WOLF WEEKLY
August 23, 2026

Good evening Lake Ridge Middle School Parents/Guardians-   We are excited to welcome back students tomorrow morning.

NEW BELL TIMES
Beginning this school year, the school’s bell schedule will be 8:15 am – 2:55 pm.  The doors will open, for students to enter the building at 7:45 am each morning.

TECHNOLOGY
Any 7th or 8th grade student who did not return their iPad charging cord and/or charging brick AND did not pay for replacements, will not receive one on the first day of school.  Replacement costs are $20 each and can be paid by cash or check made out to LRMS. This money can be dropped off at the front office during school hours with your student’s full name and student ID number.

Families looking to purchase optional insurance for their student’s iPad can go to the Securranty website and purchase it for $29.95. Please make sure you select Lake Ridge Middle School when selecting your policy.  Please note that the optional insurance does not cover the keyboard case.  If a student loses or damages the case, the cost to replace it is $120.

LATE ARRIVALS
As we prepare for the new school year, I want to share an update about late arrival procedures at Lake Ridge Middle School.  Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, we will be using KioskVue, a digital check-in system located in our front office.  The system provides a faster, more convenient way for families to manage late arrivals while supporting accurate attendance records and student safety.

Parents and guardians who bring a student to school after the start of the school day should enter the building and complete the sign-in process. Students who arrive late to school may sign themselves in; however, the school will contact a parent or guardian to verify the late arrival.  This includes students who were picked up earlier in the day and brought back to school.

REPORTING ABSENCES
If a student is absent from school, parents should provide an excuse to the school within 5 days of the absence. Cases in which an excuse is not received within five (5) days of the absence will be referred to an administrator. 

How to Report an Absence 

  • ParentVUE should be used to report FULL-DAY absences for the CURRENT day and/or future days (up to 30 days in advance). 
  • If you need to submit an excuse for a PRIOR day or for a LATE ARRIVAL, you will need to use our designated email of [email protected] for reporting absences. Note: any email asking to excuse an absence or tardy must come from the parent's email. Anything sent from the student's email address will not be accepted.  
  • Hand-written notes or doctor’s notes can also be dropped off to the front office. A note must include a parent's signature and date.
  • If you need to have your student dismissed early, you do not need to call or email the office in advance. Once you arrive at the office, and your I.D. has been verified against the emergency contact list, your student will be called to the office for dismissal. The last early dismissal of the day will be at 2:30 pm, so please be sure to arrive before then, with your ID, if you need to pick your student up early.
  • If your student is marked absent from just one period, parents should email the teacher directly to find out what happened. The teacher will then work with the Attendance staff if a correction to attendance is required.

Extended Absences
As part of the division’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement, the Student Health and Wellness (SHAW) Department conducted a comprehensive review and update of the division’s attendance policy during the 2024-25 school year. This process incorporated valuable feedback from key stakeholders, including the Attendance Project Team, a cross-functional group dedicated to enhancing student attendance outcomes. Additionally, SHAW collaborated with the Superintendent’s Principal Advisory Council and the Superintendent’s Advisory Council on Instruction to gather insights on necessary policy and regulation changes. These efforts were aimed at ensuring that updated policies and regulations provide clear guidance and promote equitable practices across the division.   

Regulation Updates:

  • Clearly states that trips/travel are unexcused absences
  • Principals no longer have discretion to excuse absences for extenuating circumstances
  • Principals may request a doctor's note after: 
    • Three consecutive days of absence due to illness
    •  Nine days of absence due to illness during the school year

EARLY DISMISSALS
We would like to inform parents of a few guidelines regarding early dismissals. 

  • Early dismissals end at 2:30 p.m. each day. If you need your student early, you’ll need to arrive at the school before 2:30 p.m. 
  • You must have a picture ID with you (pictures of your ID on your phone are not sufficient).
  • Upon your arrival and verification that you are listed as an authorized pickup person, we will call the student to the office. We cannot call students prior to your arrival.

ITEM DROP-OFF & FOOD DELIVERY GUIDELINES
To help maintain a focused learning environment and minimize disruptions to instructional time, we kindly ask that students arrive at school with all necessary items for the day. This helps us keep the front office organized and ensures that classroom learning remains uninterrupted. If an item is dropped off during the school day, we will not be calling classrooms to notify students. Instead, students who are expecting a drop-off may check the front office between periods.

Additionally, please note that food deliveries from third-party services (e.g., DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats) are not permitted and will be declined. Parents may personally drop off food for their child if needed.

We appreciate your cooperation and support in helping us protect valuable learning time and maintain a smooth, productive school day.

ATHLETICS
We are very excited to see what success our Athletic Team brings to Lake Ridge! For new athletes, please ensure that you register for an Arbiter account.  You can register here.  Returning athletes will login to their existing account. More information can be found on https://www.pwcs.edu/learning_activities/student_activities/middle_school_guidelines

  1. You have to complete the "2026-2027 Lake Ridge Middle School Athletic Participation". You can locate the link on our School Website or log into your previous Arbiter account and search for "Lake Ridge Middle School." You will need to register each school year to participate in the athletic season. 

  2. After you register, please check the "Physical Expiration Date" on your Arbiter account. Athletic Physicals expire 14 months after the posted date per Virginia Law.  If your Physical is set to expire during the season, you will not be eligible to participate during the season until a new Athletic Physical is uploaded. This does not mean that you lose your spot on the team, rather that you cannot participate in practices or games until the updated Physical is Approved.  As a general precautionary, it might be safe to have your Physical uploaded each school year. https://www.pwcs.edu/userfiles/servers/server_340140/file/student-activities/middle-school-physical-form.pdf

  3. As you complete your Athletic Physical over the summer, reminder that you must have a Doctor's Stamp on page 3 of the form. This is a legal stamp that authenticates the physical. Without the stamp, you will not be approved. You will ONLY need to upload Page 3 this upcoming school year. 

  4. As you register for the 2026-2027 Athletic School Year, please only register for the sports that you are interested in trying out for. This will allow the check-in process to be more efficient at the beginning of the tryout period. 

  5. We are set to begin our Fall Season on August 31, 2026. Students wanting to try out for a fall sport MUST have all information uploaded and completed by August 26thto ensure approval is completed by our Athletic Trainer for Monday's tryouts. Do not wait, get your registration completed! 

As you are signing up for or 2026-27 season, this is a gentle reminder that you can only tryout for one sport team during that season.  Due to practice and game schedules, it is recommended that you try out for the sport you feel you are stronger with.

Athletic Physicals are NOT to be dropped off at the school or emailed to any staff members and MUST be uploaded to Arbiter. You may contact our Athletics Coordinator, Mr. Larson, at [email protected] with any questions.  Please note that he will not have access to his email until August 20, 2026.  If you have any issues with registering for your Arbiter account, please contact them directly at 1-800-311-4060 or [email protected].

 

Monday will be an “A” day.

 

Jim Dutrow
Principal
Lake Ridge Middle School
703-494-5154