Message from the Principal

Boys Basketball Information

Lost and Found

Important Semester Grade Reminders

BVW 3v3 Basketball Tournament

Kansas Communities that Care Survey Permission - Action Needed

Health Reminders

Tardies - 3rd Quarter

8th grade - New Jag Night

Support LKMS PTO with Amazon Smile

Lakewood Family Athletic and Activity Information

Upcoming Events

LKMS Families,

I can hardly believe that this is the final Cougar Connection of first semester. We are officially halfway through the school year. During this first semester, we have accomplished so much as the LKMS community! Below is just a small list of this semester's celebrations:

• Won our feeder football game against PRMS
• Had an *almost* undefeated volleyball season for A1
• Put on a wonderful rendition of "Everything I know I learned in a bad play"
• Had nearly 50 kids participate in Cross Country
• Started a new math curriculum, iReady
• Had a great girls basketball season
• Had our first assemblies since before Covid
• Collected nearly 1,200 cans for Communities for Kids
• 6th grade took a field trip to Union Station
• Wonderful concerts performed by our band, orchestra, and choir
• Read new books in ELA and continued to develop our research and writing skills
• Made ice cream and 3D cell models in Science
• Learned about the Ancient Mayan Empire, World Geography, and the Civil War in Social Studies
• Honed our Spanish speaking skills
• Created beautiful self portraits and 3D works of Art
• Competed in "Chopped" competitions
• Programmed robots
• Used the 3D printers to create a variety of projects
• The LIFT class continued their coffee business for staff, LIFTBucks
• Put together a class play about Sharks
• Created podcasts
• Made up raps to model poetry
• Made math applicable to real life through hands-on projects
• Worked hard towards our individual goals
• Made new friends and connected with old ones
• Had an outstanding Cougar Night with over 400 students in attendance
• Collected nearly $4,000 for families in our own community in need of help
• Enjoyed being together as a school community every day

As we near the end of the year, I hope that everyone is able to take the next couple of weeks to rest and recharge. I have enjoyed every minute of this school year and I can't wait to see what 2023 will bring us. Wishing you all the happiest of holidays and a happy new year.

Best,

Dr. Lisa Stolper

Please remember that in order for ANY student to be eligible to participate in middle school athletics, they must have a current physical on file with the district dated after May 1, 2022. If your athlete is planning on trying out for basketball, please make sure they have their Physical and you have created and uploaded it to RSchool. Practices begin after school in the gym on the dates below. Students cannot participate without a physical and other required paperwork on file.

Boys Basketball practice begins: January 5th (8th grade only)

On July 1st, the Blue Valley School District moved to an online format to submit all paperwork needed to be involved in athletics and activities at the high school and middle school levels. The online system can be accessed directly through the link below. The link has been available on our school and district websites since July 5.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED! https://bluevalleysd-ar.rschooltoday.com/

We have a collection of lost items that students have left behind at school this semester. All items are laid out on tables in the front of the school. Please ask your student to check the lost and found for any missing items prior to winter break. During winter break, we will donate any items that are left unclaimed in the lost and found. Parents may come in during school hours to check the lost and found for their child's items, if desired.

The end of the first semester is nearly here. Our students have had a great first semester of learning and we continue to see the positive impacts of our learning management system, Canvas, in our classrooms. As we gear up for the end of the semester, please take note of the important information below regarding grades and courses in Canvas.

End of Semester Information

At the end of the day on Tuesday, December 20th, courses in Canvas will conclude and will no longer be visible on the Canvas Parent app. A concluded course is only visible through the Canvas Website. To view concluded courses, open Canvas in a web browser, log in, and click on the Courses tab. Click View All Courses and scroll down to find the past enrollments. Access Past Enrollment guide (Video tutorial)

Final exam scores and other individual assignment grades can be viewed in Canvas. Semester grades reports will be published in ParentVUE on January 11th.

Need some help?

Blue Valley has a variety of resources available for parent support on the district’s Canvas web page, www.bluevalleyk12.org/canvas.

Blue Valley West is excited to bring back our annual Holiday 3v3 Basketball Tournament!

We want to invite both boys and girls players, 3rd-8th & High School Rec players.

When: Dec 31, 2022 (register by Dec 12th to guarantee T-shirts)
Who: Boys & Girls 3rd-8th & High School Division
Where: Blue Valley West High School

Register Here: https://bvwboysbasketball.com/3-on-3

Thanks! We look forward to seeing you there!

BVW Boys Basketball Booster Club

Thank you to everyone who has already responded to the Kansas Communities That Care consent form in ParentVue. If you haven’t done so yet, we kindly ask for a response by Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 11:59 PM, as the permission form will be taken down after this time so that we can create our survey rosters.

The Kansas Communities That Care student survey will be given in January 2023 and is open to current Blue Valley students in 6th, 8th, 10th, or 12th grade.

Blue Valley has participated in this survey for many years, and continued participation allows our staff to understand yearly trends, measuring the effect that our prevention and responsive programming has on our students.

The Kansas Communities That Care student survey is offered by schools across Kansas and is supported by Greenbush Education Service Center and the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. The survey is built on a framework of prevention to support effective, evidence-based strategies in Kansas communities. The survey is voluntary, and parents or guardians must complete a form granting permission for their student to take the survey.

Questions for the Kansas Communities That Care Survey (KCTC Survey) can be found on the district website under “useful links.” Questions are related to substance use, school climate, bullying, depression, and suicide. The survey is completely anonymous, and no identifying student personal information is collected. The Blue Valley School District receives data summarized by school and our overall district results.

Permission for the Kansas Communities That Care survey can be entered in ParentVue until December 16, 2022. For questions related to the Kansas Communities That Cares survey please contact Mindy Wells, Coordinator of Student Support Services at mmwells02@bluevalleyk12.org or Adam Wade, Director of Academic Achievement & Accountability at awade@bluevalleyk12.org.

The peak of the cold and flu season is upon us. To prevent widespread flu in the school, we recommend that your child stay home from school if experiencing flu or cold symptoms. To decide whether or not to send your child to school, please consider the following guidelines:

Consider keeping your child at home for an extra day of rest and observation if he or she has any of the following symptoms:

• Very stuffy or runny nose and/or cough
• Mild sore throat (no fever, no known exposure to strep)
• Headache
• Stomachache

Definitely keep your child at home for treatment and observation if he or she has any of these symptoms:

• Fever (greater than 100 degrees and your child may return to school only after his or her temperature has been consistently below 100 degrees, by mouth, for a minimum of 24 hours)
• Vomiting (even once)
• Diarrhea
• Chills
• General malaise or feelings of fatigue, discomfort, weakness or muscle aches
• Frequent congested (wet) or croupy cough

To help prevent the flu and other colds, teach your children good hygiene habits:

• Wash hands frequently
• Do not touch eyes, nose or mouth
• Cover mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing, use a paper tissue, throw it away and then wash hands
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Colds are the most contagious during the first 48 hours. A child who has a fever should remain at home until "fever free" for a minimum of 24 hours. Often when a child awakens with vague complaints (the way colds and flu begin) it is wise to observe your child at home for an hour or two before deciding whether or not to bring to school. Your child should be physically able to participate in all school activities on return to school. Keeping a sick child at home will minimize the spread of infections and viruses in the classroom.

We have seen a rise in the number of students arriving late to school in the mornings. Please be aware that as the weather has gotten colder, there is more traffic in the drop-off line every morning. Please allow yourself a few extra minutes so that students arrive to school on time at 7:51 AM. Tardies will reset at the start of 3rd quarter and students will receive a detention on their 5th tardy (and each subsequent tardy) of the quarter. Thank you for partnering with us to ensure that students arrive to school each day on time.

8th grade families, please save the date for enrollment night at BVW. This will take place on January 23rd. All 8th grade families should plan to attend this event to learn more about high school courses and get a chance to see BVW. More details to come after the new year!

Do you shop on Amazon.com? You can now support Lakewood Middle School PTO for free while shopping on Amazon. Simply go to smile.amazon.com, choose your charity, and shop as you normally would. Amazon will then donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to the charity of your choice. If you would like more information and instructions, click the following link: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/community/how-to-sign-up-for-amazonsmile. Otherwise, you can click this link ( https://smile.amazon.com/ch/43-2103335) to be linked directly to our PTO.

Please visit this link to view schedules and access additional information about Athletics and Activities this year at LKMS.

Monday, December 19

• Musical rehearsal

Tuesday, December 20

• Early Dismissal at 10:50 AM
• Last day of 1st semester

Wednesday December 21 - January 3, 2023 - Winter Break

School resumes on January 4, 2023

Wednesday, January 4

• FCS Club (7:00-7:40 AM)
• Diversity council meeting (3:05-4:00 PM)
• Musical rehearsal

Thursday, January 5

• Super Flex Schedule
• Math Homework help in the library (3:00 - 4:00 PM)
• Cheer Practice (3:00-3:45 PM)
• Drama Club (3:00-4:00 PM)
• Garden Club (3:00-4:00 PM)
• Dungeons and Dragons Club (3:00-4:00 PM)
• Nintendo Club (3:00-4:00 PM)
• Boys basketball tryouts begin
• Musical tech crew informational meeting @ 3 PM

Friday, January 6

• FCS Club (7:00-7:40)
• Puzzle Club (3:00-4:00 PM)
• Boys basketball tryouts

These messages are sent from an unmonitored account. If you have specific questions, please email Lisa Stolper (lostolper@bluevalleyk12.org) or Brooke Ash (bash@bluevalleyk12.org).