Connect with Katie.09.15.2023.Issue 08

Connect with Katie

Lovejoy Lovejoy Leopards Leopards

MESSAGE

from the Superintendent

LovejoyCommunity,

Thecooldownthisweekhasputaspringineveryone’s step. Our younger students are now able to enjoy outdoor recess. At the secondary level, outdoor practices and games have brought a new level of enjoymentforbothparticipantsandfans Thisweek,we are highlighting the impact of the Foundation for Lovejoy Schools. The Foundation is a 501 © (3) not for profit organization that works in partnership with LovejoyISDandourcommunitytoenhanceeducational excellence,innovationandachievementinourDistrict.

Your generous donations to the Foundation benefit students and teachers by providing funding beyond what whatLovejoyISDreceivesfromthestate.TheFoundationraisesmoneyandputsittoworkin our District by sponsoring teacher grants, district-wide student opportunities, professional development initiatives, and contributing to the cost of our school marshal program. Donationsfrombusinesses,individualsandcommunityorganizationsmakeuptheresources the Foundation invests into Lovejoy ISD. Through your generosity and support, the FoundationforLovejoySchoolswasabletodonate$542,747.08inclassroomenhancements and$124,432.92toourschoolmarshalprogramforatotalimpactof$667,180.00lastschool year.

The Foundation for Lovejoy Schools is supported by a volunteer board. Thursday, September 21st is North Texas Giving Day and Foundation board members will be on our campuses at drop-off promoting this giving event. If you see them on Thursday morningwhileyouareinthecarline,givethemawaveanda“goodmorning”.

From all our teachers and staff, a big Leopard “thank you” to those of you who have already donated or plan to donate on North Texas Giving Day. Wishing you and your familyawonderfulweekend.

ThereisonlyONELOVEJOYandweareALLLEOPARDS!

LovejoyProud, KatieKordel Superintendent

GIVING DAY Foundation for Lovejoy Schools

DonationstotheFoundationchampioneducationalinitiativesandprograms:

SafetyMarshals

InnovativeClassroomGrants

HolidayBonuses

ProfessionalDevelopment

NewTeacherClassroomSupport

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, DONATE TODAY!

LOCAL POLICE & FIRE

BREAKFAST

Lovejoy ISD School Marshals and Sloan Creek Intermediate School hosted a breakfast this week for our local police and fire departments. Partnering with these first responders is incredibly important to us and we are so thankful for their service to our community.Wehopetheywillvisit our campuses frequently to continue building relationships with our students and parents... and to enjoy a school lunch from timetotime!

HOMECOMING

FESTIVITIES

Next week homecoming festivities will take place on severalcampuses. SloanCreek, Willow Springs, and Lovejoy High School will all have dressup days, which have been communicated at a campus level. The varsity football homecoming game against Denison begins at 7:30 p.m. at Leopard Leopard Stadium. Tickets will be available for purchase the week of the game here. WewouldliketowishallourLeopardsasafeandmemorablehomecoming week. #ROLLPARDS!

LEADERSHIP LOVEJOY

Leadership Lovejoy is designed to provide community participants with a comprehensive overview of the school district by department and district leadership. One of the many reasons Lovejoy ISD is uniquely special is the level of parent and communityengagement.ConnectionandcommunitymatterinLovejoyISD.Leadership Lovejoy is a strategic investment in the relationship we have with our stakeholders. Additionally,itservesascomprehensiveinitialtrainingforthoseinterestedinservingas aschoolboardtrustee.Theobjectiveistoprovideinformationaswellasanopportunity to ask questions in an interactive format. The structure of Leadership Lovejoy is inperson,full-day,workshops.

All meetings will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Please make sure you can attend on the following dates priortosubmittinganapplication.

Thereisacostof$90.00tocoverthecostoftheprogram. AspartoftheLeadershipLovejoyprogram,youwillreceive anametag,t-shirt,lightbreakfasts,andlunches.

Applications for Leadership Lovejoy ‘24 are open now throughTuesday,September26that8:00a.m.

LEADERSHIP LOVEJOY DATES AND SCHEDULE

Tuesday,October17,2023

Presentations:DistrictOverview,DistrictHistory,LOVEJOY2030 StrategicPlanning,FinancialUpdate,andSafety&Security

Thursday,November2,2023

Presentations: Maintenance, Operations, Transportation, and HumanResources

Wednesday,December6,2023

Presentations: Curriculum and Instruction (a.m.) and Board Academy(pm)

Wednesday,February14,2024

Presentations:CampusOverviewPresentations,StudentPanel, Tours,FineArts,andAthletics

Wednesday,April3,2024

Presentations:CampusOverviewPresentationsandTours

Monday,April22,2024BoardofTrusteesMeeting,7:00p.m. intheLovejoyChildDevelopmentCenterLibrary RecognitionofLeadershipLovejoyParticipants

BOARD ACADEMY

The Lovejoy ISD Board Academy is designed for anyone considering public serviceontheBoardofTrusteesaswellasthosethatwouldliketolearnmore aboutlocalschooldistrictgovernance.SchoolBoardmemberswillexplainthe roles and responsibilities of serving on the Board, review the state-required trainingrequirements,anddiscussthedifferencebetweenBoardoversightand day-to-day operations of the district. Information will also be shared on the guidelines,logistics,andtimelinestorunforaBoardseat.

The Board Academy will be offered as a separate event onWednesday,December6from1:00p.m.to3:00p.m. You do not need to be part of Leadership Lovejoy to participate. We ask that you pre-register so that our preparations support a meaningful experience for all thatattend.Pre-registrationisavailablenow!

CONNECTING LOCAL BUSINESSES AND THE LOVEJOY COMMUNITY

WHILE SUPPORTING LOVEJOY ISD THROUGH REVENUE GENERATION

TheLovejoyISDCommunityPartnerprogramisanew way for local businesses to support Lovejoy ISD and connect with the Lovejoy Community! Community Partner advertisements are featured in our weekly Districtnewsletter,ConnectwithKatie,LivingLovejoy videos,andDistrictSocialMedia

InterestedinbecomingaCommunityPartner?

ClickHEREtolearnmore!

ATTENDANCE UPDATE

Strong school attendance is correlated with higher academic performance. Additionally,averageDailyAttendance(ADA)isametricthattheStateofTexas usestodeterminefundingforpublicschools.Eachweek,thisattendancedata willbeupdatedsoourcommunityisawareofourmostrecentADA.

CALENDAR EVENT LINKS

2nd grade students at Hart Elementary are busy studying matter. Matter has physicalpropertiessuchastemperature, texture, and flexibility. The students observed the physical properties of mattertoclassifyorgroupit.Mattercan be classified by the state it is in by observing other physical properties, such as its temperature. Students observed to see if changing relative temperature changed other physical properties.

properties. As their popsicles melted, the matter changed into a liquid and the studentswereabletoeattheirscienceexperiment!

POPSICLE CRAZY SOCK

KinderstudentsatPusterElementary wore crazy socks to inspire a lesson onaddingdetailstotheirdrawings… averyimportantpre-writingskill!

ROBOTICS JET

GRANT UPDATE

This week the Lovejoy High School Engineering Department received a new 3-D printerwhichwillenhancethelearningexperienceforstudentsintheprogram.

The printer was purchased with funds from a Texas Workforce Commission Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) Grant received by Lovejoy High School in the amountof$446,763. Theprogramhasalsopurchased$120,000roboticarmsand a$7000weldingboothwiththegrantfunds.

LHS Teacher and Robotics Coach, Joshua Strickland said, “It is still an ongoing processtoreceivealltheequipment,andwearestillwaitingformoreequipment to arrive, but it will all be accessible to students this December. We are going to train200studentsinitially,andfutureprojectswillbeincorporatedtoourclasses.”

hools who helped fund the 5% rantpossible.

LIVINGLOVEJOY

On Monday the Lovejoy High School Wrestling Program honored the lives of the victims lost and the heroes who died attempting to save them on 9/11/01. The actions and words of our students are a reminder of our capacity for unity and resilience.

HeadWrestlingCoach,ChuckBrownsaid,“WeareincrediblyproudofourLeopard wrestlers. They took the workout very seriously and understood the meaning behind it. It was great to see multiple Administrators, Parents, and Fire Fighters therejusttosupportourkids.”

TheistheworkoutwassymbolicoftheliveslostonSeptember11th,including:

1402NorthTower -1402mrun

125Pentagon -125Frogs/Turtles

351FDNY -351stairs

40Flight93 -40Hammer

65Police -65Ballslams

614SouthTower-614mrun

VOLLEYBALL

UDPATES

The Lovejoy Volleyball program ended last weekwiththeirfirstdistrictwinandaprogram sweep!OurJVandFreshmanteamtraveledto Frisco for their tournament on Saturday, they battled some A/C issues in the gyms but still came out on top! If you see these athletes pleasecongratulatethemontheirtournament championship! Tuesday night our Leopards took on the Greenville Lions claiming another districtprogramsweep.

Wealsotooktimetocelebrateandappreciate our amazing Lovejoy Teachers prior to the varsity

varsitygame!Wecouldnotdowhatwedowithoutouramazingteachers!

ThisFriday,theprogramwilltraveltoSherman to take on the Bearcats, Varsity at 5pm and Sub-Varsity will follow around 6pm. Our next home game will be September 19th vs. Denison,sub-varsitywillbeat5pmandvarsity will follow around 6pm. We will have our annual Jungle theme night for the September 19thhomegame,makesureyoudon'tmissout on our Jungle shirt and Layne's Chicken giveaway!

O B O P P O R T U N I T Y

BOARD MEETING

SUMMARY

Lovejoy ISD is committed to providing consistent, transparent communication with ourcommunityandemployees.Wehopethis meeting summary will support you in staying connected and informed. Click the image on thelefttoopenthesummaryinGoogleDocs.

Regular Board Meetings and Workshops are nowrecordedandarchivedontheLovejoyISD website. You can access Regular Board Meeting and Workshop recordings by clicking theimageontheright.

The full Regular Board Meeting agenda with supporting documents may be viewedbyclickingtheimageontheleft.

BOARD MEETING SUMMARY

IntroductionofNewHires:

PusterElementary

LynetteRamsey,Teacher

MaryCloud,Teacher

DianeDahl,Teacher

BrendaSanchex,Teacher

VioletAustin,MTSSLead

JessicaMallett,Teacher

GraesonTobolka,Teacher

BreannaRamos,Teacher (notpictured)

PledgesandRecognitionofPatriots’ DayforSeptember11,2023:

MaKennaAdamson,LHS12thgrade

MadelineSmith,LHS12thgrade

EttaWilton,SCIS5thgrade

IntroductionofNewHires:

AdministrationBuilding

JudyHendricks,Diagnostician

KylaSlaughter,Asst.Technology (notpictured)

LovejoyChildDevelopmentCenter

SarahPeralta,Teacher (notpictured)

AllisonNewton,Teacher(notpictured)

Leopard LifeLOVEJOY

LINKS

NEW! HAUNTED SOIREE

NEW! PINK OUT SHIRT

NEW! STIX SPIRIT NIGHT

Starting September 18th, you can buy this year's Pink Out shirt! All proceeds go toward helping fight Breast Cancer and the LHS Student Council matches thefundsraised!SalesendSeptember 25th. We'll wear our new shirts during school on October 6th and during the footballgameonOctober13th.

Leopard Life

NEW! GREEN TEAM

NEW! HOME RUN HEROS BASEBALL

NEW! 15TH ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

MAJESTIC BUDDY NEW! SWIM & DIVE CALENDAR

LGA SPEAKER

SOCCER: SWIG SPIRIT DAY

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 engagesin opendialogue/discussionwithourcommunity.

Leopard Life

JOIN PTO!

LOVEJOY LINKS BLACK-OUT TSHIRTS SHIRTS

EXTENDED DAY LEOPARD ACADEMY

ExtendedDayLeopardAcademyisanopportunityforyourchildtoparticipate inenrichmentactivitiesonhisorhercampusbeforeandafterschool.Ourgoal is that these enrichment opportunities will allow our Lovejoy Leopards to developcreativityandcriticalthinkingskillsthroughactivitiesrelatedtotheir personalinterests.

Registration is open for the following academies for students in kindergarten through6thgrade.

ChessAcademy

BoardandCardGameAcademy

YoYoAcademy

DISTRICT & CAMPUS

NEWSLETTERS

Lovejoy ISD is committed to creating strong connections and providing clear communicationwithourLovejoyparentsandfamilies.Belowyouwillfindlinksto the most recent newsletters from each campus. Sign up for weekly Principal Newslettersheretostayinformed!

DISTRICT NEWSLETTER

Connect with Katie

HART ELEMENTARY Principal Newsletter

PUSTER ELEMENTARY Principal Newsletter

SLOAN CREEK INTERMEDIATE Principal Newsletter

WILLOW SPRINGS MIDDLE Principal Newsletter

LOVEJOY HIGH SCHOOL Principal Newsletter

COMMUNITY NEWS

TheLovejoyISDCommunityNewswebsiteisintendedtofacilitateconnections and raise awareness of local events, activities, fundraisers and organizations thatmightinterestLovejoyfamilies.

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.

Lovejoy Lovejoy Leopards Leopards