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Lovejoy Independent School District
Celebrating 100 Years of Excellence in Education
Centennial Logo Designed by Hudson Samuels, LHS Student
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A Message from the Superintendent
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I hope you and your family enjoyed a great Thanksgiving break. Over the break, the Lovejoy Varsity Football team competed in the UIL 5-A Region II State playoffs with a win against Sulpher Springs. This victory earned the Leopards a spot in the Area Round of playoffs at AT&T stadium where they finished the season with a loss to Frisco Lone Star. Congratulations to the team and coaches for making it to Area Rounds. For additional information, please see the Athletic section of this edition of Email Express.
The positive response from families enrolled in the tuition-based Pre-K program at Puster has been overwhelming.
Click here
to view a video clip of Ms. Dykema's Pre-K class after reading The Three Little Pigs. I feel certain this will brighten your day.
We have been asked to share a need with the Lovejoy community. Maouia Bouafif is the parent of two Lovejoy students and is currently battling brain cancer. You may
click here
to help the family with the increasing costs of medical care. Your consideration of this need is appreciated.
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Lovejoy ISD Fine Arts Festival
December 1 and 2
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The Lovejoy ISD Fine Arts Festival is this Friday and Saturday at Lovejoy High School. The Fine Arts Department is busy with final preparations as they transform the high school into an extravaganza showcasing the performing and visual arts.
There is something for everyone to enjoy, from soloist performances and individual art, to elementary choirs, theatre and dance productions, concerts, and incredible installation pieces. We look forward to welcoming the community to this event and hope to see you this weekend.
You may
click here
to view festival performance schedules, art gallery times, and a festival map.
If you have a child at any campus who participates in fine arts, please consider volunteering for one hour at the festival on Saturday. We are in need of adult volunteers and would appreciate you joining us. Please
click here
to volunteer.
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Open House for
Prospective Families Saturday, December 2nd
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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 2nd at Lovejoy High School. Open House events will be held at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM in the Library. Interested families can:
- Learn about the Lovejoy K-12 academic, fine arts and athletic programs.
- Visit with students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
- Meet personally with elementary, intermediate, middle, and high school principals.
- Tour Lovejoy High School.
- 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.
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Lovejoy ISD launched its first-ever SAT test prep class in September 2017. The next prep class will begin January 22nd to prepare students for the March administration of the SAT. The course is open to all Lovejoy High School students. The Lovejoy SAT Prep course is $795 and includes 24 hours of instruction as well as a full-length practice test. Space is limited to ensure small group instruction.
Click here
for additional information and to register.
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Chloe Russell Earns Nomination to Compete
Chloe Russell
, a 6th grade student at Sloan Creek Intermediate School, was nominated to compete in the American Fine Arts Festival's International Voice Competition "Golden Voices of America 2017." The Golden Voices of America competition takes place in New York City, and is intended for vocalists who would like to challenge themselves by competing on a highly selective level in voice competition. The winners of this vocal competition perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Congratulations to Chloe on this tremendous accomplishment.
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WSMS recently hosted a Battle of the Books. Students and teachers/ administrators formed teams of up to 4 peers. Using books as ammunition, teams went head-to-head in an epic battle which tested each competitor's knowledge of 4 selected titles. This year's selections were:
The Playbook
by Kwame Alexander
Wednesday Wars
by Gary Schmidt
A Night Divided
by Jennifer Nielson
Masterminds
by Gordon Korman
Congratulations to the WSMS Battle of the Books Student Champions, The Book Thieves. Team members were Tucker Ashley, Ailas Kokoricha, Shruti Subramaniyan and Jannat Verman. After being named student champions, The Book Thieves went on to battle 4 teacher/ administrator teams. In this epic battle, a teacher/ administrator team ran away with the title of 2017 WSMS Battle of the Books Overall Champions. Congratulations to Dennis Muizers (Deputy Superintendent), Crystal Hume (Digital Literacy Coach), Kelly Cowan (Middle School Math Coach and Independent Studies Teacher) and Brie Smith (Director of Advanced Academics).
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Foundation for Lovejoy Schools
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2017 Annual Appeal Ends December 31
As the end of the calendar year approaches, the Foundation for Lovejoy Schools would like to say thank you for your generosity to the annual appeal campaign. We have received donations from 542 donors totaling $177,977. This is just shy of our goal of $200,000 and 650 donors. If you have not yet donated or you wish to make a final end of year tax-deductible donation, please
click here
. Without you, we could not carry out our mission to enhance the educational experience for Lovejoy students and staff.
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Lovejoy Ladies' Night Out
Join us for a Lovejoy Ladies' Night Out to raise funds to award grants to Lovejoy ISD. The event will be held on Wednesday, January 10, 2018, at Cross Creek Ranch in Parker. This event sold out last year. Tickets go on sale Friday, December 1st at 10:00 AM.
For pricing and ticket information,
click here
or contact Cindy Booker at 469.742.8043
.
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Curriculum Express
News from the Deputy Superintendent
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Benefits of Arts Education
Dear Lovejoy Community:
I hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break and had the opportunity to enjoy time with family and friends. A Lovejoy tradition during the first weekend of December is the Fine Arts Festival. Each year, our excellent fine arts programs feature the work and performances by our students in grades K-12. This year, the Fine Arts Festival begins with performances by our band program students at 6:00 PM on December 1st, in the Lovejoy High School Auditorium and continues from 10:00 AM until approximately 8:00 PM on December 2nd at various locations throughout Lovejoy High School.
Last year, we received some very exciting news from the O'Donnell Foundation which identified the Lovejoy High School fine arts programs as 10th in Texas and 15th in the Nation. Using the performance on Advanced Placement exams, The O'Donnell Foundation has identified the top ten State Comprehensive AP Fine Arts Programs (schools which offer all three AP Fine Arts courses: AP Studio Art, AP Art History, and AP Music Theory). In this ranking, Lovejoy High School was #10 in Texas.
Because we provide arts education in Pre-K through 12th grade for more than the tremendous success of our students in our AP Fine Arts courses, I did a review of the research literature on the student benefits of arts education. A research study published in 2014 examined the benefits of arts education and found three significant student benefits beyond academics. The study concluded positive effects for students who participated in arts education to be:
- Students are more knowledgeable about the arts and place a higher value on the arts with a desire to be "consumers" of arts in the future;
- Exposure to the arts also affects the values of young people, making them more tolerant and empathetic. The researchers wrote, "We suspect that their awareness of different people, places, and ideas through the arts helps them appreciate and accept the differences they find in the broader world."; and
- Arts education and experiences help boost critical thinking when students are expected to notice details and be more thorough in their work and analysis.
In addition to academic benefits, we want our students to be more knowledgeable and frequent patrons of the arts. We also want them to be fair and respectful human beings who are critical thinkers.
I certainly hope to see you at the Fine Arts Festival this weekend. We hope you continue to love where you learn. If you have feedback to help us improve, please do not hesitate to contact me on my cell at 214.385.1967.
Respectfully,
Dennis Muizers
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Lovejoy Boys Basketball
The Varsity Boys played the Naamen Forest Rangers on Monday November 20th at Leopard Gym. The Leopards played hard and played well, but could not come up with their first win of the season. The Leopards fell to the Rangers 50-46.
The Leopards secured their first win of the season against the Frisco Centennial Titans last night at Leopard Gym 63-42. The Leopards played hard on the defensive end. The Leopards played well on offense scoring 18 and 24 points in the 1st and 4th respectively. Kolby McSpadden scored 20, followed by Drew Doig, Jace Berryman, and Trevor Hawley all added 8 points. The Leopards play their next game against Richardson in The Prosper Invitational Tournament on Thursday.
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Lovejoy Girls Basketball
The Lady Leopards defeated Frisco Wakeland by a score of 59-30 on November 20th. Lovejoy was led in scoring by Kaylee Rekieta with 14 points. Other scorers included Taylor Meixelsperger (10 points), Autumn Purcell (10 points), Carsen McFadden (5 points), Meredith Ehlmann (4 points), Ireland Miller (4 points), Kim Lyne (3 points), Meredith Welch (3 points), Tori Hanson (2 points), Bethany Smith (2 points), and Alex Brungardt (2 points). Other statistical leaders were Autumn Purcell (7 rebounds), Meredith Ehlmann (6 assists), Carsen McFadden (5 steals), and Bethany Smith (1 charge).
The Lady Leopards were defeated in overtime by South Oak Cliff 53-48 on Tuesday November 21st. Lovejoy was led in scoring by Kaylee Rekieta with 16 points. Other scorers included Kim Lyne (14 points), Taylor Meixelsperger (9 points), Carsen McFadden (4 points), Autumn Purcell (3 points), and Alexandra Brungardt (2 points). Other statistical leaders were Carsen McFadden (11 rebounds), Taylor Meixelsperger (7 assists), and Kaylee Rekieta (4 steals). The Leopards took a season high 3 chargers in the game with Meixelsperger, Rekieta, and Lyne all taking 1 apiece. Lovejoy will next play in the Buda Hays Tournament starting on November 30th.
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Lovejoy Football
The Lovejoy Leopards returned to the 2017 UIL 5-A Region II Division II State Playoffs on Friday, November 17th against the Sulphur Springs Wildcats. The Leopards came away with a 45-29 win against the Wildcats. The top performers for the Leopards on offense were:
Carson Collins
- passing for 266 yards and 3 touchowns
Chase Van Wagoner
- 3 receptions for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns
Beau Ivonelli
- 4 receptions for 96 yards and 1 touchdown
Jahi Rainey
- rushing for over 100 yards and 1 touchdown
The defensive leaders were:
Bumper Pool
Ryan Larry Irwin
Greyson Finch
The Leopards' win propelled them to the Area Round of the Playoffs at AT&T Stadium against the Frisco Lone Star Rangers. The Leopards played well in the first quarter of the game taking a 9-7 lead. The Leopards then turned the ball over 6 times to the Rangers. The Rangers took advantage of those turnovers to end the Leopards playoff hopes with a 42-9 victory. The Varsity Leopards had a good year, considering the team started 0-5 to begin the year and then finished on a six game winning streak to reach the State Playoffs. The Leopards finished the season with a record of 6-6, and now focus their attention to a great off-season and summer program.
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Lovejoy Swim and Dive
Four of the top Lovejoy Varsity Swimmers took part in the 1st Annual TISCA Lone Star Classic at Mansfield ISD Aquatics Center as we entered Thanksgiving break. Senior Sloan Carevic, Junior James Vaughn and Sophomores Kelsey and Jackie Carroll smashed personal bests at one of the fastest meets in the metroplex.
Senior Sloan Carevic had personal best times in both the 50 and 100 Free (26.29 and 57.56 respectively) while the sophomore sensations Kelsey and Jackie Carroll both swam lifetime bests in the 100 yard breastroke. Kelsey's 1:12.92 was good enough to earn her a swim in the bonus final on Saturday, where she broke her own personal best record which was established less than 24 hours earlier.
Topping things off for the Leopards was the performance by Junior James Vaughn. Vaughn swam season best times in both the 200 IM and 100 backstroke (1:57.78 and 54.63) in prelims on Friday, and came back and bettered his time in both events on Saturday (1:57.66 and 54.32). Vaughn finished in 7th place in the 200 IM and 13th place in the 100 backstroke. 54.32 was good enough to establish a new school record, bettering the record set in 2014 by Colby Knight by three tenths of a second. The new record is Vaughn's 3rd individual school record, breaking a tie he shared with former teammate Ben Omonira (class of 2016) and Drew Carson (class of 2015). He joins former Leopard Emma Ream (class of 2017) as the only swimmer to currently hold 3 individual school records.
The Leopards will be in action next Friday and Saturday, December 8th and 9th at the 5A and Under TISCA Invitational to be held at the Frisco ISD Aquatics Center.
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Lovejoy Wrestling
The Wrestling Team will be competing at Frisco Reedy High School tomorrow night, November 30th. The Boys and Girls JV Teams will begin at 6:00 PM followed by the Varsity Boys and Girls at 7:00 PM.
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Leopards in the News
This section of Email Express highlights news reports/articles featuring Lovejoy over the previous week.
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MySchoolBucks Convenience Fee
MySchoolBucks, the district's online meal prepayment program, has provided notification regarding an increase in the convenience fee paid by parents using the online payment feature. The fee will be increasing from $1.95 per payment to $2.49 per payment and will be effective as of December 11, 2017. This increase is the result of an increase in card scheme fees. The district does not receive any convenience fee funds from MySchoolBucks.
In light of the increase, the district contacted MySchoolBucks. They agreed to increase the maximum payment from $120 per deposit to $240 per deposit. This payment deposit increase is effective immediately. You may contact MySchoolBucks directly by telephone at 855.832.5226 or via email at
[email protected]
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LHS Collecting Donations for Coats for Kids
Lovejoy High School is collecting donations to buy coats for S.M. Wright's Christmas in the Park Event. The purpose is to provide funding and resources for underprivileged children and families through the nonprofit organization For Kids Foundation. Every $15 donated will provide a child in the Dallas area with a new coat. This is a great opportunity for everyone to give back this Christmas. You may
click here
to donate.
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Relay for Life Gallery Wall Opportunity
Relay for Life is an annual event held at Lovejoy High School to raise awareness of cancer and donate to cancer research. This year's initiative is to bring the Lovejoy community together as a whole to promote a sense of community and care. The entire Lovejoy community is invited to participate in this event on April 6, 2018.
To encourage participation of students at the elementary and intermediate school levels, the LHS Relay for Life organizers are hosting a coloring page activity. Students may
click here
to print the coloring page and decorate it as creatively as they can. Beginning December 11th, they may turn the page into the receptionist desk at their campus to receive a pencil, sticker, or other prize. The event organizers will use all coloring pages to create a gallery wall the night of the event, which will represent loving support for those whose lives have been affected by cancer.
We hope you will save the date of April 6th and join us for Relay for Life.
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Relay for Life Luminarias
Relay for Life is selling Luminarias for the Relay for Life event on April 6th at Lovejoy High School. Luminarias honor those whose lives have been affected by cancer. You may dedicate a Luminaria to a loved one who lost their battle with cancer, someone currently battling cancer, or anyone who has overcome cancer. When you attend the Relay event, you will see the Luminarias placed around the track, decorated with names and sometimes messages to whom they are dedicated. Luminarias are $10. If you would like to purchase one, please
click here
.
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Kindergarten Gifted and Talented Referrels
Referrals for kindergarten Gifted and Talented services will be available through the PowerSchool Parent Portal from December 1, 2017 - January 12, 2018.
An information session for the parents of kindergarten students will review the referral process, as well as the G/T services offered in Lovejoy.
Lovejoy ISD Administration Building
Board Room
December 4 or 15, 2017
9:00 AM or 4:30 PM (Session information repeats)
If you are unable to attend and would like more information, a slideshow presentation will be available on the
Gifted and Talented webpage
after the December 4th presentations.
All kindergarten students will be tested at their home campuses in January. Additional testing for referred students is scheduled for both Saturday, February 10th and 24th. Services for identified kindergarten students begin March 1, 2018.
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The Lovejoy Running Club
The Lovejoy Running Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday evening at 6:00 PM near the Duck Pond at Celebration Park. All ages and ability levels are welcome to attend, from novice walkers looking to shed a few pounds, to elite runners gearing up for the next race. If you have questions regarding the running program, you may contact:
[email protected]
. P.S. Dogs are welcome.
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Lovejoy ISD Pre-Kindergarten
Space Available
Our
district has offered a Pre-K program as a part of our employee daycare progr
a
m for the past 11 years. On the suggestion of parents, we decided to expand that program and offer a tuition-based program open to our community. We currently hav
e two Pre-K classrooms open at Puster Elementary. This program offers 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.
If you are interested in applying, please
click here
. To schedule a tour of the Pre-Kindergarten program, please contact
Stacey Dillon
at 469.742.8003.
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Drop N Shop Fundraiser: December 8
Pajama Night with the LHS Cheerleaders
Kids, wear your pajamas and join the LHS Cheerleaders for a holiday fun-filled night while your parents shop or enjoy a night out. Play games, color, craft, and watch a holiday movie with the LHS Cheerleaders.
Click here
for additional information and to register.
Friday, December 8
6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Lovejoy High School Auxiliary Gym
$30 first child; $20 each additional child
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BYOP® (Volleyball Winter and Spring Sessions): Pre-registration ends December 22
BYOP® Program Overview:
This training program is designed for any volleyball player, no matter what skill or ability level, as long as their goal is to become the best they can be. Parents must be fully dedicated to being actively involved in this program. BYOP® will provide excellent volleyball fundamental skills training, as well as life lessons to both player and parent.
BYOP® Program Details:
Each training session will build upon a solid foundation of all fundamental skills needed to participate in the sport of volleyball. Parents must be engaged in every training session and involved in the home training program involving physical and skills activities.
Click here
for full details regarding Session 1 (January, February and March) and Session 2 (April and May).
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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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Lauren Means - Class of 2010
Lauren graduated from the University of Texas with honors. She taught in Galveston ISD before moving to teach 8th grade at Clear Lake Middle School in Houston. In 2017 Lauren was recognized as Teacher of the Year for her school, her school district, and was then recognized as being a top 5 finalist at the regional level. Congratulations to Lauren on her successes and the positive impact she is making with her students.
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Bailey Smith - Class of 2016
Congratulations to Bailey Smith on his recognition as an Academic All-Big 12 First Team Honoree. Bailey attends Texas Tech where he is member of the Red Raider football team as an offensive linesman.
Click here
to read the press release regarding Bailey's academic achievement.
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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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