Connect with Katie.01.19.2024.Issue 22

Connect with Katie WEEKLY NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

JANUARY 19, 2024

y o j e v o L s d r a p o e L

CONTENTS 04 MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT 17 BOYS BASKETBALL 3-0 AGAINTS MELISSA 06 SCHOOL BOARD APPRECIATION MONTH GIRLS SOCCER STARTS STRONG 18 08 LCDC REGISTRATION OPENS 01.23.24 BOYS VARSITY SOCCER 19 TOURNAMENT 08 ATTENDANCE UPDATE 10 DISTRICT CALENDAR

20 12 MAJRESTICS DANCE IN ROME PARADE

14 15 ORCHESTRA GOES MEDIEVAL 16 FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD SLOAN CREEK POETRY CAFE

17

TMEA ALL-STATE MIXED CHOIR

LOVEJOY BASEBALL COMMUNITY IMPACT

21 2024 SOFTBALL SEASON BEGINS 22

GIRLS & BOYS TRACK SEASON BEGINS

23 ROBOTICS SUCCESS IN SOUTHLAKE 24 BOARD OF TRUSTEES INVITATION 25 LOVEJOY LINKS 31

DISTRICT AND CAMPUS NEWSLETTERS

31 COMMUNITY NEWS

MESSAGE from the Superintendent Lovejoy Community, I was finishing up this letter last night when I heard an animal making a high pitched screeching noise outside of my office window. At first I thought it was a bird, but as the noise continued it got louder, more guttural, and closer. At this point, I was sitting very still, listening very hard, and checking the cameras.

Scanning my monitor, I saw nothing…until a small, furry creature with black and white stripes scrambled across the frame. Immediately following identification of the distinctive color pattern, I got to experience the distinctive odor throughout my office. Enjoy this picture of Mr. Stinky who was having a big time outside of the administration building last night and whose presence is still smelt today.

Given the cold weather that moved in last weekend, we were thankful that we were able to have school on Tuesday. I am extremely grateful for our incredible custodial, maintenance, and transportation teams that made this possible. They began winter weather preparations last week and a number of them worked on the Monday holiday and came in very early Tuesday morning.

As part of our cold weather preparation plan, the maintenance team worked through a process to winterize all outdoor concession areas, restrooms, and hose bibs. On Monday, our custodians proactively salted our walkways. When salt was not needed on Tuesday, they cleaned all the walkways off before students and staff arrived. Our mechanic, Eric Allison, came in at 4:00 a.m. and started all of our school buses so that they would be warmed up and ready to roll out on their routes. Talk about going above and beyond. The amazing people on these critical teams put so much love into Lovejoy!

Last night, we kicked off our Capital Planning Committee. We are grateful to have parents, community members, and staff willing to volunteer their time to serve our students and district in this capacity. As a District, we believe that true educational

excellence can only be achieved in partnership with our parents and community. The Capital Planning Committee is an advisory stakeholder committee formed to develop a clear vision for Lovejoy ISD’s physical learning environments and capital assets including capital planning priorities, timeline, and financial implications.

The Capital Planning Committee will study District capital needs and recommend priorities for a possible future bond election.

The Capital Planning Committee will meet throughout the spring and we will keep you updated on their progress.

For now, I thought you might enjoy seeing their “why”.

Each committee member was asked to share one word that represents the reason why they are dedicating their time to this effort. I have no doubt that their strong clarity of purpose will help lead us to meaningful outcomes.

Thank you for sharing input for the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Candidate Profiles. You can access the profiles here. The profiles will be utilized in the hiring process.

The weekend outlook is cold and wet. We are making cold weather preparations and watching the weather closely.

We hope you and your family stay warm, safe, and dry this weekend.

capital planning committee’s “why” LOVE Connection Improvement Family Willingness Service Future Sustainability Kids Yet Solutions Planning Synergy Selflessness Interconnectedness Impact Example Opportunity Purpose Commitment Passion Excellence Pay-it-forward Longevity Invested HOPE Joy Vision Contribute Difference-maker

There is only ONE LOVEJOY and we are ALL LEOPARDS! Lovejoy Proud,

Katie Kordel Superintendent

Hi, I’m Mr. Stinky!

Willow springs

hart

LCDC REGISTRATION OPENS JANUARY 23RD

ATTENDANCE UPDATE Strong school attendance is correlated with higher academic performance.

Additionally, average Daily Attendance (ADA) is a metric that the State of Texas uses to determine funding for public schools. Each week, this attendance data will be updated so our community is aware of our most recent ADA.

CONNECTING LOCAL BUSINESSES AND THE LOVEJOY COMMUNITY WHILE SUPPORTING LOVEJOY ISD THROUGH REVENUE GENERATION The Lovejoy ISD Community Partner program is a new way for local businesses to support Lovejoy ISD and connect with the Lovejoy Community! Community Partner advertisements are featured in our weekly District newsletter, Connect with Katie, Living Lovejoy videos, and District Social Media.

Interested in becoming a Community Partner?

Click HERE to learn more!

DISTRICT CALENDAR

CALENDAR EVENT LINKS

STUDENT CALENDAR

DISTRICT CALENDAR

CAMPUS CALENDARS

ATHLETICS CALENDAR

FINE ARTS CALENDAR

Campus, District, and Athletics Calendars are linked above for the convenience of our community. *Please note event dates, times and locations are subject to change and should be verified by participants.

MAJESTICS DANCE IN ROME PARADE During the winter holiday, our Majestics Dance Team traveled with Spirit of America to Rome, Italy and performed in the Rome New Year’s Day Parade.

During our time there they were able to tour and explore Rome including the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, The Colosseum, Roman Forum, the Catacombs, Vatican City, Vatican Museum, The Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. They also enjoyed a train ride to Florence, and a short day trip by bus to Pompeii. The Majestics rang in the New Year with fireworks over The Colosseum, and of course marched and performed in the parade. It was an honor to be chosen by Spirit of America to represent the USA in the Rome New Year’s Day Parade as we were the first public high school to do so. It was truly a once in a lifetime travel and performance opportunity for our students.

SLOAN CREEK POETRY CAFE Sloan Creek Intermediate staff kept warm this week thanks to their PTO’s genereous gift of warm winter hoodies!

Snaps for the amazing poets at Sloan Creek.

5th graders at SCIS have the opportunity to showcase their work at the Poetry Cafe. Students have spent time reading and analyzing poetry as well as applying their learning in writing their own original poems.

ORCHESTRA GOES MEDIEVAL The Sloan Creek and Willow Springs Orchestra visited Medieval Times last Friday night. They had a great time building relationships with each other, eating food with their hands, and cheering on their knight to victory!

FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD Theater students are rehearsing and creating scenery for the upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz on January 25th, 26th, and 27th. Below you will see Zoe Nolan, Audrey Murphy, Audrey Bolen, Shreya Joshi, Clare Christenson, Katie Payne, Reece Robinson, and Ella Snyder dancing the Jitterbug as they prepare for opening night.

TMEA ALL-STATE MIXED CHOIR Congratulations to senior Roma Kahana for placing 2nd in the Area and gaining a spot in the prestigious Texas Music Educators Association All-State Mixed Choir! She will travel to San Antonio in February to take part in a 3 day conference that will conclude with a performance with this extremely select choir. Way to go Romi!

BOYS BASKETBALL 3-0 AGAINST MELISSA This past Tuesday our Lovejoy Boy’s Basketball team hosted district rival Melissa and finished the evening with a perfect 3-0 sweep! The Junior Varsity and Freshman teams both won by convincing margins, and the Varsity was able to hang on and win a close battle against a talented Melissa team. The Leopards will now travel to Greenville on Friday to cap off the first round of district play before hosting Sherman for our next home game on Tuesday, January 23rd.

We hope to see you there!

GIRLS SOCCER STARTS STRONG The Girls Varsity Soccer Team is off to a bright start with a 5-1-2 record. In our two pre-district games, the girls beat Denton Ryan 8-0 and Montwood 6-0. In the Bobcat Classic, the girls tied Longview 2-2 and won the penalty shootout 4-3, beat Forney 1-0, and tied Walnut Grove 2-2 and won the penalty shootout 3-0. In the Allison Horn Memorial Tournament, the girls lost to Reedy 1-0, beat Timber Creek 2-1, and beat The Colony 3-0. This week the team travels to Georgetown for the Governor's Cup. The Girls JV Soccer Team have also started the season positively with a 4-2-1 record. In our two pre-district games the girls beat Denton Ryan 4-0 and Celina 10-0. In the Andie Studley Memorial Showcase, the girls won one (Sulphur Springs 10-0), lost one (Plano West 1-3), and tied one (Rockwall Heath 2-2). In the Denison Showcase, the girls lost to Reedy 1-0 and beat Lebanon Trail 4-1 playing down two players. Next game up for the girls is our first district game at Melissa on 1/26 at 7:15.

BOYS VARSITY SOCCER TOURNAMENTS The varsity boys travelled to Georgetown the weekend of Jan 4-6 and came back with a 2-1 record. Varsity started the weekend on a cold and wet evening with a 1-0 loss to Lubbock Monterey. The boys bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Round Rock. A 4-0 win over Cedar Ridge closed out our tournament. A big shout out to the booster club who provided the funds for this trip and to our parents who made their way down to Georgetown to cheer us on!

The varsity boys then participated in the Allen Eagle Showcase the weekend of Jan 11-13. The varsity boys started off the Allen tournament with a 3-1 win vs the Colony. The second game was played on a very cold afternoon game vs North Forney. The Leopards came away with a 1-0 game. Going into the final game vs South Garland the Leopards were down 2-0 at halftime. Ready to make a comeback the boys managed a 3-2 victory. With this result and the points earned in the tournament Lovejoy finished in first place for the showcase!

LOVEJOY BASEBALL COMMUNITY IMPACT The Lovejoy Baseball program ended the Holiday Break volunteering with Feed My Starving Children. They packaged over 28 thousand meals which is enough to feed over 70 kids for up to a year. Thank you to FMSC for allowing our Baseball Program to help serve those in need! Service to others is an important part of athlete leadership development.

The Lovejoy Baseball program kicks off the Spring 24' Season on January 27th with our annual Meet The Leopards event. Player introductions will begin at 10:40 for all three teams followed by a 7 inning Scrimmage between JV Black and Varsity. Come out and join us!

2024 SOFTBALL SEASON BEGINS Lovejoy Softball had our first official day for the 2024 season on Friday, January 12th, and the girls came ready to ATTACK! Our first scrimmage is right around the corner and, we are anxious to get back on the field.

GIRLS & BOYS TRACK SEASON BEGINS The Lovejoy girls and boys Track and Field teams competed in the Arkansas Indoor Invitational held in Fayetteville this past weekend. The season has officially started and the athletes are ready to run fast, throw far and jump high!

ROBOTICS SUCCESS IN SOUTHLAKE We are so proud of team 1082R [ Robot Go Vroom Vroom ] for winning the Design Award at the January 13th Southlake Robotics Tournament! They have worked hard throughout the week preparing their robot and team to win this high achievement and they continue to set the example in following a quality engineering design process. Way to go 1082R! We also saw a great performance by 1082E [ Carbonated Potato ] who fought hard all day through tough matches and they earned their way into the elimination bracket as the highest-ranked LHS robotics team, 5th in qualification rankings. They ended the day as Tournament Finalists and we are so proud of their grit and determination. Big things are up ahead for these teams.

In addition to 1082E and 1082R, the LHS robotics teams 1082J, 1082M, and 1082X also competed and performed well. We are #LovejoyProud of all our robotics students and we hope to see everyone next Saturday, Jan. 27th at our home tournament at LHS! More details to come.

1082R 1082E

BOARD OF WORKSHOP TRUSTEES SUMMARY INVITATION

Dear Lovejoy Community, As a Board, we are committed to strong and proactive communication with our community. Part of this commitment is sending an email invitation to our community prior to Board Meetings with a sincere desire for you to be involved and fully aware, so we can come together as a community for our children.

January 22, 2024 Public Notice Website (Public ntoice will be posted a minimum of 72 hours in advance) You may find the full agenda with supporting documentation on our district's BoardBook Premier website HERE. Sincerely, Barrett Owens, President Amy Smith, Vice-President Jeff Wood, Secretary The Lovejoy ISD Board of Trustees

Marvin Bobo, Trustee Jason Jaynes, Trustee Julie McLaughlin, Trustee Mark Wheelis, Trustee

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

BUMP UP DAY: FEBRUARY 16TH Sloan Creek Intermediate, Willow Springs Middle School, and Lovejoy High School will host 4th, 6th, and 8th graders on Friday, February 16, 2024 for Lovejoy ISD’s Annual Bump Up Day. Bump Up Day was created to assist students with transitioning to a new campus and to help generate excitement for the new experiences t hey will have. Students will travel to the campus they will be attending for the 2024-2025 school year and have the opportunity to tour the campus, ask questions, and eat lunch. Students will be able to charge lunch and any a la carte/snacks purchases to their lunch account during their visit to their Bump Up school. Please make sure funds are available in your student's lunch account. Lunch prices for students visiting Sloan Creek IS or Willow Springs MS will be $4.00 for a regular meal or $4.75 for a premium meal. Lunch prices for students visiting the high school will be $4.50 for a regular meal or $5.25 for a premium meal. A la carte/snack prices vary. Please refer to this document for specific pricing.

CCMR PRESENTATION

LOVEJOY LACROSSE

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

NUTRITION NEWS

ORCHESTRA SPIRIT

SAT TEST PREP

KINDER G/T REFERRALS

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LOVEJOY LINKS

GREEN TEAM RECYLCING EVENT

STUDENT COUNCIL BLOOD DRIVE

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LOVEJOY LINKS

MCCU DEBIT CARD DESIGN CONTEST Lovejoy ISD recently entered into a partnership with My Community Credit Union. This partnership is intended to enhance student opportunities in the areas of financial literacy and provide hands-on learning experiences for future careers related to finance. An MCCU branch is scheduled to open at Lovejoy High School in the fall of 2024.

Card Size: 2-1/8 by 3-3/8

Scan the QR Code for Official Rules and additional details, or visit mccu.coop/lovejoy.

On Friday, October 27th, MCCU kicked off their Debit Card Design Contest. The contest is open to all Lovejoy ISD students. Three debit card design winners will be selected representing grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The winners will have their designs on our Lovejoy Leopard MCCU Debit Cards and will receive a $100 gift card!

Contest Rules: Must be an original image/design/artwork.

Participants may submit up to 2 designs.

Parent consent is required.

Submissions are due to marketing@mccu.coop by midnight on February 29.

MINI CHEER CAMP

HOME RUN HEROS

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

EXTENDED DAY LEOPARD ACADEMY Leopard Academy is an opportunity for your child to participate in enrichment activities on his or her campus before and after school. Our goal is that these enrichment opportunities will allow our Lovejoy Leopards to develop creativity and critical thinking skills through activities related to their personal interests.

Registration is open for the following academies for students in first through 6th grade. Choose from one of the links below for more information.

Board and Card Game Academy Yo Yo Academy

COMMUNITY COFFEE TALKS This is an opportunity for parents and community members to connect with Lovejoy ISD Trustees and Superintendent Katie Kordel in an informal setting.

During Community Coffee Talks, Lovejoy ISD leadership listens, shares and engages in open dialogue/discussion with our community.

August 29, 2023 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Sloan Creek Intermediate

February 28, 2024 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Lovejoy High School

November 30, 2023 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Hart Elementary School

April 30, 2024 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Willow Springs Middle School

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Calling all Lovejoy Alumni! The Lovejoy Independent School District is excited to engage former LISD students and our community through Alumni spotlights in the district newsletter, as well as LISD social media. Alumni spotlights are a fun way for the district to celebrate our students' educational, professional, and personal journeys after graduation. If you wish to participate, please complete this form for our LISD Communications Department.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT INTEREST FORM

Lovejoy ISD is proud to continue facilitating student opportunities through the Professional-to-Student Engagement Portal. Sign-up and share your talents!

Lovejoy Community Professionals: Who are Lovejoy Community Professionals?

Engage with students by sharing their Industry & Business Leaders expertise and knowledge Parents Mentor students through various Lovejoy Alumni career and college ready experiences Lovejoy Neighbors Strengthen students skills in the areas Senior Community Members of communication, collaboration, Heritage Ranch Community Members critical thinking and problem solving Family Members of Lovejoy Students Build leadership skills, develop self confidence

DISTRICT & CAMPUS NEWSLETTERS Lovejoy ISD is committed to creating strong connections and providing clear communication with our Lovejoy parents and families. Below you will find links to the most recent newsletters from each campus. Sign up for weekly Principal Newsletters here to stay informed!

DISTRICT NEWSLETTER Connect with Katie

SLOAN CREEK INTERMEDIATE Principal Newsletter

HART ELEMENTARY Principal Newsletter

WILLOW SPRINGS MIDDLE Principal Newsletter

PUSTER ELEMENTARY Principal Newsletter

LOVEJOY HIGH SCHOOL Principal Newsletter

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COMMUNITY NEWS

The Lovejoy ISD Community News website is intended to facilitate connections and raise awareness of local events, activities, fundraisers and organizations that might interest Lovejoy families.

The information featured on the Community News website is submitted by community members. Lovejoy ISD is not affiliated with the organizations and does not claim to endorse them.

CLICK HERE

Connect with Katie . January 19, 2024. Issue 22