Lake Elkhorn Summer 2019 Newsletter

Welcome to the 2019 – 2020 school year at Lake Elkhorn Middle School! I hope you are enjoying the long summer and that you have had time to relax, rejuvenate and have some fun!  As much as I have enjoyed the warm summer days, I am so excited to meet the students and am ready for them to fill our hallways and classrooms!

We have been working very hard since school let out to get ready for the upcoming school year.  As you continue to prepare your child for the first day of school on Tuesday, September 3, I want to highlight a few items that will help make the transition back to school an easy one.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the last few weeks of summer break!  I know I speak on behalf of the entire Lake Elkhorn staff when I say that we look forward to working with you, your child, and your family. Together, we will make this a great school year!

Sincerely,

SAVE THE DATES! 

Visit the LEMS Calendar for more dates!

• 8/29/19 - 6th Grade & New Student Orientation -- 1:00 p.m.  
• 9/3/19 - First student day of the 2019-2020 school year  --​ *Doors open at 7:50 a.m.; students should be in their administrative homeroom by 8:00 a.m.
• 9/11/19 - Back to School Night, 6:00 p.m.  -- *We suggest you arrive early and carpool
• 9/17/19 - PTA Meeting, 5:30 p.m., media center -- Join us for our first PTA meeting of the year!
• 9/26/19 - 6th Grade Parent Information Meeting: Outdoor Education Field Trip -- Join us to learn more about this exciting field trip! 6:30 p.m., cafeteria
• 9/30/19 - Schools and offices closed
  
   

LEMS BACK-TO-SCHOOL NEWS

SCHOOL SUPPLY LISTS

Click here to see our 2019-20 school supply lists.  It is important to keep in mind that this list is a guide.  Your child will have different teachers for each subject, and there may be some variations once your child receives his/her schedule.   We encourage you to keep your receipts in case items are not needed.   

NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION

6th grade students and parents – and 7th and 8th graders who are new to our school - are invited to join us on Thursday, August 29, from 1:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. for orientation.  Click here for more information about our new student orientation.

SCHEDULES AND LOCKERS

6th grade students who attend our orientation on Thursday, August 29 will receive their schedules and lockers at that time. All other students will get their schedules in their administrative homeroom on the first day of school; they will be issued lockers once all of their required paperwork is completed and returned to school. Be sure to check your child’s backpack on the first day of school for his/her welcome folder containing the required paperwork and a lot of other important information. Further, since 7th and 8th grade students will not receive lockers on the first day of school, we suggest having your child bring a limited amount of school supplies on the first day (such as one pocket folder, one spiral notebook, sheets of looseleaf paper, and 2-3 writing utensils).  Your child should not bring a backpack until he/she has a locker. Backpacks are not permitted to be carried during the school day.

Administrative homeroom information for all students will be emailed no later than August 28, so please be sure to look for that email.

BUS SCHEDULES

Bus schedules should be posted on the HCPSS Transportation webpage on Wednesday, August 14, at www.hcpss.org/schools/transportation.  As you prepare for a great start to school, keep in mind that sometimes it takes a week or two for the arrival times to be completely accurate due to the variety of bus routes. For this reason, we recommend that students arrive 15 minutes prior to the published, scheduled pick-up time.  Thanks for your patience!

IMMUNIZATION REQUIREMENTS – 7TH GRADE STUDENTS

Reminder to parents of incoming 7th grade students:  Effective on September 3, the first day of school, the following are required by the state of Maryland for all students entering Grade 7:  

• 1 dose of Tdap vaccine
• 1 dose of Meningococcal (MCV4) vaccine

If we do not receive proof of immunization, your child will be excluded from school on the first day.

Click here for more information about this requirement.

Many students may have already received these immunizations, but the Health Room may not have the updated immunization record.  Please contact your child’s doctor and send/fax in an updated copy of your child’s immunizations to the Health Room.  Our fax # is 410-313-7633 or you may email a copy to Kassanadra_wanless@hcpss.org. 

WELLNESS TELEMEDICINE CENTER COMES TO LAKE ELKHORN

HCPSS and the Howard County Health Department (HCHD) have partnered to implement school-based wellness telemedicine centers. Telemedicine centers use a secure, two-way link to transmit videos and images between our school’s private health suite and the telemedicine provider. For more information about the new Wellness Telemedicine Center at Lake Elkhorn, click here.

CELL PHONES AND ELECTRONIC DEVICES

Cell phone use is a popular topic among middle school students.   Click here to review the "LEMS Cell Phone and Electronic Devices Policy", and please, please, please review this with your child before the first day of school.  Thank you for your ongoing support!  

SCHOOL MEALS

Lake Elkhorn participates in National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. All students at Lake Elkhorn receive breakfast every day, provided by Maryland Meal For Achievement (MMFA). School lunches are available for $3.25. In addition, milk may be purchased separately for $.50. 

For more information about school meals, Free and Reduced Price Meal Applications, menus, and the cost of school meals, click here.

Important Note:  If your student received Free or Reduced Meals during the 2018-2019 school year, please be reminded that a new application must be completed each year.  For more information about school meals and programs, please visit the HCPSS website at: http://www.hcpss.org/food-services/.  

WELCOME NEW STAFF!

We are pleased to welcome the following new staff members to our Lake Elkhorn community:

WELCOME VISITORS

In order to ensure the safety of all students and staff, all visitors will be required to press the buzzer located outside of the Lake Elkhorn entrance to the school.  Be sure to bring identification with you if you are picking up your student, or if you need to visit any area of the building. Click here to familiarize yourself with our School Safety Protocols & Procedures for Visiting Lake Elkhorn. Thank you for working with us so that together we can keep our school safe.

STUDENT SERVICES

Our Student Services Team is made up of professionals dedicated to helping your child succeed in middle school.  Our team consists of two school counselors, a school psychologist, an alternative education teacher, a pupil personnel worker, a secretary and a data clerk.  The Student Services Team is here to help your student get the most out of school and life. You and your student are invited and encouraged to speak with a member of our Student Services team whenever you have questions or concerns by calling 410-313-7635. 

OUTDOOR EDUCATION – 6TH GRADE STUDENTS

We are pleased to share that the wonderful tradition will continue again this year as our 6th graders head to NorthBay for Outdoor Ed from November 4-6, 2019! Outdoor Education is a three-day, two-night field trip that provides students an opportunity to engage in a variety of outdoor activities. The Outdoor Education experience has a tradition of being a rich and valuable sixth grade experience and we encourage all sixth grade students to participate in this experience. 

Information packets will be sent home with students during the first weeks of school. Further, a parent information night will be held on Thursday, September 26 at 6:30 p.m.

HAVE MORE BACK-TO-SCHOOL QUESTIONS?

Click here to visit our Back-to-School Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).  Further, if you have a question you would like us to add, please be sure to contact us and let us know!

UPDATING COMMUNICATION & STAYING CONNECTED

UPDATING EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

For the past few years, parents have been asked to update their child’s emergency information prior to the start of school.  The link is now open, and we ask that you get a jump start on the back-to-school paperwork and begin updating your child’s emergency contact information as soon as possible to ensure a smooth start to the school year. When you log in through HCPSS Connect , there will be a large blue button called “HCPSS CONNECT LOGIN”.  Click this button and it will direct you to login. Once you login, there will be a menu (usually along the left side of your screen, but it may be in a different spot on a mobile device).  Find the link that says, “Family File (emergency information).” Once you click this, you will be able to begin updating your child’s information.

As a reminder, Family File contains information such as your child’s transportation, contact information, and medical considerations.  For the safety of your child/children, it is very important that this information remains current. Please ensure that it is updated prior to the start of school. Parents who do not have, or may have forgotten their log-in credentials, can request assistance using the help link on the HCPSS Connect  page: http://hcpss.org/connect. Please revise and/or complete your family contact information as soon as you are able, and preferably before the first day of school.  We ask that you still go into the Family File to confirm your child’s information – even if nothing has changed from last year.  Once you have completed this, you will get a confirmation email. If you do not receive a confirmation email, it means the updates are not complete.  We appreciate your efforts to complete this important task. Thank you!

SCHOOL MESSENGER: STAY UP-TO-DATE WITH HCPSS AND SCHOOL NEWS 

Parents and guardians of currently enrolled HCPSS students automatically receive HCPSS News emails from the district and from Lake Elkhorn; this is based on the contact information currently in your child’s the Family File account. The program we use is called SchoolMessenger.  SchoolMessenger automatically uses your contact information in the Family File, which is another reason it is so important to update and confirm your information as soon as possible. 

Contact information for parents and guardians of newly enrolled students and students changing schools (including incoming 6th graders) has been automatically added to each school’s main contact list.  

Reminder:  Parents and guardians do not have to sign-up to receive SchoolMessenger emails. Your information is automatically added to SchoolMessenger based on data from the Family File. 

NEWSLETTERS

Our newsletter will be emailed every other Friday.   PTA newsletters will be emailed on opposite weeks.

CONTACT US

We hope you enjoy the last few weeks of summer break and we look forward to seeing our students on the first day of school!