Little Elm High School
Weekly Newsletter - September 15, 2019
September: National Attendance Awareness Month
Chronic Absenteeism: All of Our Kids are All of Our Kids
When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects, including high school graduation and post-secondary success. A student is chronically absent even if they miss only two days of school per month. However, many parents do not realize that even when absences are sporadic, excused or understandable, absences add up and can greatly impact a child’s education. Students who miss just two school days each month (18 days in a year) are more likely to fall behind in reading, writing, and math, making them less likely to graduate. A quote by John B King Jr., former US Secretary of Education, states “Ensuring kids actually make it to school is a vital part of leveling the playing field. Just missing a couple of days of school a month can mean the difference between dropping out and graduating on time. Absences add up. That’s why eliminating chronic absenteeism is a critical part of our work at the federal, state, and local level to ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed.”
As Lobos we value embracing all of our kids as all of our kids. With this value comes a responsibility to make sure all of our kids have maximum learning opportunities which means we must make sure they attend school. A growing and compelling body of research demonstrates that chronic absence from school, typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of school days in a year for any reason, excused or unexcused is a primary cause of low academic achievement and a powerful predictor of which students will eventually drop out of school. By high school, irregular attendance is a better predictor of school dropout than test scores. A study of public school students in Utah found that a student who is chronically absent in even a single school year between the eighth and twelfth grades is over seven times more likely to drop out of school than a student who is not chronically absent. Improving attendance is a campus goal for LEHS. We will be working with individual students and parents utilizing attendance contracts, counseling, problem solving, goal setting, mentors and home visits. As a campus we will be employing incentives and rewards for students who have perfect attendance. Providing parents with information on how to submit the required documentation for excused absences is one of the services that our House Offices provide for LEHS families every day. Please contact your House Office Team with any questions about absences.
A-E House serving students with last names A-E: 972-947-9443 ext. 20006
House Principal – Gerald Muhammad
House Counselor – Michael Absher
House Secretary – Julia Espinosa
F-Li House serving students with last names F-Li: 972-947-9443 ext. 20022
House Principal – Ruben Molinar
House Counselor – Kaitlyn McGuire
House Secretary – Melinda Wilcox
Lo-Ri House serving students with last names Lo-Ri: 972-947-9443 ext. 22227
House Principal – Kyle Heller
House Counselor – Amy Chamberlin
House Secretary – Jennifer Lambright
Ro-Z House serving students with last names Ro-Z: 972-947-9443 ext. 20017
House Principal – Terilyn Thomas-Monday
House Counselor – Juan Schmidt
House Secretary – Ann Edgecombe
Attendance Reminders:
- Official Attendance-Taking Time: 3rd period (9:10 – 10:05 regular schedule; 9:00 – 9:50 activity schedule)
- A Parent’s Note after an absence must be submitted within 3 days after returning to school.
- A Doctor’s Note is required after an Absence for five or more consecutive days. A doctor’s note is required for any absence beginning with the 6th absence within any semester.
- A Doctor’s Appointment where the student attends school for part of the day and returns with a doctor’s note is not counted as an absence. Please avoid scheduling doctor’s appointments during the official attendance period. State testing dates for 2019-2020 are December 10 – 13 STAAR EOC Retest, April 7-10 STAAR EOC English I and English II, and May 5 – 8 STAAR EOC Algebra, Biology, and US History. Please avoid scheduling appointments on these dates.
- Excused Absences - A student who is absent (excused) shall be permitted to make up work and will receive one day/class meeting for each consecutive day/class meeting’s absence to turn in make-up work or to obtain any information covered during the absence. In general, absences will be excused for the following reasons:
o Personal Illness.
o Doctor’s Appointments
o Court Appearance
o Family emergency if the principal is contacted prior to the absence.
o Death in family
o Religious holy days.
**Please note that travel is not an excused absence. Please plan travel using the district calendar to ensure students do not have avoidable unexcused absences.
The road to success or failure in life starts with just showing up. Improving attendance has been a campus goal for the last five years and we have made significant improvements. Please join us in committing to do everything you can to ensure students are present. It is the small things that add up to make a big difference!
Renee Pentecost
Principal
Little Elm High School
English
PARENTS - PADRES
Attendance Matters - Exam Exemptions
2014-2015 - 93.8
2015-2016 - 93.8
2016-2017 - 94.8
2017-2018 - 95.3
2018-2019 - 95.5
We increased our overall attendance rate to 95.5% last year and we know we can do better! Exam exemptions have proven to be a powerful incentive for students to self monitor their attendance. Make sure you know the requirements for earning a exam exemption by reading the procedures below. Keep up the great work!
Welcome to our new Community in Schools Site Coordinator!
Communities In Schools work in 2,300 schools in 25 states and the District of Columbia to build relationships that empower students to stay in school and succeed in life. Our Site Coordinator, Anna Kibbe, will partner with teachers to identify challenges students face in class or at home and coordinate with community partners to connect outside resources with students and families. From immediate needs like food or clothing to more complex ones like counseling or emotional support, Communities In Schools does whatever it takes to help students succeed.
Mrs. Kibbe is located in our Support Center office along with Ms. Arianna Beck our Intervention Counselor as well as Mrs. Marisa Flores our Campus Translator and Parent Liaison. This support team works together to help students and families by connecting them with resources and programs which help to improve students' daily experiences in school. This team is ready to help!
Marisa Flores
Campus Translator and Parent Liaison
972-947-9443 x20026
Adriana Beck
LEHS Intervention Counselor
972-947-9443 x20028
Anna Kibbe
Communities In Schools Site Coordinator
972-947-9443 x20016
September: National Suicide Prevention Month
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among school age youth. While anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues continue to rise in our schools, suicide is preventable when students, parents, school staff, and community members are committed to providing information, support and services to students who are struggling with thoughts of harming themselves.
One of our district core values is to provide a safe and supportive environment and our district counseling team has prepared activities that will take place this week as a part of this commitment to provide students with facts and resources to recognize when someone needs help. All school personnel have training to recognize and respond to the signs of suicidal thinking and behavior. LEHS counselors work with students and families to ensure that students in crisis are referred for professional help.
Students spend more time at school than any other place. School is where students spend the majority of their time interacting with friends and establishing relationships that matter to them. Peers often are the first to see the warning signs of suicide and schools are the logical place for teens to receive support and information on how to handle these situations. Research shows that, especially in high school, school plays a very important role in students health and well-being.
Renee Pentecost
LEHS Principal
LETV is Back!
Homecoming Week Daily Spirit Themes
The following will be the Homecoming week themes:
- Monday - Parent Trap- Twin day (dress as a twin with a partner)
- Tuesday - The Incredibles - Dress up like you’re favorite Superhero
- Wednesday - Breakfast Club - Wear PJ's
- Thursday - The Oscars - Dress according to your hallway
Freshmen - TBA
Sophomores - Aladdin
Juniors - Back to the Future
Seniors - Wizard of Oz
- Fri - Friday Night Lights - Wear Blue and Gold
Homecoming Parade Information
Register your parade entry using the google form linked below. The prices are $20 for a float, $15 dollars for just a vehicle and $10 dollars for a walking group.Payment for the parade can be sent to Little Elm High School STUCO (1900 Walker Lane, Little Elm TX, 75068) or can be dropped off at the front office made out to Little Elm STUCO.
The parade will be from 6:00-7:30 on that Wednesday, October 2, Parade entries may begin lining up in the LEHS parking lot at 5:00 pm on October 2 and will begin moving at 6:00 pm. Order of the parade is not determined by entry number. Parade line-up is first come first served. Entry numbers will be used for judging only. We will follow the same route as last year (right on Walker Lane then left on Hart, ending at Lobo Stadium where we will have a short pep rally). Floats will be judged on creativity, best representation of our theme, and overall appearance. The theme is "Movie Night".
Questions about Homecoming? Email Mr. Tyler Shirey, LEHS Student Council Sponsor at tshirey@littleelmisd.net.
Instead of fighting the traffic after the HOCO Parade/Pep Rally, why not sit down with your friends and family to enjoy home-smoked BBQ - or drive through and take it to go. This is a special offering by our Athletic Booster Club as a convenience. All proceeds will go to our Lobo Club Scholarships. Each meal is $10 and includes 1/4 lb BBQ sandwich, chips, cookie & water.
We Want to Hear From You!
Each year, we encourage students, parents, and staff members to complete a campus needs assessment. We use the results to design counseling programs, services, and activities that address the identified needs.
Students will receive a link to the survey in their student email accounts and will have the opportunity to complete the survey during social studies classes this week. Students will need to be logged into their LEISD student email to complete the survey. The parent survey was sent to email addresses on file in Focus on Friday and is available at https://tinyurl.com/lehsparents2019
We look forward to working with our students and families throughout the year and appreciate you taking the time to provide this valuable information!
Michelle Gentry, M.A., Professional School Counselor
Little Elm High School
Lead Secondary Counselor
Career/CTE/NCAA
Little Elm Independent School District
Little Elm High School
1900 Walker Lane, Little Elm, TX 75068
Counseling Topics Promote Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Little Elm ISD and the LEHS counseling staff understand the important role that social-emotional well-being plays in academic success and an overall healthy lifestyle. As part of our efforts to support students on a holistic level, our campus counseling staff provides information and/or prevention activities for the guidance topics outlined below.
We understand that each student comes to us with different backgrounds and experiences, and we want to partner with parents and guardians to provide the most appropriate experience possible for students. Toward that end, we invite you to consider the specific guidance topics we’ll be covering:
Suicide Prevention
Substance Abuse Prevention
Bullying/Cyberbullying Prevention
Relationship Violence Prevention/Sexual Assault Prevention
Parents may choose to exclude their students from these state-mandated guidance presentations/activities by completing the form and returning it to the student’s house office. You may use one form for all children on this campus. Forms were distributed to students at the end of August. If the form is not received by house office staff by Sep. 13, the student will be permitted to participate.
- Reduced device protection fee to use a district issued laptop.
- Fee waiver to take the SAT and/or ACT for free
- Dual Credit tuition for free at NCTC
- AP Exam Test fee reduction
High school students often do not want to participate in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program. The Federal Free/Reduced Lunch Program is the standard used by many programs to qualify students for financial assistance. Even if a student never uses their eligibility in the lunchroom, they can benefit greatly in other areas if they qualify for the Lunch Program. Eligibility has to be reestablished each year. You can fill out the application here. We highly suggest that all families fill out an application to see if you qualify.
Do You Need Some New Spirit Wear For 19-20?
Also don't forget to download the official Little Elm Lobos App. We hope every Lobo Fan will download the app which allows live streaming, access to online schedules, news, and push notifications for scores for all of your favorite Lobo teams! See graphic below on all that the app has to offer!
Congratulations to Our Lobo Band Percussion for Placing 3rd at the HEB Drumline Contest!
Congrats to Mr. Hutley - Band Teacher of the Week!
Check out the video below to take a look back at the DECA College Fair from last week.
Volleyball Teams Sweep Carrollton Newman Smith last Tuesday!
Friday - The Colony
Lobo Varsity Volleyball falls to The Colony 1-3 in hard fought District opener.
Congrats to our JV Volleyball team who took the win against The Colony Friday Night!
Saturday - Freshmen and JV at Lake Dallas Tournament
Our Lobo JV Volleyball team took 1st place at the Lake Dallas Tournament.
Way to go ladies!
Great Job! - Our Freshmen Volleyball team placed 3rd at the Lake Dallas Tournament!
LEHS vs. Keller
Tough loss to the Chargers 16-33.
List of Fall Senior Events
Class of 2020 Graduation at UNT
Thursday, May 21, 2020
10:00 AM
Report Harmful, Harassing, and Bullying Behavior
LEISD has an on-line tool called "Anonymous Alerts" that students, parents, and teachers can use to report harmful, harassing, and bullying type behaviors. Anonymous Alerts bullying reporting mobile app helps combat bullying and other negative activity in schools by empowering students to speak up. Social and peer pressures are some of the hardest obstacles for students to overcome. Anonymous Alerts encourages students, parents and staff to quickly, easily, and anonymously report bullying, cyber-bullying, gang-related issues, and other sensitive topics through private messages to school officials by building. All reports remain completely anonymous even during a two-way email conversation, although submitters have the option to reveal their identity if they prefer to have a person-to-person discussion.
To send a report from the Web/Internet go to: www.anonymousalerts.com/littleelmisd/
To send a report from your phone:
- Download the Anonymous Alerts® app for free from the Apple Store, Google Play store, and the Chrome store
- Start the App, enter login: leisd and password: leisd
- Send important reports to school officials
- Add a screen shot or photo about the incident
https://www.littleelmisd.net/domain/1726
LEHS Post-Secondary Exam Opportunities
ASVAB - 10th, 11th, and 12th grades (optional) - September 18
PSAT - All Sophomores and Juniors - October 16
TSI - Seniors (optional) - October 16
SAT - All Juniors - March 4
Study and practice for the ASVAB here.
Study and practice for the PSAT here.
Study and practice for the TSI here.
Study and practice for the SAT here.
Freshman College Tours - Register Now
College Readiness Newsletter
Scholarship Opportunities
College JumpStart Scholarship
Deadline: 10/17/18
Available to: High School Sophomores through College Seniors
Award Amount: $1,000
**Click image below to be taken to scholarship website.
Scholarship Search Site - Provided by College Board
College Covered
While you are there, check out the website College Covered. Do you want to know what you need in a winning college essay, what college entrance test score you need, or what makes a top notch college application? Get what you need to help get into the college of your dreams with the help of College Covered.
An App Matches Students with College Scholarships They Can Use
Little Elm High School
Misty Chesnut - Academic Dean (mchesnut@littleelmisd.net)
Gerald Muhammad - White House Principal A - E (gmuhammad@littleelmisd.net)
Ruben Molinar - Grey House Principal F - Li (rmolinar@littleelmisd.net)
Kyle Heller - Blue House Principal Lo - Ri (kheller@littleelmisd.net)
Terilyn Thomas-Monday - Gold House Principal Ro - Z (tthomas-monday@littleelmisd.net)
Website: http://www.littleelmisd.net/Domain/9
Location: 1900 Walker Lane, Little Elm, TX, United States
Phone: (972) 947-9443
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Elm-High-School/736775073135970?notif_t=page_fan
Twitter: @LittleElmHS