The Paw Print
Lange Middle School's Parent Communication Newsletter
Lange Middle School
Dr. Rhonda Jackson, Assistant Principal
Dr. Joe Lauchstaedt, Assistant Principal
Mr. Tim Gardner, Home School Communicator
Email: dfalls@cpsk12.org
Website: https://www.cpsk12.org/lms
Location: 2201 Smiley Lane, Columbia, MO, USA
Phone: (573) 214-3250
Twitter: @lmsleopards
Important Dates
1/4 - Second Semester Begins
1/16 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - School Not in Session
1/24 - Early Dismissal @ 12:05 PM
From the Principal's Desk......
Dear Lange Middle School Families,
Happy New Year and welcome back, Lange Middle School students, families, faculty, and staff to 2023! We hope all our families had a safe and healthy winter break and made the best of the holiday season. We hope that your holidays were filled with warm, happy, and memorable moments. Thank you for all of your holiday wishes and generous support before the Winter Break. Your kindness is truly appreciated by our staff.
Now that the holidays are behind us, we come to the heart of our school year. Teachers are conscientiously teaching, and students are learning. Attendance is crucial for optimum learning, and this is a critical time for students to attend every day possible in school. Parents, please discuss the importance of your child being at school on time, and we all must take extra precaution for ensuring the good health of our students. With the many viruses and illnesses that accompany the winter months, please encourage good eating, sleeping habits, and hand washing. If your child is showing symptoms of illness, please keep them at home until symptoms subside. Contact the school and your child’s teachers for missing assignments.
The new year is always a time of reflection. As we start this first month of the calendar year, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Lange Middle School community for your continued partnership. You have been so welcoming as I tackle this new leadership journey and I am so appreciative of your questions, thoughts, and support. I have found so much joy in this job so far. Your children are energetic, capable, hilarious, and joyful. Thank you for modeling and supporting resilience and flexibility for your children and for supporting and connecting with teachers to find solutions to challenges. I also want to express gratitude for the dedicated educators that I have the privilege of working alongside. Our amazing staff finds countless ways to guide and teach our students with creativity and kindness. They are amazing humans who work hard every day.
Thank you, again, for the rich and inspiring support you bring to our school community. Our school could not be successful without your input and team effort. We are proud of our students, teachers, school programs, and community strength. Together we will continue to educate our youth and prosper in a new and promising New Year. We look forward to seeing everyone back on Wednesday, January 4th.
Change with Purchasing Al a Carte Items During Lunch:
PTSA Information
Membership: Our Lange Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) is asking parents to join the PTSA for this school year. Membership is on $5 per parent/guardian. Membership forms are in the main office
.
Meeting: The next PTSA meeting will be held on January 9th, at 6PM in the Lange cafeteria. Please mark your calendar to attend this meeting. We hope to see you there!
Top 15 Reasons to Join Choir Class and Choir Club at LMS
1. We go to Six Flags in May for Music in the Parks at the end of the year!
2. Music reduces anxiety and physical effects of stress. (Levy, 2017)
3. Music reduces depression by triggering activity in the part of the brain that releases dopamine (the “feel good” chemical). (Gucker, 2022)
4. Music improves attention and focus; music is good for learning pattern recognition and improving memorization skills. (Gucker, 2022)
5. We make learning to sing fun every day- participation in contests, competitions and receiving prizes are possible if you regularly attend choir class or choir club.
6. Music can be used at school to focus on higher level social and academic skills, including language development, reasoning skills, empathy, turn-taking, compromise and problem-solving skills in social situations (Jacobson & Artman, 2013).
7. Like pop music? Like to dance or want to learn? Throughout the year, we rehearse as a show choir in choir club to prepare students for the competitive show choirs that they’ll have the chance to join in high school.
8. If interested, you can be invited to sing with the Battle HS Choir, perform at LMS pep rallies and LMS athletics events like volleyball, basketball and football games.
9. Music is good for emotional development; music increases opportunities for self-expression and improves communication and self-confidence. (Gucker, 2022)
10. There are TONS of opportunities for you to get solos and perform on your own, but they aren’t required. It’s completely up to you.
11. “Data collected by the National Association for Music Education indicates music students are less likely to be truant, less likely to get involved with drugs and alcohol, more likely to graduate on time and more likely to go to college.” (Gucker, 2022)
12. Music fosters teamwork and provides children a safe social environment to make long lasting friendships and create a sense of belonging.
13. Music teaches discipline and helps to improve development in creative thinking. (Gucker, 2022)
14. Singing is physical. The breathwork and physical actions we use to engage our bodies while singing increase coordination. (Gucker, 2022)
15. With music, students are more likely to stay engaged in school. Students learn to improve their work and feel a sense of achievement. (Gucker, 2022)
*These are my top 15 reasons, but there are so many more! Choir Club meets nearly every Wednesday after school. No signup required; just meet in the LMS Cafeteria!
-Ms. Carpenter
Yearbook Order Info
Car Riders
Parents, please note that it is an Exit Only for the northeast drive. We want to make sure to be safe when driving through our parking lot. Notice the Exit Only drive and please never pass on the right of cars in the drop off and pick up area.
HDPE plastic for a DIY recycling project
Mr. Heasley is collecting HDPE plastic for a DIY recycling project. HDPE can be identified by its recycling symbol:
Plastic beverage caps (from bottles of soda, juice, sports drinks) are often made from HDPE. Collection bins for bottle caps have been placed in our science classrooms, the teacher’s lounge, and the main office kitchenette. Please consider tossing your caps into these bins before recycling / discarding your bottles.
Lots of stuff is made from HDPE. Things like milk and water jugs, plastic shopping bags, and shampoo bottles can used for this project. Feel free to drop unwanted HDPE items in room 101 - please be sure to rinse thoroughly and check the symbol.
Thank you,
Mr. Heasley
Parent/Guardian Information Updates
Parent/Guardian Legal Proof of Residence
Bring a current copy of one of the following:
-Contract of home purchase
-Real estate lease -Current water, electric, or gas bill showing address
-Notarized letter from owner of the residence with whom the family is living, along with owner’s legal proof of residence as listed above.
Cell Phones
Cell phones are to remain off and out-of-sight from the time students arrive at school to the time they leave school
Cell phones are not to be used for any reason during the school day
NO phone calls - Must use office or classroom phone
NO Schoology on phones
NO E-Hallpass on phones
NO earbuds
SMART watches, when used in place of a phone, are considered the phone.
This applies to all classrooms and common spaces at LMS…. NO EXCEPTIONS
Visitors
- Visitors are asked to schedule visits in advance with the person you need to see.
- Visitors will not be allowed to come for lunch with students in the cafeteria. An alternate eating location may be arranged if you contact the LMS main office in advance at (573)214-3250. We will let you know if it is possible at the time of your call. Please keep in mind that health protocols change constantly and we can't guarantee that we will be able to accommodate your request to be in the building.
- To schedule an appointment, please e-mail the person you would like to meet with OR call the LMS main office.
- If picking up your student, remain in your car and call the LMS main office and your student will be sent to your car.
Amazon Smile & Lange PTSA
Support your favorite charity at no extra cost when you shop at smile.amazon.com. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible smile.amazon.com purchases. Please select PTA Missouri Congress Lange Middle School PTSA as your charity of choice.
Give back to LANGE MIDDLE SCHOOL with Casey’s Rewards
Dear LANGE FAMILY,
We’re excited to share that our school is participating in Cash for Classrooms, part of Casey’s Rewards. This opens up LANGE MIDDLE SCHOOL to new funding opportunities to help improve learning environments for students.
The best part? Donations don’t come out of your own pocket. When you buy from Casey’s and use their rewards program you can simply turn your points into a donation to our school.
Help LANGE MIDDLE SCHOOL make the most of this program and learn more at caseys.com/schools.
Sincerely,
Dominique Falls
LANGE & GERBES COMMUNITY REWARDS
Earn Money for Lange Middle School PTSA when you use your Gerbes loyalty card!!!!
The Kroger Family of Companies is committed to community engagement, positive social impact and charitable giving at the national and local levels. Every community is unique, but our common goal is to partner with the neighborhoods we serve and help the people there live healthier lives.
One of the ways in which we do this is through our Gerbes Community Rewards program. This program makes fundraising easy by donating to local organizations based on the shopping you do every day. Once you link your Card to an organization, all you have to do is shop at Gerbes and swipe your Shopper’s Card. Here’s how it works:
1. Create a digital account.
A digital account is needed to participate in Gerbes Community Rewards. If you already have a digital account, simply link your Shopper’s Card to your account so that all transactions apply toward the organization you choose.
2. Link your Card to an organization.
Selecting the organization that you wish to support is as simple as updating the Gerbes Community Rewards selection on your digital account.
1. Sign in to your digital account.
2. Search for your organization here.
3. Enter the name (LANGE MIDDLE SCHOOL PTSA) or NPO number (UI506) of the organization you wish to support.
4. Select the appropriate organization from the list and click “Save”.
Your selected organization will also display in the Gerbes Community Rewards section of your account. If you need to review or revisit your organization, you can always do so under your Account details.
3. Your organization earns.
Any transactions moving forward using the Shopper’s Card number associated with your digital account will be applied to the program, at no added cost to you. Gerbes donates annually to participating organizations based on your percentage of spending as it relates to the total spending associated with all participating Gerbes Community Rewards organizations.
If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Service Center.
Whether you’re a customer or an organization, get started today!
Note: If you are a customer, make sure you have a preferred store selected (GERBES ON PARIS RD) to view participating organizations. If you are applying on behalf of an organization, please select a store in the same area as your organization.