Connect with Katie.09.22.2023.Issue09

Connect with Katie

Lovejoy Lovejoy Leopards Leopards

MESSAGE

from the Superintendent

LovejoyCommunity,

It’s game night! We look forward to celebrating our homecoming football game tonight in Leopard stadium. Fridaynightlightsisacelebrationofthegrit,passion,and commitment of our football team, band, colorguard, Majestics, and cheerleaders Judging from the homecoming pep rally at Lovejoy HS today, game night willbefullof extraschoolspirit.

Lovejoy ISD takes great pride in having exemplary academic and award-winning extracurricular programs while maintaining a small-town feel “Living Lovejoy” is discernibly different and uniquely special. Lovejoy studentsexcelinacademics,finearts,andathletics.Inthis week’snewsletter,wearecelebratingallthree.

18 Lovejoy High Schools students have been recognized in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program and six of these students have been named National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists. To reach the stage of semifinalists, over 1.3 million juniors from approximately 21,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).Semifinalistsconstitutelessthan1%ofU.S.highschoolseniors!

ThispastSaturdaymorning,ourgirlsandboyscrosscountry(XC)teamshostedtheLovejoyXCFall FestivalatMyersParkinMcKinneyfor2600runners,85teams,androughly5,000spectators.Itwas abeautifulmorningwithanimpressiveperformancebyourrunners,phenomenalcoaching,and remarkable parental support. Our girls cross country team is the reigning back to back state championandourboysteamwasthestaterunneruplastspring.

This morning, the Lovejoy High School Orchestra and Band were invited to participate in the London'sNewYear'sDayParade&Festival(LNYDP)onJanuary1,2025.Paradeofficialstraveled allthewayfromLondontopresenttheformalinvitationtoourstudentsthismorningatLovejoy HighSchool.Theparadewillincludemorethan8,000performersfromaroundtheglobeandhave astreetaudienceofaround500,000.Weareexceptionallyproudofbothoftheseprograms.Their performancesthismorningwerespectacular

ThereisonlyONELOVEJOYandweareALLLEOPARDS!

LovejoyProud, KatieKordel Superintendent

NATIONAL MERIT

RECOGNITIONS

Lovejoy ISD is proud to announce 18 students have been recognized in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program! The National Merit Scholarship Program, is a nationwide competition for recognition and awards conducted bytheNationalMeritScholarshipCorporation(NMSC).

Of the 1.3+ million entrants, about 50,000 students with the highest PSAT/NMSQT®SelectionIndexscoresqualifyforrecognition.Wearepleasedto announce ten students from Lovejoy High School have received Letters of Commendationinrecognitionoftheiroutstandingacademicpromise!

CongratulationstotheseLovejoyHighSchoolCommendedStudents:

MylesBeard

UzayrChaudhry

SharonChen

DeclanFinnigan

GrantHu

JoshuaJames

MadelynJaynes

RomiKahana

JocelynKim

ThomasKoch

HannahMao

BridgetO’Dowd

Ofthe50,000highscorers,approximately16,000 studentsarenotifiedthattheyhavequalifiedas Semifinalists. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants in each state and have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 7,250 Merit Scholarship® awards in2024.

We are pleased to announce these six students from Lovejoy High School have been named National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists:

DeclanFinnigan

GrantHu

HannahMao

EdwardSutton

KatherineSmith

HunterStark

EdwardSutton

BrielleTaylor

TravisThomas

EvelynTsai

SharonChen

JoshuaJames

Lovejoy ISD National Merit Commended and Semi-Finalist Student Recognitions Thomas Koch (non pictured)

INVITATION FROM

ACROSSTHEPOND

TodayLondonfestivalofficialsvisitedLovejoyHighSchooltopresentaformal invitation to the Lovejoy Marching Band and Orchestra to participate in London's New Year's Day Parade & Festival (LNYDP) at the turn of the year 2024/2025.

Band and Orchestra students participated in the ceremony, playing for the London dignitaries.LovejoyHighSchoolPrincipal,TravisZambiasisaid,“Itwas anhonortohavefestivalofficialstravelfromLondontoLovejoyISDtopresent their invitation. Lovejoy High School is proud of our phenomenal Fine Arts programthatisrecognizedworld-wide.”

LovejoyISDwouldliketoextendourgratitudetoFairviewMayor,HenryLessner, LucasMayor,JimOlk,andStateBoardofEducationRepresentative,PamLittle, forattendingtheceremonyinsupportofLovejoy’sFineArtsPrograms.

GIVING DAY

Foundation for Lovejoy Schools Foundation for Lovejoy Schools

DonationstotheFoundationchampioneducationalinitiativesandprograms:

SafetyMarshals

InnovativeClassroomGrants

HolidayBonuses

ProfessionalDevelopment

NewTeacherClassroomSupport

YOU CAN STILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE, DONATE TODAY!

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!

CAMPUS ENTRY

SAFETY UPDATE

In a continued effort to support our safety and security posture at the front entrance doors at each campus, all visitors are required to show ID prior to entering our facilities. The front office staff member will continue to ask each visitor what their intended business is at the campus, and visitors will present their ID to the camera intercom system prior to entry. Once the visitor ID is verified,thefrontofficestaffmemberwillthenallowentry. Note:Visitorsshould keeptheirIDinhand,astheywillhavetouseittosignintoRaptoruponentry.

Visitorsignagehasbeenorderedandwillbeplacedneareachintercomsystem asareminder.

ATTENDANCE UPDATE

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

CALENDAR EVENT LINKS

GRANDPARENTS’ DAY

The Lovejoy Child Development Center and Hart Elementary both recently celebrated grandparents day! Grandparents or special friends came and ate lunchandenjoyedaspecialtimewiththeirfavoritestudent.

CRACK THE CASE

HES BOOK FAIR

Hart is ready to kick of their annual book fair! Check out Mrs. Dawson’s incredibleMYSTERYbookfairdecor...itissuretoinspirealoveofreading!

WSMS XC COMPETES

AT FALL FESTIVAL

Congratulations to the WSMS Cross Country teams. They competed at the Lovejoy Fall Festival on Saturday. The girls WON THE MEET!!!! They overcame some great teams such as Highland Park! The boys ran awesome and finished 3rdasateam.

3girlsearnedmedals:

MadisonSimpson-7th

EmilyArmstrong-10th

DaniSassine-12th

2boysearnedmedals:

JakeClinton11th

SamRoberts20th

WSMS VOLLEYBALL

WINS 1ST PLACE

8th grade A team volleyball won 1st place in the Texas Classic out of 16 teams.TheAteamplayed6gamesall day without losing one set. Here is a photo of the winning team with the trophy!

LHS VOLLEYBALL

SWEEPS AGAIN!

Friday the Leopards traveled to Sherman to take on the Bearcats, leaving with another program sweep! Tuesday night they held their annual Jungle night & Kids Night. It was a BLAST! They played Denison earning another program sweep! Thank you to our amazing community that continually supports the program. LHS Volleyballappreciatesyouanddefinitely feltalloftheloveTuesdaynight!

TonighttheLeopardswilltraveltoPrincetontotakeonthePanthers,Varsity will play at 5:00pm and Sub-Varsity will follow around 6:00pm. Please wish ourJuniorVarsityteamluckastheytraveltoFriscoonSaturdaytocontinue theirTexasClassictournament!

AEROSPACE TOURS

SW AIRLINES

Lovejoy High School Aerospace students recently attended a field trip to Southwest Airlines HQ in Dallas. Students were able to tour the maintenance hangers,theNOC(missioncontrol),andalsogotousetheflightsimulatorstotake offandland.

LHS VISUAL ARTS

AP GALLERY

The 2ndAnnualAPSummerAssignmentShowopeningwasheldonSeptember 18thintheLHSGallery.TheselectionofworkfromourAPStudio2DDesignand Drawing artists shows the experimentation, practice, and development that eachofourartiststookonoverthe summer tocontinuetogrowtheirpersonal voiceandtechnicalskillinawidearrayofmedia.

Each piece selected by our Lovejoy Visual Art Gallery Managers serves as a wonderful example of the creative risk-taking, intentional practice, and commitmentthattheseartistsemployontheircreativejourneyastheleadersof ourprogram. Belowisasmallsamplingoftheirincrediblework!

STUDENT COUNCIL

Last Friday at the Terrell/Lovejoy football game, fans witnessed a special demonstration of sportsmanship. Lovejoy and TerrellStudentCouncilsexchanged goodwill gifts on the field with the help of Lovejoy Cheer! This is an excellent example of students living our Graduate Profile tenet, “FairandRespectfulofOthers”!

GIRLS GOLF

SPORTMANSHIP TAKES 1ST

ThegirlsGolfTeamtookfirstplacelastweekendintheLadyPirateClassic.The Leopards set a new school record for lowest single tournament round by shootingateamtotalof323.KatelynColemanwasbigfortheLeopardsasshe finished 3rd overall shooting 78-77 for a 155 total--her best high school performance to date. She was joined by Sofia Denham, Emily York, Natalie Breaux and Jordan Wheelis for the girls 660 two-day total to win by one shot overArgyle.Thisisagreatwinfortheseladies!

HEB 2ND PLACE

LHS BAND

INVITATION

LovejoyCommunity,

You are cordially invited to ourfirstcontestoftheyear! We are excited to show off our students’ hard work. Time shown is our performancetime,somake sure to arrive early, wear red, and cheer loudly.

Tickets and more @ https://www.thepobc.com/ golden-triangle-classic/

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

INVITATION

DearLovejoyCommunity,

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 andfullyaware,sowecancometogetherasacommunityforourchildren.

September25,2023PublicNoticeWebsite

(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 BoardBookPremierwebsiteHERE.

Sincerely,

Barrett Owens, President

Amy

Jeff

Smith, Vice-President

Wood, Secretary

TheLovejoyISDBoardofTrustees

Marvin Bobo, Trustee

Jason Jaynes, Trustee

Julie McLaughlin, Trustee

Mark Wheelis, Trustee

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

NEW! ORCHESTRA FUNDRA

HAUNTED SOIREE

NEW! PINK OUT SHIRT

STIX SPIRIT NIGHT

Leopard Life

NEW! GREEN TEAM

HOME RUN HEROS BASEBALL

15TH ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT

Leopard LifeLOVEJOY

LINKS

MAJESTIC BUDDY SWIM & DIVE CALENDAR

LGA SPEAKER

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

LEADERSHIP LOVEJOY BOARD ACADEMY

Leadership Lovejoy is designed to provide community participants with a comprehensive overview of the school district by department and district leadership. The objective is to provide informationaswellasanopportunityto ask questions in an interactive format. The structure of Leadership Lovejoy is in-person,full-day,workshops.

All meetings will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There is a cost of $90.00

$90.00 to cover the cost of the program. Applications areopen nowthroughTuesday, September 26th at 8:00a.m.

The Lovejoy ISD Board Academy is designed for anyone considering public service on the Board of Trustees as well

thosethatwouldliketolearnmoreabout local school district governance. School Boardmemberswillexplaintherolesand responsibilities of serving on the Board, review the state-required training requirements, and discuss the difference between Board oversight and day-to-day operationsofthedistrict.Informationwill alsobesharedontheguidelines,logistics, andtimelinestorunforaBoardseat. The Board Academy will be on Wednesday, December6from1:00p.m.to3:00p.m.

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 engagesin opendialogue/discussionwithourcommunity.

August29,2023

6:00p.m.-7:00p.m.

SloanCreekIntermediate

November30,2023

12:00p.m.-1:00p.m.

HartElementarySchool

February28,2024

8:00a.m.-9:00a.m.

LovejoyHighSchool

April30,2024 9:00a.m.-10:00a.m. WillowSpringsMiddleSchool

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.