Lansing Intermediate Roar
Volume 2, Edition 7, 03-01-2024
Principal's Message - Mr. Altieri
February has been an interesting month for sure! It started off with snow days and ended with numerous days of sixty and seventy degree weather - spring is definitely teasing us.
The students and staff were all Chiefs this month as we celebrated another Super Bowl win. As someone who suffered through Chiefs playoff losses as a kid, I have been stressing to our students to enjoy the moment! Our teachers found fun and engaging ways to integrate football into their lesson plans. We had some math calculating fantasy football and stats, learning graphing using football fields, and measuring area and perimeter of a field. We are now going into full gear getting ready for state assessments which are coming up quickly.
Our Glow Dance is scheduled for May 10th. If you would like to help out, please use this link to volunteer in areas we need support. In addition, current Fourth Grade students will have an opportunity to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at a NASCAR race this fall (see below for info). The cost is $40 per person (tickets are required for students) and transportation must be provided by the parent/guardian. Please contact LIS or our ticket rep, Nick Darnoi, for more information. Ticket availability is limited, so get your order in promptly if interested.
Family Engagement Survey
Printable Glow Dance Form
Upcoming Events:
3/6 - 4th Grade Field Trip - Coterie Theater
3/8 - School Day - Rescheduled from the Chiefs Parade
3/11-15 - No School - Spring Break
3/29 - No School
Front Office Dispatch
Ride Changes: We will not send students home a different way than normal without hearing from parents/guardians BEFORE 2:45 p.m.
Attendance: If your student is going to be absent, please notify the office before 9am on the day of the absence. Office staff arrive at 730am, but the building opens at 8am. Absences can be reported by calling 913-297-0990 or by emailing lisattendance@usd469.net.
If your student will not be retuning to USD 469 for school year 2024-2025, please fill out this form:
https://businessofficeadmin.plumsail.io/f7d39418-3089-49eb-ba87-f718fdebd829
Fees: Please check your Skyward account and pay fees that are due. If you feel you may qualify for free/reduced and have not already applied, please do that. You can find the application on our website:
You can also come into our office and fill one out in person. If you have any questions please contact Jennifer Grant, bookkeeper at 913-297-0990, option 3.
Nurse News
How to have a Successful Spring Break:
1) Plan daily activities in advance - engage your kids in the planning (ifamilykc.com lists 150 activities to do with kids)
2) Spend time outdoors each day
3) Allow downtime activities - don't over schedule
4) Make time for Spring Cleaning
*REMINDER: Please clean out, dispose of properly and secure ALL medications.
Happy Times and Bright Sunshine,
Have a Great Spring Break!
Nurse Chris
Counselor's Corner
Hello families!
We are working on our Child Protection Unit during our counseling lessons. Ask your child about the 3 R's and how they help keep them safe. We have also been talking about how to stay safe when they are away from their parents, such as walking to school or at home alone.
Our social skills groups are up and running. I am hearing positive feedback from teachers seeing improvements in the classroom, and we are having a lot of fun as well!
Kindness Club made a difference in our community by delivering Valentines to the people who live at Twin Oaks Assisted Living and Lansing Care and Rehabilitation Center. We hope they got as much joy in receiving them as our Kindness Club students had in making them.
Janet Farrar, LMSW
Social worker/counselor at LIS
Fourth Grade - Laurie Holden
KITE mini tests have opened. These are practice tests for state assessments and we are actively completing these with our classes.
iXL - Honestly, we are learning things constantly about what this platform does! We are so thankful to have access to it.
Superbowl day! We had a great thematic learning afternoon to celebrate the Chiefs going to the Superbowl. They had a great time in teams trying to score “touchdowns” by successfully completing math, reading, grammar, and social studies tasks.
Conferences were well attended and all teachers remarked about how smoothly they went.
Valentine’s Parties were a lot of fun. It is always so nice to see them get excited about the kind Valentines that they share with their classmates.
Leap Day! We have fun thematic lessons planned for the day and will be making a Leap Year time capsule for them to open in 2028.
Math - We have finished all 4 chapters of fractions and now have Geometry and Measurement and data to cover before state assessments. We are staying on track with our modified scope and sequence.
ELA/Writing - We are reviewing parts of speech, grammar, and figurative language.
Reading - We have moved to standard based re-teaching lessons where we do them as a whole class using the UNRAAVEL building wide comprehension strategy. Then we are able to assign in iXL an individual assignment that matches that standard. This has really helped us quickly identify problem areas with the data that iXL provides. We use that to help those students during Pridetime (small group) instruction. So those that need help in a skill are
Social Studies/Science - We have finished the Southeast Region and are currently teaching the Northeast Region and then we will have taught all 5 regions. We will add a science unit on Energy before state assessments.
SEL & BIST- BIST plans were re-evaluated with administrators, focus room, teachers, and students to make changes if needed. SEL is focused on problem solving skill lessons right now.
Fifth Grade - Sara Martin
Fifth grade enjoyed Valentine parties and activities on February 13th. Many students created their own Valentine boxes and brought them to school.
Math - Students in 5th grade are beginning to work on Chapter 10 – Convert Units of Measure. Classes will discuss customary and metric systems. Students are also completing Spiral Reviews to touch on skills taught throughout the year. Some classes are using small groups to complete the Spirals and focus on skills needing extra attention.
Reading – Students have completed Unit 4 Weeks 1 and 2 covering biographies. A story on Rosa Parks was presented and students worked on making inferences, the author's point of view, and summarizing texts. The next 2 weeks will be covering dramas. The curriculum provides two short plays for the students to read and discuss. Students will continue to work on inferencing, identifying point of view, and citing relevant evidence from the text.
Science – Classes will be working on Spaceship Earth through Mystery Science. In lesson one students became the earth and showed rotations around the sun to discuss day and nighttime. Lesson two provided the opportunity for students to make their own shadow clock from a paper plate, toothpick, and glued on handout.
Mrs. Rothmeyer’s class has started going to the nursing home to make a community connection with a segment of the population that is often forgotten. They went at Christmas and then again for Valentine’s Day. They plan on going again for Easter then at the end of the year. For Valentine’s Day, they played BINGO with the residence and then decorated heart shaped sugar cookies. They had about double the residents who participated this month vs. in December. The staff said the residents were very excited to see them and they have not seen so many smiles. There was even a student who went to visit his new friend over the Christmas holiday. Mrs. Rothmeyer is thrilled to see the excitement in all those involved.
STEM - Suzanne Phillips
Fourth and fifth graders have been hard at work researching different types of plants to understand the plant systems and structures. They will then apply the knowledge they have gained and compare plant systems to animal systems. This will prepare them for their project of designing and creating a prosthetic to help an animal.
On February 7th, I collaborated with KCKCC Career and Technical school to hold the 2nd STEM Night for Lansing School District, this one was PK-12 focusing on Trades.
Art - Dawn Blankartz and Libby Stevenson
Art students K-5 have been working on applying what they have learned up until now to create unique masterpieces. We took a moment to create lateral symmetry with monoprints of the Chiefs players and using oil resistance to create Chiefs themed watercolor paintings.
4-5 Students are working in a variety of mediums to create notable works that might be selected for the art show. They are working in all the media they have learned up until now. Some students are working in commercial art/graphics and creating a new font for their name. Others are learning calligraphy with real Indian ink. We will be transitioning soon to learn about non-objective vs. abstract art from Kandinsky and Picasso, and pointillism from Seurat, as well as the sculptures of Chihuly. Students have also been working on creating portraits for Black History month and Presidents Day.
PE - Chris Fine
In February, we finished up our bowling unit and began playing frisbee pin knockdown and newcomb. Newcomb is kind of like volleyball played with a large fitness ball. We also changed our warm-up from jogging to doing some more dynamic running drills such as power skips, high knees, soldier kicks, etc.
Our Jump Rope For Heart activities begin March 1. We will be accepting donations for the American Heart Association and practicing our jump rope skills.
Music - Ryan Rothmeyer
4th grade is working on identifying pitches on the treble clef staff.
5th grade is working on reading and performing music with 6 parts, utilizing ostinatos, quarter notes, quarter rests, eighth notes, and half rests.
Library Log - Tina Silva
Fourth graders worked on simile poems. They each wrote their poems and we put them on heart shaped paper. They were very creative, and some found it easy to write. We will be working on more poems during the month of March.
Fifth graders created character stories. They chose a character from a book they read and made up a story for that character. Some of our students are very creative and have great imaginations. When they are done with their story, they share time, reading their story aloud to their peers - this helps with public speaking. Keep reading new and exciting books.
Happy Reading!
Instructional Insights
Staff Spotlight - The Kitchen Crew
Mrs. Persinger, Mrs. Mace, and Mrs. McHugh (left to right) make up our kitchen dream team. They not only serve our students breakfast and lunch, but they do it with a smile and positivity. They take time to get to know our students and develop relationships with them. Our students could not achieve their best without the meals they are served at school. We are so thankful to have all three in our building this year.
Lion Pride Pickup Patrol
LIS has implemented many new procedures allowing students to participate in the upkeep of their school and provide incentives for students to do well in and out of the classroom. In February, teachers began nominating students in their classrooms who demonstrate responsibility for our weekly pickup patrol. These students, along with Mr. Altieri and Mrs. Settles, walk the school grounds and help pick up trash. It is a great way to keep our school clean, enjoy a sunny day with friends, and have a role in maintaining our school. In addition, students receive a certificate for free ice cream and the opportunity to hold Mufasa, our school mascot.
Mufasa Leadership Awards
Students at LIS are recognized for their success both in and out of the classroom. Our first four Mufasa Leadership Awards winners were Bridget Henderson from Mrs. Gerling’s class, Olivia Witt (Mrs. Hanson), Greyson Seebeck (Mrs. Holden), and Londyn McCarville (Miss Gassmann). Additional MLA awards will be submitted during the third and fourth quarters and will be included in future newsletters.
Students receive the prestigious Mufasa Leadership Award for showing exemplary leadership. They are nominated by LIS staff during the school year. Students who receive a MLA get to call home with the grrr-eat news, receive a customized certificate, their recognition on the LIS website and Facebook page, and an opportunity to hold Mufasa, our pet snake and impromptu mascot.
Standards-Based Grading
Morning Student Drop-off Procedures
LIS Parents,
We want to ensure our students arrive at school safely. Please help us by reviewing our car drop off procedures.
Do not back up traffic by turning left from Ida. Cars have been swerving around backed up traffic and it is dangerous for everyone involved.
If you plan to sit in the car with your child, and not immediately drop off, pull forward to the end of the cones to prevent traffic backing up to Ida.
Circle around the parking lot back to Ida after dropping off.
Be patient. Saving thirty seconds of time is not worth endangering our students.
Reach out to school staff if there are issues you see that need to be addressed. We are always looking to make drop off more efficient and streamlined.
Cell Phone Policy
If you need to get a message to your child, please contact the office and we can make sure your message is passed along to them. Students caught using their phone will receive a warning the first time. Future violations may result in a discipline referral for inappropriate use of technology.
Thank you for doing your part to help foster a strong learning environment at LIS!
High School Sports Attendance Policy
We're excited for the community to come out and support our band, cheerleaders, and athletes. We have a few reminders for Lansing High School events:
- Student performances are the focus of the event. No one should be on the practice football field, soccer fields, or other areas away from the stadium
- All elementary, intermediate, and middle school aged students attending this season's high school home sporting events and activities must have a parent or guardian with them for the entirety of the event.
- The middle school cheering section is on the south side of the stadium near the concession stand
- Students cannot enter the stadium from the tailgate area
- Please do not bring balls, frisbees, or other items to the game
- Spectators who are disruptive will be asked to leave.
Thank you, and we look forward to a fantastic year!
https://usd469.socs.net/vnews/display.v/ART/6310fd6b46368?in_archive=1
PTA News and Links:
March:
3/21 - K-5 PTA Meeting @ LES Library (Doors open at 6:00 for social time; Meeting begins at 6:30; Free child supervision in the library provided by LHS KAYS)
We are in desperate need of families to step up to fill Parent-Teacher Association Roles for the 24-25 school year. All board positions will be open at the end of this year - President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. If we cannot fill these roles, we will not have a PTA next year.
This means the current school support programs that PTA provides will not be maintained - field trip t-shirts, free family events like the Back to School Bash and Winter Festival, Teacher Grants, Book Fairs, Yearbook, Field Day, Staff Appreciation, PRIDE Wall of Fame Photos, Friday Folders, Agendas, and many more!
Training is available for all roles; no experience is necessary. Please reach out to your class families and encourage anyone interested in serving on the Parent-Teacher Association to please contact LansingPTA.K5@gmail.com.
Yearbooks are on sale now! You can purchase in school using the attached form or online at https://yearbookforever.com/ and search for "Lansing Elementary and Intermediate School". Our K-5 yearbook costs $20 until May 2. The price will increase to $25 on May 3.
Did you know that you can now support Lansing PTA K-5 while you shop at Dillons? Navigate to Community Rewards and select "Lansing PTA" as your organization of choice and you can earn money for us when you use your loyalty card. https://www.dillons.com/i/community/community-rewards
Teacher Grant requests are due by April 3.
Email : LansingPTA.K5@gmail.com
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lansing469pta/
View our webpage: https://lansingpta.blogspot.com/
Lansing Intermediate School
Website: https://www.usd469.net/vnews/display.v/SEC/Lansing%20Intermediate%20School%20%28Grades%204-5%29
Location: 509 Ida Street, Lansing, KS, USA
Phone: (913) 297-0990
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisusd469