Lightning Newsflash
Lakeridge Middle School's weekly newsletter.
November 18, 2020
News from Lakeridge Middle School
A Message of Gratitude
At Monday’s board meeting I shared the following message that I wanted to repeat here for all our LMS families as we approach next week’s break and the Thanksgiving holiday’s important occasion for gratitude. Anis Mojgani, our Oregon Poet Laureate, recently read at an OCTE web-conference and featured his poem Come Closer, which beckons listeners, “come closer, come into this…” even when the world makes us “feel thinned out.” Our efforts at Lakeridge Middle School to upgrade our connection and walk closer together during this extraordinary year provide many sources of joy and gratitude. Teachers and students have been connecting with one another in ways that continue to delight and surprise us all. Evidence shows up over and over in student work like the darling and daring PSA’s produced at the end of the quarter for wellness classes, including an original song composed for voice and ukulele…to distanced choir concerts complete with student solos and ensemble pieces that wowed the virtual audience…to clubs that meet at lunch time providing opportunities for kids and staff advisors to connect…to end of quarter emails from parents that say things like this one that came to one of our new English teachers: “Keep up the good work. No matter how it feels to be teaching exclusively on Zoom in the middle of a pandemic, you are nailing it!”
Through it all, kids are showing their resilience and adaptation and rising to the occasion. Teachers routinely talk about what great groups of students we have and how much they’re enjoying them. Parents provide essential encouragement and support. We’re continuing to prioritize connection and relationship in all our work, from the social emotional lessons the counselors design and push out to classes each week with character strong, to the one-on-one conferences some of our science teachers did with their students at end of last term, to curbside library pickups, to the individual phone calls and connections that our classified staff are making to support struggling students with extra time and attention on Wednesdays this term.
The launch of our first limited in person instruction this week provided another source of joy as we welcomed the very first students to be served by our beautiful new school building. Teachers buzzed, laughed, and giggled with delight as they walked the finished building on tours recently. We expect everyone in our community will have a similar reaction when you too are able to visit. Walking into our new school, I imagine the poem’s closing lines: a doorknob, glowing with light like “…chance before you./ Grab it and walk through—chin up, back straight, eyes open, hearts loud./ Walk through this with me.” I am grateful to walk through this difficult time with our students, families, and staff. Thank you all for your connection and contribution to our learning and growth.
With gratitude,
Dr. Schultz
Holiday Gift Card Drive
The Lakeridge Cares Holiday Gift Card Drive to support families in need during the holiday season is underway!
If your family is able to donate, we would appreciate gift cards of $10 or more (Target and Fred Meyer are preferred). To donate:
- Purchase a gift card and drop it off at the brand new LMS office.
- Visit http://www.target.com/gift-registry/gift/lakeridgecares and select the Gift Card option to send a card directly to Lakeridge Cares.
Help in the Holiday Season
We have many families right here in Lake Oswego who struggle to make ends meet each month. The holiday season only magnifies this situation. If you are a family in need of assistance, please contact one of the counselors by email or phone, 503-534-2343. This information is confidential.
6th grade - Callie Charon charonc@loswego.k12.or.us
7th grade – Monica Binder binderkm@loswego.k12.or.us
8th grade – Marcy Watts wattsm@loswego.k12.or.us
Students start limited in person instruction
We can't wait to welcome our whole community into the building when it is safe to do so, but for the time being we continue to limit access in order to prioritize everyone's healthy and safety.
With rising case numbers across the county and state, please remember that each of us plays a part in keeping our whole community healthy. Wear your mask! Wash your hands! Keep your distance! And, if you haven't yet, check out this cool video Mr. Tesar made during his tour last week:
November Student of the Month Theme: Persistent
Every month our BC Leaders teach kids about the month's theme. You can check out their presentation here and reinforce this month's theme at home with your child.
Here is the 6th grader version of the SOM presentation.
Here is a modified version of the SOM presentation just for the 7th & 8th graders.
Cameras and Zoom
How to report an absence
All students are expected to be present for live interaction (through Zoom or Google Meet) at the beginning of each class period. If students are absent we will be calling and/or emailing to check in and problem-solve with families.
If your child(ren) will NOT be logging into class for one of the following reasons:
- Illness
- Appointment
- Family Emergency
- Planned Absence
please call (503-534-2343 option 1) or email (lmsattendance@loswego.k12.or.us) to let us know.
Homework Requests: Students are responsible to check StudentVUE on Synergy, Google Classrooms, or email a teacher directly to obtain homework for missed instruction time.
Planned Absences (for one or more days): At Lakeridge Middle School, we value student attendance and achievement. We appreciate your honest communication about your child's attendance and understand that sometimes it is unavoidable for students to miss school. Please notify the office when your student will be missing one or more days of school. Click here to notify LMS of a planned absence. Students should communicate with teachers.
Office Hours
We've moved!
Our office is now housed in our new school building at 4700 Jean Road and is typically staffed every weekday from 9AM-4PM. If you need to arrange pickup of unclaimed student materials, answers to a question, help connecting with the right resource or any other assistance you are welcome to call us at 503-534-2343.
Student Clubs & Activities
Student Clubs General Information
Cocoa and Coffee Club
Contact Melissa Evers to get the zoom link Tues. and Thurs. 8:30 - 9 am
Junior Thespians
Hey middle schoolers! You may have heard of Lakeridge’s wonderful drama program, but have you heard of our lovely Jr. Thespian troupe? Jr. Thespians are a non-profit organization. It’s a chapter of the Educational Theatre Association which sponsors the International Thespian Society. It’s our mission to not only do theatre, but promote, strengthen, and advocate for theatre arts in our community. Short answer, we encourage theatre in our community and have fun doing it! If you’d like to join our troupe, come to our meetings which are every Tuesday at 8:10 am. You can find the meeting link in our google classroom: st2cgps.
Hope to see you soon!!
-Your Jr. Thespian Officers
Girl Up Club
Girl Up is a campaign by the United Nations Foundation, that gives young and adolescent girls a voice, opportunity and structure to make a change in their communities. Girl Up inspires change and action to girls worldwide to become a force, and a voice in the gender equality movement, and to help bring social change. Our club learns, supports, and advocates for everything Girl Up stands for; such as equality in sports and education, STEM for social good, advocacy, awareness, fundraising, spreading your message, speaking up, and so much more. Our group welcomes everyone to become an ally or an advocate to our community. The Lakeridge Girl Up Club would love to see you join our part in the Gender Equality Movement.
Check out our website
Join the movement!
Math Club
Queer Straight Alliance (QSA)
All Lakeridge Middle School students are invited to our weekly Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) lunch group. Every Friday we will get together after 2nd period to eat lunch over Zoom and enjoy a safe space to play games, do activities, learn about Queer culture, create Queer culture, problem solve, ask questions, share stories, explore identity, and get to know one another. All students are welcome, regardless of how you identify- LGBTQIA+. Come if you're Queer! Come if you're curious! Come if you're an Ally!
Reach out to Ms. Haffenreffer [pronouns: she/her] with questions.
Culinary Adventures Club
Anime Club
Explanation = Why should you join this club? Well, if you are interested in anime, making friends, and having fun then, this is the group for you! I decided to make this group because I have recently learned that there are actually A LOT of people who like/ watch anime. I was shocked at this news but I decided to make this group so us anime lovers can all come together and hang out, possibly play games, talk about animes and overall have a good time.
What we would do = If you decided to join this group then we would; talk about anime, meet new people, possibly play some games/ watch anime, etc.
Requirements = The requirements for this group is you MUST be respectful and kind to others opinions, likes/ dislikes and beliefs. If somebody thinks a certain show isn’t good but you like it, don’t be rude about it. We all have our own beliefs so all i’m asking is for everyone to be respectful and kind to each other. Also one more thing, if someone is making fun of you for watching anime or liking a certain show in anime please feel free to share that with an adult or the group and we can try to figure things out. On that note, that's all.
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm Date: Thursday, Quarters 2 & 3
Who you would contact if you want to join: Zoe Stone (stone05344@loswego.k12.or.us)
OR our Adult Supervisor Mrs. Knight (chamblec@loswego.k12.or.us)Gaming Club
Meeting Times: 12-1
Days: Tues and Friday
Specific Criteria: Need to have access to a computer/laptop/other gaming device, have access to group games (examples Among Us, Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox) and Zoom
What Season: All year
What do you want your members to get out of it:
To make new friends during the pandemic since we all can’t be together socializing at school
To join email: heathermarie0519@yahoo.com your name to get the zoom link.
Key Goals:
Help new students like me meet new people and feel more comfortable, confident and part of a group
To help students learn in a fun way team building skills
To give students a chance to practice being kind, taking turns and being respectful to others in a group environment
To teach patience and listening to each other
To give students a chance of building creativity skills
Science research shows that video games help the brain with memory and growth
PTO Updates
PTO Meeting Tonight (11/18)
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020
6:30-8 pm
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86342037748?pwd=MEFJR0lnZVJhSzBHWmdtRDk2N1BDdz09
Meeting ID: 863 4203 7748
Passcode: 251983
Don't forget to update your directory info!
Review and update your family’s public contact information by clicking “register/login” and following the prompts here:
https://lakeridgemsparentclub.membershiptoolkit.com/home.
To add the LMS directory to your phone, download the directory app here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/membership-toolkit/id912169276https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.membershiptoolkit.mobileapp
Questions? Email us at lakeridgemiddlepto@gmail.com.
PTO Needs your $ Support
Show your financial support for PTO this year with a direct donation in the amount of $100 per family or any amount that is meaningful to you.
Your generous donations support PTO’s fixed operating expenses and builds reserves for our eventual return to in-person learning.
We can’t wait to pay for field trips, art literacy, library resources, and more!
To donate, click HERE.
District Information
The Public Library is Coming to Visit
Thursday, Nov. 12 from 12-2 (at Lake Oswego Middle School)
Thursday, Dec. 10 from 12-2 (TBD?)
Hello from your Public Library. With all of you in mind, we've continued to fill our library shelves with great new books and have been trying hard to figure out how to get them into your hands. We are so excited to start visiting your school library on "holds pick up day" once a month. In November we'll have a few giveaways and information about how you can continue to use the public library. And beginning in December we'll bring books for you to check out, library card applications and more. See you soon and keep on reading!
Fee Waivers
Requests for resident fee waivers or fee reductions, except for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), will be processed using the attached form. Please complete the form and submit it to the department or school which collects the applicable fee or fees.
Effective October 5: Change in LOSD Grab & Go Meal Pickup Schedule
Great news! Starting the week of October 5, Lake Oswego School District is providing SEVEN DAYS of free breakfast and lunch meals to all children in the community ages 1-18. To accommodate these additional meals, LOSD is changing its pickup days effective Monday, October 5 to Mondays and Thursdays (no longer Wednesdays). One meal kit per child. Face covering required. Information regarding meal services is changing rapidly.
Lake Grove (Mon* & Thurs**) 11 to 12
River Grove (Mon* & Thurs**) 11 to 12
LOHS (Mon* & Thurs**) 11:45 to 12:45
LHS (Mon* & Thurs**) 11:45 to 12:45
*Mondays will provide 3 days of meals
**Thursdays will provide 4 days of meals
USDA and this institution are equal opportunity providers and employees.
Connections and Supports
Administration
Parent Organization
Need to make contact?
Email: schultzk@loswego.k12.or.us
Website: losdschools.org/lms
Location: 4700 Jean Road, Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone: 503-534-2343
Twitter: @LakeridgeMiddle