Connect with Katie.02.02.2024.Issue24

Connect with Katie WEEKLY NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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

CONTENTS 04 MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT 05 NATIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELOR WEEK 06 LEOPARDS SPOTTED LEARNING 07 PERSONNEL UPDATE 08 UIL REALIGNMENT ANNOUNCED 08 BOARD WORKSHOP CANCELLED 09 LCDC REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! 09 ATTENDANCE UPDATE 11 DISTRICT CALENDAR

14 WIZARD OF OZ

12

15

MOCK TRIAL TEAM ADVANCES

SWIM & DIVE BRING HOME THE GOLD!

17 FOR THE LOVE OF BOTS! 18 SLOAN CREE STUDENT PUBLISHED 19 DEMO DAY 20 BOYS BASKETBALL WIN THREE IN A ROW

13 WRESTLING: DISTRICT HIGHLIGHTS

21 LEOPARD LIFE 27 CAMPUS NEWSLETTERS 27 COMMUNITY NEWS

MESSAGE from the Superintendent Lovejoy Community, On Wednesday, we experienced the tragic loss of a precious Hart Elementary School student in a car accident. We are heartbroken by this loss and extend deepest condolences to her family, classmates, and teachers. Lovejoy ISD is more than a school district, we are a deeply connected community. The death of a child in our community is a loss felt by all of us. I want to thank our staff, parents, and community for their expressions of love and support. We continue to respect the family's privacy during this difficult time, and we will let you know in the coming days if there are specific ways we can offer our support.

As our school community processes the loss and copes with grief, we are offering counseling support services to parents, students, and staff. Please reach out to your child’s campus if you or your child needs to be connected with one of our counselors. Next week is National School Counselors week, and I want to express my deepest gratitude for our school counselors, who play a pivotal role in supporting our students, staff and community.

Please take care of yourself and your family over the long weekend. Over the last few weeks, we have experienced an increase in student and staff illness. I hope that the three day student holiday provides the opportunity for students and staff to return to school on Monday healthy and ready to learn.

There is nothing more precious to us than your children.

There is only one Lovejoy and we are all leopards.

Lovejoy Proud,

Katie Kordel Superintendent

NATIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELOR WEEK

February 5th - 9th is National School Counseling Week. Our Lovejoy counselors are instrumental in supporting our students daily activities. Their compassion, empathy, guidance, and patience has a tremendous impact on our students' success and wellbeing.

Mary Ruggeri - Hart Elementary Brittany Buaas - Puster Elementary Glenda Martin - Sloan Creek Intermediate School Kelly Collins - Willow Springs Middle School Carey Miller - Willow Springs Middle School Natalie Coonrod - Lovejoy High School Melissa Fletcher - Lovejoy High School Curtis McCarthy - Lovejoy High School Carrie Robbins - Lovejoy High School Sarah Thrash - Lovejoy High School

LEOPARDS SPOTTED LEARNING From the second our students set foot on campus they are warmly greeted by educators who care about them and are ready to do whatever it takes to support high levels of learning. We could not be more grateful for our teachers and students.

PERSONNEL UPDATE Lovejoy ISD is proud to announce Mr. Todd Dodge as Athletic Director and Head Football Coach. Coach Dodge has over 30 years of experience in high school and college coaching and an exceptional record for developing highly successful high school football teams and players.

Most recently, Coach Dodge served as the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach in Eanes ISD where he led the Westlake High School football team to win 3 consecutive 6A State Championships during the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Additionally, Coach Dodge held Head Football Coaching positions in Marble Falls ISD and Southlake Carroll ISD. While in Southlake Carroll, his team won 4 total 5A State Championships in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Read the full press release here

UIL REALIGNMENT ANNOUNCED UIL has released its realignment for the 2024-26 seasons.

Lovejoy Football will be in 5A Division II, District 4 and will face opponents Anna, Denison, Frisco Memorial, Melissa, and Prosper Walnut Grove.

Lovejoy Basketball and Volleyball will be in 5A, District 9 and will face opponents Anna, Denison, Greenville, McKinney North, Melissa, Walnut Grove, and Sherman.

BOARD WORKSHOP 02.07.24 CANCELLED The Lovejoy ISD Board of Trustees’ Workshop scheduled for Wednesday, February 7, 2024 has been cancelled. The Board of Trustees will convene during its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, February 26, 2024.

LCDC REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

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.

SWIM & DIVE BRING HOME THE GOLD! Championship season is here for Swim & Dive! Our athletes had a fantastic showing at our District Championship year, bringing home the gold on both the girls and boys side!

Maria started us off with a bang, winning Districts by a large margin! She is going into Regionals with a score of 500.45, a new school record!! On the swim side, The girls won all of their relays and had a perfect 1st through 4th finish in the 100 free! Our boys also had some great relays and excelled in the 200 free placing 1st through 4th! Both girls and boys won by nearly 100 points and nearly all of our athletes qualified to compete at regionals! Now on to regionals!

WRESTLING: DISTRICT HIGHLIGHTS Congratulations to our LHS Wrestling teams on very strong performances at District competitions this week. Your JV wrestlers are your District Champions and with 1st place overall. Varsity earned District Runner Up! Nine students qualified for Regionals which will be on February 9th and 10th at Anna High School.

JV Individual Placers Champions: Jack Willard Brantley Bruner Lawson Nitschke Eli Hart Caden Krause Runner Up: Thaden Bone Bennett Secor

3rd: Noah Tomlin Tex White Alec Turnbow 4th: Victor Gold

JV DISTRICT CHAMPS

VARSITY DISTRICT RUNNER UP Varsity Individual Placers District Champions: Elijah Strand Sam Reynolds Runner up: Eli Silva AJ Kotecki

3rd place: Dalton Hart Brock McKnight Aro Ogle-Garza

4th place: Joe Horton Andrew Palmer 5th place: Barrett Bennett Landon Davis

WIZARD OF OZ PERFORMANCE Congratulations to the cast and crew of the LHS Musical, The Wizard of Oz! The high school musical had three great performances between January 25 and 27.

These amazing performances are a reflection of the collaboration between our theater department, music department (choir, orchestra and band members), and the dance department. These dedicated young artists in every department gave hours of dedicated preparation and rehearsal time to this project. Special thanks to Mrs. Wilborn, theater, for her directing the show, Mr. Adler, band director, for playing in the show; to Ms. Simone, dance, for her choreography; to Mrs. Martin, choir, for preparing all of the vocalists, and to Mrs. Vanhook, orchestra, for conducting the pit orchestra. Putting together a musical is a labor of love, and Lovejoy Fine Arts embraced the process with joyful results! We are all so proud of our talented and hard working students.

MOCK TRIAL TEAM ADVANCES! Thirty teams in North Texas competed at the George Allen Courthouse on January 27. The top 16 teams advanced to the Semi-Final round which will be held Saturday, February 3. Your Lovejoy Mock Trial team is one of the top 16 teams! Wish them well in Saturday's meet!

FOR THE LOVE OF BOTS! Congratulations to all students and parent volunteers for a successful home tournament! We are #LovejoyProud of 1082S [ Stormbreaker ] for winning the highest honor at the tournament, the Excellence Award! They have worked so hard all season to earn this prestigious award. We also want to congratulate 1082H [ This Should Work ] for achieving their highest skills scores of the season and winning the Think Award! Our teams are fantastic in every way, and our community of parent volunteers and community member supporters are truly a blessing. Thank you Mrs. Kordel, Dr. Zambiasi and the other principals for stopping by, and a HUGE thank you to one of our very own LISD School Board Members and volunteers Mr. Bobo for helping all day with our technical setup.

We are #OneHeartOneLovejoy and we are thrilled with how this final home tournament turned out. Stay tuned for more info- the Texas 5A State Championship is next week and we are taking 1082M and 1082R and we hope to be sharing good news early next week with how we perform.

1082S

1082H

SLOAN CREEK STUDENT PUBLISHED Reva Hirpara, fifth grade student at Sloan Creek Intermediate School recently published a collection of poems and rhymes for children. Her book, If Elephants Could Fly… Poems, Jingles and Rhymes for Kids, is currently listed in the top 1000 Children’s Humor Books in the Amazon Kindle Store.

Rachel Spears, Reva’s reading language arts teacher says, “Reva is a talented artist and writer in our fifth grade at Sloan Creek. We are so proud of her. We can’t wait for more poems from our very own Reva Hirpara.”

Reva started writing short jingles and poems in second grade as part of a class assignment. She was encouraged by her teachers and decided to pursue writing poetry. Since then, she has gifted personalized poems to close friends and family, and wrote poems for special occasions. This book is a collection of her 25 best poems so far. Her poems are wacky and witty, and usually end with a twist that delights the reader. They were inspired by her life, her experiences, her imagination and Theo, her pet cat.

Reva’s parents, Ankita Tejani and Abhishek Hirpara noted, “Reva is still deciding what she wants to be when she grows up, but thinks she will be a pretty good ethicist or a lawyer. When not writing books and attending school full time, Reva can be found practicing her cello, reading stories and playing with Theo.”

Please join us in congratulating Reva Hirpara on joining the ranks of being a published author.

LOVEJOY DEMO DAY On Friday, January 26, the entire 5th grade class from Sloan Creek came to Willow Springs for Demo Day! Demo (demonstration) Day is a fun day where we introduce all the 6th grade elective options to our 5th grade students. Students got to see performances from presentations from art, band, choir and orchestra.

The Willow Springs Wind Ensemble Band, Treble Choir, and Philharmonic Orchestra each gave a short performance for the 5th graders that included demonstrations of all of the instruments and voice types. Mrs. Garza and Mrs. Lester, art teachers, did a fun small art project with the students! Elective choice sheets will be due at Sloan Creek on February 9th.

BOYS BASKETBALL WIN THREE IN A ROW The boys basketball have three straight wins including a buzzer beater win against Denison and a home win against Princeton.

With the wins the Leopards sit in 3rd place in District play with three games to play. Lovejoy travels to McKinney North on Friday night in a big rivalry matchup.

The JV and Freshman also continued their winning ways and remained undefeated in District with perfect 9-0 records.

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

STEM IS SWEET!

STEM FESTIVAL

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

PRE-K REGISTRATION OPEN!

PRE-K REGISTRATION OPEN!

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

NUTRITION NEWS

ORCHESTRA SPIRIT

SAT TEST PREP

STUDENT COUNCIL BLOOD DRIVE

Leopard Life

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.

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.

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

Leopard Life

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 . February 2, 2024. Issue 24