Longleaf School of the Arts
Back-to-School Important Information
Welcome to the 2023-2024 School Year!
This is YOUR Year!
LSA Community, we have such an exciting year planned just for YOU! It is imperative that you find a positive way to join the action! This year, we would like for each student, staff member, and parent/guardian to set a SMART Goal! We all have opinions on ways we can make Longleaf School of the Arts an even better place for preparing our students for college and/or life beyond LSA! Get involved by setting a goal to contribute to the overall success of the school community! We need your committment this year. One easy way to contribute is by voting!
We were nominated, again, for The News and Observer's Best High School AND Best Charter School in Raleigh, NC! Please join in by voting August 1st through August 19th for Longleaf in both categories at https://www.voteraleighsbest.com/LongleafSchooloftheArts.
RETURNING LSA STUDENTS
If you are a returning student/family, schedules are available NOW for viewing in PowerSchool. If you did not receive a course you requested, please follow the link below to request a schedule change. The form must be filled out by the student through their LSA account.
Course Request Change Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfeM4Qx2DISGDRtJm0F-r_1KSOOlwvy2TsFcWU7aQCXiKLHug/viewform
Returning students may also pick up a school-loaned device (See schedule under Technology.) ID badges will be distributed on the first day of school.
Seniors
Seniors will receive a separate email from Mrs. Winters about Senior Breakfast and parent parking.
NEW LSA STUDENTS
NEW LSA STUDENT BOOT CAMP
One of our most important Longleaf traditions is our New Student Boot Camp. Before school starts, we welcome new students by gathering together to discuss important information and provide support for a successful beginning to a new school year! Students will have an opportunity to connect with LSA staff, new and current LSA students, and get introduced to our Student Mentor Program. New students will also receive their class schedule during Boot Camp.
New Student Boot Camp will take place on Friday, August 11th from 9:00am until 3:00pm. After the Boot Camp, School Counselors will be available from 3:00pm - 5:00pm in the Gallery if any new students did not receive their primary electives and wish to request a schedule change.
Technology Information: New student devices will not be available for students during boot camp. Students may opt to bring their personal device to Boot Camp to use during the technology information session. We will set up technology stations for computer access as needed.
NEW STUDENT MENTOR PROGRAM
We think Longleaf is pretty special. We also believe that Longleaf is a place we collectively create and that each person contributes to our culture. Longleaf cannot be explained just by words. It must be experienced and felt. That is why all new students participate in the Mentor Program. To help new students get acclimated to high school and Longleaf, the Mentor Program creates the foundation where students feel supported and connected to LSA. During Boot Camp, each incoming student is paired with a mentor, who they will meet with regularly during the school year. Mentor groups meet in a variety of ways - sometimes in small groups, sometimes individually, and sometimes in larger gatherings. Please use this link to share a little bit of info about yourself so that we can match you with a mentor with similar arts interests. Please fill out the form by Friday, August 4.
Daily Bell Schedule and Instruction
**NEW Lunch/Advisory Assignments
LUNCH A & Advisory 2 - 9th and 10th Graders
Advisory 1 & LUNCH B - 11th and 12th Graders
2023-2024 A/B/C Schedule Calendar
School Picture Days
- Seniors will take their pictures on August 8, 2023. (See Mrs. Winters' email to Seniors and Senior Parents for further Senior Class and picture information.)
- All underclassmen will take their pictures on September 7, 2023.
- Make-up Day will be November 2, 2023.
Senior Pictures Sign-Up Link
Technology
All families received a technology survey to indicate whether or not a device is needed to be loaned from the school for the school year.
All returning students who need their loaned device will be available for pick up on the following dates/times:
Monday, August 7th - 8:30am until 9:30am AND 11:30am until 4:30pm
Tuesday, August 8th - 8:30am until 4:30pm
Wednesday, August 9th - 12:30pm until 4:30pm
Thursday, August 10th -12:30pm until 4:30pm
Seniors may also pick up their loaned device after their scheduled senior picture time on Tuesday, August 8th.
9th Graders, NEW 10th Graders, and NEW 11th Graders will pick up their devices on Monday, August 14th, or Tuesday, August 15th from 8:30am until 4:30pm. The availability of devices is based on the number of requested devices in the technology survey that was sent on July 17th. If you requested a device after July 17th, the devices will need to be picked up during the first week of school, August 16th through August 18th beginning each day at 4:30pm.
If you have not completed the survey https://forms.gle/txX51HYHSXUh35Rs9, please be prepared to wait to receive a device. Students will not be able to pick up their device if the $50.00 loaner fee is not paid. Please bring the receipt of the payment for the device (Pay here: https://student-fees23-24.cheddarup.com)
2023-2024 Student Fees
Student Fees should be paid at https://student-fees23-24.cheddarup.com. Please see the website for forms and more information.
**Only Juniors and Seniors are permitted to go off campus for lunch and have a student parking permit.
2023-2024 Free-Reduced Lunch Application
Important Flyers, Forms, and Information
My Hot Lunchbox - ONLY
We will no longer accept DoorDash, Grubhub, or Uber Eats orders.
Letter from Nurse Herbst
Hello!
Welcome to School Year 2023-2024! I hope everyone had a good summer.
My name is Diane Herbst, and I am the school nurse at Longleaf School of the Arts. My office is located near Student Services. My main priority is to ensure that the overall health needs of students and staff are met at the school.
On the first day of school, your student will be bringing home a bright blue Health History/Emergency Medical Form. I ask that you please take the time to fill this out and send it back with your student as soon as possible. They can turn it in to the main office, their Advisory teacher, or to me. This information will be kept confidential within the school and is used to support the safety and well-being of each student.
If your student has a chronic medical problem and requires medication or treatment while at school, I will be writing a health care plan and/or an emergency action plan for them. This will give the faculty and staff guidelines to help facilitate the medical needs of your student while attending school.
I am currently reviewing immunization records on each student. If your student is new to Longleaf or has an updated immunization record since they started at Longleaf, please obtain a copy to bring to me at school or email it to herbst@longleafschool.com. Students are required to be up to date on their immunizations within 30 days of the first day of school. The deadline is September 15, 2023. If not up to date by Sept 15, they will be excluded from school and these absences will be unexcused. As a reminder, all students entering the 12th grade, or by 17 years of age, are now required to have a second dose of the meningococcal vaccine. I need the entire record and not just the page that lists the individual immunization series as being complete. During the first week of school, I will be sending notices home with the students who are not up to date on their immunizations and students for whom I have not received complete immunization records.
If your student requires medication to be administered at school, please remember that a physician’s order must be on file. The form for this is the Request for Medication Administration in School. The medication form/physician’s order must be renewed each year. We cannot accept a medication form/physician’s order from previous years. All medication must be brought to the school by a parent or guardian in a labeled pharmacy container, including back-up EpiPens and inhalers. Students with severe allergies and/or asthma are authorized to self-carry their EpiPen and/or inhaler. In addition to the physician’s order we need a Self-Carry form filled out and signed by a parent and the student for EpiPens and/or inhalers. Prescription medications must be counted with the nurse when you sign it in. If this is a new medication, the first dose cannot be administered at school. This dose must be administered at home due to any potential side effects a student could experience when starting a new medication.
Please feel free to contact me by email or telephone if you have any questions. I would also like to remind you that over-the-counter (OTC) medication is not allowed to be carried by students at school. If your student requires any OTC medication, they will have to have a medication order on file. OTC medications need to be in the original labeled container. While your child’s health is my responsibility while here at school, NC law does not allow me to administer ANY medication without an order from a licensed healthcare provider.
At Longleaf, we take health and safety seriously. We will do our best to keep infectious illnesses out of our school. COVID-19 is still circulating in our environment and will continue to do so. Longleaf will follow CDC and NCStrongSchools guidelines regarding Covid-19. Masking is not required anymore; however, any student or staff member who wishes to mask is welcome to do so. Also, flu season is almost upon us. Vaccination is one of the best ways to make sure your student does not contract, or become seriously ill from COVID-19 or the flu. To see the COVID-19 guidelines we will be following this school year, please see our website. If your student has any of the following symptoms of illness please do not send them to school: rash, fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. And please contact me so that we can discuss when they should return to school.
If there is anything that I can do to help with the health needs of your student, please let me know. If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to contact me. I am looking forward to a safe and healthy year!
Sincerely,
Diane Herbst, RN
School Nurse, Longleaf School of the Arts
herbst@longleafschool.com Tel: 919-896-8164 Ext 1032
LSA PTSA - Welcome!
Interested in carpooling to LSA with other families?
What to Know
1. LSA does not create carpools; we curate information on families interested in carpooling and then share that information with those families.
2. Parents reach out to other parents on their own to plan carpool times, locations, and carpool members.
3. You may need to be creative in how you define “carpool!”
Since LSA is not a neighborhood school, you might not find someone that lives in your neighborhood. We suggest finding people in your general area and perhaps agreeing to carpool from a central meeting point. This has worked really well in the past. People often meet at local shopping centers, a coffee shop, or other public places. Some families have carpooled to a bus stop and had the kids take the bus downtown from there. We also have families that pay older students to carpool their kids.
Complete this Google Form to share your interest with others at LSA:
Contact information and a map of carpooling families will be shared with survey respondents throughout late summer and early fall.
For questions, contact Brianna Johnston:
Brianna Johnston
LSA Parent Volunteer for Carpool
Summer Assignments
A Note on Attendance
School attendance will always be of significant priority here at Longleaf School of the Arts. Not only is school attendance mandated by law, but we pride ourselves on being able to help our students prepare for college and the outside world through our 16-day force failure policy, which states that "in order for a student to receive credit for a class at Longleaf School of the Arts, the student must not be marked absent for more than sixteen (16) days per year." Please be aware that the school will send home letters for all documented absences, whether excused or otherwise noted. While we understand that circumstances beyond our control occur, we ask that you provide documentation to support any absences your student may have throughout the school year. All absences can be reported on the school website through the following link: REPORT AN ABSENCE. If you have any questions about attendance or the forced failure policy, please contact Mrs. Victoria Jones, LSA's school social worker.
From Longleaf of the Arts Staff
We commit to you that you will always receive our best effort to support our students and families to the fullest. Thank you for your patience as we finalize planning and preparations! We are looking forward to opening our school doors for the start of a new year at 7:45am on Wednesday, August 16, 2023!