LVMS Weekly Staff Newsletter
Week of January 23rd
CAPTURE THE MOMENT: WONDER, DISCOVERY, & EXPLORATION
A Message from Mr. Webb
Dear LVMS Family,
As we begin the spring semester, I want to take a moment to thank you for all that you do. From our teachers and administrators to all of our support staff, you give your best every day to bring excellence to Lago Vista Middle School to ensure that our students achieve their fullest potential.
This week, I was reminded firsthand of the passion and commitment that you put into your work each and every day. I know that transition is not always easy and I want to thank and acknowledge each of you. The teamwork, composure, and professionalism you showed this week gave our students and community the assurance they needed during a time of change.
Please be assured that your involvement and feedback will be vitally important as we move forward. In the upcoming weeks, I will be observing the school in action and will be soliciting feedback from students, staff, and parents. I am fully confident that, with your input and involvement, we will identify the strengths and needs of the campus, as well as the qualities and characteristics we would like to see in the next leader of Lago Vista Middle School. Until then, trust that we will do all that we can to support and assist you to ensure that your needs are met and that our kids continue receiving the excellent education they deserve.
Thank you again for your leadership and for your continued hard work and commitment to our students. Lago Vista Middle School makes me proud to be a Viking.
Sincerely,
Darren Webb
Superintendent
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, January 25th
Faculty Meeting at 4:10pm (Option 1)
Thursday, January 26th
Faculty Meeting at 7:45am (Option 2)
Girls’ Basketball v. Comfort (Home)
Friday, January 27th
Early Release (A Schedule)
District UIL Meet at LVMS
Thursday, February 2nd
Basketball vs. Comfort (Girls Home / Boys Away)
Saturday, February 4th
District Basketball Tournament
Friday, February 24th
Track and Field Meet at Blanco HS
Attendance...
As you know, absences from class may result in a serious disruption of a student’s mastery of the content.
The 7th grade collaborative team has made increasing student attendance one of their goals this semester. Mrs. Spexarth visited all 7th grade math classes to chat with students about the importance of attendance and to help them use their wicked math skills to calculate attendance percentages. We ask that teachers and staff continue to remind students and parents that a student must be in attendance at least 90% of the days the class is taught in order to receive credit or a final grade in a class. We will be meeting very soon to identify students who fall below this percentage and will convene an RtI attendance committee to see what we can do to get them back on track.
As always, we appreciate staff for encouraging students and parents to make every effort to avoid unnecessary absences.
Mrs. Gearing is in the House!
Both Mrs. Gearing and Dr. Lofton-Bullis will be on hand to assist Mrs. Spexarth and the LVMS staff to ensure that all campus operations continue to run smoothly and efficiently. They are both available through District email, as well. Mrs. Gearing may be reached via email at henri_gearing@lagovista.txed.net. Please feel free to email them if you need anything!
Faculty Meetings This Week
Wednesday, January 25th at 4:10pm
OR
Thursday, January 26th at 7:45amPlease click on the link below to let us know which faculty meeting session you will attend:
This is the awesome group that looks at our campus needs and plans the Campus Improvement Plan for the upcoming year and makes recommendations involving PD, the appraisal system, and all kinds of other fun stuff!
If you would like to serve, or know someone who would, please email Dr. Lofton-Bullis at suzy_lofton@lagovista.txed.net. We will likely meet two times this year. Dates will be set according to what works best for those who volunteer. Thanks!
Stay Tuned for Adjustments to the Duty Schedule
You can see the current duty schedule below. Thanks for being awesome!
Appraisal Observations
Budget Requisition Process Update - Super Important!
If you need help remembering the requisition process, or need the form, here’s the link:
http://www.lagovistaisd.net/default.aspx?name=business.purchasing
Also, Dr. Lofton-Bullis will be providing departments with their remaining budget amounts next week. As we approach testing and prepare for the summer, please remember to plan ahead for what you need (i.e., lab supplies, summer reading novels, calculator batteries, etc.).
Absence Request Process Update - Also Super Important!
If you're submitting a request to use discretionary leave (i.e., not sick leave), you must do so at least 48 hours in advance. PLEASE be sure to also email Jayme Spexarth to let her know you requested an absence.
Last minute requests due to sickness or emergencies must be put in Aesop and followed up with a phone call to the campus substitute coordinator (Sue Kunze) and Jayme Spexarth. If you don't get an answer, please leave a message. Thanks!
Gifted and Talented Student Referrals
Referrals must be signed by the parent and should be submitted to the front office by Wednesday, February 1st. Here is a link to the referral:
http://www.lagovistaisd.net/users/0001/curriculum/GT/GT%20Referral.pdf
If you have any questions, please contact Randenne Kelley. Thanks!
Anchor Time - UIL Practice Continues
Students who participate on more than one UIL team may attend a different team practice each day. Students who are not on a UIL team will report to the upper gym for silent sustained reading. If you are a teacher who is not coaching a team you will also report to the upper gym to supervise students. If you are a UIL coach who still needs a few students for your team, I suggest you "shop around" in the gym and pick up a few participants!
PLC This Week
Quarterly Self-Assessment Forms are Overdue!
Fundraiser Process - Make SURE You Follow The Steps to Get Them Approved in Advance (THIS INCLUDES FUNDRAISING WEBSITE PAGES)!
You can find all the forms you need here:
http://www.lagovistaisd.net/default.aspx?name=business.activity_accts
For now, please submit all fundraising forms to Dr. Lofton-Bullis. And, of course, let us know if you have any questions!
Early Release on Friday, January 27th for UIL Competition
Friday is going to be VERY busy, so if you have any questions about the UIL event you are helping with, please contact Henri Gearing. And, of course, good luck to all our participants and coaches!
Finally, here is the bell schedule for our early release day on January 27th:
Got GRIT??
What it is, why it’s important, and how to help your child get it. Grit is defined as having perseverance and passion for long-term goals and working hard toward challenges, even when failure and adversity presents itself. Grit is a “non-cognitive” skill, similar to self-control, resiliency, and curiosity. Researchers now realize that grit is as important, if not more, than academic skills! We know that teaching literacy and math skills are important for a student’s long-term success. But what happens when the math gets a little tricky? Or when the reading is “boring”? What keeps a student from giving up? G R I T! That’s what! And, grit can be taught.
Here’s how to help your child develop grit:
1. Praise the effort, not the grade.
When you praise the “stick-to-it-ness” of your child’s efforts, they will be more determined to continue working hard. Praising your child’s hard work will encourage them not to give up.
2. Let them struggle.
As hard as it is to see your child struggle, they need to learn how to work through frustration and failure. If you swoop in and save them before they fail, they will never learn how to deal with failure, which is a part of life. While they’re struggling, praise their effort!
3. Create and talk about your own goals.
If your goal is to clean the basement, repaint the bedroom, or run that half-marathon, talk about it as a family. Share what small steps you are taking along the way to meet your goal, and talk about your own struggles and how you plan to get past them.
4. Keep and model an open mindset.
An open mindset is believing that things can change, that we can improve our skills and knowledge, and that we can get past challenges. Instead of saying, “I can’t do this!” you can say, “I can’t do this….yet.”
5. Find ways to challenge your child.
Encourage your child to try new things, even if they aren’t sure they’re any good at it. Trying new things is how we learn from our mistakes. Give them age appropriate chores at home. Find new hobbies and involve your child. Praise their effort along the way!
For more information about grit, check out the UPenn website, with work by Psychologist Angela Duckworth: https://sites.sas.upenn.edu/duckworth
Credit to: Kayla Marston M.Ed.
Girl's Basketball
The Lady Vikings hosted Blanco this week at home.
The 8th grade B team fought hard and it was a low scoring, very close game. At the half, the score was tied 2-2. In the second half, we executed our press defense the Lady Panthers could not handle the pressure and they turned the ball over several times. The Lady Vikings pushed the ball hard up the floor at every opportunity, but we struggled converting those opportunities into baskets. With a minute left in the game, the Lady Vikings were behind by 2 points. However, we kept fighting and took a great shot to tie the game. We played smart defense and Blanco turned the ball over once giving the Lady Vikings the ball with 30 seconds left. As the clock was winding down we worked hard to get an offensive rebound to take the lead and win the game, 8-6. Avery Nichols contributed 4 points and Hailee Cosgrove, Dakota Hutchins had 2 points. A well earned victory for the Lady Vikings!
The 8th grade A team played an excellent game against the Lady Panthers. Blanco played a zone defense, but the Lady Vikings were able to find the scoring opportunities and convert those into baskets. At the end of the 1st quarter the Lady Vikings were leading 6-0. Once the Lady Vikings settled into their press and man to man defense, the Lady Panthers turned the ball over several times. At the half, the score was 18-4, Lago Vista. Blanco came out strong in the 3rd quarter holding the Lady Vikings to only 4 points and them scoring 10 more points, putting the score 22-14. In the last quarter the Lady Vikings relentless pressure defense kept Blanco from scoring any more points and we racked up another 8. The final score was 30-14, Lago Vista. Jade Press led the scoring with an impressive 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 blocks, Esther Long contributed 8 points, one being a 3 pointer, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Heather Power scored 6 points and added 1 rebound. Lastly, Grace Rhone had 2 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Way to go Lady Vikings!
The 7th grade 'B' team game was a success, in that the Lady Vikings scored their first game in the double digits! It was a hard fought battle with lots of lead changes. Lago Vista stayed point for point with Blanco until the last 2 minutes of the game, when Blanco went up by 4 points. A score from the Vikings put the score at 14-16 and a steal by the Vikings almost gave them a chance to tie, but time ran out before the shot. The leading scorer of the game was Morgan Moreland with 8 points. Makayla Ward had over 5 rebounds and Reese Raley had 3 steals.
The 7th grade 'A' team game was much more of a battle that the first time they played Blanco. The press was easily broken, forcing us to abandon it and rely strictly on our offensive ability to score. The score at the end of the 1st quarter was 8-8. The Vikings took the lead in the 2nd quarter and never looked back, ending the half at 14-10. Lots of great cuts and shots from the Vikings put them up 22-16 at the end of the 3rd, and then a few more points from both sides left the final score at 26-20, Lady Vikings win. The leading scorers for the night were Emma Vincent, who made 6 of 7 shots for 12 points, and Gina Chiappone with 8 points. The leading rebounder for the night was Bella Zaleski with 8.
The Lady Vikings host Florence at home again next week at 5:00pm.
Boy's Basketball
The boys basketball team traveled to Blanco on Thursday evening.
The 8th grade boys 'B' team had an exciting game that went into overtime. The boys came out a little flat against Blanco to begin the game and found themselves down by 8 points at the half. The boys dominated the action in the second half with a much more focused effort. Regulation ended with a 17-17 tie. The teams played a one-minute overtime and the Vikings were able to hit a basket and a free throw to win by 3. Hunter Phillips and Anson Eleuterius played very well at the end of regulation and overtime. Adrian Hernandez also played a strong defensive game for the Vikings.
The 8th grade boys 'A' team came out of the gate strong in their game. Blaze Seely was the focal point of the offense. Blaze went to the free throw line 8 times and sank 7 of them. That is 87.5%, for those of you who like math. The rest of the first half, the boys had control of the game with the Vikings up by 9 at halftime. The second half, Blanco starting making some deep threes and slowly cut into the lead. With the game tied at 34 with 45 seconds to go, Blanco came down and hit a 22-foot shot to go up by three. The Vikings were unable to respond and ended up losing 34-40. Overall, the Vikings were led by Josh Alexander, Blaze Seely, and David Rague. All three players were all over the floor and played with great intensity.
In the 7th grade 'B' team game Thursday night versus Blanco, the Vikings came out on top. In the first half, we played an amazing defense led by Malcolm Lockhart, Colby Croxton, Scott Shepherd, and Jase Chapa. By the end of the 2nd quarter, the Vikings were up by 24 points. In the second half, rebounding was led by Jaden Hester and Jordan Johnston. Leading scorers for the team where Scott Shepherd and Jordan Johnston. Leading the team in assists were Colby Croxton and Raul D'Lorm. At the end of the game, the Vikings were victorious with a 42-13 win. It was a great win for our 7th grade 'B' team...great job guys!
Our 7th grade 'A' team had a rough game against Blanco on Thursday night. After many costly turnovers and missed shots, the Vikings were held to one point in the first half. After half-time, the boys came out with a very different attitude. We had kids diving on the floor multiple times, such as Logan Parsons and Hayden Hardy. We continued to press and play amazing defense in the second half and held Blanco's team to only two points. Mikey Dean Ambrose and Arthur Munoz led the team in steals. Bryce Jackson and Ryder Phillips led the team in assists. All of our kids played very hard in the second half. They scrapped and fought every second they could, but it was just too big of a gap from the first half. Though it was a hard fought game, the Vikings fell 22-11 to Blanco.
The Viking boys are off next week before they travel to Comfort on February 2nd.
OLDIES BUT GOODIES (AKA, INFORMATION THAT WILL REMAIN IN THE NEWSLETTER EVERY WEEK BECAUSE IT’S IMPORTANT!)
Quarterly Self-Assessment Forms
Remember: Quarterly Self-Assessment Forms are due on the last day of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Nine Weeks in Eduphoria Appraise. If you are a new staff member, or have any trouble logging into Eduphoria, please contact Holly Jackson at holly_jackson@lagovista.txed.net.
Do Your Duty!
Here's the link to the current duty schedule. Again, if you are scheduled to be off campus during your scheduled duty time, please make sure that you find someone to cover you. Thanks!
Remember to Be in the Hallways During Passing Periods
Exchange Hours are Due April 3rd
You must submit these through Eduphoria (Workshop). The steps are listed below, but please make sure that you request Exchange Hour credit (and NOT compliance video credit).
http://www.lagovistaisd.net/users/0001/curriculum/Steps%20to%20Request%20Credit%20for%20Mandatory%20Compliance%20Videos%20in%20Eduphoria.pdf
Grading Guidelines - Please Make Sure You Know Them AND Follow Them!
The LVISD Grading Guidelines outline the expectations for grading in our District. The purpose of grades is to provide students and parents with feedback on mastery of content and to document academic progress. So, please remember that teachers’ grades are expected to be a reflection of a student’s mastery of the state standards. We are also required by policy and statute to provide reteach/retest opportunities, which is outlined in the LVISD Grading Guidelines.
Here is a link to the LVISD Grading Guidelines for your reference:
http://www.lagovistaisd.net/users/0001/curriculum/LVISD%20Grading%20Guidelines%202016-2017.pdf
Curriculum Expectations and Information
This information is provided to revisit instructions and clarify expectations for curriculum documents, especially for our new staff members. Please let Dr. Lofton-Bullis know if you have any questions.
Expectations for EACH Course
- 1 Snapshot (in Word) - Due at the beginning of the school year
- 1 Unit Organizer for Each Unit (in Word) - Due on the last day of each 9 weeks
Where can I find the Snapshot template?
The snapshot templates in Word are located here. If your TEKS have been updated (LOTE, for example), please be sure to update them in your snapshot. If you have an old snapshot and have uploaded a new one, please remove the old version from the Google Drive folder. If your snapshot has a year listed in the title, please delete that.
Where can I find the Unit Organizer templates?
The unit organizer templates with TEKS check boxes are located here. There are instructions on how to "lock" the forms; otherwise, you will need to double click the check boxes. Plain versions of the template without checkboxes are located here.
Where can I access existing documents?
Go to "Shared with Me" and search for "LVISD Snapshots & Unit Organizers". If you need editing rights to your folder, please request it from Dr. Lofton-Bullis.
What do I do when I'm done with my documents? How do I submit them?
Once you are done, save your document to your grade level folder on Google Drive. This is the folder appraisers will check to verify completion of these documents. Remember: no Google docs...Word only!
How should I name my documents (so we don't have 120 Unit 1s)?
Naming conventions are very easy. Yes, please put spaces in the document name, just like below:
- Grade # Subject Snapshot - Example: Grade 6 Math Snapshot
- Grade # Subject Unit # - Example: Grade 4 Math Unit 1
What if I did an awesome job last year and don't have any changes to make?
You should review your snapshot, make sure your priority standards are those you wish to keep, and UPDATE THE REVISED DATE. (We can see the last time it was updated and there are a few 2014-2015s out there!)
Anchor Time Expectations for Students Doing SSR (Silent Sustained Reading)
Make Sure You Know About StayALERT (...and Talk About it With Our Kiddos!)
Lago Vista ISD uses StayALERT to help keep our schools safe. StayALERT is a bilingual, confidential website, e-mail, phone and texting avenue for students, teachers, staff, parents and community members to be able to confidentially report unsafe behaviors, suspicious activities, bullying, acts of violence, harassment, and a host of other potential disruptors to school safety.
Users may anonymously report concerns 24-7-365 via the StayALERT website, an e-mail, a phone call to a recorded and monitored line, or via a text message from a cell phone. Photos and video clips pertaining to the StayALERT report may be included. No special app required! Reportable information will be forwarded in a timely manner to a pre-designated school official for review.
To make a report, use one of the methods below:
Website: stayalert.info
Call or Text: (206) 406-6485
Email: report@stayalert.info
EVERY WEDNESDAY IN LVISD IS COLLEGE DAY! BE SURE TO SPORT YOUR FAVORITE COLLEGE'S GEAR! ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENTS TO DO THE SAME!
Need an LV Window Decal for Your Car?
There is a school-endorsed Etsy store selling window decals to promote school spirit for our Lago Vista Vikings. Each decal has a detailed description along with the option to personalize it.
Visit www.etsy.com and enter "LV Flightline" in the search engine. When you get to the store, pick out the decal or decals of your choice. There are different types of payment accepted, including PayPal.
Decals are shipped locally free of charge. Thanks for your school spirit and GO VIKINGS!
LVISD Monthly Character Traits
Be honest • Don’t deceive others, cheat, or steal • Be reliable — do what you say you’ll do • Have the courage to do the right thing • Build a good reputation • Be loyal — stand by your family, friends, and country
October – Respect
Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule • Be tolerant and accepting of differences • Use good manners, not bad language • Be considerate of the feelings of others • Don’t threaten, hit, or hurt anyone • Deal peacefully with anger, insults, and disagreements
November – Compassion
Care about how others feel • Do kind and thoughtful things for people in need • Put other people’s needs before your own • Volunteer your time and resources for charity • Be willing to listen
December – Caring
Be kind • Be compassionate and show you care • Forgive others • Help people in need
January – Citizenship
Do your share to make your school and community better • Cooperate • Get involved in your community • Stay informed; vote • Be a good neighbor • Obey laws and rules • Respect authority • Protect the environment • Volunteer
February – Fairness
Play by the rules • Take turns and share • Be open-minded and listen to others • Don’t take advantage of others • Don’t blame others carelessly • Treat all people fairly
March – Responsibility
Do what you are supposed to do • Plan ahead • Persevere: keep on trying! • Always do your best • Use self-control • Be self-disciplined • Think before you act — consider the consequences • Be accountable for your words, actions, and attitudes • Set a good example for others
April – Integrity
Be strong enough to do what you know is right • Do the right thing, even when it is difficult • Be your best self • Resist peer pressure • Choose words and actions that are sincere • Set high standards for yourself and stick to them
May – Gratitude
Say thank you for the things that you receive • Think about what you are thankful for and why • Show others how nice it feels to be remembered and appreciated by someone • Write thank you cards • Enjoy giving back • Understand that you are not owed things; you earn them
Lago Vista Middle School
Website: http://classroom.lagovistaisd.net/default.aspx?LagoVistaMiddleSchool
Location: 8039 Bar-K Ranch Rd Lago Vista, Texas 78645
Phone: 512-267-8300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lago-Vista-Middle-School-1266891766714816/
Twitter: @LagoVistaMS