Hello Luling ISD Families!

As we enter our last month of the school year, I would like to first congratulate our students on their exceptional effort, flexibility and fortitude during the school year. This has been a trying year where students were asked to learn in new ways with protocols changing often.

Our amazing students are a result of the support and motivation provided by the parents. Through your efforts, the students were able to demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and a depth of character of which we can all be proud.

May is a busy month full of the following district and campus activities:

-Teacher Appreciation Week

May 3rd – 7th is National Teacher Appreciation Week and our administrators have several things planned to show our staff how much we value all of their hard work. Please reach out to them and let them know how much you appreciate all they do for your student(s).

-STAAR Testing

STAAR testing for End Of Course will happen May 4th-7th and STAAR for third through eighth grade will be May 11th-14th. Principals sent communication to families about campus processes during testing and a reminder about the importance of your student being at school each day, rested and ready to master the test!

-Graduation Activities

Our fabulous seniors will walk the stage on May 21st at 7:30 at Eagle Memorial Stadium. We are excited about their futures and can’t wait to see their successes! There is a list of the Class of 2021 events in this newsletter.

-Summer School

The district will host summer school in June for Kinder-8th grade with a focus on reading. Students that are below grade-level will be invited and are strongly encouraged to attend. Not having in-person instruction last Spring has had a detrimental effect on students across the state. Students need more time to close the instructional gap, so extending the school year with this targeted summer school is imperative.

I hope you have a restful and enjoyable summer! We are excited to see our students back on August 18th.

-Mrs. Warren,

Superintendent

Mrs. Warren took campus and district administrators on a tour of the new building last week. Now that drywall is up and tiling has started, administrators could envision how amazing the new Shanklin is going to be! Teacher tours are next!

The Spotlight Staff Member of the Month is Dr. Caddell. She has been part of the Luling High School team since 1979! Throughout her many years teaching, she always retained focus on making a difference for students and that is visible each day in her classroom. Dr. Caddell teaches dual-credit English, partnering with ACC, and English IV. Dr. Caddell takes the time to develop relationships with the students and has built a positive connection in finding activities that are wrapped around student's interest. She assisted with the theater department, helping during UIL 'One Act Play,' and oversaw UIL Academics. This year, a student is advancing to State in UIL Academics for the first time in several years.

The Secondary Spotlight Student of the Month is Guillermo McVeigh.

Guillermo is a sophomore at Luling High School. Guillermo is a risk-taker, he takes ownership of his learning, responds positively to differences, makes every interaction count, and gets better every day.

Guillermo is always ready to provide a helping hand, during the Academic Showcase hosted by LHS, he was the first one to volunteer, helping set up the event and stayed afterwards to tear down. In addition to his kind personality, he is driven to give his very best effort on everything he attempts or helps with.

Thank you to Guillermo for being a model student at Luling High School!

The Primary/Elementary Spotlight Student of the Month is - Adan Juarez

Adan exemplifies a Luling Primary Eagle. He is an excellent student who is committed to learning as much as he can. He is always looking for new ways to apply what he has learned to new concepts. Adan is a leader in the classroom and always encourages and helps others to do their best.

Coach Nate Langford is from San Marcos and graduated from San Marcos High School in 04. He received a full athletic scholarship to play football at Texas State University. He started as a freshman in 04 and started for 4 straight years as a defensive end. While at Texas State, he was an All-Conference DE, 2-Time Academic All-American, and a Team Captain. Coach Langford also won a conference championship in 2005 as a Bobcat. He graduated from Texas State in the Spring of 09.

Coach Langford started his coaching career at Miller Middle School in San Marcos. He worked his way up to coaching varsity offensive line, defensive ends, and linebackers during his 5 years in the district.

Coach Langford left San Marcos for a promotion as a Special Teams Coordinator at Seguin High School. After a coaching change, he remained at Seguin as the Special Teams Coordinator under Coach Travis Bush. He then was promoted to Defensive Coordinator, which he served for 4 seasons. While at Seguin, he took an 1-9 Matador team to winning 2 district championships in the last 3 years. The Matador have also gone to the playoffs for 3 years in a row.

Coach Langford has a wife named Krisstian. They will have been married for 11 years in June. The best thing they ever did together was making their amazing and sassy daughter, Jazzy. Coach Langford and his family are excited to be apart of the community and are ready to get work.

Luling ISD Athletic Core Values

Toughness-Commitment-Discipline-Energy-Pride

Eagle Nation News

The year is winding down and Eagle Nation student-athletes are still competing! With only a couple weeks left in the school year, we had Girl’s and Boy’s Track, Softball, and Baseball still representing Eagle Nation proudly in the arena of competition. Eagle Nation is truly soaring high.

Congrats to Coach DeCamp, Chavez, and Campos for a stellar track season. They led our Eagle Nation student-athletes all the way to the Region IV 3A track meet. Jesus Osorio competed in the mile and the 3200 meter race. Jesus finished 6th in the mile and 14th in the 2 mile, congrats bud. The Lady Eagle relay team competed in 2 events as well. McKenzie Dees, Caitlin Smith, Vidi Munoz, and JuJu Spencer passed the baton to each other in the 4x100 meter and 4x200 meter race. The girls finished 3rd in the 4x200 and 4th in the 4x100, way to go ladies!

Big Ups to the Lady Eagle Softball team for advancing out of Region IV District 26 and entering the Texas State Softball Playoffs. The ladies battled valiantly through wind, rain, and thunderstorms against Blanco. Congrats on the great season and good job Coach Almaguer.

Praises to the Eagle Baseball team & Coach Hartman. They have clinched a locked in 2nd place finish in Region IV District 26. We’ll know exactly who they will be playing by Monday. Either way, the Eagle Baseball team is a force to be reckoned with on the baseball field. Go get’em next week guys! #anyonecangetit

Reminder to all the student-athletes that you are a student first and we need to take the same dedication we have in our sports lives and apply it to our academic lives. We need to finish strong and destroy these finals. Remember, we want to have RELENTLESS EFFORT in every aspect of our lives. Competitors do not pick and choose when they compete… they just COMPETE!

Make sure you clear your summer schedule to make room to attend the Eagle Nation Summer Strength & Conditioning Camp. It will start on May 24th starting at 7am – 8:30am in the weight room. ALL EAGLE NATION STUDENT-ATHLETES will workout together at the same time. Girls and Boys will workout along side of each other. WE are all apart of EAGLE NATION!

Throughout the month of April, students at Luling Primary engaged in reading, writing and math activities centered around science and math content. Students learned about the earth and their role in protecting our environment. Students at all grade levels learned about the life cycle of plants by growing plants from seeds and recording their growth throughout the month. Students also learned about their senses and used the writing process to describe a personal experience using their senses. Students in PreK continued working on creating patterns while students in first grade learned how to measure using non-standard methods. Students at Luling Primary are excited about learning together and are showing their teachers how much they have grown as they complete the end of the year diagnostic assessments.

-Mr. Weikert, Principal

All students will be participating in STAAR Camps in grades 3-5 over the next few weeks! These are intense reviews of material the students have learned, but are needing to touch on again to ensure they are ready for the upcoming tests. Teachers focus on making this fun, but also knowing that learning/reviewing must take place. A variety of teaching strategies are used during this time and it’s very important that students are at school in order to get as much out of the review as possible. Each grade level has a theme in place in order to help make it more fun and engaging for students. Our teachers have worked extremely hard at putting this together for students!

Student Council and Girl Scouts participated in a “Beautify Luling Day” on Saturday, April 17, 2021. Students helped plant flowers and plants around the downtown area and did a wonderful job! They worked in small teams to make this happen and loved the time spent helping out in the community. Students, faculty, and parents all contributed to this project!

-Ms. Schwarzlose, Principal

Gerdes Junior High Boys Track Teams Win BIG!

The GGJH boys track teams excelled this track season, ending with 2 team championships and multiple 2nd place team finishes. We had individual winners this season at various meets in 7th grade in the high jump, 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, 800 meter dash, and the sprint relay. Individual winners in the 8th grade included the 100 m dash, 200 meter dash, high jump, and the 400 meter dash. All track athletes competed and represented GGJH and Luling in a great fashion. Congratulations to our GJH Boys Track Teams!!

5th Grade Students Gear Up for Junior High Scheduling

The 5th Grade students from Shanklin Elementary recently visited Gerdes Junior High for the "Jumping Up to Junior High Elective Fair"! The students were excited to learn about art, band, athletics, STEM and technology classes and hear from those teachers and coaches. The 7th grade band performed for the students outside and then they had a great time watching the art, STEM and technology presentations in the CLC building. We are so excited to get our incoming 6th graders ready for junior high!

-Mrs. Meshell, Principal

Recently, Luling High School hosted an Academic Showcase. The showcase provided an opportunity for parents and students to learn about the exciting and engaging academic experiences currently offered at Luling High School. During the showcase, parents and students were able to ask questions regarding course offerings, as students prepare to complete his/her choice sheets for this coming school year.

With the start of spring, students on campus have planted a garden with the help of LHS staff and community members. On top of the actual science and engineering facts that come with maintaining a garden, students learn the values of teamwork, problem solving, and hands-on learning. As part of the service learning project, the students also researched and developed in-depth plans for the garden, such as a location, the types of plants, and start-up cost.

-Mr. Alvarez, Principal

Dyslexia Information – May

Dyslexia Quote of the Month:

"Dyslexic/ADHD kids are creative, ‘outside-the-box’ thinkers. They have to be because they don't see or solve problems the same way other kids do. In school, unfortunately, they are sometimes written off as lazy, unmotivated, rude or even stupid. They aren't. Making Percy dyslexic was my way of honoring the potential of all the kids I've known who have those conditions. It's not a bad thing to be different. Sometimes, it's the mark of being very, very talented." - Rick Riordan (Rick Riordan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels for young readers, including the Percy Jackson series and the Kane Chronicles.)

Parent Resources:

Understood - For Learning and Attention Issues – https://www.understood.org/

Chat with experts as well as connect with parents and get tips on parenting children with reading, writing, math, organization, attention issues and more.

International Dyslexia Association - https://dyslexiaida.org/

A wealth of information can be found on the website including fact sheets which contain professionally reviewed materials designed to improve understanding and support advocacy initiatives. Information regarding conferences and workshops are also posted on the website.

The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity - https://www.dyslexia.yale.edu/

The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity raises awareness and advocates for all children and adults with dyslexia. The Center educates parents and teachers as well as provides them with tools and resources to help those with dyslexia succeed.

-Mrs. Ewald, Director

Gradual Release to Graduation

The month of May marks a special time for Luling seniors. In just a few weeks, they will dawn green gowns and mortarboards to walk across the stage and celebrate the completion of their secondary education by earning a high school diploma. This long process began 18 years ago when a caregiver provided for the child’s every want and need. They fed and washed and kept the child safe. As the child grew into adolescence, the caregiver modeled how to navigate life’s many challenges and they began to work side by side. The caregiver and the child cooked together, washed clothes together, and played together. Now, as our graduates take their first steps into adulthood, they will do for themselves. Now, they will use the lessons from their caregiver to care for themselves.

After 18 years of preparation, our graduates are only now ready to take the next step toward independence. Fortunately, the gradual release model of instruction we use in our classrooms often occurs within one lesson cycle. “The gradual release of responsibility model of instruction suggests that cognitive work should shift slowly and intentionally from teacher modeling, to joint responsibility between teachers and students, to independent practice and application by the learner (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983)” (Frey and Fisher, 2013). In this “I do, We do, You do,” model, the teacher takes on the early childhood caregiver role as she introduces content directly to the students, ensuring that their educational needs and wants are met (I do). Then, as the students gain more information, the teacher and students work together to deeper knowledge. The lesson activities shift to allow students to process the information, while the teacher asks questions, models, and provides support (We do). In the final phase, students graduate to independent learning. Students can rely more heavily on their own learning to complete the activity or task because the teacher has set the stage through the GRR model. Now all that’s left is for students to dawn those metaphorical green gowns and mortarboards and walk across the stage to mastery.

As our Luling graduates enter that “I do” phase of their personal lives, prepared to make decisions for themselves, let’s remember that the gradual release instructional model guides our students toward a greater depth of understanding and confidence in their learning that will propel them through life’s lessons.

-Mrs. Jennings, Director

Email: erin.warren@luling.txed.net
Website: https://www.luling.txed.net/
Location: 212 East Bowie Street, Luling, TX, USA
Phone: (830)875-3191
Facebook: facebook.com/LulingISD
Twitter: @LulingISD