Wolf Weekly Newsletter

Wolf Weekly

August 28, 2022    

Hello Lake Ridge Middle School Parents/Guardians – We’ve successfully made it through the first week of school.  Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigated through some changes.

 

BACK TO SCHOOL PACKET

Please make sure to login to your ParentVue account and complete the 2022-23 Back to School Packet (Returning Students). This allows you to make updates to your student’s emergency contacts, phone numbers, email addresses, etc… Once logged into ParentVue, select Online Records and choose the Back to School packet from the dropdown menu. This needs to be completed whether or not any changes are being made.

 

LAPTOP INSURANCE

Parents/guardians have the option to purchase low-cost student device insurance through the PWCS-approved third-party vendor, Securranty.

  • If purchased, the insurance covers unlimited repairs or replacements for everything from broken screens, lost chargers, and accidental damage, with a zero deductible for one year on a school-issued HP device. The insurance cost is $32.95, which may be significantly less than repair or replacement costs without insurance.

Visit the Securranty website to purchase.  Https://securranty.com/pwcs

Insurance must be purchased within 30 days of the laptop being issued to your student and before any damage has happened. 

 

EARLY DISMISSALS

The front office stops early dismissals at 2:30 p.m.  If you arrive after 2:30 p.m., you will be asked to wait until dismissal for your student. The front office will notify the student to meet you when walkers and car-riders are dismissed.

 

BOOK FAIR

Be sure to visit our Book Fair homepage at https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/lakeridgemiddleschool to preview the fair and set up an eWallet for your student. You will also be able to shop online here beginning September 15th. The Book Fair will open 30 minutes before the start of both Back-to-School nights: Thursday September 15th for 6th grade parents and Thursday September 22 for 7th and 8th. Hope to see you there!

 

CELLPHONES

With technology in mind, a growing body of research is pointing to instances in which cell phone addiction is leading to a negative impact on some students’ learning, sleep habits, and mental health. Certainly, at LRMS, we saw an uptick in students’ distraction during class as a result of cell phone use.

 

In response to this problem, cell phone use will not be permitted in classrooms at LRMS this school year. At the start of each day, our teachers will ask students to store cell phones out of sight for the duration of the day. If a student needs to use technology for an assignment or project, laptops will be their primary tool, unless a teacher specifically designs a task intended for cell phones. We appreciate parents’ and guardians’ support in ensuring students can focus on learning throughout the school day. If you have an emergency, and need to reach your student, please call the office and we can assist in getting information to your child.

 

DRESS CODE

If a student chooses to wear a hoodie, hat, or a jacket with a hood, it is expected that their hood be down when inside the building. Teachers and staff will be reminding students to remove their hoods/hats if seen in the hallways. We ask that you remind your students to follow the rules and directions given by school staff and not become argumentative.

 

TRANSPORTATION

If you have questions or concerns about busses, please call The PWCS Transportation Department at 571-374-6591 or email Transportation at [email protected].  Lake Ridge Middle School cannot reach the bus drivers directly to see where they are.  Please keep in mind that the Transportation Department does receive a high volume of calls and you may have to sit on hold, however our front office does not have a direct line to their office to get information any faster.

 

Car Riders

Parents, if you are driving your student(s) to school, please enter in from the 2nd entrance to the school which is located by the football field. Once you pull in, and come to a complete stop, please drop your student off; having them walk a little bit is a great way to get the blood flowing and their mind awake before school. By doing this, you help to move the traffic in and out of the school in a quick and efficient manner. If you wait until you pull up to the front door, traffic gets backed up both ways on Mohican Rd. Parents should not be dropping students off in the large upper parking lot. The entrance next to the electronic marquee is for busses and staff only. As always, please allow extra time and drive cautiously in the parking lot.

 

Doors open to students at 7:45 a.m.  If you are here earlier, please drop your child off and exit the car line.  Your student can sit on the benches and/or under the covered roof outside Door 1.  Please do not sit in your car and wait as it creates a backup through the lot and onto Mohican.  We’d like to get cars in and out as quickly, and safely, as possible.

 

LANG/LIT SUPPORT COURSE

This year we added an additional course that you may see appear on your student’s schedule that you’re not familiar with. Both students in 6th & 7th grade may notice a Lang/Lit Support course. The purpose of this course is help students gain and expand their knowledge and skills in both reading and writing and provide more time for deeper instruction of the Language Arts curriculum while making cross-curricular connections. This is not a remedial class, but will support our students in Language Arts instruction and writing.

 

CAFETERIA

This year all breakfast and lunch items are available for purchase, unless you apply for and receive qualification for your meals to be free through the PWCS Food & Nutrition webpage. You can also find purchasing information and menus.  Breakfast is $1.50 and Lunch is $2.65.  Your child will need to know and be able to type in their student number for both the free and paid meals. This is their student identification number (POSID), found on Parent/StudentVUE. For our younger students, we highly encourage families to spend some time this week practicing on a keypad, similar to the one shown below, so they can move easily through the lunch line.

7 

  8 

9 

4 

  5 

6 

1 

  2 

3 

CLEAR 

  0 

ENTER 

 

PTO

Save the date – the PTO will hold their first meeting on September 7. More information about the meeting and login information will come out shortly.

 

PTO Facebook & Website: Stay connected and receive PTO updates – join the LRMS PTO Facebook Group! To join, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/1652390148299019 and answer a few questions. You can also visit our website at https://lrmsptopwc.wixsite.com/lrmspto.  

 

Volunteer Opportunities: Learn about volunteer opportunities and ways to support LRMS by following- https://2022-2023-lrms-pto-membership.cheddarup.com/.   

Support LRMS PTO and order your new LRMS socks! This year we have 2 new styles for every wolf in your house! Place your order by Sep 16th by following- https://rock-lrms-socks-2022-2023.cheddarup.com/ 

 

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHTS

  • 6th Grade Back to School Night will be on Thursday, September 15th from 6-8 p.m.
  • 7th & 8th Grade Back to School Night will be on Thursday, September 22nd from 6-8 p.m.

 

ATHLETICS

As we start to close out our Fall Season Tryouts, I want to update our Lake Ridge Middle School Community on a few things moving forward: 

  • Middle School Athletics is a great opportunity for student-athletes to grow and learn from our coaches here at Lake Ridge Middle School to prepare them for High School Athletics and possibly beyond. As coaches, we offer our knowledge and understanding of the Sport to the student-athletes in a manner that allows for a positive experience during their season. Parents, we ask that you allow our coaches to share their expertise and knowledge with our student-athletes and not coach your student-athlete from the stands. This creates conflict between coaches and parents which can hinder the total experience of being on the Lake Ridge Middle School Team. As a reminder, per Prince William County Policy, ALL practices and tryouts are closed. If we continue to see an uptick in parents during practices, further action will be taken to ensure that a positive learning environment is kept throughout practice.
  • Due to transportation and low numbers of officiating, ALL athletic events will begin at 5:15 p.m. Our School doors or Ticket Tables will not open until 5 p.m. Ticket prices are as follows for athletic events; Adults (out of high school and up) $3, Students (Elementary through High School) $1, Senior Citizens $Free. 
  • PWCS enacted a no-bag policy for all indoor athletic events at the middle school level. This is in alignment with the policy currently in place at all high schools. This includes backpacks, purses, camera equipment bags, etc. Small wallet-sized clutch bags, clear diaper bags, and medically necessary bags are permitted. These bags may be subject to search. This policy went into effect for indoor athletic events at all middle schools on Monday, January 10, 2022. Our school will have a plan in place to secure any student bookbags as needed during athletic events. We will not be responsible for securing bags from any attendees who are not students at our school. Signage will be posted to remind attendees prior to arriving at the ticket area. We thank you in advance for adhering to this policy and look forward to having you with us to cheer on our student-athletes.
  • New to the 2022-2023 Athletic Season and continuing moving forward, Boy's Basketball will be starting in November and be part of the Winter 1 Season and Girl's Basketball will be starting in January and be part of the Winter 2 Season. 
  • Academic Eligibility - students cannot Fail more than 1 class throughout a 9-week quarter. If a student becomes academically ineligible, they are unable to participate in any extracurricular activities. 

Dance Team tryouts will be held September 6-8 in the cafeteria from 3:15-5:15 p.m.  Students must have a completed athletic physical dated after May 1, 2022 and proof of completion of the Concussion Training.

Please contact the Athletic Director, Mr. Larson with any questions.

 

Monday is a “B” day

 

Jim Dutrow

Principal

Lake Ridge Middle School

703-494-5154