Newsletter May 8, 2015 - Lake Elkhorn Middle School

Lake Elkhorn Eagles
May 8, 2015
Lake Elkhorn Families~
What a proud moment for everyone in the Lake Elkhorn
community last night at the Enrichment Fair! Our students
showcased all of their talent and hard work in a wide variety of
ways. Who knew that our students could perform Shakespeare,
play jazz music, and conduct research on the orange footed
pimpleback purlymussel? As I mentioned last night, the
accomplishments on display are not merely a reflection of talent.
Talent combined with hard work and support from parents and
teachers has gotten students to their current level of achievement.
Our goal is to continue to nurture their improvement as they
continue to strive for excellence.
LEMS PRIDE has been on display in many ways recently. The
MESA prosthetic arm team, led by Mr. Gatz, won the state
competition yesterday and will be going to the national
competition in Utah in June! Congratulations to Nile, Kiana,
Swarna and Varsha! Last week at the Music in the Parks Festival,
Mr. Burns’ Band earned 1st place and an excellent rating, Ms.
Bullough’s Chorus earned 1st place and a superior rating, and Ms.
Retterer’s Orchestra won 1st place, a superior rating, and Overall
Best Orchestra! We are all so proud of your accomplishments!
Thank you to our PTSA and all the parents who contributed
food and drinks to help make our Teacher Appreciation Week a
big hit! Our teachers enjoyed treats each day this week and also
received notes with kudos from students. Our staff is extremely
hard working and dedicated to student learning and we
appreciate your contribution to their special week. I would also
like to thank Ms. Carmean for her creative presentations for our
baseball-themed week.
With Eagle Pride,
Martin Vandenberge
Principal
May 19th
5th Visitation Day
1:15pm-2:15pm
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May 19th Concert Strings
May 20th Concert Chorus
May 21st Concert Band
All concerts will start at 7pm,
in the cafeteria.
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May 25th
Memorial Day
School /Office Closed
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June 3rd
8th graders visit HS
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June 15th - 8th Grade
Promotion Ceremony at 6pm
Middle School World Language
Students are now able to register for the Middle School World Language program through the HCPSS BSAP/K-9
Summer Institute. Rising 8th graders, who were not enrolled in world language in grade 7, may enroll in French or
Spanish this summer. Successful completion of this course will prepare students to enroll in the appropriate grade 8
language course for the 2015-2016 school year. The course meets from June 29 - July 24 from 8:30am - 12:15pm at
Lime Kiln Middle School ($275). Students have the option of also registering for the afternoon enrichment sessions
with the BSAP/K-9 Summer Institute ($550). Although this course was listed in the HCPSS Summer Catalog, it was not available on any of the online registration
forms, prohibiting students from enrolling. If you have any students interested, please encourage them to complete the
online registration form on the summer school website. •
Registration website - http://tinyurl.com/HCPSS-summer
•
Direct link to MS World Language Program registration form - http://tinyurl.com/MSlanguage-2015
LEMS YEARBOOKS
NOW ON SALE
COST: $18.00 Please return your envelopes with payment to your teacher, the front office,
or Mrs. Cannon (Rm. 95) as soon as possible to guarantee you get a lasting
memory of your 2014-2015 school year! Please put your PERIOD 7
teacher’s name on the envelope. Please make any checks payable to: “Lake Elkhorn Middle School”
*** ORDERS ARE DUE BY: MAY 20, 2015!
We will ONLY order the number of yearbooks that are
ordered and paid for by that date!
Early College Program Registration
Parents of 8th graders: the Early College Program is still recruiting students.
This program provides students with a supportive and scholarly pathway to be successful in college creditbearing courses during their Junior and Senior years in high school. The Early College program is designed
to provide students with courses that will enrich their high school experience and support their success in
achieving 30 college credits by the time they graduate from OMHS. Students could also continue at Howard
Community College the following year, earning an Associate’s Degree a year ahead of the usual schedule.
Science focus: Prepare for careers in science, pharmaceuticals, medicine and others
Education focus: Prepare for careers in math or science education
ESSENTIAL FEATURES:
•
Grade 9/10: High school classes with cohort experience
•
Grade 11: Some college classes taken at OMHS
•
Grade 12: Elective taken at OMHS and College classes taken at HCC with transportation provided
•
One further year at HCC to gain AA degree
Questions? Contact: Richard Smart, richard_smart@hcpss.org (410) 313.6945
Above and Beyond the Call of Duty
Mr. Vandenberge, Ms. Bailey, Mr.
Anderson, Mr. Murray, Ms. Bernard, Ms,
Waters, Ms. Carmean, Mr. Farmer, Ms.
Brocenos, Ms. Noonan.
Mr. Murray was nominated and won the ABCD Award for the month of March!
Mr. Murray has worked countless hours making sure all state mandated tests ran
smoothly for both staff and students of Lake Elkhorn Middle School. Through it
all, Mark kept a pleasant demeanor and smile on his face! We would like to thank
you for a job well done!
Congratulations
Lake Elkhorn
Music Department
Type to enter text
“Congratulations to the music department,
who traveled to Hershey Park to compete
in the Music in the Parks festival.
The chorus, band and orchestra were all
awarded first place in each of their
respective divisions. The band received an
excellent rating and the chorus and
orchestra received superior ratings! The
orchestra was also awarded the first place
overall orchestra."
On Thursday, May 7th, thirty-­‐one 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students traveled to the Johns Hopkins Advanced Physics Laboratory to represent Howard County in the Maryland MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement) compeIIon. Back on April 10, the LEMS MESA team won the Howard County school trophy and the honor to compete at the next level. Although LEMS didn’t place as well as they had hoped in the bridge, computer programming, and hovercraP compeIIons, they took first place in the prostheIc arm challenge! The prostheIc team will travel to Utah in June to compete the MESA USA NaIonal championships. Wish Swarna Velumani (7th) Kiana Wambui (7th), Varsha Velumani (6th), and Nile Rankin-­‐Watson (6th) good luck as the work hard to represent Maryland.
Closing Ceremony will be held on Monday, June 15, 2015 at 6 pm. It will be located in the cafeteria. We
ask that all students report to the gymnasium by 5:15 pm. The dress code for this event is business
casual, not formal. Students wearing inappropriate clothing will not be allowed to attend. If a young
lady is wearing a dress with thin straps or no straps, we ask that they wear a sweater to cover up. After
the closing ceremony, there will be light refreshments located in the gymnasium.
PLEASE SEND YOUR BOX TOPS!!!!
We are collecting Box Tops here at
LEMS! Please bring them to THE
FRONT OFFICE. The school earns
$0.10 per box top and more for
BONUS box tops.
Fitness Fact and Challenge:
Overweight adolescents have a 70%
chance of becoming overweight adults. This increases to 80% if one or both
parents are overweight or obese. It is
important to focus on fitness as a family. Can you and your family walk around
the neighborhood for 45 minutes this
weekend?
Wellness Night
The LEMS Student Wellness Club and
the Wellness Committee are happy to
announce our final event of the year:
Wellness Night on Thursday, May
28th from 6-8pm. Students must be
accompanied by an adult for this fun
night out!
TESTING DATES
Below are important dates that all students and parents need to be made aware of. Save these dates
and emphasize to your children the importance of getting a good night's sleep prior to testing,
eating a good breakfast the morning of testing, and trying his/her best during all testing situations. We are looking for perfect attendance (on time and in school) on each of the testing dates. Thank
you in advance for your cooperation. May 11 - 12 6th grade MAP Math/Reading
May 13 - 14 8th grade MAP Math/Reading
May 15 - 18 7th grade MAP Math/Reading Wow!
The LEMS teacher lunch was a HUGE success, and we have you to thank for it. Every time a teacher or
staff member entered the conference room where we set up, their face lit up and their smile said it all.
Thank you. Over and over, they thanked you for making their day, for showing you care, for letting them
know by your volunteer effort that their hard work means something.
Your PTSA board members thank you too. Yes, we can organize it, but without your participation,
nothing would happen. Thank you for taking the time to read our email, to sign up, to bring a donation of
food or cash, to be active in this event. We had 100% fulfillment of our needs to put on this lunch.
A few of you left a dish or container with your name on it--Mrs. Davis (who helped from set-up to
break-down and earns an extra thanks!) was washing those up. Check with the office for pick-up.
Have a great evening, and once again, Thank You!
Jenny, Lee, Gladys & Tonya, PTSA Board
Guilford PTA
Guilford Elementary PTA is hosting a Basket and Bag Bingo on Saturday, May 16, 2015 at
Ridgley's Run Community Center, 8400 Mission Road, Jessup, MD 20794. Doors open at 6 pm,
Bingo start at 7 pm. Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door. Special games, raffles, silent
auction and concession will be available for purchase. Tickets can be purchased by visiting our
website http://www.guilfordpta.com/announcements/newlinksoffundraisingpage
Questions? Email gesptafundraising@gmail.com
Dress Code Every year when the warm weather arrives, dress code becomes an issue for some students. If
you see a student dressed inappropriately, please pull them aside and see if they have
something to cover up. If they can not or will not make the adjustment, please let an
administrator know so we can help get them up to code while you continue with instruction. As
Ms. O'Connor pointed out previously, Ms. Dean has some extra clothing in her room. Just a
heads up, there have already been 3 occasions this week when a student has told a teacher that
Mr. Murray, Ms. Carmean or I have approved of their outfit when this has turned out not to be
true (in their minds they saw us at some point so therefore we must have seen them and
approved of the outfit?). In these cases, no need to argue with them — the same procedure
applies. I will send out another message to parents today to remind them of the dress code, also.