LAPS Newsletter

Week of November 25, 2024

On the Calendar

Holidays and School Breaks

Thanksgiving Break

Wednesday, November 27 - Friday, November 29

(No school for staff and students)

Winter Break

Monday, December 23 - Friday, January 3 (no school for staff and students)

Monday, January 6 (no school for students)

Recognitions

Tuesday, December 10: 7th Grade Students of the Semester, Los Alamos Middle School

Thursday, December 12: 8th Grade Students of the Semester, Los Alamos Middle School

Concerts and Performances

Monday, December 9: LAMS/LAHS Band Concert

Monday, December 9: Aspen Elementary Carolers

Tuesday, December 10: Mountain Elementary K-2 Winter Concert

Tuesday, December 10: Barranca Mesa Elementary Band, Choir & Orchestra Winter Concert

Wednesday, December 11: Chamisa Elementary Winter Concert

Wednesday, December 11: Mountain Elementary Band, Choir & Orchestra Winter Concert

Wednesday, December 11: LAMS/LAHS Choir Concert

Thursday, December 12: Aspen Elementary Band, Choir & Orchestra Winter Concert

Thursday, December 12: LAMS/LAHSl Orchestra Concert

Friday, December 13: Black Box Jazz Club

Wednesday, December 18: Aspen Elementary 5th grade Music Performance

Thursday, December 19: Barranca Bobcat Choir and K-Kids Caroling Downtown

Spelling Bees

Wednesday, December 4: Chamisa Elementary School/Los Alamos Online Learning Academy

Thursday, December 5: Barranca Mesa Elementary School

Thursday, December 5: Piñon Elementary School

Monday, December 16: Aspen Elementary School

Wednesday, January 15 District Spelling Bee

Science Fairs

Wednesday, December 11: Chamisa Elementary School

Friday, December 13: Piñon Elementary School

Friday, January 17: Los Alamos Online Learning Academy

Saturday, January 25: District Science Fair

Meetings

School Board Meetings

Tuesday, December 10

Click here for more information about the School Board meetings.

Ride the Bus Day

Monday, December 2 is the 80th day of school, and Ride the Bus Day!

Calendars

2024-2025 School Calendar

Multicultural Calendar of Events

2025-2026 DRAFT School Calendar

2026-2027 DRAFT School Calendar

For other events and activities, check out the school site calendars on the LAPS website.

November is Native American Heritage Month

National Native American Heritage Month is celebrated in November to honor the history, culture, and achievements of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and affiliated Island communities. It's also a time to recognize the contributions of these groups to the establishment and growth of the United States.

Around the District

Electric Car Challenge

Chamisa Elementary GATE teacher Susan Hettinga’s 6th graders Lissy Munoz, Zain Shrader, Evelyn Stupka, Mimi Martinez, Sebastien Thibodeaux, Sophie Stewart; (front row) Meredith Clayton, Dawson Belobrajdic, Ariana Archuleta and Iliana Hinde participated in the New Mexico Middle School Electric Car Challenge in Albuquerque last Saturday.

They had an awesome time overall and received a trophy for Teamwork. This award represented the following: “The teamwork award honors those who inspire collaboration and strengthen team bonds, contributing to a positive pand productive work environment.”

The event, sponsored primarily by Sandia National Laboratories annually in association with Los Alamos National Laboratory, consists of teams building battery-powered model cars in order to compete in three challenges: a race for time, design competition, and research for an oral presentation. The main goal of the competition is to generate enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills for middle school students in grades 6th through 8th.

All State Band

Congratulations to the Los Alamos High School students selected to the All-State Ensembles. They worked very hard to prepare their auditions and will attend the NMMEA All State Clinic at UNM Jan 8-11, 2025 and the All State Jazz Clinic at UNM Jan 24-26, 2025:

Concert Orchestra

Chris Teague

Symphony Orchestra

Carlos Martinez and Sean Lo

Symphonic Band

Jamie Grow and Sara Khan

Concert Band

Joymei Lincoln, Irina Maiorov and Rhys Anderson

Small School Band

Cameron Davis, Tony Jaurigue, Hudson Bathrick-Price, Alayna Martinez, Aven Heavner, Ariana Star and Lin Wolf

Jazz 1

Evan Strohmeyer

Jazz 2

Tony Jaurigue

Jazz 3

Caden Fichtl

Jazz Alternate

David Reichhardt

All-State Choir

Congratulations to the Los Alamos High School members of the 2024-25 All State Choirs. These students are among the top 40 (80 for Treble Chorus) in their voice parts in the State of New Mexico. The Choir State Clinic will be held April 4 and 5.

Mixed Chorus

Marina Archuleta - Soprano 2; Deborah Brug - Soprano 2; Maxine Cox - Soprano 2; Lena Romero - Alto 2; Gyasi Atta-Flynn - Tenor 1; and Annie Xie - Tenor 1

Treble Chorus

Molly Couture - Alto 2; and Alexa Kretz - Alto 2

All-State Orchestra

Congratulations to the 30 (a new record) LAHS orchestra students who made it into All-State Orchestra - and the 4 alternates who may yet go. Their All State Clinic is January 8 - 10.

All-State Orchestra

Charles Austin, Aram Belian, Kathleen Brodnax, Xiaran "Jonathan" Chen, Ciara Colgan, Celeste El-Darazi, Julianne Fadner, Matthea Fung, Cara Gattiker, Linnhtet Htoon, William Hudlemeyer, Anna Jacobson, Aaron Jerkatis, Noelle Judd, Adrian Koo, Ming-Xiu "Michelle" Lo, Ange Meng, William Nettleton, Axel Niklasson, Aleena Rim, Annabelle Rosette, Jackson Scharff, Anna Simakov, Payton Sutherland, Emmitt Tibbitts, Aditya Viswanathan, Maia Warren, Helena Welch, Emily Xu, and Julia Zou

Alternates

Hirotaka Mertes, Bryan Lee, Nora Bigger, and Sammy Carroll

State One Act Competition

The Olions traveled to the state-wide One Act competition earlier this month and won two awards, one for stage lighting and one for make-up/costume. Congratulations!

Techs: Ariela Rittner: Head Stage Manager; Felix Lorenc: Playback Operator; Ty Harding: Sound Designer and Light Operator; Alyssa Miller: Assistant Sound Designer and Assistant Stage Manager; Kylie Shrader: Assistant Stage Manager; Hannah Waldschmidt: Costume Designer and Assistant Stage Manager; Ava Marie Sanchez: Makeup and Assistant Stage Manager; Iris Purtzer: Makeup; Noah Banks: Set Designer; and Ester Keiter: Lighting Designer.

Actors: Marina Archuleta, Annabelle Deburgomaster, Anna Ferenbaugh, Keira Fichtl, Genevive Fortin, Isabella Gletsos, Andie Kelly, Brigham Kuykendall, Haven Kuykendall, Ash Sapp, Anya Seet, Kaitlyn Seitz-Pruitt, Karly Seitz-Pruitt, Zachary Sestric, Maddelyn Sutton, Clove Tholen, Emma Wolff and Annie Xie.

LAPS Band Showcase

Over 200 band students from across the district performed during the LAPS Band Showcase held last week in Duane Smith Auditorium. The performances gave elementary students and families the opportunity to see what they have to look forward to if they stay in the band program.

Winter Jazz 2024

The LAPS Jaxx Program presented a concert last Wednesday in Duane Smith Auditorium, featuring the LAMS Jazz Orchestra, LAMS Jazz Band, LAHS Jazz II and LAHS Jazz I, along with the Los Alamos Jazz Project Pajarito and Capulin Combos.

Science Fair

Mountain Elementary School hosted its Science Fair last Thursday. Twenty-four students participated. Judges viewed 22 different projects that were on display in the library. Thank you to Mountain Elementary Science Fair Coordinator Mary Alice Hawkins.

Thanksgiving Lunch

Students enjoyed Thanksgiving lunch last week thanks to Chartwells staff.

Choir FUNDrive

The Los Alamos High School Choir Booster Club is collecting clothing, household textiles and small household goods, books and media items as part of their FUNDrive to raise money for the upcoming trip to New York City in the spring to perform at Carnegie Hall. Donations are being accepted through December 14, 2024.

DECA Sock Drive

Academic Excellence

NM Vistas, developed by PED, is a public data reporting website that showcases school performance based on state accountability and other required criteria from the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), as mandated by the U.S. Department of Education. The site aims to assist families and community members in identifying schools that are excelling or schools in need of additional support. These school identifications are based on a set of multiple measures informed by stakeholders representing New Mexico's communities.

NM VIstas has been updated to reflect 2023/2024 data. All seven LAPS schools have been designated as Spotlight schools, the highest designation.

Click on the school site to access that school's NM Vistas report.

Aspen Elementary

Barranca Mesa Elementary

Chamisa Elementary

Mountain Elementary

Piñon Elementary

Los Alamos Middle School

Los Alamos High School

Social-Emotional Wellbeing

For Parents and Guardians

Family Literacy Month

Join us in celebrating Family Literacy Month and Family Engagement Month by recognizing parents' and caregivers' vital role in building strong readers and writers. Throughout the month, we will share popular resources from the National Center on Improving Literacy to help improve literacy at home.

Free Course: Understanding Evidence-Based Literacy, the Family Edition
A five-lesson course for parents and families to learn how evidence-based literacy practices can support all children's literacy needs, complete with practical examples.

For Students

Final Exams

Final exams will be given at Los Alamos Middle School and Los Alamos High School starting Wednesday, December 18 through Friday, December 20.

SAT Dec. 7

Students registered for the SAT on Saturday, December 7, should plan to arrive in the upper A wing commons area by 7:45 am. You must bring the following: acceptable photo ID (you will not be admitted without it); your fully charged Chromebook with the Bluebook app; your printed up-to-date admission ticket from the Bluebook app; pencils for scratch work. Paper will be provided for scratch work. Make sue you know your College Board username and password.

ACT Dec. 14

Students registered for the ACT on Saturday, December 14, should plan to arrive in the upper A wing commons area by 7:45 am. Make sure you bring a printed copy of your admission ticket, acceptable photo ID (you will not be admitted without it); No, 2 pencils and an acceptable calculator.

Saturday School

Saturday School is open to all Los Alamos Middle School and Los Alamos High School students as an opportunity to catch up on late work, complete missed assignments, take make-up tests and receive help with homework.

All Saturday School sessions for the 2024-2025 school year will be in person in E-wing at LAHS.

Sessions run from 8:30 am - 11:30 am for 7th and 8th graders, and 8:30 am - 12:00 pm for high school students.

To register, email lahssaturdayschool@laschools.net with the student's name and date requested.

Click here for more information.

Upcoming Saturday School Dates

December 7 and 14

February 1 and 22

March 8 and 29

April 12 and 26

May 10 and 17

There are no Saturday School sessions in January.

Lifeguard Training

Los Alamos County will be offering Lifeguard Training and Review courses.

Albuquerque Turkey Song for Kids

LAPS in the News

Chamisa Elementary School 6th Graders Garner Trophy For Teamwork At New Mexico Electric Car Challenge

72 Los Alamos High Students Join National Honor Society

LAHS Rotary To Host Silent Auction Saturday Night To Benefit ‘Vos Tambien Anti Human Trafficking Organization’

Recap Of LAPS Nov. 12 School Board Meeting

Los Alamos School Board Selects 2024-25 Student Liaisons

Around Town

Holiday Movie Night

Breakfast with Santa

Winterfest 2024

Wildcat Basketball

Youth Hockey

Hockey Registration

Events in Los Alamos

Check out the LAPS Community Events page for information about events and activities in the community for students and families.You can also check out the Los Alamos County 100 Days of Winter.

LAPS Athletics

Upcoming Games and Meets

Los Alamos Middle School

Girls Basketball

Monday, November 25 vs. Memorial Middle School @ Memorial Middle School,

7th grade 4 pm, 8th grade 5:30 pm

Monday, December 2 vs. Santa Fe Indian School @ Santa Fe Indian School,

7th grade 4 pm, 8th grade 5:30 pm

Friday, December 6 vs. Memorial Middle School @ Los Alamos Middle School Brousseau Gym,

7th grade 4 pm, 8th grade 5 pm

Monday, December 9 vs. Taos Middle School @ Taos Middle School,

7th grade 4 pm, 8th grade 5:30 pm

Wrestling

Saturday, December 7 LAMS Wrestling Invite @ Los Alamos High School, 9 am

Los Alamos High School

Boys Basketball

Monday, November 25 vs. Rio Rancho High School in Griffith Gym,