Since this is my first post of the New Year, please let me start by saying that I hope everyone had a great holiday and that everyone has a wonderful 2013. So far, 2013 is shaping up to be a great year at LCHS.
I wanted to thank everyone for a great end to the first semester. Our SOL and CTE credentialing testing went well and the results we have gotten back are looking great. As of today, we still have not gotten back SOL scores for the Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and English: Reading tests. As these were all new tests this year, the scores tend to take longer to get back. As soon as we do get them, we will calculate grades for these courses and send home updated report cards for those students in these classes.
I also wanted to let everyone know that we are continuing to address the issues caused by the earthquake. Just before Winter Break, our Automotive, Building Trades, and Culinary Arts classes moved into their new facilities. These new classrooms are much closer to what we had before the earthquake and our teachers and students are excited about their new spaces. I want to thank everyone who worked hard to make these new facilities possible.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, LCHS will begin the full implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program this semester. This program is designed to reduce existing bullying problems among students, to prevent the development of new problems, and to achieve better peer relations at school. A major component of this program are class meetings. During these meetings, students will discuss bullying, the impacts of bullying, and appropriate ways individuals can stop bullying. Holding these meetings will require us to change our ROAR Block schedule slightly. When ROAR Block begins on January 23rd, all students will be expected to be in first period by 8:07 am on Thursdays. On Thursdays, students will have first period at the beginning of the day. The last 30 minutes of the block will be used for either Olweus Class Meetings or club meetings.
In case you haven’t heard, we have set the date for graduation for the Class of 2013. The graduation ceremony will be held on Friday, May 24th at 6:30 pm in the LCHS Stadium. Should the weather not cooperate, we will hold the ceremony on Saturday, May 25th either at the LCHS Stadium or at a rain site. While we have been working diligently over the last several months to secure a rain site, as of now, we have not been able to do so. Once we have a site, we will get that information out to our seniors and their families as quickly as possible.
As always, I would like to thank everyone for their continued support of LCHS. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at smithte@lcps.k12.va.us or at 540-894-5436.
