Open House

I wanted to take a few minutes to thank everyone who came out for the Open House on Friday.  We had quite the crowd.  It was great to see so many smiling, happy faces!  The start of school is only a few short days away.

Summer!

I hope that everyone is having a relaxing, fun-filled summer.  As I sit to write this, we are just over a month away from the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.  It is amazing how time seems to fly.

As is usual over the summer, things have been busy at LCHS.  Custodians, secretaries, teachers, and administrators have been hard at work getting LCHS ready for the new school year.  Our summer remediation program went very well and many of our student-athletes have been at school getting ready for their upcoming season.  School may not be in session, but there always seems to be something going on at LCHS.

We will be sending out a newsletter shortly with information about the beginning of school.  Please be sure to take a few minutes to read through this when it arrives.  Also, be sure to put August 10th on your calendar.  We will be having our Open House on that day from 3:30 pm - 7:00 pm.  I hope to see everyone there.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  I can be reached by email at smithte@lcps.k12.va.us or at 540-894-5436.  Enjoy the rest of your summer!           

A Busy Time At LCHS

First, I need to apologize for not having made a blog entry in a while.  As you know, things at LCHS have been busy and time just got away from me.  I promise I will get back on track with my monthly entries.

I find it hard to believe that we are already in May and less than a month from graduation.  We are entering the final stretch of what has been a unique school year.  We have SOLs and exams coming up, as well as all of our typical end of the year activities.  May and June will certainly be busy months.  Please check out the calendar on our website for the dates and times of the events we have planned.

Speaking of graduation, we do have two plans in place depending on the weather.  If the forecast is for sunny weather, the ceremony will be held at the LCHS stadium at 10:00 am on Saturday, June 9^th.  If the forecast calls for rain, we will have the ceremony at the Siegel Center in Richmond at 1:00 pm on Saturday, June 9^th.  Letters were sent home with seniors that provided the details for each of the venues.  The final decision will be made by 9:00 am on Friday, June 8^th.  I know that our seniors (and their parents) are excited about graduation and we want this important ceremony to be special and memorable.

As we near the end of this school year, we will continue to demonstrate the hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence that makes us LCHS.  Our mission is to finish the school year with the strength that saw us through all of the challenges of the year.

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

A NEW HOME

The last month has been a busy one.  After finishing up the semester in January and then moving all of our items from LCMS to the new modular high school, we have spent the last few weeks settling in to our new home.  (Our move into the modular high school even made it into the USA Today.)  While we have had to address some minor issues associated with our new home, I think that the transition has gone very smoothly.  The fact that it went so well can be attributed to the planning and hard work of everyone in the LCHS community.  Once again, teachers, students, administrators, and parents came together to help, offer advice, and to do what needed to be done.   

We also got some great news late last week.  As you may have heard, FEMA came through with a grant to rebuild LCHS.  The FEMA money, combined with funds from the insurance company, as well as funding from the state and local levels, will allow us to begin the process of getting back to normal.  We still have a few years in the modular high school, but this is the first step in the rebuilding process.

Speaking of normal, even through all of this, things at LCHS are going on as they always have.  Our teachers and students are working hard in their classrooms each and every day.  Our winter sports teams faced a variety of challenges this year, but competed well over the course of the season.  And, our students continue to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities.  Even though we've seen a lot of changes, the outstanding dedication shown by the LCHS community has stayed the same.  That's what makes us LCHS.

Thank you for visiting my blog.  If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.  I can be reached at 540-894-5436 or at smithte@lcps.k12.va.us.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!!!  I hope that everyone had a great holiday and that 2012 is a great year for you!

I wanted to update you on the progress of the pods.  As you have probably seen, all of the pods have been set and they are working diligently to finish the trim work, hook up electricity and plumbing, and get them ready for our February 1st start date.  So far, everything seems to be on track.  I just hope Mother Nature cooperates with us and we don't get any snow in January.

We have also begun the process of moving items into the pods.  Many of the classrooms have been transferred and that process is going smoothly.  Again, as long as we don't get too much snow, we should be ready to go on February 1st.

Over the next week or so, I will be posting on our web site a list of questions and answers about "Life in the Pods".  This document is designed to answer questions we have been getting about how things might be different in the pods.  It will cover items such as pick up and drop off points, the bell schedule, and ROAR Block.  If you have a question that you would like me to answer, please email me at smithte@lcps.k12.va.us.  I'll be sure to include it when we post it on the web.  (We will send home a paper copy as well.)

I also want to remind you that we will be having our Fall SOL tests on January 11th, 13th, 18th, and 20th.  Please be sure to check out our web site to get the specifics.  Also, we will be holding our exams on January 23rd and January 25th.  January 27th will be an exam-make up day.

As always, thank you for your support of LCHS.  This has been a challenging semester, but through the hard work and dedication of the LCHS family, we have made it through this difficult time. 

Updates and Upcoming Events

As you have probably seen if you’ve driven by LCHS in the last week or so, there has been a lot of activity lately. We have seen the arrival of many of the pods and the teams are working on getting them connected to each other and the utility lines. They have been doing a great job and a lot of progress is being made. We are still planning on having the modular high school ready to go for the start of the 2^nd semester.

As I mentioned in my last blog, we do have several questions that we are working on answers for. One of those questions was parking and we have a plan for that.  In order to accommodate the number of staff and student cars, we are planning on expanding the lot near the old track, the lot near the Alternative Education Center, and the upper student lot to hold more vehicles. We are also exploring the possibility of creating a new lot using part of the currently fenced off area behind the CTE wing. Based on our plan, we should have enough spaces for all of the cars we see on a daily basis. Of course, we will need to change some of the currently assigned spots, but we will make those changes happen as smoothly as possible.

I also wanted to let everyone know that report cards will be coming out on Friday, November 11th.  Please be sure to ask your child to see his or her report card.  We will also be having Parent Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, November 16th from 5:30 - 7:30.  This is a great time to talk with your child's teachers about his/her progress during the first nine weeks.  I hope to see everyone there. 

As always, 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.

The Modular High School is Coming

If you have driven by LCHS in the last week or so, you may have noticed some changes.  In preparation for the modular high school, some trees and light poles have been removed, the tennis court fence has been taken down, and the utility lines have been marked.  We should shortly see the arrival of the first pods which will serve as the home of LCHS for the foreseeable future.  The new modular high school will let us (and the Middle School) get back to a more normal schedule. 

Of course, things won't be completely normal and we will have to work through some things.  We will see some changes in where staff and students can park, we will need to change where students can be picked up and dropped off, and we will need to find a place for our tennis team to practice and play matches.  But, as with everything else we've had to change this year, I know that this community will work together to find solutions to any and all problems that we will face.

Changing gears a little bit, not only is the modular high school coming, but so is Homecoming.  The SCA has done a great job this year in adapting to the new circumstances we face.  We are having two weeks of Spirit Days, including Decade Day, Formal Day, and, of course, Green and Gold Day.  On Friday, October 28th, the day of the Homecoming game, the students want to show their support of the fight against breast cancer by having a Pink Out Day.  Make sure you come out on Friday to enjoy all of the Homecoming festivities and support the Lions as they face Charlottesville.

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