Rising Star Cave in South Africa. This species of human ancestor is believed to be 900,000 to 2 million years old and was an incredible find. The discovery of Homo naledi is featured on the October 2015 cover of National Geographic Magazine, and in a current exhibit at the Perot Museum. Mr. Mead will share stories about the discovery, as well as his outstanding photos. This event is sponsored by the Lovejoy Gifted Association (LGA). LGA members and families may attend free. All middle school and high school students may attend the event for free with a current student ID. There is a $5 admission fee for adults who are not LGA members.
Fantastic Fossils
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Lovejoy High School Auditorium
Lovejoy Visual Art Students Honored at Dallas Museum of Art:
Through April 16
The following Lovejoy High School visual art students were selected to participate in the 23rd Annual Young Masters Exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art. This is a prestigious honor; having their work selected to hang among the halls of contemporary and historic masterpieces in an exhibition demonstrating the most extraordinary work created within AP Studio Art programs from ten of the area's highest performing high schools.
Joelle Benigno - AP Drawing
Taite Borozny- AP 3D Design
Tad Greenwald - AP 2D Design
Ryan Irwin - AP 2D Design
Carolyn Jurotich (2 time winner) - AP Drawing
Hannah Lawson - AP Drawing
Ian Toomey - AP 3D Design
Jessica Wu (2 time winner) - AP Drawing
Please mark your calendars to visit the exhibition:
23rd Annual Young Masters Exhibition
Dallas Museum of Art, Concourse Gallery
Exhibition: February 25-April 16, 2017
E-Waste Recycling Event: April 22
In conjunction with the celebration of Earth Day, Lovejoy High School will host an e-waste recycling day on Saturday, April 22nd from 9 AM - Noon in the LHS parking lot. Please click here for additional information regarding the e-waste collection.
Relay for Life: April 28
The annual Relay for Life event will be held on April 28th from 6:00 PM - 12:00 PM at the Lovejoy High School Stadium. The Relay for Life Committee will be cutting ponytails for Beautiful Lengths, an organization which, partnered with the American Cancer Society, uses donated hair to create free wigs for women losing their hair due to cancer treatment. The committee is looking for selfless donors to cut their hair onstage at the event to donate to making these wigs for cancer patients. Donors may donate as little as 8 inches, but more if they please. The hair cannot have been chemically treated, have more than 5% grays, or be dyed permanently. Anyone, any age may donate.
Click here
to register to donate.
Relay for Life will also feature the Mr. Relay contest. Similar to Mr. Lovejoy, Mr. Relay will have male participants from 9th through 12th grades who will compete in several rounds, such as talent and Q&A. A panel of judges (teachers from LHS) will determine the winner.
Students interested in participating may
click here
.
Relay for Life Luminaries
The Relay for Life Committee is selling Luminaria, a commemorative item which will be on display during the 2017 LHS Relay for Life event. The Luminaria honors all those who have had cancer, those who have survived, and those who have sadly passed away. Luminaria are $10 each and can be ordered by
clicking here
. The order form and payment (made payable to the American Cancer Society) should be returned to the LHS School Store.
For questions, please contact:
Camp Invention: June 19-23
Camp Invention will be held at Sloan Creek Intermediate School from June 19th through 23rd, for children entering K - 6th grades.
Click here
for additional information.
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If you would like to provide us with accomplishments of a Lovejoy graduate, please
click here
.
We will share this information in the "Where Are They Now?" section of Email Express. It is a pleasure to report the successes of Lovejoy graduates during their college years and beyond.
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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 by phone. Links to our social media accounts are shown below.
Lovejoy ISD App
The Lovejoy ISD App is available for download on both Apple and Android devices. To download the app for Apple devices, please
click here
. To download the app for Android devices, please
click here
.
Twitter and Facebook
Are
you following the district on
Twitter
? Have you liked us on
Facebook
? Join us on social media for news and announcements.
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As always, please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.
With Respect,
Ted Moore
Superintendent
Lovejoy ISD
972.415.8129 (mobile)
469.742.8011 (office)
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