Friday, September 29, 2017

Lurgio News for September 29, 2017

LURGIO NEWS
September 29, 2017
 

Dear Students and Parents,

As we head through the heart of the first quarter, I’ve heard from a number of parents that they are struggling to follow their child’s progress through the PowerSchool Parent Portal. As a parent of an 8th grader myself, I understand some of your frustrations. Just the other day when I was checking on my 8th grade son’s work, clicking through the multiple buttons to expand all his assignment scores, I found myself thinking, “This is a little clunky.”

Now, I do love some of the new features. For example, it’s nice to be able to run a quick report on all missing assignments from all classes on one page. Also, we have released our new report card feature, which will provide you with a PDF of your child’s progress in a very readable format [LINK TO DIRECTIONS]. We acknowledge that the portal has some inefficiencies at showing parents their child’s progress in their individual assignments. Trust me, we are working with our IT department every day to make the Parent Portal more user-friendly.

Finally, in order to help explain both the why and how of competency grading and scoring at Lurgio this year, I emailed a screencast back on September 6th. If you missed it the first time and would like to view it now, click here.  If you wish to view just the slides, you can click here.

Sincerely,

Ed Joyce
Principal

 
Weekly Features
 

Important Dates


October 6 (Fri)
No School - Teacher Workshop
October 9 (Mon)
No School - Columbus Day
October 16 (Mon)
Pods 8-North & 8-West leave for Cardigan
October 18 (Wed)
Pods 8-East & 8-South leave for Cardigan
October 28 (Sat)
Witch Way to the 5K Road Race
 

Cub of the Week

Each week, teachers nominate students for the Cub of the Week Award. Nominated students are those who have shown exceptional kindness, tolerance, and respect during the week. Each Friday, the Lurgio administration and guidance staff will review all nominees and will select the the “Cub of the Week.” The Cub will be announced in the Lurgio News.

This week’s Cubs are Cade Corbett and Ben Stuart. These young gentlemen have gone out of their way to befriend a peer who was having a hard time adjusting to his new pod. Cade’s and Ben’s kindness has made this student feel more welcomed at Lurgio. Congratulations to Cade and Ben!

Guidance Corner


Our 11th annual Red Ribbon Week begins October 23rd!  This year we need help from the community to help send an alcohol and drug abuse prevention message.

This year's theme for Red Ribbon Week is:  
"Your Future is Key, So Stay Drug Free"

Check out this YouTube video about the 2017 Red Ribbon Community Contest

The Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) is planning a week filled with activities for our school community.  Let’s bring it to the streets this year!

 

Bedford Education Foundation

The BEF is holding their annual fundraising event on November 17th from 7pm to 10pm at the Bedford Village Inn. The theme is Nostalgic November. For more information on the event and how to purchase tickets, click HERE. Questions can be directed to info@befnh.org.

PTG Corner:

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - The 8th grade Cardigan trip is right around the corner! We need volunteers to help welcome all the kids back with a pizza party! Please check here for the brownies/water donation. Please check here for the pizza party volunteers.

LAST CALL…Meadow Farms Gifts, Wrap and More-ORDERS DUE Monday 10/2 Our popular Gifts, Wrap & More fundraiser ends soon. Brochures, with ordering details, have been sent home with elementary students last week. Families, students, and staff at McKelvie, RAL and BHS will be able to order online via this link McK-RAL-BHS Ordering Link
Product will ship direct to your home. 40% of sales are donated back to our schools!

New To Bedford?  The PTG will host a welcome for all new families to Bedford. This open house style event will take place on Wednesday, October 4th at the Bedford Town Library at 9:30am or 6:30pm. Representatives and/or Administration from all 6 schools will be on hand. Families can learn about school events/programs and town happenings. Light refreshments will be served and your children are welcome to attend. If you have any questions or would like to attend this event please contact Aneesa Fallon at aaf4@comcast.net

Support the PTG: Our support drive is under way and if you’d like to make a donation to the PTG you can do so via PayPal by visiting our website www.bedfordptg.org. Donations via check can be made out to Bedford PTG and returned to school with students in the PTG support envelops that have been sent home. With your support we are able to put over $65,000/year in programs and events into our schools!!

Looking To Volunteer: Volunteer forms were sent home with students in grades K - 8. Please be sure to return these forms in order to receive notifications of volunteer opportunities in your school. Volunteer forms can be downloaded from the PTG website. Bedford High School volunteer opportunities are available by contacting Andrea Ahlstrom via email at andrea.ahlstrom@gmail.com. PTG volunteers logged over 23,000 hours last year, earning each of the six schools the Blue Ribbon Award for excellence in volunteering. We'd love to have you join us!

New News
 

8th Annual Witch Way to the 5K - REGISTRATION OPEN

Join us for the 8th annual Witch Way to the 5K  on Saturday, October 28, 2017. The kids 1K race starts at 9:30am and the adult race begins at 10am at Lurgio Middle School. Click here to register. We are also always looking for sponsors - for more information click here.

Reminders
 

Bedford Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Please join us as we recognize the Inaugural Class of the Bedford Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place on Homecoming Day - Saturday, October 21st at 2:00 PM - in the Bedford High School Dining Commons. For more information, and to order tickets, please click HERE.

Destination Imagination - Registration Closes TODAY

Destination Imagination is a fun academic program that teaches creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, critical thinking, and management skills through project-based Challenges. These are key skills that all businesses (and colleges) are looking for – the ability to identify challenges and solve them, while leveraging the talents on your team. Designed to complement K-12 education, we offer seven new academic Challenges in the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), fine arts, service learning, and early learning. In solving a challenge, students learn the creative process from imagination to innovation and the skills needed to thrive in school, their careers and beyond. Teams can be made up of 2-7 members and must have an adult Team Manager i.e. - a parent or two. We need volunteers and we will train you! The 2017-18 registration is open thru Friday, September 29th. For more info, check out www.nh-di.org; Bedford DI on Facebook, or contact our district coordinator, Marie Russell at www.bedfordrocksdi@gmail.com.


Special Education Parent Focus Group

The district is looking to expand the parent volunteers in the Special Education Parent Focus Group, a formal partnership between special education parents and the school community. Parent participants represent each of the schools and encompass all grade levels. Meetings are held monthly on the third Wednesday from 9-10 AM at the SAU office. Discussion and activities support family engagement and improvements in the district special education initiatives. Please contact Chris Lassonde, Director of Special Services (lassondec@sau25.net). We would love to have more parents join us!
 

Pats Peak Learn to Ski & Ride Program:

Sign-up information is coming soon! Registration deadline will be November 15th. The program will start on Friday, January 5th, 2018. It is a five-week program. Please contact Kim Peicker at kpeicker@comcast.net with any questions.

Curriculum Notice

According to state law HB 103 RSA 186:11, IX-c, parents are now required to be notified not less than 2 weeks in advance of curriculum course material used for instruction of human sexuality or human sexual education. Curriculum outlines are publicly provided on the SAU website:  www.sau25.net under the curriculum tab. These topics may be addressed in classes such as health and life science. Any questions regarding specific lessons can be answered by your child's teacher.

Free Functional Movement Screens for the Athletes at Lurgio!

Welcome back!  My name is Jenn Millen and I am a physical therapist assistant and athletic trainer from Family Physical Therapy who will be working with Lurgio athletics again this year! If your child has any nagging pain or injury please feel free to contact me so I can take a look and prevent a more serious injury.

I will also be offering free Functional Movement Screens for the students at Lurgio! The Functional Movement Screen is a screen used by both the NFL and NHL that uses fundamental movements that help determine an athlete’s areas of weakness. After the screen I can give exercises to address those areas of weakness to help improve athletic performance and avoid injuries. Any questions, please contact me at jmillen@familyptservices.com.

Equestrian Club Information

If you’re a Lurgio student who is interested in equestrian, please click [HERE] for more information about participating in the RAL/BHS Equestrian Club!

A Request from the School Nurse for 8th Grade Parents:

Hello 8th Grade Parents.  Cardigan will be here before we know it!!  If your student requires any prescription medication  during the Cardigan trip, please bring it to school by Thursday, October 13th.  I will be packing the Wed-Thurs PODS prior to my leaving on Monday with the first group of students.   Prescription medication needs to be in the labeled, prescribed bottle with only those doses needed for the trip.  Please bring the Medication Physician Permission Form found here, with MD signature. Tylenol and Motrin will be available for students as needed.  If there are any over the counter medications needed for your student, please drop them off to the health office as well.  Thank you!  If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Chessie RAL School Nurse


 

Enrichment Beyond Lurgio - Johns Hopkins CTY Talent Search

The Center for Talented Youth (CTY) is a leading national center for academically talented students that identifies advanced academic talent in young people. Participation in CTY can open up new resources and a new peer network for academically minded young people worldwide. To qualify for this program, your child must’ve scored at the 95th percentile or higher on one or more subtests of the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC) given last spring (click here for cutoff scores).

If you are interested in learning more about this program, please check out this informational page for further information. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Amy Rockwell at rockwella@sau25.net.