Connect with Katie.11.03.2023.Issue14

Connect with Katie WEEKLY NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

NOVEMBER 03, 2023

LOVEJOY CROSS COUNTRY 5A STATE

CHAMPIONS

y o j e v o L s d r a p o e L

CONTENTS 04 MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

05 CROSS COUNTRY STATE CHAMPS!

06

BI-DISTRICT CHAMPIONS!!!

07 VARSITY FOOTBALL DISTRICT CHAMPS

15 DISTRICT CALENDAR EVENTS 16 TRICK OR TREAT WITH LCDC 18 LOVEJOY ROBOTICS TOP AWARDS 19 CDL RECOGNITIONS 20 BOARD MEETING SUMMARY 22 LOVEJOY LINKS

08 09 CANDY DAY WITH CABINET JB PUCKETT SPIRIT OF A LEOPARD 10 12 MCCU PARTNERSHIP 13 MCCU DEBIT CARD DESIGN DISTRICT AND CAMPUS 27 NEWSLETTERS CONTEST WSMS ORCHESTRA ALL REGION

14 REMEMBER TO VOTE 14 ATTENDANCE UPDATE

27 COMMUNITY NEWS

MESSAGE from the Superintendent Lovejoy Community, Lovejoy ISD is the proud home of the 2023-2024 Boys and Girls State Cross Country Champions! Congratulations to Coach Logan Kelly, Coach Carley Littlefield, and our cross country athletes on this truly remarkable accomplishment.

This is the THIRD straight championship for the girls! There is no doubt that both Lovejoy Cross Country teams have earned their strong reputations. Girls Cross Country has now earned a total of five state titles and Boys Cross Country has earned four titles.

I had the privilege of being in Round Rock this morning to see our cross country teams run in the state meet and receive their medals. As proud as I am of this remarkable accomplishment, it pales in comparison to the culture of the Cross Country Program and the character of these truly elite athletes.

Lovejoy Varsity Girls Volleyball has had an extremely strong season and took the District Championship last week. Congratulations to Coach Natalie Puckett, Lauren Hayes, Ashtyn Richey, Brooke Puckett, and our volleyball athletes. This evening, I am on my way to Athens, Texas to cheer them on in a playoff matchup against Whitehouse HS. Last night, the Lovejoy Varsity Football Team defeated the previously undefeated Melissa High School 28-7 and earned the District Championship! Congratulations to Coach Ross, the football coaching staff, and athletes on this impressive victory. Now, it's on to the playoffs!

We had more Willow Springs Middle School students audition and earn a spot for All-Region Orchestra than in previous school history. We are very proud of the 19 students named to or as an alternate to the TMEA Region 25 All Region Orchestra. Making All-Region Orchestra is a huge honor and something that shows diligence and perseverance. Congratulations to Directors Ashley Dickens and Mary Winkler.

Earlier this week, the Lovejoy ISD Leadership Team and I had so much fun visiting campuses dressed as a herd of dinosaurs to deliver treats to teachers and staff. The reactions were priceless, making for some fun pictures to enjoy.

Wishing you a weekend spent with those you love doing the things that bring you joy.

There is only ONE LOVEJOY and we are ALL LEOPARDS! Lovejoy Proud,

Katie Kordel Superintendent

CROSS COUNTRY STATE CHAMPS!

STATE CHAMPIONS

Join us in celebrating our Lovejoy ISD Boys and Girls 5A Cross Country State Champions!!! The girls are celebrating their THIRD State Championship in a row!! We are inspired by their exceptional dedication and teamwork!

In cross country, the lowest score wins. Our teams dominated their opponents, with second place teams scoring nearly twice as much.

Boys Score Lovejoy: 56 points Second Place: 109 points Girls Score Lovejoy: 40 points Second Place: 81 points

Congratulations to our Boys and Girls STATE CHAMPIONS and their coaches, Logan Kelly and Carly Littlefield on their incredible victories!

BI-DISTRICT CHAMPIONS! The Lovejoy Varsity Volleyball team has had an eventful week since last Friday night! Saturday morning, they took time for some fun with their annual costume themed practice! The girls had a fun time dressing up, and the coaches did too! After the fun, it was time to set their sights on winning the Bi-District playoff round against Lancaster! Tuesday night your Leopards won bi-district in three sets against the tigers. Tonight they’re traveling to Athens, TX to take on the Whitehouse Wildcats for the Area Round playoff! Game time is 6:30pm and the theme is Red Out! The girls would like to thank everyone for their support so far, and said to keep it coming! We truly are one heart, one Lovejoy!

We want to make a special shoutout to all of our amazing coaches at Lovejoy ISD on this first ever Texas High School coaches day! We love and appreciate you all! ROLLPARDS!!

Don’t have dinner plans for November 8th?? We would love if you’d consider supporting our program at Chipotle from 5pm - 9pm! Use code: VC2XKF6

VARSITY FOOTBALL DISTRICT CHAMPS! The Lovejoy Leopards Football Team are District 7-5AII Champions after a dominant win against the #1 state ranked Melissa Cardinals on Thursday night.

After a physical first half, the Leopards went on a 21-0 run in the second half to secure a 28-7 win and gave Melissa their first loss of the season. The Leopards finished the regular season with a record of 9-1 and an undefeated district record. Thursday night's win gives the Leopards the #1 seed heading into the Texas State Playoffs.

Lovejoy will host the first round of playoffs at home next week, the date and opponent are still to be determined. The playoff game will also be our Senior Night as it was postponed due to weather. Make sure to come support your Leopards next week as we begin our quest for the State Championship!

Photo credit: BuzzPhotos.com

district champs!

WSMS ORCHESTRA ALL REGION On Saturday, October 28th, our region hosted the TMEA Middle School All Region Orchestra Auditions at Allen HS. All Region is an individual competition where students learn a packet of music that includes an etude and excerpts.

This music is difficult and stretches them as musicians. They compete against other musicians from 6th-8th grade in our region (Lovejoy, Allen, Plano, Wylie and Sherman). There were over 500 students who auditioned to make this elite orchestra. Making All-Region Orchestra is a huge honor and something that shows diligence, perseverance, and talent!

We had more students audition and earn a spot this year than EVER in school history!!! Please congratulate the following nineteen WSMS orchestra students for earning a spot or alternate spot in the TMEA Region 25 All Region Orchestra: Yuri Park- violin Autry Moayed- violin Kevin Zhang- violin Madeleine Chi- violin Mia Zhang- violin Neha Varri- violin Naomi Kameo- violin Gia Thakkar- viola Jonathan Brunson- viola Jacob Zhu- viola

Sloan Creek All Region

Rylan Bratz- viola Muna Osuagwu- viola Christian Fiorello- cello Adrian Ngai- cello Victoria Wong- cello Sofia Jauregui- bass Jacob Wang- bass Cormac Finnigan- bass (1st Chair!)

Charli Rohr- bass

Willow Springs All Region

CANDY DAY WITH CABINET

JB PUCKETT SPIRIT OF A LEOPARD We are proud to recognize the 2023 recipient of the Jim Bob Puckett Spirit of a Leopard Award. Coach Jim Bob Puckett is the retired former head coach and athletic director in Lovejoy. His successful coaching career spanned 41 years, including the last 17 at Lovejoy ISD. Coach Puckett was instrumental in establishing Leopard Athletics, creating the Double L logo, and coaching the Leopard football program to many play-off seasons and a state semi final playoff game. Coach Puckett believed in building relationships and treated both players and colleagues like his family. He is a true fan of all things Lovejoy.

Last Friday night at the football game, Lovejoy ISD honored Jim McGuinness as the 2023 recipient of the Jim Bob Puckett Spirit of a Leopard Award for his dedication to the Lovejoy Cross Country Program. Jim has been the team photographer for Lovejoy Cross Country for the past 18 years and traveled throughout the State of Texas supporting our Leopards. Jim has taken over 40,000 photos of our Leopard Runners. Jim was at the state meet again this morning taking pictures of our teams winning the state championship!

This award is presented annually to honor one Leopard fan who embodies Coach Puckett’s passion and commitment to the Lovejoy Independent School District. Congratulations Jim McGuinness and thank you for supporting our Leopards!

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!

MCCU PARTNERSHIP Lovejoy ISD recently entered into a partnership with My Community Credit Union. This partnership is intended to enhance student opportunities in the areas of financial literacy. A MCCU branch is scheduled to open at Lovejoy High School in fall 2024 to allow LHS students to have hands-on learning experiences for future careers related to finance.

At the football game on Friday, October 27th, My Community Credit Union made a donation of $20,000 to assist with the cost of personnel to support this new program at Lovejoy High School.

Lovejoy ISD is looking forward to this partnership with My Community Credit Union in Growing Financial Literacy with our students!

MCCU DEBIT CARD DESIGN CONTEST MCCU is excited to announce their Debit Card Design Contest. The winners will have their designs on our Lovejoy Leopard MCCU Debit Cards!!

Launch date: Leopard Friday October 27th Submissions due to marketing@mccu.coop by midnight on January 26th Three Debit card designs winners will be selected representing grades k-4, 5-8, and 9-12.

Winners will be announced March 1st Scan QR Code for additional details!

REMEMBER TO We encourage all Lovejoy Community members to vote in the upcoming November 7th election. Election Day polling locations can be found here on the Collin County website. Two propositions directly effect Texas Education including: Proposition 5 – HJR 3 "The constitutional amendment relating to the Texas University Fund, which provides funding to certain institutions of higher education to achieve national prominence as major research universities and drive the state economy."

Proposition 9 – HJR 2, regular session "The constitutional amendment authorizing the 88th Legislature to provide a cost-of-living adjustment to certain annuitants of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas."

Source: Texas Secretary of State Website

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.

TRICK OR TREAT WITH LCDC Each year, Lovejoy Child Development Center students trick-or-treat through the Red Building. This is a favorite event for our littlest leopards AND Administration staff. The costume game was strong this year with lots of smiles and candy all around!

LOVEJOY ROBOTICS TOP AWARDS This past Saturday in Bryson, TX Lovejoy Robotics had 2 teams earn top awards!

1082T did great and ended as Quarterfinalists and improved their skills score, 1082F won the Tournament Championship and 1082M ended as Finalists and Skills Champion, and Excellence Award winners! We are #LovejoyProud of all our students' efforts.

1082F

1082T

1082M

CDL RECOGNITIONS Please join Lovejoy ISD in congratulating four of our amazing teachers who obtained their CDL certification: James Boyd Kirby Hulme Aubrey Lyon Joseph Miller We are also grateful to our Coaches and Assistant Principal for their invaluable support in meeting all of the district's transportation needs: Matt Cannon Jerry De La Fuente Mason Leech Sandy McCarty Elliot Parkman Brandon Springfield Shawn Lewis (not pictured)

BOARD MEETING SUMMARY

Lovejoy ISD is committed to providing consistent, transparent communication with our community and employees. We hope this meeting summary will support you in staying connected and informed. Click the image on the left to open the summary in Google Docs.

Regular Board Meetings and Workshops are now recorded and archived on the Lovejoy ISD website. You can access Regular Board Meeting and Workshop recordings by clicking the image on the right.

The full Regular Board Meeting agenda with supporting documents may be viewed by clicking the image on the left.

BOARD MEETING SUMMARY

11th grade Lovejoy High School students, Anil Dandekar and Carsten Dunn, led the pledges.

The October Staff Recognitions include our Principals: Wendy Craft, Hart Elementary Holly Haynes, Puster Elementary Megan Rawlins, Sloan Creek Intermediate Caitlin Eldredge, Willow Springs Middle Dr. Travis Zambiasi, Lovejoy High

Introduction of Lovejoy High School 2023-2024 New Hires: Eric White, Elliot Parkman, Sarah Murray, Brandon Springfield, Carter Beasley, Zack Zimmermann, David Denham, Cassie Kovach, Holly Green, Robert Burke, Navita Sinha, Curtis McCarthy, Jennifer Haefner, Davy Salazar, Matt Joslin, David Muller, Sandy McCarty, Andria Harris, Joseph Rasca, Michael Anderson, Sarah Poe, and Emaily Sema.

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

NEW! CHEER CAMP

NEW! VOLLEYBALL FUNDRAISER

NEW! GREEN TEAM

NEW! ACCESS & ACCOMMODATIONS

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

LOVEJOY LETTER CAMPAIGN

FOUNDATION FOR LOVEJOY SCHOOLS TOUR OF HOMES

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

SWIM & DIVE CALENDAR CHEER HOLIDAY GREENERY

HOME RUN HEROS

Leopard Life

LOVEJOY LINKS

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

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

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 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.

CLICK HERE

Connect with Katie . November 3, 2023 . Issue 14