A Busy Time at LCHS

As is usually the case in May, things are busy at LCHS.  The following are a few of the upcoming events at LCHS:

·         May 14 - Last day for ROAR Block

·         May 16 - SOL testing begins

·         May 18 - Senior Baccalaureate Service at Mineral Baptist Church (4:00 pm)

·         May 19 and May 20 - Senior exams

·         May 21 - Senior Awards Day - LCMS (9:00 am) and Senior Awards Night - LCMS (7:00 pm)

·         May 23 - Graduation Rehearsal - LCHS Cafeteria at 8:30 am

·         May 23 - Graduation - LCHS Stadium at 6:30 pm

·         May 24 and May 25 - Rain Dates - LCHS Graduation

·         May 27 - Underclassman Awards Assembly - LCMS - 9:00 am

·         May 28 and May 29 - Underclassmen Exams

·         May 30 - Last Day of School

Thank you again for your continued help and support this year.  I look forward to seeing everyone at these upcoming events.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 540-894-5436 or you can email me at smithte@lcps.k12.va.us.

UPCOMING EVENTS AT LCHS

We have a busy couple of weeks coming up at LCHS.  Here are some of our upcoming events:

·         Parent-Teacher Conferences - Wednesday, April 2nd - 3:45 pm - 7:00 pm

·         "Legally Blonde - The Musical" - Friday, April 4th at 7:00 pm, Saturday, April 5th at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, April 6th at 3:00 pm - LCMS Forum

·         LCPS Arts Fest - Saturday, April 5th - 10:00 am - 2:00 pm - LCMS

Also, be sure to check out the LCHS Athletics website at www.lchsathletics.org for the full calendar of upcoming athletic competitions.

As always, thank you for your support of LCHS.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 540-894-5436.

Thank you!

As you have probably heard, I have resigned my position as principal of LCHS effective at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.  Having been at LCHS for 16 years, this was certainly not an easy decision, but I feel it is time for me to explore other opportunities.

I can't thank everyone enough for their support over the last 3 years.  To say that the LCHS community has been through some challenging times recently would be an understatement.  I will never forget how the LCHS community - the faculty, staff, students, parents, and community members - rose to the occasion and came together to meet these challenges.  I will always be proud of what we accomplished.

While I will be leaving at the end of the year, the school year isn't over and we still have work to do at LCHS.  Our teachers are working to adjust curriculum because of the inclement weather days and we continue to provide the best education to our students.  Our spring sports are getting ready to begin and our student-athletes are ready to represent LCHS.  And, our Fine Arts students are working to get ready for the annual Arts Festival and for the spring production of "Legally Blonde".  As you can see, we have many events happening at LCHS over the next few months.  Please come out and support our students in their many endeavors. 

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  I can be reached at 540-894-5436 or at smithte@lcps.k12.va.us.    

LCHS INFORMATION

This past week, we have sent home three letters to our LCHS families.  Each of these addressed various issues impacting the LCHS community.  In case the letters did not make it home, I want to take this opportunity to review the information that was sent out.

GRADUATION

The first letter, which was sent home with our seniors, addressed graduation.  Weather permitting, the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2014 will be held at 6:30 pm on Friday, May 23, 2014 at the Louisa County High School Stadium.  We will check the weather forecast on the morning of Thursday, May 22nd and, should the threat of inclement weather preclude us from holding the ceremony on Friday, the ceremony will be moved to Saturday, May 24th.  We will attempt to hold the ceremony at some point during the day on May 24^th.  Should the weather still be uncooperative, the ceremony would be moved to the afternoon of Sunday, May 25^th.  At this point, we have been unable to secure a suitable rain site, which requires us to plan to have the graduation ceremony at the LCHS Stadium.  More details regarding the ceremony will be provided at a later date.     

ADDITIONAL TIME TO THE SCHOOL DAY

The second letter dealt with the addition of 15 minutes to the school day to make up for time missed due to inclement weather.  Starting on Monday, February 3rd, the bell schedule at LCHS will be adjusted.  Starting on February 3rd, our first bell will ring at 7:55 am.  ROAR Block will begin at 8:02 am and first period will start at 8:38 am.  Our new dismissal time will be 3:30 pm.  By adding more time into each period, we will be able to make up for the time we missed because of the snow. 

DR. PETTIT'S LETTER

Dr. Pettit also sent a letter home to LCPS families addressing the days missed because of inclement weather and the plan for making up time if we should miss more days this winter.  The full text of her letter is below:

Families of Louisa County Public Schools:        

This has been an unprecedented year for inclement weather closings and delays. These disruptions have not been conducive to student learning.  The instructional time that we have missed­ - and any more that we may miss in the coming weeks­­ - must be made up to meet state requirements and allow our students to achieve at the levels expected by LCPS, Louisa County, and your family.

Our 2013-2014 school calendar was created to accommodate 10 missed days.  We have exhausted those built-in options. Five days did not need to be made up because of the length of our daily schedule. Our two built-in make-up days - the February 17 holiday and March 17 teacher workday - have been converted to regular school days. Three additional days missed will be made up by the 15-minute increase in the instructional day that begins Monday, February 3. Although we do not know what the coming weeks of winter will hold, the following make-up days will be scheduled as needed in the event of inclement weather:

After January 30:  1st day missed:  May 27   2^nd day missed: May 28   3^rd day missed: May 29   4^th day missed: May 30

The approved school calendar referenced these as potential make-up days if needed. Missing more than four additional days may result in adding more instructional time to each school day or additional days.

While we cannot control the frigid temperatures or conditions on state roads, we can ensure that we respond appropriately, with an emphasis on preserving the quality of instruction for all of our learners. Overcoming this challenge will require the combined efforts of our teachers, students, staff and families. Students may receive additional homework as the year progresses.  Assignments that help reinforce lessons taught by our teachers may be sent home more than has been customary in the past. This will allow our teachers to maximize concept development in their classroom time without sacrificing student review.  Schools may also send home links to various skill-building and knowledge-building websites.

We are shifting our window for SOL testing as late as possible in the school year. Writing assessments will now be given later in March. Your child’s principal will send home details of these date changes. These adjustments will give our students the best chance for success by maximizing instructional time before the state assessments are given.

We know the missed days, the schedule changes, and the academic challenges ahead aren’t easy on your family. We appreciate your support of Louisa County Public Schools as we work together to maximize learning for our students this year.

Sincerely,

Deborah D. Pettit

Division Superintendent

 

As Dr. Pettit mentions in her letter, everyone at LCHS is working to ensure that we maintain the quality of instruction for all of our students in all of our classes.  While we have missed several days, we will continue to ensure that the students of LCHS receive the best education possible.

As always, thank you for your continued support of LCHS.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 540-894-5436.

 

 

 

The Second Semester Begins

As we begin the second semester of the 2013-2014 school year, we want to remind everyone about the six expectations of Louisa County High School. As a safe and orderly environment is vital to make certain that all of our students can be successful, these expectations are in place to ensure that our students remain focused on their education.

Our six expectations are:

1.     Arrive to school and class on time.

2.     No electronic devices should be seen or heard.

3.     Appropriate school attire should be worn at all times. Headwear should not be worn in thw building at any time.

4.     Respectful language and behavior should be demonstrated at all times. Profanity will not be tolerated.

5.     Respect yourself, your peers, staff, building facilities, and equipment.

6.     No food or drink is to be consumed or visible in the classrooms or hallways, with the exception of water in the original plastic container.

These expectations serve as the cornerstone for all that we do at LCHS. As such, we will be reviewing them with our students on the first day of the second semester. Our teachers and administrators are committed to enforcing these expectations and students who fail to comply with them will face disciplinary action. With your help and support, we can ensure that our school remains a model for schools across the Commonwealth.

I would also like to remind you that we will be sending first semester report cards home on Friday, January 10th.  Please ask your child to see his or her report card.  If you have any questions about the grades on the report card, please feel free to contact your child's teachers.

We are very excited to start the second semester of the 2013-2014 school year.  If we can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. We can be reached at 540-894-5436.  We look forward to working with you to ensure that your child is successful.

SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY

On November 15th, Louisa County's Commonwealth's Attorney Rusty McGuire and Senator Tom Garrett came to Louisa County High School to speak with our students regarding the appropriate use of social media sites and what can happen when these sites are not used appropriately.  During their presentation, Mr. McGuire and Senator Garrett spoke about recent cases across the nation where students had been bullied using social media, incidents where words exchanged through social media caused a fight which lead to several arrests, and the fact that individuals can face criminal charges based on what they write on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. 

I would ask that you please help keep these social media sites a safe place for all by monitoring what your child is posting on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Vine, and Instagram.  As we told the students, these sites are a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, but, if used incorrectly, can lead to significant problems, both for those posting and those who read the posts.  The following suggestions for keeping teens safe on social media were posted by the USA.GOV website:

1. Keep your child’s profile private so that only family and people you know see photos, important dates and other information.

2. Make sure they’re not posting personal details, including phone numbers, home address, and the name of their school or Social Security number.

3. Only allow them to publish photos and videos that don’t jeopardize their safety or their integrity.

4. Make sure they choose a strong password that can’t be guessed, and that it gets changed every three months.

5. Never allow them to accept friend requests from people they don’t know.

6. Keep an open dialogue with your children. Ask them to let you know if they’ve received private messages from a stranger, or from someone at school who is teasing, harassing or threatening them. Those could be signs of cyber-bullying or even a sexual predator.

SOURCE:  http://blog.usa.gov/post/60075400004/six-tips-for-keeping-teens-safe-on-social-media

If you feel that your child is being harassed or bullied by another student through social media, or if you feel that something is happening through social media that could manifest itself at school, please feel free to call LCHS and speak to an administrator.  We will take the necessary steps to ensure that these types of incidents do not impact the learning environment at LCHS.

 

As always, thank you for visiting my blog.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 540-894-5436 or at smithte@lcps.k12.va.us. 

October is Here!

October is here and things are busy at LCHS. Our athletic teams have been competing and doing well.  Speaking of LCHS athletics, congratulations to the LCHS Golf team.  They made the regional championships for the first time in school history!  Our Fine Arts department held their annual Fall Fine Arts Recital last week and everyone did a wonderful job.  Our band, choral, theater, and art students did a fantastic job in  showcasing their talents.  And, our CTE department represented LCHS well at the State Fair.  Our students won many prizes, including several first place finishes.  And, this is just the beginning of October!

We do have several events coming up at LCHS.  These upcoming events include:

October 11 - End of the 1st Nine Weeks
October 14 - Teacher Workday
October 16 - LCHS Democracy Day
October 18 - Report cards sent home
October 22 and 23 - SOL Writing Tests
October 23 - Parent/Teacher Conference Night

Please be sure to check out our calendar for more events.  Our calendar can be found at www.louisalions.com.

As always, thank you for your continued support of LCHS. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  I can be reached at 540-894-5436 or at smithte@lcps.k12.va.us.