May 2015 Donna Allen, PTA President Dr. Barry Lanford, Principal Volume 8, Issue 9 This is the final newsletter of the year – WOW! I hope you all enjoy the last few days of school. The Lopez PTA is still hard at work! We are still looking for someone to fill the position of Parliamentarian, as well as a few positions on the Executive Board. Please contact Donna Allen, [email protected], if you are interested. On May 15, volunteers enjoyed a wonderful breakfast bar hosted by the Lopez administrative staff. A big “thank you” to Pat Chavez, Kasey Cone, and the other administrative staff for putting this together for us. Also thank you to Miss Preiss and her students for the wonderful pastries. At the celebration we were able to honor some outstanding volunteers for the year. These volunteers were nominated by teachers and staff for all they do for the school. The following ladies were recognized: Trisha Garza, Anita Sioco, Jeanette Shoaf, Corie Taylor, Dawn Vogel, and Heather Wood. Congratulations to all of you. We know how much you love our kids and have put so much of your heart and soul into serving. The entire school benefits from our volunteers who work so hard to make Lopez such a great place to be. We will finish off the year with our big 8th Grade Party at Time Warner Park on Tuesday, June 2. This is a fabulous send off for our 8th grade students - let’s hope for great weather! I have truly enjoyed serving as PTA President this year, and look forward to another great year next year. For all of you moving on to high school - best of luck (go Rattlers!). Have a wonderful, safe summer break! Donna Allen 2014-2015 PTA President [email protected] THE PRINCIPAL’S PODIUM Well Panthers, the school year is done. As they say, “put a fork in it.” This year is certainly one to be proud of. In reviewing our STAAR scores, we outscored Bush in nine areas and Tejeda in all but one. Our Level III Advanced Scores were higher than last year and our Progress Measures were higher in all categories except one where we dropped one point. Overall, a very successful academic year. All extracurricular groups performed well and as a result, Lopez claims its fourth MIDDLE SCHOOL CUP in a row – making us six time winners in 8 years. As I have written before, I can report that Lopez was selected as the #3 Middle School in the Greater San Antonio Area. The rankings are based on how well a school serves it’s “at risk” population. As we have a limited number, it is hard to score well for each child carries more weight in the ranking. While I am happy to receive the accolade, I concur with Dr. Gottardy in being wary of the Children at Risk group as they are decidedly in favor of an A – F school ranking system. While Lopez has always received an A+, I know many of our colleagues who work just as hard, make many academic gains and have a positive impact on children’s lives who receive a lower grade based solely on STAAR scores. Just as in years past, I credit the teachers for being so studentcentered. The relationships that they build are the foundation for good learning. Also, the values that are instilled by you, the parents, make our students what they are. Our teachers and staff merely capitalize on that and push the students further. As summer looms near, please encourage your child to rest and relax, but also READ…. Thank you for all that you do for our students. Sincerely, Dr. Barry Lanford, Principal Lopez PTA proudly presents the 2014 - 2015 President's Volunteer Service Award Recipients President's Volunteer Service Award - Bronze President's Volunteer Service Award - Silver 50-74 hours 75 - 99 hours Abigail Gates Anya Marrufo-Zubaran Acelyn Evans Caitlin Medina Andrew Schlereth Dana Marion Angela Kruas Kayla Isbell Anjali Patel Trenton Boudreaux Aubrey Carraghan Avery Darilek Bryce Trench President's Volunteer Service Award - Gold David Moreno III Dylan Martinez 100+ hours Ethan Joergensen Frankie Stiehl-Guerra Abigail Baseley Hayden Harsh Alyson Matson Kinley Hatch Ana Cravioto Kyle Lantz Anne Meadows Kylie Durish Benson Meadows Lauren White Blake Thurmond Martin Restrepo Dalton Steel Michael Zahabi Elena Dominguez Oliva Gonzalez Katelyn Shaffer Pablo Lafuente Kendall Cheslock Patrick McNealy Mackenzie Miller Simin Momin Samantha Sanchez Teresa Ward Sarah Johson Sarah Rudolph 2014-2015 Lopez Middle School PTA Board Officers President – Donna Allen 1st Vice President – Erin Larsen 2nd Vice President – Tonya Joergensen Secretary – Sheryl Staffier Treasurer – Erin Pruetz Parliamentarian – Deanna Lauer Historian – Kim Greenberg Committee Chairs 8th Grade Party – Kym Pharris 8th Grade Party – Anita Sioco ADEPT – Terri Solis Arts in Education – Crystin Galan Awards/PVSA – Heather Boudreaux Campus Improvement – Kelly Samaie Council Delegate – Tori Scoffield Directory – Valarie Day Healthy Lifestyles – Emily Okikawa Hospitality/Faculty Appreciation Heather Wood Annie King ZZ Mylar Shelly Hull Library – Casey Herridge Life Membership – Deanna Lauer Founders – Deanna Lauer Membership – Claudia Mitre Multicultural Fair – Maritza Morgenroth Newsletter – Valarie Day Pantherama – Donna Allen Social Coordinator – Viviana Schlereth Special Education – Heather Baseley Spirit Items – Connie Carrington Volunteer Coordinator – Michelle Dunn Support Positions Community Relations – Jeanette Shoaf Social Media – Dora Evans Website – Stephanie Dullea Workroom – Rachel Maurer Lopez PTA Membership PTA Links u NEISD Council of PTAs ww.necouncilpta.com u State PTA www.txpta.org u National PTA www.pta.org Lopez PTA has it’s own website to keep you up with all PTA events: www.lopezpta.org Yearbook News Don't delay...order your yearbook today! http://www.jostens.com/apps/shop/yrbk_catalog.asp? cid=271617&pfid=2014061004152968794&affiliateId=1623514 A Reminder From Attendance Please send a note with your student when he/she is absent. A student has 2 days to turn in a Parent or Dr.’s. note to receive credit for that absence. Thank you! Lopez Calendar of Events Do you want to stay current on the Lopez happenings? From the Lopez homepage (www.neisd.net/lopez/) you can subscribe to Lopez Middle School events! Keep in touch with the NEISD app! Download it now from the app store! Mark your calendars! Panther Prowl Orientation – Thursday, August 20, 2015 6th grade 8:30-10:00 a.m. Marketplace open from 8:30- 11:00 a.m. Parent presentation in Cafeteria at 9:00 a.m. 7th/8th grade 5:00-7:00 p.m. Marketplace open from 5:00-7:00 p.m. New parent presentation in Cafeteria at 5:30 p.m. All students will report to their Advisory teacher. Advisory lists will be posted on our main doors. Students will receive their tentative schedule, locker, and tour. Our marketplace will sell P.E. uniforms, agenda books, and spirit items. A friendly reminder from our Nurse Kathy Rackley to all students who are missing the new shots. You will not receive a schedule on Panther Prowl if immunizations are not updated. All students delinquent of their needed shots on the first day of school will be dropped from enrollment and will have to re-register. Parents may view Parent Portal to see if their child is missing TdaP, Meningococcal, and 2 Varicellas. Please make every effort to take care of your immunizations this summer! Please call our Nurse Kathy Rackley if you have further concerns or questions at 210-356-5021. Lopez MS NJHS The Lopez Middle School NJHS had a busy Spring. We sponsored an anti-bullying week in February and recently worked with the Social Network Club on a math manipulative drive. Our entire school worked together to donate various math manipulatives to assemble summer math bags for approximately 150 students at Royal Ridge Elementary School. Each bag has various items students can use to review math concepts and skills over the summer. In May we also inducted our 2015-2016 Lopez Middle School National Junior Honor Society members and officers. We were honored to induct one hundred seventy-one members. Our chapter would also like to introduce and congratulate the 2015-2016 NJHS Officers: President: Kiley Thomas Vice President: Gabrielle Agbenyiga Secretary: Aditi Sarlashkar Treasurer: Linda Liu Reporter: Tashya Makani Chaplain: Gemmalee Dyermok Sergeant-at-Arms: Sutton Thomas Historian: Maria Giraldo We are very excited about this outstanding group of student leaders and look forward to an amazing school year!!!!! Lopez Panther Returns Former Panther, Sam Allen, came back to speak at the Parent to Parent Support group at Lopez Middle School. He discussed the challenges of having Aspergers to a captive audience of parents and teachers of children with special needs. Sam has taken a pro-active approach to having autism. He is the inspiration behind and worked on the production/content for the documentary, Coping to Excelling: Solutions for School-Age Children Diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism or Aspergers Syndrome. Sam offers his insights into the world of Autism through speaking at conferences as well as writing blogs on aspergers101.org. Currently enrolled in LakeView Community College, working toward a degree in Business Computer Information Systems, Sam enjoys spending his time building high-end computers, on-line gaming and even took time to build a low-powered FM Radio station for fun. Sam’s take on having Aspergers is: “Don’t think of Autism as a weight but more like a pair of wings in which to soar”. Lopez is so proud to have a leader for children with Autism. For more information on Parent to Parent, contact Tammy L. Drake, LMS at [email protected] Social Networking Social Network and Leadership Club learns about Groundwater Sleuthing!! Lynne Christopher, Secondary Education Coordinator for the San Antonio Water System presented an interesting presentation on water. The club members at Lopez enjoyed rotating thru stations investigating ground water sleuthing. From left to rt: Brothers, Alex and Jose asking how water is cleaned, Zach and Shelby discovering why limestone weighs more when wet, and Travis and Colton investigating with magnifying instruments. The Social Network and Leadership Club bridges the gap between ALL children of ALL abilities thru building friendships at school and our community. Summer Boredom? Don’t let your child’s brain get bored or stagnate. Take advantage of summer break to explore interests and participate in non-traditional learning activities. These can range from virtual learning, such as on Khan Academy, or in summer camps. Summer camps cover everything from sports, survival, self-awareness, and STEM opportunities. For the past three summers, James Lewey has been hosting robotic and engineering-based camps at TMI-The Episcopal School of Texas (www.SummerAtTMI.com) for Kindergarten through 8th grade. Prof. Lewey uses this time to either introduce students to new and fun concepts or continue to support an interest in these STEM areas. Engineering and building helps students to visualize their problem solving. It also gives them the opportunity to use some of their math skills in a concrete manner. While young children often build by trial and error, with a curriculum and support a child can actually think about their structure and plan it out appropriately. Robotics also encompasses building and engineering theory with programming. Programming supports the use of logic skills. While many of the programming languages used with learning robotics are graphic-based the students still have to determine logic steps. These logic steps are then mapped out and placed so they interact correctly. Learning to program with a graphic-based program can help many students understand flow prior to diving into a text-based programming language. If you need a good introductory graphic-based computer language for your child to learn at home I recommend MIT’s Scratch (scratch.mit.edu). Scratch is a simple drag-and-drop system that allows from the simplistic to the complex in the program. All of the games that are hosted at scratch.mit.edu are open so students can see how other programmers’ code works. This is a great learning tool and a great resource if a student gets stuck. There is also a rich tutorial available at scratch.mit.edu. He is also putting together an Underwater Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) workshop for 5th-8th graders using the SeaPerch ROV platform. The SeaPerch ROV platform has a footprint about 12 inches by 8 inches by 8 inches. The ROV flies through water via a tethered remote control that the students help to build. The students fly through an obstacle course in a pool and try to complete certain tasks. This activity is a good opportunity for students to learn about buoyancy, engineering, electrical systems, and problem-solving. While Prof. Lewey does not have any scheduled dates yet if you want to know more about this program and learn when the workshops will be you can email him at [email protected]. Clinic Announcements Attention ALL Parents of Current 6th Grade Students: The State of Texas requires all students receive the following immunizations before entering 7th grade: • Second dose of Varicella (Chicken Pox) vaccine or documentation of having the chicken pox disease • Meningococcal vaccine (Menactra or MCV4) • Tdap vaccine in last 5 years Please avoid the stress of last minute summer activities and bring in your child’s updated immunization records this month. You may also fax the record to 210-481-4073 or scan/e-mail to [email protected]. Any student without current immunizations will not receive a schedule at Panther Prowl in August, so please make your appointments now. Parent Portal will show your child’s immunizations that are on file currently. NEWS FROM THE CLINIC: Parents- Don’t forget to pick up all medications, inhalers, Epipens, and diabetic supplies on the last day of school. I will be discarding any items that are left over the summer. You will be receiving forms in the mail for your physician to complete for next year if your child will be taking any medication. THANKS AND HAVE A GREAT SUMMER! Lopez FCA Information 2014-2015 Meetings When: Every Thursday @ 7:00 am Where: Lopez Gym with Coach Barbosa FCA COMMUNICATION This year we will be communicating in a new way - Via Text Reminder by way of the app “Remind” (We will continue to use email during the transition period.) If you would like to receive information about Lopez FCA events please follow these steps!! 1. 2. 3. Send a text to (409) 527-8563 In the message portion type: @lopezfca Hit send You should get a confirmation text back within just a few minutes!!
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