Connect with Katie.09.29.2023.Issue10

Connect with Katie

Photo Credit: LHS Yearbook

Lovejoy Lovejoy Leopards Leopards

MESSAGE

from the Superintendent

LovejoyCommunity,

We are Living Lovejoy! We have launched a new video series titled, “Living Lovejoy” as a way to celebrate our incredible students, staff, programs, andtraditions.Everyday,LovejoyLeopardsareliving our legacy of excellence. Sharing our unique and special story with our community is a privilege and another opportunity to communicate with you. It is myhopethatour Living Lovejoy videoswillgiveyou a window into the many ways we are fulfilling our mission of propelling each person to personal excellence.Followusonsocialmediasoyoudonot missouton Living Lovejoy.

Our Orchestra and Band Programs were on the news! Last week, we shared that the Lovejoy High School Orchestra and Band were invited to participate in the London's New Year's Day Parade & Festival (LNYDP) at the turn of the year 2024/2025. London festivalofficialsflewtoTexastopresenttheformalinvitationtoourstudentslastFriday morning.WewereontheChannel8newsat4:00p.m.thatevening.Thisisthelinktothe videoifyouwouldliketocheckitouthere.

Great things are happening for kids in Lovejoy ISD! First grade students at Puster createdaclassConstitutiononConstitutionDay.HistoryiscomingtolifeatSloanCreek for5thgradestudentswhohaveexperiencedtaxationoftheirlunchestosimulatethe Sugar Act of 1764. All three of our volleyball teams are 6-0 in district. Band had an excellent performance at the Golden Triangle Classic Competition and our varsity footballteamwonthehomecominggame.

Wishingyouandyourfamilyawonderfullongweekend.Welookforwardtoseeingour studentsbackonMondaymorning.

ThereisonlyONELOVEJOY andweareALLLEOPARDS!

LovejoyProud, KatieKordel Superintendent

CONDOLENCES

It saddens us to inform you that this past \ weekend, Ms. Sylvia Woods passed away after a lengthy illness. Ms. Woods was the former Willow Springs Middle School Robotics teacher and had a passionforherstudentsandherfamily.Inaddition tobeinganexcellentteacher,shealsoencouraged her students to do their very best both personally and academically. She started in LISD in 2018 and retired last year after moving to Arkansas to be closertofamily.Shewasbelovedbystudents,staff and parentsandwillbegreatlymissed.

Theonlineobituaryandguestbookareavailableatwww.shinnfuneral.com.

Ourthoughtsandprayersarewithherfamilyatthistime.

ATTENDANCE UPDATE

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

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!

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 have been extended for Leadership Lovejoy ‘24areopennowthroughFriday,October6th.

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

CALENDAR EVENT LINKS

WSMS DOMINATES

DRESS-UP DAYS

Willow Springs Middle School elevated their Homecoming Dress-up Day game thisyear! Students,staff,andcampusadministratorsparticipatedinthedress up days which included: Dress as your Future Self (College or Career), Better Together Twin Day, Decades, Class Colors, LOJO Spiritwear. High levels of student and staff participation inspired new connections, creativity, a little competition,andlotsofFUN!

PRESENTING MUMS

In2017LovejoyHighSchoolstudentBrianHandstartedanHOCOtraditionthat hissiblings,AddisonandSadieJane,havecarriedforward.Thestudentscollect mumsandgartersfromthecommunityeachyearandthenrepurposethemand personalize them for each LHS Special Education student every Homecoming season.

OuramazingLovejoyCommunityassiststhethefamilyinmakingmagichappen andrecreatingthemumsandgartersforthesestudents. LovejoyParentBecky Handsaid,“Welovethisprogramandhavegainedsomuchhappinessandjoy overtheyearsbeingabletodothisforthisclassroomandgivebackandinclude theminsuchaspecialandexcitingtimeduringahighschoolersexperience.We haveoneyearleftandthenitismyhopetofindanotherfamilywithkidsmoving throughtheschoolthatcanspearheadtheprojectandtakeitover.”

POWDER PUFF & VOLLEYBALL

The seniors won the powder puff football game! Teachers won the staff vs student volleyball game. We had lots of fun yard games and food trucks to celebratehomecomingweek!

HOMECOMING PEP RALLY

Mr.&MissFineArts

FOOTBALL GAME

PALS PEANUT

BUTTER

Over the past several weeks, the WSMS PALS class participated in the North Texas Food Bank's peanut butter drive. It was a huge success as they collected more than 700 jars of peanut butter from peers, friends, neighbors, baseball teams, and the

like.ThemiddleschoolPALS(PeerAssistedLeadership)programconsistsof only27studentswhowereselectedafterapplicationandreview.Thesestudents focus on building leadership qualities and providing service to their school, district,andcommunity. ExceptionaljobPALSandMs.Bellows!

SWIM & DIVE

Saturday, September 23rd, Lovejoy Swim & Dive started off the season with a splash! In their first meet of the season they competed against 17 different teams.Thegirlscamehomehavingearned139.5pointsandtaking6thplacein thecompetition.Theboysfinishedwith314pointsandclaimed4thplacealong withameetrecord!Congratulationsonaverystrongseasonstart!

GOLDEN TRIANGLE

CLASSIC

CongratulationsonaverystrongperformanceSaturday,September23rdby yourGoldenTriangleClassicAAChampionLovejoyBand!

PrelimsCaptionWinnings:

AA1stPlaceVisualEffect

AA1stPlaceMusicPerformance/Ensemble

AA1stPlacePercussion

AA1stPlaceVisualPerformance/Ensemble

AA1stPlaceColorGuard

OVERALLPRELIMS:

ALL REGION JAZZ

CongratstothesejazzcatsontheirRegion25Jazzplacement(LtoRinpic):

AdamKent,trumpet

AdrianPhan,AREAtenorsax

JustinPoteet,basstrombone

DavisMiller,AREAbarisax

MaxRattleff,drums

JonahVuong,trumpet

VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS CONTINUE

Lovejoy Volleyball has officially completed their first round of district play! Tuesday they took on the McKinney North Bulldogs and earned another program sweep, making all three teams 6-0 in district! We want to give a specialshoutouttoourWillowSpringsLeopardsfortheiramazingenergy!

IfyoumissedoutonourJungleshirtsyou'reinluck,adultandyouthsizesas well as sweatshirts are now available! Shop using the QR code! Our next gamewillbeOctober3rdagainstMelissaatLovejoyHighSchool,wewould love to have another HUGE crowd to support our girls as they begin their secondroundofdistrictplay!Wehopetoseeyouthere!

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 ME SUMMARY

6th grade Sloan Creek Intermediate SchoolStudent,EastonKulcak,ledthe pledges.

The following Sloan Creek Intermediate School New Hires were introduced to the BoardofTrustees:

LeahAshley

ChuckBrown

DavidBurger

BradGearhart

LauraLester

AlaciaReynolds

TheBoardofTrusteeshosteddinnerforandrecognizedthe2024NationalMerit Commended Students: Myles Beard, Uzayr Chaudhry, Sharon Chen, Declan Finnigan, Grant Hu, Joshua James, Madelyn Jaynes, Romi Kahana, Jocelyn Kim, Thomas Koch, Hannah Mao, Bridget O’Dowd, Katherine Smith, Hunter Stark, Edward Sutton, Brielle Taylor, Travis Thomas, and Evelyn Tsai. As well as, the followingNationalMeritSemi-Finalists:SharonChen,DeclanFinnigan,GrantHu, JoshuaJames,HannahMao,andEdwardSutton.

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

NEW! GREEN TEAM

NEW! CLUE MUSICAL

NEW! WIPE OUT KIDS CANCER

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

NEW! PINK OUT SHIRT

HAUNTED SOIREE

NEW! ORCHESTRA FUNDRAISER

STIX SPIRIT NIGHT

Leopard Life

HOME RUN HEROS

MAJESTIC BUDDY

EVENTS

SWIM & DIVE

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

BOARD ACADEMY

The Lovejoy ISD Board Academy is designed for anyone considering public service on the Board of Trustees as well those that would like to learn more aboutlocalschooldistrictgovernance.SchoolBoard memberswillexplaintherolesandresponsibilitiesof serving on the Board, review the state-required training requirements, and discuss the difference between Board oversight and day-to-day operations of ofthedistrict.

Informationwillalsobesharedontheguidelines,logistics,andtimelinestorun for a Board seat. The Board Academy will be on Wednesday, December 6 from 1:00p.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.