The Kingdom's Chronicle. 


Monday, Dec. 16, 2019



Pictured very top:

Knight choirs with Principal Jackson as part of their "World of Music" holiday season performance (please see story below).

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I think our community will greatly appreciate some of the highlights included in this current edition capturing the amazing talent on display last week by our Knights. Hundreds of students were engaged in special seasonal holiday events for the community and every one was absolutely incredible! We are so very fortunate to have such dedicated students and educators that give their best to cultivate their talent. Anyone that attended one of our performing arts events will certainly agree the experience was wonderful. And I thank all of our families and community members for turning out in support of the various holiday programs.

As the calendar below provides, we still have testing this week and five instructional days remaining in the second quarter before the winter break. I encourage our Knights to finish strong and to put forth their best effort over these final school days of 2019. We want each student to earn the grades they deserve when we release report cards in January.

Have a great week and, as always, thank you for looking over our progress!

With Knight Pride,

Stephanie R. Jackson, M. Ed.
Principal
Lake Nona Middle School


REMINDER!
The PE Course Final Exam is this coming Tuesday, December 17, 2019.

Please charge your laptops Monday night!



Dates To Watch For

December 16 - Volleyball vs. Innovation - 5:30 PM - Away (playoff brackets)
December 17 - PE CFE Testing - 9:30 to 11:12 AM - Charge Laptops Monday Night!
December 19 - Civics and Science PMA
December 20 - End of 2nd Semester
December 23 - January 6 - Winter Break (Schools are Closed)
January 6 - Teacher Workday
January 7 - SAC Meeting - Canceled
  

Performing Arts at LNMS
Hundreds of LNMS students showcased their talents last week!
 
LNMS cultivates student artistic interests with enriching academic electives and after-school clubs and activities. The arts are part of out middle school academic courses to encourage all students' creative expression. This past week our performing arts department had 750 students showcase their talents in instrumental, vocal music, and theater productions and concerts. See the highlights of this week's seasonal entertainment below.  
 
 



Knight Music (Part I)

Choirs
"A World of Music" was more than a holiday chorus concert - it was a celebration of the human spirit from around the world!


The welcome opener was a folk song from Ghana welcoming everyone from all the LNMS choirs. A Hawaiian waltz comes next by the Period 6 Choir that describes the beauty of the island breezes; the Hebrew Chanukah Round "Nun, Gimel, Hei, Shin" performed by the Period 6 Choir describes the Dreidel that became a game in Hanukkah festivities. "Freedom is Coming" from the beginning was all about the liberation of South-Africa performed by the Period 3 Choir and soloist, Linzie Rodriguez. India, Israel, Torres Strait islands, Scotland, Ukraine, Australia, Brazil, England and the United States were represented with song of traditional holidays and a message of hope.

~ Thank you to our directors Ms. Ashley Majka and Ms. Courtney Connelly.




Knight Band
The LNMS 4th Period Beginning Band took the stage and performed in front of a packed house "Five-Note Concerto" showcasing each section of the band with familiar five note songs which included "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Lightly Row", Go Tell Aunt Rhodie" and "Hot Cross Buns". The whole band played "Donkey Round" for their grand finale. The Symphonic Band performed "Carol of the Bells", a classic Christmas song composed by the Ukrainian composer and orthodox priest Mykola Leontovych in 1914. The Jazz Band  included "Frosty the Snowman", "Nutcracker Rock", "Jingle Bell Rock"  and "The Kings of Swing" during their performance and kept the audience snapping their fingers. The Wind Ensemble finished the evening at the edge of the border with  "Deck the Halls with Chips and Salsa".




~ Thank you to our director Ms. Hannah Jennings.



Knight Music (Part II)

Piano Recital
Mrs Majka's piano students presented an in class 9-week recital this past week! Students presented individually for their parents and peers and did a wonderful job! Congratulations!



Musical Memories
'Tis the Season for Joyous Music!
The Grade 6 Orchestra opened with a Christmas Sampler that combined several favorite carols that included "Jolly Old St. Nick", "O Come, Little Children", and "Jingle Bells." Grade 6 Orchestra also performed a mouth-watering  piece, "Pepperoni Pizza Rock," featuring soloists Sydney Fleming and percussion. The Intermediate Orchestra performed this holiday edition of Short Cuts including "Sleigh Ride," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Let It Snow!" and "Santa Claus is Comin" to Town."

~ Thank you Ms. Lynne Rudzik.


 

Knight Drama
Congratulations to all of the theatre students that competed at the Jr. Thespian Festival this past weekend.


Mrs. O'Malley's Theatre 3 class presented a student directed one- act play, "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" on Friday's portion of the festival. Then on Saturday, members of the Drama Club presented at the Individual Event part of the festival.  
 
Students competed in several categories such as: monologues, duet scenes, solo musical theatre, costume design, and small group musical theatre. All of the students scored the highest accolades, "excellent" or "superior" in the Individual Events and a "superior" in their one-act play. Ana Martinez won "Best in Show" for her monologue and will be advancing to the State Competition!    
 
 
 
Ana Martinez with her "Best in Show" medal. 
 
~ Thank you to our director Ms. Lauren Smith O'Malley.


Knights Take Over City Hall
Eighth grade students get a real-world taste of how their technology skills can be used in government and city management . . .

Thirty students from Mr. Rasmussen's 8th grade technology class are working to receive a Microsoft Office Specialist certification. Having a MOS certification can set students apart from others in the workplace and a visit to the Orlando City Hall this week proved it.

Personnel from Orlando Management and Budget Division talked with the LNMS students about the use of spreadsheets to identify patterns in numbers but the need for charts and graphs for explaining the budget review to those that are not Excel specialists. The committee members were impressed with the advancements in the MOS certification our students demonstrated in asking their questions.


Mrs. Wood (Assistant Principal) and Mr. Rasmussen (Technology teacher) with our tech students in City Hall Board room.

Mr. Rasmussen (Technology teacher) with Ms.Johanna  Lopez (OCPS Board Member) at City Hall

Technology students visit Lake Eola while downtown for their City Hall meeting


Knight Athletics
Girls volleyball advances to the FINAL FOUR vs. Innovation Middle.

Our Lady Knights will be advancing to the quarter finals after a big upset last week! They defeated Southwest Middle School who was the #1 seeded team in the county in just two sets!

Please congratulate our Lady Knights and Coach Vazquez if you happen to see them on campus Monday. They played an impeccable game last week and are by far playing their best volleyball of the season. GO KNIGHTS!


Our Lady Knights celebrate after knocking off #1 seed Southwest Middle School

Note time change: Both middle schools have agreed to change the start time to the girls' game. We will play this Monday at 5:30pm instead of 6:00pm.



Knights in the Spotlight
Congratulations to Jacob and Reynaldo!

Jacob and Reynaldo competed in the individual basketball skills competition at Orange County Special Olympics county games at Piedmont Lakes Middle School on Saturday morning. The athletes competed in three skills: spot shooting, speed dribbling and target passing. Reynaldo won first place in his group where is strength was in his shooting. Jacob won 3rd place in his group showing everyone his dribbling speed. But both showed their support for each other and their competitors! Their next competition will be in January at area games.


Pictured with Ms. Schenker, Jacob and Reynaldo proudly show off their basketball skills ribbons earned last Saturday!


Attention 8th Grade Knights!
 
Valencia Dual Enrollment Parent Night
* Where: Lake Nona Auditorium
* When: January 9th
* Time: 6pm-7pm
* A Valencia Dual enrollment representative will be at Lake Nona High School presenting information about Dual Enrollment. Please join the Lake Nona HS Student Services team.

Annual 8th Grade Trip to Universal Studios
* Gradventure will be on Friday, May 15th, 2020!!
* Students will leave right after school and return around 1:30am.
* This year the trip will cost $110.00/per student.
* More information about the trip and permission slips will be sent home Friday, January 10th to all 8th grade students. Eighth grade students & families, mark your calendars!

Eighth Grade Baby Photo Request
This year, we would like to feature the eighth graders' baby photos at the 8th Grade Formal and as part of the 2020 yearbook. In the yearbook, we are planning to include a feature page "looking back" at the eighth graders as babies. Email your cutest baby photo with your child's name to: lnmsmediacenter@gmail.com Please submit your photos by December 19th, 2019.

* So as not to embarrass students, please do NOT submit any photos including nudity (i.e. bath time photos, toilet time photos, bathing suit photos).

Note: By submitting photos for publication in the 2020 yearbook, you are stipulating to us that you own copyright to these photographs or have permission from the copyright holder to submit these photographs. You are granting the Lake Nona Middle School yearbook a non-exclusive license to use the photograph in its submitted form, subject to resizing to fit the yearbook spread format.


Skyward Family Access Usage: Parents & Students

The percentage of LNMS parents accessing the Skyward student information system bounced back last week (from 5.5% to 7.1%) while . . .

. . . 96.2% of our Knight students successfully accessed the system over the same period of time.


Weekly Success Indicators
Indicators that directly or indirectly impact student achievement.

Weekly Indicator
Nov. 8
(5 days)
Nov. 15
(5 days)
Nov. 22
(5 days)
Dec. 6
(5 days)
Dec. 13
(5 days)
Classroom visits by members of the administrative team
108
106
62
96
114
Total parent logins into the new Skyward Family Access system (includes multiple logins by the same parent/guardian)
297
443
307
264
380
Teacher attendance rate
98%
97%
98%
97%
98%
On-time buses - mornings
100%
NA
NA
98%
NA
On-time buses - afternoons
92%
NA
NA
95%
NA
Library books circulated - 6th
33
39
33
39
44
Library books circulated - 7th
273
127
213
149
150
Library books circulated - 8th
10
37
92
41
83
Tutoring - Wed. 2nd/4th in the PM
NA
121
NA
NA
247
Tutoring - Tues.
64
64
NA
NA
NA
Tutoring - Thurs.
NA
80
NA
64
NA
Tutoring - Sat. Lab
NA
NA
NA
17
NA
 
** Prepared courtesy of Mrs. Cheryl Wood, Assistant Principal.   
 
 
Closing Images for the Week . . .
Media Center all decked out for the Holidays!





Leadership Team

Principal: Stephanie Jackson stephanie.jackson3@ocps.net
Assistant Principal: Damian Rosado damian.rosado@ocps.net
Assistant Principal: Cheryl Wood cheryl.wood@ocps.net
Assistant Principal: Lindsey Herold lindsey.herold@ocps.net
8th Grade Administrative Dean: Steven Berson steven.berson@ocps.net
7th Grade Administrative Dean: Tangala Butler-Wilson Tangala.Butler-Wilson@ocps.net
6th Grade Administrative Dean: Wanda Perkins wanda.perkins@ocps.net

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Copyright Notice
Reproduction of this material, either written or electronically, including the general layout, graphics, analyses, and content topics without the express approval of Target Performance Systems, Inc., a Florida corporation, and OCPS-Lake Nona Middle School is forbidden without written consent.  Thank you for your support of the Orange County Public Schools and especially Lake Nona Middle School. Please contact Mrs. Cheryl Wood (assistant principal) at cheryl.wood@ocps.net with any questions.