Connect with Katie WEEKLY NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
OCTOBER 20, 2023
y o j e v o L s d r a p o e L
CONTENTS 04 MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT 05 LOVEJOY LETTER CAMPAIGN 06 LHS ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT SENIOR NIGHT VOLLEYBALL 13 06 RED RIBBON WEEK VISUAL ARTS INVITES YOU 15 07 FENTANYL THE INVISIBLE KILLER MAJESTICS SPOTLIGHT 16 08 LOVEJOY PROFESSIONAL PORTAL 08 ATTENDANCE UPDATE 09 DISTRICT CALENDAR EVENTS 10 HART BEAT “RESPECT”
17 CROSS COUNTRY DOMINATES
11
GARY D. SCHMIDT AUTHOR VISIT
18
LEOPARD FISHING SCHOOL CHAMPS
19 UNFORGETTABLE TENNIS SEASON 20 HEART OF A TEACHER & SUPPORT 23
HUMAN RESOURCES APPRECIATION
23 HAPPY BOSS’S DAY 24 LOVEJOY LINKS 29
12 BANDS OF AMERICA
DISTRICT & CAMPUS NEWSLETTERS
29 COMMUNITY NEWS
MESSAGE from the Superintendent Lovejoy Community, I hope you and your family had a wonderful fall break. My parents came for a quick visit and I had the opportunity to bring them to the football game last Friday night. To say they were impressed with our students and community is an understatement. Our football team had an outstanding game, the cheerleaders kept the crowd energized, and the Majestics and band entertained us with incredible performances. On Saturday morning, my mother and I got up early to go watch the band perform in the Bands of America competition in Prosper. The band’s show theme this year is “Glow” and they did just that during a beautiful sunrise performance. Our Lovejoy High School Band earned AA champion at Bands of America, AA outstanding music and general effect!
Congratulations to our Majestics dance team on their recognition by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, and Children’s Health Andrews Institute. The Majestics are known as the Crown Jewel of Lovejoy which is not at all surprising when you see them perform. This Saturday, our Robotics Team will host the For the Love of Bots Vex Robotics Tournament at Lovejoy High School. I love watching all of the innovation, problem solving, and strategy in action. The event is open to the public and a great opportunity for younger students to check out the program. We are paying close attention to the third special session of the 88th Texas Legislature currently taking place in Austin. Governor Abbott’s proclamation for the special session identified border security and education savings accounts (commonly referred to as vouchers) as agenda items for the session. The Governor’s proclamation did not include school funding or educator pay. While the Governor may add items to the agenda at any time, lawmakers can only pass legislation related to items on the Governor’s call. Legislators have filed bills on other topics; however, these bills are subject to point of order. Please take time to review the Legislative Priorities adopted by the Lovejoy ISD Board of Trustees for the special session which can be accessed here. The decisions made in Austin have a direct and lasting impact on Lovejoy ISD. I hope you enjoy reading about some of the incredible things happening for kids in Lovejoy ISD in this issue of Connect with Katie. Wishing you and your family a wonderful weekend. There is only ONE LOVEJOY and we are ALL LEOPARDS! Lovejoy Proud,
Katie Kordel Superintendent
LOVEJOY LETTER CAMPAIGN
Lovejoy Families and Community Members: The Annual Lovejoy Letter Campaign for teachers and staff members is just around the corner! Many of you are familiar with this beloved tradition, but for those of you who are not, it is the time of year when we write appreciation letters for each of our teachers and staff members across the District. The letters do not have to be elaborate or lengthy. The goal is for people to write a note of thanks to show appreciation to their teachers, the staff and our administration. It is the opportunity for us to take the time to let each person who makes a difference for us throughout the school year know how much we value them. This year’s campaign will run from Monday October 23rd to Thursday November 9th. Please place your letter in a clearly labeled envelope including the staff/teacher’s name, the campus and LLC (Lovejoy Letter Campaign). There will be collection boxes available at all campuses in the District. The last day for drop off is Thursday November 9th. Please feel free to share this message as we spread the word about the campaign. Let’s show our teachers and staff just how much we appreciate them!
LHS 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
RED RIBBON WEEK OCT. 23-27 Next week is Red Ribbon Week. The 2023 Red Ribbon Campaign theme is “Be Kind to Your Mind. Live Drug Free.” Check your campus newsletter for dress-up theme days that support and encourage our students to live drug free. Red Ribbon Week activities and discussions are campus specific so they are developmentally and age appropriate. “Engaged in a Healthy Lifestyle” is tenet of our Lovejoy ISD Graduate Profile which is best achieved through a strong partnership and powerful alliance with parents, administrators, and counselors.
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
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.
DISTRICT CALENDAR EVENTS
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.
HART BEAT “RESPECT” Each 9 weeks, students at Hart Elementary are recognized for their great character. This month the character trait showcased was Respect. Our leopards show respect each and every day to their teachers, classmates and school. Congratulations to all of the students who received certificates! This is a fun time for the entire school to get gather to celebrate our classmates. The teachers have fun too, by playing a teacher game!
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!
GARY D. SCHMIDT AUTHOR VISIT Author Gary D. Schmidt visited our 6th graders at Sloan Creek Intermediate school Thursday and presented on story telling, writing inspiration, and all things The Wednesday Wars! “He was one of the most engaging authors I’ve ever seen grab the attention of young readers. We had ‘6th grade in the 60’s’ day to celebrate the time period of his novel,” said Mrs. McClintick. Mrs. Massay said, “We are so thankful for our community that supports awesome opportunities for our students. This past April, we were awarded a grant (from the Foundation for Lovejoy Schools) that allowed us to bring author, Gary S. Schmidt to our school. The kids loved it, we loved it!”
BANDS OF AMERICA The Lovejoy Band competed at the Bands of America Prosper Regional on 14 October and came away as the Class AA Champion, taking the Outstanding Music and Outstanding General Effect awards for their class! We are very proud of our students as it was a very long and difficult day – they acted and performed like champions with all of the challenges!
SENIOR NIGHT VOLLEYBALL The Leopard Volleyball team had a successful fall break earning two more program sweeps on Tuesday and Friday night! Tuesday the program had their final home game of the season, resulting in another program sweep! All three teams are now 11-0 going into their final district game! Our last home game Tuesday night, we celebrated our NINE seniors on their incredible careers with Lovejoy Volleyball. We know their futures are so bright, but we are not done yet! Friday will be our final district game of the season against McKinney North, varsity will play at 5:00pm and sub-varsity teams will follow around 6:00pm. We are so proud of all the hard-work our girls have put in this season and we are excited for the playoffs to begin. Make sure you're following our social media accounts for playoff information!
VISUAL ARTS INVITES YOU
The Lovejoy Visual Arts program would like to invite you to the 7th Annual Lovejoy High School Campus Exhibit! Opening on October 24th, the show displays an incredible selection of work from each of our art courses at LHS. Whether exercising foundational artistic talent or building upon newly discovered interests, each of our students has worked to hone in their personal voice and artistic style that they have developed over years in our K-12 studios. The work selected for this exhibition speaks loudly of the constant growth and chase for personal best that make our LJVA studios what they are. Please join us from 5 7 pm on October 24th to celebrate the intention, care, and process behind each piece selected for this exhibit! If you are unable to attend the night of the opening, please contact brice_mccasland@lovejoyisd.net to set up an appointment to tour the Gallery after 4:30pm October 24th - 28th. We hope to see you there!
MAJESTICS SPOTLIGHT
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!
CROSS COUNTRY DOMINATES The Cross Country teams DOMINATED AT DISTRICT! We won all four divisions - JV and Varsity Girls and Boys. This is the 17th District Championship in a row for both the boys Varsity and JV Divisions. This is the 10th District Title in program history for the girls and they now have a streak of 6 in a row. The Varsity teams will now move on to the Regional Championship at Grand Prairie on Monday, October 23rd.
LEOPARD FISHING SCHOOL CHAMPS Leopard Fishing had a tournament on Lake Ray Roberts over the weekend. Lovejoy was represented by 21 teams with 6 of them weighing in fish. Two of those teams placed in the top 34 and Lovejoy won School Champions of the tournament! Way to go Anglers!!! 2nd place - 14.97lbs - Grant Pursifull and Izak Lenart 33rd place - 4.44lbs - Jack Thompson and Parker Woods
UNFORGETTABLE TENNIS SEASON The Netters undefeated season came to an end at the UIL Regional QuarterFinals with a loss to Corsicana High School. The road started in BiDistrict against Crandall and the Area Round against Hallsville High School School, both matches ended sweep of 10-0.
duel in a
Thank you so much to the players, parents, booster club and the best Seniors. It's a Great Day to be a Leopard!
HUMAN RESOURCES APPRECIATION Join us in celebrating our fabulous Human Resources team! This group is dedicated to caring for our most valuable and important resources, our Lovejoy ISD teachers, staff, and guest educators! Hiring, onboarding, training, benefits, compliance, and staff appreciation are all just some of their areas of expertise. We appreciate you, Human Resources!
HAPPY BOSS’S DAY Monday, October 16th was National Boss's Day! We are extremely grateful for the guidance and vision of our leadership teams in Lovejoy ISD. Thank you, Superintendent Kordel and Lovejoy leaders, for your dedication to our students and your servant leadership throughout the District!
Leopard Life
LOVEJOY LINKS
NEW! LEOPARD FRIDAY
NEW! TOUR OF HOMES
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LOVEJOY LINKS
NEW! CHEER HOLIDAY GREENERY
THIS WEEK! THE 4 YEAR TIMELINE
NEW! SWIG BOOSTER
NEW! GREEN TEAM
Leopard Life
LOVEJOY LINKS
NEW! CHOIR & COFFEE
SWIM & DIVE CALENDAR
HOME RUN HEROS HAUNTED SOIREE
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LOVEJOY LINKS
FOR THE LOVE OF BOTS
LIVING FOR ZACHARY HEART SCREENING
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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 about local school district governance. School Board members will explain the roles and responsibilities of serving on the Board, review the state-required training requirements, and discuss the difference between Board oversight and day-to-day operations of the district. Information will also be shared on the guidelines, logistics, and timelines to run for a Board seat. The Board Academy will be on Wednesday, December 6 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.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 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
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.
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Connect with Katie . October 20, 2023 . Issue 12