Connect with Katie.09.16.2022.Issue7

W E E K L Y N E W S A N D I N F O R M A T I O N F R O M T H E S U P E R I N T E N D E N T

Table of Contents

SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE

Lovejoy Community,

Parent involvement in schools is instrumental to student success. Lovejoy ISD is extremely fortunate to have such strong parent school partnerships. Our Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) are a critical component to fostering this partnership. The mission of Lovejoy PTOs is to encourage a thriving partnership between parents,

teachers, and administration to enhance the education of every student, while aiding them in achieving their highest potential. Lovejoy ISD PTOs:

Connect and promote collaboration among parents, students, educators, and the community.

Enrich all students’ Lovejoy educational experience.

Serve in volunteer roles which benefit students, teachers, staff and parents.

This week alone, PTO had significant impact. PTO Special and Gifted Education (SAGE) Chairs hosted a parent connection breakfast at the Lovejoy Child Development Center.

Superintendent's Message Continued

PTO hosted the annual New to Lovejoy Moms’ Coffee. PTO Council Leadership, Campus PTO Presidents, Principals, and District Leadership came together for the monthly PTO Council Meeting. The PTO Environmental Chair at Willow Springs helped students harvest basil and make fresh pesto and the Green Team reduced the amount of waste sent to landfills.

My family and I have greatly benefited from PTO membership. If you have not already joined PTO, I highly encourage you to join and get actively involved by using the links below.

Hart Elementary PTO Puster Elementary PTO

Sloan Creek Intermediate School PTO Willow Springs Middle School PTO

LovejoyHighSchoolPTSO(Parent,Teacher,StudentOrganization) Future Leopards Association

There is only ONE LOVEJOY and we are ALL LEOPARDS!

Katie Kordel Superintendent

VOTER-APPROVED TAX RATE ELECTION

Example: Home with a market value of $1,103,111 and assessed value of $957,058

VATRE Voter Approval $1,298.84 $1,589.55

Tax Rate Definitions

Adopted Rate: The tax rate that the Lovejoy ISD Board of Trustees voted to adopt for the current year.

Voter Approval Rate: (VATR, not to be confused with VATRE) is the highest rate a taxing unit may adopt without holding an election to seek voter approval of the rate.

Proposed Rate: The tax rate that Lovejoy ISD considered adopting when the 2022 2023 budget was finalized. The rate was calculated based on prior year estimates before receiving our new Maximum Compressed Rate (MCR) from the state for this fiscal year.

No New Revenue Rate: The tax rate that would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed in both years (based on their certified values), without respect to how much funding we receive per the state funding formula for schools.

Truth in Taxation Website

To look up your property and calculate the impact of a passing VATRE, you can visit The Collin County Truth in Taxation website at: https://collin.truthintaxation.com/p roperty search.

Additional revenue generated by the VATRE is estimated to be $640,000 and will fund district priorities, such as, employee compensation and restoring fund balance.

Lovejoy ISD VATRE Website

DISTRICT HIGHLIGHTS

SAGE Parent Meeting

The PTO Special and Gifted Education (SAGE) Chairs hosted a parent connection breakfast at the Lovejoy Child Development Center. District staff from our GT, Special Education, and Curriculum department engaged in open dialogue with a group of parents. We are incredibly fortunate to have such involved parents!

New to Lovejoy Ladies Coffee

Tuesday morning, Lovejoy PTO hosted a New to Lovejoy Ladies Coffee. This event introduced our new parents to Lovejoy’s culture, traditions….and other Lovejoy parents! We are so grateful for all the new connections that were made!

PTO Council Meeting

PTO Council Leadership, Campus PTO Presidents, Principals, and District Leadership came together for the monthly PTO Council Meeting on Wednesday. Council meetings are an additional avenue for district and campus leadership to create partnerships with parents and collaborate on projects and ideas that benefit students at all levels.

School Health Advisory Council (SHAC)

The School Health Advisory Council met on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 for one of its regularly scheduled public meetings. The School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) is a group appointed by the Board of Trustees to serve in an advisory role to the district. Members of the SHAC include parents, students, and staff.

SHAC assists the district in supporting the reflection of local community values in health education instruction. Members collaborate and support the district's efforts to assist students in achieving one of the pillars of our Graduate Profile which is to be engaged in a healthy lifestyle.

Thank you SHAC for your time, dedication, and expertise!

STUDENT ACTIVITIES & RECOGNITIONS

Hart Elementary Honors Grandparents

National Grandparents Day was September 11 and Hart Elementary celebrated by hosting two special grandparent lunches. These pictures show the special connection between grandparents and their grandchildren. Grandparents Day was an opportunity to treasure this connection.

Hart Grandparents came from near and far to attend this special lunch and create memories with their grandchildren. One Grandparent, who drove up from Louisiana, shared with Mrs. Craft that they wouldn’t have missed this lunch “for anything in the world.” Seeing her grandson's school and meeting his friends was a priceless experience.

Willow Springs Garden Fresh Pesto

Students at Willow Springs Middle School made fresh pesto during Leopard Time using basil they harvested from their Willow Springs Middle School garden! Thank you Lisa Wilkins, Lovejoy mom and PTO Environmental Chair, for sharing this amazing student opportunity and delicious pesto with Superintendent Kordel!

LHS National Merit Scholar Recognitions

Lovejoy ISD is proud to announce 18 students have been recognized in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program! The National Merit Scholarship Program, is a nationwide competition for recognition and awards conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

Of the 1.5 million entrants, about 50,000 students with the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores qualify for recognition. We are pleased to announce ten students from Lovejoy High School have received Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise!

Commended Students

Samatha Belatur

Similolu Fadel

Matthew Holliman

Daniel P Lamping

Audrey McCaffity

Logan Pedersen Neil Prakuzhy

Sam Reagan Shruti Subramaniyan Chengai Wang

Of the 50,000 high scorers, approximately 16,000 students are notified that they have qualified as Semifinalists. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants in each state and have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 7,500 Merit Scholarship® awards in 2023. We are pleased to announce eight students from Lovejoy High School have been named National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists!

Semifinalists

Humzah Ahmad

Alissa R Chang

Lauren Dumin Austin Gonzalez

Devon Larimer Connor O’Dowd

Liam Palazzolo

Luke Shull

National Merit Recognitions

National Winner: LHS Wind Symphony

The Lovejoy High School Wind Symphony has been named a National Winner in the National Wind Band Honors Series through the Foundation for Music Education. This is a nationwide "call for tapes" for upper level high school ensembles to submit recordings of their best work and be evaluated by college and professional conductors. There were 376 entries this year from 39 states and the Wind Symphony was named at the very top of their category. You can hear one of their incredible winning submissions at the link below. Go band!!

Molly on the Shore performed by LHS Wind Symphony

European Writing Award Winner: Kugu Scott

In celebration of the European Year of Youth 2022, the European Parliament and YouthBridge organized an essay contest for young writers in Europe. The essay topic was “limitless youth”.

The essays were judged by members of the European Union, YouthBridge team, and select EU parliament members. Kugu was chosen as the youngest and top writer from 27 European Union countries approximately 1500 essays.

Kugu traveled to Brussels, Belgium last week to receive her award as a representative of Cyprus and the United States. While there, she attended a workshop, met with European Union experts, toured European Parliament buildings, and visited the Bavarian Representation in Brussels.

Kugu also presented her award winning essay in the Bavarian Representation building for variety of European Parliament members and leaders. Congratulations on this amazing achievement and incredible experience, Kugu (and thank you for the delicious chocolate)!

Kids Night Volleyball Sweep

Lovejoy Volleyball is off to a great start in district play! Last Friday, they faced their first district opponent of the season, the Melissa Cardinals. They were happy to celebrate another program sweep and their first district victories of the season. The program also celebrated their Kids Night on Friday and loved having the community and the younger programs there to support the team. Tuesday night, the Leopards traveled to Greenville for a district match and had yet another program sweep!

Sub varsity travels to Carrollton this week for their tournament and they are excited to compete for another championship trophy.

Tennis Teams Triumph

The Leopard Tennis Teams are having a great season! The Varsity is 7 2 overall and 4 0 in district play. The JV is also leading district play at 4 0. The Leopards will be in action again Tuesday, September 20th vs. Princeton.

The Lovejoy High School Cross Country teams are getting attention at both the state and national level as top teams! A recent interview with MileSplit's Amy Pitzel dove into what differentiates Lovejoy's program and runners.

"The girls are currently ranked No. 1 in the most recent Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas (CCCAT) poll and the boys sit at the No. 2 position" stated Amy Pitzel. Additionally, the girls cross country team is currently ranked 12th nationally!

Cross Country Video Interview with Amy Pitzel

HoCo Game: Teacher Recognition!

The Athletic Department started a new tradition:

September 16 Game Day Teachers of the Week:

Willow Springs Middle School

Jenny

Leigh Bellows

Lovejoy High School

Tania

Jodi

Thank

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

Jack Vestal

Director of Technology

Professional Background

18 years combined K 12 Information Technology experience in Garland ISD, Greenville ISD, and Lovejoy ISD. Technology Positions have included: Assistant Technician, Field Technician, Mobile Technology Administrator, Field Systems Engineer, Senior Network Engineer, and Director of Technology.

Personal Highlights:

Two sons, ages 17 and 13 (Will & Sam, like the Linebackers' names =) ) Two cats (Wilbur and Orville aka "The Wrong Brothers") and a dog named Hank Concept 2 RowERG 1 Million Meter Club

Roles and Responsibilities

Oversee technology operations for all Lovejoy campuses and central administration.

Ensure student, parents, and staff receive exceptional customer service and IT support.

Hire and manage technology personnel. Direct and assign priorities and for day to-day operations and major projects to ensure the attainment of district and departmental goals and objectives.

Develop, implement, and maintain internal control systems for network access, server security, and data backup and recovery.

Coordinate the purchase of all technology hardware, software, and supplies in accordance with district and budget priorities.

Collaboration, Connection, Community

The LISD Technology Department serves District staff, students, and the community. Since technology without information would be extremely challenging, we work diligently to build positive, respectful relationships with all our "customers." The result has been a natural alignment between our department goals and these district initiatives.

Contact Information

Email: Jack Vestal@lovejoyisd.net

Work Phone: 469.742.8070

Lovejoy

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

September 12, 2022 Board Workshop Summary

Additionally, Regular Board Meetings and Workshops are now recorded and archived on the Lovejoy ISD website. You can access recordings by clicking the picture to the right. Passwords are noted below the recording links.

Board Workshop Continued

The Board Workshop began with new employee introductions. Each new employee received a Lovejoy ISD pen to symbolize the writing of their next professional chapter and a caramel apple to symbolize the significant role of teachers and educators in our community.

The Foundation for Lovejoy Schools presented their annual report and presented checks totaling $767,530 to Lovejoy for classroom enhancements and security funds!

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. Check out the new Community News format!

T R I T I O

Key Take Aways Current Covid-19 Illness/Exclusion Protocols

Students and/or staff who have tested positive for COVID 19 may return in 5 days if they have been fever and symptom free for 24 hours. (Change from 10 days for students) Students with a COVID-19 household member who has tested positive are no longer required to quarantine. The district will not maintain a local “dashboard”, reporting positive cases. The district is required to report positive cases to the state. A link will be provided on the website that reflects this information for the district. The health screener QR code will remain in place at each campus for volunteers and visitors to complete.